Gold, Silver, Iron, and Copper Mines-Mineral Waters. 101 corn is indigenous. Rice is extensively copper mines, formerly abandoned, have cultivated.* been discovered. MINERAL KINGDOM.-The pursuit of In consequence of the above-menthe precious metals was the great object tioned ores being discovered by the of the Spaniards who first visited Cuba; English to be so rich in copper, they but if gold was found at all, it was prob- have explored the old mines near Sanably in washings of the sands of some tiago, and formed three distinct comof the rivers, as no traces of the sup- panies for working them. One of these, posed mining operations are now to be called the English Company, has been found. The western part of the island highly successful, employing 900 miners is granitic, and "it is probable," says and laborers; some of them slaves, Humboldt, "that the alluvial deposits of some emigrants from the Canaries, and auriferous sand, which were explored some "articled" servants, from Cornwith so much ardor at the beginning of wall. They employ two steam engines the conquest, to the great misfortune of in preparing the ore for exportation, and the natives, came from those granitic 500 horses, mules, and camels, in transformations. Traces of that sand are porting it to the port of Santiago. still to be found in the rivers Holguin and Escawbray, known in general in the vicinity of Villa Clara, Santo Espiritu, Puerto de Principe, de Bayamo, and the Bahia de Nisse."+ At the time of the conquest auriferous sands were worked at Cubanacan, in the interior of the island, near Jagua and Trinidad. Martyn d'Anghiera, the most intelligent writer on the conquest says: "Cuba is richer in gold than Hayti; and at the moment I am writing (1533) 180,000 castellanos of ore have been collected at Cuba." Humboldt is of the opinion that Cuba formerly yielded gold in considerable quantities. The copper mines, near Santiago, in the eastern part of the island, were wrought with some success during the 17th century; but were abandoned about 100 years ago from a want of a proper knowledge of the art of extracting the metal from the ore. When the mines were abandoned a great quantity of the mineral, amounting to several hundred tons, was left on the spot as worthless; but having been subjected to analysis a few years ago, says Mr. McCulloch, by the English, it was found to be so rich in metal as amply to repay the expense of sending it to England for smelting. The copper mines of Cuba are acknowledged to be among the richest in the world. The most extensive works are in the neighborhood of Santiago de Cuba. They were far richer formerly than now. Near Villa Clara several In the neighborhood of Santa Clara another copper mine has been opened by an American Company; but its greater distance from the sea, and the less rich character of the ore, have rendered it less successful. The ore of the Santa Clara mines is shipped to England, and smelted in the great smelting houses of Wales. The mineral wealth of Cuba is not yet fully developed, nor will it be until a more enlightened gov ernment rules its soil. It is probably much richer in minerals than is generally supposed. We take from the Diario de la Marina, for Jan. 1, 1852, the following statement of the exportation of copper ore from Cuba since 1841: From this it will be seen that copper mining in Cuba is declining. Coal is also abundant in Cuba. It is highly bituminous, and in some places degenerates into a form resembling the asphaltum which is found in the pitch lake of Trinidad, and in various parts of Europe. The ships of the Spanish discoverers of Cuba were careened with this bitumen, which is often found near the coast in a semi-liquid state, like petroleum or naphtha.* Marbles and jaspers of various colors, and susceptible of a high polish, are found in many parts of Cuba, and in its chief dependency, the Isle of Pines. Mineral waters also abound. Those of Humboldt: Essai, &c., p. 57. San Diego, Madringa and Guanabacao Native loadstone has been found in are the best known. The latter, a few the mountain Juaraqua, not far from miles from Havana, is the most fre- Santiago, and near the ports of Tanamo quented; the others being difficult of and Naranjo. Chalk is found in the .access. Madruga, about 25 miles from Matanzas, is also much frequented. The temperature of the springs of San Diego is about 95° F. The water is clear and transparent, nauseating the stomach, and emitting sulphuretted hydrogen. These baths are found to be efficacious in cutaneous diseases, congestion of the lymphatic glands, scrofula, obstinate syphilis, amenorrhea, chronic diarrheas, strictures of the abdominal viscera, muscular contractions, etc.* western part of the island. A beautiful variegated marble exists at Regla and Guanabacoa, and in other parts. Chalcedony has also been found at Guanabacoa, superior to that of Hecla. It has also been found in the eastern part of the island. Mines of alum and copperas were formerly worked in the Juragua mountains. Many varieties of the most beautiful and useful slates are found. POPULATION. Notwithstanding that the early Spanish writers on Cuba are It is not at all improbable, that if the numerous, still their works afford us but isle of Cuba were subjected to a thorough little information regarding the actual geological survey, it would be found to number of the aborigines of the island be immensely rich in silver, iron, gold, when it was discovered by Columbus. and other metals. The alluvial deposits This defect may be traced to the fact, of the island have always been found that an edict, promulgated by the crown auriferous. Those parts of the island of Spain, in 1556, required all works affording the granitic auriferous sands written on the affairs of America to be are the mouth of the rivers Damusi and submitted to the censorship of the CounCannado, which fall into the bay of Jagua; and in those parts of the rivers Sagua la Grande and Agabama which are nearest to Escambray; also, at the point where the Saramaguacan falls into the bay of Nuevitas, and the rivers Holguin, Bayamo and Nipe, in the province of Santiago, as before mentioned. Some specimens of the finest gold have been obtained from the mines of Agabama and Sagua la Grande. cil of the Indies. This censorship studi- Albert Hüne: Hist. Philos., 1820; vol. i., p. 137. Population of the Island, and of its Principal Towns. 103 Indias, states that, in 1553, the Indians Florida, believing, according to ancient had entirely disappeared. The accounts traditions, that they were returning to of the bishop of Chiopa, on the popu- the country of their ancestors.* lation of Cuba, are equally contradic The first census of Cuba was taken in tory. Humboldt, who weighs all the 1775. That and the subsequent census authorities, inclines to the opinion that are as follows: 66 thinks that although the island, from 1811-Whites.. .170,862 272,140 274,000 Free blacks.. 140,000 66 Slaves.. .212,000 600,000 1817-Whites. .290,021 66 66 Free blacks. 115,691 .225,268 630,980 1825-Whites.. .325,000 All the Spanish historians admit that the aborigines of Cuba were enslaved; but most of them endeavored to evade 1849+-Whites***. the imputation of cruelty on the part of their Spanish masters. Herrera and Oviedo attribute their rapid extermination to their despair on finding themselves subjected to the dominion of Spain, and on being forced to labor.† Garcilasso relates that the effect of the despair of the natives was such, that the rage of hanging themselves in huts and caverns, by whole families, prevailed, suicide being preferred to labor. Spanish writers have attempted to exculpate the conquestadores, by attributing the disappearance of the natives to their taste for suicide! All cruelty is denied.‡ 1846. however, is sometimes removed by hav4106 ing the children baptized as white by 13,222 the priest; or, by procuring witnesses to 5,837 give oath to their white extraction, and 7,424 the fraud is winked at. The greater 3,780 portion of this class have procured their 4.778 freedom by purchase. 1,222 3,065 1,853 We have no later statements of the population of the principal cities and towns, except of the city of Havana. In the Diario de la Marina for January 1, 1852, it is stated that the population of Havana in 1849, was 142,002; and in 1850, 150,561 souls. The population of Cuba is divided into four classes, of which the first are the native Spaniards, the most powerful portion. They comprise, with some exceptions, the merchants, the army, the clergy, and all the government offices, from the Captain-General down to the captain of partido. The Creoles form the second class, and are generally planters, farmers, or lawyers, but are most generally scrupulously excluded from the army and higher civil offices. They find no sympathy among the Spaniards, who treat them with open contempt and hauteur, though inferior to them in intelligence and enterprise. The Creole seeing himself, in his own native land, excluded from all offices in the government, in the army, and in the church, regards with no favorable eye those sent from Spain to rule over him, and to mend their fortunes at his expense by exacting to the utmost from his gains.† The third class is made up of about an equal number of free mulattoes and free negroes, who are by law excluded from all civil offices. They compose a respectable part of the militia, and would play an active part in any revolutionary movement that might occur. The free colored population of Cuba have many privileges, and are more kindly treated and respected than the same class in our northern states. The Spaniard has not the same antipathy to color that the Anglo-Saxon has. The free colored are forbidden by law to intermarry with the whites, and are also excluded from the learned professions. This obstacle, This town is remarkable for being the place where Columbus first landed, on the 28th of October, 1482. † Notes on Cuba, p. 198. The slaves of Cuba are divided into bozales, those recently brought from Africa; the ladinos, those imported before the law, in 1821, prohibiting the slave trade; and the criollos, those born on the island.* By the laws of Cuba, every owner of slaves is bound to instruct them in the Catholic religion, after the labor of the day has been finished, to the end that they may be baptized and partake of the sacrament. On Sundays and feast days they are not to be employed more than two hours for the necessary labors of the estate, the feeding of the animals, etc., except when the gathering of the crop admits of no delay. They are required to have daily six or eight plantains, or an equivalent in potatoes, yams, yucas, or other vegetables, eight ounces of meat or fish, and four ounces of rice or flour. The quan. tity of clothes is also prescribed, and also the treatment of the women. They are not to be worked more than nine or ten hours per day, except during the harvest of canes, when they may be employed sixteen hours daily. On Sundays and holidays they must be allowed to attend to their gardens and private occupations. Those only between sixteen and sixty can be tasked, and when liberated they must be allowed a permanent subsistence. A slave may purchase his liberty for a price fixed by three arbiters, one chosen by the master and two by the Sindico Procurador General. Liberty and a reward of $50 are to be bestowed on a slave who reveals a conspiracy. No slave can receive from his master, for any offence, more than twenty-five lashes; a crime requiring more must be punished only after a judicial investigation. A master who maltreats his slave, maims him, or otherwise seriously injures him, is compelled to sell him to another. A master violating the slave code may be fined from $20 to $200. Bozal signies muzzled; ladino, versed in an idiom, or one who has been in the country a year. Criollo means Creole. The term bozal is also rendered nouvellement arrivé, en parlant d'un négre. Treatment of Slaves-Classes of Nobility-Priesthood. 1 Such is a partial sketch of the Cuban but also for the exemption they confer slave code; but it is necessary to ob- from petty annoyances from captains of serve that its provisions and require- partidos, and other low officers of justice. ments are not strictly regarded. That A Cuban noble can only be tried by part regarding the religious and moral a high tribunal, and cannot be arrested government of the slaves is enforced for debt. Military officers, also, can only only so far as to secure them baptism be indicted before a military court; and burial in consecrated grounds. On and priests only before ecclesiastical a few Spanish estates, says the author of bodies. "Notes on Cuba," prayers are repeated The origin of many of the Cuban to them before going to work in the nobility, while it exposes them to the morning, and before retiring to their private derision of the untitled crowd, dormitories. He also says that the slaves creates among themselves a clannish of Cuba, compared with the manufactur- feeling, and presents an insuperable ing and mining classes of England, labor barrier to a general social spirit among less, and, so far as physical enjoyment the nobility. The marquis of 1832 looks goes, are better off. He declares the down with something like contempt on account of their being killed by over labor, "absurd tales." his younger brother of 1835; and those of the 17th or 18th century, counting largely on their pedigree and antiquity, hold themselves quite aloof from the mushroom $20,000 “sugar noblemen" of the degenerate 19th. The tone of Cuban society is also eminently aristocratic, and certain classes are very exclusive. The native of old Spain does not conceal his hatred of foreigners and his contempt of the Creole.* There is one other class of citizens in Cuba that we must notice, before leaving this branch of our subject. We allude to the "Nobility of Cuba." These consist of twenty-nine marquises and thirty counts, more than half of whom have been created since 1816. From 1816 to 1833 Ferdinand VII. created eleven marquises and fifteen counts. Most of them had acquired their wealth by The untitled crowd is divided into the sugar plantations, and are jocosely called sugar planter, the coffee planter, the sugar noblemen." They often adopt the merchant, the liberal professions, and names of their estates, as the Marquis the literati. All below these form a de Santa Lucia, the Conde de Cosa- single class with which the rest do not Romero. The Marquis del Real Socorro associate. obtained his title by presenting a large sum of money to the government when its coffers were empty; and a few others had theirs conferred for military and other services to the state. The greatest number have, however, been bought, no Nor is the moral character of the consideration being paid to aught but the higher classes of Cuba quite above suswealth of the individual, the mother picion. Their outward decorum may be, country thus taxing the idle arrogance of to a great extent, says a shrewd writer, her colonists. The price paid for a only in appearance, and there is much patent of nobility has varied from reason to believe that the grossest im$20,000 to $50,000, the purchaser being compelled to entail a certain amount of property with the title. The planter is one grade above the merchant. The bar and the bench are grossly corrupt and despised. Among the lower classes there is an absence of all refinement, religion, education and decency. morality and irreligion prevails among them. Religion has become, in fact, in Cuba, a mere mockery, the priesthood One in Cuba is struck with the num- being plunged into the grossest imber of estates held by titled owners. morality, and given to a daily violation Many of them are very extensive, and of all those rules of conduct which are are rented out, paying a fixed annual so strictly enjoined by the Catholic tribute; so that a large plantation may churches of the United States. often be obtained for a yearly tax, with- priests of Cuba and Mexico have beout paying any purchase money. Many come the scandal of the whole Catholic wealthy persons in Cuba have purchased world; and it would be a gross calumny titles of nobility, not only on account of on the enlightened Catholic citizens of the rank they give possessors in society, the United States, to insinuate that they * Notes on Cuba, pp. 249–263. • Notes on Cuba, pp. 196-198. The |