tirely by electricity. Thousands of tourists last year visited the plantation and factory at the terminus of the road. As the crop season is from the beginning of December to the first or second week of May it coincides with the tourist season, and thus visitors have an exceptionally good opportunity to see one of the most up-to-date mills of Cuba in full operation, with little trouble and in a few hours' time.

Batabano, situated on the coast almost directly to the south of Habana, is an unattractive place, but a port of considerable importance. An extensive sponge industry is carried on in the neighboring waters and great numbers of turtles are shipped from here to the United States.

Batabano is the port from which the traveller takes steamer to the Isle of Pines. The value and importance of the Isle of Pines have only been realized in recent years. It was at one time a rendezvous of pirates and Henry Morgan once planned to assemble his men there and make a raid upon Habana by way of Batabano. In the hands of Spain the Isle was turned to account only to the extent of working its marble quarries. After the last war of independence an American colony settled there

and has since become numerous and prosperous. The Island is now practically owned by citizens of the United States, who represent a majority of the population. Several land companies have been in operation for the past ten years, and have established many thriving towns and settlements. The soil of the island is adapted to all kinds of farming and the climate has been famous for its salubrity during the past hundred years.

Pinar del Rio is best known for the possession of the finest tobacco lands in the world. Tobacco is, however, by no means the only industry of the Province. Along its north coast are extensive sugar lands and a number of large mills; also numerous plantations owned by Americans and Canadians. The Province is singularly deficient in harbors. The best of the few which it has is Bahia Honda. A coaling station in this bay was ceded to the United States by Cuba, but it has not been used as yet.

The most pronounced physical feature of the Province is the group, rather than range, of mountains called the Organo. Their verdant sides form the background of the view from almost every point. The soil in the valleys

between the numerous spurs is exceedingly fertile. These lands were peaceably tilled through all the disturbances previous to the last war, but then Maceo carried the conflict into the far west, and Pinar del Rio will not recover from its effects for many a year to come. On the north and on the south the Organo Mountains slope down to undulating plains. That on the southern side is the more extensive and in it the celebrated Vuelta Abajo tobacco district lies.

For two centuries the Spaniards looked upon the Province of Matanzas as a hotbed of rebellion. The Cubans style it "El Suelo natal de Independencia," meaning the birthplace of independence. Though, after Habana, the smallest of the provinces of Cuba, it is one of the richest sections of the country. In the beginning it was a great cattle grazing region, but long since its fertile plains were extensively planted with sugar-cane. Before the

War there were five hundred stock farms in the Province, nearly as many sugar estates, and at least three thousand plantations of various other kinds. During the rebellion all this industrial wealth was practically destroyed. Its rich lands insured a revival, however, and the

Province has again taken its place in the forefront of sugar-producing sections of Cuba.

The favorite excursion of visitors to Habana is to the Valley of the Yumuri, which Humboldt characterized as the "loveliest valley in the world." It has been described by many pens, as have the caverns of Bellamar, with their numerous chambers filled with stalactite and stalagmite crystals.

The City of Matanzas is one of the most attractive in Cuba. It contains several beautiful parks and boulevards and, in the newest portion, some of the finest residences in the Island.

Not far from Matanzas is Cardenas, a centre of about twenty-five thousand inhabitants. It ranks third among the sugar shipping ports of Cuba, handling most of the output of the Province. Cardenas is beautifully situated and enjoys a delightful climate. It is sometimes spoken of as an "American city," on account of the number of persons of that nationality resident there. Cardenas appears to be justified in its boast that it is the most progressive city in Cuba. No more than seventy years old, it is far in advance of every other city of its size in the matter of public utilities, whilst its