Puerto Principe

“ Puerto Principe, a town of forty thousand inhabitants, the largest of the inland cities, is situated on high ground, well watered and well drained, and though antiquated and utterly lacking in modern conveniences or sanitary regulations, as they are known among northern people, is so much more healthful than other Cuban towns as to warrant a milder animadversion than in the case of others. ”

“ I cannot describe Puerto Principe at any length. It is an old Spanish city in architecture and customs, and might well have been transplanted from mediæval Spain. As a matter of fact, it was moved here centuries ago from the north coast of Cuba, near the present site of Nuevitas, the change being made to escape the incursions of pirates. It has a population of about forty-seven thousand, and is the third largest city in Cuba, and the most populous inland town. Many of the residents are wealthy and aristocratic, and the people, generally speaking, are fine-looking and very well dressed. ”

“ The town is hot and healthful. It has shipped as much as half a million dollars’ worth of sugar, mahogany, cedar, honey, beeswax, etc., to the United States in one year.
Nuevitas (Puerto Principe) , population seven thousand, is a town of promise and no public improvements. Water, in the dry season, commands nearly as high a price as whiskey. It is the seaport of Puerto Principe, Cuba’s largest inland town, and is connected with it by forty-five miles of railroad. It has a fine harbour and a good location for drainage. It was at or near Nuevitas that Columbus first saw Cuba. ”

“ Journeying to the charming Isle of Pines, and then south and east through Matanzas, Santa Clara, and Puerto Principe to Santiago, there is the same invitation of Nature to come and enjoy all that makes earth lovely. The island is dotted with towns large and small having much the same characteristics as Havana. ”

“ By the time of Governor Angulo, Havana had grown into—or been reduced to—a community of about two hundred Europeans, and perhaps three hundred Indians and negro slaves.
Santa Maria del Puerto Principe was originally founded in 1515 on the north coast, but a dozen years{168} later was removed inland for security against the rovers of the sea, and became known by its present name of Camaguey. For many years Vasco Porcallo de Figueroa was its chief man; a man of wealth and great force of character, who lived like a prince upon a vast estate with a great retinue of servants and slaves. ”

“ Henry Morgan ever made against any town in the Spanish Indies was the bold descent upon the city of Puerto del Principe in the island of Cuba, with a mere handful of men. It was a deed the boldness of which has never been outdone by any of a like nature—not even the famous attack upon Panama itself. Thence they returned to their boats in the very face of the whole island of Cuba, aroused and determined upon their extermination. ”

“ The people of Cuba seemed to be aroused by the imminence of danger to a better degree of public spirit than they had ever before manifested. Bayamo, Sancti Spiritus, Puerto Principe, and even poor little Trinidad, the smallest and weakest town of the Island, contributed men and arms to their full ability, and when at the beginning of May these levies were mustered in Havana they numbered more than 225 efficient men, tolerably well armed. ”

“ Judging from our experience with the inhabitants of the province of Puerto Principe, there are no better people on the face of the earth to "get along with" than the Cubans. We found them, almost without exception, courteous, social, kind, hospitable, and honest. ”

“ Santi Spiritus of forty to fifty houses is more a village than a town and its harbor is good only for barges and sloops. But vessels stop there on their way from Santiago, Bayamo and Puerto Principe to Havana. ”

“ Each city in Cuba had its Ayuntamiento or council. In Puerto Principe there seem to have been elections for membership to this body, but in most cases seats were bought at enormous prices, and the receipts from such sale went into the Spanish treasury, although the Captain-General received his perquisite for allowing the transfer to be made. ”

“ Strong in their likes and dislikes, they often exhibit no little devotion to those whom they esteem or respect, and I believe them to be quite as reliable and trustworthy as the average among the inhabitants of the tropics. I have heard it said that the Cubans of some of the other provinces do not compare favorably with those of Puerto Principe, which may be true ”

“ The only street railways are to be found in Puerto Principe, where a short mule motor line exists, and in Havana, which has about twenty-seven miles of track, say about one hundred miles less than a city of over 200,000 population should have. Its power is principally horse, one route steam, and although it is badly managed, poor in service, and always in bad condition, its annual receipts are about $500,000. ”

“ They were hampered in their efforts by Spanish officials and Spanish spies were always at their heels.
While the main uprising had been in the vicinity of Puerto Principe, incipient rebellions and sympathetic insurrections occurred in other parts of the island, which were quickly quelled by overwhelming forces of Spaniards, and the news of which was confined as much as possible to the immediate vicinity of the uprisings. ”

“ Puerto del Principe, situated in the interior of the island, about midway between its northern and southern shores, and more than four hundred miles eastward from Havana, contains a population of twenty-four thousand—fourteen thousand being whites, and about six thousand slaves. ”

“ I am well aware that in the more thickly settled and more prosperous provinces fine country houses are sometimes to be found, and the people generally may live somewhat differently and perhaps better, but I believe I have faithfully pictured the typical Cuban as he exists to-day in the country districts of Puerto Principe, the fertile and unfortunate province which has probably suffered more from the ravages of war in the last thirty years than any other province in the island. It was completely despoiled during the Ten Years' War, and has never recovered. ”

“ By the cedula of the 23rd March, 1812, the island was divided into three Intendencias or Provincias; those of the Havannah, Puerto Principe and Santiago de Cuba, of which the respective length from east to west is about ninety, seventy and sixty-five sea-leagues. The intendant of the Havannah retains the prerogatives of Superintendente general subdelegado de Real Hacienda de la Isla de Cuba. According to this division, the Provincia de Cuba comprehends Santiago de Cuba, Baracoa, Holguin, Bayamo, Gibara, Manzanillo, Jiguani, Cobre, and Tiguaros ”

“ O'Reilly thanked him, promising to use every precaution in delivering the message. The very care necessary in communicating between brother and brother made him realize more clearly than hitherto that he was among enemies.
The next morning he paid Carbajal's score and took the train to the interior. In his bag was Tomas Alvarado's precious volume, and in the same coach with him rode the Secret Service man.
In its general features Puerto Principe differed little from the other Cuban cities O'Reilly knew. It was compactly built, it was very old and it looked its centuries. ”

“ Because of the isolation of the eastern part of the island, the dangers from pirates, and the important considerations which had caused Santiago de Cuba (q.v.) to be the first capital of the island, Cuba was divided in 1607 into two departments, and a governor, subordinate in military matters to the captain-general at Havana, was appointed to rule the territory east of Puerto Príncipe. In 1801, when the audiencia—of which the captain-general was ex officio president—began its functions at that point, the governor of Santiago became subordinated in political matters as much as in military. ”

“ The character of the soil is reported to be more volcanic than calcareous; it has suffered repeatedly from earthquakes. It is the second city in the island with regard to population, slightly exceeding that of Matanzas and Puerto Principe. So far as American commerce is concerned, it ranks only ninth among the fifteen Cuban ports of entry. It is located on the extreme northern bank of the harbor of Santiago de Cuba, a harbor of the first class and one of the smallest; hence, as is believed, the great liability of its shipping to infection. ”

“ General Portillo was considered one of the most able of the Spanish officers, and it was expected that he would be able to inflict great losses on the insurgents, hence the Spanish leaders were greatly chagrined when he went down in defeat at the hands of General Gomez, who then proceeded to administer a like chastisement to the forces under General Arminan, who had taken up his position at Guasimas, and who was forced to make his escape to Puerto Principe, abandoning his command, all of whom were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. ”

“ Domingo; the bishop residing at present almost always at Havannah, and the trade of the island being concentrated there, has reduced St. Jago from its former splendour: It is still however a fine town, and well peopled. The women are said to excel in beauty.
Puerto del Principe, or Villa del Principe, is 145 miles north-west of St. Jago, in 21° 17ʹ north latitude, 77° 45ʹ west longitude, and is remarkable for the fertility of the country around it, where large droves of cattle are nourished by the luxuriancy of the pasturage in the savannahs. ”

“ Puerto Rico's status must be based on the principle of self-detennination. Puerto Rico has a proud history, an extraordinary culture, its own traditions, customs and language, and a distinct identity. ”

“ We make a last farewell tour of the shops in San Juan, and buy a few gifts for the friends at home: a green parrot to please sister; a tortoise-shell comb for mother; a cane for father, a native hat for brother, and a calabash drinking bowl for the school museum.
It is with reluctant steps that we make our way to the ship. The clear sky, the perfect climate, the constant verdure, the wonderful plants and trees, and the beautiful mountain scenery make Puerto Rico one of the most attractive lands to be found anywhere. ”

“ I am speaking now of fine days; but there are days when the sky is cloudy and the wind blows, and the waters in the Bay of Cadiz below surge up sullen and yeasty, and there are days when the rain comes down quick, thick, and heavy as from a waterspout, and the streets are turned for the moment into rivulets. But the effects of the rain do not last long; Spain is what washerwomen would call a good drying country. Beyond its neatness and tidiness, Puerto has other features to recommend it to the traveller. ”

“ The growth of this city has been phenomenal, mushroom-like, and yet its development has been substantial. As a port its strategic value cannot well be overestimated. It is the only safe naval harbour for the big battleships, and the government has built an arsenal and docks on the eastern side of the estuary, called the Puerto Militar. It is a natural outlet for one of the richest agricultural sections of the republic. [131] The wheat which was formerly shipped to Buenos Aires, and exported from that port, is now loaded on ocean liners from Bahia Blanca, and forwarded to Europe. ”

“ He fixed upon the bay of Guayanilla, eastward of Guánica, and San German became the port of call for the Spanish ships bound to Pária. Its proximity to the "pearl coast," as the north shore of Venezuela was named, made it the point of departure for all who wished to reach that coast or escape from the shores of poverty-stricken Puerto Rico—namely, the dreamers of the riches of Peru, those who, like Sedeño, aspired to new conquests on the mainland, or crown officers who had good reasons for wishing to avoid giving an account of their administration of the royal revenues. ”

“ If you are sick of the worry and fret and jar of contemporaneous life here at home, if you care for wide, sweet blue sky, eternal flowers, crystal fountains, and gypsy music, then there is no better place for you to go than to Puerto Rico. ”

“ The very few who aspired to know, went to la Española to obtain an education. The few spiritual wants of the people were supplied by monks, many of them as ignorant and bigoted as themselves. War and pestilence and tempest had united to wipe the island from the face of the earth, and the very name of "Rich Port," given to it without cause or reason, must have sounded in the ears of the inhabitants as a bitter sarcasm on their wretched condition. ”

“ It lies eastward of the other greater Antilles, Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica, and although inferior even to the last of these islands in population and extent, it yields to none of them in fertility.
By its geographical position Puerto Rico is peculiarly adapted to become the center of an extensive commerce. ”

“ CHAPTER XXIV GENERAL CONDITION OF THE ISLAND FROM 1815 TO 1833 That Ferdinand should, while engaged in cruel persecution of his best subjects in the Peninsula, think of dictating liberal laws for this island is an anomaly which can be explained only by its small political importance.
In August, 1815, there appeared a decree entitled "Regulations for promoting the population, commerce, industry, and agriculture of Puerto Rico." It embraced every object, and provided for all the various incidents that could instil life and vigor into an infant colony. ”

“ Captain Morgan, who knew very well all the avenues of this city and the neighbouring coasts, arrived in the dusk of the evening at Puerto de Naos, ten leagues to the west of Puerto Bello. Being come hither, they sailed up the river to another harbour called Puerto Pontin, where they anchored: here they put themselves into boats and canoes, leaving in the ships only a few men to bring them next day to the port. ”