The vicinity of Matanzas affords a spectacle of almost enchantment for the sight-seer, and of deep interest for the geologist.  Somewhat more than fifty years ago, an accident revealed the beautiful caves of Bellamar, two or three miles from the city, and easily reached by carriage.  Caves ought to be cool.  These are not, but they are well worth all the perspiration it costs to see them.  They are a show place, and guides are always available.  In size, the caverns are not comparable with the caves of Kentucky and Virginia, but they far excel in beauty.  They are about three miles in extent, and their lower levels are said to be about five hundred feet from the surface.  The rock is white limestone, in which are chambers and passage-ways, stalactites and stalagmites innumerable.  These have their somewhat fantastic but not unfitting names, such as the Gothic Temple, the Altar, the Guardian Spirit, the Fountain of Snow, and Columbus’ Mantle.  The place has been called “a dream of fairyland,” a fairly appropriate description.  The colors are snow-white, pink, and shades of yellow, and many of the forms are wonderfully beautiful.  There are many other caves in the island, like Cotilla, in the Guines region not far from Havana, others in the Cubitas Mountains in Camaguey Province, and still others in Oriente, but in comparison with Bellamar they are little else than holes in the ground.  The trip through these remarkable aisles and chambers occupies some three or four hours.

Cuba is not big enough for rivers of size.  There are innumerable streams, for the island generally is well-watered.  The only river of real importance is the Cauto, in Oriente Province.  This is the longest and the largest river in the island.  It rises in the hills north of Santiago, and winds a devious way westward for about a hundred and fifty miles, emptying at last into the Gulf of Buena Esperanza, north of the city of Manzanillo.  It is navigable for small boats, according to the stage of the water, from seventy-five to a hundred miles from its mouth.  Numerous smaller streams flow to the coast on both north and south.  Some, that are really estuaries, are called rivers.  Very few of them serve any commercial purposes.  There are a few water areas called lakes, but they are really little other than ponds.  On the south coast, directly opposite Matanzas, lies a vast swamp known as the Cienega de Zapata.  It occupies an area of about seventy-five miles in length and about thirty miles in width, almost a dead flat, and practically at sea-level.  Here and there are open spaces of water or clusters of trees, but most of it is bog and quagmire and dense mangrove thickets.  Along the coast are numerous harbors, large and small, that are or, by dredging, could be made available for commercial purposes.  Among these, on the north coast, from west to east, are Bahia Honda, Mariel, Havana, Matanzas, Nuevitas, Nipe Bay, and Baracoa.  On the south, from east to west, are Guantanamo, Santiago, Manzanillo, Cienfuegos, and