Cuba, of Havana, the Morro, the Prado, of a sunny island in the midst of a sapphire sea.  While it is true that almost everything in Cuba is worth seeing, it is best to acquire, before going, some idea of the exhibition.  That saves time and many steps.  The old city wall, La Fuerza, and La Punta, are mere piles of masonry, more or less dull and uninteresting unless one knows something of their history.  The manners and customs of any country become increasingly interesting if one knows something about them, the reason for them.

It is only a short trip to the Castillo del Principe, the fortress that crowns the hill to the west of the city.  From that height, the city and the harbor are seen below, to the eastward.  Across the bay, on the heights at the entrance, are the frowning walls of Morro Castle surmounted by the towering light-house, and the no less grim walls of La Cabana.  The bay itself is a sprawling, shapeless body of water with a narrow neck connecting it with the Florida Straits.  Into the western side of the bay the city thrusts itself in a shape that, on a large map, suggests more than anything else the head and neck of an over-fed bulldog.  Into this bay, in 1508, came Sebastian Ocampo, said to be the first white man to visit the spot.  He entered for the purpose of careening his little vessels in order to remove the barnacles and accumulated weed-growth.  It is possible that the spot was discovered earlier, but there is no record of the discovery if such was made.  Ocampo gave it the name of Puerto de Carenas.  The next record is of its occupation, in 1519.  Four years earlier, Diego Velasquez had left a little colony near what is now called Batabano, on the south coast.  He gave the place the name of San Cristobal de la Habana, in memory of the illustrious navigator and discoverer.  Habana, or Havana, is a term of aboriginal origin.  It proved to be an uncomfortable place of residence, and in 1519 the people moved across the island to the Puerto de Carenas, taking with them the name given to the earlier settlement, and substituting it for the name given by Ocampo.  After a time, all was dropped except the present title, Habana, or more commonly by English-speaking people, Havana.  It was not much of a place for a number of years, but in 1538 it was sacked and burned by a French pirate, one of the many, of different nations, who carried on a very lively buccaneering business in those and in later years in West Indian waters.  Hernando de Soto was then governor of the island, with headquarters at the then capital city, Santiago de Cuba.  He proceeded at once to the scene of destruction.  On his arrival, he ordered the erection of a fortress.  Some of the work then done still remains in the old structure near the Palace, at the foot of Calle O’Reilly, known as La Fuerza.  A few years before this time, Hernan Cortes had conquered Mexico, then called New Spain, and a business between Old Spain and New Spain soon developed.  The harbor of Havana made a convenient