Cuba even a list of the
people who had made contracts with the company, to say nothing of their
respective holdings and the status of their payments. No such list could
be obtained from New York under several weeks or perhaps months, and
when obtained would be of little value for the reason that there could
not possibly be land enough surveyed by that time to allot one half of
the thousands of investors. Surveying in this dense tropical forest was
necessarily slow work, and progress had been impeded by the
long-continued rains.

It was manifestly impossible to make a general allotment of the land at
once, and yet it was essential that the colonists who had actually
arrived on the spot should be given their tracts promptly and permitted
to go to work upon them. The life of the colony seemed to hinge on
action of this sort. Quite early the company had stated that the
subdivision would be made about January 1, and when General Van der
Voort arrived in New York in the latter part of December, he assured the
colonists who were preparing to sail with him to Cuba that they should
have their land by January 15. This promise was carried out to the
letter, and was the only rational course of action that could be pursued
under the existing circumstances. It undoubtedly saved the colony at
what was a critical stage. During the voyage down, the colonists on
board the _Yarmouth_ were greatly exercised over the method of
allotment; that is to say, many of them were, while others declared that
they would be satisfied if they only got their land promptly. General
Van der Voort gave the subject much anxious consideration, seeking to
devise a plan which should be at once just and practical. He finally
decided that the fairest and best thing to do was to place the matter in
the hands of a committee of the colonists, giving them the power to
prescribe the method of allotment within certain limitations, subject to
the approval of the colonists on the ground. The general described this
as the "town-meeting" principle, and his decision gave entire
satisfaction to the pioneers.

General Van der Voort arrived in La Gloria Thursday, January 11, having
remained behind at Nuevitas to see the baggage of the colonists through
the custom house. This accomplished, he took passage for La Gloria on
board the lighter carrying the trunks, etc. The voyage was not a smooth
one. The boat came near being wrecked in the rough sea, and suffered the
loss of its