rs for
the job, although knowing very well what I would pay and what they would
finally accept. Amiably conducted, as such discussions should be in
Cuba, the chaffering becomes a matter of mutual entertainment. A bargain
concluded, a start may be made about noon for a drive over a good road,
through a series of typical villages, to Marianao, in time for a late
afternoon train to Havana, reaching there in ample time for dinner. Along
the road from Guanajay to Marianao, Maceo swept with ruthless hand in
1896, destroying Spanish property. Here the Spaniards, no less ruthless,
destroyed the property of Cubans. It is now a region of peaceful industry,
and little or nothing remains to indicate its condition when I first saw
it. The little villages along the way were in ruins, the fields were
uncultivated, and there were no cattle. At intervals there stood the walls
of what had been beautiful country estates. Only one of many was left
standing. At intervals, also, stood the Spanish blockhouses. All along that
route, in 1906, were the insurrectos of the unfortunate experience of that
year. In the village of Caimito, a short distance from Guanajay, along that
road, I visited Pino Guerra at his then headquarters when he and his
forces so menaced Havana that Secretary Taft, in his capacity of Peace
Commissioner, ordered their withdrawal to a greater distance. The trip by
rail and road, exhibits most of Cuba's special characteristics. There are
fields of sugar cane and fields of tobacco, country villages and peasant
homes, fruits and vegetables, ceiba trees, royal palms, cocoanut palms, and
mango trees. There is no other trip, as easily made, where so much can be
seen. But there are other excursions in the vicinity, for many reasons best
made by carriage or by private hired automobile. Within fifteen miles or so
of the city, are places like Calvario, Bejucal, and Managua, all reached
by good highways through interesting and typical country, and all well
illustrating the real life of the real Cubans. It was in the vicinity of
those places that Maximo Gomez operated in 1895 and 1896, terrorizing
Havana by menacing it from the south and the east while Maceo threatened it
from the west. Another short and pleasant trip can be made around the head
of the harbor to Guanabacoa, and thence to Cojimar. Another interesting and
easily reached point is Guines, a good example of places of its size and
class.

Of Cuba's larger cities, there are a