. The earth and its inhabitants .. . CUBA. UBA, largest of the Antilles, occupies a central geographical position between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. It was the first extensive stretch of land discovered by Columbus in the New World, although with strange obstinacy he persisted in regarding it as a peninsula of the Old World, like the mysterious Zimpango of the far East. His account is too vague to determine the spot where he first landed, more especially as the island of Guinahani, whence he reached Cuba, remains itself still unidentified. According to Las Casus and Herrera it w
. The earth and its inhabitants .. . CUBA. UBA, largest of the Antilles, occupies a central geographical position between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. It was the first extensive stretch of land discovered by Columbus in the New World, although with strange obstinacy he persisted in regarding it as a peninsula of the Old World, like the mysterious Zimpango of the far East. His account is too vague to determine the spot where he first landed, more especially as the island of Guinahani, whence he reached Cuba, remains itself still unidentified. According to Las Casus and Herrera it was at Baracoa, near the eastern extremity of the island, that he first beheld " the fairest lands that the sun shines on and that the eye has ever ; Navarrete thinks that Nipe was the first Cuban port entered by the caravels of Columbus, while Washington Irving removes the spot farther west to the port of Nuevitas. But in any case, in 1492, that is, during his first voyage, the navigator coasted a great part of the north-east side, and in 1494, during his second voyage, he traced the southern shores, with all their bays and inlets, as far as the present Cortes Bay, not far from the western extremity of the island. It was here, within 60 miles of the terminal headland, that he assembled his crews to appeal to their testimony that Cuba was no island, but really a part of the mainland. Nevertheless he must have had his doubts, for he had even recourse to threats, and any expression of oj^inion contrary to his own might, in fact, at that time have cost the sceptic the loss of ears or tongue. Thus Cuba continued, by decree of the admiral, to be an Asiatic peninsula down to the year 1508, when Ocampo, coasting the north side, reached Cape San Antonio, and passed round the island through the Yucatan channel. Three years later, the Spaniards took possession of Cuba, where they founded their first settle- ment, Baracoa. The contour-line of the seaboard has been gradually
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Keywords: ., bookauthor, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectgeography
