JOURNAL OF BANKING, CURRENCY, AND FINANCE. Bell's Dictionary of Banking.-Banking in New Jersey.. Banks and Banking in South Carolina.... Condition of the Banks of Baltimore. ........ Mode of making and receiving Deposits in Banks... Bavings Banks in Rhode Island.. Condition of Savings Banks of Connecticut... United States Treasurer's statement, December 27, 1852... Receipts of Gold in Great Britain.-Finances and Debt of Kentucky.. Finances and Debt of Tennessee.-Imports and Exports of Specie at Boston... Debt and Finances of New York City.-Taxes collected in the City of New York in 1852.. Real and Personal Wealth of Albany.. Brooklyn City Debt, January 1, 1852.-Debt and Finances of Boston...... COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. Shipping of Philadelphia.. Vessels Cleared at Baltimore in 1852.. Baltimore Inspections of Breadstuffs.. Vessels Admeasured at Baltimore in 1852. Imports of Hides into the Port of New York.. Mackerel and other Fish inspected in Massachusetts.. Foreign and Coastwise Arrivals and Clearances at Boston.... COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS. Regulation of the Argentine Confederacy.. Tariff of New South Wales.-Of Vessels Built in Foreign Countries PAGE. 219 220 223 995 230 231 231 232 933 235 935 236 237 238 239 239 240 240 244 244 245 Fire-proof Buildings erected in San Francisco........ JOURNAL OF MINING AND MANUFACTURES. The manufacture of glass.-No. vi. By DRMING JARVIS, Esq., of Massachusetts.. HUNT'S MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW. FEBRUARY, 1853. Art. I.-CUBA. CUBA-DISCOVERY-SETTLEMENT EARLY HISTORY-LORD ALBEMARLE'S EXPEDITION-LAS CASASFIDELITY TO SPAIN-GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND-PRODUCTS-ANIMALS-HAVANA -POPULATION OF CUBA, 1580 to 1850-EMIGRATION-CAPACITY FOR FUTURE GROWTH-AMOUNT OF CHIEF PRODUCTS, 1849-IMPORTS AND EXPORTS-CUBAN TARIFF-RETALIATORY ACT OF THE UNITED STATES-EFFECT THEREOF TAXES IN CUBA-CIRCULATING MEDIUM-POLITICAL IMPORTANCE OF CUBA-VIEWS OF FRANCE, ENGLAND, AND THE UNITED STATES-EXTENSION POLICY OF THE LATTER-POLICY TOWARD CUBA FROM 1825-MR. ADAMS-MR. WEBSTER-MR. POLK'S ATTEMPT TO PURCHASE CUBA-MR. EVERETT'S LETTER-CONCLUSION. CUBA was discovered by Columbus on the 28th of October, 1492, on his first voyage. He first named the island Juana; it was afterward called Ferdinanda, and next Santiago, but its Indian name has survived all these. The aboriginals were an exceedingly mild and indolent race, being absolutely pusillanimous. The island was divided into nine independent principalities, under as many different Caciques, among which the most perfect tranquillity prevailed. These people were, beyond all other Indian nations, the most easily converted to Christianity. Colun.bus visited the island twice afterward, in April, 1494, and in 1502. In 1508, Cuba was circumnavigated by Sebastian Ocampo. In 1511, Diego Columbus, the son of the adventurer, and Governor of St. Domingo, fitted out an expedition for colonizing Cuba, consisting of above 300 men, under Diego Velasques, who had accompanied his father on the second voyage. Baracoa was first founded, and in 1514, Santiago and Trinidad were settled. In July, 1515, a town was planted called San Cristoval de la Havana, which name was transferred in 1519 to the present capital, the old town being now called Batabano. In 1538, the second Havana was reduced to ashes by a French privateer, to prevent a recurrence of which disaster, the Castillo de la Fuerza, a fortress still existing, was built by Hernando de Soto, the Governor of Cuba, as well as Adelantado of the Floridas, and famous for his later explorations in the Southern and Western regions of the United States, and for being the discoverer of the Mississippi River. In 1554, the French again attacked and destroyed Havana. About 1580, the cultivation of tobacco and the sugar cane was commenced, the principal employment before that having been cattle-breeding. As the aboriginals were found incompe tent to the labor of cultivation, the system of Negro slavery was introduced. Before 1600, two other fortresses, both still existing, the Moro and the Punta, were built for the defense of Havana. About 1616, the annual product of copper in Cuba was about 2,000 quintals. About 1665, the walls of Havana were commenced, and were finished by the aid of means which Mexico was obliged to contribute. For about a century and a half succeeding 1600, the island was in almost perpetual fear of invasion from either the French, English, Dutch, or the pirates infesting the West India waters, and several ineffectual efforts were made to reduce it. In 1762, Havana was taken by an English fleet and army under Lord Albemarle, the former consisting of over 200 vessels, the latter numbering 14,041 men. The Spanish army numbered 27,610. The defense was exceedingly obstinate. The English commenced operations on the 6th of June, and notwithstanding all their means, is was not until the 30th of July that the Moro Castle surrendered, and it was on the 14th of August that the city capitulated. The spoil divided among the victorious army and navy amounted to £736,185 3s. The next year, 1763, Cuba was restored, under the treaty of Versailles-and this restoration of the island to the Spaniards, says Turnbull, is regarded by the native writers as the true era from whence its aggrandisement and prosperity is to be dated. The city and island took a new impulse and went forward with rapidity. The administration of Las Casas, who arrived as Captain-General in 1790, is represented as a brilliant epoch in Cuban history. He pushed forward with indefatigable perseverance a system of public works of the first utility. He introduced also the culture of indigo, and extended the commercial prosperity of the island" by removing, as far as his authority extended, all the trammels imposed upon it by the old system of privilege and restriction." By Las Casas' efforts, also, the island was kept in the enjoyment of uninterrupted tranquillity at the time of the revolution in St. Domingo, although it was universally believed a conspiracy, was formed, instigated by the French, among the free people of color in Cuba. It would be tedious to narrate all the benefits - conferred upon the island by this wise governor, during his administration of six years. In 1802, a fire in Havana destroyed the populous suburb of Jesu Maria, leaving no less than 11,400 people without the protection of a roof. On the deposition of the royal family of Spain by Napoleon, the news of which arrived in July, 1808, every member of the Cabildo took a solemn oath to preserve the island for the abducted sovereign, and declared war against Napoleon. In the course of the war the foreign trade of the island was so reduced, that the local authorities threw open their Commerce for the time on the footing of a free competition between Spaniards and foreigners. Another English descent had been feared in 1807, and later an invasion by the French was expected; but, excepting an attack by French refugees from St. Domingo, with the design of permanently occupying part of the island, which, however, they were prevailed on to abandon, Cuba remained quiet, and preserved a remarkable tranquillity, while the revolutionary proceedings of the Spanish provinces on the continent were in full progress. In 1812 a Negro conspiracy occurred, which occasioned much alarm; but it was sup 149 pressed, and the leader, Aponte, with his associates, met with the customary We pass now to a short description of Cuba, with a few statistical details relating to its population, products, and trade.* Cuba is situated between the 74th and 85th degrees of longitude, west from Greenwich, and 19th and 23d degrees of north latitude, being the most westerly of the West India Islands. Its shape approaches a crescent, with the concavity at the south. It divides the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico into two passages, that to the north-west being thirty-two-and-a-half leagues wide in the narrowest part, between the points of Hicacos, in Cuba, and Tancha, on the Florida coast. The south-west passage is thirty-eight leagues wide between the Cabo de San Antonio of Cuba and the Cabo de Catoche, the most salient extremity of the peninsula of Yucatan. The length of the island, following the shortest curve, is 648 miles, and its extreme breadth 107 miles. with the other small islands attached to it, 32,807 square miles, an area a The superficial extent is 31,468 square miles, or little exceeding that of the State of Maine, and about equal to that of Indiana. The shores are low and flat, and difficult of approach. The island is divided into two unequal sections by a cordillera of mountains, extending nearly its whole length; it is well watered, and the streams are rapid, but of course very short. The principal articles of export are too well known to need mention. Among the fruits are the pine, or anana, oranges, shaddocks, the forbidden fruit, melons, plantains, bananas, the mamey colorado, or apple, the amarilla, lemons and sweet limes, and the nispen, or sapote de la India—all abundant. The fig and strawberry are likewise found, but not so common. Among the roots used for food are the sweet and bitter yuca, cassava being made from the latter, the corn, of which two crops are obtained in a year, rice, and beans of various yam, &c. Of cereal plants, Indian kinds, are cultivated, and wheat was formerly raised. The market gardeners of Havana supply the tables of the inhabitants, especially in the dry season, with a vast variety of excellent vegetables. The cultivation of indigo, though often attempted, has met with little success. vation is inconsiderable, and has never engaged much attention, although The cotton cultithe plant thrives in many districts. duction, and was expected to supply, in some degree, the place of coffee. Cacao is of comparatively recent introThe wax of the island is considered equal to that of Venice. forest trees, the mahogany, cedar, ebony, black and white guayacan, the Among the courbana, the curey, the cerillo, the grenadillo, the hayajarico, or yayajabito, and the wild orange tree, all classed among the precious woods, are abundant, and the kinds used in building, and for furniture, machinery, &c., are yet more numerous. There is also some gold and marble, and deposits of salt, lime, and chalk Of minerals, copper, iron, and coal are abundant. abound. The principal facts in this description of Cuba are gathered from a work on Cuba, by David Turnbull, Esq., an Englishman, who visited the island in 1837-8. Of domestic animals, the ox, the horse, and the pig, are by far the most valuable, and form a large proportion of the wealth of the island; sheep, goats, and mules are inferior, both in number and quantity. Of domestic fowl, the common cock and hen are most numerous. The goose, turkey, pigeon, and peacock are also well known. The sylvan birds are numerous. Birds of prey are few, and the vulture and turkey-buzzard are protected by law and custom, on account of their services in the removal of carrion. The reefs and shallows, and the sandy portion of the beach are famous for the turtle. The waters abound with delicious fish, and in the gulfs and bays, the crocodile and cayman are found. The manati inhabits deep pools of fresh water, and the iguani, a kind of lizard, is found on the banks of rivers, bays, and lagoons. The land-crab is in some parts very numerous and troublesome. The surface is sometimes undermined by them for half a league continuously, and the traveler is liable to serious accident by breaking through. Snakes and reptiles are not numerous. The maja, twelve or fourteen feet in length, and eighteen or twenty inches in circumference, is the largest, but is less dangerous than the jubo, about six feet long, which has no hesitation in attacking a man. Among the useful insects are the bee, and phosphorescent flies, which may be used for light. The noxious insects are the nigua, or jigger, a species of ant called vivajagua, the family of mosquitoes, some of them powerful enough to draw blood through a thick leather glove, the sand-fly, the scorpion, less poisonous than that of Europe, and spiders, whose sting is malignant enough to produce fever and endanger life. Havana, the capital of the island, has one of the most safe, capacious, and best defended harbors in the world. It is guarded by six strong-holds, and a wall, with ditches, surround the city. The rise and fall of the tide is 22 inches, and the depth of water at the entrance not less than eight fathoms. The population in 1827 amounted to 112,023, of which there were within the walls, free and slave, 37,980, and in the suburbs, 54,043; the garrison numbered 18,000 of the above total. The whites were 46,621; free Negroes, 15,347; free mulattoes, 8,215; Negro slaves, 22,830; mulatto slaves, 1,010. The city had 3,671 houses, all of stone, the suburbs 7,968 houses, of various materials. In 1840, Havana had 240,000 inhabitants, and the present population is not less than 300,000, making it the next city in size to New York upon the whole American continent. The city of Puerto Principe contained a population of 49,012 in 1827, and is at about that figure at present. Matanzas, Santiago, Trinidad, Neuvitas, Baracoa, San Salvador, &c., are the other chief towns. Santiago is very unhealthy, being peculiarly liable to the ravages of the yellow fever. The population of Cuba was at different periods as follows: |