A remarkable feature of the Cuban coast is the number of excellent anchorages, roadsteads and harbours. On the N. shore, beginning at the W., Bahía Honda, Havana, Matanzas, Cardenas, Nuevitas and Nipe; and on the S. shore running westward Guantánamo, Santiago and Cienfuegos, are harbours of the first class, several of them among the best of the world. Mariel, Cabañas, Banes, Sagua la Grande and Baracoa on the N., and Manzanillo, Santa Cruz, Batabanó and Trinidad on the S. are also excellent ports or anchorages. The peculiar pouch-shape of almost all the harbours named (Matanzas being a marked exception) greatly increases their security and defensibility. These pouch harbours are probably “drowned” drainage basins. The number of small bays that can be utilized for coast trade traffic is extraordinary.
In popular language the different portions of the island are distinguished as the Vuelta Abajo (“lower turn”), W. of Havana; the Vuelta Arriba (“upper turn”), E. of Havana to Cienfuegos—Vuelta Abajo and Vuelta Arriba are also used colloquially at any point in the island to mean “east” and “west”—Las Cinco Villas—i.e. Villa Clara, Trinidad, Remedios, Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus—between Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus; and Tierra Adentro, referring to the region between Cienfuegos and Bayamo. These names are extremely common. The province and city of Puerto Príncipe are officially known as Camagüey, their original Indian name, which has practically supplanted the Spanish name in local usage.
Five topographic divisions of the island are fairly marked. Santiago (now Oriente) province is high and mountainous. Camagüey is characterized by rolling, open plains, slightly broken, especially in the W., by low mountains. The E. part of Santa Clara province is decidedly rough and broken. The W. part, with the provinces of Matanzas and Havana, is flat and rolling, with occasional hills a few hundred feet high. Finally, Pinar del Rio is dominated by a prominent mountain range and by outlying piedmont hills and mesas. There are mountains in Cuba from one end of the island to the other, but they are not derived from any central mass and are not continuous. As just indicated there are three distinctively mountainous districts, various minor groups lying outside these. The three main systems are known in Cuba as the occidental, central and oriental. The first, the Organ mountains, in Pinar del Rio, rises in a sandy, marshy region near Cape San Antonio. The crest runs near the N. shore, leaving various flanking spurs and foothills, and a coastal plain which at its greatest breadth on the S. is some 20 m. wide. The plain on the N. is narrower and higher. The southern slope is smooth, and abounds in creeks and rivers. The portion of the southern plain between the bays of Cortés and Majana is the most famous portion of the Vuelta Abajo tobacco region. The mountain range is capriciously broken at points, especially near Bejucal. The highest part is the Pan de Guajaibón, near Bahía Honda, at the W. end of the chain; its altitude has been variously estimated from 2500 to 1950 ft. The central system has two wings, one approaching the N. coast, the other covering the island between Sancti Spiritus and Santa Clara. It comprehends a number of independent groups. The highest point, the Pico Potrerillo, is about 2900 ft. in altitude. The summits are generally well rounded, while the lower slopes are often steep. Frequent broad intervals of low upland or low level plain extend from sea to sea between and around the mountains. Near the coast runs a continuous belt of plantations, while grazing, tobacco and general farm lands cover the lower slopes of the hills, and virgin forests much of the uplands and mountains.
The oriental mountain region includes the province of Oriente and a portion of Camagüey. In extent, in altitude, in mass, in complexity and in geological interest, it is much the most important of the three systems. Almost all the mountains are very bold. They are imperfectly known. There are two main ranges, the Sierra Maestra, and a line of various groups along the N. shore. The former runs from Cape Santa Cruz eastward along the coast some 125 m. to beyond the river Baconao. The Sierra de Cobre, a part of the system in the vicinity of Santiago, has a general elevation of about 3000 ft. Monte Turquino, 7700–8320 ft. in altitude, is the highest peak of the island. Gran Piedra rises more than 5200 ft., the Ojo del Toro more than 3300, the Anvil de Baracoa is somewhat lower, and Pan de Matanzas is about 1267 ft. The western portions of the range rise abruptly from the ocean, forming a bold and beautiful coast. A multitude of ravines and gullies, filled with torrential streams or dry, according to the season of the year, and characterized by many beautiful cascades, seam the narrow coastal plain and the flanks of the mountains. The spurs of the central range are a highly intricate complex, covered with dense forests of superb woods. Many points are inaccessible, and the scenery is wild in the extreme. The mountains beyond Guantánamo are locally known by a variety of names, though topographically a continuation of the Sierra Maestra. The same is true of the chains that coalesce with these near Cape Maisí and diverge northwesterly along the N. coast of the island. The general character of this northern marginal system is much the same as that of the southern, save that the range is much less
