The New Hampshire Gazette

A very distinct and most accurate Account of the Havannah, in the Island of Cuba; its Situation, Commerce, Number of Inhabitants, &c. Extracted from a New Book, published in England.

HAVANNAH, a Town Situated on the N. W. part of the Island of Cuba, one of the greater Antillies, in America, at the entrance of the Gulph of Mexico. The City and Port of Havannah stands eight miles almost directly S. of Cape Florida, and consequently commands the Gulph of that name. It was built by James Valasquez, who Conquered the Island of Cuba, and settled a little town which was the mother of this, in 1511. It was originally called the Port of Carenas; afterwards, when the city by its alteration of site and increase of wealth, grew considerable, it was called St. Christophers of the Havannah. These alterations happened but by slow degrees, as we may conceive from the following account of the accidents which have befallen it. In 1566, it was taken by a French pyrate, and was of so inconsiderable a value, that it was ransomed for 700 pieces of eight. It was taken some time after by the English, a second time by the French; nor was it till the reign of Philip II. of Spain, that the importance of it was thoroughly understood, and any care taken in fortifying it. What was then done, proved not sufficient; and most of the Fortifications were in a very bad condition, when Francis Coreal was there in 1666; and very little better when he visited it again, 20 years afterwards. Since the accession of the house of Bourbon to the throne of Spain, more pains have been taken about it, and therefore we shall describe first the city, and then the port, in the condition they now are.

The city of Havannah, according to the last and most exact map of these parts, lies in 23° 1' 2" of lat. and consequently within 2° of the Tropick of Cancer: and its long. W. from London is 82° 13'. It stands on the W. side of the harbour, in a very beautiful and pleasant plain, having the sea before it, and being surrounded on all sides by two branches of the river Lagida. The buildings are fair, but not high, built of stone, and make a very good appearance, though it is said they are but meanly furnished. Here are eleven churches and monasteries, and two handsome hospitals. The churches are rich and magnificent; that dedicated to St. Clara, having even altars, all adorned with plate to a great value, and the monastery adjoining contains 100 nuns, with their servants, all habited in blue. It is not, as some have reported, a bishop's see, though the bishop generally resides there; but the cathedral is at St. Jago, and the revenue of this prelate not less than 20,000 pieces of eight per annum. Authors differ exceedingly as to the number of inhabitants in this city. A Spanish writer, who was there in 1700, and who had reason to be well acquainted with the place, computed them at 26,000; and we may very well suppose that they are increased since. They are a more polite and sociable people than the inhabitants of any of the ports on the continent, and of late imitate the French both in their dress and in their manners. One part of the island is under the jurisdiction of this city, as the other is under that of St. Jago; but the district belonging to the Havannah is by far the best cultivated, and has the most towns and villages in it: and these are not above 16 in number, which shows how strangely things are managed in this part of the world. The port is not only the best in the West Indies, but perhaps one of the finest in the universe. It is so capacious, that 1000 sail of ships may ride there commodiously, without either cable or anchor; and there is, generally speaking, 9 fathom water in the Bay. The entrance is by a channel about two-fourths of a mile in length, which is pretty narrow and of difficult access to an enemy, being well defended by forts and platforms of guns; and through it you come into the bay, which lies like a basin at the bottom of it, with a small island at the E. corner thereof. At the entrance of the channel there are two strong castles, which are supposed to be capable of defending the place against any number of ships. The first of these is styled El Morro, and stands on the E. side of the channel. it is a kind of a triangle, fortified with bastions, on which are mounted about 40 pieces of cannon, styled the twelve apostles, almost level with the water, and carrying each a ball of 36 pounds. On the other side of the channel stands a strong fort, called the Puntal by some authors, and indeed by the Spanish writer I chiefly follow, styled Punta de Maria; it is a regular square, with good bastions, well mounted with cannon. Between this city and the sea, there is a watch tower where a man sits in a round lanthorn at the top, and on the appearance of ships at sea, put out as many flags from thence as there are sail. Some writers place this tower on the other side of the channel: perhaps a new one may be built there. The third is styled the King's fort: it is a small, but strong work on the W. side, towards the end of the narrow channel, with four large bastions, and a platform, mounted with 60 pieces of heavy cannon. Besides these, there are two forts, one on the E. side, called Cajemar, the other on the W. called the fort of Chorrera, of 12 guns each. The governor is, generally speaking, a person of known courage and capacity, and has a very numerous garrison, as indeed he ought to have, considering that it is very properly styled the key of the West Indies; and if they lose it, the whole of the Spanish monarch must lie at the mercy of the power possessed thereof. If ever this place should be attacked by us, it must be by a land force, for it is impossible to make any impression here by a fleet only. The castles which defend the channel must be taken before we can pretend to enter the port; and indeed were they taken, the rest of the design would easily succeed. We are now to speak of the commerce in this port, which is the most considerable of any in America. We will for the sake of perspicuity, divide it into the particular commerce of the Isle of Cuba, and into the general by the galleons. The former consists in hides, usually tanned, of the Havannah, which are excellent, and of great value; sugar which is also a good commodity; tobacco, admirable in its kind: ginger, mastic, aloes, sarsaparilla, and other drugs, and great quantities of tortoise-shell. It must be observed, that the commerce of that island of Cuba is not entirely confined to the Havannah, but extends itself to other ports, particularly St. Jago, where there are frequently many little vessels from the Canaries, and other parts, which trade entirely for the commodities of the country. As to the general commerce, this port is the place of rendezvous for all the ships, particularly from Porto Bello, and Vera Cruz, which return into Spain from the Indies; so that there are frequently 20 or 30 sail in the port at once. While they ride here, there is a Fair kept on shore, where they trade for immense sums; and with so great honour, that it is said they never open the bales, but take the goods according to the bills of parcels, without any inspection. While the fleet is in the bay, provisions are excessively dear on shore, and money so plenty, that a Spaniard expects half a piece of eight a day from a male slave, and half as much from a female, out of what they earn by their labour. The fleet generally sails from thence through the channel of Bahama, in the month of September; and is the richest in the world, since in silver and merchandise there is seldom less than 30,000,000 pieces of eight on board, or £6,750,000 pounds of our money. Dr. Gemelli Careri, who was here in 1698, tells us of an extraordinary pearl that he saw here; it was in shape a perfect pear, in weight 60 grains, was absolutely clear and ripe. This pearl was taken at Panama by a black belonging to a priest, who refused to sell it to the viceroy of Peru for 10,000 pieces of eight, saying he would carry it to his majesty himself; but he died at the Havannah, and the pearl was sent to the king by another priest to whom he entrusted it. The town of Havannah is not two miles in circuit; and the number of inhabitants does not exceed 26,000 souls, consisting of Spaniards, mulattoes, and negroes, besides the garrison, the governor of which is styled captain general of the island. Here resides the bishop of St. Jago, which is the capital of Cuba, but now in a declining state: and therefore most persons of figure and fortune live at the Havannah. It belonging to Spain, Havannah lies 18 leagues from Cape de Sable, which is a promontory on the N. side of the island. The heat here is extreme, and more intolerable even in the night than in the day time.