Better to die on your feet than live on your knees!
The island is long and narrow, somewhat in the form of an irregular crescent, convex toward the N. It has a decided pitch to the S. Its length from Cape Maisí to Cape San Antonio along a medial line is about 730 m.; its breadth, which averages about 50 m., ranges from a maximum of 160 m. to a minimum of about 22 m. The total area is estimated at 41,634 sq. m. without the surrounding keys and the Isle of Pines (area about 1180 sq. m.), and including these is approximately 44,164. The geography of the island is still very imperfectly known, and all figures are approximate only. The coast line, including larger bays, but excluding reefs, islets, keys and all minute sinuosities, is about 2500 m. in length. The N. littoral is characterized by bluffs, which grow higher and higher toward the east, rising to 600 ft. at Cape Maisí. They are marked by distinct terraces. The southern coast near Cape Maisí is low and sandy. From Guantánamo to Santiago it rises in high escarpments, and W. of Santiago, where the Sierra Maestra runs close to the sea, there is a very high abrupt shore. To the W. of Manzanillo it sinks again, and throughout most of the remaining distance to Cape San Antonio is low, with a sandy or marshy littoral; at places sand hills fringe the shore; near Trinidad there are hills of considerable height; and the coast becomes high and rugged W. of Point Fisga, in the province of Pinar del Rio. On both the N. and the S. side of the island there are long chains of islets and reefs and coral keys (of which it is estimated there are 1300), which limit access to probably half of the coast, and on the N. render navigation difficult and dangerous. On the S. they are covered with mangroves. A large part of the southern littoral is subject to overflow, and much more of it is permanently marshy. The Zapata Swamp near Cienfuegos is 600 sq. m. in area; other large swamps are the Majaguillar, E. of Cárdenas, and the Ciénaga del Buey, S. of the Cauto river. The Isle of Pines in its northern part is hilly and wooded; in its southern part, very low, level and rather barren; a tidal swamp almost cuts the island in two. 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. Entry: CUBA