Produced by Eric Eldred, Marvin A. Hodges and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society Author of "Three Gringos in Venezuela and Central America," "The Princess Aline," "Gallegher," "Van Bibber, and Others," "Dr. Jameson's Raiders," etc., etc.
NEW YORK. R. H. RUSSELL 1897 *[Note: Before Spanish-American War]
These illustrations were made by Mr. Frederic Remington, from personal observation while in Cuba, and from photographs, and descriptions furnished by eye-witnesses, and are here reproduced through the courtesy of Mr. W. R. Hearst.
After my return from Cuba many people asked me questions concerning the situation there, and I noticed that they generally asked the same questions. This book has been published with the idea of answering those questions as fully as is possible for me to do after a journey through the island, during which I traveled in four of the six provinces, visiting towns, seaports, plantations and military camps, and stopping for several days in all of the chief cities of Cuba, with the exception of Santiago and Pinar del Rio.
Part of this book was published originally in the form of letters from Cuba to the _New York Journal_ and in the newspapers of a syndicate arranged by the _Journal_; the remainder, which was suggested by the questions asked on my return, was written in this country, and appears here for the first time.
When the revolution broke out in Cuba two years ago, the Spaniards at once began to build tiny forts, and continued to add to these and improve those already built, until now the whole island, which is eight hundred miles long and averages eighty miles in width, is studded as thickly with these little forts as is the sole of a brogan with iron nails. It is necessary to keep the fact of the existence of these forts in mind in order to understand the situation in Cuba at the present time, as they illustrate the Spanish plan of campaign, and explain why the war has dragged on for so long, and why it may continue indefinitely.
The last revolution was organized by the aristocrats; the present one is a revolution of the _puebleo_, and, while the principal Cuban families are again among the leaders, with them now are the representatives of the "plain people," and the cause is now a common cause in working for the success of which all classes of Cubans are desperately in earnest.