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“...known as Versailles. The Yumuri Valley is a
vast natural amphitheatre five or six miles in diameter
with precipitous sides except towards the sea, where the
river finds an outlet through the vertical walls of a
canon. It was the scene of a massacre of the Arawaks
m 1511. Hence the names Matanzas (slaughtering) and
Yumuri, said to be a corruption of “ Io mori ” I die
the cry of the victims.
Far down below our very feet lay the lovely valley of the
Yumuri, with its grounds now broken into sharp peis, now
gently undulating ; its cane-fields with their pea-green verdure
twer th^ndar>grew °f th® taU pahns scattered irregularly
^th • g°,l en ora°Se'gr°ves, and luxuriant plantains,
with broad waving leaves ; its cocoas, its almonds, and its coffee
with here and there a gigantic Ceyba spreading out its massive
arms high in air.—Notes on Cuba. massive
The caves of Bellamar are situated on a plateau about
two miles beyond Matanzas. They are entered by a
broad stairway cut out of the rock in a small...”
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