CIENFUEGOS

cienfuegos, nicasio alvarez de (1764-1809), spanish poet and publicist, was born at madrid on the 14th of december 1764. he studied with distinction at salamanca, where he met the poet melendez valdes. his poems, published in 1778, immediately attracted attention. he was successively editor of the _gaceta_ and _mercurio_, and was condemned to death for having published an article against napoleon; on the petition of his friends, he was respited and deported to france; he died at orthez early in the following year. his verses are modelled on those of melendez valdes; though not deficient in technique or passion, they are often disfigured by spurious sentimentality and by the flimsy philosophy of the age. cienfuegos was blamed for an unsparing use of both archaisms and gallicisms. his plays, _pitaco, zoraida, la condesa de castilla_ and _idomeneo_, four tragedies on the pseudo-classic french model, and _las hermanas generosas_, a comedy, are deservedly forgotten. cienfuegos (originally fernandina de jagua), one of the principal cities of cuba, in santa clara province, near the central portion of the s. coast, 195 m. e.s.e. of havana. pop. (1907) 30,100. cienfuegos is served by the united railways and by steamers connecting with santiago, batabano, trinidad and the isle of pines. it lies about 6 m. from the sea on a peninsula in the magnificent landlocked bay of jagua. vessels drawing 16 ft. have direct access to the wharves. a circular railway about the water-front, wharves and warehouses facilitates the loading and unloading of vessels. the city streets are broad and regularly laid out. there is a handsome cathedral; and the tomas terry theatre (given to the city by the heirs of one of the millionaire sugar planters of the jurisdiction), the governor's house (1841-1844), the military and government hospitals, market place and railway station are worthy of note. in the cathedral square (plaza de armas), embracing two city-squares, and shaded--like all the plazas of the island--with laurels and royal palms, are a statue of isabel the catholic, and two marble lions given by queen isabel ii.; elsewhere there are statues of general clouet and marshal serrano, once captain-general. the city is lighted by gas and electricity, has an abundant water-supply, and cable connexion with europe, the united states, other antilles and south america. the surrounding country is one of the prettiest and most fertile regions in cuba, varied with woods, rivers, rocky gulches, beautiful cascades and charming tropic vegetation. several of the largest and finest sugar estates in the world are situated in the vicinity, including the soledad (with a botanical experiment station maintained by harvard university), the terry and others--most of them connected with the city by good driveways. cienfuegos is a centre of the sugar trade on the south coast; tobacco too is exported. the bay of jagua was visited by columbus. the city was founded in 1819, with the aid of the spanish government, by a louisianian, general luis de clouet; it was destroyed by a hurricane and was rebuilt in 1825. many naturalized foreign catholics, including americans, were among the original settlers. the settlement was first named in honour of ferdinand