The great expanse of water, fifteen miles in width, between
this channel and the south shore of the Bay is so dotted with shoals
as to be absolutely impassable. It will thus be seen that the actual
entrance to the great Bay is quite narrow and could easily be defended
by mines or by fortifications on the Cayos and the peninsula. The Bay
is like a great bottle with a very narrow neck. The Spaniards, in
fact, established a small fort on the headland, its ruins being now
hidden by dense underbrush.
It seems surprising that no large and flourishing metropolis should
have arisen on the shores of this splendid body of water. Apparently
the principal reason why it did not appeal to the Spaniards was that
owing to the prevailing easterly breezes their clumsy vessels would
have encountered difficulty in leaving. Since the days of steam, of
course, this trouble is obviated. The value of the Bay as a naval
station has been widely advertised, and France, England and the United
States have at various times entertained projects of acquiring it. The
American government in 1869 even negotiated a treaty for the lease of
Samana peninsula and Samana Bay, but the United States Senate failed
to act and the treaty was lost by expiration of time.
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