BAYAMO  , an old inland

city on the N. slope of the Sierra Maestra in Santiago province, Cuba . Pop . (1907) 4102 . It lies on a plain by the Bayamo river, in a fertile country, but isolated from sea and from railway . Its older parts are extraordinarily irregular . The streets are of all widths, and of all degrees of crookedness, and run in all directions . Bayamo was the third of the seven cities founded by Diego Velazquez, and was established in 1513 . During much of the 16th century it was one of the most important agricultural and commercial settlements of the island . Its inland situation gave it relative security against the pirates who then infested West Indian seas, and the misfortunes of Santiago were the fortunes of Bayamo . Down the river Cauto, then open to the sea for vessels of 200 tons, and through Manzanillo, Bayamo drove a thriving contraband trade that made it at the opening of the 17th century the leading town of Cuba . A tremendous flood, in 1616, choking the Cauto with trees and wrecked vessels, cut it off from direct access to the sea; but through Manzanillo it continued a great clandestine traffic with Curacao, Jamaica, and other foreign islands all through the 17th and 18th centuries . Bayamo was then surrounded by fine plantations .

It was a

rich and turbulent city . In the war of 1868–78 it was an insurgent stronghold; near it was fought one of the most desperate conflicts of the war, and it was nearly destroyed by the opposing parties . Bayamo was the birthplace and the home of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes (1819-1874), first president of the " first " Cuban republic, and was also the birthplace and home of Tomas Estrada Palma (1835–1908), first president of the present Cuban republic .