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DIARY 
 
 Spring Holiday 
 
 IN 
 
 CUBA 
 
 e.Vl 5 
 
 PHI LA DEL PHI A : 
 
 PORTER $> CO ATE S. 
 
 1872. 
 
I 
 
 
 
 SHERMAN & CO., PRINTERS. 
 
TO 
 
 THOSE WHO WILL BE, FOR MY SAKE, 
 
 ITS MOST INTERESTED READERS, 
 
 iiltj &ge& parents, 
 
 THIS SIMPLE RECORD OF TROPICAL WANDERING 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY 
 
 INSCRIBED. 
 
DIARY 
 
 Spring Holiday in Cuba. 
 
 Steamship Juniata, 
 
 At Sea off the Capes of Delaware Bay, 
 
 Saturday Evening, Feb. 24th, 1872. 
 
 Bound for a land of perpetual summer, we take 
 a farewell backward look at the dark and frown- 
 ing sky of winter. A cold gray mist blurs the 
 outline of the ice-bound shores, where the black 
 gulls of winter flap their broad wings over the 
 surf. A chill north wind blows, but it only 
 hastens us southward toward sunlit seas and 
 radiant skies. The last glimpse of the dim shore 
 of homeland fades away, and our thoughts turn, 
 as the prow of the vessel points, to the warm 
 and genial South 
 
b DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 Sunday, February 25th. — Sailors have a tra- 
 ditional saying, that there is "no Sunday be- 
 yond five fathoms soundings," and it is appa- 
 rent that the day has no formal characteristic 
 at sea. 
 
 The wind is light, and the waves give us but a 
 gentle swaying motion ; yet it is enough to keep 
 our fellow-passengers in their state-rooms, on ac- 
 count of sea-sickness. So the day passes quietly 
 awa} T , while we gradually become accustomed to 
 the new surroundings of sight, sound, and mo- 
 tion ; the deep respiration of the steam-exhaust, 
 the pulsating throbs and heavy strokes of the 
 engine, sending a tremor through the frame of 
 this great sea monster ; the solemn tone of the 
 ship's bell, repeated every half hour ; and, to us, 
 a bell, increasing hourly in attractions, which 
 calls us to the well-spread cabin table. The sea 
 continues so quiet that there would seem to be 
 no cause for sea-sickness, but the captain states 
 that the ailment is much under the influence 
 of the imagination, as passengers often repeat 
 the inquiry as to whether we are " outside yet," 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 7 
 
 and on being answered in the affirmative, retire 
 to their state-rooms and go through the for- 
 malities. 
 
 Yet there must be a miserable reality in sea- 
 sickness, which requires great resignation to bear 
 it patiently. A gentleman, whose histrionic fame 
 is known to every one, being at sea and suffering 
 from sea-sickness, which he bore with extreme 
 impatience, a fellow-passenger strove to console 
 him with the example of other and more resigned 
 sufferers, and even alluded to the Saviour's being 
 at sea in a tempest. The petulant invalid re- 
 plied: "That is so; but, if my memory is not at 
 fault, he got out and walked! and I cannot do 
 that." 
 
 This starting out to sea reminds me of my only 
 previous experience, in a time long ago, when 
 with feelings different indeed I first saw the 
 ocean's expanse. I recall vividly, but with a 
 shade of sadness, an affectionate parting on start- 
 ing off, youthful, buoyant, and careless. Then 
 life seemed an endless morning, and the vista an 
 unlimited horizon. The present vo3^aging seems 
 
8 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 as but a mid-day rest in a toilsome way ; or, per- 
 haps, with the day, it may be, far spent, when I 
 should be looking trustingly forward as being 
 
 " Nearer to the wayside inn, 
 Where toil shall cease and rest begin." 
 
 Of one of that little home-circle there is nothing 
 left but her memory; the snow of this parting 
 winter is melting on the marble that encloses her, 
 and the slanting rays of a glowing winter sunset 
 are smiling over her repose. 
 
 Tuesday, February 2~th. — If the " three wise 
 men of Gotham," of infantile literature, who 
 " went to sea in a bowl," had chosen this aus- 
 picious time their story would have been longer. 
 The sea continues as the quiet surface of a mill- 
 pond ; even the traditional stormy locality of 
 u off Cape Hatteras," is passed without wind or 
 waves. The sun shines warmly, the sky is a deep 
 blue, and the air is like the balmy breath of June. 
 This transition from the cheerless breaking up 
 of winter, from fields of floating ice to the drift- 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 9 
 
 ing seaweeds of the warm waters of the Gulf 
 Stream, is exceedingly grateful. 
 
 Thursday, February 29th. — The sea has still 
 an unruffled surface, and evidences of the trop- 
 ical change are increasing ; the sun comes up red 
 from its hot-bath in the gulf waters, and glows in 
 a cloudless sky until it dips again in the crimson 
 west. 
 
 There is a tranquilizing influence in this warm 
 sea air of the South, which tends to mental re- 
 pose and an idle and dream} 7 existence. It is 
 occupation enough to lie on deck and gaze on the 
 blue expanse ; to watch the heavy flight of the 
 pelicans, the wayward flapping of the gulls, the 
 antics of the flying-fish, or the wind-borne fleets 
 of nautilus. 
 
 The vessel has been since yesterday morning- 
 running along the coast of Florida, near enough 
 to discern persons, if any existed on that barren 
 strand ; but with the exception of several lonely 
 light-houses, and, in the evening, some Indian 
 camp-fires, no signs of human life were seen. 
 
 Some wrecked vessels loom up as ghostly warn- 
 
10 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 ings on the beach, where their skeletons will long 
 bleach in the sun and spray ; and we but recently 
 passed the spot where the very steamship we are 
 on was cast, a helpless waif, in the great hurricane 
 of last August. The vessel, while endeavoring 
 with all the power of steam to keep away from the 
 shore, head to the wind, was hurled backward and 
 struck the sand ; when to save life she was headed 
 directly for the strand, and went flying before 
 the blast up among the trees on the beach. No 
 damage was sustained, and in a few days she was 
 again on her way. 
 
 We have a winged visitor from the ever- 
 glades of Florida. A little weary wanderer, with 
 bright yellow and brown plumage, has found 
 rest on the vessel, and is cared for in the pilot- 
 house, to be set at liberty when we reach the 
 harbor. 
 
 Friday, March 1st. — It was announced last 
 evening that the light-house on Morro Castle 
 would soon be in sight, but as no vessel is per- 
 mitted to enter the harbor after the firing of the 
 gun at sunset, or before the gun at sunrise, the 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 11 
 
 ship steamed slowly onward, so as not to be too 
 early at the entrance of the harbor. 
 
 At daybreak a black and threatening horizon, 
 with gusty squalls, hid the island from view ; but 
 as it gradually broke away, the distant mountains 
 came in sight, and the bright sunlight soon dis- 
 played the promised land — the land of the cocoa 
 and the palm, of my childhood's dreams of tropic 
 fruits and gorgeous flowers, of waving cane-fields, 
 burning suns, and toiling slaves ! 
 
 A signal sent to the top of the flagstaff on 
 Morro Castle announced our arrival in Havana, 
 and we passed through the very narrow entrance 
 of the harbor, almost under the guns, and within 
 talking distance of the sentinel in white and 
 red, and burnished trappings, who paced the par- 
 apet. The castle has a most grand and romantic 
 appearance, overhanging the sea at a great emi- 
 nence, its high walls crested by rows of cannon, 
 surmounted at one angle by a towering light- 
 house ; its base washed by the warm waters of 
 the Gulf Stream, and lashed by its foaming surf. 
 It impressed me more, however, with the idea of 
 
12 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 romance than of power, and it seemed that its 
 chalky stone could soon be made to crumble 
 under modern projectiles, and its guns be tumbled 
 into the sea. In addition to the Morro, there are 
 several other fortifications, which, although not 
 so picturesque, are probably of greater strength ; 
 and the harbor, on account of its narrow en- 
 trance, with high surrounding hills, must be nat- 
 urally one of the most readily defensible in the 
 world. 
 
 The city, until this moment partially hidden 
 from view by the castle and hills at the harbor's 
 entrance, now spread suddenly out, its light-col- 
 ored buildings of yellow and blue tints dazzling 
 in the morning sun. The harbor was filled with 
 vessels, not at wharves, but dispersed at their 
 anchorages, including war ships of every mari- 
 time nation, decked with their national flags ; 
 and more conspicuous than all others, the Rus- 
 sian fleet, which had just arrived with the Grand 
 Duke, on his visit to the island. 
 
 As we came along the harbor, a curious scene, 
 which may be witnessed every day, was that of 
 
 i 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 13 
 
 a hundred or more horses from the city, led 
 into the water in droves by their drivers, taking 
 a morning bath in the surf. The surrounding 
 country seemed rather bare of foliage but clothed 
 in deep green, and that most prominent of all 
 tropical characteristics, the royal palm tree, with 
 its long, straight, and bare trunk stretching high 
 in the air, its feathery top waving in the wind, 
 was in every direction seen. 
 
 In addition to the varied novelties of sight, 
 were those of sound ; for a most extraordinary 
 ringing of bells resounded from the city, as if it 
 were some hour of jubilee, but I was informed 
 that all this wrangle and jangle was only the 
 calling of the devout to their matins. The 
 sounds were neither musical nor inspiring, no 
 deep-toned resonance, but a most discordant 
 twanging, as if of hundreds of colossal cow-bells 
 in towers and steeples. 
 
 The harbor was alive with little, active, light- 
 colored boats, with a framework and awning- 
 stretched over the stern portion, like a wagon- 
 cover, to protect from the sun. From one of these 
 
14 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 a pilot came on board, and conducted the vessel 
 to her moorings ; from others came the custom- 
 house officials ; and in one was seen by us the 
 welcome sight of the kind face of a friend who, 
 anticipating our arrival, had come out to greet us 
 and guide our way through the formalities prior 
 to landing. We gathered ourselves and baggage 
 into one of these boats, and proceeded to the 
 custom-house, where the trunks were unlocked 
 in anticipation of a great overturning and scru- 
 tinizing search of their contents ; but we must 
 have been honored in the breach of this custom, 
 for the official merely poked his long and spec- 
 tacled nose under the trunk lids, as if to smell 
 rather than to see, and placing a chalk-mark on 
 them, which in our vernacular would, I suppose, 
 be written " O K," the trunks were passed out. 
 
 Then came our funny experience of the place ; 
 the strange-looking jail-like houses, with barred 
 windows without sash or glass ; the large heavily- 
 ironed doors ; the narrow and crowded streets with- 
 out sidewalks, and the motley crowds of varied 
 dress, complexion, and nationality, who jabbered, 
 
DIARY OP A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 15 
 
 jostled, laughed, and quarreled in their way. 
 The oddity of vehicles is the most striking of all 
 things to a stranger, including the awkward and 
 
 VOLANTE DRIVER, 
 
 ungainly volante, with one horse in the long 
 shafts, and another in traces alongside, mounted 
 by a negro in gaudy trappings, red jacket, 
 leather leggings, slippers, and enormous spurs. 
 
 Our destination was the San Carlos, or the 
 Hotel Telegrafo, but no accommodations could be 
 found in them, and we were quartered in the Hotel 
 de Santa Isabel, a house which looks as if it were 
 some decayed palace of royalty. Here are tiled 
 
16 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 and marble floors throughout, above and below ; 
 porcelain wainscots highly ornamented ; — all this 
 grandeur, mingled with the utmost confusion of 
 broken furniture, baggage, scattered fruits and 
 vegetables ; some doves flying in and out ; un- 
 
 HOTEL SANTA ISABEL. 
 
 pleasant odors of kitchen and cookery, all redo- 
 lent of garlic; and other evidences of disorder, 
 and, to us, of discomfort. We sat down in our 
 curious room, overlooking on one side a court- 
 yard, where a dried-up fountain remained as an 
 
 * 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 17 
 
 ornament, the other window giving a view over 
 the bay; when our friend, who had so kindly 
 met us, loaded the table with a fragrant heap of 
 oranges and bananas, which were enjoj^ed as 
 tropical fruits can only be appreciated in perfec- 
 tion, in the land of their production. 
 
 After visiting a money changer, and turning 
 some of our national currency into Spanish gold, 
 I rode about the streets in a volante, observing 
 the curiosities of people an.d architecture, and 
 visited a restaurant to taste the peculiar forms of 
 refreshments. 
 
 The private houses look like castles for defence, 
 and the style of building has probably continued 
 from olden times, when it was essential that each 
 dwelling-house should be defensible from the In- 
 dians, and more especially from pirates, who have 
 often pillaged the towns on the coast. 
 
 The floors are all either stone or tile, the walls 
 are immensely thick, and the stone partitions of 
 the separate apartments continue up higher than 
 the roof, so that the space above it is divided into 
 distinct pens three or four feet high ; thus a 
 2* 
 
18 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 series of battlement-walls, well suited for defence, 
 exists on every house. There are no yards or 
 gardens as we construct in our homes, but within 
 the area of the house is a court-yard, open to the 
 air and sun above, into which doors, and barred, 
 ungiazed windows, open from all the rooms. It 
 is curious to see the volante, or other form of 
 family carriage, driven apparently into the parlor 
 or entry, and there remain as if it were a part of 
 the parlor furniture ; thus, on entering a hand- 
 some private residence, the first object seen is 
 the volante, with its polished and showy silver or 
 gold mountings, standing there an object of or- 
 nament and family pride. I saw no ladies to-day 
 in the streets, but as I passed the barred win- 
 dows, a view of the inner life of the Cuban family 
 was readily obtained, for the windows reach the 
 ground, and being without glass, the temptation 
 to look in at the ladies was, of course, irresisti- 
 ble ; and, when dressed for display, they present 
 themselves for this kind of observation. 
 
 On returning to the hotel, our courteous friend 
 proposed that we should accompany him to Ma- 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 21 
 
 tanzas, his place of residence ; and being desirous 
 of having at once a rural view of the tropics, 
 the proposal was gladly acceded to ; and this 
 decision was the more prompt after having been 
 introduced to an American gentleman at the 
 hotel, whose countenance resembled a skull with 
 lemon-colored parchment drawn over it, and who 
 was being congratulated by his friends on his re- 
 covery from yellow fever ! 
 
 So we bade farewell to Santa Isabel, gath- 
 ered ourselves into vehicles drawn by emaciated 
 ponies, who were lashed and spurred, as is the 
 custom, until the ferry to the railway station was 
 reached. 
 
 A steam ferry-boat, like those of the North, 
 crossed the bay to Regla, whence a railway train, 
 of American style, soon started for Matanzas, 
 going at very great speed. 
 
 The country was for some distance barren and 
 rocky, and, with the exception of the peculiar 
 tropical vegetation, did not differ from our north- 
 ern waste lands. As the journey proceeded, the 
 country became more attractive ; verdant and 
 
22 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 waving cane-fields bordered the road, large tracts 
 of banana plants, weighed down by their heavy 
 branches of the fruit, and groves of orange trees 
 were on every side ; and above all and ever in 
 sight was the tall and graceful royal palm, with 
 its straight light-colored trunk, surmounted by 
 its waving tuft of fern-like leaves, the most beau- 
 tiful of nature's forest productions. 
 
 The country is evidently rendered bare b^y the 
 destruction of the forests for fuel, but the gor- 
 geous palm is alone spared in the devastation, 
 and remains an object of ornament and utility, 
 so that it is seen cresting every hill-top, and in 
 groves on the plains. 
 
 Before reaching Matanzas, its surrounding 
 mountains, which are familiar landmarks from 
 far out on the ocean, were seen, and soon we 
 were among the variegated blue and yellow build- 
 ings of the environs of the city. 
 
 Located at the Hotel Leon de Oro, the singu- 
 larities of Cuban life become the subject of ob- 
 servation ; and on entering we are impressed at 
 once with the savors of cookery, including, of 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 23 
 
 course, the prominent flavor of garlic ; for the 
 culinary arrangements are immediately under our 
 eyes, and, unfortunately, under our nose also. 
 The dinner was soon served, made up of varied 
 familiar articles disguised into strangeness, and 
 some unfamiliar ones in which tasting could not 
 solve the problem, and which would have needed 
 the services of an interpreter for comprehension ; 
 but it finished off, as is the cutsom, with the odd 
 combination of guava jelly and strong cheese, 
 and an abundance of fruits. 
 
 Our room holds two beds conveniently, and 
 has the invariable tiled floor, and the ceiling is at 
 a great elevation, probably nearly thirty feet ; but 
 the beds, so called, are merely sacking-bottoms 
 stretched at great tension, and resemble in every 
 respect the head of a drum. Such is a Cuban 
 bed for all of high or low degree, and it may do 
 for those whose bones and integument are not 
 too near together, but as only the salient points 
 of the body can touch it, the arrangement seems 
 more calculated for the production of aching 
 backs and bed-sores, than for repose. The pil- 
 
24 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 lows are very small, inelastic, and sodden, as if 
 filled with dough. 
 
 Sunday, March 3d. — Matanzas differs from 
 Havana in being much smaller, but has the same 
 characteristics of narrow streets, massive low 
 stone houses, and retains even more of the 
 ancient Moorish peculiarities. 
 
 Like other Spanish cities it has its grand 
 plaza, where the higher classes throng in the 
 evenings to see and to be seen, and to listen to 
 the music of the military bands, the ladies sitting 
 languidly in their volantes, while the gentlemen 
 promenade about the walks, saluting them in 
 the complimentary and fulsome fashion of the 
 country. 
 
 I have been expecting to see the population 
 with their faces tinged with the livery of the 
 burning sun, but have been impressed with the 
 pallid and anaemic countenances of most of the 
 people, particularly the ladies, and the men of the 
 higher classes. Our own party really look, ac- 
 cording to my ideal, more Spanish than the 
 Spaniards. None but the laboring people expose 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. Z'O 
 
 themselves to the sun's rays, and there is preva- 
 lent a most indolent aversion to bodily exercise ; 
 and the ladies flit out only in a moth-like exist- 
 ence when the shades of evening veil them. No 
 ruddy cheeks are seen, no lithe forms and brisk 
 tripping feet patter on the pavements as in the 
 North; but the Cuban belle, with her dark lan- 
 guishing eyes, placid, dignified countenance, pro- 
 fuse black hair, and dressed in some lace-like 
 tissue, ventures out only in her volante, and re- 
 clines languidly on her cushions for the evening- 
 drive on the paseo or plaza. 
 
 There are man}^ showy stores, at least in their 
 inside display, for the goods are not arranged in 
 windows, which are merely heavily barred grat- 
 ings without glass ; and the fronts of even the 
 best stores have a most forbidding appearance, 
 They are invariably attended by males, and the 
 same sex seem to be almost the exclusive vis- 
 itors, When the ladies go out to do their shop- 
 ping it is in their volantes, which they do not 
 leave to enter the stores, but the goods are 
 brought out and displayed to them by the very 
 
26 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 attentive and polite clerks. Some of the stores 
 are distinguished b} 7 remarkable appellations as- 
 sumed for them by their proprietors, and painted 
 on signs, many of which are singular for their 
 oddity and inappropriateness. Thus the titles of 
 a few of the quaintest when translated are : My 
 Recreation ; My Pleasure, Sweet Name of Jesus ; 
 Son of the Town ; Poor Devil ; Rich Devil ; and 
 others are called the Green Cross ; Hope ; Ori- 
 ental; Norma, etc. Funny attempts at trans- 
 lating are noticeable on store signs, to make the 
 business comprehensible to foreigners; such an 
 one is, "Joni sel her," which intends to say, 
 "Honey sold here!" 
 
 It is curious to observe the manner in which 
 the daily supply of vegetables and market com- 
 modities comes into the city, all on the backs of 
 horses and mules, whose bodies are often almost 
 entirely hidden under their bulky loads of packs 
 and panniers, This is particularly so with the 
 animals laden with almost a stack of green corn- 
 fodder, when only the nose can be seen project- 
 ing from the moving mass, and only the clatter 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 27 
 
 of hoofs heard beneath. Trains of burdened 
 mules and horses come into the town in long 
 processions, single file, being kept in line by 
 each one's head being tied to the tail of the one 
 in front of him. 
 
 There is heard here the same unmelodious ring- 
 ing of bells which saluted us on disembarkation ; 
 it is the same tin-pan sound, commencing at day- 
 break, and reiterated at intervals until the vesper 
 hour relieves us of the nois}^ jargon. Notwith- 
 standing all this noisy summoning, on visiting the 
 ancient cathedral at the hour of evening prayers, 
 I found but three persons in the sombre and dimly 
 lighted hall, kneeling devoutly and in silence be- 
 fore the crucifixes. 
 
 As the visit of the Russian prince is expected 
 for to-morrow, preparations are being made to 
 receive him, including the putting in order of some 
 streets through which he will pass, and for this 
 purpose the chain-gang, composed of convicted 
 criminals, chained in pairs by the waist and by one 
 leg, is actively at work under the control of an 
 armed guard. 
 
28 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 I have returned this evening from a most in- 
 teresting sailing expedition down the bay of Ma- 
 tanzas and up the Canimar River. The water of 
 the bay is of a bright blue color, such as we see in 
 Italian marine pictures, excepting in the shoaler 
 places, where an emerald green blends beautifully 
 with it. A stiff breeze was blowing, and the 
 mouth of the river was soon reached, passing a 
 little fort mounting two guns, located at the en- 
 trance of the channel, and formerly used to keep 
 slave-traders from harboring there. The river is 
 narrow but deep, and its scenery is of the most 
 rugged and romantic character. Its rocky sides 
 are higher, and more broken and precipitous than 
 those of the Wissahickon, and are clad with the 
 gorgeous and enormous tropical vegetation. The 
 tall royal palms majestically top off the rocky 
 crests, and smaller varieties of the palm, and the 
 fan-leaved palmettos, spring forth wherever they 
 can get a lodgment for their roots in the rocks. 
 
 A remarkable and beautiful effect is produced 
 by the orchids, and other varieties of air plants 
 which are conspicuous on every large tree. Some 
 
DIARY OP A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 29 
 
 trees are conspicuous only by the orchids which 
 fasten on them at every bifurcation of branches, 
 and large, entirely dead trees are in appearance 
 resurrected to vernal life by the enormous growth 
 of these parasites. The night-blooming cereus is 
 ever in sight, and the maguey or century plant is 
 now in its gorgeous bloom of reddish-yellow, at 
 the top of stems sometimes twenty feet high, 
 with masses of flowers, one to two feet or more in 
 diameter. 
 
 The rugged rocky cliffs which border the 
 stream are evidently upheavals of coral and shell 
 formations, and are even at their tops composed 
 of marine fossils. They have an eroded or water- 
 worn appearance, and large caverns exist in 
 them, which in their dark recesses have for ages 
 been the homes of vast numbers of bats. The 
 floors of these caves are deeply covered with a 
 guano-like material, deposited by the bats, and in 
 one localit}^ it was attempted to make a commer- 
 cial article of it, but it is said without success. 
 I saw no evidence of stratification of the rocks, 
 
 excepting at the mouth of the river. 
 
 3* 
 
30 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 Tracts of bamboo on small, low, or level places, 
 and many plants of exuberant tropical growth, 
 but unknown to me, varied the vegetation on the 
 banks. The only birds I saw were pelicans and 
 herons, and some varieties of small birds with 
 brilliant yellow and black plumage. An interest- 
 ing visit was made to a country store, at a rope 
 ferry across the river, where the people, Sunday 
 as it was, were gathered for purchases, and for 
 drinking spirits. The store was filled with the 
 varied commodities required by this peculiar com- 
 munity, and among those in demand was what I 
 at first thought to be sole-leather, but it proved to 
 be meat, salted and dried in the sun, called jerked 
 beef, and which is the only form that meat 
 usually reaches the laborers. On returning at 
 night a chilling north wind was blowing, and, 
 weary with the day's excitement and exertion, 
 with appetites sharpened, we returned to our — 
 garlic, and found as much repose as could be 
 obtained on our drum-head couches. 
 
 Tuesday, March bth. — Last evening we visited 
 socially by invitation the residence of a friend, and 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 31 
 
 had the pleasure of meeting a gathering of Cuban 
 ladies and gentlemen, some of whom could speak 
 our language. The residence is a fair specimen 
 of the general style of dwellings of the refined 
 classes, of one story, the roof being high but 
 flat, and covered with tiles. The windows reach 
 
 CUBAN DOOR. 
 
 almost from the floor to the ceiling, and have the 
 invariable jail-like iron grating instead of glazed 
 sashes. The front door is as heavy and strong as 
 that of a prison, and is ornamented with heavy 
 
32 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 metallic castings, and has great locks and bolts. 
 The family carriage is driven through this door, 
 and when not in use, remains in the hall, within 
 observation from the principal rooms. 
 
 The rocking-chair is a feature in the Cuban 
 parlor, and the other chairs are formed for loung- 
 ing and repose. Rocking-chairs are arranged 
 facing each other in rows, and the company sit 
 in these formal lines, but in quite social prox- 
 imity. 
 
 Refreshments in the form of chocolate, coffee, 
 and cakes, were served during the evening, and 
 were agreeable. 
 
 The remarkable subterranean caves of Bellamar 
 are in the neighborhood of Matanzas, and were 
 the subject of an interesting visit this morning. 
 Volantes were ordered, and we went off at a dash- 
 ing pace along the side of the bay, the blue and 
 emerald waters glittering in the morning sun; 
 and when we arose to some elevation, overlooking 
 the water, the transparency was apparent, show- 
 ing the white, shelly bottom at considerable 
 depth. On this ride was first demonstrated to 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 33 
 
 me the real and essential merits of the volante, 
 with its enormous wheels and long springing 
 shafts. The road was rocky, with deep ruts and 
 steep hills, yet the vehicle, with its two horses, 
 one in the shafts and another in traces, mounted 
 by the driver, went springing and swaying along 
 over obstructions that would have wrecked an 
 ordinary carriage. 
 
 The entrance of the cave is a perpendicular 
 opening on level but elevated ground, overlooking 
 the bay and ocean. On alighting from the vo- 
 lante, one of the drivers climbed a cocoanut-palm 
 tree, and threw down some of the nuts, from 
 which we were refreshed by cool draughts of the 
 water contained in them. A portion of the green 
 covering of the nut is cut off, and a pint or 
 more of water, with the peculiar flavor of the 
 nut, is a ready and agreeable drink. 
 
 Before entering the cave, it was essential to 
 remove superfluous clothing, as the air within is 
 very warm and damp. Descending a flight of 
 steps, a hall of splendor was seen, of pure 
 whiteness, overhung with drooping stalactites, 
 
34 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 all glittering, their crystalline surfaces reflect- 
 ing the light from two wax candles, which we 
 followed through the intricate and dark pas- 
 sages. The interior varied from narrow and low- 
 roofed paths to lofty chambers, everywhere lined 
 with dazzling white crystals in gothic arches, 
 arborescent hangings, and other fantastic forms. 
 
 Some pools of clear water, and deep, danger- 
 ous-looking chasms were seen. We wandered 
 through this labyrinth for a mile and a half, and 
 then turned on a backward course along other 
 avenues of interest and beauty. The sight of a 
 glimmer of daylight was welcome when the wan- 
 dering was near its end, and, with red faces and 
 dripping with perspiration, we enjoyed again the 
 fresh air on emerging from the cave. On our 
 way, some fair specimens of the crystalline and 
 stalactite formation were picked up, to be re- 
 tained as mementoes of this wonder of nature, 
 which is said to exceed in beauty all other caves 
 in the world. 
 
 This evening we are packing up for an early 
 start for the interior of the island to visit, by 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 35 
 
 special invitation, the sugar plantation of Santa 
 Barbara, located about sixty miles distant. In 
 leaving the Hotel Leon de Oro, it will be with a 
 knowledge that, notwithstanding its discomforts 
 and oddities to us, it is commended as one of 
 the best in the country. With its marble floors, 
 open and airy halls, courteous attendants, and the 
 liberality of its table, we have been pleased ; while 
 we have also been pleased to laugh over its quaint 
 and disorderly accumulation of old furniture, like 
 the contents of an antique garret ; the curious 
 and out-of-place position of everything useful and 
 useless ; and, while indulging deeply in the many 
 really good and novel dishes before us, have 
 taken the privilege of turning up our noses at its 
 compounds of garlic and oil. Its total absence of 
 the female sex for attendants — not a woman 
 being seen in the house — and the substitution 
 of Chinese masculines for cooks, waiters, washer- 
 women, and for the ordinary duties of a chamber- 
 maid, seems very funny, especially so when they 
 cany coffee at early morning to the ladies, still 
 in dishabille, or shrinking under the sheets. Of 
 
36 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 its lively little parasites, in the form of fleas, I 
 will find no fault until time allows me to know 
 whether it be, as is reported, that the insect 
 is ubiquitous in the island. However, of its 
 enormous cockroaches, I have one word to say ; 
 they are of the most aristocratic kind — at least, 
 they are big bugs ! 
 
 In leaving Matanzas, it will be with the recog- 
 nition of our indebtedness to the good people 
 who, though we were strangers, met us with out- 
 stretched arms, led us to their homes, and made 
 us gratefully to know that the tradition of Cuban 
 hospitality is not a myth, but a reality which 
 must leave its impress so long as memory shall 
 last. 
 
 Wednesday, March %th.— With delightful an- 
 ticipations of visiting a sugar plantation, in the 
 early morning we saw, from our balcony win- 
 dows, the volantes ready, and were speedily 
 whirled away to the station of the railroad, which 
 leads in a southeasterly direction to the interior 
 of the island. In the first-class car we found but 
 few passengers, and before the end of the journey 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 37 
 
 was reached, our party were its sole occupants ; 
 but the second and third classes were well filled. 
 The three grades of cars did not seem to differ 
 materially in the style of accommodations; all 
 that I noticed was that the first class have cane 
 seats and backs, whilst those of the inferior rate 
 were simply wooden ; yet the general difference 
 of caste of the three classes of travelers was 
 apparent. 
 
 Whenever the train was about to start from a 
 station, a Chinese attendant walked along the 
 platform jingling a hand-bell — for bells seem in- 
 deed in favor in this country — and soon off went 
 the train without anything like our familiar, " All 
 right ! 7 ' or, " Go ahead ! " 
 
 The morning was bright and pleasant, and the 
 air invigorating ; but our fellow-travellers did not 
 seem to so appreciate it, for our windows were the 
 only ones opened ; and there they sat, whilst the 
 smoke of the omnipresent cigar gathered densely 
 around theme At every station a couple' of sol- 
 diers, in blue linen with red trimmings, entered 
 the train and walked through in a scrutinizing 
 
38 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 manner. At these stopping-places were stands 
 for selling refreshments to travelers, such as 
 cakes, guava jelly, cheese, and fruit ; but the 
 ones most patronized were those which dealt out 
 the usual alcoholic beverage — a kind of rum 
 made from the sugar-cane. 
 
 As the interior of the country was reached, the 
 resemblance of the level ground to our western 
 prairies impressed me. The soil is deep and rich, 
 generally of a red-chalk color, but sometimes 
 almost black, and the profusion of tropical vege- 
 tation increased as the journey proceeded. 
 
 In the midst of a region of sugar plantations, 
 indicated in the distance by the towering chim- 
 neys of the sugar mills, we were set down from 
 the train, and found a volante and saddle horses 
 kindly sent for us from the plantation of Santa 
 Barbara. 
 
 As I sit down now to write at this tropical 
 Eden, with bloom and fruit and the sweet har- 
 vest of the cane around ; with the glowing sun 
 dipping behind the distant palm trees and cast- 
 ing their long shadows on the heated earth, I 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 39 
 
 can well understand the enthusiasm which Co- 
 lumbus, the great discoverer of the Island, felt 
 
 COUNTRY GARDEN. 
 
 when, addressing his sovereign, he wrote: "This 
 is the most beautiful land eyes ever beheld." 
 
40 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA, 
 
 Friday. March 8th. — A Cuban bed is conducive 
 to early rising. By the time your angularities 
 give you the sensation of lying on a gridiron, 
 turning hopelessly over and over again to find a 
 soft spot ; when your ears ache from compression 
 on the hard pillows, and you are tired of amusing 
 yourself b}' drumming a tattoo with your fingers 
 on the tense sacking-bottom, then a streak of day- 
 light in the dappled east is welcome. 
 
 The Cuban habit of taking coffee on rising, with 
 or before the sun, and then starting off for the 
 morning ride, returning for a late breakfast, is an 
 agreeable practice in this region, where exposure 
 to the mid-day sun is oppressive. The horses 
 were ready saddled at the door this morning as 
 we sipped our coffee, just as the stars grew pale 
 and the mist lightened up to the eastward. The 
 heavy dew matted down the grass, and the long- 
 leaves of the sugar cane drooped and dripped 
 with excess of moisture. 
 
 Our way led by the endless cane fields, through 
 groves of palms, and brushed through the broad- 
 leaved patches of bananas, until a stream of water 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 41 
 
 was reached, in which some beautiful wood-ducks 
 paddled away into the seclusion of a thicket over- 
 hanging the bank. Along the edge of the forest, 
 too dense to penetrate, the singing birds, always 
 most musical at early hours, mingled their, to my 
 ears, unfamiliar notes. 
 
 I plucked some sour wild oranges, for they 
 looked too pretty to pass by as they shone in 
 bright yellow contrast to the deep green leaves, 
 and were plentiful within reach as we rode under 
 the trees. As soon as the sun gets a little eleva- 
 tion, with the aid of the stroug winds that arise 
 with it, the dew is gone, and before we reached 
 home, at the late breakfast hour, the pathway 
 was already dusty. 
 
 Sunday , March 10th. — An early ride yesterday 
 morning, gave a view of some of the agricultural 
 processes of the plantation, for this season is an 
 active period of the sugar-cane harvest. At this 
 early hour the laden ox-carts were returning 
 from the field, for the iaborers had been at 
 work, as is the practice, since daylight, and the 
 4* 
 
42 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 rude monotonous song of the cane gatherers 
 could be heard from a distance. 
 
 Before nearing the field, the polished cutting- 
 blades could be seen flashing in the morning sun. 
 
 SUGAR-CANE. 
 
 The cane cutters were in long line, each armed 
 with a broad sword-like blade, wide and square at 
 the end, and about two feet in length. Each 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 45 
 
 stalk of cane is seized in the hand and cut sepa- 
 rately, one swing of the knife cutting off the 
 spreading leafy top, and another cut severing the 
 cane near to the ground. As the stalks are cut, 
 they are thrown into rows to be picked up by the 
 gatherers with the ox-carts, the green tops being 
 left on the field to be eaten by the cattle. The 
 troop of laborers was made up of negroes, a few 
 of whom were women, and of some Chinese, or 
 coolies, as they are called. 
 
 It seemed as if some mechanical substitute 
 might be made to relieve all this hand labor of 
 such large forces of workers, and do it much 
 more rapidly and cheaply, such as a large reap- 
 ing machine. But the difficulty is, perhaps, in 
 the necessity for each stalk to be cut at least 
 twice, above and below ; and also in some meas- 
 ure to the confused manner in which the canes 
 are massed together, some erect, others inclined 
 or entirely fallen. 
 
 The carts, with their shouting drivers and 
 three or four yokes of oxen, follow, and the cane 
 is piled into them, each holding two or three 
 
46 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 tons ; and when filled, they slowly move off 
 towards the crushing mill. 
 
 The oxen of these teams are smaller and more 
 tractable and intelligent, or under better train- 
 ing, than the oxen used in the North, being 
 obedient when each is separately called b}^ name, 
 and some of the teams are under remarkable con- 
 trol by the voices of their drivers. 
 
 The drivers keep up a continued calling or 
 ordering the animals, in a tone that is not un- 
 musical, and I have been amused at the names of 
 the oxen, given to them by the negroes. Some of 
 the names which I heard this morning, when 
 translated, were, " Diamond," " Good Friend," 
 "Dove," "Grain of Gold," "Poison," "Pretty," 
 " Sailor," and " Runaway." 
 
 The laborers are directed in their field work by 
 an officer called the mayoral, who is the same in 
 authority as the slave driver of former times on 
 the plantations of our Southern States. He is an 
 ordinary sort of fellow, who merely knows the 
 work before him, and is mounted on a horse or 
 mule, and carries a sword and a large whip. The 
 
DIARY OP A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 49 
 
 use of the lash is forbidden by law, yet it is said 
 to be often used ; but I have not seen airy in- 
 stance of it on this plantation. It is, however, 
 probable that the whip will of necessity be more 
 or less used so long as slavery exists, as compul- 
 sion and the fear of punishment must be, in such 
 hopeless servitude, the only incentives to work. 
 
 The punishment ordinarily resorted to, usually 
 for criminal conduct, is confinement in the stocks 
 and the wearing of chains. These forms of pun- 
 ishment simply detain or inconvenience the of- 
 fender without inflicting pain. 
 
 The breakfast for the laborers was brought to 
 the field about eight o'clock, and consisted of 
 boiled jerked beef and boiled sweet potatoes, in 
 a large wooden box or trough. Folding some 
 cane leaves into a sort of basin, each laborer 
 supplied himself liberally with the food, and sit- 
 ting in the shade of the uncut cane, ate large 
 quantities. This diet is varied at other meals with 
 the plantain and rice, with sugar and water for a 
 drink; and at all moments of idleness the negroes 
 are seen gnawing and sucking the sugar-cane. 
 
50 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 It is said that during the sugar-making season, 
 notwithstanding the hard work, the laborers and 
 working animals all become fat, due to the con- 
 sumption of sugar or the cane. I have seen 
 horses and dogs eat sugar, hogs and chickens 
 fatten on the refuse of the mills, and flocks of 
 birds feed on it where it is exposed in the sun 
 and air to dry. 
 
 In case of heavy rains, particularly during the 
 wet season, the laborers are protected by large 
 sheds mounted on wheels, which are moved from 
 place to place, and into which they gather until 
 the heavy rain-fall is over. 
 
 Last evening was the occasion of great excite- 
 ment on this plantation and the vicinity. On re- 
 turning homeward, from our evening ride, there 
 was a bright light in the horizon in front of us, 
 but it did not attract much attention until it sud- 
 denly flared up, when, spurring our horses, it was 
 soon seen that a cane-field was blazing and the 
 fire rapidly extending. 
 
 This burning of cane-fields is the dread of the 
 planter, and often the cause of great loss. On 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 51 
 
 this plantation of Santa Barbara a fire once de- 
 stroyed an amount of cane equivalent to two 
 thousand boxes of sugar ; and the blaze of cane- 
 fields has extended over a continuous track of 
 twenty miles, consuming property worth millions 
 of dollars. 
 
 For the purpose of detecting fire in its in- 
 cipiency, a watchman is, during the daytime, 
 stationed in the cupola of the sugar-mill to strike 
 an alarm. 
 
 Fire is most dreaded during the high winds 
 that prevail from nine in the morning until five 
 in the afternoon; the rest of the twenty-four 
 hours being usually calm. 
 
 When we reached the cane-field the whole force 
 of negroes and coolies was at work, some cutting 
 a road through the field of cane at a distance 
 in advance of the fire, so as to leave a space 
 over which the fire could not advance, and others 
 beating out newly ignited spots where sparks or 
 coals were carried by the wind. 
 
 The heat was intense, and the stalks of green 
 
52 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 cane, as they burst from expansion, kept up a 
 sound like the rattle of distant musketiy. 
 
 Fortunately the evening was of the usual calm- 
 ness, and the vacated space where the cane had 
 been cut and carried away before the fire, ended 
 its progress. 
 
 Tuesday, March 12th. — My morning and even- 
 ing rides always present some new object of in- 
 terest ; indeed the whole pathway is among beau- 
 ties and novelties which create admiration and 
 surprise. My recent transition from a climate of 
 winter makes these impressions the more strik- 
 ing. The profuse bloom of tropical flowers, the 
 most of which are to me unknown exotics, is 
 always attractive ; but there are among them 
 some old familiar ones, such as the convolvulus 
 with its blue and white or purple flowers, which 
 are ever in sight, covering the hedges by the 
 roadsides. 
 
 Many flowers are large and gaudy in color, 
 among which the American aloe is very conspicu- 
 ous, as long hedges are frequently formed of it, 
 and the flower-stalks often reach to a height of 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 53 
 
 twenty-five feet. Hedges are used for the parti- 
 tion of fields and to edge the roads, and many 
 beautiful flowers peer out through the dense en- 
 tanglement of the thicket. 
 
 The hedge is usually formed of a plant called 
 the pina raton, which has long sword-like leaves 
 edged with the sharpest points, and as it grows 
 with rapidity and density, an impenetrable bar- 
 rier is formed. The leaves are usually of a 
 bright green color, but are curiously and beauti- 
 fully varied, and some are a brilliant red. 
 
 Nothing in the way of vegetation has inter- 
 ested me as much as the parasites, which spread 
 themselves over larger growths until they are 
 completely enveloped. Some of these parasites 
 become far larger than the object on which they 
 at first effect a lodgment. The most remarkable 
 to me is one which commences its growth up in 
 the branches of a large tree and spreads itself; 
 some of its offshoots descend and take root in 
 the ground, and the tree is so entwined and en- 
 closed by the parasite that it dies in the fatal 
 
 embrace. Dead trees thus enclosed are abun- 
 5* 
 
54 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 dantly seen in the forests ; and where a large 
 tree has in this death-grasp been long dead it 
 may be decayed, and in time disappears, so that 
 sometimes this enormous growth of what was 
 once a mere parasite, now stands up alone with 
 the size, form, and firmness of the original tree. 
 
 I occasionally see dead trees covered with para- 
 sitic growths whose life is being again sapped 
 out by other vegetation upon them : " Thus death 
 takes the glow and hue of life, and life the gaunt 
 and ghastly form of death." 
 
 The density of these tropical forests is ex- 
 treme, entangled as they are by intricate vines 
 hanging from aloft in festoons, and interwoven 
 with the drooping mosses, lichens, and small 
 undergrowth. In such places they can only be 
 penetrated, as is the custom, by cutting a way 
 with the short sword that is usually carried. In 
 the depth of these woods there is, on a calm day, 
 a grandeur and intense silence that produces a 
 feeling of awe. 
 
 Among the hanging vines of the forest is one 
 called the water vine, which has a curious utility. 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 55 
 
 When a piece of it is cut off, pure water flows 
 rapidly in a stream from its porous wood, suffi- 
 cient for the thirsty traveler, and I have several 
 times had a cool and refreshing draught from a 
 section of the vine. Some kinds of vines are 
 long, smooth, and have a rope-like tenacity, and 
 are used by the country people for tying fences 
 and for bindings about their rudely constructed 
 houses. 
 
 I have seen no animals in these forests except 
 birds, snakes, and lizards; but an animal nearly 
 the size of a rabbit, called the jutia, or wood rat, 
 is abundant, and deer exist in some localities. 
 Lizards vary in form, and are often beautifully 
 colored. Snakes in this locality are not venom- 
 ous, but some kinds, as the boa constrictor, are 
 large. I have preserved the skin of one which 
 living measured fifteen feet. 
 
 Thursday, March 14th. — This day has been 
 one of great enjoyment, as it has been spent in a 
 romantic picnic gathering of our social party in 
 the woods. 
 
 After our cup of coffee at six in the morning, 
 
56 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 and while the air was still fresh and cool, the fo- 
 liage glittering with dew, a row of saddled horses 
 and a volante were ready at the door. A mule 
 cart with servants and provisions had preceded 
 to make preparation for our breakfast at the en- 
 camping-ground. 
 
 The rising smoke from the fire, and when 
 nearer, the savory aroma of roasted meat, led to 
 an open grove by the side of a stream of water. 
 
 A whole pig was revolving and roasting over a 
 fire of glowing coals, and w T as being attentively 
 basted with orange-juice. The party amused 
 themselves by wandering about, or by fishing in 
 the stream, the ready fishing-poles being cut from 
 bamboo growing on the bank, and with my gun I 
 added a little to vaiy the fare with some game 
 birds. 
 
 On returning to the grounds for breakfast, we 
 found that a hungry party, sitting in silence aloft 
 in the trees, had anticipated us. Flocks of tur- 
 key-buzzards had been seen, soaring high in the 
 air, and were now in quiet dignity settled, like a 
 coroner's jury at an inquest, over our roasting 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 57 
 
 pig. They were harmless, and only aided in 
 making the scene more picturesque. 
 
 A tablecloth was spread on the ground, and 
 the breakfast was enjoyed as such fare, in the 
 open air with its novel surroundings, always is. 
 
 A part of the bill of fare was to have been 
 turtle soup, but this item was missing, as our 
 only receipt for making the soup commenced 
 with " first catch your turtle ;." and this trifling 
 preliminary was, after some efforts, decided to be 
 a failure. 
 
 Some roamed while others dozed, the horses 
 browsing on piles of sugar-cane tops cut for 
 them, until the hour for departing homeward, 
 when we left the spoils to a party of waiters 
 dressed in black — the buzzards. 
 
 Their verdict, in these troublous times, will be 
 an agreement that the}^, like other hungry Span- 
 ish officials, who are birds of a feather, will send 
 in their bills, with clause added to report a casus 
 belli; which, where the pig was eviscerated, will 
 be an intestine war. 
 
 Saturday, March 16^/?,— -So much life in the 
 
58 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 open air, late and early, from the first glimmer of 
 dawn until the stars shine out and the glow- 
 worm marks the pathway, gives me a full appre- 
 ciation of this delightful climate. This is the 
 latter part of the dry season, for the word winter 
 is here unknown ; but I anticipated that the dry 
 season would show a general desiccation and 
 withering, and am now surprised at the prevalent 
 verdure. Occasional showers have fallen through- 
 out the season, and the country is of the bright 
 greenness of our " leafy month of June." 
 
 Some few trees, it is true, are bare of foliage, 
 and others merely budding forth ; for even here, 
 " Leaves have their times to fall, and flowers to 
 wither," but not at the " north wind's breath." 
 
 The air is clear and pure, without much vari- 
 ation in temperature or moisture. The extremes 
 now are from seventy to ninety degrees, and the 
 average temperature of the island for the entire 
 year is eighty degrees. The sun's rays are hot 
 for exposure from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.; before 
 and after those hours riding and walking are 
 agreeable. 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 59 
 
 All visiting, riding, and amusements out-of- 
 doors are done in avoidance of the mid-day sun, 
 yet the sunshine is quite tolerable to me, on ac- 
 count of the strong wind that almost invariably 
 arises by nine or ten in the morning, and blows 
 until four or five in the afternoon. I have not 
 yet experienced a day that could be called sultry. 
 The nights are calm and sufficiently cool for 
 sleeping under blanket coverings. 
 
 The sky is clear and blue from sunrise until 
 sunset, varied by white fleec3 r clouds, and the 
 only rain, up to this date of my visit, has been 
 an afternoon shower of an hour's duration. 
 
 The sunrises and sunsets are beautiful on ac- 
 count of the clearness of the atmosphere. At 
 daylight there is a low mist on the ground, but 
 as soon as the horizontal rays of the sun gleam 
 over the tops of the distant palm-trees on the 
 plain, it vanishes, and glowing sunlight reigns 
 until the palms on the western horizon again 
 cast forth their long shadows. The sun goes 
 down red, and the clouds about are aglow with 
 crimson and purple, but soon all is sombre even- 
 
60 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 ing, for there can hardly be said to be a period 
 of twilight. The transition from day to night is 
 rapid, and light drops into darkness as the cur- 
 tain falls at the end of a performance, and an 
 economical manager puts out the lights. The 
 poetical hour of twilight, when "Fades the 
 glimmering landscape on the sight," is lost in 
 the intense tropical realities of sunshine and 
 darkness. Thus, when riding at a distance from 
 home, late in the day, I have been surprised by 
 being quickly overtaken by the darkness. 
 
 The only marked change of temperature is 
 during the dry season, when the wind blows from 
 the north, which is not frequent or of long du- 
 ration, but the air may then be chilly at night and 
 early in the morning. This chilliness must at 
 times, during the winter months, be uncomfort- 
 ably felt by the people, as they universally wear 
 linen clothing, and the beds, so-called, on which 
 they sleep, cannot give warmth. It is not that 
 the temperature actually falls so low, but the en- 
 tire absence of all means of protection from cool- 
 ness and dampness may produce discomfort, as 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 61 
 
 the houses are everywhere built to be cool and 
 airy, offering only shelter from sun and rain. 
 The houses throughout the rural localities are of 
 but one story, with tiled roofs, and usually floors 
 of stone or tiles. 
 
 The doors and windows open almost from floor 
 to ceiling. Windows are guarded only by iron 
 bars and heavy inside shutters, without any glass 
 sashes, and of course a chimney, or other arrange- 
 ment for artificial warmth, is unknown in the 
 island. Thus it will be seen that the houses offer 
 no protection from a chilly atmosphere, and it is 
 certainly true that such protection is very rarely 
 needed ; but I am prepared to advise every friend 
 who may be inclined to run away from winter, 
 and to experience this delightful climate, to bring 
 with him an overcoat for emergencies, and if he 
 should travel much through the beautiful inte- 
 rior, it would be well to be provided with his own 
 blanket, as he will find such articles scarce among 
 the country people. 
 
 The houses of the smaller farmers and the 
 
 country people generally, even among some who 
 
 6 
 
62 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 are said to be wealthy, are of a character which 
 we in the North would consider most wretched. 
 But the wretchedness pertains to outward cir- 
 cumstances which do not exist in this tropical 
 climate, where merely protection from sun and 
 raiu is desired. These houses are constructed 
 of thin strips of the palm-tree or bamboo, with 
 sometimes a fibrous material from the cocoanut 
 tree packed in between them. The roof is 
 thatched with palm leaves, and the floor merely 
 the bare ground, and that is worn into a rough, 
 uneven condition. There may be partitions 
 dividing the space into several rooms, which 
 seem usually dark on account of closure of the 
 window-shutter, if there be one. A few rough 
 chairs and a table constitute the furniture, 
 which with some enormous and ornamented sad- 
 dles, some ox-3'okes, and a piece of jerked beef, 
 with small sheafs of nnhulled rice, or bunches of 
 herbs hanging from the rafters, make up the 
 household property. 
 
 I rode this morning through a country beyond 
 the sugar plantations, among the poorer orders of 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 63 
 
 country people, who live in this style of houses. 
 The} r are an humble class, of marked peculiarities ; 
 but their manners and courteous deportment in 
 general are their best features. Their dress is 
 primitive, being merely a linen shirt worn outside 
 the pantaloons, which are of the same material, 
 and a pair of low shoes or slippers on bare feet. 
 They continually wear swords, either long or 
 short, often ornamented with silver, and ride with 
 large rattling spurs. It is impossible to be among 
 them without being impressed with their kind- 
 ness, and, even among the humblest, with a little 
 polish of manner. 
 
 Monday, March ISth. — I have been wandering 
 to-day in some new directions, leaving the broad 
 plateau of the cane-fields, following streams of 
 water or the winding edges of the forest, and oc- 
 casionally dismounting to penetrate the deep 
 shades and observe tropical nature in its seclu- 
 sion and wildness. 
 
 It is interesting to see the peculiarities and the 
 exuberance of growth of trees and vines, but par- 
 ticularly the varieties of the parasites on trees, and 
 
64 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 those particularly which we would call air-plants. 
 There is great variety in the forest trees, the 
 largest being the ceiba, some specimens of which 
 are the greatest trees, both in height and size of 
 trunk, that I have ever seen. There are trees 
 which have the semblance of our larches, but the 
 forest is almost made up of unfamiliar foliage. 
 
 The great tropical characteristic among trees 
 is the royal palm, for it is the most conspicuous 
 and most abundant of all. It is never out of 
 sight, being spared in the clearing of forests ; is 
 cultivated in groves, and in long lines to form 
 ornamental avenues ; its branching top surmounts 
 and waves over the smaller trees of the forest, 
 and the horizon almost everywhere is a crest of 
 palms. The tree has great utility ; the outside 
 hard incasement of the loose fibrous trunk is 
 used as boards in building houses, and the 
 branches serve for thatching. Near to the top of 
 the tree, where the branches start out, is a mate- 
 rial that is eaten on the table as a vegetable. It 
 is a delicate and pure white substance, and I can 
 attest its agreeable n ess as an article of diet, either 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 65 
 
 boiled or raw. The palm has a long straight and 
 bare trunk, reaching directly upward for even 
 sixty or eighty feet. It has a smooth and clean 
 grayish-white appearance, as if it had received a 
 coat of whitewash, and my first sight of it, in the 
 vicinity of dwellings, gave me the impression that 
 such was the case. 
 
 Another tree of prominence and beauty is the 
 cocoanut. It grows everywhere throughout the 
 island, and is of utility for its fruit, as a beautiful 
 shade tree, and for a peculiar mat-like texture 
 which incases it, and which has various mechan- 
 ical applications. 
 
 Nothing that grows has, to my view, such an 
 air of tropical luxuriance as the banana plant, 
 in its different varieties, having immense graceful 
 leaves of a bright-green color, and it is of rapid 
 growth. A large and coarse variety of the fruit 
 takes the place of bread for almost the entire popu- 
 lation, eaten boiled or roasted ; and a smaller and 
 more delicate kind is a most luscious fruit. The 
 kind which serves as the ordinary food of the 
 laboring masses is cultivated in large fields, which 
 6* 
 
66 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 produce extensively with but little culture. A 
 field of the banana plants, with the heavy pendant 
 bunches of the fruit, is the best display of profu- 
 sion in tropical production. 
 
 The wild orange and lemon trees, now laden 
 with fruit, are beautiful objects as the fruit shines 
 among the dark-green leaves ; but the oranges 
 are too sour to be agreeable. 
 
 Guava trees are abundant, and the fruit is now 
 ripe and ready for making the popular jelly and 
 marmalade. The fruit is sweet and has a rich but 
 not very attractive flavor, and a surfeit of them 
 can soon be attained. I gathered to-day ripe 
 tamarinds, riding under the now leafless trees. 
 
 An esculent, which is very productive, and 
 forms a considerable portion of the laborer's 
 diet, is the sweet potato. It is reputed to be 
 better than the sweet potato in the North, but it 
 is, in my opinion, not near so good, being more 
 insipid, heavy, and solid. 
 
 The great deficiency in diet for the masses of 
 the people is in regard to fresh meat, its place 
 being poorly supplied by the salted and dried 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 67 
 
 article. Cattle look pretty well in the fields, and 
 there seems to be abundant provender for them. 
 Sheep do not thrive so well ; they are thin, and 
 their wool is very scant and coarse. 
 
 The animal which seems the most degenerate 
 under climatic or other influences, whatever they 
 may be, is the hog. A Chester County farmer 
 would not recognize in them the animal which he 
 has bred up to such perfection. They have long 
 legs and longer snouts, and are singularly flat 
 and thin. Taking a front and rear look at them, 
 they are so narrow as to be almost invisible, but 
 on broadside view, the}^ make a wonderful slab- 
 sided display. They must be specially con- 
 structed to work their way through the thick 
 undergrowth in the woods. They are black, and 
 almost minus bristles. I first saw some of them 
 in the forest, and thought at a distance that they 
 were wild goats ; but the familiar grunt saved the 
 life of at least one of them, and avoided another 
 buzzard inquest. 
 
 Nevertheless I can attest that they make good 
 
68 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 meat with a somewhat gamy flavor ; and they cer- 
 tainly look more like game than gammon. 
 
 I had supposed that in this region of endless 
 summer the grazing animals would be harassed 
 by insect annoyances, but it seems not at any 
 seasons to be so much the case as in the North. 
 During my observation not a fly has been seen 
 on horses or oxen, and even the ordinary domes- 
 tic fly seems to be scarce. When I first noticed 
 the practice of plaiting horses' tails and tying 
 the end to the saddle or girth on one side, it 
 seemed to be a cruelty to restrain the animal 
 from the use of his natural fly-brush, but it is 
 apparently not needed. 
 
 I do not notice at this season many insects of 
 any kinds, excepting some varieties of ants, and 
 the evidence of their work, constructive and de- 
 structive, is prodigious. The whole country is 
 marked with prominent tumuli which are ant 
 hills. The height of some of these pyramids I 
 have estimated at ten feet. Another kind of ant 
 inhabits a nest which is a large mass, from two to 
 three feet in diameter, fastened on trees, and it 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 69 
 
 is often very destructive when it secures a lodg- 
 ment in the woodwork of houses, reducing the 
 strong framework to a crumbling mass. 
 
 Wednesday, March 20th. — I have returned from 
 a long ride, and am impressed with the merits of 
 the Cuban horse. He is a pony-built horse, of 
 
 CUBAN HORSE. 
 
 good form and capable of long journeys with 
 endurance, but his great merit is his gait as 
 a saddle-horse. The movement is a rack, all 
 horses used under the saddle being trained to 
 it, and long journeys can be accomplished with- 
 out fatigue to the rider. The saddles are large 
 and cumbersome, well suited for novices in riding 
 to keep their position by the hollowness of the 
 seat and by holding on with their hands, but 
 
70 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 they seem awkward and inconvenient to expe- 
 rienced riders. 
 
 There is some attention given to the stock 
 and training of these horses, and, among the 
 better class of people, they are objects of pride 
 and are well cared for, but I have seen the 
 saddest abuse of them among a low class of 
 people in the cities. 
 
 When this island, so blessed by nature and 
 so oppressed by misrule, shall become linked 
 with our own country, one of the first humane 
 enactments should be for the prevention of 
 cruelty to animals. Every traveler here will be 
 impressed with the great disproportion of the 
 size and strength of the animal to the amount 
 of labor required. The horses are mere ponies 
 in form, but are spurred and beaten to excessive 
 struggles to move their burdens. They are thin 
 and jaded, scarred and haggard-looking, and 
 although naturally of great spirit, their heads 
 droop to their knees as soon as the burden is re- 
 moved and the lash ceases its work. In the city 
 of Havana it is wonderful what these poor beasts 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 71 
 
 can be made to struggle through under the stim- 
 ulus of the spur and lash. The spur used is 
 capable of penetrating the flesh, and the he&yy 
 clubbed handle of the whip is the favorite end for 
 use. And after such a toilworn existence is near 
 its end, the horse may be sold for a few dollars, 
 to be ridden blindfolded and under goading spurs 
 into the bull-ring to be gored to death; for with 
 only such horses is the wretched bull-fight sup- 
 plied. 
 
 Such is the style of horse and the character of 
 his treatment among the lower classes of the 
 people in Cuban cities ; and other animals, as the 
 ox, are liable to similar abuse. I have often seen 
 the yoked ox urged forward by one person pulling 
 on a rope attached .to a ring through his nose, 
 while another goaded him in the flanks with a 
 pole tipped at one end with a sharp iron point. 
 
 We have a new sensation on this plantation in 
 the arrival of a lot of Chinese laborers, called 
 coolies, just from the vessel, after a voyage of 
 nearly five months. They came to labor under 
 contract for eight years, receiving, beyond their 
 
72 DIARY OP A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 living, the remarkably low wages of four dollars 
 a month. 
 
 They look remarkably neat, in dress of Chi- 
 nese style, with hair in a long plaited tail. They 
 have rather dull, submissive faces, and their 
 smiles are, as is reputed, " childlike and bland." 
 They are rather slightly formed, and, with their 
 small hands and feet, with long finger-nails, I 
 have been wondering what kind of occupation 
 they have been accustomed to at home. It will 
 take some time to inure them to the hard labor 
 they are destined for. 
 
 Some of them are weak and sick, due probably 
 to scurvy produced by the privations of their 
 long voyage ; but they seem happy, and are 
 greeted by a number of their countrymen who 
 have served for some years on this place. 
 
 Their condition here will be, while under con- 
 tract, but little better than that of the negro 
 slaves with whom they will labor and associate, 
 and they will be subject to the same compulsions 
 and punishments of the lash or stocks, at the 
 mercy of their employers. 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 73 
 
 Every plantation has a number of coolie labor- 
 ers, and the importation of them will probably 
 increase with the demand for them. They will 
 take the place of the negro, whose condition of 
 slavery will soon be over, as by government en- 
 actment of a few years ago all are born free, and 
 it is the experience here that the freed negro will 
 not labor. I have visited the great plantations, 
 such as Santa Rita, with its nine hundred laborers, 
 and Flor de Cuba, Tinguaro, and others, and have 
 seen large numbers of these coolies. They are 
 preferred for all kinds of skilled labor, but do not 
 bear field work in the hot sun so well as the negro. 
 I saw, while riding through this cane country 
 this morning, a party hunting a runaway slave. 
 They were mounted, armed with swords and 
 guns, and had with them the traditional Cuban 
 bloodhounds, tied with long cords to their saddles. 
 Instances of slaves running away, occasionally 
 occur, and it is remarkable that they are not 
 more frequent, considering the fact that the run- 
 away can so easily find concealment, and sustain 
 himself on the wild products of the country. 
 
74 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 Sunday, March 2±th. — Yesterday morning we 
 started early with a volante and saddle-horses for 
 a visit to the fine plantation of Tinguaro. The 
 morning was -bright, as every morning is, and the 
 air cool as it ever is before the sun's rays get 
 much elevated above the horizon. After a few 
 miles ride through the country of red soil, rais- 
 ing clouds of dust, a great change was experi- 
 enced in reaching a region of the black land, and 
 the marked difference in the soil characteristics 
 was disagreeably manifest. The transition to 
 the black land was rapid, and instead of its being 
 dry and dusty, the mere surface was somewhat 
 dried, and the depth a stiff plastic kind of mud, 
 the roads having deep ruts through which only 
 teams of three yokes of oxen could drag the loads, 
 and the volante had to seek ways which avoided 
 the traveled roads. Yet no rain had fallen for 
 some weeks, the soil retaining moisture so as to 
 form a sticky mud, which is long in drying, and 
 is a great impediment to the operations of the 
 planter. The dark soil is, however, more produc- 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 75 
 
 tive than the red, which is more liable to suffer 
 from drought, but is more readily tilled. 
 
 The productive qualities of both soils for some 
 plants is wonderful. I have been informed that 
 there are instances of successive crops of sugar- 
 cane having been taken from fields uninterrupt- 
 edly through a period of forty years, and without 
 the application of manure. Such cropping for 
 fifteen or twenty years is usual. 
 
 After reaching Tinguaro, and accepting the in- 
 variable hospitality of the planter, the beautiful 
 plantation of Flor de Cuba, with its fine porti- 
 coed mansion and gorgeous tropical garden, was 
 visited, and gave us great pleasure, and then I 
 took my departure for a tour along the south 
 coast of the island. 
 
 The railway travel to Cienfuegos was a hot 
 and dusty ride through a country of no particular 
 attractions. It was varied, but in an uninterest- 
 ing way, by crossing some desert savannas, pro- 
 ducing little more vegetation than the palmetto, 
 which flourishes on the poorest soil. Over these 
 dry and parched soils the air seemed like the 
 
76 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 sirocco of an African desert, and water, at least 
 for drinking purposes, was as scant as there; but 
 rum could be had, and was in demand, at every 
 station. 
 
 As we passed through some regions the grass 
 and undergrowth were on fire, and heat and 
 smoke were added to the already stifling air. The 
 breeze died out as the afternoon passed, the pal- 
 mettos did not shake a leaf, and my fellow-travel- 
 ers smoked and dozed, and dozed and smoked 
 again. Some fruit-sellers came up to the train, 
 and the fresh and juicy oranges were refreshing. 
 
 I noticed at a station that some of the railroad 
 timber was mahogany, a useful application of that 
 usually only ornamental wood. I felt a home- 
 like sympathy with the engine, bearing the name 
 of a Philadelphia maker, and with a sharp-vis- 
 aged, restless-looking Yankee who managed it. 
 
 Some fine plantations were passed, but most of 
 the regions seemed sparsely occupied by people 
 living in small houses built of bamboo, plastered 
 with mud, and with roofs thatched with palm 
 leaves. 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 77 
 
 The misty hills and the blue waters of the bay 
 of Cienfuegos came in sight as the sun went 
 down, and I breathed the warm soft air from the 
 south coast sea. 
 
 In the "Hotel La Union" I found rest in the 
 heavily walled rooms, closed during mid-day from 
 the burning sun, and open from floor to ceiling at 
 night. The hotel is the neatest I have seen on the 
 island, and the fare less outre to my taste. There 
 is an air of stiffness about the place, caused by 
 the extraordinary use of starch; for I sit down 
 to a starched table-cloth which crackles on ap- 
 proaching the table ; crawl into starched and rust- 
 ling sheets on the beds ; — even the napkins and 
 towels are rigid, and I am informed that the laun- 
 dress always starches the pocket-handkerchiefs. 
 
 I went this morning to the Plaza, being at- 
 tracted in that direction by the bell of the old 
 cathedral, and saw the faithful going into the 
 church. The old bell tolled sonorously and sol- 
 emnly, but soon a very small bell in the same 
 belfry joined in, and made a most discordant 
 
 clatter. 
 
 7* 
 
78 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 Iii the street in front and at the door of the 
 cathedral were rows of music-stands, and a mil- 
 itary band came up, and played some beautiful 
 operatic selections, and I sat on the steps, enjoy- 
 ing at least this part of the religious ceremonies. 
 After this was over the band entered the church, 
 and I sat observing with curious interest the 
 varied styles, ranks, castes, and colors of people 
 as they arrived. The ladies came with bare 
 heads, or were covered with veils, and many 
 were followed by servants who carried chairs 
 for them to sit on, and also handsome rugs to 
 kneel on. 
 
 The day is Palm Sunday, and some unusual 
 performances, including an abundant display and 
 distribution of palm branches are in order ; but 
 besides the religious display the day has not the 
 air of a Sabbath, for business goes on as usual, 
 and some laborers are engaged in repairing the 
 street, even in front of the church. 
 
 Within the church the congregation were gen- 
 erally standing or kneeling, and I walked around 
 looking at the paintings and the stained glass of 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 79 
 
 the windows. People were mingled miscellane- 
 ously in their worship, and I was impressed with 
 the extremes of complexion — very dark white 
 people and very light negroes — and came to the 
 conclusion that color alone will not go very far 
 in the distinctions of races on this island. 
 
 The practice of whitening the face with cos- 
 metic powder is universal among the ladies, and 
 I noticed it abundantly applied on the faces of 
 very little girls. It was so excessively smeared 
 in some instances as to be accumulated in masses 
 in their ears, corners of the mouth, and folds of 
 skin on the neck and face. But there were many 
 beautiful faces among the ladies, even after allow- 
 ing a heavy discount for the cosmetics — certainly 
 to those who can appreciate the poetry of a face 
 of waxen pallor, with dreamy, languishing eyes, 
 and a profusion of drooping black tresses. 
 
 There was much ceremonious performance in 
 the church, which was led off by a fat priest, who 
 perspired profusely under his exertions and the 
 burden of his robes. One of the devotees offered 
 me a piece of palm leaf, which I accepted without 
 
80 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 any increase of devotional feeling, and I strolled 
 off, ruminating on the antithesis of religion as a 
 faith and religion as a life practice — on creeds 
 versus conduct. 
 
 I noticed some doves flying about the old ca- 
 thedral, lodging on the cornices and belfry, and 
 they seemed at home ; but as emblems of peace, 
 humility, and simplicity, with their plain attire, 
 they looked out of place, and I thought how 
 much more appropriately they might be shelter- 
 ing under the eaves of our old Arch Street Meet- 
 ing-house. They were, however, well offset by 
 the buzzards, which grovelled in and wrangled 
 for the offal in the street. 
 
 My repose last night was broken regularly 
 every hour by a watchman, who bawled out, in a 
 drawling and melancholy manner, immediately 
 under my window, the hour of the night and the 
 character of the weather, information well enough 
 for those who desire to be so informed with that 
 frequency, but I thought it not of sufficient im- 
 portance to compensate for the loss of the night's 
 rest. I intend for to-night to bribe him into a 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 81 
 
 sin of omission, or to try it on those whose slum- 
 bers or potations are deeper than mine. These 
 watchmen are curiously preserved relics of an- 
 tiquity, going about the streets at night with a 
 long spear in one hand and a lantern in the 
 
 WATCHMAN. 
 
 other, and making night hideous with their 
 moaning cry. As the weather is so generally 
 clear, their usual cry is Serenof and they are in 
 derision called Serenos. 
 
 The weather is extremely hot, and the south 
 wind, although it blows strongly from over the 
 
82 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 bay and the near open sea, is not refreshing. 
 The people have a wilted look, as if oppressed by 
 the heat. Among the lower classes, black and 
 white, the small children go about entirely naked. 
 
 The hotel " La Union" is probably one of the 
 best on the island ; but this is no great commen- 
 dation where hotels are uniformly bad. Mr. 
 Trollope, in an article, commenting on hotels in 
 general, says that : " The worst hotels that I 
 know are in Havana ; nothing can beat them in 
 filth, discomfort, habits of abomination, and ab- 
 sence of everything which the traveler desires." 
 
 The hotels of Cuba are all deficient not only in 
 the essentials of comfort for the traveler, but 
 most especially in those of decency and pro- 
 priety. I found my bed a piece of canvas, 
 tensely stretched, and with merely a starched 
 linen sheet upon it; but I asked for and obtained 
 a blanket, not for covering, but to lie upon. I 
 have occasionally noticed travelers carrying with 
 them heavy rugs, intended to be placed on the 
 hard sacking-bottoms. It is said, in extenua- 
 tion of the comfortless beds and bare stone or 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 83 
 
 tiled floors, that mattresses and carpets would 
 harbor fleas ; but that the present arrangements 
 do not secure an immunity from them every trav- 
 eler in Cuba will attest. 
 
 The manner in which Cuban hotels are built, 
 with the doors and windows of lodging-rooms 
 opening on an inclosed area in which all the dis- 
 agreeable and dirty work is performed, in an en- 
 tirely exposed manner, renders them unpleasant 
 to travelers. The view and odor of cooking are 
 always prominent. As you step from your room 
 in the morning, it is to see a dirty fellow wring- 
 ing the necks or plucking the feathers of chickens, 
 or cleaning fish for your breakfast. The cost of 
 living in this style, or absence of style, is about 
 that of really first-class hotels in the North. 
 
 The table is excellently supplied with what are 
 considered delicacies. Oysters are abundant, but 
 are extremely small, such as would not be gath- 
 ered in the North ; but they have a good flavor. 
 Coffee served early in the mornings came in 
 an ordinary glass goblet. Wine of fair quality, 
 even at the humblest hotels, is supplied without 
 
84 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 extra charge. Notwithstanding the abundance 
 of wines and spirits, drunkenness is rare among 
 the native population. 
 
 The great number of volantes and other forms 
 of vehicles is characteristic of Cuban cities, but 
 in Cienfuegos they seem scarce. 
 
 Wednesday, March 21th. — I took the cars from 
 Cienfuegos for the more agreeable climate of the 
 elevated interior, and arrived at the ancient city 
 of Villa Clara last evening. Part of the way was 
 through regions where the guava trees reached 
 for miles, and where the confections of it are 
 made. At Esperanza, a village noted for its 
 guava jelly and paste, large quantities were seen 
 and offered for sale in the cars. There were sev- 
 eral different kinds, and all were delightful and 
 superior to any I had heretofore tasted. 
 
 It seemed out of time to be gathering crops of 
 Indian corn, as I noticed on the way, in the glow- 
 ing verdure of these latter days of a tropical 
 March; but the stalks and blades were withered, 
 and the fields reminded me of home-days in Oc- 
 tober. Two crops of corn are raised in the year. 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 85 
 
 During the route we have had in view, to the 
 eastward, some ranges of mountains, and have 
 been surprised at a curious illusion as to their 
 distance. Some guesses located them as near as 
 three miles, but they were actually from forty to 
 sixty miles away. 
 
 Villa Clara looks like an old Moorish city, 
 and here may be seen the purest types of Cuban 
 people. It does not seem to have a business 
 character, but there is evidence of wealth among 
 the citizens. I should think that the population 
 is mostly made up of wealthy and retired planters. 
 
 I was attracted in the evening by a band of 
 music on the Plaza, and on reaching it, was sur- 
 prised to find such an ornamental promenade, 
 large, and brightly lighted with gas, which, with 
 the more romantic illumination of a full moon, 
 shining on light stone buildings and through 
 heavy foliage, made it a kind of fairy-land spec- 
 tacle. While the band played in the centre, a 
 large number of prettily dressed ladies prome- 
 naded around the enclosure, and as Villa Clara 
 
86 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 is noted in song and story for its beautiful ladies, 
 I took the opportunity of verifying the fact. 
 
 Hotels here are of humble character, but with 
 grandiloquent names. I lodged at the Hotel "La 
 Cinque Villas," and would have slept but for an- 
 other noisy peripatetic watchman, who lugubri- 
 ously stated that the weather was cloudy, in 
 which information I was previously posted by 
 rain pattering on the tiled roof above me. 
 
 It is evident that people do not travel much on 
 this island ; the cars are not well filled, particu- 
 larly the first class cars, and there are but one or 
 two trains a day, even on the most traveled roads. 
 Before the days of railroads there could not have 
 been any active intercommunication, on account 
 of the bad qualhVy of the common roads. For 
 this reason a vast proportion of the masses of 
 the people have seen but little beyond their im- 
 mediate vicinity. 
 
 At this dry season the roads in the level coun- 
 try are good; but the difficulty is after rains, 
 when they become impassable to vehicles on ac- 
 count of the depth of the mud. The wheels sink 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 87 
 
 to the axle, and the sticky mud adheres until 
 spokes and rim are hidden in one mass. This is 
 truly a land of mud in the wet season, and I 
 have heard in Spanish the exaggerated expres- 
 sion, that " the roads become so muddy that a 
 bird cannot fly over them." 
 
 It does not seem possible that even the most 
 traveled roads can be constructed to remain 
 good during the wet season, on account of the 
 scarcity of timber and hard stone. 
 
 The quaint-looking volante, with its enormous 
 wheels, has some merit for dragging through 
 these roads when three horses are geared to it 
 abreast, one being ridden by a driver who urges 
 them on. But this vehicular oddity will 'soon 
 disappear or will be retained merely as a conven- 
 tionality of style for a nobby family equipage. 
 
 Saturday, March SQth. — I engaged a volante 
 driver, who, by the way, stated that his name was 
 "Jesus of Mary," to rouse me for the early train 
 westward yesterday morning, and, ere the dawn, 
 he shouted between the bars of the lodging-room. 
 After groping for some time, a pint of water was 
 
88 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 found, which my friend and I divided between us 
 for our ablutions, and we left this comfortless inn 
 without even the offering of a morning draught 
 of coffee. Thence we journeyed to the plantation 
 of Tinguaro, and, after a welcome from its hos- 
 pitable household, mounted saddle horses, and 
 nightfall found us in the sociality of home life on 
 the plantation of Santa Barbara. 
 
 The sensation of this morning is the melan- 
 choly announcement that one of the newly arrived 
 Chinese laborers was found dead, having com- 
 mitted suicide by hanging himself to a beam 
 across the bathing-house. The self-murder was 
 effected in a determined manner, as the feet were 
 almost touching the floor, a ledge was within 
 their reach, and objects of support could have 
 been readily seized by the hands. Suicide has 
 been of frequent occurrence among the coolies in 
 Cuba, and the practice has often been followed 
 by imitation of their associates. Sometimes it 
 seems to have been accomplished in a spirit of 
 vindictiveness towards their employers, and, 
 again, in a curious belief of their transmigration 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 89 
 
 back to China after death. I have been informed 
 that on one estate, after several single suicides, 
 six coolies were found on one morning hanging by 
 the neck. It is said that further instances were 
 prevented by making in the presence of their com- 
 rades a complete dissection and mutilation of one 
 of the bodies. With a similar object, the bodies 
 in some cases of suicide were placed on a pile of 
 wood and totally destroyed by fire. These hor- 
 rible sights, it is said, took from the Chinese 
 their romantic ideas on the subject of self-de- 
 struction. 
 
 The Chinese laborers are of mild and tract- 
 able temperament, seem to be contented with 
 their humble duties, and are submissive to the 
 abuse to which they are on some plantations sub- 
 jected ; but when once their revengeful nature is 
 aroused, they mutually combine with each other 
 and have proved dangerous in their rage. I saw 
 yesterday an officer of a plantation whose arm 
 had been severed in an attack, and in another 
 neighborhood a white employer was murdered 
 
 by them, his skull having been hacked to pieces 
 
 8* 
 
90 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 by their hoes, each one of the infuriated coolies 
 striking a blow at him. 
 
 The body of the Chinese suicide has been in- 
 terred outside the walls of the little enclosure 
 which, by church regulation, must receive the re- 
 mains of those only who have been baptized in 
 the Catholic faith. Id digging the shallow grave 
 to receive the body, another sleeper was uncere- 
 moniously turned out by the spades, and I saw 
 the decaying remnants of mortality, including a 
 skull with some matted hair and portions of 
 clothing, scattered on the ground, and they were 
 left so to remain. Such disregard of propriety 
 in regard to the repose of the dead is the custom 
 throughout the island. The poorer classes are 
 buried without coffins, just beneath the surface, 
 and the bodies quickly decay in the perpetually 
 heated earth. 
 
 Monday, April 1st. — At sunrise this morning 
 the volante and saddle-horses were ready for a 
 ride of a few leagues to Colon, one of the more 
 modern of Cuban inland towns. It seems to be 
 the first place in the island to bear the name of 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 91 
 
 its great discoverer. In the name of Cristobal 
 Colon we seem hardly able to recognize its Latin- 
 ized and, to ns, familiar rendering of Christopher 
 Columbus. 
 
 I felt curious to know whether these old-fash- 
 ioned people would build a new town after the 
 quaint and semi-barbaric styles of the old, but 
 was gratified to find some evidences of progress. 
 The streets were wide and regularly laid out. In 
 some of the old Moorish-stjded towns of the 
 island, it would not be a very long leap to cross 
 the street by jumping from the projecting eaves 
 of the roof on one side to those on the other. 
 There is also the modern improvement of side- 
 walks to the streets, which they have actually 
 gotten .wide enough' for two persons to walk 
 together. The pavements are edged and shaded 
 by long and beautiful rows of laurel trees. 
 
 An ornamental plaza, the inevitable pleasure 
 resort of every Cuban town, is being laid out, 
 and I took some interest in watching the prog- 
 ress of building a cathedral, which will be large, 
 but not grand. The work was crawling along in 
 
92 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 the usual national style. Some coolies and ne- 
 groes were removing a heap of gravel at the 
 building by putting it into small boxes and plac- 
 ing them on their heads. They then slowly 
 walked off" with them, emptied the contents, and 
 returned to the heap. A man with a large whip, 
 in slave-driver style, superintended the work. 
 I pictured to myself, by way of comparison, a 
 smart Irishman, with spade and wheelbarrow, at 
 that gravel heap, doing in less time the work of 
 the dozen laborers, and not requiring an extra 
 hand to wield the lash. 
 
 At a farrier's shop in the vicinity I noticed 
 that it required three men to shoe a horse, one to 
 do the work while another held the hoof, and the 
 third held the horse's head and gave general as- 
 sistance ; yet withal the work progressed slowly. 
 
 The streets are macadamized with white stone, 
 and the glare from them and from the light- 
 colored houses was intolerable under the vertical 
 sun of mid-day. 
 
 A visit to the prison was interesting, and a 
 keeper courteously showed the interior. The 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 93 
 
 prisoners were mostly coolies and negroes, and 
 were employed in braiding palm-leaves for hats, 
 and in making cigarettes. The garrote was an 
 object of grim interest. The keeper apologized 
 for its being dirty and out of order, that it had 
 not been used very lately. My attention was 
 attracted to some rudely made, high-backed 
 chairs, the use of which was explained to be, "to 
 seat the dead ones upon before the spectators, to 
 make room for others on the garroting stool!" 
 
 NEGRO HUT. 
 
 , Wednesday, April 3d. — We have to-day jour- 
 neyed from the interior of the island to Havana ; 
 
94 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 from the fresh air of the country, with cool nights 
 and breezy noons, to the unvarying heat, dust, 
 and close air of the city. The course has been 
 through varied regions, from the level cane-fields 
 and the farm lands to the fruit groves and gardens 
 near the metropolis. The view was over a country 
 mostly level, but it was on the north side termi- 
 nated by a distant mountain range, or by the hills 
 bordering the north coast. Many of the most at- 
 tractive towns were passed through, and near 
 Havana were to be seen palatial villas, romanti- 
 calry located on eminences, the brilliant contrast 
 of their blue, yellow, and white colors with the 
 light and dark-tinted foliage being beautifully 
 effective. The general adoption of blue as a part 
 of the color of buildings gives a picturesqe addi- 
 tion to the landscape. 
 
 After a brief experience of the Hotel el Tele- 
 grafo, I am inclined to recant at least some of 
 my anathemas against Cuban hotels in general. 
 Some of the abominations so conspicuous in the 
 court-yard enclosures are here partially hidden 
 by a conservatory of flowers, in the form of a 
 
jij! jf!^ 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 97 
 
 garden, on the tiled roof of a low building that 
 almost fills the space ; but there is the same 
 tendenc}^ to the accumulation of empty boxes, 
 barrels, and trash in corners, and there are 
 offensive adjuncts that diffuse horrible odors. 
 The fare at the table is really good and free from 
 the disgusting qualities of garlic and oiliness, 
 which is a relief after a few weeks' feeding on the 
 usual fare everywhere in Cuba. In commending 
 the fare in general, it is not necessary to except 
 the article of butter, for that will never be even 
 tasted by the traveler anywhere on the island, as 
 its rancid odor is sufficiently diffused to be a safe 
 precaution. 
 
 Some of the rooms at this hotel are little en- 
 closures, singularly but advantageously located 
 on the roof, and they have decided merits with 
 regard to ventilation. About them there is a 
 spacious promenade on the level roof, enclosed 
 within battlement-walls, and its elevation gives a 
 good lookout over the city and surroundings. It 
 also gives to the curious observer an opportunity 
 of prying into the customs and doings of our 
 
98 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 neighbors, one of whom, I notice, keeps his 
 goats on an adjoining roof; and on another tiled 
 roof is a horse enjoying high life in that unstable 
 position. 
 
 I have been interested in observing the rem- 
 nants of the massive ancient walls which once 
 
 OLD CITY WALLS. 
 
 enclosed and, in their da}', strongly fortified the 
 city of Havana ; bnt the town has long since out- 
 grown its enclosure, and the outlines of the walls 
 mark bnt an oblong section of the centre of the 
 city. Building and street improvements have 
 generally removed the walls, but enough remain 
 for objects of curiosity and interest as ruins. 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 99 
 
 One of the great entrances of the city, called the 
 Tierra Gate, which is architectural!}' ornamental, 
 
 TIERRA GATE. 
 
 still remains. I noticed in one place that the 
 keeper of a nionkej'-show had made an excavation 
 in a part of the wall, leaving its exterior but a 
 hollow shell, and was peacefully amusing the peo- 
 ple ; to such base uses had it come at last. 
 ■ The remains of Columbus lie in the ancient 
 cathedral of Havana. If there is a tomb at which 
 
100 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 homage is due, it is that of the man who, dis- 
 covering a world, received naught but insult and 
 sorrow as his earthly reward, and to whose honor 
 small tribute has since been paid. The remains 
 of Columbus, after the third removal, were finally 
 deposited in a metallic box, which is now encased 
 
 TOMB OF COLU31BUS. 
 
 in the masonry at the side of the altar of this old 
 church. Some years after his death his ashes 
 were removed from Spain to the island of St. 
 Domingo, and about seventy-five years ago they 
 
9* 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 103 
 
 were brought to Havana. I have been informed 
 that when disinterred for the last time, which was 
 nearly three hundred years after his death, but 
 little of even dust was found, and but one bone. 
 A tablet in the wall, and a bust of the great dis- 
 coverer, upon which some unworthy lines of com- 
 monplace sentiment are inscribed, are all that 
 indicate the tomb. 
 
 The cathedral was built about one hundred and 
 fifty years ago, and, besides its being honored as 
 the mausoleum of Columbus, is interesting on ac- 
 count of its great size and quaint architecture. 
 It is constructed of coral limestone, originally 
 white, but now dingy from age, and I noticed the 
 arborescent tracings of coral branches and shell 
 impressions on every stone within reach of the 
 eye. 
 
 The building was closed when I reached it, but 
 curiosity led me to grope around a yard in its 
 rear, where I found a man who held a bunch of 
 keys in his hand, and some small coins caused 
 those keys to grate musically in the rusty locks 
 which led through recesses dark and mysterious, 
 
104 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 until the inner temple was gained. A " dim 
 religious light" was cast over the sculpture, 
 paintings, and on the grand mosaic floors, and 
 two perpetually burning tapers in large vases of 
 oil glowed faintly on the altar. 
 
 I had reached the heart of the man with the 
 keys, and he continued to invade for me the 
 sacerdotal privacies of gorgeous priestly robes, 
 and showed all the costly machinery of religion, 
 in pure gold and silver, including the parapher- 
 nalia of parades, locked up in great mahogany 
 chests and closets. 
 
 What a chance here for sacrilegious plunder 
 may some day come, should anarchy precede this 
 island's political clay of reckoning and redemp- 
 tion from bondage ! 
 
 The very name Havana is so associated with 
 cigars that visitors . are curious to see something 
 of their production, and knowing that the great 
 cigarette factory of '.' La Honradez " is courte- 
 ously open for inspection, we saw the manner in 
 which more than two millions of cigarettes are 
 made every day, mostly by the labor of Chinese 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 105 
 
 operatives, who have acquired great dexterity in 
 the manipulations. There is a large amount of 
 fine and ingenious machinery in the establish- 
 ment, which, I notice, bears the name of American 
 manufacturers; and indeed it is elsewhere, as 
 here, on this island, that all that represents inge- 
 nuity, invention, and the progress of intelligence, 
 may be referred for its origin either to the United 
 States or England. 
 
 I have never been in any locality, from the 
 capital to the most obscure village, where the 
 lottery-ticket venders are not noisy annoyances 
 and disagreeable importuners. They are seen in 
 every public place, press the stranger in the 
 hotels, at railway stations, and in the streets, and 
 are indeed scarcely ever out of sight where people 
 are passing or are congregated. The ticket-sellers 
 are of all ages, from children to the old and 
 decrepit. 
 
 The lottery is under government patronage ; a 
 large revenue being derived from it, as one-fourth 
 of the amount of the money staked is appropriated 
 by the state. It is therefore the wretched policy 
 
106 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 to encourage the demoralizing institution, to the 
 great injury of the people, as it appears that few 
 in the community avoid yielding to the temptation 
 to " try their luck." 
 
 The successful drawings are publicly announced, 
 and thus the cupidity of persons is kept excited 
 by hearing of money in great sums, as from one 
 to three hundred thousand dollars, being drawn. 
 
 The number of persons who continually invest 
 all above a bare subsistence in these schemes, 
 and still keep hoping on for a chance fortune, 
 must be very great. The few successes are 
 loudly proclaimed, while the vast number of 
 blanks is forgotten ; but a sure prize every time, 
 is to the government which withholds its propor- 
 tion of the capital as revenue. 
 
 Friday, April bth. — The botanical gardens, 
 located in the suburbs of Havana, are beautiful 
 bej^ond any gardens I have ever seen, and ex- 
 ceeded my anticipations of them. Indeed the 
 place is such as might have formed the fabric of 
 a dream of Oriental romance, or of an Arabian 
 night's tale. Tropical foliage, flowers, groves, 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 107 
 
 streams, and fountains make it up — all too much 
 of beaiuy for description. 
 
 After leaving the gardens, we rode in the 
 volante to the top of a great hill which overlooks 
 the city and surroundings, and over the blue ex- 
 panse of the Gulf of Mexico. The hill slopes 
 down in a single declivity to where the white 
 surf marks a line between the grassy verdure and 
 the blue water. 
 
 On this hill is an object which is a sad transition 
 from the blooming gardens below, — the cemetery 
 in which the dead of the poorer classes are de- 
 posited. Here are pits in which the uncoffined 
 bodies are piled, one upon another, and over each 
 is strewn a little lime and earth, until the surface 
 is nearly reached, when all is made level over it, 
 and another pit is dug, to be in the same manner 
 filled. I have been informed that bodies are 
 sometimes brought to the ground in coffins in 
 which the bottom is arranged on hinges so as 
 to drop its occupant into the pit. When the 
 bodies come with clothing on, it is said to be 
 the custom to first mutilate the garments and 
 
108 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 render them useless, so that they may not be 
 stolen. 
 
 In another cemeteiy, located near the Gulf 
 shore, are deposited the bodies of those who have 
 not died in the faith of priestcraft, and are not 
 privileged to repose in holy ground. Here the 
 space for burial is so limited that the defunct 
 have even but a temporary occupancy of their 
 
 CUBAN TOMBS. 
 
 charnel-house, and a new incumbent cannot be 
 deposited without turning out previous occupants. 
 As a consequence, therefore, the ground is strewn 
 with the bleaching relics of mortalit}^, and in one 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 109 
 
 corner is a heap, mostly of skulls, several yards 
 high. 
 
 I visited another cemetery, or rather a great 
 mausoleum, where the bodies of those whose faith 
 and pockets are both deep, are deposited. It con- 
 sists of courses of masonry, above ground, in 
 which are left caverns like baker's ovens or large 
 pigeon-holes, each of sufficient size to hold two or 
 three coffins. When a body is placed in one of 
 them, the end is sealed up with a slab on which 
 is inscribed the name of the deceased. When I 
 saw these mural abodes of the dead, the walls 
 were heated under the burning sun, and I thought 
 of the thousand or more dead bodies within, 
 undergoing a process little short of cremation. 
 
 The most popular amusements in this country 
 are those which depend for their interest on the 
 sufferings inflicted on animals. The most uni- 
 versal amusement of this character, prevailing 
 throughout the small towns of the interior as well 
 as in the cities, is cockfighting, evidence of which, 
 in the raising and trading in game-cocks, is con- 
 tinually observed. They are seen in all regions, 
 10 
 
110 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 carried about in a kind of cage or basket woven 
 from the palm-leaf, so constructed that the heads 
 and necks of the chickens project through an 
 opening in the top. There is a wretched practice 
 of plucking out the feathers from their bodies, 
 excepting the wings and tail, inducing, of course, 
 suffering in the operation, and a painful exposure 
 of the tender skin. I suppose that the battles 
 are purposely fought in this nude state to add to 
 the severity of wounds, and, therefore, to the 
 enjoyment of the spectators. 
 
 The amusement which would in these times 
 disgrace even the most barbaric horde, and which 
 lacks every vestige of manliness in sport, is the 
 so-called bull-fight. It is not entitled to the name 
 of a fight, which would imply a combat involving 
 two sides more or less matched, but is the tortur- 
 ing of a bull into frenzy, to escape or to wound 
 aged, dilapidated, and enfeebled horses, who are 
 blindfolded so that they cannot avoid receiving 
 injury. 
 
 I have not witnessed this amusement of tortur- 
 ing a bull and mangling horses, but know its 
 
DTARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. Ill 
 
 horrors from those who have lately been present 
 at it. The bull is irritated by smarting wounds 
 before he is brought into the arena, and if not 
 infuriated enough, his skin is pricked with barbed 
 darts that remain in the flesh. Should his strug- 
 gles not be sufficiently exciting to the crowd, 
 burning fuses are added to the darts. He is also 
 wounded by the spear of the rider who is mounted 
 on the miserable horse. The horse is at length 
 
 LANCER* 
 
 disabled by the horns of the bull, or he may be 
 killed outright. I have been informed, that when 
 the abdomen of the horse happens to be ripped 
 open so that the bowels protrude and trail in the 
 dust, the rent is roughly sewed up, and the poor 
 
112 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 beast is spurred on to endure still greater suf- 
 fering. 
 
 To the credit of humanity be it told, this hor- 
 rible show is declining, and that it is now merely 
 attended by the lower classes of the community, 
 and that women are not usually present ; but the 
 continued national recognition of the abomina- 
 tion is evinced by a bull-fight having been gotten 
 up by the authorities to entertain the Russian 
 Prince at his recent visit. It is also proper here 
 to state that these authorities are native Span- 
 iards, and not Cubans. 
 
 This " Ever Faithful Isle" will remain faithful 
 just so long as the present powerful military 
 government can continue its authority. The 
 people are held in subjection by a large Spanish 
 army, and by a perfect military system which is 
 spread over the island. 
 
 The entire governing power is in the hands of 
 the Spaniards, the native Cubans being excluded 
 from military appointments or offices under the 
 government. 
 
 The people are ready and anxious for relief 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 113 
 
 from the tyranny of Spain ; but there seems to be 
 now but little hope for, and apparently no gen- 
 eral sympathy with the rebellion, which has been 
 in existence for several years at the eastern end 
 of the island, and which does not, and probably 
 has never acted as an organized force. The 
 hatred of the Cubans against their Spanish rulers 
 is extreme ; however subdued ma}^ be its appear- 
 ance under military subjection, I know from in- 
 timate communication with the people its heart- 
 felt intensity. 
 
 Soldiers are almost ever in sight in all local- 
 ities, city and rural, and the Cubans are severely 
 taxed for the support of this proportionately 
 great standing army. 
 
 The hope for relief of the Cubans must, I 
 think, come from liberal and enlightened nations 
 abroad, and they will, at the proper time, patriot- 
 ically sacrifice life and property in a hopeful 
 effort for release. Their course is to be com- 
 mended to all friends of liberality and human 
 progress. 
 
 Monday, April 8th. — As a winter resort for 
 10* 
 
114 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 invalids of a certain class, the merits of Cuba 
 have long been recognized, and with the increase 
 of domestic comforts for health and pleasure- 
 seekers, and the improvement of facilities for 
 traveling, the time may soon come when the 
 flight of valetudinarians to escape the severity of 
 northern winters will be generally to the genial 
 climate of this island. The climate is probably 
 more faultless than that of any locality at an 
 equal distance from northern homes, for the 
 avoidance of coldness and rapid transitions of 
 temperature, particularly if proper locations on 
 the island be selected. 
 
 The south coast of Cuba has the advantage of 
 being protected by the mountain ranges from the 
 north winds, which occasionally prevail for a day 
 or two at a time, and are the cause of the only 
 marked depressions of temperature. Besides the 
 rural localities on that coast, the best resort, and 
 that which is most frequented by invalids, is the 
 city of Trinidad. Other cities of the south of 
 Cuba are not so well located as to the hygienic 
 influences in and about them, and they are sub- 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 115 
 
 ject to malarial taints, to which foreigners are 
 very susceptible, and even yellow fever, during 
 some winters, continues to prevail in them to a 
 limited extent. 
 
 Locations on the north coast, or its vicinity, 
 are too much under the influence of changes pro- 
 duced by north winds, for the secure residence of 
 impressible invalids. 
 
 From observation of the hygienic conditions of 
 Cuban cities in general, I would, however, advise 
 invalids to avoid them all, and to resort for per- 
 manency of stay, to the villages or rural localities 
 of the interior. Havana has, far beyond other 
 cities of Cuba, its comforts, conveniences, social 
 attractions, and amusements, for the advantage 
 of residence for invalids ; but the temperature, 
 while it is liable to sudden northern influences, is 
 apt to be too high for comfort during most of the 
 time, and the city is scarcely ever absolutely free 
 from cases of yellow fever. The causes of yellow 
 fever seem to exist always in the vicinity of the 
 harbor, and during my short stay, I know that 
 there have been five cases of this terrible disease 
 
116 DIARY OP A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 in one popular hotel in such proximity ; and it 
 should be borne in mind that foreigners, as in 
 the above instances, are usually the victims. 
 
 The harbors on which the largest Cuban cities 
 are located are almost landlocked, tideless basins, 
 without a current washing through them ; and as 
 they receive the entire surface drainage and 
 sewage, the waters become foul and liable to 
 engender pestilence. 
 
 These unfavorable conditions pertain especially 
 to the harbor of Havana, the water of which is so 
 foul that, as a naval officer informed me, even the 
 washing of the decks of vessels with it is avoided, 
 and that when an anchor is raised from the bot- 
 tom the adherent mud has a most intolerable and 
 sickening stench. A plan has been projected for 
 producing a current through the harbor by cut- 
 ting a canal from its upper extremity across the 
 narrow strip intervening between it and the shore 
 of the Gulf of Mexico. Should the project be 
 successfully" accomplished, it will undoubtedly 
 have a favorable influence on the salubrity of the 
 city 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 117 
 
 Invalids frequently resort to certain baths and 
 mineral springs in Cuba, which have a traditional, 
 but, I think, a dubious reputation, as specific in 
 certain diseases ; and the climate of the Isle of 
 Pines, which is about fifty miles south from 
 this island, is claimed to be remarkably bland 
 and free from vicissitudes, and patients with 
 bronchial affections are said to be well suited 
 by it. 
 
 The want of good accommodations and the 
 subjection to unavoidable annoyances are the 
 drawbacks to such places. The diet that is 
 offered may not be endurable to the fastidious 
 invalid, hard beds may not permit his repose, 
 and fleas and mosquitoes may be the climax of 
 his miseries. 
 
 The cold, earnest North is the land of labor, 
 and this is the land of idleness and ease. That 
 Cuba has produced nought of value in literature, 
 and added nothing to science, may be attributed 
 to climatic influences. All who come here from 
 the stimulating atmosphere of the hard-working 
 North soon yield to a sense of ease and tranquillity 
 
118 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 as " the Sooth's soft languor o'er their senses 
 steals." 
 
 It is the climate for the overworked and- the 
 care-worn ; for the many in whom the nervous 
 system is strung to morbid tension until its vibra- 
 tions are painful ; for all who, weary with the 
 battle of life, would seek for rest from the stim- 
 ulus of their own excitability. It is the place for 
 an idle, dreamy existence, and labor here is only 
 done under dire necessit}^, or by an inferior race 
 under compulsion of the lash. 
 
 To breakfast at eleven in the morning and then 
 to retire for a nap would, in the North, give the 
 idea of the intensity of laziness; yet such is the 
 general custom, and Northern sojourners take 
 very kindly to the easy fashion. My own per- 
 sonal experience is that the lazy ways of the 
 country are easily adopted and followed. It is 
 easy to have the drowsiness of the night shaken 
 off by a cup of hot coffee brought to you as you 
 still recline at sunrise. It is agreeable afterwards 
 to ride on a horse whose movement is so easy 
 that it cannot jolt the sentiment out of yon, or 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 121 
 
 break the thread of your reverie. Such a ricle, 
 not over the stale conventionality of traveled 
 roads, but through untrodden, ever-varying ways, 
 amidst scenery made up of objects new and in- 
 teresting, while the air is still cool and fresh, is 
 all the exertion that the morning requires. Then 
 follow the hours of idleness and repose, while the 
 sun's rays are burning and almost vertical. The 
 dinner-hour comes as the day declines, and the 
 after hours may be again pleasantly spent in out- 
 door exercise or amusement. In this easy man- 
 ner time passes away, until the visitor is reluc- 
 tantly compelled to think of his interests in the 
 severe and earnest North, and begins his prepara- 
 tion for turning away from this land of listless- 
 ness and ease. 
 
 Mental activity is as little prevalent among the 
 Cubans as is physical. Books are but little seen 
 in the houses of even the higher class, and I have 
 never detected any one in the act of reading. 
 The people, however, are generally bright and in- 
 telligent, and they have a suavity of manner and 
 
 courteous deportment towards each other which 
 11 
 
122 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 give, even among the humblest, an air of culture 
 and refinement above their actual intellectual 
 attainments. 
 
 The lives of Cuban ladies must be, according 
 to our Northern ideas, dull and wearisome from 
 ennui and restraint. In the cities, custom pre- 
 vents their going out unattended, walking seems 
 to be considered vulgar, and their daytime is 
 spent in talking, dozing, and rocking, followed 
 perhaps by a languid evening ride in the volante. 
 
 But nry Cuban days are at an end. Home 
 thoughts steal in even while I am looking on 
 scenes of interest, and in the burning heat of this 
 city I feel that a cool draft of northern air would 
 be refreshing. In my stroll in the streets last 
 evening, a band of wandering minstrels played 
 the air of " Home, sweet home," and I was unu- 
 sually impressible to that ever-impressive melody. 
 The approach of our old friend, the steamship 
 "Juniata," was announced by signals on the 
 Morro Castle this morning, and she is now 
 moored in the harbor, ready for her northward 
 course. The meeting with her good commander 
 
DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 123 
 
 seemed a harbinger of home. How welcome was 
 the sight of his manty face, glowing warmly with 
 good nature like a tropical sunrise, and in the 
 genial grasp of his hand I felt that a true sailor 
 was spliced fast to me. 
 
 Wednesday, April 1 Oth. — The time has come at 
 last to turn away our faces from this beautiful 
 land, and we now see the sun set for the last time 
 over the purple hills of Cuba, as the vessel heads 
 northward — homeward bound ! What a radiant 
 and glowing tropical sunset scene of sky, sea, 
 and land is spread before us as ends with the day 
 our real visions of the "isle of undying verdure!" 
 A glittering pathway leads over the sea towards 
 the western horizon, and clouds, land, and water 
 are fused in the red and golden tints of parting- 
 sunlight. 
 
 " The golden sea its mirror spreads 
 Beneath the golden skies, 
 
 And but a narrow strip between 
 Of land and shadow lies. 
 
124 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 
 
 " The sea is but another sky, 
 
 The sky a sea as well, 
 And which is earth and which the heavens, 
 
 The eye can scarcely tell. 
 
 'JlSo when for us life's evening hour 
 
 Soft fading shall descend, 
 May glory, born of earth and heaven, 
 
 The earth and heavens blend." 
 
 THE END. 
 
1 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 ■mum 
 
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