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.
.
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL
IN THE
Southern States and Cuba.
WITH A DESCRIPTION OF
The Mammotly Cave.
i
by Carlton
H Rogers
EN
•
“ A snapper-up of unconsidered trifles."
NEW YORK
R. Craighead, Printer, 83 CENTRE STREET.
MDCCCLXII.
то
A WIDOWED MOTIIER,
A BELOVED WIFE, AND AN ONLY DAUGIITER,
Three Bright Links in Affection's Chain,
TIIS VOLUME 18
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
INTRODUCTORY.
The following pages comprise portions of private letters
written by the author to his family during a few months
recently spent in Cuba and the Southern States. They
are now published at the solicitation of a few friends,
who have imagined them sufficiently interesting to
warrant their preservation in book form. A limited
number of copies have been printed, and as they are
intended only for gratuitous distribution among the
writer's friends and acquaintances, the “ general public"
will have little or no interest in the merits or demerits
of the volume.
The places visited have so often been described by
intelligent travellers that it is almost impossible to
avoid occasional similarities in description; yet, as
different observers will select different features, or even
view the same things differently, it is hoped it will be
apparent that the impressions here given, are those
received from actual and appreciative observation.
I
iv
Introductory.
In preparing these letters for the press, some parts
of them containing personal allusions (which, like com-
parisons, are sometimes odious) have been omitted,
which will account for the disconnected and fragmentary
style of some portions of the work. Those whose
tastes incline them to prefer “grave subjects” to those
of a humorous nature, may perhaps object to the light
and apparently trifling character of some of these letters.
Let such remember that variety is the spice of letters,
as well as of life, and that
"A little nonsense now and then,
Is relished by the wisest men."
This class of readers, doubtless, will find enough that
is heavy before they finish the volume.
C. H. R.
PALMYRA, 1860.
CONTENTS.
PAGI:
LETTER I.-WASHINGTON.
A City of Magnificent Discrepancies.-Government Buildings.--
The Court End.—Presiding Spirits.—Habits of the Denizens.
- Hotel Life. A Sudden Illness and Speedy Recovery.--
Human Drones.-Levee at the White House, . . .
9
LETTER II.—WASHINGTON.
Our National Menagerie.-Fish, Flesh, and Foul.—Noble and
Ignoble Beasts.—The Lion Rampant.-Scene in the House of
Representatives.--A Prosy Member.-A Maiden Speech.
Procuring a Passport.--The Smithsonian Institution.-Wash-
LETTER III.-RICHMOND.
A Picturesque Location.—The Poetry of Nature.- Public Build-
ings.:-Slave Culture.—Climatic Discoveries.—Nondescript
Vehicles. ---Novel Motive Power.-A Stiff-necked Race.Past
and Present.-Decadence of the Old Dominion.-The F. F.
V.'s on the Wane.-Its Representative Statesmen.---Western
Virginia - Its Resources and Future Prospects, . . .
29
LETTER IV.-CHARLESTON.
Tropical Anticipations.-Capricious Weather.—Wilmington.-
Staples of North Carolina.—A Moral State.—Slave Gangs.-
Our Locomotive Impeded.–An Accident develops an Incident.
-All's Well that Ends Well.---Arrival at the Palmetto City.-
Agreeable Interview with Nature's Sweet Restorer, . .
39
Contents.
PAGE
LETTER V.-CHARLESTON.
Topography of the City.--A Sea-Cybele.--Its Public Parks.-
The Athens of the South.—The F. F's and their Peculiarities.
-Young South Carolina. -Rice Plantations.-Habits of the
Planters.--Suburban Celebrities.-Charleston Harbor and
Fortifications.-Physical and Moral Characteristics.—Political
• Heresies.—Miss Carolina a Lunatic.--A Prophecy, .
48
LETTER VI.-HAVANA.
First Impressions-Peculiar Dialect.National Odor.—The
Town of Regla.--Moro Castle.--Fortress of Cabañas -Eman-
cipated Gondolas.--Custom House Ordeal.—Peculiar Regis-
tration.--In Pursuit of a Habitation under Difficulties.--The
Revere Hotel.—Spanish Cuisine.—La Dominica ---A Yankee
Room-Mate.- Musical Watchmen, . . . . . . .
59
LETTER VII.--HAVANA..
Intra Muros.--Anti-Peripatetic Habits of the Ladies.--Volantes
and their Appendages.—Singular Customs of the Cubans.-
Narrow Streets Its Buildings.-Residence of a Marquis.
Ubiquitous Cigar.—Tropical Beauties.—The Cathedral. -
Rags and Jewels in close Proximity.—Military Mass, . .
76
LETTER VIII.-HAVANA.
Peculiarities of the Tradesmen.-Mode of Shopping -Monteros.
-Customs of the Milkmen.—Venders of Fruits and Vegeta-
bles.---The Paseo de Isabel.-Dazzling Pageant Plaza de
Armas.—The Poor Man's Opera -Tacon Paseo.-The Bishop's
Garden.—Fish Market.-Story of Marti the Smuggler, .
91
LETTER IX.-HAVANA.
Visit to the Country.-Guines.-An Unappetizing Discovery.-
A John Gilpiņ Ride.-An Ingenio.—Manner of making Sugar.
--Congoes and Coolies.-Grades of Society.--Slave Laws of
Cuba.--Coffee Plantation.-Tropical Vegetation.—Description
of the Trees on the Island.--A Vegetable Phenomenon,
110
Contents.
vii
PAGE
LETTER X.-HAVANA.
Return to Guines.—A Ludicrous Spectacle.—The Polite Foot-
pad.—Spanish Mode of Robbery.— A Night with the Insects.
-A Miserable Posada.—Description; of Matanzas.--The
Cumbre-Scene in the Cathedral.--Cuban Women Graceful.
-The Coutradanza and Fandango.-An Evening at Sea.-
The Southern Cross.— A Startliny Adventure, . . .
134
LETTER XI.--HAVANA.
Domestic Habits of the Cubans — Gambling:--Cock and Bull
Fighting.–A. Priest-Hearing but not God-Serving People.
Ubiquity of Romanism.-Sabbath in Havana.-An Easter
Celebration.-Carrying of the Host.—The Tacon Theatre.
-- Spanish Danseuse.—My Landlady of the Revere.—
Bal Masqué.-A Saturnalia, . . . . . .
156
LETTER XII.-HAVANA.
Religious Intolerance.- Protestant Worship Interdicted.-Ser-
vices on board a British Man-of-War.-A Marine Choir.-
U. S. Flag Ship Potomac.—Preaching by a Boston Clergy-
man.—Closing of Lent.—A Bull Fight.-Private Theatricals.-
A Midnight Row on the Bay.--Closing Remarks, . . . 172
LETTER XIII.—KEY WEST.
An Attack of Illness.—Description of the Key of the Gulf.- “
Coral Insects.-Key Largo.—Amphibious Bipeds.—Wreckers.
-Climate, Soil, and Productions of the Island of Key West.
Indigenous Fruits.--Exotic Plants.—Dr. Henry Perrine. —
Narrative of the Massacre at Indian Key, . . . . 189
LETTER XIV.-SAVANNAH.
Sea Voyage.—010 Ocean in Good Humor.- Meet with Friends.
-A Starry Night.--Boreas on a Spree.-Personal Expe-
riences.--Objections to Sea Life.—Noticeable Passengers.-
A Slave Trader. -A Cosmopolitan and Disciple of Baron
Munchausen.--An English Cockney Exquisite.-An Uxorious
Husband.—Mated, but not Matched.--An Amusing Finale,
215
Contents.
PAGE
LETTER XV.-MONTGOMERY.
Description of Savannah.—The City of Shade and Silence.-Its
Monuments.-Laurel Grove Cemetery.-Buonaventura -
Georgians Constitutionally and Climatically Indolent.-—The
Aristocracy of Cottondom.—"Congo" and King Cotton.-
Macon.—Columbus.- The Falls of Coweta.-An Indian
Legend, . . . . . . . . . . 228
LETTER XVI.-MONTGOMERY.
Location of the City.—Its Picturesque Suburbs.—Every Paradise
has its Serpent.—Decadence of Fogyism.-Ole Bull. --Southern
Chivalry.—A Dry Subject.--Cotton the Blood of the State: -
Cost of Living at the South.--Southern Staples.-A North-
erner's Opinion of Slavery.-Its Objectionable Features.-
Talk with a Slave,
. . . . . . . 242
LETTER XVII.--NASHVILLÈ.
Re-enter Georgia.–Natural Productions of the State. A
Georgia Cracker.-Atlanta.--Hotel with an Appetizing
Name.-Cool Treatment for Hot Weather. A Victim.—The
Rival Waiters.—Chattanooga.--A Night of Unrest.- Amus-
ing Provincialisms.-Description of Nasliville.--Lions of the
City.--Its Environs.--Southern Hospitality, . . . 257
LETTER XVIII.-MAMMOTH CAVE, KY.
The Cave Hotel.—Magnitude of the Cave.—Its Population.-
Equipments for the Journey.--Atmosphere Pure and Equable.
-Body of a Child found.—Hospital for Consumptives.- The
Grand Gallery.--Church and Ball Room.--Giant's Coftin.
Goran's Dome.--Bottomless Pit.-The Scotchman's Trap.-
Fat Man's Misery.- A Prospective Purgatory.—The Dead Sea.
-A Cold Collation.--The Mysterious Bottle.--Gothic Avenue.
-Novel Names of Places.-Lover's Leap.-Star Chamber.-
Stephen the Guide.- Human Remains found.—River Styx.-
Lethe.- Musical Echoes.—Pass of El Ghor.-—-Perilous Laby-
rinth.--Cleveland's Avenue.--Croghan's Hall.-Nine Miles from
Daylight.--Eyeless Fish.-- Piscatory Phenomena.-Conclusion, , 275
LETTER I.
WASHINGTON, D. C., Feb., 1856.
It is customary, I believe, for tourists, and other
migratory bipeds, to leave their "tracks in ink;" and
from the innumerable books of travel which are
scattered over the land, it would seem as if it were
imperative on all who wander—to write. My tastes
are somewhat nomadic, and, although not exactly "a
bird of passage," I am “often on the wing.” Now,
as you are aware, I am on my way to a southern
clime, where
“Milder moons dispense serener light,
And brighter beauties decorate the night,”—
and if my rambling, desultory letters prove interesting
to my family and friends, I shall be satisfied. ****
I reached this city two or three days since, in com-
10
· Washington.
pany with our mutual friends Mr. and Mrs. Sa
and “put up" at the National Hotel, at the request
of the Ex-M. C. who had made that house his home
during two Congressional sessions. I shall not attempt
to give an elaborate or detailed description of the
“Federal Capital," as it would require more time and
patience than I have at my command,—but simply
to note a few impressions of “men and things" sug-
gested to my mind during my brief sojourn here.
This has been styled "the city of magnificent
distances.” To me, it appears more like a large,
unfinished village, laid out on an extensive scale, and
awaiting completion, than a solid, compactly built
city of fifty thousand inhabitants. “It is laid out”-
to use the grandiloquent language of the guide-book,
-“on a plan of great magnitude; and will, if the
design of its founders be carried out, and their anti-
cipations realized, be a magnificent memorial of the
great man from whom it is named : and a city, whose
gigantic proportions shall harmonize with the power
and extent of the mighty Republic of which it is the
capital.”
Washington covers a large extent of territory, and
,
11
The Public Buildings.
would be a beautiful city, if it was finished. It is
extravagant in design, but meagre in execution; pre-
tentious, yet simple; elegant, yet squalid ; large, yet
small; rich, yet poor. Its design and architecture are
abnormal-half city and half village; combining
many of the elements of the one, with the appearance
of the other. A city in population and extent, but
a village in its sparsely built streets, its wide ram-
bling avenues, its low homely buildings, and tiny
triangular squares, it has a peculiarly suburban expres-
sion. Its private residences, with a few exceptions,
are unattractive in appearance, and insignificant when
compared with many of the government buildings,
which, though in an unfinished state, are colossal
structures, magnificent in their proportions, beautiful
in design, and noble specimens of American architec-
ture. The Capitol, when completed, will be, without
doubt, the finest public edifice in the world. It
stands on the brow of a hill some seventy feet above
the Potomac, and, from its elevated position, com-
mands a view of the city and surrounding country,
a view probably unsurpassed for variety, beauty, and
extent, by any in this country.
1 2
Washington.
From the Capitol, which is "the hub" of this poli-
tical universe, radiate, like spokes in a wheel, various
streets and avenues, whose peculiar names comprise
most of the letters of the alphabet, many of the
numerals, and all of the original States of the Union.
Pennsylvania Avenue, the principal thoroughfare,
extends in a direct line from the " Capitoline Hill"
to the Treasury Buildings, a distance of nearly a
mile; there it makes a short détour, and continues its
course, by the Executive Mansion, to the borders of
Georgetown, which is, in fact, but a suburb of Wash-
ington. It is a place of but little business, and
derives its support entirely from the fashionable
denizens of this metropolis. That part of the city
where the President's house is situated, is known as
" the Court End," where most of the aristocracy who
keep house, reside. The best residences are in this
vicinity, although but few of them have any preten-
sions to exterior beauty. The principal hotels, stores,
and places of business are on Pennsylvania Avenue,
a street of great width and well macadamized, afford-
ing a direct and easy communication between the
Capitol and the several Departments.
Its Mixed Society,
13
assi
the winter, contains a greater amount of intelligence,
vice, beauty, and moral deformity, than any other
city in the Union. It is a bibernating place for poli-
ticians, office-seekers, fortune-hunters, gamblers, and
votaries of fashion and folly. People of almost every
rank, color, and nation, are here congregated : and
Dignitaries, both civic and military, with titles real
or assumed, and persons of known or doubtful repu-
tation, are to be found here “as thick as birds during
blackberry time.” Governors, senators, generals,
colonels, diplomats, envoys ordinary and extraor-
dinary, officers in full-pay, half-pay, and no pay at
all, judges of probates and reprobates, members of
the bar and frequenters of the bar-room, bankers
who preside over the faro-banks and brokers who
are always "dead broke," besides a liberal sprinkling
of “the fancy," including “men of muscle" and
“men of straw." The presiding spirits of the place
are ardent spirits; the most popular bank the
faro-bank; and to be caught “ dealing in ivory," is
a capital, but not an indictable offence. The checks
most in use here are “ivory checks," and the
14
Washington.
dealer is not to be mistaken for 6 the De’il.” To
speak paradoxically, those occupying the highest
positions are often found in the lowest places; while
those who are always tight, are invariably loose in
their morals. Washington is, in fact, a medley of
it is different from wbat it seems, and nothing is
what it appears to be. From the number of hacks
and carriages standing in the streets, you would
imagine that every one rode; yet, from the multitude
of pedestrians thronging its avenues, it would appear
that every one walked. The society is ephemeral,
and the city alternately populous and deserted. One
month it may be full to overflowing, and the next,
presenting a mournful illustration of Goldsmith's
“Deserted Village.” One set of inhabitants may
reside here to-day, and another to-morrow; they are
the sport of fortune and politics, and know not whe-
ther they are here for a day or for a lifetime.
Washington, though far from being an Eden, is a
paradise for hotel-keepers and proprietors of small
boarding-houses: who make their hay in the win-
ter, when the sun is not expected to shine. During
Hotel-Life.
15
the summer these places are closed or nearly deserted;
grass grows before their doors, which is to be
gathered the next winter, thus reversing the usual
order of husbandry. These hotels are vast caravan-
saries—colossal hives, filled with human drones, who
subsist on government honey, or prey upon each
other. The “B's” hived here are very numerous,
consisting, in part, of Benedicts, Bachelors, Belles,
Beaux, Black-legs, Blue-stockings, and a. miscella-
neous collection of “Bugs," big and little. I had
supposed that the big-bugs were confined chiefly to
the White House and the residences of the aristo-
cracy. But I discovered my mistake when I took
possession of my room on the upper floor, which was
infested with giant cockroaches and other aristocratic
insects. How they ever attained such an elevation,
through such a labyrinth of passages, and around so
many angles, both acute and oblique, was beyond my
comprehension, for I was unable to find my way up
without the assistance of a guide, after having been
once shown the way. But the instinct of animals is
sometimes superior to that of the human race. When
I first arrived at this hotel, I asked for a quiet room,
16
Washington.
.
but did not expect to be sent up into the celestial
regions, so far above "this dim spot which men call
earth.” I retired to rest at the usual hour, and slept
soundly until about midnight, when I was awakened
by the sound of voices in an adjoining room. At
first I supposed them to be students in astronomy
who had sought this elevated place where they could
study the arcana coelestia without the aid of a
telescope. But I soon discovered, by various noisy
demonstrations, that they were yotaries of a much
less recondite science, although one that is not often
investigated without the assistance of a glass. These
bon-vivants, if not believers in spiritualism, were at
least spiritually inclined ; and if not free-thinkers,
they certainly were free-crinkers, and kept up their
revels until a late hour.
I slept very little that night, and arose the next
morning quite indisposed—that is, indisposed to
occupy the same room another night. Went down
to the office, found Dr. (one of the proprietors),
to whom I described my symptoms. He pronounced
my disease an aggravated room-attic complaint, and
prescribed as a remedy, “a quiet room on the second
The President's Levees.
vees.
17
floor.” I followed his advice, and speedily reco-
vered.
The society in Washington is ostensibly democra-
tic, although there is a sufficient mixture of aristo-
cracy to give it variety. The President is the
acknowledged representative of the democracy. His
levees are free to all who desire to attend. A coat
capacious enough to hide a soiled shirt, a clean collar
(or none at all), with a little assurance, is the only
passport necessary to executive hospitality. At these
semi-monthly reunions, all classes are represented,
both plebeian and patrician; the purse-proud million-
aire and the penniless vagabond; the foreign count
and the native artisan ; the stiff upper-crust of society
and the lower strata of unwashed and unkempt
humanity. A large and promiscuous multitude
assemble at the White House on these occasions, to
pay their individual respects to the Executive and
ruler of this Republican Court.
LETTER II.
WASHINGTON, Feb., 1856.
I HAVE just returned from the Capitol, which
might, with propriety, be designated as our national
menagerie. During the winter it contains a rare but
somewhat antagonistic collection of zoological speci-
mens, consisting of beasts of burden and beasts of
prey, birds with beautiful plumage and birds of ill-
omen; and another class, interesting to the ichthyo-
logical connoisseur, which, from their scaly appear-
ance, evidently belong to "the finny tribe,"—that
peculiar variety known as "suckers ;” but, having
been so long out of their native element (although
frequently "in hot water'), they would fail to recog-
nise it unless strongly diluted. Among the quadru-
peds here are the lordly lion, the ferocious tiger, the
wily fox, the timorous hare, and “dogs of all de-
Our National Menagerie.
19
gree," from the noble mastiff to the lady's lap-dog
and the snarling cur. Conspicuous among "the
feathered animals” is the bright-eyed eagle, “who
ghostly owl, shrieking his baneful note; besides
an indefinite number of pugnacious game-cocks, gab-
bling geese, and ignoble turkey-buzzards, who subsist
mainly upon government offal. These incongruous
quadrupeds and bipeds—both flesh and foul, are here
in promiscuous confusion; and, to appearance, are
much less docile and controllable than that "happy
family” of birds and animals on exhibition at Bar-
num's Museum.
• The Senate chamber, to-day, was the scene of an
intense excitement. That old senatorial lion from
the wilds of Michigan, who had become grey and
almost toothless during his long incarceration, was
aroused from his lair, and, shaking his hoary mane,
roared so loudly as to produce fearful consternation
among the lesser animals. It appears that the British
lion, which had for so many years been lying
“couchant,” had, for some unexplained cause, sud-
denly become “ rampant,” and was now growling and
Washington.
showing his teeth in anger towards the animals on
this side of the big water; ” the news of which had
just reached the Federal capital. The doughty
Michigander was belligerently inclined. His speech
was “full of sound and fury,” and signified some-
thing, if one could judge from the significant looks
of the senators, and the breathless attention with
which the crowd of spectators in the gallery regarded
the speaker, as if they considered his inflammable
remarks the harbinger of a conflict with the mother
country. I do not, however, anticipate any serious
trouble with England. It would be suicidal for her
to engage in war with us at this time, and it is the
settled policy of our government to maintain peace
with all nations.
After having listened for a time to the senator's
fiery declamation, and fearing that, if I remained
longer, I might become imbued with warlike senti.
ments, I repaired to the Hall of Representatives,
where, as some one has facetiously remarked, "they
talk without courtesy, and debate without decency.”.
With equal truth, he might have added, they chew
without moderation, and spit on the carpet without com-
i
Scene in the House.
21
punction. A more undignified and less orderly
assemblage I scarcely ever saw. Some were loung-
ing in their chairs, with their feet elevated upon the
desks before them; others were running here and
there, or were gathered together in groups, talking
loudly, and paying no attention to the "member"
who was then speaking: while a large number were
at their desks, reading newspapers, writing letters, or
tearing their manuscripts into small bits and strewing
them over the floor, which was as untidy and litter-
ary in its appearance as an editor's sanctum. And
rubicund face and a form of aldermanic proportions
quietly sleeping in his chair,
1
00
TATA
who had the floor, and learning that he had been
holding forth for nearly an hour, I only wondered
that more of the members were not asleep; for a
more prosy discourse (I cannot call it a speech) I
never before heard. It was "linked dulness long
drawn out." His methodical manner and monotonous
delivery would have been better suited to an itinerant
lay.preacher. The gentleman had evidently mistaken
22
Washington.
UL
his calling. On another occasion, I heard a young
neophyte deliver his “maiden speech" before the
House; which was the exact counterpart of the one
just described. His voice was pleasant, and his man-
ner easy and graceful, but his style was a little too
declamatory and flowery for the occasion. At times,
he would soar into the regions of fancy,--so high
that I trembled lest he would never get back again
into this “breathing world.” I soon discovered that
he was more prolific in words than in ideas; it was
vox et prætereu nihil. He evidently adhered to the
rule of the diplomatic Talleyrand, that "words were
not intended to convey, but to conceal ideas." I left
during one of his aerial flights, being fearful that
some accident might befall him in his efforts to return
to terra-firma. * * *
As I design, during my absence, to visit the domi-
nions of Her Catholic Majesty the Queen of Spain, I
called to-day at the Department of State, to procure
a passport, taking with me a friend to prove my
identity that I was my “individual self,” and a
native of this land of stars and stripes. Fortunately,
I was not obliged to trace my genealogy from the
Procuring a Passport.
23
“martyr'd John," whose existence terminated so
abruptly at Smithfield; or to show which of the
illustrious "ten ” had the honor to be my progenitor.
But my body-corporeal was inspected longitudinally
and latitudinally:-was weighed in a balance, and
found not to be entirely wanting. For your edification,
I will copy a portion of this passport:
“ To all to whom these presents shall come, Greet-
ing: I, the undersigned, Secretary of State of the
United States of America, hereby request all to whom
it may concern, to permit safely and freely to pass
Mr. --, a citizen of the U. S., and in case of need,
to give him all lawful aid and protection. Given
under my hand and seal, &c.” Signed, W. L. Marcy.
Then follows a description of my "outer man."
“Stature, five feet ten and a half inches, English
measure; weight, one hundred and forty-two pounds;
age (I have, I confess, a feminine weakness about
exposing my age); forehead, high; eyes, blue ;
nose, straight; mouth, medium; chin, small; hair,
brown; complexion, florid'; face, oval.” If this is
a correct portraiture of my "human face and form
divine," it will answer as the descriptive part of an
24
Washington.
advertisement if I am ever strayed or stolen. As copies
of these passports are in all cases made, and preserved
in the archives of the department, I shall, hereafter,
"live in description,” if not "look green in song.".
The various public buildings belonging to govern-
ment, and other objects of interest in and around
Washington, have been so: often delineated with pen
and pencil, that any attempt on my part to describe
them would be a profitless. undertaking. The most
imposing buildings here, aside from the Capitol, are
the General Post Office, the Patent Office, or more
properly the Department of the Interior, and the
Treasury Buildings: all of which are now being
enlarged and otherwise improved. They are large
and costly structures, and when completed, will be an
ornament to this City, and a credit to our Govern-
ment.
One of the most remarkable buildings here, both
on account of its great size and its peculiar archi-
tecture, is the Smithsonian Institution, which was
erected a short time since, at an expense of over three
hundred thousand dollars, by the munificence of a
private individual--a foreigner, who had never, that
1
ornan
ern-
Smithsonian Institution.
I could learn, visited this country. In the year
eighteen hundred and twenty-eight or nine, an Eng-
lish gentleman of wealth and education, by the name
of James Smithson—the supposed illegitimate son of
ing his entire property, exceeding half a million of
dollars, to the United States, for the purpose of
establishing in this city an Institution to be devoted
to Science, Literature, Art, and every other branch
of knowledge by which mankind might be benefited.
Congress accepted the bequest, and the money was
received into the Treasury in 1838. But several
years elapsed before a law was passed for the establish-
ment of the Institution as it now exists. By this
delay, the Regents were enabled to erect the present
magnificent edifice from the interest which had
accrued, leaving the whole amount originally be-
queathed, to be applied as expressed in the testator's
will. ::
The building, or rather, series of buildings (for
it covers several acres of ground, and looks from a
distance like a walled town), is constructed of a
reddish-grey sandstone, which is said to be quite soft
26
Washington.
when it is first quarried, but becomes hard after a
short exposure to the atmosphere. The architecture
of this building is peculiar. It is a combination of
the Gothic, Norman, and other styles of the Feudal
ages, and is entirely different from any other struc-
ture in this country. Its numerous turrets and towers;
its massive walls; its battlemented cornices; its heavy
buttresses, and its other mural projections, give it the
appearance of great durability, and are suggestive of
a grand old castle of the olden-time.
It is surrounded by a highly improved park of about ·
fifty acres, which was laid out by the late A. J. Down-
ing, whose sad death occurred before it was completed.
The length of the entire building, including the
library, picture gallery, and laboratory attached, is
four hundred and fifty feet. The main building is
about one hundred and sixty feet deep, and its wings
are of various dimensions. On the first floor is the
museum, which occupies a room two hundred feet
long, by fifty wide, and twenty five feet high, with a
spacious gallery extending round the whole interior.
On the floor above is the lecture-room, where lectures
on scientific and literary subjects are given during the
Washington Monument.
27
winter. It is an immense room, capable of seating
nearly two thousand persons. The museum contains
a large and valuable collection of curiosities from all
parts of the globe, which, together with the well
stocked library of rare and ancient works, and the
extensive gallery of paintings and statuary, are
objects of interest to the scholar, the artist, and the
antiquarian.
• A short distance from here is the celebrated Wash-
ington Monument, which, when completed, will be
the highest work of art in the world. It is to be six
hundred feet high; nearly three times the height of
the Bunker Hill Monument, once and a half as high
as St. Paul's Cathedral, and more than a hundred feet
higher than the great Egyptian Pyramid of Cheops.
But appearances indicate that it will be many years
before this inchoate memorial of a great, good man,
will be finished.
During a brief visit to the Navy Yard on the Poto-
mac, I was shown, by the officer in command, two old
French brass field-pieces, whose history is so romantic
that I deem it worthy of mention. They were long-
eighteen-pounders, exactly alike in every particular,
T
.
28
Washington.
and from the inscriptions upon them it appears that
they were both cast at Douay, a city in France, in
July, 1740. One, called “Le Vigoreux,” came into
the possession of our Government during Jefferson's
administration, at the time Louisiana was ceded to us
by France, and was included in the purchase. The
other, “Le Belliqueux," was taken from the Mexi-
cans, at Alvarado, in 1847, and recently brought to
this place, where, after a probable separation of more
than a century, these twin-messengers of war were
reunited, and now stand side by side. Near them
were two Spanish brass thirty-two-pounders, which
in the year 1804.
LETTER III.
RICHMOND, VA., Feb. 1856.
The capital of the “Old Dominion” is distinctively
a southern city. It has a population of about thirty-
five thousand, and once enjoyed a wide-world cele-
brity for the wealth, refinement, and high culture of
its society. It is situated on James River (formerly
known by the more euphonious name of Powaton), a
stream of not much magnitude, but of considerable
importance to the manufacturing and commercial in-
terests of the city, as it affords a valuable water-power,
and is navigable for vessels of small tonnage a dis-
tance of nearly a hundred and fifty miles from the ocean.
The city occupies a boldly diversified and beauti-
fully picturesque location. It extends along the steep
banks of the river, and over a series of hills, from
whose elevated summits the views are singularly varied
30
Richmond,
and beautiful. Its physical aspect and general appear-
ance are said to be somewhat like those of Edinburgh.
It has almost as many hills as ancient Rome; but
whether it bears any other resemblance to the “Eter-
nal City" I am unable to say. These hills have been
designated as the “poetry of Nature.” They may be
poetical to one who has a carriage always at his com-
mand; but if dependent on his own powers of loco-
motion, he will, I imagine, become so weary by the
time he reaches the top, as to be quite insensible to
their poetry; such, at least, was my experience.
The finest private residences, and many of the pub-
lic buildings, are on Shockoe Hill--the aristocratic
part of the town--which overlooks the business por-
tion of the city, and commands a fine view of the sur-
rounding country.
The Capitol stands in a public square or park, near
which I saw a massive pedestal of granite, waiting to
receive an equestrian statue of Washington, by Craw-
ford, not yet completed. The Capitol, from its size
and elevated location, is the most conspicuous object
in Richmond; and, in the distance, has a noble and
classical appearance. A nearer approach, however,
Its Architecture.
31
disrobes it of that enchantment which distance ever
lends to the view. It is an imposing looking edifice,
of the Anglo-Grecian order of architecture, but, at
present, in a state of dilapidation unworthy the first
public building in the time-honored and aristocratic
state of Virginia. There are many old, distinguished
looking residences in Richmond, and several of the
streets are broad, and bordered with beautiful trees;
yet the city has not a bright and cheerful look. There
is an apparent lack of thrift, and a wánt of paint and
complete repair, so essential to the beauty of a place.
Notwithstanding these architectural defects, and the
questionable morality of the city (which is a hot-bed
of slave-culture, where the ebony species are exten-
sively cultivated for market), it possesses many attrac-
tions for the northern traveller, and I feel well repaid
for my visit.
I observed while bere, for the first time since leave
ing home, indications of the approach of spring, and
evidences of my proximity to a warmer zone. Many
kinds of half-hardy shrubs and plants had been
removed from their hibernal quarters, and were
giving evidence of returning life ; while the magnolia
32
Richmond.
and other semi-tropical trees, which grow here with-
out protection during the winter, had burst their
buds, and were fast becoming clothed with verdure.
Observing a tree of singular appearance in one of the
streets through which I was passing, I turned to a
good-natured, intelligent looking mulatto standing
near, and inquired the name. “Why, Massa,” said
he, respectfully removing his hat and scratching his
head, to stir up his ideas, or something else; "why,
Massa, I disremembers 'zackly his name, but he's a
kind of Heabenly tree.” It proved to be an uncom-
monly large specimen of the Ailantus, or Tree of
Heaven, which I failed to recognise on account of its
unusual size.
During my wanderings about the city I discovered
nature, that were peculiarly southern. The general
appearance and habits of the colored population, their
peculiar dialect, and the nondescript vehicles and
appendages used to bring their products to market,
were to me quite novel and amusing. Nearly all the
carriages that I saw here, even the most pretentious,
were oddly constructed, and had an old-fogyish and
Peculiar Vehicles.
33
somewhat dilapidated appearance. Our poorest back-
woodsman would not allow his family to appear
abroad in as shabby a conveyance as I saw while
here, filled with well dressed ladies from the country.
The planters generally come to town on horse or
mule-back, frequently accompanied by their wives
and daughters, who seem to prefer that primitive
mode of locomotion. I learn that it is not unusual
for the daughters of farmers and planters of small
means, to come to the city in a cart drawn by oxen,
accompanied by a plantation negro, with his long
hickory "gad," who officiates in the double capacity
of postillion and beau. After having secured the
bovines, and given them their quantum of fodder, he
accompanies the ladies on their shopping expedition
-a kind of male Duenna, to carry their bundles and
keep off the "sparks."
Some of the market-women rode in rude antiquated
carts drawn by sleepy-looking donkeys, so small, that
no part of them was visible from behind, except the
tips of their enormous ears from above, and their
quadrupedal extremities below. These tiny crea-
tures make up in strength and endurance what they
34
Richmond.
lack in size, and are valuable for their longevity, and
the scanty aliment they require to sustain life. The
harness is generally more primitive in its appearance
than the vehicle itself, being nothing more than a
simple breast-strap with a band across the back to
support the thills. The rope traces are often so
broken and knotted as to look insecure, and the small
cord, substituted for reins, so slender as apparently to
be inadequate to guide the stubborn animal. In one
of those cumbrous vehicles was an old negro woman
perched on a high seat, with her black and wrinkled
face half shaded by an enormous calico turban, which
crowned her head. She was complacently smoking a
corn-cob pipe, and apparently speculating as to the
probable quantity of " tea, sugar, and 'baccy" to be
procured from the sale of her load of eggs, poultry,
and vegetables.
It is no unusual thing to see negro women wheel-
ing hand-barrows in the streets, filled with boxes,
wood, and other articles. A strap suspended from
their shoulders was fastened to each handle of the
barrow, which lessened somewhat the labor; still I
could not but think it an unsuitable employment for
11
ULI
A Stiff-Necked Race.
women, whether black or white, bond or free. A
slightly formed and delicate-looking negro girl passed
me in the street, carrying on her head an immense
wooden tray loaded with provisions, the weight of
which would have dislocated the neck of the most
sturdy of the Anglo-Saxon race. But she moved
trippingly along, with folded arms and a smiling face,
as if unconscious of the weight she sustained, proving
conclusively that the descendants of Ham are " a stiff-
necked” if not a rebellious race.
While at Richmond, I made the acquaintance of an
intelligent New Yorker; who had been a resident of
Virginia a number of years, and was familiar with her
history, government, and peculiar institutions. He
acknowledged, and at the same time lamented, the
decadence of the Old Dominion, which, less than half
a century ago, was first in rank and the most influ-
ential among the original states, while now she occu-
pies but a fifth-rate position among her more numerous
sisterhood. The golden age of this Alna-Mater of
States has passed away, never more, I fear, to return.
She has fallen from her high position, and is no
longer "the bright particular star” in our National
Richmond.
firmament. A country more eloquent in heroic his-
tory, or a society more cultivated and refined than
once existed in Richmond, and other populous places
in this state, cannot now be found. The high-toned
chivalry and unaffected hospitality of Virginians of
the olden time has become historical, and is as fami-
liar to us all as household-words. But this mother
of states and statesmen” has wonderfully degenerated.
Her brilliancy has become dimmed, and her glory
has departed. Where are her illustrious descend-
ants, the worthy representatives of her noble ances-
tors ? Where her heroes, her statesmen, and her
orators ?--her Washingtons, her Jeffersons, her Madi-
sons, her Henries, and other noble names revered in
history, and embalmed in the hearts of their coun-
trymen? Alas! where are they, and on whom have
their mantles fallen ? Who are now her represent-
ative statesmen? Who her heroes and her orators ?
A Tyler, a Hunter, a Wise, a Prior, and a few other
" lesser lights," which are as spots on the sun, when
compared with those brilliant luminaries which once
shone in our Nation's horizon.
This state no longer sustains the high national, poli-
A Sad Retrospection.
37
tical, and social reputation it once so eminently en-
joyed. Her politicians and representative men are
wanting in vigor of intellect, stability of character,
and many of those moral qualifications so essential
to the prosperitò and greatness of a state or nation.
Her “first families," those belonging to the ancient
régime, and who boast of a noble lineage, are no
longer living in wealth and luxury. Their estates
have become decayed and apparently valueless, from
want of proper care and cultivation: some have been
obliged to sell their best lands, and part with their
most valuable family servants, until they have become
reduced from princely opulence to comparative indi-
gence; while many of their aristocratic descendants
are now living in genteel poverty, with but little left
save "the prideful recollections of ancestral name
and honors." This is a mournful retrospection, but
nevertheless true. * * *
The soil of Virginia, which was once rich and pro-
ductive, has become impoverished, literally worn out,
by unskilful husbandry and the improvident cultiva-
tion of tobacco. This is particularly the case in the
eastern part of the State, a large portion of which
as 01
38
Richmond.
now lies in open uncultivated fields and sterile com-
mons; while Western Virginia, if not advancing with
a rapidity equalling that of many of the Northern
States, is evidently improving, and with her almost
inexhaustible mineral resources, her invigorating cli-
mate, and her comparatively productive soil, will con-
tinue to improve, if her agriculturists will abandon
the cultivation of tobacco and turn their attention
to crops that will enrich, rather than exhaust the soil.
Western Virginia has sufficient territory and abun-
dant mineral and agricultural wealth for an indepen-
dent state; and could she get rid of her improvident
“other half,” which has long been an incubus on her
body-politic, and an impediment to her National pros-
perity, she would, I opine, soon attain a distinguished
position in the sisterhood of States. This is a con-
summation greatly desired by many of her intelligent
citizens, who dislike being subjected to the will and
caprice of a class of designing politicians and quasi-
aristocrats, who control the state, and who evidently
care more for political power and personal aggran-
dizement, than for the prosperity and well-being of
her one-and-a-half-million of inhabitants. * * *
LETTER IV.
CHIARLESTON, S. C., March 1, 1856.
I AM now in the aristocratic and picturesque metro-
polis of the “ Old Carolina State," where I expect to
remain until the 4th instant, when I shall take my
departure for "La Belle Cuba," as the Cubans lov-
ingly designate their beautiful island. Our state-
rooms are already secured on board of the steamer
Isabel, and in forty-eight hours (health and weather
permitting) we shall be gliding over the capricious
waters of “the deep, blue sea."
The evening we arrived here was as mild and
balmy as a northern June. Overcoats were laid aside,
and fires dispensed with. The weather was really
delightful, and we enjoyed it the more, having so re-
cently come from the snow-clad and ice-bound regions
of the frigid north. But how little do we know what
40
Charleston.
a day or a night will bring forth, or what changes
may take place in the temperature, from the setting
to the rising of the sun. When I awoke the next
morning, it was cold and cheerless; the heavens were
clothed in black and weeping piteously. The storm
raged without cessation for nearly two days, during
which time I remained as closely imprisoned within
doors as a leg-chained convict. The weather is now
looking more propitious, and Old Sol, by way of en-
couragement, gives us an occasional glimpse of his
bright and ruddy face peering from among the half-
threatening clouds which now and then obscure the
horizon.
While waiting for Dame Nature to put on a more
cheerful aspect, to exchange her tears for smiles, I
will give a brief outline of my two days' journey from
Richmond to this city. Nothing occurred worthy of
mention until we reached Wilmington, the most popu.
lous town in North Carolina, where we spent the night.
This state does not appear to be in as flourishing a
condition as some of the other Southern States. She
evidently feels the need of a large commercial city,
which would afford a market for her agricultural pro-
North Carolina.
41
ductions, and a place of shipment for her yast mineral
treasures : although her recently constructed rail-
roads have in some measure repaired this deficiency.
Her progress has been somewhat retarded by the emi-
gration of her young men, which has impaired the
enterprise, but not the virtues of her society. In a
moral sense, she is "the noblest Roman” of them
all. She owes no debts, and will not incur any.*
Her paths are the paths of prudence, if plenty does
not always follow in her footsteps. Her people are
honest, frugal, and unsophisticated : and if she is
deficient in some of the characteristics of her aristo-
cratic but erratic sister, South Carolina, she is less
sensitive and meddlesome in her disposition, and has
more ennobling qualities of head and heart.
The western portion of North Carolina is moun-
tainous, and not very well adapted to agriculture ; but
its mountains are rich in minerals, particularly in
gold, copper, iron, and coal. The principal agricul-
tural productions of this State are Indian-corn, hemp,
! * This was the case a few years ago, before she had built any
railroads; but, according to the last census, the debt of the
state was about $3,000,000.
2*
:42
Charleston.
tobacco, and sweet-potatoes, although many kinds
of grain are also grown here to a considerable ex-
tent. On some of the low-lands cotton is raised in
limited quantities, but by no means as extensively as
in the Gulf States, where “cotton is king," and the
fleecy product holds dominion and unlimited sway
over nearly two millions of her willing subjects, and
over about as many who are her subjects from com-
pulsion, not from choice.
The coast along the eastern part of the State
abounds in almost interminable swamps, interspersed
with shallow sounds or lagoons. The country a little
further inland is sandy and covered with extensive
forests of pine, known as "pine barrens," which are
appropriately named, as they appear to be barren of
all vegetable productions except tar, resin, and tur-
pentine. The modus operandi of gathering and manu-
facturing these articles is as follows: A notch is cut
in the trunk of the tree near the ground to receive
the turpentine as it oozes from the bark which is
scarified above. As soon as the cavity becomes full,
it is dipped out and deposited in barrels. This pro-
cess of scarifying is repeated year after year, by ex-
Wilmington, N. C.
43
tending the incisions higher up the trunk, until the
wounded tree dies from exhaustion, when it is cut
down and consigned to the tar-kiln. The spirit is
extracted from the crude turpentine by distillation, and
sent to market in the different forms of resin and spirits
of turpentine. There were thousands of barrels of
these odorous commodities scattered along the road, and
piled up at every station, and for miles around their
places of distillation the air was filled with the perfume.
Wilmington is on the Cape Fear river, thirty-four
miles from the ocean, and has a population of about
ten thousand, including slaves. It is a place of some
manufacturing importance, as it contains a number of
rice-mills, turpentine distilleries, and machine-shops,
besides several large steam saw-mills, which turn out
each year between thirty and forty million feet of
lumber. Two or three small steamers ply regularly
between this city and Charleston, and a number are
employed on the river, which is navigable for steam-
boats to Fayetteville, a distance of one hundred and
twenty miles, and for barges and vessels of light
draught to the iron and coal regions far into the
interior of the State.
44
Charleston.
We remained at Wilmington but a single night,
which, however, was long enough, considering its very
indifferent hotel accommodations. The house was quite
full when we arrived, which, perhaps, was the reason
our party were obliged to occupy such very inferior
rooms for the night. After tea I strolled through
some of the principal streets, but was far from being
favorably impressed with the beauty of the place or
the enterprise of the inhabitants. The streets were
badly lighted, but sufficiently so to show their imper-
fect sanitary condition, and to reveal many defects in
the arrangement and general appearance of the city.
The next morning we crossed the river to take the
cars for Charleston. On the ferry-boat were thirty or
forty slaves—men and women, chained together in
gangs, and accompanied by their owner or overseer.
They were being taken to the slave-mart in this city, to
be sold at auction to the highest bidder. It was a sad
yet novel sight to me, as it was the first time that
I had ever seen these human chattels fettered, and
driven like so many animals to market. The women
were sad-looking creatures, who seemed to realize to
some extent their debased and degraded condition ;
New Acquaintances.
45
but the men had a stolid look, as if devoid of sensi-
bility, and were, to all appearance, as unconcerned
and indifferent to their fate, as a flock of sheep on
their way to the butcher's shambles.
On the cars we found several agreeable persons
from the North, who, like us, were en route to the
Tropics, in pursuit of health or pleasure. Being all
northern men with northern principles, we soon be-
came acquainted, and formed a pleasant little coterie
among ourselves. This was quite fortunate, for us at
least, as the country through which we passed was
entirely devoid of interest, and the weather anything
but pleasant. We had proceeded but a few miles,
when our engine (an asthmatic, rickety old concern,
which had been used up at the North and sent South
to recuperate), began to give evidence of a want of
vitality. After several spasmodic efforts at loco-
motion, it stopped moving, gave a few convulsive
shrieks, and yielded up the ghost. Before our pa-
tience had become entirely exhausted, we were over-
taken by a freight train, which, "like a wounded
snake, dragged its slow length along," and propelled
us to the next station, where we arrived about mid-
80
Charleston.
night, some ten or twelve hours behind time. As the
cars that we occupied were to leave on another road,
which intersected at this station, the passengers des-
tined for Charleston were obliged to remain there
until the arrival of another train the next morning.
The night was not very cold, yet the mercury
in our mental thermometer went suddenly down to
zero, on being informed that the only lodging-house
in that vicinity could not accommodate a dozen per-
sons, while we had here “on deposit," two car-loads
of white bipeds, besides a score or two of the descend-
ants of Ham. On reaching the house, we found that
there were just beds enough for the ladies of our
party and their respective "lords;" consequently the
despondent majority began to look about for some
place to horizontalize during the remainder of the
night. A few were fortunate enough to secure two
chairs; others, in despair, talked of removing the
carpet from the floor to find the softest board upon
which to lay their weary bodies. Anticipating the
result, I early took possession of a small lounge in the
parlor; wrapping my shawl about me, and pillowing
my head on my satchel, I tried to compose myself to
An Incident.
42
sleep; but in vain, “the mirth grew fast and furious,”
and communion with “Nature's sweet restorer,
balmy sleep," was out of the question. While debat-
ing in my mind what course to pursue, a gentleman
of our party came to where I was lying, and informed
me sotto voce, that there was an unoccupied bed in the
room taken by himself and wife, and if I would wait
until they had retired, I could come and take pos-
session of it. I gladly accepted the invitation, and
notwithstanding the peculiar delicacy of my posi-
tion, soon wandered off “into the land of dreams."
We reached this city the next evening without any
further accident or detention, and took rooms at the
Charleston Hotel-the Astor of the South; where,
for the first time since we left Washington, I have
enjoyed the luxury of a good meal, and a night of
uninterrupted sleep.
CHARLESTON, March 3, 1856.
I HAVE been occupied the entire day with a
resident friend, in familiarizing myself with this
city and its environs, and am better fitted for com-
muning with Morpheus, or some other sleepy indi-
vidual, than for holding epistolary converse with
absent friends. But the steamer is advertised to
leave at six in the morning, and I must write now
or not at all.
I am somewhat disappointed in the topography
and general appearance of Charleston. Its territory
is very much circumscribed, and its narrow streets,
with its quaint-looking buildings, impart to it an air
of quiet and gloom. Occupying a low, narrow strip
of land at the confluence of the Cooper and Ashley
rivers, which combine to form its harbor, the city,
The Battery.
49
from a distance, appears as if it was half submerged
in water. Like aquatic Venice
“Throned on her hundred isles .
She looks a sea-Cybele, fresh from ocean,
Rising with her tiara of proud towers.”
The streets are generally narrow, but regularly laid
out, and bordered with the Pride of India and other
semi-tropical trees. The finest private residences here
are built of brick, and covered with stucco. They
are generally set back some distance from the street,
covered with vines and creeping plants. I was sur-
prised to see so few public parks within the limits of
the city. The only one worth mentioning is the
Battery-a broad belt of land, sparsely covered with
half-grown shade-trees—which extends for quite a
distance along the margin of the bay. Fronting on
this promenade are many handsome residences, with
spacious gardens attached, belonging to wealthy citi-
zens. The Battery is a favorite resort of the inhabi-
tants during the summer season, especially in the
cool of the evening, when the air is laden with in-
50
Charleston.
vigorating sea-breezes, which are wafted up the bay
from the ocean a few miles distant. In another part
of the city, near the Military Academy, is a public
square of several acres, which is used principally for
military parades. Being almost entirely destitute of
shade-trees and other natural attractions, it is not a
popular resort of the citizens.
Charleston is one of the oldest cities in the Union,
and is replete with historical associations and revolu-
tionary reminiscences. It has quite a number of
churches, many of them old and unarchitectural; a.
fine public library; numerous religious charitable
associations; a college; .& Military Academy, and
other institutions, where they “teach the young idea
how to shoot.” This city, for many years, has been
called “the Athens of the South," on account of hav-
ing produced and fostered so many distinguished
milies, those native to the soil, have the reputation of
being intelligent, refined, and decidedly aristocratic.
They are proud and imperious in their bearing, yet
courteous and graceful in their hospitalities, retaining
in an eminent degree many of the peculiarities of the
Southern Chivalry.
French Huguenots, from whom they are descended.
They are, in fact, living types of the ancient régime,
genuine southerners by birth and feeling, and true
representatives of southern society. They have but
little taste for commercial or mechanical pursuits,
and are not at all imbued with that spirit of progress
and go-ahead-ativeness so prevalent at the North.
There are many northern men residing here, but
southern prejudice, yclept chivalry, is not inclined
improvements. With them, pure blood is a great
desideratum, whether in biped or quadruped, in the
human or equine species. They trace their own gene-
alogy back for centuries, and their horses have a
pedigree almost as long, and as free from admixture
with plebeian blood. It is said, with how much
truth I cannot say, that there are more families here
of noble lineage, and a greater number of thorough-
bred horses, than can be found in any other city in
the Union.
The young men belonging to the “first families".
here, have the reputation of being refined in their
manners, indolent in their habits, but capricious, sen-
52
Charleston.
sitive, and quick to resent an insult, whether real or
imaginary. They are proud of their ancestry, and
love to be called South Carolin-ians, which is their
synonym for "pure and undefiled," as they affect to
believe everything plebeian which does not emanate
from the “Palmetto State.” Many of them are
liberally educated, yet but few are as well versed in
useful literature and the sciences as in those southern
accomplishments
of riding, fencing, gunnery,
And how to scale a fortress-or a nunnery."
They are superior horsemen, expert billiard players,
capital shots, and well skilled in the use of the short-
sword. They are also punctilious as to the rules of
etiquette, jealous of their honor, and ready at all
times to give or receive satisfaction according to the
code of the “duello."
Charleston has long been celebrated for its superior
horses and elegant equipages, and I expected to see
the streets alive with dashing “turnouts," aristocratic
vehicles, and sporting men with fast horses. But I
learned, on inquiry, that it was too early in the sea-
Rice Plantations.
53
son for much of an equestrian display. It appears
that this city is by far the most populous and gay
during the summer, as the aristocracy here reverse
the usual custom at the North, of spending the win-
ter in the city, and the summer in the country. Most
of the wealthy planters residing within twenty or
thirty miles of the city, have residences in town,
where they and their families remain during the heat
of the summer; for at that time it would not be pru-
dent for any one to remain long on a rice plantation.
The land devoted to the cultivation of rice is low,
level, and contiguous to some small stream or water-
course, as it is necessary to overflow these rice-fields
at certain seasons of the year. This produces a mala
rious atmosphere, which is almost fatal to the unaccli-
mated. It is deemed extremely hazardous for any
white person to remain over night on these planta-
tions during the malaria season, although the negroes
are exempt from its deleterious influence.
The country around Charleston is generally too
level and monotonous to be really beautiful, yet
there are a number of pleasant drives, and many
interesting places in the vicinity. On the banks of
54
Charleston.
the Cooper river, two or three miles distant, is the
Magnolia Cemetery. This “city of the dead” was
once a private estate, bearing the appropriate name of
“Magnolia Umbra.” It is a quiet, lovely spot, with
its mingled woods and waters; its silence and shade;
its patriarchal oaks and noble magnolias ; its mourn-
ful cypresses and fragrant jasmines. Within its
sacred precincts, "wrapped in the shades of peaceful
quietude," was heard no sound,
u
no voice
Save what still Nature in her worship breathes,
And that unspoken lore with which the dead
Do commune with the living.”
Many of the trees, particularly the cypress, are
covered with a species of lichen, or moss, which
hangs in graceful festoons from the highest branches,
completely shrouding them with its gossamer drapery.
This is a singular-looking plant, and is supposed to
derive its sustenance chiefly from the air. It has a
small, slender stem, not larger than a thread, which is
thickly covered with delićate frost-colored leaves, and
seems particularly fitted to adorn the trees of ceme-
Suburban Celebrities.
55
teries. Its sombre hue, and waving, pendulum-like
motion, as it yields to the slightest breeze, impart to
Nature a funereal aspect. This species of lichen is
indigenous to this climate, and cannot be made to
withstand the severity of our northern winters.
In the vicinity of this city are several places which
are interesting on account of the historical associations
connected with them. The capacious harbor or
bay, extending a distance of some seven miles to the
ocean, is strongly fortified, and was the scene of
several sanguinary conflicts during the Revolution.
Castle Pinckney occupies a shoal about two miles
from the city. A little beyond is Fort Sumter, con-
sidered by military engineers to be one of the strongest
fortifications in the United States. It is built upon
an artificial island composed of broken stones and
cost our government half a million of dollars to pre-
pare this island for the present fortification, which
will cost as much more when completed. Not far
from here is Sullivan's Island, on which stands Fort
Moultrie, of Revolutionary fame; although, I believe
prior to the Revolution it was known as Fort Sulli-
56
Charleston.
van, but changed to Moultrie after the bravery dis-
played by that officer in defending the city from the
British fleet in 1776. This island has become quite
a fashionable watering-place, and a popular resort for
southerners during the summer. It has a large hotel
called the Moultrie House, and is said to rival New-
hard, pebbly beach, and in the superior excellence
of its sea-bathing.
I have had but little opportunity, as yet, to study
the physical character of the Palmetto State, or to
examine into the moral condition of her people.
Her political heresies are well known to the world,
.
rebellion,” has sadly tarnished her reputation as a
state. Her representative men have evidently paid
less attention to her internal improvements, and the
development of her vast natural resources, than to
“the discussion of political subtleties," and the engen-
dering of intestinal strife and discord between the
states. It is a well known fact that this belligerent
little state, this hot-bed of secession and nullification,
has caused “Uncle Samuel”--that respectable father
A Dyspeptic State.
57
of thirty-three children, and one in expectancy more
trouble and anxiety than all the rest of his numerous
family. She is a proud, capricious little bantling,
erratic in her disposition, impatient of restraint, and
with decided revolutionary proclivities; and further-
more, has made several unsuccessful attempts to
break the family compact, and set up house-keeping
on her own hook. She has at times . exhibited.
symptoms of lunacy; but a short confinement in a
strait-jacket, with a few cooling applications to the
brain, according to the Jacksonian mode of treatment,
caused a speedy recovery. But she is'évidently not
in good health, being subject to periódical attacks of
dyspepsiama disease which attacks.communities as
well as individuals, and is often produced by antago-
nistic causes; sometimes by too great a flow of bile,
and at others by a want of that necessary element in
the animal economy. I should not be surprised if
DIY
years) should, in a sudden fit of indigestion, commit
some rash act, and perhaps wander away from the
paternal mansion. But she is too much of a valetu-
dinarian to long take care of herself, and, in all pro-
58
Charleston.
bability, after subsisting for a while on a rice-water
diet, with the few crumbs of discomfort that she may
pick up during her wanderings, she will return, and,
like the Prodigal Son, beg to be received again into
the family of her paternal ancestor.
But a truce to this metaphor. Time wanes, and
I must no longer burn the midnight gas, but try and
get a little sleep, preparatory to my early departure
in the morning for Cuba's “promised land." The
mail this evening brought me letters of introduction
Americans residing in Havana, Matanzas, and Car-
denas, which may be of service to me during my visit
to those places. My passport has been viséed by the
Spanish Consul residing here, my ticket procured,
stateroom engaged, trunk packed, and I have nothing
to do now, but “to wrap the drapery of my couch
about me, and lie down to pleasant dreams." * * *
LETTER VI.
HOTEL REVERE, HAPANA, March 10, 1866.
I AM at last in Cuba, that "fast-anchored isle,"
known in Castilian poetry as the Queen of the An.
tilles; and everything around me appears so novel,
so entirely unlike what I have ever seen before,
that I can scarcely believe my identity. Havana
realizes my idea of an old Moorish town, with its
moss-covered turrets, its crumbling walls, its narrow
streets, and its oddly constructed buildings of various
colors, which have become dimmed by time or expo-
sure, imparting to them a venerable and somewhat dila-
pidated appearance. As to the inhabitants, I hardly
know how to describe them. They are certainly the
quaintest, queerest, and in many respects the most
outré specimens of animated nature that I have ever
seen. The language of the lower classes is apparently
1
60
Havana.
an admixture of miserable Spanish, more miserable
French, and most miserable English. Their speech is
rapid, accompanied with vehement gesticulations, and
sounds very strange to Anglo-Saxon ears. Pure Cas-
tilian undoubtedly is spoken by the higher and better
educated classes; but being ignorant of the language,
and without the opportunity or inclination to form
their acquaintance, I shall not have the pleasure of
criticising the purity of their style or the beauty and
correctness of their idiom.
My “ideas of society" here are as yet vague and
undefined. Images of half-naked negroes, sleek and
adipose ;-of swarthy officials, redolent of cigar-smoke
and garlic ;-of huge-wheeled volantes, with liliputian
steeds and sable postillions ;-of small-sized, thin-vis-
aged señors;-of dark-eyed, plump señoritas ;-toge-
ther with military parades and priestly pageantry,
form the impressions most distinctly daguerreotyped
on my mind during a three days' residence in this city
of one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants.
We approached this island on the morning of the
7th, just as day was breaking. Our gallant steamer
moved slowly towards the mouth of the harbor, await-
Moro Castle.
ing the signal to enter, for no vessels are allowed to
pass the Moro between the setting and rising of the
sun. As we neared the ramparts, a bright light gilded
the eastern horizon, and “Old Sol” slowly emerged
from his briny bed, and allowed "the light of his
countenance” to illumine the scene before us. The
loud roar of a cannon came booming over the water,
and instantly, as if touched by the magician's wand,
the Spanish flag was unfurled from the lofty tower of
Moro Castle. Other flags and signals appeared simul-
taneously in different parts of the city, apprising the
Habaneros that an American vessel was approaching.
We passed close to the beetling walls of the castle,
whose massive battlements are as grey and old and
gloomy as a fortress of feudal times; while the long
rows of open-mouthed guns looked down defiantly
upon us as we moved silently along in its shadow. On
the other side of the entrance, and within gun-shot,
stands the small fort of La Punta, which was once
strongly fortified, but is now used only as a garrison
or prison. The heights beyond the Moro, overlook-
ing the city and harbor, are covered by the extensive
fortifications of Cabañas. The massive walls, heavy
62
Havana.
battlements, and ponderous gates of this fortress give
it the appearance, from a distance, of a walled town.
It covers an area of several acres, and to garrison it
effectively would require at least ten thousand men.
It was built during the reign of Charles III., and its
cost has been variously estimated at from ten to forty
millions of dollars. It is related that this eccentric
monarch, on learning the cost of this fortification,
called for a telescope and began to survey the heavens.
On being asked for an explanation, he remarked, that
he was looking for the Cabañas, as a work of such
magnitude, and on which so much money had been
expended, ought to be visible at a great distance.
The harbor of Havana is said to be one of the larg-
est and best in the world. It is sufficiently deep to
float vessels of the largest size, and capacious enough
to accommodate the ships of all nations. The entrance
is so narrow that only one vessel can come in at a
time, and its entire length and breadth are covered by
the bristling guns of the Moro and Cabañas. The
view as we enter the harbor is beautifully picturesque
and peculiarly suggestive of the Orient. On one side
is the city, with its long rows of parti-colored build-
Town of Regla.
63
ings, massive and unique in their structure, with their
flat tiled roofs, dingy and moss-covered, with here and
there a grim grey tower uprising in their midst, im-
parting to the whole a quaint and Moorish expression.
On the opposite side, creeping from the water's edge
up the sloping sides of an amphitheatre of hills, is the
little town of Regla, once the romantic retreat of
pirates and buccaneers, and celebrated for the splen-
dor of its bull-fights. Now it is an uninviting, dila-
pidated looking place, and remarkable for nothing
but its extensive traffic in sugar and molasses. How
great the change!—from the chivalry and quixotism
of the past to the dulce et utile of the present. The
heights beyond the town were agreeably diversified
with woodland and lawn, with umbrageous trees and
verdant herbage; while here and there a majestic
palm might be seen lifting its proud head from among
the masses of tropical verdure in which it seemed to
be imbedded, giving variety and beauty to the scene.
The beautiful bay, over whose placid surface we were
noiselessly gliding, was covered with vessels from all
nearly every nation floating lazily in the breeze.
Havana.
Our steamer had scarcely dropped its anchor, before
we were surrounded by scores of small boats rowed
by natives dressed in white, with narrow-brimmed
Panama hats surmounting their closely shorn heads,
and by real Guinea negroes without hats, shoes, or
any outer covering except a scanty apology for panta-
loons. With uplifted oars, and in a language unin-
telligible to us, accompanied with ludicrous pan-
tomime, these barqueros evidently tried to attract our
attention to the merits of their different boats. But
our disembarkation was prevented by two sallow-faced
Spanish officials “clothed with a little brief authority,"
and in jacket and trowsers of immaculate purity, who
strutted, with cigars in their mouths, before the com-
panion-way to prevent the egress of any of the pas-
sengers until their passports had been examined. In
about two hours this was accomplished, and our party
seated in a boat, surrounded by luggage, and the
swarthy oars-men pulling away lustily for the custom-
house.
The custom-house reached, our baggage was placed
on the stone floor amid a crowd of sallow officials, and
stalwart negroes of "the deepest dye.” At a given
C
S
Custom-House Ordeal.
65
signal, one of these sable Hercules clasped a trunk in
his immense arms, and placed it in its required posi-
tion; the straps were unloosed, the key applied, and
in a moment the contents were exposed to view.
“A deeply, darkly, beautifully brown" individual,
with a heavy mustache and a cigar behind his ear,
approached, and in a respectful manner made a slight
examination of the contents. If no contraband
article or death-dealing weapons were discovered, he
fell, and the trunk was safely delivered to the owner,
who, however, was not permitted to leave until he
had paid the Registrador sixteen reals (about two
dollars) and received from him a written permit to
remain in the city for thirty days. At the expiration
of that time, by the payment of another fee, you can
have your permit extended to sixty or ninety days.
Should you wish to remain longer on the island, it
will be necessary to obtain a letter of domicil, which
can be procured through the consul of the country
of which the applicant is a native.
This ordeal passed, I breathed more freely. Hay-
ing purchased the freedom of the city, with the
3*
66
Havana.
evidence in my pocket, I was at liberty to go where
and when I pleased. The streets at the time were
swarming with half-naked negroes, creoles, and Spanish
soldiers. In sight were a number of rude carts,
drawn by sleepy-looking oxen with the yokes fastened
motive power was a diminutive horse or mule. We
placed our luggage on one of these cumbrous vehicles,
and the ladies of our party into volantes, with direc-
tions to drive to the “ Hotel Americana." The
gentlemen walked, as the distance was short, and we
were all desirous to see as much as possible of this
strange-looking city.
We had not proceeded far before we all became
sensible of a peculiar odor in the atmosphere, the
exact nature of which we could not then determine;
but I have since learned that it was the combined
odor of garlic and cigar-smoke. The inhabitants use
garlic in some form at every meal, and cook it in the
open air, and the male population (to say nothing of
the females) smoke all the time, except when eating
and sleeping; and it is said that many go to bed with
a cigar in their mouths, and get up and smoke at
Hotel Americana.
67
intervals during the night. One cannot remain here
long without discovering that a cigar is a sine quâ non in
every Cuban's mouth. It is his vade mecum, his
nepenthe, his solace in affliction, and the companion
of his happier hours. To him, it is not only a luxury,
but one of the necessaries of life, as indispensable to
his happiness as is the exhilarating souchong to an
inhabitant of the Celestial Empire.
At the Hotel Americana we encountered another
official, who remained until we had delivered up our
permits to the proprietor for safe keeping, and regis-
tered our names, places of residence, occupations, ages,
and whether benedict or bachelor. This registration,
I understand, is required of all foreigners who visit
this island, so that the record here made, may be
compared with their passports, which are retained by
the authorities until the owner wishes to leave, when
it is given up, and another fee of four or five dollars
exacted, compelling us to pay an export as well as an
import duty.
This hotel being nearly full when we arrived, Mr.
Wolcott the proprietor was able to accommodate
but a few of our party, and they had to take up with
II
68
Havana.
miserable rooms. After breakfast I went out in
search of other quarters. Every posáda that I visited,
was full, or the rooms so very uncomfortable that
I would not engage them, and I was about giving up
in despair, when I met an American friend who was
stopping at the Hotel Revere. I returned with him,
and secured a room, or part of a room, at that hotel,
the apartments being so large that two or three, and
sometimes a greater number of persons occupy the
same room. I was glad to find accommodations any-
where, for I was tired of wandering about this strange
city, with its confusion of tongues, in pursuit of "a
local habitation.” My morning's experience had
taught me the folly of being super-fastidious, and
I made up my mind to be satisfied with such accom-
modations as I could get. I was disposed to adopt the
language of the philosophic Touchstone in the play
of "As you Like it," and mentally exclaimed, “Ay,
now am I in Cuba ? The more fool I. When I was
at home, I was in a better place; but travellers must
be content."
The Hotel Revere is much larger than Wolcott's,
but was not well kept. The rooms are more capa-
1T
Cuban Cookery.
69
cious and better ventilated, but its larder is not as
well stocked, and the cuisine is more exclusively
Spanish. The table is not such as would be tolerated
in our country, as nearly all the viands are badly
cooked, and taste as well as "smell of Havana.”
The butter is not only odious, but odorous ; I smelt it
my olfactory organs as possible. I have no desire to
repeat the experiment. Most of the food is particu-
larly unsavory to me, as garlic is an ingredient of
nearly every dish. The meats are evidently cooked
in rancid butter or grease, and many of the vegetables
fried or compounded with something that renders
them extremely unpalatable. Their bread-a kind
of French twist-is excellent; consequently, I lean
upon that "staff of life," assisted by a few other
edibles, such as eggs, fried plantains, and sweet-
potatoes, with a dessert of tropical fruit. As a beve-
rage, I use water, and a light, sour native wine, which,
though not very delicious, is infinitely more palatable
to me than their coffee or tea. Good coffee and cho-
colate can, however, be obtained at some of the restau-
rants, and several of our boarders, who are extrava-
70
Havana.
Ter a
gantly fond of these beverages, take their matutinal
meal at the Dominica, a popular restaurant near by.
La Dominica is on the Plaza, near the captain-
general's residence, and is the fashionable lounging-
place for citizens as well as strangers. A crowd of
people, representatives of many different nations,
assemble here during the evening to smoke their
cigars and to discuss the news of the day over a
cooling sherbet, or some of the delicious ices for
which this place is celebrated. As early as nine
o'clock all the marble tables are occupied, and so
many different languages spoken by the occupants;
that a sort of Babel-like confusion reigns. The
waiters respond to your signals with alacrity, and if
you have learnt enough Spanish to make your wants
known, you will be served immediately. If you
wish to light your cigar, you have but to ejaculate
"candéla !” (fire), and a servant is at your elbow with
a small silver brasier containing live-coals, which he
places on the marble table before you, and departs to
execute some other order. As the evening wanes the
air becomes strongly impregnated with the odor of
cigars, which might be disagreeable to those not
Tariff of Prices.
.
71
U
partial to the narcotic perfume, were it not that the
spray from a tiny fountain in the room is diffused
through the cigar-scented atmosphere, purifying and
rendering it delightfully cool and agreeable. Costa
and Co., the proprietors of this Café, deal extensively
in conserves and sweetmeats; their guava jellies and
marmalades are nicely put up in boxes for exportation,
and sent to all parts of Europe and the United States.
I learn on inquiry that nearly every article of
consumption, with the exception of sugars, cigars, and
ton, and pork, are about twenty-five cents a pound.
Fish and fowls are equally dear, especially in Havana;
the first being a government monopoly, and the
supply of the other not being equal to the demand.
The duty on foreign flour is so great as to be almost
equivalent to a prohibition; nearly all that is used
here comes from the mother country, and is exorbi-
tantly high. The price of board at the different
hotels in Havana is from three to four dollars a day.
So far as my experience goes, the fare and accom-
modations are execrable; and were payment refused,
a valid defence would be no value received.
0
1
72
Havana.
The Hotel Revere, as some one has quaintly
remarked, is in appearance a Moorish palace, in dis-
comfort a German boarding-house, in expense a Bond
street hotel. It was once the private residence of the
Marquis de Cardenas, a wealthy Spanish nobleman,
who lived here for a time in almost regal splendor;
but he became dissipated, squandered his property, and
was finally obliged to give up this establishment.
It is now held by the Captain-General, who is the
ostensible owner, although it is said that the rents go
to the support of the marquis, who is still living. I
occupy a large double-bedded room with one immense :
window opening into the street, from the balcony of
LU
from the well-filled panniers of the vender of fruit,
as he rides along the narrow street beneath perched
on the rump of his patient mule. Dropping a real
(a shilling) into the extended hand of the dealer,
I am the grateful recipient of a hatful of this deli-
cious tropical fruit for my early-morning repast.
My room-mate is a veritable Yankee, from the
lumber district of Maine, who is here negotiating the
sale of several cargoes of sugar hogsheads and boxes
High-Priced Cigars.
73
manufactured in that State. He is quite an agree-
able companion, and decidedly an acquisition to my
society, possessing as he does a fund of good-humor
and good sense, and speaking " broken Spanish”
sufficiently well to be my interpreter when required.
He is well "posted” in politics, pine-lumber, and
cigars. As a connoisseur of "the weed," he prefers
that grown on a certain plantation in the Abajo
district, and pronounces Cabana's celebrated two-
hundred-and-fifty-dollars a thousand cigars an expen-
sive humbug, and only purchased by “fools of
quality," and those having more money than brains.
These high-priced cigars are called Napoleons, and
are purchased only by foreigners, who are not gene-
rally aware that in Cuba the price of an article is not
always regulated by the quality. These cigars are
about six inches long, uniform in size, and as perfect
in shape as if they were turned in a lathe. In
quality, they are but little, if any, better than some
brands that can be purchased for sixty dollars. The
the care necessary in selecting and preparing the
outside wrappers—which are all of a color and free
74
Havana.
from imperfections are the reasons assigned for the
extravagant price asked for them. A gold medal
was awarded to Cabana for the best cigars exhibited
at the last Paris exhibition ; since which time his
orders from Europe have increased to such an extent,
notwithstanding his exorbitant prices, that he is
rapidly accumulating a fortune.
The few days that I have been here have passed
very pleasantly, as most of my time is occupied in
sight-seeing; but the nights are not without their
discomforts and annoyances. The ill arranged mos-
quito bar attached to my cot does not entirely ex-;
clude those phlebotomizing insects; and the window
being destitute of glass and shutters, there is nothing
to keep out the "voices of the night,” which at times
are not very somnus-inspiring. The clocks of the
neighboring churches strike quarter-hourly, and as
the sound dies away, the watchmen in the streets
(and there is one stationed under my window), with
a shrill, lugubrious cry, announce the hour. This
peculiar cry, so distinct and ear-piercing, seriously
disturbs my slumbers; but I presume that as I be-
come more accustomed to the sound, it will be less
LU
Serénos.
75
annoying. These "guardians of the night” are
called serénos. They carry with them a lantern, a
long spear, and a brace of pistols, and cry the time
of night with a prolonged musical repetition of the
syllables, usually commencing with the name of the
Holy Virgin, and ending with the word seréno-o-o
long drawn out, to let the sleepers know how quiet
and serene are the heavens above them. Seréno is a
Spanish word, and belongs to two different parts of
speech, each having a distinot and different significa-
tion. When used as a substantive, it signifies a
night-watch, while the literal interpretation of the
adjective, is quiet, mild, serene, * * *
LETTER VII.
HAVANA, March, 1856.
It is now about two weeks since I first landed
upon these shores, and during that brief period I
have seen so much, have witnessed so many strange
scenes, that I can hardly realize that so short a time :
has elapsed. It has been an eventful fortnight to me,
as well as an industrious one; for I have devoted all
of my available time to sight-seeing, and have accom-
plished as much already as most tourists would
during an entire season.
In my last letter, I gave a brief description of the
harbor of Havana, its fortifications and defences,
together with my first impressions of the city and its
inhabitants. These impressions were of course desul-
tory, being formed from a limited acquaintance with
a few of the principal streets intra muros (within the
The City Proper.
77
ге
walls). Since that time I have become familiar
with the entire city from Costa del Norte to the ex-
treme southern limits; and from the waters of the
Bahia de la Habana on the east, to the crowning
heights of “Castle Principe” on the west. I have
seen the city in all its phases : at break of day, in
the heat and glare of a meridian sun, at dusky
twilight, and in the full blaze of gas-light; have
lost my way while wandering through its laby-
rinthine streets, and had a narrow escape from a
douche and "a flowing sea," while clambering over
the rocky beach at the base of La Punta, in search
of shells and specimens.
The city proper contains about one third of the
entire population, and is separated from the suburbs
by a high wall and moat, which extends, in an ellip-
tical course, from the mouth of the harbor to the
southern limits of the bay. At the terminus of
several of the principal streets are enormous gate-
ways guarded by Spanish soldiers, whose duty it is
to challenge all strangers who pass through. But I
repeatedly passed and repassed without being chal-
lenged, or even noticed by the automatic sentinels,
Havana.
Y IV
display than for real service.
The streets of the city within the walls are so
narrow and the houses built so close to them, that
they have more the appearance of private lanes than
highways for travel. Though they are only wide
enough to allow two carriages to pass each other, and
to a stranger that would seem a hazardous under-
taking, collisions are of rare occurrence. On each
side of the street are narrow flaggings of stone for
pedestrians : but sidewalks are of little use in
this city, as but few of the inhabitants ever walk.
The "spinning of street-yarn,” a practice so much in
vogue among the peripatetic ladies of the north, is a
decidedly unfashionable pastime here, only indulged
in by foreigners and natives of the poorest class.
The Cuban gentlemen seldom walk, the ladies never,
except during some of the Holy-days, when carriages
are not allowed on the streets.
The vehicles used here are called “Volantes," and
are peculiar to this country. In shape and appear-
ance they bear some resemblance to our old-fashioned
one-horse chaise, except that the wheels of a volante
Volantes.
79
are considerably larger, and the shafts more flexible
and nearly twice as long. The propelling power"
(a small native horse or mule) is at least six feet from
the body of the carriage, which is bung midway
between the horse and the axle, imparting to it an
elastic and cradle-like motion. The horse is ridden
by a negro called a Calesero, who is usually dressed in
fanciful livery, with immense jack-boots reaching far
above his knees, and his sombrero (if he is fortunate
enough to own one) is generally ornamented with
bits of gay ribbon, or a feather plucked from the tail
of some domestic fowl or bird. A few of the more
pretentious volantes have two horses, one for the pos-
tillion to ride while guiding the other which is
attached to the carriage. This is certainly a humane
and horse-pitiable procedure, for it is enough that the
poor little animal is compelled to draw a heavy
volante containing two or three persons, on a full
gallop, without being encümbered with a heavy pack-
saddle and a clumsy postillion. The long tails of the
horses are braided and fastened to the pommel of the
saddle, it being considered ornamental. It is at the
same time a useful precaution, as it prevents those
80
Havana.
mercurial appendages from whisking the faces of the
few pedestrians they may encounter in the narrow
streets. The sidewalks are so narrow that, when two
persons meet, one is obliged to step into the street,
and in so doing must keep a sharp look-out to avoid
the danger of being brushed against by the passing
volantes.
But few of the shops and private residences here
are above one story high ; none that I have seen
are more than two. The rooms are large and of
great height. In buildings of one story they gene-
rally extend to the rafters, which are painted some
bright color and left exposed to view. There is but
one door in front, which is sufficiently large to admit
the passage of a volante with its horse and rider.
The carriage is usually left near the entrance, and is
visible from the street; while the horse is taken to an
open court in the rear, which is used as a kitchen and
stable conjointly. Among the middle classes the
volante is often seen occupying a place in the best
room in the house; for it is here considered an indis-
pensable appendage to every household, and its pos-
session is a more certain passport to Cuban "upper-
me
A National Weakness.
ten-dom” than would be the occupancy of “a four-
story brown stone front” in the fashionable purlieus
of Fifth Avenue. Some of the most opulent families
have half-a-dozen or more volantes, one for each mar-
riageable daughter. The greater the number and the
more expensive the equipages the higher the owner
rises in the scale of respectability. Many persons
in straitened circumstances, it is said, practise the
most rigid economy, and even debar themselves from
many of the luxuries of life, to enable them to keep a
volante and its necessary accompaniments. It is a
national weakness which pervades all classes of soci-
ety from the titled millionaire to the humble artisan.
Nearly all the buildings here have a venerable, and,
in the distance, a somewhat dilapidated appearance.
They are mostly built of stone covered with a species
of stucco, and colored to suit the taste of the owner or
occupant. One story may be blue, the other yellow
or green, and the next building just the reverse.
This bright and somewhat incongruous combination
of colors would be apt to produce a dazzling and
mate and the proximity of the ocean soon destroy
82
Havana.
the lustre of the paint, and impart to the buildings
a faded and time-worn appearance. In buildings of
two stories, the first floor is generally used as a shop
or warehouse, and in some instances as a stable,
while the floor above is occupied as a hotel or private
residence. Many of the wealthy merchants here live
and do business under the same roof. The first story
of the Captain-General's Palace, on the Plaza, is now
occupied by shop-keepers, and you can buy a cup of
coffee and a cigar in a saloon under the drawing-room
of her Excellency Madame Concha, or have your
horse shod or your own shoes repaired beneath the
roof of some of the most aristocratic of the Cuban
nobility.
once the residence of a Spanish nobleman, will give
some idea of the construction and arrangement of the
best buildings in Havana. It is two stories high, with
a plain, unpretending façade, and only distinguishable
from some of the adjacent buildings by its numerous
balconied windows on the second floor. The only
entrance from the street is through a capacious door-
way, almost large enough to admit two carriages
A Nobleman's - Residence.
abreast. Its ponderous double doors studded with
innumerable bolts of iron, and otherwise rendered
burglar-proof, are seldom closed except at night.
Within this doorway you will commonly see one or
more volantes, also the bed and table of the porter,
who remains there night and day. He is usually
engaged during the intervals between sleeping and
eating in making cigarettos, repairing garments, or
some other light mechanical occupation. At the
further end of this hall, or passage, is an open court,
where you will find the atmosphere impregnated with
a peculiar odor. Olfactory organs naturally acute,
with nice powers of discrimination, will soon discover
it to be a combination of garlic, cigar-smoke, and
offal. I will here say in explanation, that within this
area of a few square rods several horses are stabled
at night and during the heat of the day. Near by,
and within smelling distance, is the kitchen and culi-
nary department, where garlic is cooked at least twice
a day, and is an ingredient in nearly every dish set
upon the table. While here, there, and everywhere,
may be seen the smoke arising from the ubiquitous
cigar, in the mouths of landlord, guest, cook, scullion,
84
Havana.
Y VI
and groom; for everything here pertaining to huma-
nity, whether it be high or low, rich or poor, bond or
free, is, to some extent, a consumer of the universal
56 weed.”
We next ascend a broad flight of stone steps to a
long open corridor or gallery, which is used as a
dining-room and public promenade. At one end of
this corridor is the parlor, at the other the kitchen;
and between the two, at regular intervals, are doors
leading to the principal apartments, which are used as
lodging-rooms, and now occupied by guests. These
rooms all open into each other, and are large, airy,
and would be very pleasant were they not so poorly
furnished. A small cot-bedstead in each corner of
the room, a tiny wash-stand, and two or three cane-
bottomed chairs, are about all the furniture they con-
tain. The floors are of tile, with a small bit of carpet
spread by the side of each cot, the heat of the cli-
mate rendering wooden floors and carpets uncomforta-
ble. The rooms below us, on the ground floor, are
used as shops and warehouses, and have no commu-
nication in any way with this hotel.
i In buildings of one story, the windows are gene-
Cane-
Tropical Beauties.
85
rally about half the size of the room, and nearly on
as much air as possible. In the place of sash and
glass are heavy iron gratings, which give to the
building very much the appearance of a prison.
Usually there are light curtains or wooden shutters
on the inside, but these being seldom closed, the liv.
ing room and family group are visible to the passer-
by, who is at liberty to stop and gaze within as long
as he chooses, without exciting notice or remark from
the occupants. In fact, the Cuban ladies seem to be
rather flattered than otherwise by such attentions
from strangers, which they construe into evidences
of admiration.
Much has been said and written of an extravagant
nature about the beauty of the Cuban ladies. They
are beautiful, if dark, dreamy eyes, luxuriant hair,
and magnificent busts alone constitute beauty. But
I confess my disappointment in these Creole beauties
these tropical houris, whose praises have so often
been celebrated in poesy and in song. Theirs is an
external beauty--the perfection of form and feature,
without the charm of modesty and refinement,
86
Havana.
qualities so èssential in the female character. Vanity
is evidently one of their petty foibles, and coquetry
one of their most prominent characteristics; and no-
where is there a better opportunity for displaying
these peculiar traits than in church. When in the
to arrange their dresses becomingly, and place
their jewelled hands where they will show to the best
possible advantage; and when apparently absorbed
in their devotions, you will occasionally see one ply-
ing the telegraphic fan, or exchanging tokens of
recognition with some favorite señor in another part
of the building. It is a noticeable fact that the
Cuban ladies have the art of wielding the fan with a
grace and dexterity unsurpassed by any nation in
the world. They are initiated into its coquettish
mysteries during their youth, and, when they are
grown up, it becomes in their hands the very perfec-
tion of acting, and the language they impart to its
use is an expressive pantomime that requires no
interpretation.
Among the many churches and other public build-
ings in this papal city, none have more interesting
S no
.
The Cathedral.
87
associations connected with them than the cathedral,
a large and oddly constructed building, whose mas-
sive walls and turrets are grey with age and crumbling
with decay. Within this venerable church repose
the remains of the great discoverer, Christopher
Columbus. The coffin containing his revered ashes is
inclosed in the wall near one of the principal altars,
and the chain with which an ungrateful monarch
once bound him, is said to be preserved here, but is
not shown to visitors. Among the paintings in this
church, is one representing the solemn celebration
of the mass previous to the departure of Colum-
bus on his first expedition in search of a new
are said to be the productions of the old masters;
but they were suspended so high on the walls, that I
was unable, on account of near-sightedness, to give
them a critical examination.
As the cathedral is not far distant from my hotel,
often. The music is sometimes exceedingly fine, and
some of the services quite impressive; but many of
the forms and ceremonies are so senseless and appa-
88
Havana.
rently soulless, and the pageantry so extremely ridicu-
lous, that it cannot fail to excite in the bosom of
every true Protestant mingled feelings of pity and
disgust. The congregation is usually composed of
all grades, colors, and sexes; but a majority are
ladies, apparently of the best classes, who assume the
most devout attitudes, and remain the longest time at
their devotions. Many of the men (particularly
among the laboring classes) merely come within the
door, drop on one knee, with their faces turned
towards the principal altar, and utter a short, but
scarcely audible prayer. When this is finished, they
dip a finger in the consecrated water, make a sign of
the cross on their foreheads, and glide out as noise-
lessly as they came in. None of the churches that I
have visited contain any pews, and only an occasional
seat near the wall; so that all who come there to
worship must kneel or stand. It is a beautiful sight
to see several hundred señoras and señoritas kneeling
or half reclining on showy mats or bits of gay carpet,
their necks and arms bare, and often resplendent
with jewels; their dark glossy hair ornamented with
pearls or flowers, and their exquisitely wrought fans,
Rags and Jewels.
39.
inlaid with gold and precious stones, " glittering in
their hands like so many butterflies."
Each lady, as she enters the church, is accompa-
nied by her sable calesero, or footman, carrying in his
arms a rich rug or elaborately embroidered stool, for
his mistress to kneel or sit upon; and he usually
remains standing or kneeling by her side during the
service. Soon, mendicant women, old, decrepid, and
of all colors, crowd their way in and kneel among
the interstices of the richly rugged floor, apparently
without annoyance to their fair neighbors. There
were black and white, old and young, rich and poor,
bond and free, all kneeling side by side. I was, I
must confess, considerably surprised at this apparent
willingness of these high-born dames to amalgamate
with those of low degree. It is true, we are promised
such things hereafter, but this bringing of rags and
jewels the lustre of ebony and the brilliancy of
pearl—into such close proximity here below, is more
than was ever "dreamed of in my philosophy," and
something that I did not suppose would ever occur
in this world of sinful fastidiousness. Military mass
is celebrated in some of the churches every morning
90
Havana.
at six o'clock, and one or more companies of soldiers,
with their officers, are always in attendance. It is a
curious sight to see one or two hundred soldiers, with
bristling bayonets and gleaming swords, come march-
ing into church to the tap of the drum, and array
themselves in “serried files” as if with hostile intent.
But there is nothing in their manner to inspire the
spectator with devotional feelings. They go through
of automatic precision, as if they regarded it as a mili-
tary rather than a religious duty.
LETTER VIII.
HAVANA, March, 1856.
THE Habaneros are a peculiar people. Many of
their habits and customs are entirely different from
ours. The tradesmen seldom place their names over
fanciful, such as “La Favorita," "La Moda," "EI
Sol,” “Belle de Cuba.” Sometimes they are more
ludicrous than poetical. For instance, “El Pobre
Diablo” (the poor devil) is the name of a popular
dry-goods store in the Calle del Obispo. The Cuban
ladies usually make their purchases in the morning,
or just previous to their evening drive on the Paséo.
They never leave their volantes, but have such articles
as they wish to examine brought to them by the
shop-keeper or his clerks, it being considered as direct
a violation of the established rules of etiquette for
92
Havana.
a lady to enter a store, as to be seen walking the
streets. Many of the ladies here do their shopping
without leaving their homes. On sending word to
a store, a clerk is despatched to the lady's residence
with a basket containing such goods as she may wish
will go to all the principal stores in the city, and pro-
cure, if possible, the article desired. Some of the
merchants send each morning to the principal hotels
samples of their most attractive goods for the inspec-
tion of the lady boarders, who can, if they choose,
make their purchases without leaving the hotel. This
is appreciated by those who are disposed to conform
to Cuban etiquette; but most of the American ladies,
I observe, are so unfashionable, as to prefer to do
their own shopping.
· A singular custom prevails among the milk-men
here, as well as in other large towns of Cuba, in their
mode of supplying the inhabitants with the lacteal
beverage. They drive their cows and goats through
the streets at an early hour in the morning, to be
milked at the doors of their customers, giving to each
the quantity required for the day, warm and free
TY
Market-Men.
93
from adulteration. When all their customers are
supplied, the patient animals are driven home, or
turned out to pasture among the mountains. This
compulsory itinerancy, and the habit of extracting a
limited quantity of milk at a sitting, has an injurious
effect on the cows, and they cease to "give down”
their milk freely under this treatment.
The vender of fruit, vegetables, and other domestic
products, brings his supplies to market in large straw
or willow-panniers slung across the back of his sleepy
donkey, whose owner is often seen perched upon the
rump behind. He rides close up to the windows of
the houses, to give the mistress or domestic of the
establishment an opportunity to examine his "stock
in trade” without their going out of doors. It is not
unusual for a farmer from the mountain districts to
come to town with a dozen horses or mules fastened
together one before the other, and loaded with pro-
vender. The horses are tied each to the tail of the
one preceding it, and their mouths muzzled so that
they cannot filch from their predecessor's load, which
is in such tempting proximity. The diminutive ani-
94
Havana.
escort
bundles of straw, or the green leaves of Indian corn
-which is used here principally as fodder-that they
look like so many "walking stacks," and in the
distance present a novel and somewhat ludicrous
appearance. The horseman who leads the cavalcade
usually wears a high pointed sombrero, enormous
spurs upon his heels, and sometimes carries a sword
and pistols by his side. The latter are evidently
worn more for ornament than use, as these Monteros
are as fond of show and as eccentric in their tastes,
as some of the old Spanish hidalgos from whom
they may have descended. * * *
Hayana is evidently a place of considerable busi-
ness, yet to visit its public promenades and places
of amusement, one would suppose all the inhabitants
were sybarites, and that business was secondary to
pleasure. In the morning, before the heat becomes
oppressive, these places are frequented; and when
the sun is low down in the horizon, every street and
avenue becomes filled with gay and expensive equi-
pages, on their way to the Paseo de Isabel, the fashion-
able drive and promenade estra muros (beyond the
walls). Passing out at the Monserrate gate through
Paséo de Isabel.
1
1
.
C
LI
an arched gateway guarded by stupid sentinels, and
over a deep moat, you reach this celebrated avenue,
where all the wealth, fashion, and beauty of the city
do congregate. This Paséo extends in a direct line
from the Prado to the Campo del Marte, or military
square, a distance of nearly a mile. It is about four
hundred feet wide, and consists of five separate drives,
running parallel with each other, which are bordered
with fine trees and ornamented with fountains and
statues. As the day begins to wane, and the heat-
laden air gives place to soft ocean breezes, this avenue
becomes the scene of indescribable gaiety. The
numerous walks are thronged with pedestrians;
countless numbers of volantes, freighted with their
precious burdens, pass and repass each other in rapid
succession, and one not accustomed to such a scene,
gazes until his sight becomes dazzled and his senses
bewildered by so much splendor and magnificence.
This pageant is kept up until about eight o'clock,
when the Paséo becomes deserted by the fashionables,
who repair to the Plaza de Armas, where some of the
fine military bands play for an hour every evening.
This gratuitous performance is called by the Cubans
96
Havana.
TIC
" the poor-man's opera," and is extensively patronized
by all classes. The various walks in the Plaza are
thronged with pedestrians, and the streets surrounding
it filled with volantes ; the fair occupants being
engaged in “discussing” a vanilla-ice or cooling
sherbet, from La Dominica, a popular restaurant near
by; or in coquetting with some familiar acquaintance,
who may have approached their carriage during the
pauses of the music. In the midst of this gay
crowd may be seen Spanish soldiers, with their
bayonets glittering in the bright moonlight, who are
stationed here, as well as in all other parts of the
. لم
but in peace and while engaged in innocent recrea
tions, they are under the control of a military force
that is omnipresent and all-powerful. * * *
Since writing you last, I have become somewhat
familiar with the environs of Havana, and have spent
many pleasant hours upon the green sloping hills
which lie adjacent to the city. Castle Principe stands
upon one of the highest elevations, and the view
from its massive battlements is one of the finest that
I ever witnessed. The city and its suburbs lie, as it
The Bishop's Garden.
97
were, almost at its very feet; and the land-locked bay
with its myriads of vessels sleeping on the tide, as
well as the crescent-shaped hills beyond, covered with
perennial foliage, are distinctly visible from this
elevation, and form a living picture on which the
eye delights to linger. A pleasant drive is through the
Tacon Paseo (over a road as smooth as a pebbly
beach, and lined on each side with double rows of
giant palms) to that romantic suburb known as the
Cerro, with its quaint little villas and unpretentious
cottages overburdened with shade, and redolent of
the perfume of flowers. Not far from here is the
celebrated "Bishop's Garden ;" so called, from its once
being the residence of the Bishop of Havana. It is
now uninhabited, and everything about it going to
decay. The house itself is but a moss-covered ruin,
its roof having been torn off by a hurricane which
nearly devastated the island a few years since; and
its crumbling walls of stone and stucco are covered
with moss and parasitical plants. The walks about
the grounds are now choked with weeds; the fish-
ponds are filled with stagnant water, and uninhabited,
except by frogs and slimy reptiles; the bridges are
98
Havana.
decayed ; its marble statues broken or displaced, and
covered with a gangrenous mould, and everything
appertaining to the place has the appearance of deso-
lation and decay. The only person that I saw on
the premises was a solitary laborer, who was enga-
ged in cultivating a few vegetables for the Havana
market.
Nothing that I have yet seen in this city has inte-
rested me more than the Pescadéric or fish-market;
and I would advise those who have a taste for ich-
thyological aesthetics, or a curiosity to witness eccen-
tric combinations of colors, if they ever come to
Havana, not to fail to visit this interesting, yet some-
what scaly institution. The long rows of marble
counters, extending as far as the eye can reach, are
covered every morning with bright and shining heaps
of these "treasures of the deep,” which rival in lustre
the brightest shells of the ocean, and, in variety of
shade and intensity of color, the very rainbow itself.
It is supposed by some, that the peculiar richness and
variety of color displayed by these piscatory pheno-
mena, are imparted to them by the sun when he casts
his prismatic bow into the briny deep. This theory
7
The Fish-Market.
99
is sustained by the interesting fact that the multitu-
dinous tints and variegated hues of the rainbow are
here exhibited with wonderful distinctness. Every
conceivable color and shade is to be seen here, from
the most vivid scarlet and brightest orange, to the
softest azure and the palest green. Incomprehensible
nature, in her moments of caprice, has strangely
blended and mixed these various colors, forming gro-
tesque and fanciful pictures for the eye to rest upon.
One side of a fish may be blue, and the other a
bright scarlet or orange. Another, perhaps, has a
crimson back, green sides, and a blue head or tail
beautifully flecked or shaded with orange. Others
are covered with spots or stripes of various hues, or
fantastically variegated; and some look, a short dis-
tance off, as if their sides were composed of layers of
silver and gold, alternating and lapping over each
other. It was certainly a curious sight, and more
than realized my expectations. Notwithstanding the
waters in the vicinity swarm with the "finny tribe,”
and the markets are abundantly supplied, this species
of food is exceedingly dear. This arises from the
fact of its being a government monopoly, and none
100
Havana.
but its agents are allowed to take fish from these
waters, or to offer them for sale in this city.
An interesting story is told concerning this mono-
poly, which is so romantic that I shall relate it. A quar-
ter of a century ago the coast of Cuba was infested by a
band of smugglers and semi-pirates, commanded by
"a bold bad man" named Marti, who was known as
the “King of the Isle of Pines," a cluster of small
islands in the vicinity, where he made his head-quar-
ters, and whence he sent his small, fleet vessels out
on marauding expeditions. When Tacon first became
governor-general of Cuba (about the year 1834),
finding that the revenues of the island had become
very much diminished from the extensive smuggling
upon the coast, he determined, if possible, to put a
stop to the nefarious practice. The entire available
maritime force was called into requisition, and armed
vessels coasted night and day for months, without the
least success against the smugglers. At last, finding
that all his expeditions against them failed, * partly
from the adroitness and bravery of the smugglers,
and partly from the want of pilots among the shoals
* See Ballou's History of Cuba.
Rovers of the Gulf.
101
and rocks that they frequented, a large and tempting
reward was offered to any one who would desert from
his comrades and act in this capacity in behalf of the
government. At the same time, a double sum, most
princely in amount, was offered for the person of
Marti the leader, dead or live. These rewards were
freely promulgated, and posted so as to reach the ears
and eyes of those whom they concerned ; but even
these seemed to produce no effect, and the government
officers were at a loss how to proceed in the matter.
“It was a dark, cloudy night in Havana, some
three or four months subsequent to the issuing of
these placards announcing the reward as referred to,
when two sentinels were pacing backwards and for-
wards before the main entrance to the governor's
palace, just opposite the grand plaza. A little before
midnight, a man, wrapped in a cloak, was watching
them from behind the statue of Ferdinand, near the
fountain ; and, after observing that the two soldiers
acting as sentinels paced their brief walk so as to
meet each other, and then turn their backs as they
separated, leaving a brief moment in the interval
when the eyes of both were turned away from the
102
Havana.
entrance they were placed to guard, seemed to cal-
culate upon passing them unobserved. It was an
exceedingly delicate manoeuvre, and required great
care and dexterity to effect it; but, at last, it was
adroitly done, and the stranger sprang lightly through
the entrance, secreting himself behind one of the pil-
lars in the inner court of the palace. The sentinels
paced on undisturbed.
“The figure which had thus stealthily effected an
entrance, now sought the broad stairs that led to the
governor's suite of apartments, with a confidence
that evinced a perfect knowledge of the place. A
second guard-post was to be passed at the head of
the stairs; but, assuming an air of authority, the
stranger offered a cold military salute and pressed
forward, as though there was not the most distant
question of his right so to do; and thus avoiding all
suspicion in the guard's mind, he boldly entered the
governor's reception-room unchallenged, and closed
the door behind him. In a large easy chair sat the
commander-in-chief, busily engaged in writing, but
alone. An expression of undisguised satisfaction
passed across the weather-beaten countenance of the
Marti, the Smuggler.
103
new-comer at this state of affairs, as he coolly
laid aside his cloak and proceeded to wipe the
perspiration from his face. The governor, looking
up with surprise, fixed his keen eyes upon the
intruder.
"Who enters here, unannounced, at this hour?'
he asked, sternly, while he regarded the stranger
earnestly. .
666 One who has information of value for the
governor-general. You are Tacon, I suppose ?'
"'I am. What would you with me? or, rather,
how did you pass my guard unchallenged ?'
"Of that anon. Excellency, you have offered a
reward for information concerning the rovers of the
gulf?'
“Ha! yes. What of them?' said Tacon with
undisguised interest.
"Excellency, I must speak with caution,' con-
tinued the new comer; 'otherwise I may condemn
and sacrifice myself.
"You have naught to fear on that head. The
offer of reward for evidence against the scapegraces
also vouchsafes a pardon to the informant. You may
104
Havana.
speak on, without fear for yourself, even though you
may be one of the very confederation itself.'
“You offer a reward, also, in addition for the dis-
covery of Marti—Captain Marti, of the smugglers-
do you not?'
s. We do, and will gladly make good the promise
of reward for any information upon the subject,'
replied Tacon.
"First, Excellency, do you give me your knightly
word that you will grant a free pardon to me, if I
reveal all that you require to know, even embracing
the most secret hiding-places of the rovers ?'
"I pledge you my word of honor,' said the com-
mander.
"No matter how heinous in the sight of the law
my offences may have been, still you will pardon me,
under the king's seal ?'
"I will, if you will reveal truly and to any good
purpose,' answered Tacon, weighing in his mind the
object of all this precaution.
“Even if I were a leader among the rovers my.
self?
“The governor hesitated for a moment, canyassing
Marti, the Smuggler.
105
in a single glance the subject before him, and then
said :
"Even then, be you whom you may; if you are
able, and will honestly pilot our ships and reveal the
secrets of Marti and his followers, you shall be
rewarded as our proffer sets forth, and yourself
receive a free pardon."
"Excellency, I think I know your character well
enough to trust you, else I would not have ventured
here.
"Speak, then; my time is precious,' was the
impatient reply of Tacon.
"Then, Excellency, the man for whom you have
offered the largest reward, dead or alive, is now before
you!'
". And you are mamma!
« Marti!'
"The governor-general drew back in astonishment,
and cast his eyes towards a brace of pistols that lay
within his reach; but it was only for a single moment,
when he again assumed entire self-control, and said, -
"I shall keep my promise, sir, provided you are
faithful, though the laws call loudly for your punish-
106
Havana.
ment; and even now you are in my power. To
insure your faithfulness, you must remain at present
under guard.
“Saying which, he rang a silver bell by his side,
and issued a verbal order to the attendant who
answered it. Immediately after, the officer of the
watch entered, and Marti was placed in confinement,
with orders to render him comfortable until he was
sent for. His name remained a secret with the com-
mander: and thus the night scene closed.
“On the following day, one of the men-of-war that
lay idly beneath the guns of Moro Castle, suddenly
became the scene of the utmost activity, and, before
noon, had weighed her anchor, and was standing out
into the Gulf Stream. Marti, the smuggler, was on
board, as her pilot: and faithfully did he guide the
ship, in the discharge of his treacherous business,
among the shoals and bays of the coast for nearly a
month, revealing every secret haunt of the rovers,
exposing their most valuable depôts and well selected
rendezvous; and many a smuggling craft was taken
and destroyed. The amount of money and property
thus secured was very great; and Marti returned
Marti, the Smuggler.
107
with the ship to claim his reward from the governor-
general, who, well satisfied with the manner in
which the rascal had fulfilled his agreement, and be-
trayed those comrades who were too faithful to be
tempted to treachery themselves, summoned Marti
before him.
"As you have faithfully performed your part of
our agreement,' said the governor-general, 'I am
now prepared to comply with the articles on my part.
In this package you will find a free and unconditional
pardon for all your offences against the laws. And
here is an order on the treasury for
"Excuse me, Excellency. The pardon I gladly
receive. As to the sum of money you propose to
give me, let me make you a proposition. Retain the
money, and in place of it, guarantee me the right to
fish in the neighborhood of the city, and declare the
trade in fish contraband to all except my agents.
This will richly repay me, and I will erect a public
market of stone at my own expense, which shall be
an ornament to the city, and which at the expiration
of a specified number of years shall revert to the
government, with all right and title to the fishery.'
108
Havana.
..“ Tacon was pleased at the idea of a superb fish-
market, which should eventually revert to the govern-
ment, and also at the idea of saying the large sum of
money covered by the promised reward. The singu-
lar proposition of the smuggler was duly considered,
and acceded to; and Marti was declared in legal form
to possess for the future, sole right to fish in the
neighborhood of the city, or to sell the article in any
form; and he at once assumed the rights that the
order guaranteed to him. Having in his roving life
learned all the best fishing-grounds, he furnished the
city bountifully with the article, and reaped yearly
an immense profit, until, at the close of the period for
which the monopoly was granted, he was the richest
man on the island. According to the agreement, the
fine market and its privileges reverted to the govern-
ment at the time specified, and the monopoly has
ever since been rigorously enforced.”
Many romantic stories are told of Marti; but the
one just related is the only one, I believe, that is
authenticated, and which has any connexion with
this monopoly.
To.morrow I expect to leave for Matanzas, Car-
Visit to the Interior.
109
denas, and other places in the interior of the island.
If I see anything of the “Cuban elephant" during
my absence, I shall endeavor to photograph his
“Imperial Majesty," and will transmit you a copy
immediately on my return to this city.
LETTER I X.
HAVANA, March, 1856.
DURING my recent excursion into the country, I
discovered many new and attractive features in Cuban
life and scenery, of which I shall ever retain a pleas-
ing remembrance. At the same time, I was a par-
ticipator in a few “stirring scenes," and adventures
of a less agreeable nature. I was accompanied as far
as Guines—a small village lying on the railroad
about fifteen leagues from the city-by a party of
friends on their way to an ingénio (pronounced
inhanyo) or sugar manufactory, situated a few miles
from that station.
The cars on this road are of American manufac-
ture (that is, built in the United States), are drawn
by American-built engines, and conducted by Ameri-
can engineers. They are divided into three classes.
Railroad to Guines.
11
The rate of fare in each corresponds with the luxury
of the accommodations. The first class are like the
ordinary coaches on our northern railroads, but the
fare in them is so high, that they are seldom patron-
ized except by foreigners and wealthy planters when
accompanied by ladies. The second class cars have
seats without cushions; a covering overhead, but no
protection at the sides or ends, which are open to the
winds of heaven, blow they ever so roughly. But
as the weather here is never cold, and storms are of
rare occurrence, these cars are generally well filled,
as the expense is much less, and the occupants are
better able to see the country through which they
are passing. The cars of the third class are simply
uncovered platforms, for the transportation of slaves,
coolies, and the lower order of the peasantry.
We reached Guines about nine o'clock A. M., and
while breakfast was being prepared for our party,
Mr. S— and myself called on the wife of the ventero
to show us the rooms that we could occupy on our
return from the plantation that night. Being busy at
the time with her matutinal preparations, our dark-
skinned hostess deputed an unwashed and unkempt
112
Havana.
ere
specimen of humanity—apparently of the male gen-
der--to wait on us. We followed our guide through
a large back-yard, swarming with pigs and poultry, to
a dingy out-building, which contained two or three
rooms, separated from each other by rough board
partitions. These apartments were so dirty and un-
comfortable, that we decided not to engage them;
which decision was strengthened by the discovery
that there were no inside fastenings to any of the
doors, and no way to prevent the intrusion of the
"outside barbarians," were any of them disposed to
pay us a nocturnal visit. On our way back to the
inn I noticed two suspicious-looking fellows seated on
the ground playing at monté, a favorite game of cards
with the peasantry. This discovery so affected the
sensitive organization of my friend the Ex-Congress-
man, that he expressed a deterrnination to return to
Havana that night, being satisfied with his limited
acquaintance with Cuban society and scenery.
The untidy appearance of the place, both in and
out of doors, had such an unappetizing effect upon us,
that we did not wait for breakfast, but left imme-
diately for the ingénio ; Mr. and Mrs. S— in an old
An Impetuòus Steed.
113
rickety volante, and I on an old and apparently
rickety horse, whose powers of locomotion, however,
proved to be much superior to what I was led to
expect from his dilapidated appearance. If you have
any conception of the shape of " a Virginia rail-fence,"
you can perhaps form some idea of the road over
which we travelled. It was tortuous in the extreme,
and its boundaries not being defined by fence or
hedge, the postillion and guide was at liberty to select
his way ad libitum. Soon after we started, my steed,
either disliking the spur affixed to my heel or not
understanding my Yankee dialect, increased his speed
to such a degree that I was obliged to let go the small
cord substituted for reins, and cling with tenacity to
the saddle. After a ride of balf a mile or so, John-
Gilpin-like, my impetuous charger halted at a rustic
cabin, where he evidently had, at some former time,
been horse-pitably entertained. I there made some
alterations in the bridle, and keeping my heels (par-
ticularly the offending one) as far from his susceptible
sides as possible, succeeded in reaching my place of
destination in safety.
After waiting two or three hours without seeing or
5*
114
Havana.
hearing anything from the rest of our party, some six
or eight in number, my friends made a hasty exami.
nation of the premises and returned to Guines, leav-
ing me to pursue the rest of my journey alone. I
subsequently learned that Mr. and Mrs. S— having
unknowingly taken the only public volante in that
enterprising town, no conveyance could be procured
for the other ladies, consequently they all took the
return train to Havana without having accomplished
the object of their journey.
I remained at this ingénio long enough to give it a
careful examination, and to obtain from the gentle-
manly proprietor much valuable information. This
estate contains two thousand acres, nearly three-fourths
of which are now planted with cane, which produces,
on an average, about fifteen hundred hogsheads of
sugar each year, besides a small quantity of molasses,
and a liquor called aguardiente, a kind of domestic
rum made from the refuse cane. These cane fields, in
the distance, look like immense fields of giant broom-
corn; with nothing to break the monotony, except
the white mansion of the overseer, surrounded by a
few straggling shade-trees, and the large sugar manu-
Cutting the Sugar Cane.
115
factory, with dense volumes of black smoke ascend-
ing from its tall, spectre-like chimney.
The cane ripens but once a year, and must be cut
as soon as it is sufficiently mature. Therefore, during
the cutting season all the available help on the plan-
tation is brought into requisition-old and young,
male and female; in fact, every creature that is strong
enough to wield a machéte, or cutting knife, is obliged
to labor in the field during the entire day and a part
of the night, until the cane is cut and secured. In
the sugar districts of the United States, the cạne has
often to be cut and manufactured within a period of
four or five weeks, to escape the frost, and frequently
hạs to be gathered before it is fully ripe. But here,
the season is always favorable for ripening the cane,
which grows almost spontaneously. Little or no
labor is necessary in its cultivation, and the time for
gathering the cane and making it into sugar, is ex-
tended through a period of from three to four months.
In Louisiana the cane has to be replanted nearly
every year. But the climate here is so favorable, and
the soil so deep and fertile, that it will produce satis-
factory crops for eight or ten years without being
116
Havana.
renewed; and there are estates on this island that
have not been replanted within the memory of the
oldest inhabitants. It is said that the cane-fields on
the island of St. Thomas, which were planted more
than a century ago by the Portuguese, still flourish
and yield remunerating crops. These facts show the
great disadvantages under which sugar planters in
the Southern States labor, compared with those simi-
larly engaged in Cuba and other tropical countries.
There are two methods of making sugar on this
island. One is called the "centrifugal process,"
where steam and machinery are employed: the other
the "claying process," where the work is chiefly done
by manual and animal labor. The first is very expe-
ditious, but requires complicated machinery, skilful
engineers, and a large outlay of capital. The other is
more simple and less expensive, but requires a much
longer time in its manufacture. This ingénio is con-
ducted upon the first-named plan, and the manner of
making sugar here is substantially as follows. After
the cane is cut and the green top removed, the main
stalk is carried to the crushing-mill and the juice
pressed out between two immense cylindrical rollers
Sugar-Making.
117
moved by steam. The crushed cane is then taken
away by the women and children and spread out in
new-mon
ciently cured it is housed in sheds, erected for the
purpose, to be used as fuel for the engines. The cane-
juice passes from the crushing-mill directly into an
immense reservoir beneath ; from there it is con-
ducted into shallow yats filled with small steam pipes,
which purge the juice from all extraneous matter.
It is next transferred to a long row of copper caldrons,
where it is boiled down to a sirup, the scum being
removed as fast as it appears on the surface. After
it has attained the requisite color and consistency, it
is drawn off into large shallow vats to cool. By the
side of these vats are arranged a number of circular
iron hoppers each holding a bushel or more. These
hoppers, or rather cylinders, are double thickness;
the outside being of solid iron, while the lining is of
fine wire cloth, with a space of a few inches between.
This space is filled with the saccharine mixture, and
the hopper which is connected with the engine is set
in motion. After it has made several thousand revo-
Jutions, at the rate of about two thousand each minute,
118
Havana.
the motion is arrested and you discover that the inner
surface of the wire cylinder is thickly covered with
rich yellow sugar, beautifully crystallized and ready
for use. What falls to the bottom is molasses, which
is put up in hogsheads for market, or used for distil-
lation. The sugar made by this "centrifugal process,"
called "Muscovado,” is about the only kind sent to
the United States for refining and other purposes.
The other process is slow and tedious compared with
that just described, although the clayed sugar. is
whiter, and in some respects superior in quality to
the muscovado. After the juice is boiled down to
the required consistency, it is put into tiņ or earthen
moulds shaped like a funnel, each holding about fifty
pounds. On the top is placed a layer of soft pipe-clay
an inch or two in thickness, the liquid portion of
which percolates through the sugar and carries all
impurities with it out at the orifice. In three or four
weeks the dry clay is removed from the top, the
funnel inverted, and a large cone of sugar is presented
to the view. It is usually divided into three quali-
ties: that portion of the loaf through which the clay
first passes being the purest, is put up in boxes by
Congoes and Coolies.
119
itself, and is known to the commercial world as white
Havana sugar. This is the best quality to be obtained
here, and is about equal to our lowest grades of white
coffee-sugar.
The manual labor on these plantations is performed
almost entirely by slaves " Congoes” as they are
called here, and “Coolies” from the Celestial Empire.
These two classes of operatives, though intimately
associated, are by no means alike in appearance or dis-
position. The former are natives of Africa, jet black,
with short crispy hair, and are slaves for life. The
latter are of Asiatic origin, copper-colored, with long,
straight, black hair, and are slaves for a term of years:
They are less stubborn and intractable than the negro,
but more crafty, unprincipled, and revengeful; and
if thwarted in any of their designs, or punished, how-
ever slightly, for any offence, they frequently commit
suicide, knowing that the loss of their services would
be a serious inconvenience, if not a great pecuniary
misfortune to their masters. It appears that these
Coolies go into servitude voluntarily. They enter
into contract with the importer or his agent in China,
to serve them or their assigns during a term of eight
120
Havana.
years from the date of the agreement, for the nominal
sum of four dollars a month. At the expiration of
that time they are to be sent back to their own coun-
try—if they are alive and desire to return-free of
charge or expense to themselves. A bond to that
effect is required by the Chinese authorities before
they will allow their subjects to be taken away. So
great is the demand on this island for the labor of
these orientals, that the importer frequently receives
a bonus of three or four hundred dollars per
head for their services during eight years, notwith-
standing their ignorance of the Spanish language,
liability to disease, and well-known propensity to
commit suicide upon the slightest provocation. Car-
goes of these oriental productions are of frequent arri-
val, and their importation has become an important
item in the commerce of Cuba.
During the manufacturing season—a period of
about four monthsthe ingénio presents a scene of
unceasing labor and activity. The engine is kept at
work night and day, and the slaves are allowed but
four or five hours' sleep out of the twenty-four;
although at other times they can, if they choose, sleep
Sugar Noblemen.
121
from the setting to the rising of the sun. Notwith-
standing this increase of labor, the slaves do not
appear to dread the sugar season, for they are better
fed during that period, and are allowed many pri-
vileges and indulgences that they do not have at
other times, and which, to them, are more than equi-
valent to any excess of labor that may be imposed on
them.
The growing of cane is very profitable. It affords
a much larger profit on the outlay than either coffee
or tobacco; consequently the cultivation of the latter
products has been considerably neglected here of late.
Some of the largest and best managed ingénios on this
island yield an income of over two hundred thousand
dollars, while the profits of many of the smaller
annually. Some of these wealthy planters being
ambitious to improve the pedigree of their posterity,
as well as their own social position, purchase for
themselves a title from the court of Spain, that of a
cónde or count costing about twenty-five thousand
dollars. This class are designated as “sugar noble-
men," and are looked upon with extreme disfavor by
122
Havana.
0
1111
the old Spanish noblesse, most of whom inherit
their titles from their ancestors. They regard these
new-fledged aristocrats of plebeian origin as imperti-
nent interlopers, and unfit associates for the genuine
Castilian nobility or their lineal descendants.
Society here appears to be divided into three or
four distinct classes or grades. First in point of
caste—according to the Spanish classification-are
the natives of old Spain, comprising many of the
nobility, the clergy, officers in the army and under
government, and a few planters and merchants. Class
number two comprises the lawyers, bankers, mer-
chants, planters, and retired citizens of wealth among
the creoles or native Cubans. In this class are also
to be found many persons of wealth, intelligence, and
with sufficient capacity to "scale the highest round in
ambition's ladder," were there not insuperable barriers
to their progress in that direction. According to the
Spanish laws, no native Cuban can hold any office of
honor, trust, or emolument on this island, either in
the army, the church, or under government. They
are not even allowed to serve as privates in the regular
army, although a regiment of free blacks is " . --* in
Classes of Society.
123
''
se.
the volunteer service. The rigid exclusion from all
offices of honor and trust in the land of their birth is
extremely galling to the creole population, many of
whom regard with an uncompromising dislike those
sent here from the mother country to rule over then,
and to be supported at their expense. This is literally
the case; for Cuba pays all the expenses of its own
government, both civic and military; maintains a
standing army of at least thirty thousand soldiers,
besides an inconsiderable navy; supports a great
number of priests and clergy, and sends an annual
remittance to Spain. The third class is composed of
free negroes (of which there are about one hundred
and fifty thousand on the island), half-breeds, and the
lowest order of the peasantry. The fourth class com-
prises the coolies and the entire slave population,
"numbering not far from five hundred thousand souls ;"
but this phrase is a solecism, as the Cubans do not
those supplied by nature to their pedal extremities.
The laws of Cuba in regard to slavery are so strin-
gent and rigidly enforced that the slaves on this island
are exempt from many of the abuses they receive in
124
Havana.
the Southern States, although there is apparently no
affection existing between master and slave. Accord-
ing to the Cuban slave code, those only between the
ages of sixteen and sixty can be tasked, and when
incapacitated for labor they are to be allowed a
permanent subsistence.
They are not to be worked more than ten hours
a day except curing the sugar season, when they
may be employed for sixteen or eighteen hours, but
with an increased quantity of food, including a few
specified luxuries. The quantity of food, both animal
and vegetable, for their daily allowance, and the cloth-
ing they are to have during the year, is regulated by
law. On Sundays and during the Holy days, they are
not to be employed more than two hours in the service
of their masters, except when the gathering of the
sugar-cane admits of no delay; the rest of the time
they must be allowed to attend to their gardens and
private occupations. They are also protected in
the enjoyment of a certain amount of property, and
may apply their earnings to the purchase of their
liberty. Many have already availed themselves of
this law, so favorable to emancipation, and it is sup-
are
A Coffee Plantation.
125
posed that there are at this time over a hundred
thousand free-blacks on this island. The laws here
are very stringent in regard to corporal punishment.
No slave can receive more than twenty-five lashes for
any offence; if he has committed a crime the judicial
authorities must decide his mode of punishment, and
as to its severity. A master who violates the slave-
code is heavily fined, and sometimes punished by
imprisonment.
After having "sugared up” my truculent steed
with a generous allowance of cane (for quadruped as
i
ro
plant), and refreshed myself with a few of the deli-
cious products of the orange tree, I rode over to a
cafetal, or coffee plantation, some two miles distant,
where I spent an hour or two very pleasantly. This
estate was not in a very prosperous condition, and
did not quite come up to my expectations. I had
heard such glowing descriptions of these plantations,
that I expected to witness a scene of unsurpassed
natural beauty; to revel amid such wealth of fruit,
foliage, and flowers, that I would almost imagine my-
self in a terrestrial paradise. But I can easily imagine
126
Havana.
that a well arranged cafetal in full bloom and in a
flourishing condition must be a beautiful sight. The
coffee shrub attains a height of ten or twelve feet, but
is usually kept "headed down” to about six feet, to
facilitate the picking of the berries. It has large
glossy leaves of a deep green color, and a profusion
of white flowers which grow in clusters at the base
of the leaf. It is generally planted in squares of
about eight acres, separated from each other by broad
avenues lined with double rows of cocoa-nut trees or
palms. Extending over these squares, at regular
intervals, are rows of banana, orange, lime, pome-
granate, and other trees of smaller size and denser
foliage, to protect the coffee-plant from the sun, its
scorching rays being too severe for the delicate leaves
and flowers. This plant is said to blossom five or six
times during the year, although but a small portion
of the flowers produce berries, which are at first
green, then red, and when fully ripe of a deep brown
color. It is seldom that more than two crops of coffee
picking, drying, and shelling the berry, is performed
by the slave women and children. To bring a coffee
The Coffee Plant.
127
plantation into full bearing requires about four years.
Each plant yields from eight ounces to a pound of
coffee at a picking, and will continue to bear, if pro-
perly attended to, for a great number of years. This
plant is not indigenous to Cuba, although the soil and
climate are tolerably well adapted to its growth. The
disastrous hurricanes which occasionally visit this
island, damaging and destroying many of the coffee
estates, together with its almost profitless culture,
when compared with sugar, or even tobacco, have
materially diminished its cultivation.
Notwithstanding the somewhat dilapidated appear-
ance of this cafetal, it contained much that to me was
novel and interesting; and I could imagine that in
its prosperous days—when the innumerable trees
which dot its squares were bending beneath the
weight of their golden fruitage, and the various
climbing plants, which now revel on tree-top and
hedge, were covered with flowers of almost every
hue and odor, and the coffee-shrub in full bloom,
with its rich evergreen foliage profusely covered
with snow-white flowers -- it must indeed have
been a beautiful sight, and pleasurably suggestive
128
Havana.
of the spot where our “first parents” passed the
honey-moon.
The principal avenue leading from the highway to
the house belonging to the estate was nearly a quar-
ter of a mile long, and lined on each side with mag-
nificent specimens of the royal palm—the palma real
of Cuban fame, which is the monarch of all tropical
trees as emphatically as the lion is king of all beasts.
These palms were from fifty to sixty feet high.
Their white, ring-circled bodies gently swelling in
the centre and diminishing in circumference at each
end, were of uniform size, and as perfect in shape as
if fashioned by the plastic hand of man; without a
limb, knot, or excrescence of any kind to mar the
symmetry of their smooth and beautifully rounded
bodies. The leaves were from ten to twenty feet
long, a dozen or more forming the tuft or head of
each tree, looking in the distance like immense plumes
of ostrich-feathers. These grand old specimens of
Cuban arborescence were planted on each side of
the avenue at regular intervals, their drooping tops
forming noble arches of living verdure, through
which the golden sunlight faintly streamed, illu-
The Palm
Tree.
129
minating the “green solemnity" of this majestic
colonnade.
This is unquestionably one of the richest botanical
regions of the globe, and I have been very much
interested in many of its wonderful productions.
Not being familiar with the Spanish language, or
skilled in the nomenclature of tropical trees and
plants, I had considerable difficulty in finding out
the names and habits of many of the trees peculiar
to this island. It was truly a "pursuit of knowledge
under difficulties," and if the description I shall here
give of a few of the principal varieties be correct, I
shall be satisfied that my well-meant labors have not
been in vain.
The various kinds of palms are probably unsur-
passed, for beauty and utility, by any of the large
trees on this island. The wood is used for many
kinds of building purposes, and the enormous
leaves, when mature, for thatching the cottages of
the natives; while the young foliage, when boiled, is
said to be as delicate as cabbage, and its seeds or nuts
are excellent food for swine. Each tree has about
twenty leaves, which are shed at regular intervals
130
Havana.
during the year, leaving a circle of gum on the
trunk, which remains indelible, and by that means
the age of the tree can be determined with considera-
ble certainty. The palm is said to live for more than
two hundred years, and begins to bear fruit when
about eighteen years old.
Among the trees most valued for its wood are the
mahogany and the Cedrela odorata, a species of cedar,
which is available for a great variety of uses; cigar-
boxes are made of it, also the doors of many dwell-
ings, as it is susceptible of a polish almost equal to
mahogany. Among the numerous other trees to
which my attention has been directed, are the huge,
ill-shaped ceyba, with its innumerable progeny of air-
plants, which cover its branches, and enjoy a kind of
"squatter sovereignty” on premises not their own;
the lofty, cloud-aspiring cocoa-palm, with its green,
tufted head depending in graceful beauty, and dis-
playing its clusters of fruit at various stages of matu-
rity, from the half-opened flower to the full-grown
fruit; the indispensable calabash or “poor-man's
furnishing-house," with its immense globular fruit of
adamantine hardness, which supplies the natives with
Tropical Vegetation.
131
most of their culinary utensils; the tamarind, with
its acidulous fruit, and delicately cut leaves of green,
in beautiful contrast with the deep blue of the sky,
as seen through its gossamer foliage; the bright and
delicate bamboo, growing in luxuriant clumps, grace-
ful in its form, and bending to the slightest breeze;
and the mango, with its long racemes of kidney.
shaped fruit, and with foliage so dense as to yield a
grateful shade from the scorching rays of a tropical
sun. Time will not permit me to describe all the fruit
.
“The trees of this fair island bore,
Whose balmy fragrance lured the tongue to taste
Their flavors: Here bananas flung to waste
Their golden flagons with thick honey filled !
From splintered cups the ripe pomegranates spilled
A shower of rubies : oranges that glow
Like globes of fire, inclose a heart of snow!
Here dates of agate and of jasper lay,
Dropped from the bounty of the pregnant palm,
And all ambrosial trees, all fruits of balm,
All flowers of precious odors, made the day
As sweet as a morn of paradise.”
I was further reminded of the Garden of Eden, by
132
Havana.
being shown a tree which some of the credulous na-
tives believe to be the “Tree of Knowledge," which
bore that fruit
"whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world and all our woe.”
This island abounds in parasitical plants, which
creep over shrubs and trees, and like the hanging moss
on the gums and cypresses of our southern forests,
appear to derive most of their sustenance from the
air. The Jaquay-macho, one of the most destructive
of these parasites, commences to grow on the limbs
or body of the tree; extending its fibres in every ::
direction, and increasing in size and strength, until
it wraps the whole tree in its fatal embrace. This
death-struggle may continue for years, but in the end,
this unfilial parasite, which nourishes itself with the
life of its foster-parent, will be conqueror.
This phenomenon is thus explained. The seeds
of the jaquay are carried by birds, or lodged by the
wind among the branches of some neighboring tree,
where they germinate, sending out numerous long.
slender fibres, which continue to grow until they
reach the ground, where they take root. These
.
The Jaquay-Macho.
133
fibres continue to multiply and increase in size until
they cover the entire body of the tree, when they
unite, forming a tree of themselves, the heart of which
is the parent-tree, which first lent it support and gave
it nourishment-a remarkable instance of filial ingra-
titude. It is said that when once the jaquay takes
root, no tree, however large, can resist its destructive
grasp. It winds itself around it with a slow, unyield-
ing tenacity, and, like the insidious serpent, tightens
its hold with every movement, however impercepti-
ble, until it crushes or smothers its victim in its fatal
embrace.
P
.
.
LETTER X.
man
IIAVANA, J[arch, 1856.
It was quite late in the afternoon when I set out
on my return to Guines, in anticipation of spending
a comfortless night at a miserable venta or inn, a
place where they provide "entertainment for man
and beast” on the same floor; and from what I saw
in the morning, I judged that the sleeping-rooms were
occupied by bipeds and quadrupeds alternately. I
was a stranger, and expected to be "taken in,” but
not in the scriptural sense; was in the hands of the
Philistines, but not having the strength of Samson, or
any “jaw-bone” but my own to defend myself with,
I knew not what was to be my fate.
While riding slowly along, absorbed in gloomy
meditations, I was startled by the sound of voices as
if in altercation. Looking up, I beheld a spectacle
Riding Double.
135
GO
so ludicrous that my risibles were excited in an
unusual degree. It was a rustico, or native peasant,
returning from town, seated on the posteriors of a
diminutive animal, with his larger-half in front of
him. One arm was around her waist, while with the
other he guided his Rosinante, which I imagined
belonged to the "genus asinine," from the length of
its ears, that being about the only part of the animal
visible. The man was quietly smoking a cigar, while
the woman-evidently a virago—was talking Spanish
with wonderful volubility; and from her rapid ges-
ticulations and excited manner, I judged that her
conversation was not likely to become insipid from
want of sufficient acrimony. This loving couple
appeared much better able to carry the animal they
rode, than the animal to carry them ; but not being
a reformer of abuses, like the chivalrous Knight of
La Mancha, I did not think it best to remonstrate.
A little further on I met a mountain cavalier, on a
spirited horse, with sword and pistols by his side, and
with silver spurs so highly burnished, that they glit-
tered in the bright sunlight like a cluster of diamonds.
As he passed me, he very politely touched his som-
136
Havana.
brero, and with a “buenos dias, Señor! (good day, sir),
from their Moorish ancestors their peculiar attach-
ment for the horse, and they are accustomed to the
saddle from their early youth. A horse, sword, and
silver spurs, generally comprise his estate—both real
and personal. With these chattels he is as inde-
pendent and happy as if the undisputed possessor of
a well-stocked plantation. They are to him not only
a luxury, but a positive necessity, and as indispensa-
ble to his maintaining "a position" in upper-tendom,
as is a volante to the social elevation of a Cuban
señorita. When I first discovered this armed horse-
man approaching on a full gallop, I confess I was a
little startled, for we were a long distance from any
habitation, and I had been told at the ingénio that a
robbery had been committed in that vicinity the week
before; but his respectful salutation relieved me at
once from all unpleasant suspense, Spanish robbers
have the reputation of being exceedingly polite, and
many curious stories are told illustrative of their
peculiar suaviter in modo. One that I heard recently,
exhibits such a rare combination of Yankee assur-
The Polite Footpad.
137
ance with true Chesterfieldian politeness, that I will
relate it. A traveller on horseback was accosted, in
an unfrequented part of the country, by a footpad.
“Sir," said he to the gentleman, as he seized his horse
by the bridle, “I see that you are riding my horse;
let me assist you to dismount!” The traveller delibe-
rately drew a pistol from his pocket, and pointing it
at the fellow's head, asked him to look again and see
if he were not mistaken. “Señor," said the highway-
man, bowing very low as he relinquished his hold of
the bridle, “I perceive my mistake. Please to honor
me with your card, that I may remember you here-
after in my prayers !"
As I approached Guines the sky began to darken,
and fearing a storm, I put spurs to my horse (notwith-
standing my former mishap), and rode into town at
an accelerated pace. As I entered the first street, a
man rushed out of an adjacent building, seized my
horse by the bridle, and thrusting his brawny hand
into my face, vociferated “quarto péso.” My first
thought was of robbery; but a second convinced me
that the man was the owner of the animal I was on,
and only intended to adopt the Cuban mode of rob-
6*
138
Havana.
ernacu-
bery by extortion--a less summary, but equally vexa.
tious mode of being relieved of one's money. I
dismounted, and handed the fellow a quarter-eagle,
which was more than he was legally entitled to, and
more than I was directed to pay by the gentleman
who procured the animal for me in the morning. He
threw down the coin, and again vociferated “ quarto
péso" (four dollars). Not being able to speak his lan-
guage intelligibly, nor he to understand my vernacu-
lar, I began to move in the direction of the inn,
closely followed by my excited companion, talking
loudly and rapidly gesticulating. As we were pass-
ing the door of about the only respectable-looking
house in that vicinity, he seized me by the arm, and
pushing open the door led me into a room where two
persons were seated at a table. I began to try to
make my grievances known in execrable Spanish,
aided by an attempt at pantomime, supposing that I
was in the presence of some ubiquitous Spanish
officials, when one of the gentlemen addressed me in
English. They proved to be New Yorkers, who
were boarding at this house, and I was assured by
them that I had offered the man more than was his
1
An Unlooked-for Exeinption.
139
ATTI
just due; it being the custom of the inhabitants here
to extort from strangers ad libitum. They then called
the proprietor of the house, who sent the fellow
adrift with what I had at first paid him. At the
solicitation of these "good Samaritans," I remained
there during the night; had a comfortable room, and
wbat was a still greater luxury in Cuba, a clean bed.
In the morning, after partaking of a passably good
breakfast, and making my grateful acknowledgments
to my newly-made friends—I “went on my way
rejoicing."
I reached Matanzas by rail the same evening, and
to my surprise was not called upon to show my per
mit at the station, although surrounded by the omni-
present police, and meeting soldiers at almost every
step. I attributed this unlooked-for exemption from
Spanish vigilance, to the fact that just before leaving
Havana I went into a sastraria—or tailor-shop-to
procure a change of summer clothing, and could find
but one suit large enough and that was made for a
Spanish officer, which the proprietor let me have on
my paying him an extra péso. Apparelled in this
suit of blue and white (a kind of military undress),
P
140
Havana.
and a broad-brimmed sombrero, with my beard and
mustache trimmed in the latest Cuban style, and my
complexion, naturally dark, deepened by recent expo-
sure to a tropical sun, into a genuine “Spanish
brown," I was enabled to pass very well for a native
as long as I kept my mouth shut. This I did at times
from prudential motives; although I must acknow-
ledge, that, during my sojourn at Havana and other
places on this island, I have, with a few exceptions,
been treated with the utmost civility by the inha-
bitants.
On the cars I met an intelligent American, the
overseer of a sugar estate in this vicinity, who directed
me to the “Union Hotel” as the best in Matanzas; at
the same time he gave me to understand that I would
find very poor accommodations. I am surprised that
a city of nearly thirty thousand inhabitants should
contain no better place of entertainment than this
miserable little posada, dignified by the title of
"hotel.” It was a low, unpainted wooden building,
a story and a half high, and contained about a dozen
miserable seven-by-nine lodging rooms. The one I
occupied was on the second foor, and barely large
1
A Night with the Insects.
141
enough to accommodate the furniture, which con-
sisted of a narrow cot-bedstead, a cedar table, and one
rickety chair. I found no difficulty in standing erect
in one part of the room, but as the ceiling descended
at an angle with the roof, the other side would only
admit of a stooping posture. The room was neither
plastered nor ceiled, with no window in the side or end,
but a small hole in the roof to let the air out and the
musquitoes in.
Making a virtue of necessity I spent one night in
this miserable abode, which was all that I could
endure, being so annoyed by cockroaches and other
insects (for Cuban insects, like Spanish flies, are very
irritating) that I got but little sleep. I lay all night
rolling and tumbling on my bed of unrest engaged in
the delightful occupation of fighting sanguinary mus-
quitoes, and in praying for Morpheus or daylight to
come to my relief. In the morning I arose with the
sun, and thrusting my head out of the hole in the
roof, snuffed the breezes of heaven with the avidity of
a convict just escaped from some loathsome dungeon.
Finding that breakfast would not be ready until nine
o'clock (some three hours later), I contented myself
142
Havana.
.
with a roll and a cup of coffee prepared for some
early riser, and called for my bill, which was only two
dollars and a half-a very moderate demand for one
night's lodging (but not sleeping), and “a hasty cup"
of a miserable muddy mixture called coffee. How-
ever, I paid the bill without comment, being glad to
get away at almost any pecuniary sacrifice, as I was
fearful that another night of such wholesale depletion
would not leave blood enough in my system to
“honor the bills" of any other mercenary musquitoes
that I might encounter during my peregrinations.
One more such depletory ordeal, I opine, would bank-
rupt me physically, and leave me without sufficient,
vitality to pay any debt, save the final "debt to
nature.” * * * Matanzas has a population of
over twenty-five thousand, and is next in commercial
importance to Havana, which place it somewhat
resembles; although its streets are considerably wider,
and it has less the appearance of a tropical city. It
has its Plaza de Armas like Havana, also a cathedral,
hospital, barracks, and other public buildings. Yet
the city itself is dull and uninteresting when compared
with its more opulent neighbor. The country lying
Description of Matanzas.
143
Y
around Matanzas is quite elevated, and some of the
scenery is wild and beautifully picturesque. Not far
distant is a crescent-shaped mountain called the Cum-
bre, the top of which is nearly three thousand feet
above the sea. It is a favorite resort for strangers, as
it is easy of access and affords a panoramic view that,
for extent, variety, and beauty, is unsurpassed in the
tropics. Matanzas lies on the sloping lands between
the Cumbre and the sea, and is gradually creeping up
the sides of the mountain, whose summit is crowned
with pleasant villas and the residences of the wealthy ·
planters who own estates in the valley. The view
from the top is almost boundless, extending at least
fifty miles in several different directions. On one side
was the city with its quaint old Moorish towers and
turreted battlements; its low, parti-colored buildings,
with flat tiled roofs, and its spacious harbor, in which
many “a ship with folded wings lay sleeping on the
tide.” Beyond, was the broad, unfathomable ocean,
with its myriads of white-capped waves—
“ Chanting in wildly measured chorus
Their hymn of majesty."
144
Havana.
On the other side, at its very feet, as it were, reposed
in quiet beauty the lovely valley of the Yumuri,
with its waving fields of giant-cane, its cafetals and
orange plantations, surrounded by hedges, and the
white-winged mansions of the owners, half hidden in
tropical verdure; with here and there a palm-thatched
cottage with a solitary cocoa-nut tree, rising high
above the roof, and overshadowing it like a protect-
ing deity.
Scattered over the intervening space were groves
of the mango, banana, orange, and other tropical
fruits, with an occasional thicket of bamboo, their
tall, green, waving, feathery forms, yielding to the
slightest breeze, and glistening with an almost eme-
rald brilliancy in the sunshine of a bright spring
morning. It was a scene that cannot well be de-
scribed; a picture that would require the magic
pencil of a Titian to delineate.
On my return to the city, I repaired to the cathe-
dral, where I witnessed a scene entirely different from
the one I had just been contemplating. Here was a
display of priests and pageantry, of incense and ado-
ration. Here were beautiful ladies in rich attire,
UU
Scene in the Cathedral.
145
UU
reclining upon gay bits of carpet spread on the
marble floor. Here were spruce-looking señors in
black dress-coats and white gloves, bowing before the
altar, but evidently more interested in their fair fellow-
worshippers than in the prosy pater-nosters of the
portly bishops and sanctimonious priests. The inte-
rior of the church was profusely decorated with gold
and silver ornaments and artificial flowers. The
gilded trappings of the various altars glistened in the
light of innumerable wax candles, and the air was
fragrant with incense from censers borne about by
young novitiates, in embroidered caps and sacerdotal
robes. These, together with the festal costumes of
presented rather an undevout aspect to a stranger
and a Protestant.
A company of soldiers soon came marching in to
the sound of the fife and drum. Siacking their arms
in the centre of the church, they dropped on one knee,
and with bowed heads and arms crossed upon their
breasts awaited their turn at the confessional, which
was then occupied by the “less sinful sex.” I judged,
however, from the length of time some of them were
146
Havana.
.
engaged with their confessors, that their sins must
bave been very scarlet. I observed that the youngest
and best looking priests were assigned to the ladies.
This might have been accidental, but I could not
help thinking that it was so designed. These padres
sat in their confessional boxes, with their faces close
to the lattice-work separating them from the fair
kneeling penitents, who were listening to the words
of consolation or-something else—which Dame Ru-
mor says these wily priests not unfrequently delight
to pour into their two willing ears. The Cuban ladies
have the reputation of being particularly susceptible
to the tender passion, and oft-times "love not wisely,
but too well.”
I have been very much impressed here, as well as
in Havana, with the disparity in size and physical
development between the Cuban ladies and gentle-
men of the better classes. The gentlemen, as a sex,
are the most diminutive specimens of male humanity
that I have ever seen. I refer more particularly to
the Cuban aristocracy, for the highest classes, to speak
paradoxically, are perpendicularly the lowest. The
cause of this diminution in stature has been attributed
The Cuban Ladies.
147
to excessive smoking during their boyhood, and inter-
marriage of kindred during many generations. The
men are as remarkable for tenuity as the women for
plumpness. The males are small, thin-mere atomic
without exception rotund, and of fair proportions.
Notwithstanding the Cuban ladies, both plebeian and
patrician, are slightly embonpoint, they are instinct-
ively graceful and easy in their bearing. They have
not the elastic step and Terpsichorean agility of the
French; but "a seducing grace of motion," an im-
passioned abandon of manner, characterize all their
movements, whether at worship in church, coquetting
on the Plaza, or in the giddy mazes of the dance,
when
“to the low voluptuous swoons
Of music, rise and fall the moons
Of their full brown bosoms.”
How gracefully they float through the delicious mazes
of the contradanza, to the soft entrancing music of that
luxurious dance! Their graceful motions and undu-
lating movements are but the “rhythmic utterances”
of their most-too-tropically-languid lives. The contra-
148
Havana.
danza is the dance, par excellence, of the Cuban salons ;
while the fandango, accompanied by the tinkling of a
guitar and the lively rattle of the inspiring castanets,
is the favorite with the peasantry. They dance upon
the lea, by the wayside, or beneath the shade of some
umbrageous tree or vine-clad bower. In fact, when-
ever a few of these rustic belles and beaux meet toge-
ther after the labors of the day, if a guitar can be had,
they are sure to indulge in their favorite amusement.
These peasant women dance well from instinct, and
in all their movements they exhibit a peculiar grace,
with a freedom from those awkward gestures and un-
becoming attitudes so often to be seen among that
class of females in the United States. A recent tra-
veller in Cuba has expressed his belief that a really
awkward woman does not exist on the island. Whe-
ther bred in the city or country, in the humble cottage
of the montero, in the retired mansion of the planter,
or the lowly dwelling of the artisan, she is sure to be
easy and graceful in her bearing, if not possessed of
all the polish and dilettanteism of an educated and
highly cultivated life.
My next stopping-place was Cardenas, a flourishing
Cardenas.
149
sea-port town of some six thousand inhabitants, the
great Cuban mart for sugar and molasses. Thousands
of hogsheads were piled upon its wharves, ready for
shipment, and its numerous warehouses were literally
"running over" with treacle. As there was but little
to interest me in and around Cardenas, my stay there
was short. The evening of the second day found me
on board of a small steamer which plies between that
place and Havana. Not being familiar with the rules
and regulations of Cuban steamboats, or acquainted
with the language, I was at a loss how to procure a
stateroom or berth for the night. During my school-
boy days I was often made to “walk Spanish," but
was never taught the dialect; consequently, I could
not obtain the information I desired in a legitimate
way, and was obliged to substitute Yankee assurance
for Spanish cognition, and abide the result.
Among the passengers who came on board, I noticed
a stout, thick-set, benevolent-looking individual, who
attracted my attention from his being the most adipose
specimen of male humanity that I had seen during
my stay on the island. He was well-dressed, scrupu-
lously neat in his appearance, and carried a cigar
150
Havana.
behind his ear, in the place of a pen, giving to him a
commercial air, and establishing beyond peradventure
his calling. I resolved in my mind to follow this man,
and to imitate his movements as far as practicable.
He proceeded immediately to the cabin, and placed
the satchel he carried in his hand in an unoccupied
berth. I did the same, then followed him to the ticket
office, where he laid down a gold coin with the words
“boletin por Habana." I echoed his expression, ten-
dered my coin, and the same results followed. I was
quite elated at the success of my ruse, by which I had
secured a passage-ticket and a berth for the night with-
out the assistance of an interpreter, and added a few
words to my vocabulary of Spanish without the aid
of a text book, or any superfluous waste of the “mid-
night oil." Being in a peculiarly self-complacent
mood, and not anticipating any further impediment
to a successful voyage, I left the crowded passages of
the vessel, and sought a retired place on deck where
I could commune with Nature and my own thoughts
undisturbed, and free from the annoyance of the com-
bined odor of garlic and cigar-smoke.
The night was beautiful; the sky serene, and the
An Evening at Sea.
151
air of such transparent purity and balminess, that the
very breathing of it was to me a luxury and a delight.
I remained for hours inhaling the delicious, health-
giving atmosphere, and contemplating the scene
before, me, which was of unsurpassed beauty and
grandeur. The sombre Ocean with her depths un-
known lay in one vast “melancholy waste” before me.
The throbbings of her gigantic heart were hushed as
if by some magic spell, as our little steamer pursued
its almost trackless way over her calm unruffled bosom,
with the solemn sky above
1
“Like a blue curtain hung,
And studded with its bright star-gems
As diamonds yet unstrung."
While low down in the heavens was visible in all its
splendor, through the soft transparent darkness, that
brilliant cluster of stars known as the Southern Cross,
with its foot apparently almost resting on the earth.
This beautiful constellation—this bright gem in the
dusky tiara of night," is invisible in our latitude, but
is here revealed in all its beauty. At midnight the
cross is said to stand erect, but as the night wears away
152
Havana.
it begins to decline, and gradually sinks until lost to
sight beneath the horizon's verge.
When I retired to the cabin, I found it occupied by
a motley assemblage of persons, consisting of priests,
officers, tradesmen, and others whose exterior gave
no evidence of their occupation ; but, if I may be
allowed the Yankee prerogative of “guessing," I
should say that many of them were dealers in cigars,
or excessive smokers, from the enormous quantity of
“the weed" which they carried with them. The
man of substance, whose shadow I had been personi-
fying, was lazily reclining in his berth, smoking a
cigar, and looked the very picture of contentment
and good-nature; so much so, in fact, that I was half
inclined to doubt his being a native of the island.
Near him was seated an officer, a grave Castilian,
who preserved a dignified demeanor, and neither
spoke nor noticed those by whom he was surrounded.
Among the passengers were several sallow-faced priests,
whose barber-ously denuded heads were surmounted
by small square caps of black silk. They were all
attired in the sombre garb of their order, and were re-
markably quiet and unobtrusive in their deportment.
The Wrong Berth.
153
The heat of the atmosphere, together with the
fumes of tobacco with which the cabin was filled,
began to produce a somnolent effect upon me; con-
sequently I retired to my berth, and after arrang-
ing my musquito net about me, sought communion
with the drowsy god Morpheus. I had but just
fallen asleep when I was awakened by a heavy hand
on my shoulder. Starting up, I beheld standing
over me a fierce-looking Spaniard, with a Moorish
complexion, which, by the dim light of a single
lamp, looked black and defiant as a jealous Othello.
He was talking loudly, and apparently much excited.
I soon discovered that I was the innocent cause of
this fierce ebullition of passion. I had evidently got
into the wrong berth; the one I occupied was his by
berth-right, but mine by possession. Finding that he
could not make me understand his vernacular, he
left the cabin, and in a few minutes returned with one
of the officers of the vessel. They both tried by
expressive pantomime and unintelligible Spanish, to
make me sensible of my “poaching proclivities; "
but in vain. I could not be made to understand, -
was dull of comprehension,--as stupid as Balaam's
154
Havana.
ass, and would not be moved by the jaw-bone even
of a voluble Spaniard. To their oft repeated ha-
rangues I shook my head and replied, “Me Ameri-
cano, no Español,” and at last impudently turned my
back to them, drew the bed-clothes over my head,
and feigned sleep. They remained near me for some
time, talking in an excited manner, but at length
died away in the distance.
I lay for awhile perfectly still, but at length re-
moved the covering from my face, opened one eye,
and cast an anxious glance at the foot of my berth to
see if my clothes and satchel were safe, and then took
a survey of the apartment. A number of men were
seated at a table playing cards, two or three were
dozing in their chairs, and one was stretched at full
length on the floor, his head pillowed on a knapsack,
and snoring loudly. My nervous system had received
such a shock that I found it impossible to compose
myself to sleep. I lay the remainder of the night in
a half-unconscious state, between sleeping and waking,
haunted by visions of gorgons, ogres, and other fabu-
lous monsters. At daylight our steamer was safely
Return to Havana.
155.
anchored in the harbor of Havana, and I was happy
to be once more domiciled beneath the comparatively
hospitable roof of the Revere Hotel, being satisfied
with my somewhat limited acquaintance with Cuban
society and scenery.
LETTER XI.
HAVANA, March, 1856.
I HAVE as yet said but little relative to the cus-
toms and domestic habits of the Cubans, who are
a peculiar people. Though of more mercurial
temperaments than their ancestors, the Moors and
Spaniards, they inherit many of the characteristics of
those nations. They have the reputation of being
crafty, subtle, and intriguing in their natures, and
exceedingly lax in their morals; yet, strange as
it may appear, they are, with few exceptions, an
orderly, law-obeying, priest-fearing, but not a God-
serving people. Notwithstanding nearly every one
goes armed, instances of assassinations or even en-
counters are less frequent than in our own country.
And what was still more surprising to me, they are
quite temperate both in eating and drinking. I have
Prevalence of Gambling.
157
not observed a single instance of gross and manifest.
intoxication among the inhabitants during my stay
on the island. Their principal beverage is a light,
sour, native wine, somewhat resembling Catalonian
wine. It is quite acid, but not inebriating in its
effects, unless drunk in extravagant quantities.
The prevalent and all-absorbing vice in this coun-
try is gambling. This passion pervades all classes of
society, from the noble count, with his broad acres
and army of slaves, to the native peasant and humble
artisan. The Plaza de Toros, where bull-fights are
held, and the numerous cock-pits scattered over the
island, are government property, from which the
Crown of Spain derives no inconsiderable revenue.
On Sundays and high festivals, cock-fighting and bull-
fighting offer their chief attractions. In fact, I have
been told that the law regulating these amusements
forbids their taking place on any other days than
Sundays and religious holidays. Monte is the popular
many an idle hour stretched upon the ground beneath
the shade of some favorite tree, engaged in this seduc-
tive amusement. When once they begin to play,
158
Havana.
they will not leave off as long as either has a peséta
in his pocket, or a camisa on his back; and they fre-
quently become so excited in the game as to stake
their entire wardrobe on the result, leaving one of
them at the close almost in puris naturalibus, that is
to say, with but little more covering than was fur-
nished him by Dame Nature when he was first ushered
into this "breathing world.” A few years ago
gambling was practised here as openly and as undis-
guisedly as at many of the German watering-places.
But I learn that an effort is being made by the
authorities here to suppress all kinds of gambling,
where no revenue will be lost to the government by
their discontinuance. Notwithstanding this, the vice
is prevalent, particularly on the Sabbath and during
the Holy days, both of which might with propriety
be termed holidays. For there is, in reality, no Sab-
bath here; no day of physical rest; no cessation
from labor; no abatement of pleasures. From the
rising of the sun to the setting of the same (except
during midday), even to a late hour at night, it is one
continued round of excitement, of gaieties, and
amusements. The ringing of bells, firing of cannon,
A Sabbath at Havana
159
and the sound of martial music usher in the Sabbath
morning. The various shops and stores are open as
on all other days. The theatre, mascaráda, and Plaza
de Toros, are made a specialité on that occasion;
cries are heard in the streets from the venders of
fruits and vegetables; and everything pertaining to
business or pleasure assumes on that day a more than
ordinarily busy aspect. How entirely unlike a Sabbath
in any of our northern towns, and how at variance
with the sentiments and feelings of one brought up
to respect that holy day. And yet the inhabitants
all seem to be impressed with no small degree of
reverence for their priests and their religion. The
peasant market-man, with his long line of heavily-
laden mules, bows his head and makes the sign of the
cross when he passes a church; the sable calesero, as
he dashes by with his mistress in her volante, liſts his
sombrero reverentially; and the dirty, half-clad
native children are taught to cease from playing, and
to refrain from all noise or merriment when they are
within its sacred precincts.
The visitor in Havana is continually reminded of
the ubiquity of Romanism, and its peculiar influence
11
160
Havana.
on the minds and morals of the people. The "carry-
ing of the Host” through the streets is a spectacle of
frequent occurrence, and cannot fail to inspire one,
particularly at night, with feelings of solemnity.
The tinkling of a small bell usually announces the
approach of the Host, when every good Romanist
within its sound uncovers his head, bends his knee,
and maintains a devotional attitude until the proces-
sion has passed out of sight. These processions
usually consist of half-a-dozen or more monks or
friars, in long black robes (their closely shorn heads
exposed without a cap or cowl), and a motley assem-
blage of men and boys bareheaded, and carrying in
their hands long wax candles. In their midst is a
priest bearing the consecrated symbol, to administer
to some dying person. The number of lights dis-
played on these occasions, and the extent and magni-
ficence of the retinue, are usually proportioned to the
wealth and influence of the invalid or his family.
Sometimes the priest who carries the sacred Host
rides in a splendid coach drawn by four horses richly
caparisoned and attended by outriders in livery, and
military in full dress.
Easter Deinonstration.
161
Last week was the closing of Lent, and during
Holy Thursday and Good Friday a more than Pro-
testant Sabbath-day stillness reigned throughout this
entire city. The shops were all closed, the flags from
the public buildings lowered, and during these two
days not a volante or conveyance of any kind was
allowed in the streets. The “carrying of the dead
Christ," and the annual procession of the priests and
military, took place during Good Friday afternoon
and evening; and for several hours the various
streets in the vicinity of the cathedral were thronged
with pedestrians; and every balcony and house-top,
as far as the eye could reach, was densely crowded
with women and children waiting to see this pageant,
which was evidently considered “the show of the
season." A body of cavalry with prancing steeds
and flashing sabres, prepared the way for the proces-
sion as it advanced. A martial band with muffled
drums beating time to a funeral march, and a score
or two of negroes in long black robes and immaculate
turbans, and carrying blazing torches, led the way.
Then came the archbishops, bishops, and high-priests
in their canonical robes, followed by the “state bed”
sea
7*
162
Havana.
ах
. some
containing a wax figure representing "the dead
Christ.” Suspended above it was a gorgeously embroi-
dered silken canopy, supported by four intensely
rouged angels dressed in ethereal gauze, bespangled
with imitation diamonds. This state bed was carried
upon the heads of about a dozen men, whose feet
alone were visible, their bodies being entirely hidden
by the heavy folds of the voluminous drapery.
Next in the procession was a retinue of priests, each
carrying a long wax candle, or some emblem of
the passion of Christ. In their midst were several
richly decorated thrones containing the “ Virgin
Mother," "Mary Magdalene," and others, who were
elaborately attired, and profusely covered with tinsel
and artificial flowers. Then came a large body
of civilians, in black dress-coats and white gloves,
followed by several regiments of Spanish soldiers
with their arms reversed and marching with slow
and measured tread to the dirge-like music of their
regimental bands. Last in the procession, but not
least in point of numbers, were the unwashed multi-
tude, of all colors and castes, who fell in the rear as
an opportunity offered, adding greatly to the num-
Tacon Theatre.
163
vere ru
ber, but not to the character of this great Easter
demonstration.
The next day, the throne containing the Virgin
Mary was borne with great pomp, parade, and cere-
:: mony, through the principal streets of the city, until it
met the advancing procession with the image of the
Saviour. As soon as Christ was found, a cannon was
fired to apprise the inhabitants that fasting was at an
end; flags appeared as if by magic, upon all the public
buildings ; bells were rung, guns fired, drums beaten,
and every conceivable plan adopted to make a noise.
Volantes appeared in the streets; negroes and creoles
rushed wildly about, shouting and rejoicing; and
a universal jubilee and jollification at once began..
The next evening I went with a party of American
naval officers to the Teatro de Tacon, which was then
open for the first time since the beginning of Lent.
This celebrated theatre is on the Paseo Isabel, and
nearly opposite the Monserrate gate, the principal
entrance to the city. The exterior of the Tacon is
not particularly attractive, but the interior is light,
airy, well arranged for that climate, and very capa-
cious, it being one of the largest theatres in America.
164
Havana.
Here we witnessed a display of the ubiquitous
soldiery. A company with glistening bayonets were
stationed outside the door. Within, were jaunty little
soldiers in white uniforms, who strutted about, shov-
ing the creoles, and making way for gold-laced digni-
taries; while officers in military undress were to be
seen in all parts of the house, imparting to the
audience a half-military and half-festive appearance.
If there were any "stars” in the dramatic horizon
that evening, they were not, I opine, of the “ first
magnitude;" at least, they did not appear to dazzle
the audience with their brilliancy, or to excite in
interlude, we had an animated dissertation on the
poetry of motion from one of the corps de bellet,
which created quite a sensation among the apprecia-
tive portion of the audience, who were noisily demon-
strative, as much to our annoyance as to the delight
of the smiling danzánta, whom they assailed with
bouquets, until the stage was almost covered with
these floral evidences of their admiration.
I was very much surprised at the enthusiasm
created by this votary of Terpsichore, for she was
A Danseuse.
165
by no means a proficient in the saltatory art, neither
was she young, or particularly attractive in person.
Her eyes were not of a celestial blue, or like
“ The stars of a soft summer night,
So darkly beautiful, so deeply bright."
Her teeth were not as Orient pearls, or her lips like
two rosebuds growing on one stem. Her hair, though
abundant, was not as glossy as the raven's plumage,
or “as soft as the down that swells the cygnet's nest.”
Neither was hers
“A pure, transparent, pale, and radiant face,
Like to a lighted alabaster vase.”
Her feet were not as delicate as a fairy's, or her form
as symmetrical as a sylph's, but, like the sailor's wife
at Wapping, she was "fat and forty," but not fair.
She was rather above the medium height, with a well
developed physique, and a decidedly gipsy counte-
mance. Her hair was drawn back very unbecomingly
behind her ears, displaying high cheek bones, and a
complexion too ruddy to be beautiful. If hers was a
“Spanish beauty," it did not by any means please our
Anglo-Saxon fancy; and if she was an artist of much
166
Havana.
mcrit, we Americanos were too obtuse, or unskilled in
“the divine art,” to discover it.
The private boxes in this theatre are inclosed by
light ornamental lattice-work, and it is customary for
the audience, during the intermission, to wander
through the cool passage-ways outside of the boxes,
and to stop and gaze on the fair occupants within
à volonté. Instead of being annoyed or displeased at
this seemingly impertinent curiosity, the ladies are
said to be rather gratified than otherwise at such
attentions from strangers, which they construe into,
evidences of admiration.
I was not a little surprised to see, in one of the
finest private boxes in the theatre, my landlady of the
Revere. She was elegantly dressed, ornate with
jewels, and attended by her cavalier, a gentleman I
had frequently seen at the hotel, though ignorant of
his name or occupation. I subsequently learned that
it was Madame's ambition to occupy one of the
most expensive and conspicuous boxes at the Tacon,
and to excel in the splendor of her apparel her more
opulent and aristocratic neighbors. Having suffi-
ciently gratified our curiosity, we left the theatre
Bal Masqué.
167
before the performances were over. As I passed
through the doorway, I unintentionally jostled a sol-
dier on duty, who looked daggers at me in Spanish;
but being in a hurry, I did not wait for an interpreta-
tion, presuming that it would not be very flattering
to my vanity, or particularly euphonious to "ears
polite."
At a café near by, where we discussed, over our
chocolate and cigars, the evening's entertainment, we
met a resident American acquaintance, who proposed
taking us to a Bal Masqué not far distant. We gladly
accepted his invitation, as none of our party had ever
seen a Cuban mascaráda~that class of amusements
having been discontinued during Lent. Under the
Spanish language and the “institutions” of this city,
we repaired to the Plaza de Máscaras, or place of
masks. Having procured our tickets at the door, we
were admitted into a large but dimly-lighted room on
the second floor, where about a hundred persons of
both sexes were assembled. Many of the men had
cigars in their mouths, and some smoked while danc-
ing. A few of the other sex held small cigarettes
168
Havana.
between their fingers, which they would occasionally
place to their lips and puff out minute volumes of fra-
grant smoke. At one end of the room, on an elevated
platform, were the musicians, with three or four
stringed instruments, a horn, and a bass drum. The
dancing had not commenced when we arrived, so that
we had an opportunity to inspect the audience in
quiesco. Most of the women were dressed, or rather
half dressed (for their necks and shoulders were
shockingly nude) in plain-colored barège or tarlatan,
with a light mantle, of some dark material, to throw
oyer them at pleasure. Some had their faces entirely
concealed; but the youngest and evidently best-look-
ing wore small silk vizors or demi-masks, hiding just
enough of the face to give piquancy to the rest, and
to create in the spectator a desire to see more. Those
Wearing dominoes, or fully masked, were supposed to
be females of doubtful personal attractions, or whose
position in society induced them to preserve a strict
incognito; for it would be damaging to the reputation
of any lady of respectability to be seen in such a place.
Still, it is not probable that many go there who have
any character or reputation to lose. A tolerably gen-
Opening of the Ball.
169
tcel appearance, and money enough to buy a ticket, are
all that is necessary to obtain admission; consequently,
men of all conditions in life, from the aristocratic roué
to the humble mechanic and cigar-vender, patronize
and participate in these midnight entertainments.
Soon after eleven o'clock the band began to tune
their instruments, which was the signal for opening
the ball. All was excitement among the Habaneros,
who rushed here and there in pursuit of their partners,
and as soon as possible secured a place on the floor.
When all the available space was occupied, the music
struck up, and the multitude rushed into the whirling
vortex of the waltz with an abandon characteristic of a
people who do nothing with moderation—not even the
conducting of their religious worship and holy-day ob-
servances. The floor shook with the accumulated
weight and motion of the numerous dancers, as they
moved around the room, swaying to and fro in each
other's embrace with a kind of delirious excitement, as if
· their senses were intoxicated with passion and delight;
“- and when
Music arose with its voluptuous swell
Soft eyes look'd love to eyes that spoke again."
170
Havana.
S
During a pause in the dancing, we mingled with
the crowd, being desirous, during our brief stay here, -
to see as much as possible of this peculiar phase of
Cuban life. It was evident that our party was creat-
ing quite a sensation among the audience, as there
were several fine-looking officers in their showy uni-
forms, which usually attract the eỹes of the ladies,
at home and abroad. They were frowned upon by
the jealous señors, but received many a sidelong
glance and significant look from the fair señoritas,
who, under pretence of arranging a stray lock of hair,
or some similar device, would occasionally remove
their masks sufficiently for us to see their faces.
Several times during the evening, the Cuban ladies
expressed to our Spanish-American acquaintance a
desire to waltz with the “elegántes Americanos;"
which honor was respectfully declined.
As it waxed far into the cigar-scented night, the
mirth became more hilarious, and the dust from the
sanded floor, with the smoke from innumerable
cigars, imparted a sort of nebulous tinge to the atmo-
sphere. It was almost a saturnalia ; and the view
from the background, through the dim perspective,
171
was strangely suggestive of those gloomy mytholo-
gical regions so graphically described by the old Latin
poets. About half-past twelve we took our departure,
having sufficiently gratified our curiosity, and added
a few more items to our repertory of Cuban usages
and customs. I was glad to get back to my compara-
tively quiet room at the Revere, being full to satiety
of dust and tobacco-smoke, and weary of looking at
beautiful human forms without human faces, and
listening to
" the lascivious tinklings
Of lulling instruments, the softening voices
Of women, and of beings less than women.”
* * * * * * * *
LETTER XII.
I HAVANA, April, 1856.
This is my last night in Havana. To-morrow
morning, Providence permitting, I shall bid adieu to
this gem of the southern seas, beautiful Cuba.
Her cane-covered fields; her yine-clad hills; her aro-
matic groves; her luscious fruits, I leave without
regret; they are to me no longer "a feeling and a
love." I have become weary with star-gazing and
sight-seeing, surfeited with priests and pageantry, .
and disgusted with Spanish despotism and the odious
aroma of garlic and cigar-smoke, which everywhere
pervades the atmosphere of human habitations. I
sigh once more for Columbia's happy land, with her
free institutions and republican form of government,
where liberty of speech and freedom of action are
allowed; and I sincerely hope, if ever again I visit
Religious Intolerance.
173
erny
this beautiful but ill-governed island, that some other
flag more suggestive of freedom will wave from her
hill-tops and towers.
Religious intolerance is a distinctive characteristic
of this government. They are even less liberal here
than in many parts of the mother country. Protes-
tant worship is permitted in Madrid, but not here;
neither are its doctrines—which are antagonistic to
despotism—allowed to be disseminated on this island.
The British and American consuls at Havana have
applied for permission to hold religious worship in
their houses on the Sabbath, without avail; and were
it not for occasional services on foreign vessels in the
harbor, visitors would have no opportunity to hear
Protestant preaching.
I attended worship a few Sabbaths ago on board of
a British man-of-war called the Powerful, which was
anchored in the bay about a mile from the landing,
and beyond the jurisdiction of popery. The com-
mander, with true English politeness, sent his private
barge for our party, and we were rowed to the vessel
by six "jolly tars” dressed in their Sunday suits of
immaculate blue and white. The "Powerful” is an
174
Havana.
eighty-four gun ship, with a complement of seven
hundred and fifty men, including officers, marines,
and sailors; all of whom, except those on duty,
attended service, and were as quiet and orderly as any
congregation I ever saw. The music was solemn,
grand, and peculiarly impressive. A fine marine
band was a substitute for an organ; while the clear
tenor and rich soprano voices of the young boys of
the naval school, harmonizing with the deep bass and
diapason tones of those more advanced in years, com-
bined to make a full and effective choir.
I was introduced by one of our party, an Episcopal
clergyman of Boston, to the officiating chaplain, who
very politely accompanied us about the ship, visiting the
various apartments of this "Leviathan of the deep,”
which was almost a Sabbath-day's journey. We found
ourselves very much fatigued from going down and
up so many flights of stairs, and very gladly accepted
our clerical friend's invitation to repair to his study
and partake of refreshments, which we found already
prepared. The time passed so pleasantly, that it was
quite late in the day when we took our departure.
The next Sabbath I attended divine service on
Protestant Services.
175
board of the United States flag-ship Potomac, which
is now here awaiting sailing orders from our govern-
ment. The Rev. E. H. Renouf, from Boston, preached
on the occasion, and gave us a plain, practical, or-
thodox sermon, without any affectation, or labored
attempt at rhetorical display. He preached love to
God and good-will to all men, dwelling especially on
that greatest of all rarities, “Christian charity;" and
his whole discourse was replete with such pure, unsel-
fish, evangelical sentiments, as could not fail to meet
the approval of all denominations. The services
were similar to those on board of the British man-of-
war, except that prayers were offered for the President
of the United States, instead of her most gracious
Majesty, Queen Victoria.
There are quite a number of American vessels now
in this harbor, and the stars and stripes of our
glorious republic float triumphantly in the breeze,
and the American Eagle is emblazoned on the uni-
forms of scores whom I meet every day, imparting, as
it were, a kind of energy and vitality to this land,
scorched and dried up by the withering sirocco of
Spanish misrule and papal despotism. ***
*
*
*
*
176
Havana.
The next day, after the closing of Lent, a bull-fight
was announced to take place in Havana in honor
of the return of his Excellency General Concha, who
had been absent from the city about a month. I
tunity I would ever have to witness one of these
exhibitions. But I will here say in extenuation-if
any excuse or apology is necessary—that it was the
most disgustingly brutal sight that I ever beheld, and
nothing could ever induce me to witness a repetition.
The Plaza de Toros is situated nearly a mile beyond
the walls of the city. Our party consisted of Dr. C.
and young Mr. L. from the States, who were stopping
at the Revere, and five or six of the officers belonging
to the Potomac. We took volantes at the hotel, and
soon found ourselves at the entrance to the grounds
of the Plaza, in the midst of a motley crowd of
Spaniards and natives, who were rushing towards the
ticket-office shouting "Boléta," and holding in their
extended hands the coin requisite for admission.
Having procured our tickets in advance, we lost no
time in elbowing our way to the door, where we
found the rest of our party, who had preceded us.
Plaza de Toros,
177
Passing between a file of Spanish soldiers, we soon
found ourselves within an extensive amphitheatre,
around which were rows of covered seats rising one
above the other, and capable of holding several thou-
sand spectators. The arena for the exhibition was
an open space of nearly half an acre; around the
outside at regular intervals, were a number of strong
wooden barriers, formed by heavy posts driven into
the ground, behind which the combatants could take
refuge when pursued by the infuriated bulls. The
audience was large, comprising all grades, sexes, and
colors--from the captain-general and his family, in
their ornamented box, to the swarthy mule-driver
from the mountains, who occupied with his dame or
sweetheart a standee just outside the barriers. There
were beautiful ladies richly attired and languishing
beneath glittering diamonds and other personal deco-
rations, and lovely children of the nobility, so very
young as to be carried in the arms of their sable
'attendants.
The signal flag was hoisted, a trumpet blast heard,
and the vast multitude were wild with excitement,
as the various actors in the drama (or rather tragedy)
178
Havana.
entered the arena in a procession. First came the
master of ceremonies, dressed in ancient Spanish
costume, followed by six or eight picadórs-villanous
looking fellows, mounted on miserable old hack-horses
blindfolded, and so very poor that it was apparently
with considerable difficulty that they supported their
riders. These picadórs carried long spears in their
hands, and were attired in fanciful livery bedizened
with tarnished lace and faded ribbons. Their legs
were encased in leather breeches stuffed with some
impenetrable material to protect them from the horns
of the bulls, giving them the clumsy look of a jack-
booted postillion. These men are a necessary appen-
dage to this species of amusement-a kind of “forlorn
hope," being compelled to bear the brunt and danger
of the contest. Next in order were the chúlos
or combatants on foot, fantastically dressed and
carrying in their hands barbed arrows, javelins, and
other instruments of torture, to be used on the occa-
sion. After these, came the matadórs or killers, with
their long slender basket-hilted swords, which they
use to terminate the existence of the unfortunate
bulls when they can no longer afford amusement to
A Bull-fight.
179
are
the spectators. These matadórs are sometimes men
of considerable celebrity in their profession, and are
by far the most skilful of the different combatants.
They are often regularly educated to the profession
in their youth, and some of them are graduates of the
old Castilian schools of Tauromachy. Last in the
procession, was a mule-team, gaily caparisoned, and
animated by the sound of tinkling bells around their
necks, which was employed to drag the slaughtered
animals from the arena. The procession passed
around the ring to salute the captain-general, and the
other dignitaries present, and to receive the congratu-
lations of the expectant multitude; and then, all but
the chúlos and two or three of the picadórs left the
inclosure.
The trumpet again sounded, the gates were thrown
open, and a large native bull rushed into the ampli-
theatre, amid the shouts of the enthusiastic spectators,
who waved their hats, handkerchiefs, and scarfs, in a
perfect frenzy of excitement and exultation. The
noble animal appeared, at first, bewildered, and appa-
rently undecided how to act. He turned his head in
every direction, and scanned his foes, who were drawn
180
Havana.
up in battle array at the further side of the ring. Soon
he began to snuff the air, lash his sides with his tail,
and tear up the ground with his hoofs. At length,
with a sudden bound, he rushed furiously against the
nearest picadór, who sat on his trembling Rozinante
with his lance in his hand, poised and ready to strike.
The sharp weapon pierced the bull's neck, and kept
him for a moment at bay. The withdrawal of the
lance was followed by a stream of blood which
deluged the ground. The bull then retreated to the
opposite side of the ring, turned his face towards his
enemies, and appeared as if he were disposed to act on
the defensive. Several toréros now approached him
from different directions; the one in front engaged his
attention by flashing in his face a red scarf or shawl,
while the others pierced his sides with small javelins,
which were left to rankle in the flesh. This guerilla
mode of warfare so exasperated the animal, that he
turned on his tormentors, who hastily retreated behind
the barriers. He then made for the nearest picador,
and thrusting his sharp horns into the horse's belly,
lifted from the ground both horse and rider, and
turned them completely over—the luckless picador
The Coup de Grace.
181
OVO
underneath. The enraged bull was with difficulty
drawn off, and the wounded man dragged from under
the horse, which lay struggling in the agonies of death.
The bull again retreated; the purple gore streamed
from gaping wounds, and his body was covered all
over with sweat and foam. Worn down by the strug
gle, weary and faint from loss of blood, he soon began
to writhe and tremble from weakness.
Another blast from the trumpet brought into the in-
closure a matador to try his "sprentice hand” at killing,
for the bull was now to be despatched. But the fellow
proved to be a mere novice, and made several unsuc-
cessful attempts to inflict a mortal wound, which eli-
cited a storm of groans and hisses from the angry
spectators, who would not cease until he retired from
the arena. Soon a favorite matadór was announced,
who sprang into the ring and gracefully bowed amid
the cheers and loud vivas of the excited multitude.
He was slightly yet symmetrically formed, and as agile
and graceful in his movements as a French dancing-
master. He wore a cap of black velvet, with a sable
plume, and a close-fitting jacket, which was profusely
ornamented with gilt and embroidery, while a crimson
182
Havana.
scarſ girded his almost feminine waist. As soon as the
acclamations of the audience ceased, the matadór ap-
proached the bull, which had apparently regained a
portion of his former vigor, notwithstanding his recent
depletion, and shaking a scarf in his face, so excited
the rage of the animal that he made a plunge at the in-
trepid Spaniard, who received him on the point of his
sword, and buried it to the hilt between his shoulders.
The bull gave one conyulsive spring, carrying the
sword in his body, and almost instantly expired. The
whole audience arose simultaneously, and amid the
plaudits and congratulations of the men, and a shower
of bouquets from the ladies, the delighted matador,
with his hand on his heart, bowed himself out of the
inclosure. Then the four-mule team, which was so
conspicuous in the opening procession, reappeared,
and the dead carcasses of the horse and bull were
dragged from the arena amid the music of the band
and the shouts of the jubilant multitude.
During our stay, several other bulls were brought
in and attacked in a similar manner, with but slight
variation in the details; and a horse was killed or
fatally wounded at every encounter. Some of the
Brutal Torture.
183
bulls were more fierce than the one I have just de-
scribed; others were not so valiant, but appeared to
be frightened at the discordant noise of the populace,
and would not come to the attack. In that case, a
chúlo approached, and shook his red scarf in the face
of the bull to inspire him, if possible, with pugnacious
sentiments. Should this fail to produce the desired
effect, they would launch at him numerous projectiles
-in shape like a javelin—to the barbed point of which
is attached a detonating preparation, which explodes
the moment it penetrates the flesh of the animal, caus-
ing him to plunge, and writhe, and bellow in agony.
Some would tear frantically around the arena, throw
themselves on the ground, and try in every possible
way to detach these instruments of torture, which
were burning and rankling in their flesh; "the smoke
of their torment" filling the air, and adding to the
horror of the scene. Any extraordinary manifesta-
tion of suffering on the part of the poor persecuted
animal was provocative of loud laughter and bois-
terous merriment from the spectators, many of whom
seemed really to delight in its sufferings.
Becoming disgusted with the brutal and senseless
184
Havana.
exhibition, we left some time before it was concluded.
I was desirous of retiring during the first intermission;
but my friends prevailed on me to remain a little
longer, hoping that time would develop some new
and more attractive feature in the exhibition. It is
strange that any person possessing the ordinary feel-
ings of humanity can tolerate such acts of cruelty;
and that females of apparent delicacy and refinement
can witness and take pleasure in such brutal specta-
cles, is, to me, perfectly unaccountable. It is certainly
an indication that the finer and better feelings of their
natures are blunted, and their sensibilities impaired, if
their morals are not corrupted.
A few evenings since, I attended a theatrical exhi-
bition on board of the Potomac, got up by the offi-
cers and crew for their own amusement. There were
thirty or forty visitors present, who, with the crew,
made quite a large audience. It was a very creditable
and highly interesting amateur performance, although
I believe that two or three of the actors on this occa-
sion had once been connected with the stage. The
first play on the programme was the historical drama
of "Charles XII.” This was followed by an original
A Boat Row at Midnight.
'185
Ethiopian extravaganza, in which the "excruciating
opera" and the "high-falutin' ballet” were successfully
burlesqued. During the intermission, a few of us
were invited into the officers' cabin to partake of
liquid refreshments and cigars. The evening's enter-
tainment ended with an amusing farce, written by one
of the crew, in which were introduced some hits of a
local nature that were highly enjoyed by the audience.
It was past the “noon of night” before we all
reached the shore, having to be rowed in small boats
for nearly a mile. I enjoyed the trip exceedingly, as
the evening was serene and beautiful, the air soft and
balmy, and the full-orbed silver moon was high in the
heavens, with her bright face mirrored in the deep
waters of the quiet bay over which we were noise-
lessly gliding. The phosphorescent light emitted by
the water, as our boat ruffled its placid surface, with
flakes of silver dropping from the oars, and the trail-
ing wake of silvery effulgence we left behind, was to
me a novel and exceedingly beautiful sight. * * *
In closing my crude and desulfory remarks con-
cerning this land “ordained of Heaven the fairest
spot on earth," I cannot do better than express the
8*
186
Havana.
sentiments of a writer of some note, who has recently
visited this country and given his impressions to the
public.* He says:-
"If it were possible to contemplate only the beau-
ties that nature has so prodigally lavished on this
Eden of the Gulf, shutting out all that man has done
and is still doing to mar the blessings of Heaven, then
a residence in Cuba would present a succession of un-
alloyed pleasures equal to a poet's dream. But it is
impossible, even if it would be desirable, to exclude
the dark side of the picture. The American traveller,
keenly alive to the social and political aspects of life,
appreciates in full force the evils that challenge his
observation at every step, and in every view which he
may take. If he contrasts the natural scenery with
the familiar pictures of home, he cannot help also con-
trasting the political condition of the people with that
of his own country. The existence, almost under the
shadow of the flag of the freest institutions the earth
ever knew, of a government as purely despotic as that
of the autocrat of the Russias, is a monstrous fact that
* " History of Cuba, by M. M. Ballou ;" to which I am indebted
for much valuable statistical information relative to that country.
Striking Contrast,
187
startles the most indifferent observer. It must be seen
to be realized.
“ To go hence to Cuba, is not merely passing over
a few degrees of latitude in a few days' sail,—it is a
step from the nineteenth century back into the dark
ages. In the clime of sun and endless summer, we
are in the land of starless political darkness. Lying
under the lee of a land where every man is a sove-
reign, is a realm where the lives, liberties, and for-
tunes of all are held at the tenure of the will of a
single individual, and whence not a single murmur of
complaint can reach the ear of the nominal ruler more
than a thousand leagues away in another hemisphere.
In close proximity to a country where the taxes, self-
imposed, are so light as to be almost unfelt, is one
where each free family pays nearly four hundred dol-
lars per annum for the support of a bigoted tyranny,
yielding in the aggregate an annual revenue of twen-
ty-five millions of dollars, for which they receive no
equivalent, no representation, no utterance—for pen
and tongue are alike proscribed-no honor, no office,
no emolument; where their industry is crippled, their
intercourse with other nations hampered in every way,
188
Havana.
their bread literally snatched from their lips, the free-
dom of education denied, and every generous, liberal
aspiration of the human soul stifled in its birth. Such
are the contrasts, broad and striking, and such the
reflections forced upon the mind of the citizen of the
United States in Cuba.” * * *
LETTER XIII.
KEY WEST, FLA., April, 1856.
My last yarn was spun about two weeks since in
Havana, just before my departure for the island-city,
where I am now sojourning. I was “taken in" by
our friends the H- s immediately on my arrival,
and assigned a large airy room in their pleasant family
mansion, where I am now fairly domesticated, and in
the enjoyment of many comforts to which I have long
been a stranger. Kind friends, pleasant weather, and
a delightful climate, would have rendered my sojourn
here particularly agreeable, had I not experienced a
return of my old malady, inflammation of the sto-
mach. My sufferings were intense, both day and
night, and I became so weak from pain and loss of
sleep that I could scarcely walk to the beach, a few
rods distant. My nervous system was in such a state,
190
Key West
that I could not bear the least noise or excitement.
A loud voice, the crying of a child, the barking of a
dog, and even the sound of the surging sea-which
usually is music to my ear--now caused me sensa-
tions approaching, at times, almost to agony. I am
more than ever convinced that those who suffer from
a derangement of the nervous system do not usually
receive the sympathy they deserve; for it is a disease,
in my opinion, worse than all the ills to which flesh
is heir. But, thank Heaven, I am now better, or I
could not write, much less indite, this letter. * * *
Key West, formerly called by the Spaniards Cayo
Hueso, or Bone Key, is the most important of a chain
of small islands, or keys as they are termed, lying on
the southern coast of Florida. These islands are very
numerous, and vary in extent from the fractional part
of an acre to several miles. They are of coral forma-
tion—the work of small insects, who, however, cease
their labors as soon as they come to the surface of the
water. The entire growth above the water is depen-
dent on other causes. A bunch of floating sea-weed,
or a loose spar from some dismantled vessel, may rest
upon this coral foundation. This is seized upon by
Coral Insects.
191
the industrious insects, who weave on the under side
a net-work of coral, thus securing it permanently to
the rock below. The slight elevation becomes gra-
dually covered with sand or earth, forming the first
rudiments of a soil. Some weary sea-bird, perhaps
seeking a momentary resting-place, drops on the soil
a seed, which takes root, blossoms, and bears fruit.
Years after, other birds may rest in the branches of
this isolated tree or shrub, and perchance scatter the
seeds of other and different plants, which spring up,
produce fruit, and are in their turn disseminated.
The coral insects kcep at work, enlarging the founda-
tion to correspond with the increase of vegetation,
until acres and perhaps miles of territory are formed
in the midst of the ocean. Some of these islands
increase in size each year, while others gradually
diminish. This is said to be caused by the tidal cur-
rents, which pass through these intricate channels,
in their tortuous course washing away portions of one
island and transferring the loosened soil to another.
Key Largo lies near the main land, and is the
largest of these numerous islands, being about twenty-
five miles long, and from one to five miles wide.
192
Key West.
Key West, although the third or fourth in size, is the
only one of commercial importance. It has been de-
signated as "the Key of the Gulf," and is the most
southerly extremity of the United States. It is sixty
miles south-west from Cape Sable, and ninety miles
north of Havana, and is the only safe anchorage for
vessels between those places. The island itself is four
miles long and one mile wide, and its highest eleva-
tion is less than twenty feet above the level of the
ocean. The harbor is capacious, and is defended by
Fort Taylor, a large and costly fortification, now in
process of erection. Key West has also a military
and naval hospital, and a number of barracks for sol-
diers, and is destined to be a place of considerable
importance. The steamer Isabel, which carries the
mail between Charleston and Havana, touches here
once a week, and is about the only means of commu-
nication with the main land. Arrangements are now
being made, I learn, to have the California steamers
coal here, and take in supplies on their return voyage.
The town is situated on the west end of the island,
and is dignified by the title of city, although having
less than three thousand inhabitants. It is, however,
A Paradise for Wreckers.
193
the most populous place in Florida Being a sea-port
town, the society is unavoidably miscellaneous. The
permanent residents are principally Americans, Eng-
lish, Spaniards, and Bahamians, with a large infusion
of slaves and free blacks. These Bahamians, known
here by the peculiar sobriquet of “conchs,” are quite
numerous, amounting to at least one-fifth of the entira
population. They have a settlement by themselves
in the outskirts of the city, and subsist mainly by
fishing, gathering sponges, and giving assistance to
wrecked vessels. Large quantities of sponges are
annually collected by these amphibious bipeds, who
seem to be as much at home in the water as out of it.
The southern coast of Florida is very much feared
by navigators, on account of its numerous shoals and
reefs, its labyrinthine channels, and the treacherous
under current of the Gulf-stream in the vicinity. It
is said that about fifty vessels are annually wrecked
on this coast, and the inhabitants of Key West derive
a large revenue from this source. There are a great
whom have acquired fortunes in the business. I have
always looked upon wrecking as a nefarious occupa-
194
Key West.
,
tion, a kind of quasi piracy; but I am assured by
reliable citizens bere, that it is generally conducted
upon equitable rules, for the mutual benefit of all
parties interested, and that many lives and much
valuable property are saved every year by the exer-
tions of these wreckers. A large number of vessels,
and quite an army of seamen, are now engaged in the
business, and ncarly all of the inhabitants on this
island are, directly or indirectly, interested in it.
On the east end of the island are a number of salt-
water ponds, where salt is made by solar evaporation.
These works have been destroyed several times by
gales, and the manufacture of salt for a while sus-
pended. They are now in successful operation, and
yield about two hundred thousand bushels annually,
The present owner, Mr. C. W. Dennis, came here
from Alabama, a few years ago, for his health. The
salt air and equable climate proved so beneficial to
him, that he has continued to reside here ever since.
Mr. Dennis is a gentleman of wealth, with a decided
taste for literary and scientific pursuits, to which he
devotes a large portion of his time. I am indebted
to him for much valuable information relative to the
The Climate of Key West.
195
commerce and agricultural capabilities of this island,
and for many interesting facts concerning the nume-
rous keys and islands in this vicinity.
The climate of Key West is delightful. The island
is constantly visited by invigorating sea-breezes, and
is never so intensely hot as some parts of Cuba. The
mean temperature is 750; the mercury seldom rises
above 85°, and has never been known to fall below
43° since the island has been inhabited. This would
be a paradise for invalids, with its perpetual summer,
its balmy, health-giving atmosphere, and its eyer-
verdant foliage, were there a greater variety of land
scenery, more pleasant drives, and better hotel accom-
modations. But it is sadly deficient in all of these
hygeian requisites. The greater part of the island is
uncultivated, being covered with dwarfish trees and
scraggy underbrush. The soil, in many places, is
overspread to the depth of several inches with loose
beach sand, carried there by the heavy gales which
occasionally sweep over the island. After the novelty
of the place has worn off, and the invalid visitor has
become weary of gazing on the broad and monotonous
ocean which surrounds him on every side, he will,
196
Key West.
I imagine, experience a feeling of loneliness—an
oppressive sensation, as if he were in too contracted
and confined a place; and this could not be otherwise
than unfavorable to his restoration to health. Were
it not for these few drawbacks, Key West would be
one of the most desirable places for a winter residence
on this continent.
The soil is thin, and apparently almost sterile, yet
the heat of the climate and the soft tropical air make
every kind of vegetation flourish. It is particularly
adapted to fruit. Many kinds, such as oranges, cocoa-
nuts, tamarinds, bananas, olives, dates, and others
peculiar to the tropics, grow here almost sponta-
neously, and might be cultivated with profit, were it
not for the great cost of inclosing and preparing the
land. I was shown several varieties of plants intro-
duced here from Mexico by the late Dr. Henry Per-
rine, more than twenty years ago, which had become
thoroughly domesticated. One variety of the agave
family, named by Dr. Perrine Agave sisalana, has been
very widely disseminated here, and is now growing
freely on the island. This valuable plant produces
what is known to the commercial world as Sisal hemp.
Dr. Henry Perrine.
197
It is stronger and more durable than the celebrated
Manilla hemp, a single fibre having been known to
sustain a weight of six pounds, and is exceedingly
valuable for cordage and other purposes. If a suit-
able machine could be invented for removing the pulp
and cleansing the fibre, it would soon become an im-
portant and profitable article of commerce. The plant
will flourish on poor thin soil. For that reason, if no
other, it is especially adapted to many parts of south-
ern Florida, and the islands bordering on the gulf.
During my stay at Key West, I had the pleasure
of conversing with several persons who had been
intimately acquainted with Dr. Perrine, and they
regarded the enterprise in which he was engaged at
the time of his death* of incalculable importance to
* On the 7th day of August, 1840, an attack was made on Indian
Key, a small island on the southern coast of Florida, by a band of
Seminole Indians, and several of the inhabitants massacred. “Among
those who fell victims to Indian rapacity and ferocity was Dr. Henry
Perrine, a gentlemau of distinguished talents and education, who had
temporarily settled himself with his family at Indian Key for the
purpose of introducing the culture of the tea-plant and other exotics
into the territory of Florida. Dr. Perrine had intended to settle on a
township of land situated near Cape Florida: but in consequence of
198
Key West.
this country. The object of the association of which
Dr. Perrine was the originator, was “to encourage the
introduction and promote the cultivation of tropical
plants in the United States.” It was the intention of
the parties to introduce such valuable exotics as
would grow on comparatively sterile soil, and to make
available a large part of southern Florida, now of no
real value to our government, thus increasing the
national wealth and the prosperity of our common
country.
Dr. Perrine was an able and enthusiastic botanist,
and during the ten or twelve years that he was
American Consul at Campeachy and Tobasco, he
devoted himself to the domestication of tropical
the Seminole war, which was then raging, he was not allowed to carry
his designs into execution. A township of land was granted to him
in the year 1838 by Congress, with a view to the encouragement of
his favorite enterprise. While waiting patiently for the close of the
war, at Indian Key, a place of supposed perfect security, a band of
savages landed on the island, desolated it, and assassinated a portion
of the inhabitants: and among those who fell was Dr. Perrine."-
From the National Intelligencer.
The particulars of this massacre and of the escape of Dr. Perrine's
family will be given at the close of this chapter.
Domestication of Tropical Plants.
199
plants in the United States, by patient collections and
persevering transmissions of valuable seeds and plants,
and by procuring the necessary information for their
culture. Among the plants be introduced (many of
which would without doubt have been successfully
cultivated, had he lived) were several varieties of the
palm, the agave, the tea-plant, the coffee-shrub, the
rich dyes and precious woods of Mexico, the various
spices of the Indies, and the delicious fruits of Tropi-
cal America. There are now on exhibition at the
Patent Office in Washington samples of a nankeen-
colored cotton, and of a drab vegetable silk, sentcthere
by Dr. P., which have excited considerable interest
among botanists, and persons engaged in the-manu-
facture of those commodities.
When on my way to Cuba, I met with a gentleman
engaged in the government coast survey, who had
recently visited Matacumba and other small islands
in the immediate vicinity of Indian Key, and I
learned from him that the island of Matacumba was
covered with trees and shrubs, different from any to
be found on the main land, or on any of the islands
near by. They were, in all probability, introduced
200
Key West
there by Dr. Perrine, who, during his residence at
Indian Key, used this island as a nursery for the
cultivation and propagation of exotic trees and plants.
NARRATIVE OF THE MASSACRE AT INDIAN KEY.
The circumstances attending the death of Dr. Per-
rine, as related by members of his family, are as fol-
lows:-In the year 1838, Congress granted to him a
township of land in southern Florida for the purpose
of introducing and acclimating valuable tropical
plants. During the winter of that year, Dr. P.,
with his family, consisting of his wife, two daughters,
and a son, took up his residence at Indian Key, a
small island lying about twenty miles south from
Cape Sable, to await the termination of the Seminole
war, before removing to the main land. While there,
the Doctor occupied himself in preparing a nursery
of exotic plants on the uninhabited island of Mata-
cumba near by, intending, as soon as the war was
over, to remove them to his township on the main
land. The few families residing at Indian Key had
no apprehension of an attack from the Indians, who,
it was presumed, would not venture so far away from ·
SY
LA
11
Mrs. Hester P. Walker.
Mrs. Hester Perrine Walker was born
in 1824. One of her ancestors was Rev.
Eleazar May, for fifty years pastor of the
Congregational church of Haddam, Con.
necticut. Her grandfather, Rev. Jesse.
Townsend, was forty-eight years in the
ministry and was the first pastor of the
Presbyterian Church of Palmyra. His
last words were, “Let me go for the day
breaketh." Her father, Dr. Henry Per-
rine, was a gentleman of talent and cul.
ture. He was appointed consul to Cam-
peachy by President John Quincy Adams.
He was an enthusiastic and able botanist
and undertook a work of great promise to
our country, the iutroduction of tea and
tropical fruits into I'lorida. He received
from Congress a township of land well
located for that purpose. In the Semi-
nole war, 1840, he fell by the tomabawk
of the Indians. His family narrowly es.
caped. Tbey were saved by the presence
of mind, the courage and prowess of the
mother, Mrs. Aun Perrine. After these
sad events they came to Palmyra.
Mrs. Walker was educated at Canand-
I aigua Seminary at the time of its greatest
prosperity under the administration of
Miss Upham. October 13th, 1846, she ,
was married to Mr. James E. Walker of
the-firm of Butterfield & Walker, after-

friends, Mr. William P. Lamson and Miss
Eliza McIntyre, were also married at the
church the same hour. The four were
1 accompanied on their wedding journey
by Mrs. Walker's sister and her husband,
six, Mrs. Lamson alono remains. Mr.
Walker and his family removed in 1865 to
Albany where he lived until his death
in 1879. During these years Mrs. Walker
never lost her interest in Palmyra and
the companions of her youth. She
cherished old a-sociations. Her loyalty
to her friends had in it something true
and sterling, unknown to smaller natures.
Her large heart responded promptly and
| gladly to opportunities for helping
others. The elegant communion-service,
presented by her and by Mrs. Lamson
at the Presbyterian church, is still a
reminder of her affection and generosity.
Mrs. Walker was a woman of rare gifts,
endowed with a force and energy which
brought them into full play. She was
an accomplished writer. She took an
active and influential part in matters
social and philanthropic. During the
war she labored for the soldiers with
patriotic zeal and great success.
In our peaceful cemetery she had laid
- away many of her loved oues. Only two
- of her seven children survire her-Mr.
James T. Walker of this place and Mrs.
Dr. J. D. Palmer of Fernandina, Florida,
She also leaves one brother, Bevry E.
Perrine, Esq., of Buffalo. Her last visit
to Palmyra, three weeks before her death,
was a satisfaction and delight to her. As
she left town she remarked, “I have seen
all my old friends." Some years ago
symptoms of disease appeared, wbich
terminated as Mrs. Walker bad appre-
hended from the first, in sudden death.
She contemplated it with calm, unfaltering
trust in her Redcemer. “I often think,"
she said, "as I lie down at night, that I
may awake in Heaven." The end came
on the evening of December 8th at Wash-
ington, D. C. She enjoyed much of that
last day in the open air. She wrote a let-
ter and was happy in selecting Christ-
mas remembrances for her seventeen
grandchildren, to whom she was tenderly
attached. Her funeral was held at the
residence of her son, on Sabbath after-
noon, December 11th. The services,
conducted by Rev. S. G. Hopkins, &s-
sisted by Rev. L. W. Richardson, were
impressive. Tbe hymns, “They are
gathering homeward” and “Rock of
Ages” were rendered with great sweet-
ness. In her last sleep the shade of
years seemed to have fled and a brow
youth crowned her beautiful and noble
features. It was only a hint of the sub.
lime transfiguration her passing soul had
met in the presence of her Savior.
: The following lines, found in her Bible,
viere read at her funeral:
« Weep not for death!
Tis but a fever stilled;
A pain supressed, a fear at rest,
A solemn hope fulfilled.
The moonsbide on the sluinbering a
Is scarcely calier,-- wherefore weep?" a
Weep not for death!
The fount of tears is Realed;
Who knows how bright the inward lig
. To those shut eyes reyealed?
Who knows what peerless love may all
The heart that seems so cold and still?
nla boucica

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Mrs. Hester P. Walker,
: Hester Perrine Walker was born
One of her ancestors - was Rev: 1
fór fifty years pastor of the 1
Massaaddam, Con- In Key.
...
4
.
.
.
201
their secure retreat among the everglades. Their
supposed security was rendered more certain, from
the fact, evidently known to the Indians, that a num-
ber of United States soldiers were stationed at Tea
Table Key, less than two miles distant.
Indian Key, at this time, contained a dozen or
more dwellings, two or three warehouses, and one
store, with an area of about twelve acres. The house
occupied by Dr. Perrine was the largest on the
island. It was three stories high, including the attic,
with a piazza at one end, and cupola on the top; and
was built so close to the sea, that during high tide.
three sides of the house were surrounded by water.
Fronting the piazza, and extending into the ocean,
was a short wharf or pier, used for unloading wood
and family supplies; between it and the house was a
narrow covered passage, walled up on each side. The
wharf itself was constructed of posts driven into the
ground and covered over with timber and plank.
The space under the wharf was used as a pen for
turtles, and known as “a turtle crawl.” It communi-
cated with the cellar by the narrow passage before
mentioned, at the outer end of which was a row of
202
· Key West.
palmetto posts driven into the soft marl, far enough
apart to freely admit the tide, but not to allow the
escape of the turtles. The cellar under the house
being open to the influx of the sea, was used by the
family as a place for bathing, the water being four or
five feet deep during high-tide, but receding as the
tide ebbed, so as to leave but a few inches on the
bottom. The bathing-place was entered by a trap-
door from the dressing-room above.
This slight description of the island, with the loca-
tion and arrangement of the house occupied by Dr.
Perrine, will enable the reader the better to under-
stand the events set forth in the following narrative.
On the morning of the 7th of August, 1840, between
two and three o'clock, the family of Dr. Perrine
were aroused from their slumbers by the discharge of
guns, crashing of glass, and the fearful yells of Indians,
who had approached the island so stealthily as to escape
observation. The Doctor sprang from his hammock,
where he had been watching the sick-bed of his eldest
daughter who had been ill of a fever for several weeks,
caught her up in his arms, and followed by his wife
and other daughter in their night dresses, started
Massacre at Indian Key.
203
down stairs to seek a place of concealment. At this
moment they discovered that the son, a lad of thirteen,
was not with them; they found him in his room in
another part of the building, and hurriedly descended
to the dressing-room at the foot of the stairs. Here
the Doctor left his family and went to another room
for his fire-arms, having in the house at the time one
of Colt's revolving rifles, three of Allen's six-shooters,
and one double-barrelled shot-gun. He had plenty of
powder and balls, but to his dismay found that he
was out of percussion caps, which rendered his fire-
arms useless as a means of defence. Somewhat dis-
couraged, but not without hope, the Doctor-finding
the yard and piazza filled with Indians, and no possi-
bility of escape in that direction-opened the trap-
door leading to the bathing-room below, as the safest
place of refuge, and told his family to descend and
"he would go back and see what could be done."
They did as he requested, and were soon immersed
to the waist in water, and surrounded by darkness
and gloom. They groped their way into the narrow
passage leading to the “turtle crawl," where their
further progress was intercepted by the palmetto posts
CULUI
204
Key West
before mentioned. Here they remained in darkness
and suspense, awaiting the husband and father whom
they were never to see again in this world.
The Indians had by this time reached the rear of
the house and were crowded upon the piazza, but a
few feet above the heads of the affrighted family, fir-
ing their guns into the windows, yelling, and battering
away at the door. During a slight cessation of the
noise, they heard Dr. Perrine from the upper piazza,
calling to the Indians in Spanish, informing them that
he was a physician. This was all they could under-
stand, as the Indians immediately gave a loud shout,
and apparently left the premises. In a few moments
Dr. Perrine came down stairs, closed the trap-door
leading to the cellar, and drew over it a large chest
of seeds to conceal it from observation. This noble,
self-sacrificing act the last he ever performed for his
family-undoubtedly saved their lives.
Dr. Perrine had many important papers and
manuscripts, the fruits of years of toil and research,
which were of incalculable value to him, and which
he was desirous of saving. Knowing that the Indians
were friendly to the Spaniards, and trusting to his
Massacre at Indian Key.
205
knowledge of the Spanish language, which he spoke
like a native, and to their known desire to secure the
services of a white physician, he was confident that
he could prevail on them to spare his dwelling, and
the lives of himself and family, and that he would
ultimately be able to save many of his valuable papers.
This idea is borne out by the subsequent occurrences
of that fatal night.
A short time after the Indians had left the house,
the trembling listeners heard the rattling of a chain
as it was dropped into a small boat which had been
fastened to the wharf, but a few yards from where
they were concealed, and cautious footsteps in the
water. They afterwards learned that Mr. Charles
Howe, who now resides at Key West, then made his
escape with all his family. Shortly after, they heard
the Indians breaking into the different houses near
by, and from their loud discordant yells it was evi-
dent that they had obtained access to the store, and
were now maddened by intoxication. Despair seized
on the terrified inmates of this half submerged prison-
house, as they heard the returning footsteps of the
Indians, who now began a furious assault upon the
206
Key West
dwelling, and with the aid of sticks of wood that
were piled on the wharf, soon battered down the door
and effected an entrance. For a time they seemed to
be more intent on breaking windows, destroying
furniture, and securing plunder, than searching for
victims. At last a voice was heard to say in English
" they're all hid"-"old man up-stairs.” A rush was
then made evidently in that direction, and in a few
moments the sound of heavy blows was heard appa-
rently upon a massive trap-door that led to the cupola,
safety. Soon they heard a terrific crash as the door
gave way, followed by a single rifle shot, and then
the loud war-whoops and demoniac yells of the sav-
ages indicated their success and the massacre of Dr.
Perrine. For a long time afterwards the terror-
stricken fugitives heard the Indians dragging trunks
and other articles of plunder over their heads, and
loading them into boats. Once, as the turtles made a
noise in the water, an Indian raised one of the planks
and looked down, but fortunately not towards the
end where the family were secreted.
Anxiously the trembling inmates of this gloomy
Massacre at Indian Key.
207
hiding-place awaited the approach of light, which they
hoped would bring succor and relief, as they sup-
posed these ruthless invaders would then leave the
island. As the day began to dawn, they could see
through the crevices of their place of retreat boats
passing by loaded with spoils, and hear the cry of the
marauders close at hand. Soon they heard the sound
of desultory firing; then came the booming of a can-
non, which was followed by prolonged yells of defi-
ance. Hope began to animate their breasts, and they
waited with feverish anxiety other indications of the
approach of succor. But the firing ceased, and the
looked-for aid came not. It was afterwards ascer-
tained that nearly all the soldiers stationed at Tea-
Table Key had been sent away a few days before on
a naval expedition, and those left behind were in the
hospital, and not considered fit for active service.
When it was known at the Key that the Indians had
made an attack on this island, a few partly-disabled
soldiers procured a small boat, in which they placed
two four-pound swivels, and as soon as it was light
started out for the purpose of trying to intercept the
Indians and cut off their retreat to the main land. In
208
Key West
the hurry of their departure, they unfortunately took
with them six-pound cartridges instead of four, and at
the first discharge the overloaded guns recoiled so vio-
to retreat, to avoid being captured. The Indians fol-
lowed them for some distance, firing at them, and
killing or severely wounding one of their number.
It soon became evident to Mrs. Perrine and her
children that the house was on fire, as smoke began
to make its way slowly into their place of conceal-
ment. It was some time, however, before it proved
troublesome, as the building was fired near the cupola,
and had to burn downwards. But as its devouring
progress was not stayed, it soon found its way to the
lower floor, when the smoke became stifling, and so
dense that they could scarcely see themselves, although
clasped in each other's arms. The tide had now
ebbed, leaving but a few inches of water over the bot-
tom. To escape suffocation, they lay with their faces
close to the water, splashed it around them to keep
the air in motion, and breathed through the folds of
their wet night-clothes. At length the timbers above
their heads caught fire, and tongues of angry flame
Massacre at Indian Key.
. 209
darted out, and were choked back by wet marl in the
hands of the terror-stricken captives, whose doom
seemed now to be sealed. No escape was left for them
towards the house, as the mouth of their retreat
looked like a great oven or fiery furnace, and in front
of them was a row of piles driven deep into the marl
and spiked at the top. In a few moments the burning
building fell into the cellar with a fearful crash. The
boy screamed out in terror, as a horrible death by fire
seemed inevitable. His mother and sister endeavored
to stop his cries, fearing the Indians would hear him;
but he declared "that he would rather be killed than
burned to death," and broke away from them. In his
frantic efforts to escape, he forced his way between
two palmetto posts, one of which had been loosened
at the top, and escaped into the turtle-pen, whence he
made his way to the outside of the wharf.
His mother and sisters remained for a short time in
agonizing suspense, thinking that he would be killed
or taken prisoner by the Indians, and their discovery
would be certain. But hearing no noise, and knowing
that they would be burned to death if they remained
where they were, the mother dug down into the marl
g*
210
Key West.
with her hands to the bottom of a post, and by an
almost superhuman effort succeeded in displacing it
sufficiently to admit the passage of herself and daugh-
ters. As they went forward under the wharf, on
which were several cords of wood on fire, the live
coals fell on their bare heads and shoulders; but they
heeded them not, being so overjoyed at having
escaped from the horrible death which but a few
moments before seemed to be their doom. Joyfully
they inhaled the pure air once more, and with grateful
hearts thanked God for their deliverànce. With slow
and cautious footsteps they made their way through
the shallow water to the outside of the wharf, looking
anxiously around for the son, of whose fate they were
ignorant, and trying to discover some place of secu-
rity where they could remain until rescued.
Let us now for a moment follow the son after his
escape from beneath the burning wharf. Seeing a
fleet of canoes, nearly a mile distant, filled with
Indians, and supposing that they had all left the
island, he started in the direction of one of the build-
ings not destroyed, hoping to find some person who
would go to the relief of his mother and sisters. But
Massacre at Indian Key. -
211
no human being was visible, and no sound heard,
except the crackling of the flames of the nearly con-
sumed dwelling he had so recently occupied, and of
the burning wood on the wharf. He passed in front
of the store, the door of which was open, little dream-
ing that at the moment several drunken Indians were
within, collecting the few spoils not taken away by
those who had left the island, Retracing his steps,
he approached the spot where his mother and sisters
were incarcerated, in the expectation of never seeing
them again, as the wharf above their late place of
concealment was all on fire, and their escape at that
time would have been impossible. As he cast his
eyes despairingly in that direction, to his great sur-
prise and joy he beheld them emerging from the
turtle-pen. He ran to meet them, and as he passed
the landing near the store, he discovered a boat partly
loaded with goods, evidently belonging to the Indians
then in the building. When he reached the family,
his mother was supporting in her arms her invalid
daughter, who, becoming faint from weakness and
fatigue, had sunk down, and was begging her mother
and sister to leave her and make their escape, as "she
212
"Key West.
.
said she was dying and could go no further.” But
they succeeded in dragging her through the water to
the boat, which they unloosed from its fastening, and
with the aid of one oar and a pole contrived to push
it out into the open sea.
Their escape was truly providential; for, had they
boat, they would, in all probability, have been dis-
covered by the Indians, who had partly filled the boat
with goods, and had gone back to the store for more
plunder. Seeing a vessel at anchor a short distance
from Tea-Table Key, the son took off his shirt, and
fastening it to a pole, hoisted it as a signal of distress.
Twice they got aground, but the boy having been.
accustomed to managing a boat got her off with but
slight detention. They had proceeded about half a
mile when they discovered two Indians in a canoe just
starting out in pursuit of them; but seeing a boat
approaching from the direction of the vessel, the
Indians returned and set fire to the store and the few
remaining buildings. The fugitives were taken up by
a boat from the schooner Medium, which vessel they
reached about noon—some ten hours from the time
Massacre at Indian Key.
213
the attack was first made on the island. They found
on board several of the inhabitants of the Key who
had escaped during the night, and among them the
family of Mr. Howe, their neighbors and intimate
friends. The captain of the vessel was very kind to
the ladies, provided them with sheets in lieu of dresses,
and made them as comfortable as could be expected
under the circumstances. Mrs. Perrine and her chil-
dren were almost destitute of clothing, and in a
nearly exhausted state. Their night-garments were in
tatters; their hands sore from digging up the marl
to protect their heads from the heat of the burning
building; their shoulders smarting from contact with
falling coals; and their faces blistered from long
exposure to the scorching rays of a tropical noon-day
sun reflected in a sea of polished glass.
The next day Mr. Howe, with a few men from the
schooner, returned to the island, gathered together the
bones of Dr. Perrine from the ruins of his dwelling,
and buried them under the broad spreading leaves of
Lower Matacumba, where perpetual summer reigns,
and “fragrance ever clothes the flow'ring earth.”
214
Key West.
“Peace to the dust that in silence reposes,
Beneath the dark shade of the cypress and yew:
Let spring deck the spot with the earliest roses,
And heaven wash the leaves with its holiest dew.”
The family remained on board of the schooner until
the afternoon of the next day, when they were trans-
ferred to “The Flirt," a United States vessel-of-war
commanded by Capt. McLaughlin, who gave up his
state-room to the ladies, and rendered them all the
assistance in his power. The invalid daughter was
carried on board on a cot, being too ill to stand; but
with careful nursing, and the skilful attendance of the
ship's surgeon, Dr. Taliaferro, she soon began to
improve in health and strength. The Flirt proceeded
to Cape Florida, where she remained about a week,
until the arrival of the steamer Santee, in which vessel
the family took passage for St. Augustine under the
care and protection of Dr. Edward Worrel, of the
Army, who very kindly accompanied them to their
friends at the North.
LETTER XIV.
I LEFT Key West by the steamer Isabel late on the
afternoon of the 16th instant, for this city. The day
was lovely, the air balmy, the sky brilliant, and the
sun as bright as ever gladdened a tropical landscape.
Old Ocean himself was in the best of humors, his
broad expansive face was placid and serene, and every-
thing indicated a pleasant voyage. The deck of the
steamer was crowded with passengers, most of whom
were from the North, who had been seeking health
and recreation in a warmer clime, and were now
returning to their homes, willing to exchange the
cloudless sky and balmy atmosphere of the sunny
South for the more substantial comforts of home,
and the companionship of kindred and friends.
216
Savannah.
.
“ There is a magic in the name of home,
Felt in the spirit's yearnings; man may roam
Careering on his wild and thoughtless way,
Yet in all his wanderings is still within
The attractive influence of that sunny spot,
Home, sweet home !"
I was fortunate in meeting with a number of ladies
and gentlemen whose acquaintance I had made in
Cuba, and our greeting was as cordial as if we had
known each other for years. It was really a pleasant
reunion, which we celebrated on deck, in relating our
individual experiences since we parted at Cuba. The
evening was surpassingly lovely; the sun had gone
to his rest surrounded by a halo of golden effulgence;
and his pale-faced sister, the crescent moon, was incon-
spicuous amid her innumerable progeny of bright and
twinkling stars which bedecked
" - Night's dark pavilion,
Spread wide o'er the wasteful deep."
What can be more beautiful than a starry night on
the ocean; with naught but heaven above, heaven
around, and heaven reflected in the water beneath.
ard
yen
A Starry Night at Sea.
217
It is one vast sea of splendor, boundless in space, and
glorious in its illuminings. We remained on deck
enjoying the scene before us—the jewelled firmament
above, the balmy atmosphere around, and the silver-
crested waves beneath breaking with gentle music
against the sharp prow of our vessel as she flew over
the water—until midnight was upon us and admo-
nished us to retire.
My state-room companion was a Lieutenant in the
Army, who was on his way to Washington to receive
orders. He was an intelligent and agreeable young
man, about twenty-five years of age, and moreover,
modest and unassuming; which virtues are so rare
among gentlemen of his profession that I take pleasure
in noticing the fact. We laid ourselves upon our
respective shelves and gossipped about things terres-
trial until sleep weighed down my eyelids and steeped
my senses in forgetfulness. I slept soundly until
about daylight, when I was awakened by the accele-
rated motion of the vessel, as if that blustering vaga-
bond Boreas were trying to provoke the aqueous ele-
ments to wrath ; unconscious, perhaps, that by so
doing he would be very likely to excite the bile in us.
ass
O rare
218
Savannah.
Sleep was now out of the question, and I lay rolling
and tumbling about in my berth until the morning
watch was called, when I got up, and meandering to
the deck, witnessed a scene of unsurpassed grandeur
and sublimity. Alas! what a change had come over
the spirit of his Oceanic Majesty since I left the deck
but a few hours before. Then he was
-- “As meek, and mild,
And gentle as an unweaned child.”
Now, he was dashing and splashing, rearing and
tearing, with impetuous fury; his hitherto serene
countenance was writhed and distorted, and he was
lashing the sides of our gallant vessel with angry
vehemence. I sickened at the sight, and hastily re-
treated to the cabin. Here the sound of the break- .-
fast-bell fell discordantly on my ear, neither was it in
harmony with the tone of my stomach. To me it
was a mournful sound-a knell to my departed appe-
tite—a requiem over lost joys and buried hopes. The
captain suggested tea and toast as a sedative, and led
the way to the breakfast-room. I followed “like a
lamb to the slaughter.” My limbs obeyed, but my
Sea-sickness.
219 ..
stomach rebelled. I reached the table, which was
nearly unoccupied, but profusely covered with tempt-
ing viands; wondered they did not fall off when the
table rose to meet me; managed to sit down, the chair
being fastened, drank one spoonful of tea, which was
nauseous, and the toast was anything but appetising.
They passed a plate of hot steak under my nose; I
could stand it no longer, but dropping my knife and
fork hastily mounted the stairs, lest I might leave
something on my plate not in the bill of fare. The
cool air revived me. I began to take courage,
and manfully resolved to walk the deck and banish
such idle fancies. Proudly I arose; the vessel rose
with me; she careened, I careened also; she plunged,
and I suppose that I must have “followed suit," for
I suddenly found myself on my knees at one end of
the vessel, paying tribute to Neptune.
How I managed to reach my state-room I hardly
know; but I do know that I remained there for
twenty-four hours, suffering as I never suffered before.
The nausea of sea-sickness I could endure; but such
incessant, torturing, racking pains in my head I never
before experienced; and the spasms in my stomach
220
Savannah.
were at times so severe, that I almost feared that my
“mortal fabric was about to be dissolved." I did
not close my eyes in sleep until long after midnight,
when nature became exhausted, and I relapsed into a
state of forgetfulness. When I awoke the next
morning, I had a few oranges brought to my room,
which refreshed and invigorated me. I managed at
breakfast to overcome my aversion to tea and toast,
and a small piece of beef-steak was not unpalatable.
Went on deck, found the aspect of nature changed,
received the congratulations of friends, and your cor-
respondent "was himself again.” However, I am
convinced more than ever that I have no stomach
for the sea, and resolve for the fourth and last time,
to confine my journeyings in future to terra-firma, or
at least within sight of its genial shores.
It is Ralph Waldo Emerson, I believe, who says
that "sea-life is an acquired taste, like that for toma-
toes and olives.” This may be the experience of
some voyagers, but not of all. I have tried a num-
ber of times to acquire a liking for the sea, but the
oftener I make the attempt the greater is my aversion
to the saline condiment, which invariably disturbs the
1
Objections to Sea-Life.
221
equilibrium of my stomach. Poets, in the phrensy
of inspiration, may sing rapturously of "a life on the
ocean wave, and a home on the rolling deep;” but,
much as I may admire the poetry and melody of the
song, my feelings will not respond to the sentiment
therein expressed. The recollections of my several
experiences on ship-board are, I must say, provoca-
tive of any but agreeable sensations.
I have no objections to the sea in the prospective,
when viewed from a comfortable position on dry
land; it is, in fact, from such a stand-point, a sublime
and beautiful sight. But I do object to being “crib-
bed, cabined, and confined" for an indefinite period
in an uneasy vessel, where one is liable to be nau-
seated by the villanous effluvium of bilge-water, or
half stifled with mephitic air, even if fortunate
enough to escape the horrors of sea-sickness. Fur-
thermore, to be subjected to the capricious humors
and insolent pranks of that old salt-water god, --he of
the trident, who delights in annihilating your appe-
tite, turning your stomach inside out, and making
you appear as if you were "half seas over" when
you have just begun the voyage--is not only disa-
222
Savannah.
greeable, but extremely mortifying to one of my
staid, sober, and strictly temperate habits.
Among our motley assemblage of passengers-
some forty or fifty in number, and representing seve-
ral different nations were three or four, whose pecu-
liarity of appearance or eccentricity of manner made
them conspicuous. One individual, with a dark,
sinister countenance, and heavy. black beard, was
pointed out to me as a Cuban millionaire, who was
supposed to be engaged in the African slave-trade,
and his great wealth the result of his accursed traffic
in human flesh. A more morose and forbidding face
I never saw on a human form. From beneath a
heavy, overhanging brow, flashed one basilisk eye, as
bright and coruscant as if the fire of a thousand fur-
naces were burning there. The other eye was invisi-
ble, being covered with a small black patch. If
Blue-Beard ever existed except in the imaginations
of credulous children, I think this individual must
have been a lineal descendant, for he realized more
fully my idea of that man-monster than any human
being that I ever saw. Evidently desiring to escape
observation, he sat most of the time alone, in a
1
A Cosmopolitan.
223
retired part of the vessel, smoking a richly orna-
mented pipe, of antique design; he was not seen at
the public table, nor was be known to hold any
conversation, or to have communication with any of
the passengers.
Another individual, antipodal in every respect to
the one just described, was, perhaps, fifty years of
age, quite intelligent, well-dressed (although his
clothes were beginning to look seedy), and evidently
had seen much of the world. His good-natured face
and sans souci manner were a card of introduction to
most of the passengers, and had it not been for a pre-
disposition which he evinced to indulge in the mar-
vellous, he would have been a valuable acquisition to
our floating society. I have, during my somewhat
extensive intercourse with the world, observed human
nature in a great variety of phases. I have seen
talking politicians; talking poets-many of whom
are decidedly prosy ; talking lawyers-some of whom,
like necessity, know no law; talking divines, and
those of the fraternity not particularly divine; and
last, but not least, talking women! With the excep-
tion of the latter (with whom, however, talking is
en m
127)
224
Savannah.
the rule, not the exception), I never before saw so
garrulous a biped as the one I am now describing.
He talked incessantly. Where be had not been was
not worth visiting; what he had not seen was not
worth seeing; what he had not endured was not
martyrdom. He had visited Europe, Asia, Africa,
and the various islands of the ocean; had circum-
navigated the globe, and doubled many a horn. He
had picked up diamonds from Brazilian sands, and
had his “pocket full of rocks " fresh from the mines
of Australia. Had breakfasted on Mount Blanc,
dined in the crater of Vesuvius, and supped on the
Dead Sea; had slept amid the ruins of the Alhambra,
drunk wine on the top of Pompey's Pillar, and
our western prairies, tigers in Bengal, and elephants
in the jungles of Ceylon; had explored the Polar
regions, and travelled over Sahara's desert waste. He
knew every one, from his Holiness the Pope to the
“King of the Cannibal Islands ”—from the Czar of
Russia to the Great Mogul himself and enjoyed an
intimate companionship with the seventh son of the
world-renowned Baron Munchausen, whose adven-
An English Exquisite.
225
tures were but "small vegetables” compared with
his more wonderful exploits.
Another personage attracted the notice of many
of the passengers by his peculiar dialect, and exqui-
site cockney-air. He was a verdant sprig of the
English upper-ten-dom, who was just emerging from
a chrysalis state into an adolescent butterfly. This
tender scion had but recently left his parental conser-
vatory in Yorkshire-his speech being profusely inter-
larded with aspirated vowels and provincialisms—and
was now abroad in search of a field in which to sow
his wild oats. He was an exquisite of the “first
water,” who sported more airs than hairs, although
an incipient moustache was beginning to shadow his
lip, and a few downy hairs were faintly discernible
on his effeminate chin. On the fore-finger of his
right hand he wore a ring about the size of a Spanish
quarter, which he ostentatiously displayed as he
removed his cigar from his mouth and discoursed
upon its delectable qualities. He smoked none but the
most“ hexpensive cigars," those manufactured“ hespe-
cially" for bim by the celebrated Cabaña. He had con-
siderable to say about the “governor"- meaning his
10
226
Savannah.
paternal ancestor—who, it seemed, was very desirous
that a tutor should accompany his son on his travels;
to which the youth objected, imagining, no doubt, that
it would be an impediment to his free and easy locomo-
tion. He thought "Hamerica did very well for a new
country, but it never would compare with 'Hold Hing-
land.'” During a conversation with one of the passen-
gers, I heard him say something about "the nup-
tial haltar," evidently referring to the noose matrimo-
nial, which is a halter to some, and a silken tie to others.
Speaking of matrimony, I am reminded of an
amusing incident that occurred during the last day of
our voyage. Among the passengers were a newly
married couple whose disparity in age, and want of
"spiritual affinity," were remarked by all who så w
them. The gentleman was apparently on the down-
hill side of fifty, while the lady was young enough
to be his daughter, even had he not been married
until somewhat late in life. They were mated, but
not matched ; and joined together by the “iron bands
of wedlock," not by the holy ties of mutual love and
affection. There was evidently as much dissimilarity
in their tastes and dispositions, as disparity in their
A Badly-Matched Pair.
227
ages. The husband was loving and devoted ; the wife
cold and indifferent. He was uxorious and demon-
strative, while she was imperturbable, and at times
almost ill-natured. Wherever she was, there he would
surely be. If she remained on deck, he was by her
side. If she went below, he followed her like a sha-
dow. This continual watchfulness and unremitting
attention were apparently annoying to her, and she
spoke to him at times somewhat petulantly. Still,
the good-natured and adoring husband did not relax
in his attentions to his younger half, but tried to anti-
cipate all her wants. One day, during an unusually
heavy sea, she left her seat on the deck and hastily
retreated to the cabin, followed by her husband. In
a few moments he returned, with fright depicted in
his countenance, and inquired for a doctor, saying
that his wife " had been suddenly taken very ill, and
he was afraid she was dying.” The captain was
called, and after making a few inquiries of the fright-
ened husband, sent to his stateroom, not a physician
but-a chambermaid with a basin. The finale of this
ludicrous affair can readily be imagined by those at
all familiar with nautical life. * * * * * *
LETTER XV.
MONTGOMERY, ALA., April, 1856.
My last letter was written from the lovely metro-
polis of genial, warm-hearted Georgia, where I
remained for three days, just long enough to view the
city, and some of its suburban celebrities. To me,
there is something balmy and healing associated with
Savannah ; its very name being suggestive of a pecu-
liar feature of southern scenery. Providence intended
it as a kind of familiar resting place between the frigid
North and the scorching Tropics; its mild, equable
atmosphere preparing the cautious invalid for a tran-
sition to either of the two extremes.
The city lies about eighteen miles from the sea on
the Savannah River, a stream of considerable import-
ance which forms the dividing line between South
Carolina and Georgia, and is of no inconsiderable mag-
Description of Savannah.
van
229
nitude, being navigable, during a part of the year, for
vessels of large tonnage to Savannah, and for steam-
boats almost its entire length. The country bordering
on the Carolina shore is low, level, and unattractive in
appearance; but the soil is rich, easily irrigated, and
well adapted to the cultivation of rice, which is the
principal staple of the Palmetto State.
Savannah is situated on a sandy bluff or strip of
table-land some thirty or forty feet above the level of
the river, and has a population of twenty-four thou-
sand, including free blacks and slaves. The streets
are wide, and regularly laid out; with twenty-four
public squares or parks, which are filled with shade
trees, giving to the city a peculiarly rural aspect.
Among the trees most noticeable were the noble live-
oak; the curious mulberry; the modest elm ; the fra-
grant magnolia, and the much admired Pride of
India, which was just beginning to bloom.
This has been very aptly denominated “the city
of shade and silence.” It is certainly the most pen-
sive, quiet, and sober-looking city that I have ever
visited. The streets are all hushed and silent s'neath
the cloistered boughs" of umbrageous trees, the foli-
230
Montgomery.
age being so dense that daylight is almost excluded ;
and what little remains, is softened down to a per-
petual twilight. The sand is so deep in the streets
that carriages pass along as noiselessly as gondolas in
the canals of Venice. The few people to be seen
out of doors, and the absence of that hum of busi-
ness incident to most northern cities, render the
stillness more deep and apparent. As you pass
through the silent and almost deserted streets, you
wish for a little more bustle and appearance of busi-
ness. The quiet is really oppressive. You are not
in a solitude, but surrounded by evidences of popu-
lation; therefore, you feel the want of that hum inci-
dent to life, just as much as when wandering in the
fields and groves, you long for the music of birds,
the buzz of insects, or the sounds of running brooks
and waving trees. A sabbath-day stillness prevails
here at all times, and were it not that the shops
and places of business are closed on that day, it
would be difficult to tell when Sunday began or
ended.
It is a noticeable fact that this city is destitute of
any prominent thoroughfare—any one fashionable
Laurel Grove Cemetery.
231
street for promenade and shopping—where, during
pleasant weather, the butterflies of fashion can
CURCU
“Shop, and lounge, and gaze, and stare,
And show themselves, -and take the air.”
No one street that I saw, seemed to be pre-eminent.
The few handsome shops and stores are so scattered
about the city, that it has a decidedly rural aspect
more the appearance of a quiet country village, than
of a commercial city. In one of the principal squares
is a monument to General Greene, of Revolutionary
fame. Another elegant monument is now being
erected in Chippewa square, to the memory of Count
Pulaski, a brave Polish officer who was killed during
an attack on Savannah in 1779, when the city was
in the possession of the English.
Savannah has many suburban attractions. The
country around is pleasantly diversified with hill and
valley, winding streams, and patches of wood-land.
Just beyond the limits of the city is the "Laurel Grove
Cemetery,” a quiet, lovely spot, where flowers bloom
upon grassy mounds, and vines planted by the hand
of affection twine their tendrils around many a sculp-
232
Montgomery.
tured shrine where repose the loved ones whose
memories are thus perpetuated.
CU
“Oh! noiseless city of the mighty dead !
Lonely and mute, yet are thy annals fraught
With solemn teachings, and thy broad page spread
With the rich lore of soul-awakening thought.”
Some five or six miles from here is the Cemetery of
Buonaventura, one of the most solemn and appropri-
ate burial-places imaginable. Nature has done more
for the adornment of this spot than Art. It contains
no elegant mausoleums, and but few monuments suf-
ficiently conspicuous to attract the attention of the
unobservant visitor. It is an immense grove of giant
trees, or rather a succession of broad avenues, crossing
each other at right angles, carpeted by a smooth green-
sward, and bordered with stately trees, whose far-
reaching branches are festooned with the sombre-hued
moss peculiar to this climate. As far as the eye can
reach are vistas of interwoven boughs; the pendent
drapery in wild beauty wreathes the patriarchal oaks
'till the "mingled fret-work" seems like the embodi-
ment of some vast cathedral aisle. There was some-
Georgia Cottonocracy.
233
A
thing peculiarly attractive to me in the gloomy gran-
deur of this forest sanctuary; a weird, unearthly
beauty in its silent groves; and the sighing breeze,
mournful and dirge-like, as it was wafted through the
shadowy aisles of Nature's cloister, served to lift the
soul
“Above the thoughts of earth, and give it power
Nearer to commune with its kindred Heaven.”
During the few days that I remained in Savannah,
I had an opportunity to see something of the Georgia
Cottonocracy, and to get an inkling of some of their
peculiar habits. Almost every man that I heard
spoken to was addressed by the title of Judge, Gover-
nor, or General. Very few were of a lower grade than
Colonel, and to be called Captain or Esquire would
indicate a person of doubtful reputation, or at least
one not entitled to much consideration. The planters
residing near Savannah usually come to the city early
in the morning on horseback, or in crazy one-horse
chaises, and remain during the day at the Pulaski
House or some other favorite place of resort.
A Georgian is seldom seen walking in the streets,
10*
234
Montgomery.
particularly during the heat of the day. If from any
cause he is obliged to resort to that kind of locomo-
tion, he will in all probability be accompanied by his
"nigger," to carry his coat or hold an umbrella over
his head to keep off the sun. These Southrons have
a great aversion to bodily exercise. It is a popular
maxim with them, that "work was intended for nig-
gers, not for gentlemen."
They are constitutionally or climatically indolent,
and will sit a great part of the day in a shady place,
smoking, drinking mint-juleps (which are a southern
concoction), discussing the price of cotton and rice, or
estimating the value of their "niggers.” Occasionally
they will wander into the abstruse regions of politics;
but if the weather is very hot, that exciting topic is
avoided, on account of its liability to engender caloric
and bad feelings. The subject that most interests
them is the fleecy product of the cotton plant. It is
cotton in the morning, cotton at noon, and cotton at
night. A kind of cotton insanity appears to affect all
classes. To their distempered imaginations, cotton is
the pabulum that nourishes and sustains the entire
North and “the rest of mankind;" cotton, the " open
Macon.
235
sesame” to wealth, power, honor, and personal and
national aggrandizement; cotton, the Atlas which
upholds and the lever that moves the entire world.
In fact, they consider cotton the vis vito "the one
thing needful.” Upon it is based the boasted power
of the South, which, without it, would sink into com-
parative insignificance, and the inhabitants lose their
prestige with foreign nations, and in point of influ-
ence be but little above the "mudsill" Yankees at the
North. * *
I left on the morning of the 22d instant for Macon,
a growing inland town of some size, situated at the
head of steamboat navigation on the Ocmulge River,
and about two hundred miles distant, by railroad,
from Savannah. I found here one of the finest rail-
road depots that I had seen since I left the North,
also a good hotel, which merits "golden opinions," if
it does not reap golden rewards, for its excellent bill
of fare. On an eminence overlooking the town is the
Georgia Female Seminary, an imposing edifice, under
the direction of the Methodist Conference, which, ac-
cording to their published circular, was "instituted
for the purpose of giving to female education a more
236
Montgomery.
systematic, thorough, and extended course than is
now to be obtained in our best seminaries."
The country along the railroad, between Macon and
Savannah, is level and monotonous, and the scenery,
for the most part, tame and uninteresting. We passed
through immense “pine barrens," with occasional
patches of verdure, and innumerable swamps of tan-
gled wild-wood, with here and there a tall, melancholy
cypress, with its trailing garments of moss, looking
the very impersonation of gloom. The soil, as far as
I could judge, was mostly sand and a red clay, and
the principal productions corn, cotton, and tobacco,
with occasional fields of rice wherever the land could
be overflowed. We passed numerous gangs of slaves
at work on the road, or going from one plantation to
another with their tools in their hands; and they
would invariably "lay down the shovel and the hoe,"
strike an attitude, and with a comical grin gaze at the
retreating cars until they were out of sight.
I spent the next night at Columbus, a staid, sober,
puritanical looking town, where many of the streets
were so wide and covered with verdure that they
looked more like longitudinal parks than highways
The Falls of the Coweta.
237
for travel. Some of the streets are said to be nearly
two hundred feet in width, and the buildings set so far
back that 'the place has more the appearance of a
thickly settled rural district than of a city of some ten
thousand inhabitants. It is situated on the Chatta-
hoochee River, which is, at this point, the dividing
line between Georgia and Alabama, and is said to
have the finest water-power in the state. I remained
there but one night, and had no opportunity to see
much of the city, my observations being confined to a
few of the streets near the principal hotel. I learned,
on inquiry, that most of the business was transacted
in the vicinity of the river, where there are a number
of mills, manufactories, and foundries in successful
operation.
A short distance above Columbus are some pictu-
resque rapids in the Chattahoochee, overlooked by a
fine rocky bluff, famous in story as the “Lover's
broken by rocks, over which the water frets and foams
in angry surges. On each side are lofty and irregular
* The following account is condensed from the narrative of T. A.
Richards, published by the Appletons.
238
Montgomery.
cliffs, covered to their verge with majestic forest trees.
Near here are the Falls of Coweta.
In the early part of the present century, this region
was inhabited by two powerful tribes of Indians—the
Cussetas and the Cowetas. Formerly they were friends,
but then the bitterest of enemies. It is not related
how this animosity originated, or how long it had
existed; but it had rankled and burned in their
breasts until its pent-up fury was ready to break out
at any fancied insult or trivial cause.
The proud chief of the Cussetas had now become an
old man, and was loved and venerated by all who
rallied at his battle-cry. The boldest heart in all bis
tribe quailed before his angry eye, and the proudest
did him reverence. The old man had outlived all his
sons. One by one they had been called by the Great
Spirit from their hunting grounds, and in the flush of
their manhood had gone to the spirit-land. Yet he
was not alone. The youngest of his children, the
dark-eyed Mohina, was still sheltered in his bosom,
and all his love for the beautiful in life was bestowed
upon her. The young maiden rivalled in grace the
bounding fawn, and the young warriors said of her,
The Lover's Leap.
239
that "the smile of the Great Spirit was not so beauti-
ful.” While yet a child, she had been betrothed to
the Young Eagle of the Cowetas, the proud scion of
their warrior chief. But stern hatred had stifled
kindly feelings in the hearts of all save these two
young creatures, and the pledged word was broken
when the smoke of the calumet was extinguished.
Mohina no longer dared to meet the young chief
openly, and death faced them when they sat in their
lone, wild trysting-place. Their young hearts had
hopes in the future, but all in vain, for time served
but to render more fierce and deadly the hatred which
existed between the tribes. Skirmishes were fre-
quent between the hunters, and open hostilities seemed
inevitable.
tracked the maiden to the place of meeting, and
peering through the tangled underwood, saw her in
the arms of her lover, and heard from his lips "sweet
words and passionate.” He sped back to the Cusse-
tas, gathered together their warriors, and hastened to
the wild glen where the lovers were secreted. They
fled on the approach of their enemies, and love and
240
Montgomery.
terror added wings to their flight. For a while they
outran their pursuers; but the strength of Mohina
failed her in a perilous moment, and had not the
Young Eagle caught her to his fast beating heart, the
enemy would have made sure their fate. He rushed
onward up the narrow defile before hin, and in a few
moments stood on the verge of a dizzy, fearful height.
Wildly the maiden clung to him, and even then, at
that critical moment, his heart throbbed proudly be-
neath his burden. Already he heard the deep, labored
breathing of one of his pursuers—the hated rival; and,
as he slightly turned his head, the gleam of an uplifted
tomahawk flashed upon his eye. The young chief
gave him one quick, piercing look, and with a loud
yell of triumph sprang into the seething waters below.
Still the young maiden clung to him, nor yet did the
death-struggle part them. The mad waves dashed
fearfully over them, and their loud wail was a fitting
requiem to their departing spirits. The horror-
stricken warriors gazed wildly into the foaming tor-
rent, then dashed with reckless haste down the decli-
vity to bear the sad tidings to the old chief. He heard
their tale in silence; but sorrow was on his spirit, and
SVO
Appearance of the Country. 241
it was broken. Henceforth his seat was vacant by the
council fire, and its red light gleamed fitfully upon his
grave. * * *
After leaving Columbus we crossed the Chattahoo-
chee River into Alabama, and proceeded by rail to
this city, which is the capital of this state, and next in
commercial importance to Mobile. When we entered
Alabama, the appearance of the country began to im-
prove. The soil was better; the agricultural districts
richer; the scenery more varied; and all kinds of
vegetation further advanced. Swelling hills crowned
with trees in full foliage, and rich valleys and fertile
plains clad in living verdure, with tiny streams mean-
dering in the distance, formed a picture on which the
eye delighted to linger.
I arrived in this city late in the afternoon, and
secured a room at one of the best hotels, although it
does not compare favorably with our third-rate New
York hotels, and is not such as a stranger would
expect to find in a town as large as this, and of equal
commercial and political importance. I shall remain
here for several days, and will write again before I
take my departure. * * *
LETTER XVI.
MONTGOMERY, April, 1856.
THERE is a dreamy languor in the climate of the
South, which indisposes one to exertion, and even the
effort of letter writing—which, under ordinary cir-
cumstances, is but "a labor of love”-appears to me,
at this time, to be an almost herculean task.
Montgomery is located at the head of steamboat
navigation on the Alabama River, three hundred
and thirty-one miles from Mobile, and has a popula-
tion of about ten thousand. It is the western termi-
nus of the Montgomery and West Point railroad,
and has water communication with several important
places. Its commerce is based mainly upon corn and
cotton, about one hundred thousand bales of the
fleecy product being annually shipped at this place.
In the way of manufactures, Montgomery does but
Environs of Montgomery.
243
little, except, as some one has said, " to manufacture
the politics of the State.” It is the great political
centre of the Gulf States, and the congregating place
for southern politicians, newspaper reporters, office-
seekers, et hoc genus omne. :
The city is beautifully situated. The business por-
tion is in a valley extending nearly to the river;
while the capitol occupies an eminence overlooking
the lower part of the city, and the country wbich lies
beyond it. Encircling this valley is a succession of
hills and gentle undulations, forming as it were a
natural amphitheatre dotted with villas and country-
seats. I made the circuit on horseback. Every emi-
nence that I ascended, revealed some new object to
admire; some Italian villa or cottage orné peeping out
from its wilderness of shrubbery, or a lordly mansion
reposing in dignity beneath the perennial shade of
giant live-oaks—the acknowledged monarchs of the
southern forests. I rode for several hours through
these delightfully picturesque suburbs, and had my
admiration excited at every step. Nature created
this a paradise. Art adorned and beautified it. But
in this flowery Eden the trail of the serpent is visible.
244
Montgomery.
Notwithstanding its elevated location, the city is said
to be quite unhealthy. The yellow fever, that pesti-
lential scourge of the South, prevails here at times to
an alarming extent, and other diseases less virulent
in their nature seem to be, as it were, indigenous to
this locality.
During my rambles I came to a spot of such quiet
beauty and loveliness, that I stopped and gazed upon
it for a long time in silent admiration. It was an
inclosure of two or three acres, on whose swelling
bosom of velvet softness reposed a modest little cot-
tage almost buried in a wilderness of foliage and
flowers. Standing near were two parental oaks, the
protecting deities of the place, whose gigantic, out-
stretched limbs, gnarled and defiant, strove in vain to
meet above, and hide their offspring from the face of
the over-arching sky. Encircling this classic retreat
was a perennial hedge almost smothered in the
embrace of creeping vines and plants in full bloom.
Roses of various hues, and the fragrant honeysuckle
and yellow flowering jasmine, were intermingled,
yielding alike their perfume to the breeze, and filling
the surrounding air with the purest life.
A Fast City.
245
“A sweeter spot on earth was never found :
I looked and looked, and still with new delight,
Such joy my soul, such pleasures filled my sight."
Time flew on angels' wings, and the shades of evening
were fast gathering, before I became conscious of the
lateness of the hour. Returning to the hotel, I supped,
and then wandered in the streets, which were as bril-
liant as handsome ladies and gas could make them. .
The shops and stores are all of modern style, and
apparently well stocked with fashionable goods.
Progress is unmistakably written on everything.
Fogyism, that ancient enemy of enterprise and
improvement, had fled at the first scream of the
steam-whistle, and has not been seen here since. It
is evidently a fast city, with its fast horses, fast men,
and fast women. The latter are said to be the best in
a long race, and generally manage to distance all their
competitors. I find that two-forty is the stand-
ard time here among bipeds as well as quadrupeds,
and those of less speed are excluded from the course
by the arbiters of fashion.
The celebrated violinist Ole Bull gave a concert
246
Montgomery.
here the other evening, assisted, according to the bills,
“by an eminent pianist, a celebrated performer on the
cornet, and a distinguished Prima Donna.” The
latter title was evidently a misnomer; as the lady, in
my opinion, was not sufficiently skilled in the art of
melody to be entitled to the first place in any opera,
unless an Ethiopian burlesque.
Ole himself is in a very good state of preservation,
considering that his life has been one of disappoint-
ments, reverses, and vicissitudes. He is not likely to
hang up his fiddle and his bow for some years to
come, unless so ordered by Providence; although I
observed that the frosty fingers of Tine had been play-
ing with his locks and left their indelible impress.
Montgomery has more the air and appearance of a
New York town than any Southern city that I have
yet visited. Notwithstanding its Northern aspect,
most of the inhabitants are ultra Southerners, who
adhere with tenacity to their « peculiar institutions."
The legislature not being in session, I have not had
an opportunity to see much of the office-holding and
office-seeking chivalry. Many of the guests of our
hotel appear to be members of the legal profession ;
The Fleecy Product.
247
at least, so I judged from their attachment to the bar-
room, which is the best patronized part of the house.
Its patrons, however, do not all seem to be professional
men; but planters, cotton-brokers, and others without
any particular business or occupation. The topic
most frequently discussed is cotton, and“ niggers,”
which being rather a dry subject, those engaged in it
were often obliged to resort to the bar, to lubricate
their vocal organs, so that they may be understood
by those around them.
Montgomery has become a great mart for cotton.
Nearly all that is grown in Central Alabama is.
brought to this city to be shipped down the river,
which flows for more than four hundred miles through
the richest cotton region of the South, and carries
each year thousands of bales of this valuable com-
modity to Mobile and New Orleans. Cotton is in
reality the circulating blood which gives vitality
to the state. All classes are interested in its culture,
from the princely merchant to the lowly artisan ; the
wealthy planter with his broad fields and army of
slaves, as well as the humble occupant of a cabin
with a few contiguous acres. A failure of the cotton
248
Montgomery.
crop would cast a gloom over the entire community.
It would paralyze their internal commerce, create a
panic in their monetary affairs, and be absolutely
ruinous to all planters of small means. Negroes,
unlike their masters, are never affected by the price of
cotton. Sometimes their market value is slightly
diminished by a failure of the crop, or increased
somewhat by an abundant harvest; yet they, as a
class, are generally indifferent to its fluctuations. If
they are not over-tasked or abused, and have a suffi-
ciency of creature comforts, they appear to be satis-
fied and happy.
I find that the cost of living at the South, especially
in cities and large towns, is considerably greater than
at the North. I was told by a wealthy resident of this
city that it would be cheaper for him to board with
his entire family--some eight or ten in number-at
any of the first-class hotels in New York, than to
keep house here, notwithstanding he owned all his
family servants and the dwelling he occupied. Most
kinds of food, with the exception of those Southern
staples, “ hog and hominy," are very dear, and the
supply is not always equal to the demand. At least
A Slave Household Expensive.
249
I have found it so in several cases when my appe-
tite has been sharpened by travel. Many of their
luxuries are brought from the North, but frequently,
when they reach their place of destination, they no
longer deserve the name, time and the climate having
so impaired their edible qualities as to render them
only fit to be used in the manufacture of bacon.
The keeping of so many slaves about their dwell-
ings is an important item in the expense of living.
Not that the food they eat and the clothes they wear,
cost so very much; but they are idle, careless, and
destructive, and wasteful to excess. In the culinary
department; every article of food, whether prepared
or in a crude state, has to be kept under lock and
key, and when wanted for use, weighed or measured
dut, or it will be wasted or dispensed with ruinous
prodigality. I have observed, in passing some of
their first-class residences, the yard literally swarming
with these human chattels; frequently a dozen or
more in sight, of both sexes, and comprising at least
three generations. Of that number, perhaps not
more than two or three were of any service to their
owner; the rest being incapacitated for work, by
250
Montgomery.
youth, infirmity, or age. I have no doubt that two
or three domestics of the Teutonic or Celtic race, at a
cost of as many hundred dollars per annum, will do
more work, and with much less waste, than a whole
family of slaves, whose yearly keeping and wasting
cannot be accounted less than from eight to twelve
hundred dollars.
Slave labor undoubtedly is profitable to the owners
or occupants of large inland plantations, away from
cities and towns, where the able-bodied of both sexes
are made available as field hands. But here, as well
as in other populous places at the South, where they
are mainly employed as house servants, or in taking
care of the premises of their owners, the labor of the
few hardly compensates for the cost of maintaining
the many. This class of servants are allowed more
liberties than plantation negroes; of these they take
advantage, and shirk labor whenever they can.
To a Northerner imbued with republican principles
and inheriting the sentiments and prejudices of his
Puritan ancestors, the existence of slavery, in its most
favorable form, must appear unnatural and forbidding.
But a few months' residence at the South will, I opine,
Slave Laws of Cuba.
251
so change his views and soften his prejudices that he
will regard the system with less abhorrence. I am no
friend to slavery in the abstract, neither do I admire
the practical workings of the system, as it is not in
accordance with my views of equal-rights and uni-
versal freedom. Yet from observations made during
a two months' residence at the South, I am convinced
that the slaves, as a class, are not so badly off as
many of us suppose. They are generally well treated,
and enjoy as many, if not more physical comforts
than a majority of the free negroes at the North ; and
I am inclined to believe that the masters are, on the .
whole, more to be pitied than the slaves themselves.
The laws of Cuba are more favorable to emancipa-
tion, and protect the negro far better than do ours.
The slaves on that island, according to the Code,
must be worked only a specified number of hours
each day, and their masters are obliged to provide
them with a permanent subsistence. On Sundays
and holidays they are allowed to work in their own
gardens, or employ their time as they choose. Being
by law protected in the enjoyment of a certain amount
of property, they can, if disposed, apply their earnings
252
Montgomery.
to the purchase of their own freedom. The value
of a slave, which is established by arbitration, in
no case exceeds five hundred dollars, although his
market value may be considerably more; and as
soon as he has accumulated fifty dollars, his mas-
ter is obliged to accept it towards the purchase of
his freedom. Every instalment thus made secures
for the slave a proportionate control of his own time,
and it is not uncommon to see slaves who have three
or four days in the week at their disposal. In case
he should be sold before the expiration of his bondage,
the amount he has paid must be carried to his credit
by the new owner. A slave may also bave the bene-
fit of a change of masters provided he can show that
he has been ill used. If, however, he can find some
one willing to become his purchaser, and the parties
cannot agree upon his value, they go before a com-
missioner appointed by government, who fixes a price,
which the owner is obliged to accept, and in return
make out a bill of sale to the new purchaser. The
negro may have so bad a reputation that he cannot
find any one willing to buy him. In that event, he
remains with his master, who having taken him for
>
Separation of Families.
253
worse instead of better, as the ladies sometimes take
their husbands, is obliged to feed, clothe, and take
care of him during sickness and health, in decrepitude
and age. But the slaves in Cuba are regarded by
their owners more as chattels than human beings,
and there exists none of that affectionate regard so
often manifested between master and servant in the
Southern States. The slaves here, as a class, are
more contented and happy, and apparently much
better off than most of the emancipated negroes.
The free negroes of the South, to speak paradoxically,
are not in reality as free as the slaves themselves, and
are apparently less happy and contented. Even the
African in his bondage feels his own superiority, and
looks the very picture of contemptuous pity as he
exclaims—"He, poor miserable nigger, has no massa
to take care of him."
Among the many objectionable features in the
institution of slavery, the separation of families and
the sundering of conjugal ties have always appeared
to me the most odious and inhuman. I find, on
inquiry, that this is seldom practised—at least, not to
very great extent; and from the slaves themselves,
254
Montgomery.
I learn that this separation, when it does exist, is not
generally regarded by them as a very great affliction.
I had a conversation a few days ago with an unc-
tuous specimen of Ham-anity by the name of "Nick,"
who was as black as his Satanic namesake, but of
fewer evil propensities, if there is any truth in phy-
siognomy, I asked him his age.
“Thirty seben nighabouts, Massa !” said he, respect-
fully touching his hat.
“ Are you married, Nick ?”
Yas, Massa, I spose I is!"
“How many children have you ?”
" Wall, I spects I'm de fader of ten, yaw, yaw.”
Here he displayed a set of teeth that would have
excited the envy of many a Northern belle.
“ Ten children? Why, Nick, that is quite a family
for so young a man as you !"
"Why yas, Massa, Ise some on children !"
“How old is your wife ?”.
“Do-no zackly, but reckon she be some younger
dan me!"
" Is she stout and healthy ?"
"She be all dat, massa !”
Talk with a Slave.
255
“Does she belong to your master ?"
“No, her massa lives a heap ways from here!"
“How often do you go to see her ?”
“Do-no zackly, sometimes once a month, and some-
times nary as often!""
“Wouldn't you like to see your wife and children
more frequently ?"
"I do-no, sar, sometimes I tink I would, but massa
says I go dare nuff, and he knows better dan me."
This conversation occurred nearly as I have related
it, and is a fair specimen of the stolidity and indiffe-
rence of the negroes on most of the Southern planta-
tions. I refer to the genuine, full-blooded African,
before his admixture with the gentle blood of the
chivalric ,South, for, to use a sporting phrase, “ blood
will tell," whether it be in the horses of the North,
or in the colored chattels of the South. It is some-
thing that will reveal itself whether in man or beast.
But a truce to this nonsense, this dark rendering of a
darle subject.
I came to this city contemplating a trip down the
Alabama River to Mobile, and from there to New
Orleans, but the weather is becoming so hot that I
256
Montgomery.
almost fear, in my present state of health, to risk a
visit to those "infected districts,” or to trust myself
for three or four days on a crowded steamer, with
indifferent accommodations. If I abandon this trip,
I shall seek a more invigorating climate. My next
letter will probably be from New Orleans or Nash-
ville. * * * * * * *
LETTER XVII.
NASHVILLE, TENN., May, 1856.
My last letter was written from Montgomery, that
lovely city in the green heart of Alabama, where I
spent a few days very pleasantly. My route from
there lay in an easterly direction, for nearly a hun-
dred miles, to the Chattahoochee River, and being
diversified by hill and dale, woodland and stream,
was highly picturesque. I was surprised to see so
many varieties of trees, shrubs, and creeping vines in
the forests and swamps through which we passed.
There was the stately live-oak, the melancholy elm,
the mournful cypress, the green-leaved laurel, the
white-canopied dog-wood, and the scarlet-flowering
red-wood, with its leafless branches thickly covered
the shrubs and vines was the wild honeysuckle with
11*
258
Nashville.
its odorous breath, and the yellow-flowering jasmine
overburdened with fragrance and wreathing with
graceful festoons the stately oak and lonely shrub.
After we crossed the Chattahoochee into Georgia,
the country appeared less highly cultivated, and the
face of Nature less attractive. The same change was
visible in the faces of the inhabitants along our route,
showing that animate as well as inanimate Nature is
impressible and assimilating in its character, and, like
the chameleon, “assumes the hue of the object with
which it comes in contact." Our train proceeded
quite slowly, and stopped long enough at every sta-
tion to enable me to see something of the country and
the inhabitants; and I must say that I was not favora-
bly impressed with the fertility of the one or the pros-
perity and enterprise of the other. The land was
evidently not more than half cultivated, and the build-
ings were rude and primitive in appearance--unlike
most of our comfortable farm-houses at the North.
Cotton, rice, and sweet potatoes are the principal
staples of Georgia; although the small farms in the
interior produce pigs and poultry, Indian corn and
tobacco, with a few kinds of grain for home consump-
Natural Productions of Georgia.
259
A
tion. The most valuable "domestic animals” are alli-
gators, negroes, rattlesnakes, pickaninnies, and scor-
pions, which are indigenous to this climate, and grow
spontaneously in the numerous lagoons, swamps, and
rivers. But I am far from wishing to disparage this
state, which is, without doubt, one of the most wealthy
and enterprising of the cotton states. With a diver-
sity of soil, and a climate half tropical, Georgia has
within itself abundant sources of prosperity and
wealth. Its extensive domains are traversed by navi-
gable rivers, and its eighty miles of sea-coast are lined
with islands, fertile in sea-island cotton, and capable
of producing many tropical fruits and vegetables.
The southern part is low, level, and interspersed with
swamps, which are well adapted to the cultivation of
rice. In the interior are rich alluvial bottoms and
table-lands, suited to the growth of the different kinds
of cotton; while many parts of the north, though
mountainous and apparently almost sterile, will, if
properly cultivated, yield a fair compensation to the
husbandman.
· I evidently passed through the most unattractive
portion of the state ; for I saw nothing in inanimate
1
260
Nashville.
nature to admire, although I was greatly amused at
some of the animate objects which came under my
observation. The inhabitants, as a class, were cer-
tainly the most unpolished specimens of humanity
that I ever met. But, without doubt, many of these
rough back-woods-men were "the bone and sinew" of
our country; men of strong hands and warm hearts,
and worthy of our highest respect.
During this excursion, I saw for the first time a
genuine specimen of the “Georgia cracker," fresh from
the pine barrens of his native state; so that this embo-
diment of the spirit of youthful romance and imagina-
tion is no longer a myth, but a creature of flesh and
blood-a veritable history, in which he is chronicled
as the only being on airth capable of "administering
consolation” to a live Yankee, or cute enough to out-
wooden-nutmeg an itinerant Connecticut clock-ped-
ler. He entered the cars at a small way-station near
the town of La Grange, carrying on his arm a pair of
old-fashioned russet-leather saddle-bags (large enough
to have contained a week's provender for man and
beast), which he hung on the back of an unoccupied
seat, and seated himself with his face towards me, as
A “Georgia Cracker."
261
if to give me a better opportunity to study his physique.
In person he was tall, lean, and lantern-jawed, having
what might be termed "a vegetable countenance,”,
with carroty hair, radish cheeks, and a turn-up nose.
He was dressed in a bran-new suit of linsey-woolsey,
with a hat considerably the worse for wear, which had
once evidently been black, but was now pretty nearly
dun. One side of his face appeared to be swollen, the
cause of which was soon revealed; his huge nether-
jaw relaxed, his mouth opened, and a large quid of
tobacco was dropped on the floor, where it remained
à steaming mass of juice-extracted vegetation-an
oasis in the desert waste surrounding it. Then his
deep pockets were fathomed, and a huge plug of
“Virginia pig-tail” was inserted between his capacious
jaws. After considerable twisting and wrenching,
accompanied by mirth-moving contortions of counte-
nance, he succeeded in sundering a fragment, which
he “rolled as a sweet morsel under his tongue."
Turning partly around and elevating his feet, he sat
for some time quietly chewing his cud, but soon
changed his position, and began to exhibit unmistaka-
ble symptoms of uneasiness. He kept hitching up
262
Nashville.
his trowsers, moving about in his seat, and looked the
very picture of “Impatience sitting on a hemlock
board and chewing the bitter cud of discontent.” His
eyes wandered from one person to another, as if there -
were something on his mind-something that he
wished to say. My sympathies became excited, and
I was about to address him, when he "broke the ice,"
and let in upon us a stream of volubility almost over-
whelming. Being the nearest to him, I had to brave
the force of the deluge; I shuddered at each succes-
sive douche, but was compelled to let the torrent flow
on, without making any effort to check its impetuo-
sity, merely endeavoring to divert it into some other
channel.
I have a great dislike to talking in the cars, when
they are in motion, as the effort to raise my voice
above the din and noise of the rattling train seriously
affects my throat; but there was no way of dodging
the tongue-missiles of this loquacious individual. If
he had talked without requiring an answer, I would
not have cared; but he opened the conversation, as
you would an oyster, by the introduction of the inqui-
sitorial knife. Listen to him for a moment:
1
1
Cracker Jargon.
pon
263
“Wal, stranger, this ere's dusty trav'ling!"
“Yes," I replied.
"You don't live in these ere parts, I reckon ?”
"No!"
“Whar may you be from ?!?
"Cuba."
" What! that are island of Cuby! How's the cot-
ton crop down thar'?”
“I believe that cotton is not one of the products of
that island," I replied.
“What! not raise cotton ? Make shingles I spose !"
“No, I think not!"
" Lots of niggers thar' I dare say! and plenty of
tobaccy tew! How many niggers dew yew own?”
“I am not the owner of any."
"Wal! that's curious, not to own no niggers! per-
haps you hires 'em, dew yew ?”
Being anxious to change the conversation, which
was becoming almost too familiar, I did not heed his
engaged in. Stretching his long, ostrich-like neck
over the side of the seat, he ejected from his mouth
a superfluous quantity of tobacco juice; then leaning
264
Nashville.
CUID
over towards me, in a sort of half-confiding tone
replied, “Wal! Mister, I'm in the shingle business,
I am. Now there is lots of ways of gettin' a livin'
in this ere world; some folks by keepin' niggers and
raisin' cotton; some by sellin' traps and swappin’
hosses; some by lumberin' and farmin'. Now you
see I've had a smart chance at most of these busi-
nesses, besides tendin' saw-mill and boatin', but this
ere shingle business beats 'em all.”
"But,” said I, “ do you find this business profit-
able ?"
“Wal, not particularly so, but I kinder manage to
get enough grub for the old woman and children, and
that's about all we orter expect in this ere world.”
"How large a family have you ?” I asked.
"Wal, let's see, there's the old woman and four gals
and tew boys to home, besides Joe and Silas who's
away down the 'Hooche a lumberin'."
How much longer he would have edified me with
his cracker jargon I am unable to say, bad he not, on
turning his head to expectorate, caught sight of an
acquaintance in the forward part of the car. Making
his way in that direction he grasped the man by the
Arrival at Atlanta.
265
hand, and exclaimed in a voice loud enough to be
heard by all around him :- .
"How do yu dew, Square ? I’m mitey glad tu see
yu; been down to the plantation I reckon ? Wal, I
de-clare if this ere aint Molly as I live! How she's
growed! I say, Square, this ere's a smart gall of
yourn, and looks on:commonly like her ma.”
· He continued to hold forth in this strain until he
arrived at his place of debarkation ; when throwing
his saddle-bags over his shoulder, and shaking his
friend's hand, he exclaimed:
“Now, Square, when yu come down tu our district,
come rite to my cabin, plenty of hog and hominy,
and the old woman will be mitey glad tu see yu."
This picture is drawn from life, and those who know
the original will acknowledge the correctness of the
delineation.
About sunset we reached Atlanta, a town of some
importance from its being a market and place of
transhipment for most of the cotton and other articles
of export, raised in several of the adjoining counties.
Two or three railroads intersect there, which makes
it a place of considerable bustle and activity. I was
266
Nashville.
recommended by a gentleman on the cars to the
“ Trout House," wliich favorably impressed me with
its appetizing name. It proved to be a large unpainted
possessing exterior. The interior was cold, cheerless,
and inhospitable, and I began to think that its name
was its only attraction. The porter who took charge
of my luggage was evidently the major-domo of the
establishment, for he was the only person visible
while I was engaged in registering my name and
selecting a room for the night.
Calling for a glass of iced-water, I was told that
there was none in the house, but if I would pay for
it, they would send out and get some for me. I
thought this was rather cool treatment, but supposing
it to be one of the customs of the country, I gave the
porter a quarter, and in about an hour a small pitcher
of ice, but no change, was brought to my room in
the fourth story.
This world, or the inhabitants thereof, are said to
be composed of two antagonistic classes—“victims
and victimizers.” I certainly shall be at no loss here-
after to decide to which class I belong. But, as
Rival Waiters.
267
Hudibras says there is as “great pleasure in being
cheated as to cheat," I shall have my full share of
this world's pleasures and beatitudes.
When I came down to tea, the table was nearly
deserted; but from the soiled condition of the cloth,
and the refuse eatables scattered around, I judged that
quite a number of hungry bipeds had preceded me.
When seated, a full-blooded African, with a face as
black as the ace of spades, and a mouth stretching
from ear to ear, came up and wanted to know " what
massa would be helped to." Before I could reply,
a spruce-looking mulatto, who evidently imagined
that he saw a shining quarter in the perspective,
approached me and bowing very obsequiously, said,
"I will take the gentleman's order!"
“No, you doant," said he with the open counte-
nance, “I'm gwine to wait on de gemman myself,"
and he reached out his hand to take my plate. I
ended the controversy by waving off the interloper,
and directed the sable individual to bring me a plate
of dry toast with a cup of black tea.
“Yaw! yaw! dat I will, massa !" and he started
for the kitchen as fast as his lagging heels would
268
1
Nashville.
allow him, those elongated appendages not being able
to keep within two or three feet of his advancing head
and shoulders. He returned in a few moments almost
out of breath, the perspiration standing in large drops
on his ebony forehead, from his efforts to toast my
bread over a hot coal-fire. His first salutation was :
“Dat are free nigger 'magines I don't know how
to wait on the white folks. Him feels mitey grand
since he got free papers ! But I'll let him know dat
he's no better dan me no how." He wiped his face
with his coat-sleeve, and in his anxiety to please,
placed before me pepper, mustard, salt, and other con-
diments which I did not require, and neglected to
pass the butter, and the necessary ingredients for my
tea. When I asked for the latter, he upset the sugar-
bowl in his haste to reach it, and filled my cup to
overflowing with milk before I could prevent it. At
last I was obliged to send him to the kitchen for
something I did not want to get rid of his well-mean-
ing but awkward attempts to serve me.
On examining the edibles before me, I found that
my heedless waiter had mistaken my order, and
instead of dry toast and black tea, had brought me
Chattanooga.
269
I
black toast and dry tea, for the one was black as
Sambo himself, and the other tasted more like a decoc-
tion of dried herbs than of savory oolong. But find-
ing a plate of stale bread within my reach, I made
a hasty though not luxurious mealm being desirous
to get away from the table before the return of my
officious waiter.
Not finding any late papers in the hotel, or any-
thing to interest me within doors, I strolled through
some of the principal streets in the vicinity; observed
nothing worthy of note, but enough, however, to con-
vince me that Atlanta was the most unattractive place
that I had seen since leaving Cuba. About nine
o'clock "a solitary wayfarer"_to use the language of
a popular novelist, "might have been seen wending
his weary way” up three flights of stairs to his quiet
room in the “upper regions." Here he remained in
close communion with Morpheus until the first train
left in the morning, when he took his departure, hay-
ing acquired, during his brief sojourn, a little more
knowledge of Southern manners and customs.
My next stopping-place was Chattanooga, a small
inland town within the limits of Tennessee, where I
270
Nashville.
remained one night and the greater part of a day;
from necessity, however, not from choice, as the cars
were detained there that length of time. The pas-
sengers were quite indignant at the apparently unne-
cessary delay. It was intimated that the railroad com-
pany had a pecuniary interest in the badly-kept hotel
at the station ; otherwise a score or two of impatient
travellers would not be so often delayed there, and
subjected to such poor fare and indifferent accommo-
dations. I would rather have spent the night on a
rail than in a seven-by-nine room, on a bed of straw,
between sheets not as immaculate as the driven snow.
But I passed the ordeal unscathed, and reached this
city in safety. While at Chattanooga, I was obliged
to remain in the hotel most of the time, on account
of a severe rain storm, and as there were no books or
papers accessible, I amused myself with watching the
crowd of “natives” who thronged the bar-room, and
in listening to their ludicrous provincialisms. They
would come in wet as drowned rats, but immediately
complain of being dry, and forthwith proceed to
"imbibe.” The smiling proprietor stood behind the
counter in his shirt sleeves, engaged in preparing a
Description of the City.
271
suspicious combination of fluid commodities with
“mint fixings," and dispensing it with alacrity to the
thirsty crowd who were impatiently áwaiting their
turn at “the straw,” which they sucked with apparent
relish. It has been said that “straws show which
way the wind blows," but in this instance they plainly
indicated the way the streams flowed. * * *
Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, is pleasantly
situated on the Cumberland River, and has a popula-
tion of about twenty-five thousand. This stream
rises in the south-eastern part of Kentucky, and after
making a bend into this State, and pursuing its ellipti-
cal course for nearly two hundred miles, it runs north,
into western Kentucky, and empties into the Ohio
River, a short distance from its confluence with the
Father of Waters.” The chief attraction of this city
is its picturesque and commanding situation, and the
beauty and diversity of the surrounding scenery. It
is mostly built upon a solid rock a hundred feet or
more above the bed of the river, and, on account of
its elevated and healthful location, has become a popu-
lar resort during the summer, for families living in
the low and less salubrious places in the vicinity.
.
urro
272
Nashville.
Nashville contains many fine private residences,
but the “lion” of the city, as well as of the state, is
the elegant capitol now in process of erection. It is
built of Tennessee marble, a species of limestone
susceptible of a beautiful polish, which was found in
that vicinity. The expense of this structure, when
completed, will be not far from one million of dollars,
notwithstanding the first cost of the stone was but
from the State Prison. It stands upon the highest
eminence in the city, nearly two hundred feet above
the river, and is a conspicuous mark for the eye for
leagues around. This edifice was designed by a
Philadelphia architect named Strickland, who died
remains were entombed in a vault beneath the build-
ing. His son, also an architect, is now engaged in
completing the work. In one of the pleasantest
streets of the city is the mansion of the late President
Polk, where his widow now resides. On the lawn in
front of the house is a monument erected by Mrs.
Polk to the memory of her statesman-husband, con-
taining a simple and appropriate inscription.
Southern Hospitality.
273
This city is celebrated for its beautiful women, but
as I only had an opportunity to see them in church
and in their carriages, at a distance, I cannot speak
intelligently on the subject; for distance is supposed
to “lend enchantment to animate as well as inani-
mate objects. I was much pleased with the bright
happy faces of a cavalcade of school-girls, who passed
me one day in the outskirts of the city. They were
all quite pretty, becomingly attired, and rode with
ease and elegance.
The country, for leagues around Nashville, is pictur-
esque and beautiful, pleasantly diversified with hill
and dale, with cultivated fields, green pastures, and
belts of woodland. It is an opulent district, highly
cultivated, and abounding in extensive plantations,
with fine old mansions, where the wealthy planters
live more like noblemen than simple farmers.
The inhabitants of the South, particularly the
planters of affluence, are celebrated for their hospi-
tality and courtesy to strangers. It is a part of their
religion "to take in strangers,” and entertain them
at their homes and firesides. Any one having just
claims to respectability is cordially welcomed by
12
274
Nashville.
UL.
them, and horses, carriages, and servants are placed at
his command. He is invited to join in all the social
gatherings in the neighborhood, and is expected to
make himself at home in every sense of the word.
This is a charming feature of Southern society, and
an agreeable contrast to the ungenial and indifferent
manner with which strangers are often treated at the
North. It is true, that strangers, with us, are “taken
in,” but not always in the scriptural sense; neither
are they often the recipients of that genuine, unselfish
hospitality which is so universal among the planters
and wealthy citizens of the South. I speak some-
what from experience, having in several instances,
during my southern travels, received civilities and
personal attentions such as would not have been
bestowed on a stranger at the North. * * *
LETTER XVIII.
"MAMMOTT CAVE HOTEL,"* Kv., May, 1856.
THE long cherished desire of my life is realized.
I have seen the Mammoth Cave, the eighth wonder of
the world, and by many considered more wonderful
than all the others combined. I have traversed its ma-
jestic avenues, threaded its tortuous paths, climbed its
precipitous heights, peered into its Tartarean depths,
navigated its Stygian waters, drunk from its Crystal
fountains, ascended its Rocky Mountains, and gazed
on its varied scenes with conflicting emotions. I was
awed by its grandeur, charmed by its sublimity, fasci-
nated by its beauty, and astonished at its immensity.
* Some portions of the following letter were published in a news-
paper at the time when it was written. In its revised and enlarged
form, as here presented, the author hopes that he has succeeded in
depicting the most striking features of the Mammoth Cave.
276
Mammoth Cave.
But to particulars. I left Nashville in company
with a Mr. L., from New York, an elderly gentleman
of wealth and education, whose acquaintance I made
in Havana. We reached “Bell's Tavern” the next
night, by stage. This has been "a place of enter-
tainment for man and beast” for more than fifty
years, and is intimately associated with the Mammoth
Cave, being but about eight miles distant from it.
Having partaken of an early breakfast the next
morning, we started for the cave in an old-fashioned
Kentucky “carry-all” without springs, and after
riding for two hours over the worst road imaginable,
reached our place of .destination, pretty effectually
shaken up. We were the only passengers for the
cave, it being too early in the season for a great
influx of visitors.
The “Cave Hotel” is a large, irregular, rambling
sort of building, somewhat out of repair, and not
particularly attractive in its appearance, but workmen
are engaged in rejuvenating it for the coming season,
when it will appear in its new annual suit of paint
and garniture. The proprietor being absent when we
arrived, we were obliged to wait his return before we
Its Vast Magnitude.
277
could obtain rooms, and in the interval made the
acquaintance of a young Scotchman named Frazer,
who had arrived a few hours before us, and was wait-
ing for an opportunity to join some party going into
the cave. We found him an agreeable, well informed
young man, and apparently familiar with most of
the great natural curiosities of Europe. He had come
to this country to see some of our celebrities, more
especially to visit the Mammoth Cave, whose fame,
it appears, is even greater in the Old World than in
the New.
I am informed that the original owner of the cave,
or rather of a few acres surrounding the entrance,
went abroad without having explored it. While in
Europe, so much interest was manifested in this
wonderful natural curiosity, and he heard such extra-
vagant accounts from persons who had visited it, that
immediately on his return he purchased seventeen
hundred acres more, supposing that it would cover
the whole extent of the cave. But from recent
explorations, it is evident that it extends under many
of the farms in the vicinity, whose owners may not
be aware that the Nobility of Europe, as well as the
278
Mammoth Cave.
1
noble men of America, have traversed their domains
" without leave or license.”
This cave is said to contain “two hundred and
twenty-six avenues, forty-seven domes, eight cataracts,
twenty-three pits, besides numerous rivers ;" the
aggregate length of all the different avenues, both
direct and lateral, is estimated at three hundred miles.
It is, in fact, a small subterranean state of itself, which
might almost claim to be admitted separately into the
Union, if it had any population save "rats, bats, and
eyeless fish,” to legislate and enjoy the rights of suf-
frage. I am not sure, however, but it can take care
of itself, having done so from time immemorial,
which is more than all states can say! And I think
I can show that the legislative, executive, and judi-
ciary departments of this embryo state can be filled
from among its own population. What is more neces-
sary to successful legislation, than age, experience, wis-
dom, and sagacity? "As old as a rat," showing that
they have age; “ As wise as a rat," proving that they
possess wisdom; and “as cunning as a rat,” evincing
their sagacity; are expressions familiar to us all.
And how can the judiciary department be better
Its Natural History.
279
filled than by eyeless fish ? Slippery and supple in
their natures, they can wriggle themselves deeper into
the intricate interstices of the law than most of its
modern disciples; and such is their affinity for shiners
that they can decoy them from their clients' pockets
ad libitum, which is one of the most important requi-
sites in law, according to the popular interpretation
of Blackstone. · And besides, being blind, they are
eminently qualified to administer justice with impar-
tiality. As for the bats, their usefulness is manifold.
They also will make successful lawyers. Being pro-
gencies of the occasion, or whenever their interests
demand it; and if necessary, can act as counsel to both
parties in a suit, being bird to one, and animal to the
other. Then again, they will make invaluable sol-
diers, forming in themselves a bat-tery that can never
be silenced; and when defending a fortification, will
not leave the walls during daylight, and will be
occupied the entire night in flying from place to
place, aiding and encouraging one another. Now I
hope that our “Uncle Samuel” will give that little
“bone of contention," Kansas, a toss over the Rocky
280
Mammoth Cave.
Mountains, and take into his family this underground
territory with its interesting population, and I will
wager a leaden ducat that the whole confederacy will
be improved by the annexation. But a truce to this
nonsense.
After having secured rooms, our first inquiry was
for Stephen the celebrated guide, who is so closely
identified with the cave and its associations, having
been employed in that capacity for nineteen years.
He was the first to explore many of its interminable
labyrinths, and to open to the world its unrevealed
wonders. We were disappointed to find that he had
gone into the cave with a party early that morning,
and would not be back until night. Stephen is almost
as much of a celebrity as the cave itself, and I had
set my heart on having him for our guide; for with-
out his agreeable companionship, the cave to me
would be divested of many of its attractions. But
Mat, the next best guide, was not engaged, and we
secured his services About an hour was occupied
in preparing lamps, changing our dresses, and other
preliminaries. When completed, our party, consist-
ing of three persons besides the guide, left the house,
.
Equipments for the Journey.
281
hundred yards, reached the mouth of the cave. We
were quite fantastically dressed, in “monkey jackets"
of green and yellow flannel, trowsers of the same
material, stuffed caps, heavy boots, a Mont Blanc staff
(a long stick sharpened at the end), and each of us
carrying a swinging lamp, so constructed that it could
not be broken or easily extinguished. Mat carried
two lamps, a canteen of oil slung on his shoulder,
a basket containing our dinner, and a long black
bottle, contents unknown, but not unsuspected. His
pockets were filled with matches, Bengal lights, medi-
cated paper, and other indispensable articles.
After descending a flight of rudely constructed
stone steps for about thirty feet, we found ourselves
within the mouth of the cave. Branches of trees,
roots, and creeping vines overhung the entrance,
imparting to it a wild and peculiarly picturesque
appearance. A current of cold air greeted us as we
entered, but, after advancing a few rods, we were
sufficiently warm. The temperature of this cave is
uniform throughout, never varying more than one
degree from fifty-nine Fahrenheit, during summer or
12*
282
Mammoth Cave.
winter. The air is also remarkably pure, and so very
bracing, that a person in ordinary health can walk
a long distance without fatigue. Combustion is per-
fect in all parts of the cave, even in the deepest pits
and most confined places; and it is said that nothing
has ever been found here in a decomposed state.
Some affirm that decomposition cannot take place
where the temperature is unvarying, and the air free
from humidity.
In support of this theory, it is related that Mr.
Croghan, the owner of the cave, when exploring a
new avenue a few years ago, discovered a young
child lying on the ground apparently asleep. It was
cold to the touch, yet he could hardly believe that
life was extinct, so blooming were its cheeks, and so
life-like the expression of its countenance. He had it
removed to the hotel, and made every effort to dis-
cover its paternity, supposing that it belonged to some
poor family in the vicinity. But imagine his asto-
nishment, when visiting the body the next morning,
to find nothing left but ashes. It had probably been
entombed for years. * * * *
Our guide having lighted the lamps and distributed
Scene in the Rotunda.
283
them among our party, we followed him through
« The Narrows” down a gradual descent, and in a few
moments emerged into the vestibule or antechamber
of the cave. Most of the places of interest here are
named from some incident in their history, or from
the object or place to which they bear a real or ima-
ginary resemblance. This is called the Rotunda, and
is said to be one hundred and sixty feet below the
surface of the earth, and nearly under the hotel.
Here our guide disappeared with the lamps, and
we were plunged suddenly into darkness. The tran-
sition was so great, that it seemed as if all the sable
elements were mixed together and intensified. It was
horribly, awfully dark.
“As dark as was chaos, ere the infant sun
Was rolled together, or had tried his beams
Athwart the gloom profound.” .
Soon a soft mellow light was reflected in the distance,
which radiated and diffused itself over the huge grey
walls above and around us. It was a scenic display,
for which we were indebted to our guide and a Bengal
light. We were in a room nearly two hundred feet
SaS
284
Mammoth Cave.
in diameter and about sixty feet high; the roof of
which is flat, and composed of a single rock, without
any discernible seam or interruption, save at the
edges. The whole is without a pillar or support of
any kind—a wonderful triumph of the Mighty Archi-
tect and Builder.
Here are to be seen the remains of vats and furna-
ces used in the manufacture of saltpetre, which nearly
half a century ago was taken from this cave in large
quantities. Heaps of nitrous earth and ashes are
scattered about, and the impression of wheels and the
track of oxen are as distinctly visible as if made but
a few days since.
After passing the Great Bend, where the avenue
makes almost an acute angle, we came to a place
designated as “The Sick Chamber.” Here are to be
seen two or three dilapidated stone huts, which were
erected several years ago as a kind of hospital for.
consumptives. The pure air of the cave, and its
exemption from atmospheric changes, suggested the
idea of its becoming a hibernating place for pulmonic
invalids, and several were induced to try the experi-
ment. But the eternal darkness and gloom, together
The Grand Gallery.
285
.
with the absence of enlivening society and other
healthful influences, prevented a cure being effected.
The last patient having persevered for more than a
year without any apparent benefit, during which time
two or three of his companions died, the scheme was
abandoned, and the huts have remained ever since
untenanted.
Two passages diverge from this mammoth chamber.
One is called the Great Bat Room, from the quantities
of bats to be seen upon its walls and ceiling-looking
from below like black incrustations, so closely are
they packed together. The other is known as the
Grand Gallery; it is five miles long, from fifty to one
hundred feet wide, averages about fifty feet in height,
and is said to be the most extensive subterranean
avenue in the known world. The next place of inte-
rest is the Church, an immense room, sixty feet high,
over one hundred feet in diameter, and capable of
accommodating a congregation of several thousand.
A large rock projects on one side, forming an imposing
pulpit, while in the rear is a niche of sufficient capa-
city to hold an organ and a respectable-sized choir.
Divine service has been held here a number of times
286
Mammoth Cave.
to large audiences. The shape and formation of this
underground sanctuary are said to be in accordance
with acoustic principles, and a voice of ordinary capa-
city will fill the room and be heard distinctly in the
remotest part. Here our guide ignited a piece of medi-
cated paper, which diffused a soft, mellow effulgence
La sort of “dim, religious light” over the room,
adding to its solemnity, and leaving our minds
more deeply impressed with its holy beauty and
sublimity.
In contradistinction, a few hundred yards distant is
the Ball Room, so called from its adaptation to the
Terpsichorean art, and where the "poetry of motion”
can be perpetrated without annoyance to the “upper ten
thousand," who repudiate that species of amusement.
It is nearly two hundred feet in diameter, and of cor-
responding height. A large natural orchestra pro-
jects at one end, capable of holding one hundred
musicians; and the back recedes, forming a sightly
gallery for spectators.
Not very far from this room is a large isolated rock
standing upon the ground, called the Giant's Coffin,
from its resemblance to the last tenement of humanity.
The Labyrinth.
287
It is fifty-seven feet long, and in every way shaped
like a coffin. Directly above it on the ceiling is a
black incrustation of gypsum resembling an ant-eater
on a log, which the superstitious consider as ominous.
Back of this is a hole in the wall leading to a low
room about one hundred feet square, called the
Wooden Bowl, from its fancied resemblance in shape
to that article of domestic utility.
We now go down “the Steeps of Time," by a
rapid descent of about fifty feet, to the Deserted
Chambers, a succession of gloomy-looking apartments,
which are correctly named. The ground about here
is full of fearful-looking chasms and pits, of which
we are constantly warned by our guide. Near one
of the largest of these openings, which is fearfully
deep, is constantly heard the sound of an invisible
waterfall.
We descended by a long ladder into the Labyrinth,
so called on account of its numerous intricate pas-
sages and bewildering mazes, which we'threaded in
safety, although not without slightly endangering our
vision, having to look to “the right and left oblique,”
as it were, simultaneously. Some of these passages
We
u
288
Mammoth Cave.
C
were so irregular and complex in their structure that
it would require an able mathematician to elucidate
them. Its continuity of obtuse, acute, and right
angles; its crooked, curved, mixed, concave, and con-
vex lines, would puzzle a student in geometry, and
convince him that there are more things below the
earth “than are dreamt of in his philosophy.” .
The next place of interest is Goran's Dome, by
many considered the greatest curiosity in the cave.
Our guide led us to an opening in the wall of two or
· three feet in diameter, and then disappeared with our
lamps. Soon a faint straggling light appeared from
within this opening, which rapidly increased until
the whole interior was illuminated. We each in our
turn looked within. A huge yawning chasm was
above and below, so high that the top was scarcely
visible, so deep that the eye could not fathom it. The
height and depth are estimated at three hundred feet,
and the opening where we stood was about midway
between the top and bottom. It is not the magnitude
alone of this vast cavernous Temple, which constitutes
its chief attraction; its peculiar formation, its archi-
tectural completeness, and the uniqueness of its inte-
The Bottoinless Pit.
289
rior decorations, are wonderful, and cannot be correctly
described or delineated. The inner walls are honey-
combed and covered with a creamy white incrustation.
The dome above is conical in shape, and looks not
unlike an immense canopy lined with richly embossed
velvet (a beautiful specimen of Nature's handiwork)
which descends in voluminous folds-draping the
whole interior.
We retrace our steps to the Labyrinth, and con-
tinue to go down, down, down, until we stand upon
the very brink of the Bottomless Pit-a frightful-
looking abyss, of incredible depth. A sheet of medi-
cated paper is lighted and thrown down, which is
lost to sight long before it is extinguished; the sul-
phurous fumes, as they ascend, are strongly suggestive
of-you know what!
This is two miles from the mouth of the cave, and
was once supposed to be the end of all cavities in that
direction. But a gentleman, a few years ago, con-
ceived the idea that there were other openings beyond.
With the aid of the adventurous Stephen, he threw
a ladder over the chasm, some twenty feet, and a new
field was opened for exploration. A substantial
290
Mammoth Cave.
bridge is now erected here, which is crossed in perfect
safety.
A short walk brings us to an opening in the ground,
large enough to admit one person at a time, over
which is suspended an immense rock of several tons
weight, resting on a corner, looking as if the least jar
ever. This is called the Scotchman's Trap, and is so
fearful a place that many visitors, rather than enter
it, will forego the pleasure of viewing the wonders
which lie beyond. We go down, and soon find our-
selves in the midst of huge rocks, over which we
climb, long ladders which we descend, and narrow
places which we squeeze through, until we come to
the far-famed “ Winding Way,” or Fat Man's Misery,
as it is facetiously termed, being a zigzag path about
seven feet high, and averaging but eighteen inches in
width, for a distance of three hundred and fifteen feet
through a solid rock. This passage was undoubtedly
formed by the gradual attrition of water, as its sides
are as smooth and lustrous as a water-worn pebble.
This wonderful freak of Nature is a source of great
merriment to the visitors, especially if there happen
Fat Man's Misery.
291
to be any Falstaffs among them, for it is next to
impossible for a very fleshy person to get through ;
and several, who, with more curiosity than discretion,
made the attempt, were with difficulty extricated.
Some, who succeed in forcing their way through,
cannot be induced to break their fast while on the
other side, lest their increased diameter should prevent
their safe return. My friend Mr. Ir , being a
small man, glided through this tortuous channel like
an eel; while the great “broth of a boy" from Edin-
burgh, being full six feet in his stockings, and of goodly
proportions, “puffed and blowed like a fresh-water
porpoise;" and by the time he reached a breathing-
place had become longitudinally more, and latitudi-
nally less by the severe lateral pressure. Being nei-
ther great nor small, I was fortunate enough to reach
the end; but not without sundry squeezes and divers
affectionate embraces from the cold unyielding walls
which encompassed me. But the end was not yet.
We had another ordeal to pass through, which to me
was much more disagreeable. It was the Valley of
Humility-a kind of prospective Purgatory, where
the ceiling was less than four feet from the ground.
I
292
Mammoth Cave.
Here we were obliged to grovel in the dust, or to
walk with horizontal spines, with head and back in
constant danger of collision with the rough rock
above. Oh, how I longed to “take off my head and
carry it under my arm,” like some of the personages
who figure in ghost stories. It was labor to the
head as well as to the back-bone, and we all uttered
spontaneous exclamations of delight when we reached
Relief Hall.
The next place of interest is the Bacon Chamber,
where the low ceiling is covered with white oblong
stalactites, being a very good imitation of hams ready
bagged and whitewashed ; and a cavity is shown in the
centre, as "a kettle to boil them in.” A little further
on is River Hall, where the river has been known to
rise fifty-seven feet above low water. We descended
gradually for a long distance; the soil, a tenacious
clay, is moist and slippery, the effects of a recent
inundation. At the foot of this hill is a yawning
abyss, known as the Dead Sea, the waters of which
are said to be twenty-five feet deep at the lowest tide.
A lighted paper is thrown down upon a broad, black
body of water, eighty feet below-a shuddering, fear-
Dinner and its Accompaniments.
293
ful place to look intomits Tartarean depths, its name,
and the associations connected with it, all combining to
impress us with sensations not easily to be shaken off.
Far below us in the darkness and gloom is the river
Styx. A rock is hurled into the Erebean space-a
low, gurgling sound is heard—then all is still, and a
death-like silence prevails. We prepared to descend,
but our aged friend, through fear or fatigue, declined
going any further, and as we could not leave him
behind, we were obliged to return. I was not sorry
that it so happened, for I was particularly desirous of
having Stephen the Charon to ferry us over the Styx,
and to hear the tones of his rich barytone voice,
while passing the Echo River, on our voyage down
the Lethe. We decided to return by the way of the
Gothic Avenue, and to explore that portion of the
cave, which would about use up the day. It was
now past meridian, and having breakfasted at an
unusually early hour, our stomachs began to remon-
strate against so long a fast. We therefore got up an
impromptu meeting, and "resolved unanimously”
that it was time for dinner. Our guide spread a col-
lation upon a rock, around which we assembled. The
IV
294
Mammoth Cave.
basket containing the mysterious bottle, with its nose
provokingly in sight, as if to tempt us to a more
intimate acquaintance, was placed a little distance
from us, but the cold chicken was equally as tempting
and much more available, being within reach. The
three miles of locomotion, the acrobatic feats I had
involuntarily performed, besides occasionally prac-
tising in “ground and lofty tumbling," had given me
some symptoms of fatigue, as well as an appetite; so
I concluded first to try the chicken and its accom-
paniments, and if they failed to sustain me, then I
would employ Mat as a "medium” to exorcise the
spirits from the depths of that long, black, sepulchral-
looking bottle.
Dinner being over, the fragments gathered toge-
ther, the "spirits” in their proper place, and the empty
bottle filled with surplus enthusiasm, to be uncorked
when wanted, we began retracing our steps to the
beginning of new wonders.
It is not my intention to give a detailed account of
all the various avenues, halls, domes, and other won-
ders which I have seen; it would fill a volume, and
exhaust my vocabulary. I shall only attempt to de-
A General View.
295
scribe a few of the most imposing and attractive
features of the Cave, which is no vast charnel-house,
impure, unarchitectural, and commonplace, but a
succession of splendid streets, domes, and arches, all
buried deep within the earth, far from the din and
strife of active life, where the lightning is never seen,
thunder never heard, and the petty convulsions of
nature never felt. It is an empire in ruins; a city
sepulchred by mountains, its half buried palaces,
halls, and domes, still revealed and visible in their full
architectural beauty ; its cornices, its galleries, its
vaulted ceilings, “wonderfully symmetrical and mys-
teriously upheld.” And then, the diversity of its
scenery, the variety of its formations, its mountains,
rivers, cataracts, its interminable labyrinths, its unfa-
thomable abysses, its domes entombed, its palaces in
ruins, all combine to make it one of the grandest,
most sublime, and beautiful specimens of the handi-
work of the Great Architect-Him
“ Whose breath can still the winds,
Uncloud the sun, charm down the swelling sea,
And stop the floods of Heaven.”
296
Mammoth Cave.
sses
The Gothic Avenue is two miles long, from thirty
to forty feet wide, and of a corresponding height. It
received its name from the curiously arched ceiling,
which bears a rude resemblance to Gothic architec-
ture. Its walls are covered with hanging stalactites,
some of which are white and lustrous like Parian
marble; others as clear and transparent as crystal.
Many of these crystallizations depend in huge masses
from the ceilings, and are of such peculiar brilliancy,
that they might, at a distance, be mistaken for
immense chandeliers covered with diamonds. These
brilliant incrustations glittered and, coruscated in
the light of our uplifted torches, as we waved them
to and fro beneath the gem-studded canopy.
In this vicinity, are many novel and interesting
places, whose peculiar nomenclature is derived from
Biography, History sacred and profane, Zoology,
Mythology, and the imagination. I visited the Haunted
Chamber, stood for a while beneath Annetti's Dome,
drank from the Crystal Pool, leaned upon Napoleon's
Breast-work, gathered cinders from Vulcan's Forge,
saw the Elephant's Head, tweaked St. Anthony's
Nose, and becoming weary, rested myself in the
The Gothic Chapel.
297
Devil's arm-chair. The seat dedicated to his Satanic
Majesty is a stalagmitic formation, the top of which
is sufficiently depressed to afford a comfortable rest-
ing-place for the visitor. But I was so dull or
unimaginative, as not to be able to discover in it any
particular resemblance to an arm-chair.
The principal attraction of this avenue is the
Gothic Chapel, which is of such unique formation,
and so peculiar and elaborate in its ornamentation,
as to excite wonder and admiration in the beholder.
It is a sort of Gothic Temple, elliptical in shape, and
some fifty by eighty feet in diameter. The lofty
ceiling is supported by stalagmite columns; and rib-
bed and bracketed with stalactites. These columns
expand into majestic arches as they approach the
ceiling, where they unite with the stalactical drapery
from above, which descends in massive folds, giving
to the whole interior a grand and imposing appear-
ance. Our guide so arranged the lights as to cause
their reflections to fall upon the ceiling and the sup-
porting columns, which so increases the effect, that
the spectator can almost imagine himself to be gazing
upon the interior of some vast Cathedral or Gothic
13
298
Mammoth Cave.
we visited the Register Room, but did not leave our
"handwriting on the wall," not being ambitious of
that kind of immortality. The ceiling here is but
ten or twelve feet high, and would be as smooth and
white as plaster of Paris, were it not that many
visitors, to gratify a low, morbid vanity, trace their
names in vile lamp-smoke; thus blackening and dis-
figuring one of the most chaste and beautiful apart-
ments in this vast Temple of Nature.
The beauty of many parts of this cave has been
marred by visitors breaking off and, carrying away
the most beautiful stalactites and other formations,
which can never be replaced. This wanton vandal-
ism is unpardonable, from the fact, that the ground
in many places is covered with beautiful specimens
which have fallen from above, and may be bad for
the picking up. In one of the small grottoes, cele-
brated for the beauty of its dog-tooth spar, a few
years ago, a creature wearing the semblance of huma-
nity, broke off and carried away one of the largest
and most beautiful of these crystallizations. Not
content with this desecration, he inscribed his name
The Star Chamber.
299
on the fragment remaining, not omitting his unde-
served title of "Reverend,” for it appears that this
sacrilegious despoiler of God's workmanship was
a clergyman..
After leaving this avenue, we come to a place of
peculiar interest to susceptible youths and sentimental
young ladies, who are said to be on the qui vive when
they enter its precincts. It is called “the Lover's
Leap;" although I could discover nothing in the spot
or its surroundings to warrant so expressive an
appellative. A long, narrow, pointed rock is to be
seen projecting quite a distance over a deep pit full
of jagged rocks and broken stones. But I could not
learn that it had ever been the scene of any such
imbecile exploit as is suggested by the name. We
now retraced our steps to the main avenue, and after
a short respite proceeded to the Star Chamber, by far
the most solemn, grand, and imposing apartment in
this cave. And I can say—without partaking of any
of my bottled enthusiasm—that I witnessed while there
one of the most sublimely beautiful sights I ever
beheld, and one that I shall"never forget as long as
memory sits securely upon her throne. This "Cham-
300
Mammoth Cave.
ber," as it is called, is a long, magnificent hall, sixty
feet high, with a flat ceiling. The walls on each side
are of a light color, and are nearly perpendicular
until within a few feet of the top, when they recede,
making the room appear of an immense height. The
ceiling is covered with a black incrustation of gyp-
sum, studded with crystals, which have the appear-
ance of stars in a dark night; and so perfect is the
illusion, that one can hardly persuade himself that
the sky is not visible through an opening in the
roof. Our guide, who understands the dramatic
effect to be produced by "lights and shadows,''
placed our lamps under a rock, so as to throw a soft,
mellow light upon the ceiling, revealing the delicate
marbling of the sky, and its artistically blended lights
and shades. Then he would increase the shadow, to
give the appearance of an approaching storm, until
the whole heavens were darkened by the threatening
clouds. All that was wanting to complete the illu-
sion was the lightning's vivid flash, and the deep
mutterings of the distant thunder. It was a scene
that cannot well be described, but must be seen to be
appreciated.
Stephen, the Guide.
301
This ended our first day's exploration.—We had
been six hours in darkness (except what little light
was emitted from our faintly glimmering lamps), and
had walked about nine miles. When we emerged
from the cave, the sun was shining brightly, and we
were almost blinded by the intensity of light. The
air felt hot and oppressive, although the day was not
very warm, and we all complained of a feeling of
prostration that we did not experience in the Cave.
We, however, succeeded in reaching the Hotel, and
eight o'clock found me courting sleep with "an
alacrity” worthy of Sancho Panza.
The next morning, daylight and I opened our eyes
simultaneously; and long before Old Sol was fairly
awake, the Scotchman and myself, and Stephen, with
his "lamps trimmed and burning," had entered upon
our three-mile journey to that subterranean river of
Oblivion known as Lethe.. .
As our guide will figure somewhat conspicuously
in this narration, a short description of him, I trust,
will not be considered inappropriate, or prove unin-
teresting. It will at least serve to occupy the time
until I see some new natural curiosity to describe.
302
Mammoth Cave.
Stephen is said to be an Indian-mulatto (a curious
admixture truly), but he has more the physiognomy
of the Spaniard than of the Indian or African. He
is rather below medium size, symmetrically formed,
athletic, and celebrated for his caring exploits and
love of adventure. He is now about forty years of
age, and, like most celebrities, has been accustomed
to good society. Having associated so much with
scientific men, and the literati of all nations, he has
acquired a smattering of several different languages,
and become familiar with most of the geological
formations of the cave. He can discourse quite
learnedly upon Geology and its kindred sciences, and
will detect a piece of stalagmite from a stalactite, as
readily as a skilful lapidary will distinguish a real
diamond from an imitation. His features are quite
refined and classical, and his countenance has a mild
and pleasant expression. His complexion is of a
dark olive, and his "love of a moustache,” together
with his black curling hair and dark melancholy
eyes, are undoubtedly daguerreotyped on the heart of
many a sable damsel. Having recently obtained his
freedom, he has some idea of emigrating to Liberia,
Human Remains.
303
but his attachment to this cave and its surroundings
is so great that I doubt whether he can ever be
induced to be separated from it. One would suppose
that he would become tired of going over the same
ground day after day, and year after year, but he
assured me that it was “labor of love" to him, that
he seldom passed through it without discovering some
new beauty, some hitherto unrevealed attraction, and
that he never would tire of traversing its silent halls
and solitary avenues. Stephen was very communi-
cative, and pointed out every place of interest. He
showed us where the body of a woman was found
when the cave was first explored. It was in a good
state of preservation, although not embalmed accord-
ing to the manner of the Egyptians. The body
was wrapped in half-dressed deer skins; at its feet
lay a pair of moccasins, and various trinkets and
ornaments, such as were worn by the Aborigines.
Human bones have been dug up in different parts
of the cave, and numerous Indian relics and curiosi-
ties found ; such as bows, arrow-heads, hatchets, and
other articles of Indian warfare. Near a place called
Richardson's Spring is a rock in which the prints of
304
Mammoth Cave.
moccasins are distinctly visible, suggesting the inte-
resting probability of the cave having been, at some
remote period, inhabited by Wa race of forest-born
monarchs.”
We are now upon the high bank above the River
Styx, celebrated in Mammoth Cave history, as well
as in heathen mythology, and from the unearthly
darkness and gloom overshadowing it one might
almost imagine. it to be the fabled stream whose name
it bears. We descend a long sloping bank to the
water's edge. Huge defiant-looking rocks overarch
the entrance. Beyond and below is chaos. Our
dim lights will not penetrate the profound darkness,
which hangs like a pall before us. We enter a small
boat; our lamps are placed in the bottom, so that the
light will be reflected upwards, and we are launched
upon the inky bosom of these ever midnight waters.
Gradually the light falls upon the broad, finely arched
ceiling, beneath which we are noiselessly gliding-
with occasional fissures in the rock, revealing the
intense darkness beyond. Our Charon, with his dark
luminous eyes peering from under his slouched bat,
as he sits crouched in the stern of the boat, presents
Echo River.
305
a highly imaginative picture of his fabulous name-
sake. It was a fine scene for a crayon.
A third of a mile carries us to the opposite shore.
After a short walk over rocks and sandbanks, we
come to another boat of larger dimensions, which is to
bear us over the waters of Lethe. We are now three
hundred and twenty-five feet below the surface of the
earth. This river sometimes rises fifty feet above its
present height; and with its foaming cataracts, and its
yawning chasms gurgling with the sound of rushing
water, is said to present an aspect of awful grandeur.
This passage is nearly a mile long, and the whole
distance replete with interest. At the further end is
the famous Echo River, which during high water is
merely a continuance of Lethe. The entrance to
this river is through an arched gateway of rocks, so
low that a slight rise of the water will prevent the
passage of boats, and at no time is there a space of
more than three feet between the water and the rocks
above. We were fortunate in finding sufficient space
to admit our boat; although for a few moments we
were compelled to humble ourselves in a manner nei-
ther graceful nor agreeable.
13*
306
Mammoth Cave.
This ordeal passed, we emerged into the open
river, where the rocks were high above our heads.
While here, our guide fired a pistol, the report of
which was deafening. The sound reverberated and
echoed from arch to arch, and dome to dome, like
continuous thunder. The echo is truly wonderful,
and answers fully the descriptions that have been given
of it, continuing, I should judge, for some twelve or
fifteen seconds. At first, it is remarkably clear and
distinct, but changes to a soft and musical cadence as
it dies away in the distance. I notified Stephen the
night before, when I engaged him to go with us into
the cave, that he must be prepared to do justice to
his reputation as a singer, as we should expect him
to "discourse most eloquent music" on the occasion.
It is a fact known to all who are familiar with this
part of the cave, that sound is very much modified
and softened by being produced here; while, at the
same time, the volume is greatly increased. The
harshest notes become quite mellow, and the most
unmelodious voices comparatively sweet. It is not
strange then, that Stephen, who has a rich, musical
voice, and a thorough knowledge of acoustics in its
Musical Echoes.
307
connexion with this place, should prove an attractive
feature in the scene. He sang for us several popular
airs appropriate to the occasion_such as “The Cana-
dian Boat Song," "My old Kentucky Home," and
- Oft in the Stilly Night." He would pause long
enough at the end of every line, for the last word to
be echoed back, the effect of which was indescribably
fine. In the song of " Oft in the Stilly Night,” the
word night came back clear and distinct, and as musi-
cal as
“ a heavenly breath
Along an earthly lyre.”
* There was a pathos blended and infused into the
melody, which caused a feeling of sadness to steal
imperceptibly over me. While impressed with these
feelings, Stephien commenced singing “Old Hundred,"
assisted by Mr. Frazer, whose voice was exceedingly
rich and powerful. It was impressive beyond de-
scription, and I almost imagined myself in some vast
cathedral, listening to the rich swelling notes of
the organ. A change came over the spirit of my
dreams, I was no longer of this earth, earthy," but an
11 .
308
Mammoth Cave.
inhabitant of the celestial world. I was transferred,
in imagination, to the abodes of bliss—to the mid-
night sanctuary of the Great Jehovah-where the
air was vocal with the swelling notes of Praise from
his attendant choir of angels.
The soul's strong instinct of another world,
Like music!» .
We are now on the other side of” Lethe, and
I am not forgetful that we have yet five weary miles
os over a hard road to travel," before we reach the
further end of this universe of wonders. The scenery
has entirely changed. Our path is constantly ob-
structed by fragmentary rocks, over which we climb;
chasms, into which we descend; and wild unearthly
places, through which we pass : and were it not for
the grandeur of the scene, and the visions of sand-
wiches and other edibles promised at the end, con-
stantly before me, I could not have accomplished the
distance without the friendly aid of Stephen's back,
which has been a “pack-saddle” for many a valetudi-
narian, whose curiosity was greater than his endur-
A Perilous Labyrinth.
309
ance. But Stephen promises us new sights and new
marvels, and I must try and follow him.
As my sheet is becoming longer, I fear, than your
patience, I shall only describe a few of the prominent
attractions of this five miles of wonders. We pass
through Silliman's Avenue, two miles in length, and
over the Infernal Regions, which are almost as deep,
and finally reach the Pass of El Ghor—à fearful-
looking place a mile and a half long, which is filled
with enormous rocks above, below, and around, look-
ing as if the least jar would dislodge and hurl them
upon our devoted heads. As we climbed over the
immense boulders which appeared as if they had just
fallen from the roof, and gazed for the first time on the
dark Titanic masonry rising on each side a hundred
feet above us; with its fearful looking clefts, its
yawning seams, and ponderous masses of loosened
rock staring us in the face, it was not strange that
" each particular hair” of our heads should incline
to a perpendicular attitude. And when I beheld an
enormous rock projecting over us like "a mighty
Atlantean roof,” without any visible support, ļ con-
fess that I became insensible to fatigue, and my loco-
310
Mammoth Cave.
16
mense
motion was quicķened into increased activity until I
was beyond the reach of all imaginary danger.
After climbing over a few more rocks, and passing
through several narrow defiles, we reached the termi-
nus of this truly perilous-looking labyrinth. A long
ladder invited us to ascend. On reaching the top,
we found ourselves within a bower worthy of being
dedicated to the Goddess Pomona. It is called Mar-
tha's Vineyard, on account of the beautiful incrusta-
tions, resembling in form and appearance immense
bunches of grapes, which cluster upon its sides and
ceiling. These pearl-tinted and amber-hued products
of this subterranean vineyard are beautiful to look
at, and would be likely to excite the alimentiveness
· and cupidity of some of the fair daughters of Eve,
were their curiosity as irrepressible as that of their
great ancestress. But this calcareous fruit, I imagine,
would not be very palatable; or the tasting of it as
productive of serious consequences to after-humanity,
as was the eating the product of "the forbidden tree”
by our first parents.
After leaving this bower, we entered a long avenue,
and a short walk brought us to Washington Hall,
Cleveland's Avenue.
311
the usual place for dining; and from the quantities of
broken bottles scattered around and other spiritual
manifestations, I judged that many of the visitors,
if not converts to spiritualism, were at least desirous
to cultivate an intimate acquaintance with that recon-
dite subject. We rested here for a while, ate our
biscuit and ham (without champagne sauce), and
“talked turkey' over the dissected limb of a vene-
rable gobbler, whose toughness was as incredible as
his age.
The next place worthy of note is Cleveland's
Avenue, which many consider to be one of the prin-
cipal attractions of this cavernous temple. It is a
gorgeous apartment, rivalling in beauty the Gothic
avenue, though much more extensive. This avenue
is three miles long, about twenty feet high, and
from sixty to seventy feet wide; its vast ceiling and
sides are covered with white crystallizations, studded
with stalactical gems, and sparkling with calcareous
diamonds. It has been said by a distinguished geo-
logist, that this avenue contains a petrified form of
nearly every vegetable production indigenous to this
locality. There is undoubtedly some truth in this
312
Mammoth Cave.
assertion, for the walls and ceiling are covered with
incrustations resembling in shape and appearance
many kinds of vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Some
of these are massive in their proportions, and hard as
adamant; others, small and delicate as the lily, and
fragile as wax-work. “So exquisite and beautiful,”
says one tourist, “is Cleveland's Avenue, that it is out
of the power of painter or poet to conceive anything
like it. Such loveliness cannot, indeed, be described.
-Were the sovereigns of wealthy states to spend
their all on the most skilful lapidaries they could
find, with the view of rivalling the splendor of this
truly regal abode, the attempt would be entirely in
vain. * * *
"It is incrusted from end to end with the most
beautiful formations, in every variety of form. The
base of the whole is carbonate of lime-in one part
of dazzling whiteness, and perfectly smooth; and in
other places, crystallized so as to glitter like diamonds
in the light.
"Some of the crystals, bear a striking resemblance
to branches of celery, and all are about the same
length, while others, a foot or more in length, have
Gorgeous Incrustations.
313
the color and appearance of vanilla cream candy.
Others are set in sulphate of lime, in the form of a
rose; and others still roll out from the base in forms
resembling the ornaments on the capital of a Corin-
thian column. Some of the incrustations are massive
and splendid; others are as delicate as the lily, or as
fancy-work of shell or wood. Let any person think
of traversing an arched way like this for a mile and
a half, and all the wonders of the tales of youth-
not forgetting those gorgeous fictions, "The Arabian
Nights-seem tame and uninteresting when brought
into comparison with the living, growing reality.
The term 'growing is not a misnomer; the process
is going on before your eyes. Successive coats of
these incrustations have been perfected, and then
crowded off by others; so that hundreds of tons of
these gems lie at your feet, and are crushed as you
pass, while the work of restoring the ornaments for
Nature's boudoir is proceeding around you. Here
and there through the whole extent, you will find
openings in the side, into which you may thrust the
person, and often stand erect in little grottoes, perfectly
incrusted with a delicate white substance, reflecting
314
Mammoth Cave.
the lights from a thousand glittering points. Many
visitors are so cnraptured with the place, that they
cannot repress exclamations of surprise or worship.”
We will now leave this avenue. A short walk
brings us to the Rocky Mountains, "the fourth and
last” great feature of this subterranean universe. I
hardly know how to describe the awful grandeur of
this place, and its adjunct, The Dismal Hollow. It
is a room of immense breadth and height, with a
mountainous pile of rocks at its entrance, which rise
in the form of an amphitheatre nearly to the ceiling.
These rocks are of almost every conceivable size and
form; sharp, jagged, and heaped together in "chaotic
confusion," having undoubtedly been loosened from
the roof by some tremendous convulsion of Nature.
Clambering up this mountain of rocks fifty or sixty
feet, we discovered on the other side an immense
hollow stretching off into the darkness and gloom.
Our guide illuminated the place, revealing the wilder-
ness of desolation before us. You can conceive of
nothing terrestrial that is more dismal and sepulchral
than this spot, which impressed us with a kind of
" holy horror” as we gazed into its gloomy confines.
Stalactites and Stalagmites.
315
A short distance from here is Croghan's Hall, the
end of this portion of the cave, and nine miles from
daylight, and "the light of other days." This is a
large room, semi-rotunda in form, the roof and sides
extending from the ceiling to the floor. Some were
a dingy white, others of a translucent, icy hue, look-
ing not unlike a congealed water-fall. In the dim
distance, uprising from the rocky floor, were several
stalagmite columns, about the size of the human
form; which, amid the sepulchral stillness of this
weird-like place, looked as if they might be sheeted
ghosts or “goblins damn’d.” While gazing on these
apparitions there came over me
“ An undefined and sudden thrill
That makes the heart a moment still,
Then beat with quicker pulse, ashamed
Of that strange sense of silence framed."
While my imagination was thus excited, our guide
extinguished the lamps, and led us slowly along
through the intense darkness which enveloped us
like a pall. I had great confidence in Stephen, yet I
could not divest myself of a sort of nervous appre-
316
Mammoth Cave.
hension and dread, as we followed him with slow and
cautious footsteps. After proceeding quite a distance
he stopped and ignited a Bengal light. As the blue
sulphurous flame ascended, I discovered that we were
standing on the brink of a frightful abyss, I started
back alarmed, but being reassured by our guide,
approached this yawning chasm. As I looked down
into its fearful depths, which had never yet been
fathomed, my ear was greeted by the dull roar of an
invisible waterfall. The ground was damp and slip-
pery, from a mist, which, though scarcely perceptible,
was diffused through the surrounding atmosphere.
A kind of nervous chillness crept over me, and I
instinctively shuddered as I gazed into these gloomy
regions. It was by far the most frightful place I ever
beheld, and I could hardly realize that I was not
standing on the brink of that mythical place known
as Tartarus; which has been described as
“A black and hollow vault
Where day is never seen ; there shines no sun,
But flaming horror of consuming fires ;
A lightless sulphur, chok'd with smoky fogs
Of an infected darkness."
The Eyeless Fish.
317
A thousand fantasies filled my mind, and I was glad
to leave this place of supernatural horrors, lest my
sleep that night be disturbed by spectral visions and
apparitions dire.
On our return voyage of the Lethe, we tried to
catch some of the eyeless fish which abound in that
river, but the water was too deep for success. As I
did not have the pleasure of seeing one of these
anomalies of the finny tribe, I shall have to depend
for a description upon those who have been more
fortunate than myself. They are about the size of a
minnow, from one and a half to two inches long,
perfectly white, translucent, and without a vestige of
the visual organ. Scientific men, however, disagree
in this particular. Some say that they cannot dis-
cover the least appearance of an eye, even with a
powerful microscope; while others contend that they
once had eyes, and that a collapsed socket is clearly
discernible. But when learned men disagree upon
piscatory subjects, who is to of-fish-iate as umpire ?
How I got back to the “ breathing world” again to
dinner and daylight, I have not time now to inform
you. Though I had performed a journey of eighteen
318
Mammoth Cave.
miles, in and out, within a period of nine hours, I
resolved to add one more mile to my day's labor, and
visit again the Star Chamber, to take one “long, last,
lingering look" at this brilliantly beautiful apartment,
and to gaze for a while upon those midnight sentinels
in the glorious firmament above-upon the stars,
those silent spirits of Nature, though silent they
seem,
“Yet each to the thoughtful eye,
Glois with mute poesy !"
1
My companion from the land of Burns-who had
lived for many years among the “banks and braes o'
Bonnie Doon”- was of a highly poetical tempera-
ment, and, like the immortal bard, an enthusiastic
admirer of Nature. I was glad to find that he was
desirous, like myself, to revisit this attractive spot, to
behold once more this glorious evidence of God's
omnipotence. We seated ourselves on a rock, and
gave our lamps to Stephen, who was to leave us alone
for a while, that we might the better enjoy the solemn
silence of this vast cathedral of Nature. When the
last footfall had died on the ear, and the last gleam
A Last Look.
319
of light disappeared, we found ourselves plunged
suddenly into Cimmerian darkness. Hark! let pulse
and breath be still! We could not speak. Our
thoughts were too deep for utterance: our wonder
and amazement too great for expression. It seemed
as if I never before felt so impressively the majesty
and goodness of the Creator of all this grandeur. We
were aroused from our reverie by the resounding
footsteps of our guide, and the gradual lightening up
of the grim grey walls surrounding us. The illusory
sky appeared to our view, with its twinkling stars
and passing cloud, and we left this soul-absorbing
spot with reluctance and regret. * * * * *
From the geological formation of this cave, and
other indications observed by visitors in their exami-
nations, it is evident that it contains many apartments
that have not yet been explored. In several places
the hollow floor echoes and resounds at our tread,
and we are doubtless passing over some vast cavern
or opening underneath, separated from the room
above by a thin layer of rock. And in one or more
places where there is a slight opening, the sound of
an invisible waterfall may be heard, roaring and
320
Mammoth Cave.
tumbling in its frantic but vain efforts to be released
from captivity.
In the vicinity of the Mammoth Cave, are several
smaller caves already explored; also, indications of
there being many others, to which, as yet, there is no
entrance from the upper world. The whole of this
region is cavernous, and abounds in pits or “sinks"
as they are called, where the surface of the earth has
sunk to various depths, indicating the existence of a
cavity beneath.
What magnificent Halls, Domes, and Avenues,
decorated with as brilliant stalactites, as beautiful
crystallizations, and as rare mineralogical specimeng
as the eye ever beheld, lie concealed beneath these
hills and valleys, it remains perhaps for the future to
disclose. It is a fruitful theme for the imagination.
Its revelations-if its hidden mysteries are ever to
be revealed, are reserved for the future discoverer;
and its history-if ever to be written—to the his-
torian of after time.
THE END.

.
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