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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pearl of the Antilles, or An Artist in
+Cuba, by Walter Goodman
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Pearl of the Antilles, or An Artist in Cuba
+
+Author: Walter Goodman
+
+Release Date: August 1, 2009 [EBook #29564]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PEARL OF THE ANTILLES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+produced from scanned images of public domain material
+from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Aside from obvious typographical errors, the spelling of the original
+book has been preserved. The spelling and accentuation of Spanish and
+French words have not been modernized or corrected.
+(note of transcriber)]
+
+
+
+
+THE PEARL OF THE
+
+ANTILLES
+
+OR
+
+_AN ARTIST IN CUBA_
+
+BY
+
+WALTER GOODMAN
+
+HENRY S. KING & CO. 65 CORNHILL & 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON 1873
+
+(_All rights reserved_)
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+MY TRAVELLING-COMPANION AND BROTHER-ARTIST
+
+SEÑOR DON JOAQUIN CUADRAS
+
+OF CUBA
+
+_THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED_
+
+IN REMEMBRANCE OF OUR LONG AND UNINTERRUPTED FRIENDSHIP
+
+AT HOME AND ABROAD
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Cuba having lately become a prominent object of attention, both to
+Europe and America, I venture to think that any trustworthy information
+that can be given respecting it, may prove acceptable to the reader. I
+approach my task with no great pretensions, but yet with an experience
+acquired by many years' residence in the Island, and an intimate
+intercourse with its inhabitants. I arrived there in 1864, when Cuba was
+enjoying uninterrupted peace and prosperity, and my departure took place
+in the first year of her adversity. Having thus viewed society in the
+Island under the most opposite conditions, I have had various and ample
+opportunities of studying its institutions, its races and its
+government; and in availing myself of these opportunities I have
+endeavoured, as far as possible, to avoid those matters which are alike
+common to life in Spain and in Cuba.
+
+As I write, Cuba is passing through a great crisis in her history. For
+this reason my experiences may prove more interesting than they might
+otherwise have done; nor do I think that they will be found less
+attractive, because it has been my choice to deal with the subject
+before me from the point of view rather of an artist than of a traveller
+or a statistician.
+
+Perhaps I may be allowed to add, that the matter contained in these
+pages will be almost entirely fresh to the reader; for, although I have
+included a few papers which I have from time to time contributed to _All
+the Year Round_, _Cassell's Magazine_, and _London Society_, I have
+taken care to introduce them in such a manner as not to break the
+continuity with which I have endeavoured to connect the various parts of
+my subject.
+
+In explanation of the title chosen for this volume, I may remark that
+'the Pearl of the Antilles' is one of the prettiest in that long series
+of eulogistic and endearing titles conferred by poets and others on the
+Island of Cuba, which includes 'the Queen of the Antilles,' 'the Jewel
+in the Spanish Crown,' 'the Promised Land,' 'the Summer Isle of Eden,'
+'the Garden of the West,' and 'the Loyal and Ever-faithful Isle.'
+
+WALTER GOODMAN.
+
+22 LANCASTER ROAD,
+WESTBOURNE PARK,
+LONDON: 1873.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A CUBAN WELCOME.
+
+PAGE
+
+Our Reception at Santiago de Cuba--Spanish Law--A Commemorative
+Feast--Cuban Courtesy--Coffee House Politeness
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+DAILY LIFE IN CUBA.
+
+A Cuban Home--My Bed-Room--A Creole Breakfast--Don Benigno
+and his Family--A Cuban Matron--Church-going in connection with
+Shopping--An Evening Tertulia--A Tropical Moon
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+ART-PATRONAGE IN CUBA.
+
+Our Studio--Our Critics--Our Patrons--Still-Life
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A CUBAN 'VELORIO.'
+
+More Still-Life--A Night-Wake--Mourners--Doña Dolores--A Funeral
+Procession--A Burial
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+CUBAN MODELS.
+
+Tropical Birds--The Coco's--La Grulla--Vultures--Street Criers--Water
+Carriers
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+CUBAN BEGGARS.
+
+Carrapatam Bunga--The Havana Lottery--A Lady Beggar--A Beggar's
+Opera--Popular Characters--Charity--A Public Raffle--The 'King of
+the Universe'
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE BLACK ART IN CUBA.
+
+A Model Mulatto--A Bewitched Watchman--Cuban Sorcery--An Enchanted
+Painter
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A TASTE OF CUBAN PRISON-LIFE.
+
+Two Views of the Morro Castle--The Commandant--The Town Jail--Cuban
+Policemen--Prisoners--A Captive Indian--Prison Fare--A
+Court of Justice--A Trial--A Verdict
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+A WEST INDIAN EPIDEMIC.
+
+A Cuban Physician and his Patient--A Nightmare--A Mystery--A
+Cure--By the Sad Sea Waves--A Cuban Watering-place--Lobster-hunting--Another
+View of the Morro Castle--What 'Dios sabe'
+means
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+GENERAL TACON'S JUDGMENT.
+
+Pleasant Company--The Cigar Girl of Havana--A Tobacconist Shop in
+Cuba--A Romance of Real Life--Spanish Justice abroad
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+(VERY) HIGH ART IN CUBA.
+
+On the Ceiling--'Pintar-monos'--A Chemist's Shop à la Polychrome--Sculpture
+under Difficulties--'Nothing like Leather'--A Triumph in
+Triumphal Arches--Cuban Carpenters--The Captain-General of
+Havana
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+A CORRESPONDENT IN THE WEST INDIES.
+
+American News-agents and their Work--Local Information--The
+'Glorious Campaign' of Santo Domingo--'El Cañon de Montecristo'
+Wounded Soldiers--Still-Life again--A Visit from the Spanish Fleet--Escape
+from Jail
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+CUBAN MUSIC.
+
+A Soirée at Don Laureano's--An eminent Violinist and Composer--Cuban
+Pianos--_Real_ Negro Minstrels--Carnival Songs--Coloured
+Improvisatores
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+MASQUERADING IN CUBA.
+
+Deserted--'Los Mamarrachos'--A French-Creole Ball--Street Masquers--Negro
+Amateurs--Masks and Dominoes--The Plaza de Armas--Victims
+of the Carnival--A Cuban Café in Holiday Time--'Comparsas'--White
+and Black Balls--A Moral
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+AN EVENING AT THE RETRETA.
+
+A Musical Promenade--My Friend Tunicú--Cuban Beauties--Dark
+Divinities--A Cuban Café--A Popular 'Pollo'--Settling the Bill!
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+AT A CUBAN BALL.
+
+The Philharmonic and its Members--A Street Audience--The Guests--Engaging
+Partners--'La Carabina'--'La Danza Criolla'--Dance
+Music--Refreshments--A Pretty Partner--A Night with Cuban
+Gamblers--Spanish Cards--An Old Hand--'Temblores'
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+CUBAN THEATRICALS.
+
+The Stage-Door Keeper--A Rehearsal--The Spanish Censor--A Cuban
+Audience--Dramatic Performances--Between Acts--Behind the
+Scenes--A Dénouement in Real Life
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+MY DÉBUT ON A CUBAN STAGE.
+
+An Engagement--A Foreign 'Star'--A Benefit Night--A Local Play--First
+Appearance--A serious 'Hitch'--Re-engagement
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+COFFEE GROUNDS OF CUBA.
+
+Going out of Town--On the Road--A wayside Inn--A Cane Field--West
+Indian Fruit Trees--The Arrival--A Dinner in the Country--The
+Evening Blessing--Tropical Reptiles--A Farm Yard--Slave
+Flogging--Coffee--Tropical Scenery--A Siesta
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+COUNTRY-LIFE AT A SUGAR ESTATE.
+
+An Artist's Tent--Early Sport--An 'Ingenio'--Sugar and Rum--Afternoon
+Sport--A Ride through the Country--Negro Dancing--An
+Evening in the Country--'La Loteria'
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+LOVE-MAKING IN THE TROPICS.
+
+My Inamorata--Clandestine Courtship--A Love Scene--'Il Baccio' in
+Cuba--The Course of True Love--A Stern Parent
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+A CUBAN CONVENT.
+
+Without the Walls--'El Torno'--A Convent Letter--Accomplices--A
+Powder Plot--With the Nuns--Don Francisco the Dentist
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+A CRUISE IN THE WEST INDIES.
+
+Cuban Telegraphy--The 'New York Trigger'--News from Porto Rico--A
+Day in Porto Rico--Don Felipe--A Mail Agent--Coasting--Aguadilla--Mayagüez--Santo
+Domingo--Sight-seeing--Telegraphic News
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+A STATE OF SIEGE IN CUBA.
+
+A Cuban Newspaper Office--Local Intelligence--The Cuban Revolution--Spanish
+Volunteers--A Recruit--With Bimba--'Los Insurrectos'--At
+a Fire--Cuban Firemen
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+CUBAN WARFARE.
+
+Spanish Soldiers--A Sally--Prisoners of War--'Los Voluntarios'--A
+Triumphant Return--Danger!--Cuban Emigrants
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+HAVANA CIGARETTES.
+
+PAGE
+
+Cigars--The Etiquette of Smoking--A Cigarette Manufactory--The
+Courteous Proprietor--The Visitors' Book--Cigarette Rolling
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+A MULATTO GIRL.
+
+An Obscure Birth--Bondage--A Bad Master--A Good Godfather--A
+Cuban Christening--Anomaly of Slavery--A White Lover--Rivals--An
+Important Event
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+A MULATTO GIRL (_continued_).
+
+The Slave Trade--Ermiña and her Lover--Panics--'Los Insurrectos'
+v. 'Los Voluntarios'--A Wounded Patriot--Spanish Law and Cuban
+Law--The 'Mambi's'--A Promise--An Alarm--All's Well that
+ends Well
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+A CUBAN WEDDING.
+
+Open Engagements--A Marriage Ceremony--A Wedding Breakfast--The
+Newly Married Couple
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+CUBANS IN NEW YORK.
+
+The Morro Castle again--Summer and Winter--Cuban Refugees--Filibusters--'Los
+Laborantes' of New York and their Work--American
+Sympathisers
+
+
+
+
+THE
+
+PEARL OF THE ANTILLES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A CUBAN WELCOME.
+
+     Our Reception at Santiago de Cuba--Spanish Law--A Commemorative
+     Feast--Cuban Courtesy--Coffee-House Politeness.
+
+
+My companion and brother-artist, Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú, is a native
+of Cuba, and as he has signified his intention to visit his birthplace
+in the West Indies, we bid 'addio' to fair Florence, where for three
+years we have dwelt together and followed our profession, and, embarking
+in a French steamer at St. Nazaire, we set sail for the Pearl of the
+Antilles.
+
+Our official reception at Santiago de Cuba is far from cordial. Before
+we land, the Spanish authorities meet us on board, and, after a careful
+inspection of our passports, present each of us with what they call a
+'permit of disembarcation,' for which we have to pay sixteen reales
+'fuertes.' Having, so to speak, purchased 'tickets of admission' to the
+Spanish colony, and having also deposited our luggage in the
+'cloak-room' of the establishment--which in this instance is represented
+by a custom-house--we naturally expect to be favoured with a 'bill' of
+tropical performances. No such bill is, however, presented to us; but as
+a substitute, we obtain full particulars by application, within a month
+after our arrival, to the chief of police. From this functionary we
+learn that our 'tickets of admission' are available only for one
+quarter's sojourn in the island, and that if we desire to remain for a
+longer period, an official 'season-ticket' must be procured. The
+authorised programme of the 'Loyal and Ever-faithful Isle' is divided
+into a great many Acts. One of these acts announces that 'no foreigner
+is allowed to reside more than three months in the island without
+procuring first a carta de domicilio (habitation license), which he may
+obtain by a petition supported by the consul of his nation.' The carta
+de domicilio will enable the foreigner in question to dwell unmolested
+in this strangely governed country for a period not exceeding five
+years; but he may not leave the island, neither may he remove to another
+town, without a pass from a Capitan de Partido, a Celador, or some such
+official.
+
+The chief of police moreover tells us that, conformably with another act
+or article in his code, the 'applicant' must represent himself as a
+Catholic; that he must take the oaths of fidelity and vassalage before
+the governor, and that within the prescribed five years 'a foreigner
+must be either naturalised, or he must leave the country.'
+
+Yet another act proclaims that during the first five years of his
+residence, 'the said foreigner may not carry on nor may he possess a
+shop, a warehouse, or become a captain of a vessel. He may, however,
+have a share in a company or firm of Spaniards.'
+
+But the strangest mandate of all is that which denies to 'any inhabitant
+whatsoever' the privilege of moving from one house to another 'without
+giving notice of such removal to the chief of police!'
+
+Thus much for our welcome by the authorities of Cuba!
+
+The Cubans themselves are, however, more obsequious. Long before we have
+anchored in the Cuban bay, the news of our arrival has reached the ears
+of my companion's friends, who hasten to greet us from little canoes
+with white awnings to ward off the rays of the scorching sun. Having
+landed, and satisfied the authorities, we are escorted by a number of
+these friends to our future residence, which we had decided should be an
+hotel. But my partner's friends will not hear of our lodging at a
+strange place, and one of their number, who claims close relationship
+with Nicasio, succeeds in persuading us both to become his guests. He
+accordingly hails his two-wheeled quitrin, and drives us to his
+dwelling. The rest of our friends follow on foot, and are invited by our
+host, Don Benigno, to partake of the sumptuous banquet which has been
+prepared in honour of Nicasio's return to his native country. Several
+ladies are present, and with these in light muslin dresses--the
+gentlemen in their suits of white drill--the long table with its white
+covering--the spacious dining-hall with its white-washed walls--and the
+glare of the sun which pours in from numerous windows and open
+doors--the scene is enlivening, to say the least of it; while a singular
+contrast is supplied by the sombre appearance of the slaves who serve
+round the condiments.
+
+Of course my companion is lionised and made much of on this occasion,
+and his friend--whom everybody addresses, on account of his nationality,
+as 'el Caballero Inglés,' is treated with every show of attention. Being
+fresh from Europe we are both examined and cross-examined upon the
+questions of news, and to satisfy all demands requires no inconsiderable
+amount of oratory. Healths are drunk and responded to by some of the
+company, and Don Benigno's nephew, Tunicú, delivers some appropriate
+verses of his own composition, which he has dedicated to his kinsman
+Nicasio.
+
+It is not the custom in this country for the ladies to retire after a
+meal, and leave their lords to their cups and conversation, but
+everybody remains seated until black coffee and big Havana cigars are
+handed, the cloth has been removed, and our host's baby--a girl ten
+months old attired in nature's vestments--has been placed for general
+inspection and approval in the centre of the festive board.
+
+When everybody has sufficiently devoured with his or her eyes this kind
+of human dessert, Don Benigno's lady--Doña Mercedes--proposes to adjourn
+for music and dancing to the reception-room--an apartment which is
+little better than a continuation of the dining-hall; the boundary line
+between the two chambers being defined by a narrow slip of wall.
+
+The musical entertainments begin with a performance on the piano by a
+sun-burnt young lady attired in a low-necked, short-sleeved dress, who
+accompanies another young lady who essays a patriotic song commencing:
+
+    Cuba, Cuba! mi patria querida,
+
+in which she assures her audience, in Spanish verse, that there is no
+place like Cuba, and no country more fertile and picturesque than the
+Pearl of the Antilles. This favourite ditty is called a Melopea, or
+words without a melody--the words being simply 'spoken,' and closely
+followed on the piano by lively music.
+
+This song and another having been disposed of, partners are selected and
+the Danza Criolla--a popular Cuban valse--is for the rest of the
+afternoon (for it is still broad daylight) performed. The guests then
+depart; and after a little conversation with Don Benigno and his family,
+Nicasio and I are conducted by a black domestic to our dormitories. Here
+we indulge in a siesta, and otherwise refresh ourselves till the hour of
+dinner.
+
+Those of Nicasio's friends who have been foiled in their attempt to
+secure us for their guests, console themselves by exhibiting their
+hospitality in other ways. We are overwhelmed with invitations to pass
+the temporada, or season, at their estates in the country, and so
+numerous are these invitations that, were we to accept them all, two
+years would scarcely suffice for the fulfilment of our engagements.
+
+During the first weeks of our residence in Santiago, the hospitality
+which we receive in various ways is sometimes overpowering. Wherever we
+may wander some unknown friend has anticipated our arrival, and secretly
+provided for our wants. We turn into a café for refreshments, and when
+we offer to pay for what we have ordered, the waiter refuses to take our
+coin, while he assures us that our repast has already been paid for!
+Subsequently we discover that the proprietors of all the restaurants and
+cafés in the town have been instructed by some mysterious person or
+persons not to accept payment from 'Don Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú and
+his English companion,' but to 'put it down to the account.' Whenever we
+visit the theatre, the same pecuniary objections are raised; and upon
+one occasion, the haberdasher to whom we apply for a dozen shirts à la
+créole actually refuses to favour us with a bill!
+
+These attentions are, however, short-lived, for my partner, after
+permitting them to exist for a reasonable length of time, publicly gives
+out that unless this overpowering hospitality altogether ceases, he and
+el Caballero Inglés will remove to a less demonstrative town. This
+warning takes effect, but still the tendency to 'stand treat'--which is
+a special weakness in Cuba--manifests itself in other ways.
+
+I go into a café where some creoles--utter strangers to me--are grouped
+around one of the marble tables. If I happen to be accompanied by a
+lady, every man rises and salutes us. If alone, I am offered a seat and
+refreshments; for under no circumstances, and in no locality, does a
+Cuban eat and drink without first inviting his neighbours to partake of
+his fare. 'Usted gusta?' (Will you partake of this?) or 'Gusta usted
+tomar algo?' (Won't you take something?) is a Cuban's grace before meat.
+
+These, attentions are not, however, confined to feeding. They are
+adapted to everything that a Cuban possesses. If I admire any article or
+individual belonging to a Cuban--no matter whether the object of my
+admiration be a watch-guard--a handsome cane--a horse--a gun--a slave,
+or a pretty child--I am invariably assured that it is mine (Es para
+usted), or that it is my servant (Un servidor de usted). When I ask a
+Cuban where he lives, he promptly replies: 'At your house,' in
+such-and-such a street, number so-and-so; and whenever such an
+individual favours me with a letter, I always find the document
+addressed: 'From your house' (Su casa).
+
+In short, I never know what politeness means, nor what extensive West
+Indian possessions are at my disposal, till I live amidst the luxuries
+of the Pearl of the Antilles!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+DAILY LIFE IN CUBA.
+
+     A Cuban Home--My Bed-Room--A Creole Breakfast--Don Benigno and his
+     Family--A Cuban Matron--Church-going in connection with
+     Shopping--An Evening Tertulia--A Tropical Moon.
+
+
+Like most of his neighbours, Don Benigno keeps 'open house' in more than
+one way. The huge street-door of his habitation remains unclosed at all
+hours of the day and evening, and anyone who pleases may walk in and
+partake of the Don's hospitality.
+
+Don Benigno's house is constructed after the pattern of the good,
+old-fashioned Cuban dwellings, with an eye to earthquake, heavy rains,
+and excessive heat. So careful is a creole to provide against these
+casualties, that his residence serves less as an abode for comfort than
+as a place of shelter. It has a single storey, and is roofed with Roman
+tiles. The walls are of lath and plaster, or mamposteria, as it is
+called, and the beams which support the roof are visible from the
+interior as they are in a barn. Some of the apartments are paved with
+marble, while others are paved with brick. In the centre of the spacious
+reception-room, or sala, is laid a small square of carpet, like a
+misplaced hearth-rug, on which stand twelve rocking-chairs, arranged
+face to face like seats in a railway carriage. They are accompanied by
+a few footstools and some spittoons. The rooms are not overcrowded with
+furniture and ornaments, and these scarce commodities stand out in bold
+relief against the white-washed walls and bare flooring. The chairs and
+sofas are all cane-backed and cane-bottomed. Tables are not plentiful,
+and curtains are employed as adornments for some of the doors instead of
+the windows, which are also devoid of glass. An elegant gas chandelier
+is suspended from one of the cross-beams of the sloping roof, and a
+couple of unserviceable console tables, with their corresponding
+pier-glasses, complete the decorations of the sala.
+
+No fire-stoves are required in any chamber except the kitchen, and the
+latter being situated in the patio, or court-yard, at the back of the
+premises, the residents in a Cuban house are never troubled with any
+other smoke than that which is generated by tobacco.
+
+As for the dormitories--the one which I occupy might belong to a holy
+friar. There is an aspect of cell and sanctity about everything in it.
+The furniture is nothing to speak of, and the bed, which is called a
+catre, closely resembles a tressled apple-stall with a canvas tray. When
+not in use, the catre is shut up and whisked away into an obscure
+corner. When required for sleeping purposes, it is opened, and the bed
+having been 'made' with a couple of sheets and a pillow, it is planted
+in a cool place, which often happens to be the centre of the apartment.
+
+The monotonous appearance of the white-washed walls is relieved by
+coloured lithograph drawings of saints and virgins, and against one of
+the walls is placed a table decorated like a small altar with a white
+lace-trimmed cloth upon which stand some gilded candlesticks, vases
+containing artificial flowers, and a large wooden statuette, gorgeously
+painted and embellished. This image represents the patron saint,
+Santiago, beneath whose feet burns night and day a small oil lamp. The
+object for which this luminary is intended is ignored by me for many
+days, and meanwhile I use it, when nobody is looking, for the lighting
+of my cigarettes. My authority for this sacrilegious act is derived from
+my companion, Nicasio, who is a liberal-minded Catholic, and as I find
+he also performs the same ceremony in his own dormitory, my conscience
+is relieved. Equally mysterious are a couple of dry fonts which have in
+all respects the appearances of china watch-pockets. I make use of one
+for the accommodation of my time-piece, until I am informed that only
+holy water is allowed to repose within its sacred embraces.
+
+In fine weather my slumbers at night are uninterrupted, but when it
+rains--and in Cuba it never rains but it pours in bucketfuls--my rest is
+at intervals sorely disturbed. I dream that a thousand belligerent cats
+are at civil war on the Roman-tiled roof above me, and that for some
+unknown reason I alone expiate their bloodthirsty crimes, by enduring a
+horrible penance, which consists in the historical torture of a slow and
+perpetual stream of liquid which dribbles upon my bare cranium. I awake
+suddenly to find that my nightmare has not been unfounded. Something
+damp, proceeding from the sloping roof, drops at regular intervals upon
+my forehead. By the light of the patron saint who watches over me I
+perceive that the rain has found an inlet through a gotera in the roof.
+A gotera is a hole in the tiles, formed during the day by the action of
+the baking sun upon the mortar, which yields to its cracking influence
+and leaves an aperture. Rising hurriedly in the dead of night, I remove
+my catre to a dry corner, and at the same time place a basin beneath the
+spot from whence the drops of rain issue. Once more I awake under the
+same moistening influence. A fresh gotera has arisen over my dry place
+of repose. Again I shift my ground, and use an empty pail for the
+accommodation of the intrusive element; but fresh goteras appear
+wherever I pitch my catre, until, having circumnavigated all the safe
+coasts of my tempestuous apartment and exhausted every receptacle for
+water, I take up my bed and deposit it in an adjoining chamber, which
+happening to be unoccupied and free from goteras, allows my slumbers to
+remain undisturbed till morning.
+
+Don Benigno's family take what we should call breakfast, but which they
+term 'tienta pie,' in their respective sleeping chambers. At six A.M. a
+dark domestic enters my dormitory with a cup of black coffee and a
+cigarette. Later, this is followed by a larger cup of milk qualified
+with coffee, or, if I prefer chocolate, the latter in an extraordinary
+thick form is brought. The beverage is accompanied by a Cuban bun or a
+milk roll with foreign butter: for as the native cow does not supply the
+material for that luxury, the butter used in Cuba is all imported in
+bottles like preserves.
+
+Eleven o'clock is the hour appointed for breakfast. This is a
+substantial meal and appears to be breakfast, dinner, and supper rolled
+into one. Every item of food is served as a separate course, of which
+there are more than fourteen different 'fuentes,' or dishes, on the
+table. A plate of eggs and sliced bananas fried in butter constitutes
+the first course. A second course is represented by a dish containing a
+combination of boiled rice and dried cod-fish, or 'bacalao,' with tomato
+sauce. 'Serence,' with 'congri,' is a Creole dish composed of Indian
+corn, rice, and red beans, and forms course number three. Sambumbia,
+anis, and chimbombó, are native vegetables prepared in a variety of
+palatable ways. An olla podrida of sweet yams, pumpkins, white beans,
+bacon, sausage, and cabbage is another favourite dish; and, lastly,
+fish, flesh, and fowl in a dozen different guises complete the bill of
+fare. This sumptuous repast having been washed down with Catalan claret,
+some West Indian fruits and solid-looking preserves are partaken of, and
+the indispensable cigar or cigarette and wholesome café noir are handed
+round.
+
+Breakfast over, the Don's family disperse, each to his or her
+occupation. The children retire to their schoolroom, where the different
+masters (for in Cuba there are no 'out-door' governesses) engaged for
+their instruction arrive at their prescribed hours, give their lessons,
+and depart. A master is provided for every branch of learning and for
+teaching every art except that of dancing, this accomplishment being
+naturally and easily acquired by the graceful little ladies and
+gentlemen themselves.
+
+Don Benigno retreats, after breakfast, to his office, where he transacts
+his business affairs, which seem to consist chiefly in lolling in an
+easy chair with a long cigar between his lips, while he watches his
+escribano, or clerk, as that functionary makes up accounts and writes
+letters.
+
+As for the Don's lady, Doña Mercedes, she may be described broadly as a
+sleeping partner, her department in the firm being literally the
+sleeping department. After disposing of her housekeeping duties, which
+are briefly accomplished by handing the black cook a certain sum daily
+for marketing purposes, the worthy lady passes the rest of the day with
+a fan in a rocking chair, in which she sways and fans herself cool. Doña
+Mercedes has a youthful appearance from her neck upwards, but being
+somewhat corpulent, her figure scarcely corresponds with the attractions
+of her face. Being, however, attired in a loose linen gown which falls
+like a sack, ungirdled and uninterrupted, from her fair shoulders to her
+remarkably small shoes, the protuberances of her person escape notice,
+and, with her jet-black hair neatly and tastefully arranged, she may be
+said to represent an agreeable type of the Cuban matron.
+
+It is often a matter for wonder with me, how Señora Mercedes and her
+friends contrive to keep their hair in such perfect order. Cuban ladies
+being gifted by nature with a wealth of hair require no artificial aid;
+but I am told that their heads being once 'dressed' for the day remain
+intact till night, a fact which I can easily credit, seeing that no
+ceole lady assumes either bonnet, hat, or other covering for the head,
+when she takes her walks abroad.
+
+But Doña Mercedes is not always such a helpless member of society as I
+have represented her. She is possessed of a warm, generous nature, and
+this quality often prompts the good lady to perform many useful acts of
+kindness and charity to those who are in need of her benevolence.
+
+Between one and three in the afternoon, Don Benigno and his family
+indulge in the wholesome luxury of a warm bath; for, despite the
+climate, a creole, when in town, rarely immerses his or her body in
+perfectly cold water. The water intended for bathing purposes is
+sometimes placed in the centre of the patio, or court-yard, where, under
+the powerful influence of the sun, it is soon warmed to any reasonable
+degree of temperature.
+
+Ablutions over, the indispensable siesta is enjoyed by everybody, on
+catres or in hammocks; for the heat of mid-day is insupportable, and
+repose after a bath is considered salutary.
+
+After the siesta, Doña Mercedes and her young daughters, accompanied by
+her adopted child--a girl of ten--do what the ladies of many other
+countries do late in the afternoon. They attire themselves fashionably
+and take a stroll in the Plaza or a drive in the Alameda, which is the
+Rotten Row of a Cuban town.
+
+Whatever shopping Doña Mercedes contemplates is effected in the cool of
+the early morning after her devotions at the church, whither she repairs
+at the hour of six A.M. Church-going is a serious undertaking with the
+good lady. Firstly, she and her daughters must be becomingly attired,
+and on this occasion black lace veils are included in their toilettes.
+Besides prayer-books, rosaries, and fans, the devotees must be provided
+with small squares of carpet and toy-like chairs of papier maché inlaid
+with gold and pearl ornaments. These articles of furniture are conveyed
+to the sacred edifice by some young negress servants, for with the
+exception of a few wooden benches, a Cuban church offers no relief to
+the weary flesh.
+
+Having entered the church, Doña Mercedes proceeds to moisten the tips
+of her ungloved fingers in some holy water from a font, and after duly
+crossing herself, extends her hand to her daughters, who touch it and
+thus partake of the blessed liquid. The black attendants then spread the
+fragments of carpet, place the chairs, and retire to a dark corner of
+the building. The ceremonies begin. Doña Mercedes and her daughters
+follow the ecclesiastic in their miniature prayer-books, and alternately
+kneel and cross themselves when required to do so; gaze with a devout
+expression at their favourite saint, and tell their beads; take a mental
+note of their neighbours' dresses, fan themselves, and exchange nods of
+recognition with acquaintances--till a little bell from one of the
+side-chapels tinkles for the final ceremony of elevating the host.
+
+Matins over, the ladies betake themselves to the principal
+thoroughfares, where the best shops are to be found, and when their
+purchases have been made they return home, calling on the way at the
+houses of their friends.
+
+When there is no performance at the theatre or the promenade in the
+military square, Don Benigno holds a tertulia in his balcony.
+
+A tertulia is a reception, or social gathering, and may be held at any
+hour of the day; but the best time for a tertulia is the cool of the
+evening.
+
+The five o'clock dinner being over and digested, Don Benigno sallies
+forth--cigar in mouth--upon his covered balcony, or coridor, as it is
+called, which in length and breadth strikingly resembles the platform of
+a small railway station.
+
+'Traigan las balanzas!' drawls the Don, and in answer to his summons a
+couple of negroes appear with a number of rocking-chairs, which they
+place--when the moon is at its brightest--in a shady corner of the
+verandah. Here we all seat ourselves, and await the arrival of any guest
+who may 'drop in' for a sociable chat and a cigar.
+
+Don Francisco--the chief doctor of the town--is usually the first to
+appear. He is followed by Señor Esteban, the lawyer, Don Magin, the
+merchant, Don Felipe, the sugar-planter, and one or two young creoles
+whose avocations are doubtful. As each guest appears, everybody rises
+and salutes him elaborately. The visitors are all attired for the
+evening in black alpaca coats, white drill trousers, and waistcoats,
+patent leather thin-soled boots, and bran new 'bómbas'--a bomba being
+the slang term for a tall beaver hat.
+
+For some moments the company assembled remain speechless, and no sounds
+are heard in the silent evening but the swaying of the rocking-chairs
+and the creaking of the gentlemen's stiffly-starched trousers. Presently
+someone produces a neat home-made cigarette case, and before selecting a
+cigar or a cigarette for his own consumption offers it to all the males
+present, who accept of his generosity. The conversation, in which those
+who are not already asleep join, now becomes general. The weather, and
+the state of the coffee and cane crops, are all duly discussed, together
+with the theatre and the last ball at the Philharmonic. Politics are
+lightly touched upon, for two of the gentlemen present are Spaniards,
+and for obvious reasons a Cuban usually avoids all topics which concern
+the government of his country. Occasionally someone who is well-read in
+the day's newspaper, essays a mild discussion with somebody else who has
+not seen the paper for a week; but as Cuban periodicals are under
+official control, they are not remarkable for their political veracity,
+and the well-read member of the company usually gets the worst of the
+argument.
+
+Learning that my companion and I contemplate establishing a studio for
+the practice of our profession in the town, everybody offers us his
+advice, and recommends to our notice certain houses suitable for art
+purposes. Don Esteban, the lawyer, favours us with his legal opinion,
+reminding us of the law which prohibits a foreigner from setting up in
+business on his own account; but we assure him of our intention to 'go
+into partnership,' and that as one of us is a Cuban born, we have no
+uneasiness.
+
+It is considered fatal to sit under the rays of a Cuban moon, so when
+that luminary is visible to any occupant of the balcony, his
+rocking-chair is immediately shifted into a shadier part. But, in doing
+so, extreme care is taken lest the occupant should reseat himself with
+his back inclined in the least manner towards his neighbour, as a Cuban
+would rather suffer any personal inconvenience than be discovered in
+this impolite posture.
+
+No refreshment of any kind is offered by our host during the tertulia,
+but if one of the company feels thirsty he calls for a glass of iced
+water, which is accordingly brought to him by a slave, who, if
+necessary, qualifies the harmless beverage with 'panales,' which is a
+kind of cake prepared with white sugar.
+
+Other tertulias are being held at neighbouring houses. Those who have no
+balconies to boast of, place their rocking-chairs in the passage or hall
+of their dwelling, while others, who have neither the one accommodation
+nor the other, deposit their receptacles for the weary on the pavement
+in the street. The black domestics form a tertulia on the door-steps or
+squat together in dark unoccupied parts of the corridors. Their jabber
+is incessant and occasionally requires a gentle reminder. Sometimes one
+of their company essays a wild melody, accompanying his song on a
+primitive instrument of his own manufacture.
+
+Throughout the evening the streets are utterly deserted, and as,
+moreover, they are badly illuminated with gas, the aspect on a dark
+night is not cheerful. But on a bright, moonlit night, such as that to
+which I have referred, artificial lighting is altogether dispensed with.
+The moon in the tropics is, for astronomical reasons, brighter than it
+is elsewhere; but as regards Cuba, another reason might be derived from
+the fact that, metaphorically speaking, a slave country and a badly
+governed one into the bargain, is about the darkest spot in the
+habitable globe. At least, in Cuba the lamp of Heaven shines with
+increased brilliancy, illuminating alike Spaniard, Cuban, freedman, and
+bondsman!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+ART-PATRONAGE IN CUBA.
+
+     Our Studio--Our Critics--Our Patrons--Still-Life.
+
+
+Assisted by Don Benigno's nephew Tunicú, Nicasio and I in time meet with
+a residence suitable for art purposes.
+
+Our habitation consists of six rooms on a single floor, with a wide
+balcony in front, and a spacious patio, or court-yard, at the back. We
+have no furniture worth mentioning; furniture in Cuba being represented
+by a few cane or leather-bottomed chairs, some spittoons, and a small
+square of carpet. But our walls are well hung with works of art in
+various stages of progress, which, in a great measure, compensate for
+the otherwise barren appearance of our apartments. Our studio is a
+spacious chamber on a level with the street which it overlooks. The
+windows occupy more than half of the wall space, are guiltless of glass,
+and are protected by iron bars. The accessories of our strange calling
+lend an interest to our domestic arrangements, and form a kind of free
+entertainment for the vulgar. To insure privacy, we have sometimes
+curtained the lower half of our enormous windows; but this contrivance
+has always proved ineffectual, for in the midst of our labour, the
+space above the curtains has been gradually eclipsed by the appearance
+of certain playful blacks who have clambered to the heights by means of
+the accommodating rails. Gentlemen of colour have little respect for the
+polite arts; they look upon our sanctum as a sort of permanent
+peep-show, and upon us as a superior order of photographers. Primed with
+these delusions our Spanish Sambo comes for his carte-de-visite at all
+hours of the sunny day, persuaded that we undertake black physiognomies
+at four dollars a dozen; and when we assure him that ours is the
+legitimate colouring business, and that we have no connexion with Señor
+Collodión up the street, our swarthy patron produces a ready-made black
+and white miniature of himself, and commissions us to colour it in our
+best manner.
+
+The press of Santiago dubs us 'followers of the divine art of Apelles,'
+and an inspection of our works of art is thus described in one of the
+local papers:
+
+'We have lately visited those industrious gentlemen Don Nicasio
+Rodriguez y Boldú and El Caballero Inglés Don Gualterio who, as the
+public are aware, have established a studio in Cuba for the practice of
+the divine art of Raphael and Michael Angelo. It is the duty of every
+art-loving person to inspect all temples of the beautiful whether they
+be represented by the luxurious palaces of the great or the humblest
+cottages on earth. Knowledge reveals itself in the dullest as well as
+the brightest localities, for true genius can abide anywhere.
+
+'He who, like ourselves, has frequently traversed the Calle de Santa
+Rosa, must have observed that in that street stands a priceless casket,
+which being open leads to the studio of the two distinguished followers
+of the divine art of Apelles to whom we have referred.'
+
+After continuing to indulge in this poetical strain for another
+paragraph or two, the enthusiastic writer is recalled to his duties of
+art-showman, and proceeds to describe in glowing colours all that is
+contained in the 'priceless casket,' open for his inspection. He lingers
+lovingly over a large copy of Titian's 'Venus' which, together with
+other pictures and unfinished sketches, we had brought with us from
+Italy. He is perfectly enraptured with the charms of the painted
+goddess, from whom he can scarcely tear himself away even on paper, and
+he concludes with the remark that, 'after contemplating this life-like
+representation of nature, the spectator is disposed to touch the canvas
+to convince himself that what he beholds is merely a painted shadow of
+the reality!'
+
+Sketches and portraits next occupy his attention; 'and if,' he adds,
+'the visitor's curiosity is not satisfied with the representations of
+men and women, he can relieve his vision by regarding beasts and birds,
+which, although only depicted upon canvas, appear to be endowed with
+animation!'
+
+In spite, however, of these and other published tributes to our genius,
+we find that high art, at least, does not pay in our part of the
+tropics. Regardless of posterity, therefore, we abandon the sublime, and
+offer our art services for anything that may present itself. A bonâ fide
+painter is a rarity in the town I am describing, so Nicasio and I are
+comparatively alone in the fine art field. Our patrons are numerous, but
+we are expected by them to be as versatile as the 'general utility' of
+theatrical life.
+
+Nicasio finds a lucrative post vacant at the public 'Academy of
+Arts'--an institution supported by the municipality of the town. There
+is a great dearth of 'professors of drawing,' owing to the sudden
+resignation of a gentleman who previous to our arrival had been the sole
+representative of 'the divine art of Apelles.' The academy is a dreary
+apology for a school of art. The accommodation is scanty, and the
+'models' provided for the scholars or 'discipulos,' as they are grandly
+styled, consist wholly of bad lithographic drawings. The post of
+professor, however, yields a fair monthly stipend, and it being offered
+to and accepted by my companion, contributes no inconsiderable item
+towards our united income.
+
+We are overwhelmed with portrait work, but most of it is connected with
+defunct people, for we cannot induce our patrons to believe that a
+living person is a fit subject for our brush. And so it often happens
+that we are summoned from our homes, doctor-like, at all hours of the
+night, to hasten to the house of a moribund, for the purpose of making
+such notes as shall afterwards serve as guides for a replica of the late
+lamented in his habit as he lived.
+
+One of our first applicants for this kind of patronage is Don Magin, the
+merchant, whose acquaintance we have made at Don Benigno's tertulia. The
+Don stops me in the street one day, and with a disturbed countenance
+tells me that his only child--a girl of three--has been lately buried.
+Will I, or my partner, be so good as to restore her to life on canvas? I
+agree to undertake the work if Don Magin will provide me with a guide in
+the shape of a photograph.
+
+'I am sorry to inform you,' says the Don, 'that my poor child never sat
+for her photograph.'
+
+'Then,' I remark, 'I will be satisfied with a slight but faithful
+sketch, or even a coloured miniature.'
+
+'I regret that I cannot supply you with any representation of my
+departed daughter,' replies Don Magin.
+
+'How then can you expect to possess a portrait of her?' I enquire.
+
+'Easily enough,' he answers. 'It is true that I have no actual likeness
+of the child; but equally good guides are at your disposal. I can
+provide you with the little dress, the little hat, the little shoes and
+socks which she was accustomed to wear. I have also taken the measure of
+her height, and the size round her pretty waist. I can furnish you with
+minute particulars respecting the colour of her complexion, hair and
+eyes, and I will show you a lovely child who resembles my own in many
+ways. Besides this, my Engracia was considered to bear a strong likeness
+to her father. Make her appear so also in the painting; introduce the
+accessories which I have mentioned; take a notion or two from the girl
+that I will send, and I am convinced that the result will be
+satisfactory to both of us.'
+
+In vain do I endeavour to show the impossibility of such an achievement;
+the merchant will not hear of refusal, and as an inducement for me to
+make only a trial, he offers me a large price, promising to double the
+amount if I succeed to his liking.
+
+It is a source of infinite consolation to the distressed old
+gentleman--who by the way is very grey and wrinkled--when I finally
+agree to make a trial; but I warn him that his anticipations about the
+result will never be realised.
+
+Sanguine and happy, my strange patron departs, and in due course I
+receive the various articles he had specified. The pretty child serves
+well enough as a model for the proportions of the figure, and attired in
+the garb of her late lamented playmate, she enables me to devote every
+attention to the detail. I am also able to crown the little pink dress
+with an infantile face, whose hair, eyes, and complexion I colour
+according to instructions; and with the introduction of a landscape
+background and with a stray flower or two arranged in the foreground,
+the sum total is a pretty picture which, on that account, leaves at
+least a 'balance in my favour!'
+
+The portrait (?) having been placed in its gilded frame, my patron is
+invited to inspect it.
+
+For many long moments Don Magin contemplates the work without uttering a
+word. His countenance, which I watch with an anxious eye--as yet
+expresses neither approval nor the reverse.
+
+Does this portrait on my easel remind the bereaved parent of his lost
+offspring?
+
+It does! yes; there faithfully depicted are the very dress, the very
+little hat, and the still smaller shoes which she was wont to wear in
+life! The figure, complexion, colour of eyes and hair, are all hers to a
+shade. In short, a resemblance to his child gradually developes itself
+before the old gentleman's vision, till at last clasping both my hands,
+and with tears in his eyes, he declares that I have succeeded far beyond
+his best expectations.
+
+In this instance everything terminates like the last scene in the
+drama, where the aged father recognises his long lost child. But work of
+this nature does not always end so satisfactorily.
+
+Happily, portraiture is not our only resource. We hold important
+professorships in colleges, schools, and ladies' academies, where we
+impart every accomplishment in which drawing-paper and pencils are used,
+including the art of caligraphy, missal-painting, and designing for
+fancy needlework.
+
+Whenever a strolling company of Spanish players encamp for the season at
+the theatre, our services are required as the company's special scenic
+artists. The demand for scenery at the Teatro Real Cuba is, however,
+small; a divergence from its standard repertoire being considered as
+next to an infringement on public rights; so our labours rarely extend
+beyond an occasional property, or 'set' in the shape of a painted
+'ancestor,' a practicable piece of furniture, or a bit of bank for
+introduction into the elegant saloon, the cottage interior, or the wood
+scene. Once only are our scenic services in special request for a fairy
+piece, which the manager has announced with 'entirely new decorations.'
+Though the public believe that four months have been employed in the
+preparations, we have barely as many days for the purpose, and during
+this short space we produce that gorgeous temple which is destined to
+form a conspicuous feature in the well-worn wood scene, and we add to
+the native charm of the elegant saloon and the cottage interior with
+suitable embellishments. Dutch metal and coloured foils, lavishly
+administered, cover a multitude of imperfections, and we have still the
+red fire and an indulgent public to fall back upon. Our efforts are
+rewarded by thunders of applause on the part of the audience, and
+eulogistic paragraphs in the local papers.
+
+To oblige our worthy friend Don Benigno we are, upon another occasion,
+induced to paint and embellish his quitrin--a two-wheeled carriage of
+the gig class, the component parts of which bear one to the other
+something of the proportions of a spider and his web; the body of the
+conveyance being extremely small, the shafts inconceivably long, and the
+wheels of a gigantic circumference. The street-doors of most Cuban
+houses are constructed with a view to the admittance of such a vehicle,
+which when not in use is carefully enveloped in brown holland, like a
+harp or a chandelier during the out-of-town season, and is deposited in
+the hall or passage of the threshold, and in some cases in a corner of
+the marble-paved reception room. The presence in our studio of Don
+Benigno's quitrin is therefore not very remarkable. Many weeks, however,
+elapse before we can get rid of this unsightly piece of furniture.
+Several coats of paint and varnish have to be applied, and innumerable
+coloured lines introduced, before it is ready to receive the more
+artistic touches. All devices connected with painting are by our Cuban
+patrons generalised under the head of 'paisaje' or landscape, and in the
+present instance the landscapes include two views of Don Benigno's crest
+together with his elaborate monogram.
+
+A couple of mulatto art-aspirants whom we graciously receive as
+disciples for one hour daily, help considerably in this undertaking, and
+take such an especial delight in it that it is a sorrowful day for them
+when Saturnine--Don Benigno's black postilion--comes to wheel away their
+handiwork.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A CUBAN 'VELORIO.'
+
+     More Still-Life--A Night Wake--Mourners--Doña Dolores--A Funeral
+     Procession--A Burial.
+
+
+To be summoned from his couch at all hours of the night is not an
+uncommon occurrence with a medical man, but for a follower of 'the
+divine art of Apelles' to be thus disturbed in his slumbers is, to say
+the least of it, an unreasonable proceeding.
+
+Nevertheless one of us must rise and don his clothes at three A.M.; for
+a black varlet has come to inform us that his 'amo,' Don Pancho Agüerro
+y Matos, has just died, and that his bereaved family are desirous of
+preserving his image on canvas. Nicasio and I, as usual, draw lots for
+the questionable privilege of immortalising the late lamented, and as
+this time I am the unfortunate winner, it behoves me to gather together
+the implements of our craft, attire myself in my darkest garments, and
+follow the sombre messenger of death to the house of mourning.
+
+Here a 'velorio,' or night-wake, for the departed is being held. The
+reception room is already crowded with the defunct's relatives and
+dearest friends, who are seated on chairs and low stools against the
+walls. As soon as I appear everybody rises in accordance with the
+polite custom of the country, and the chief mourners crowd around me and
+give expression to their grief in a variety of ways. Some clasp my neck
+and waist; others cling to my legs, and pointing to an adjoining
+chamber, they beseech me to restore the late lamented to life--on
+canvas.
+
+Encompassed as I am, it is no easy matter to reach the apartment where
+the deceased, surrounded by long wax candles and tall silver
+candlesticks, lies in state.
+
+Though my duties are confined to the portrayal of the inanimate face
+before me, I often pause to take mental as well as pictorial notes of
+the surroundings. I observe that the defunct is attired in a suit of
+black, which has doubtless been provided by the undertakers; for the
+clothes are much too wide for his wasted anatomy, and give him the
+appearance of a misfitted dissenting minister. I remark that the dead
+man's relatives and friends bear their loss bravely; for some are
+endeavouring to drown their sorrows in the cup that cheers, and in
+lively conversation. I am reminded of the popular theory that tobacco is
+a disinfectant, from the fact that most of the company, including the
+elderly ladies, are indulging in that luxury. Occasionally a tray of
+cigars is handed round together with coffee, chocolate, sweetmeats, and
+biscuits. I note that these convivialities are only interrupted when a
+visitor is announced. That upon these occasions the mourners are
+inspired to give loud expression to their grief. That the women shriek,
+rave, and occasionally vary their proceedings by swooning and going into
+hysterics. I observe that the new arrival is seized and surrounded as I
+had been and conducted into the chamber of death, where some of the
+mourners give vent to their sorrow by clasping the clerical-looking
+clothes or embracing the borrowed boots. I find that among the lady
+mourners the most demonstrative is Doña Dolores, who is said to be the
+nearest surviving relative of the departed; though from the language
+which she occasionally utters it is not clear to me what kind of
+relationship she claims.
+
+Whenever a new mourner appears, Doña Dolores, who has been hitherto
+silently seated behind me, springs to her feet and in the following
+terms apostrophises the dead:
+
+'Oh! Pancho. My little dear! (the defunct was a middle-aged gentleman).
+Answer me, my love. Where are you, my brother? Ah! it's all over with
+you now, Panchito. To-morrow you will be quite alone, with nobody to
+speak to you. Oh! my Panchito--my love--my life--my entraños! Pancho of
+my heart; of my soul! My brother--my son--my love--my father; for thou
+hast been more than father, lover, son, and brother to me!'
+
+After a short pause the lady breaks out afresh:
+
+'Virgen Santísima! Virgen de la Caridad! Where is my poor Panchito? What
+have you done with him? Where are you, Pancho? Answer me, my love! Maria
+Santísima; look at my poor brother all alone without the power to speak
+or rise! Make him answer me! Oh! my dear companion--my cousin--my
+godfather--mi compadre--my parent--my friend; speak! Tell me where you
+are! Come to me, my Pancho; my Panchito. Oh! Pancho--Pan-cho!
+Pa-n-n-cho!!'
+
+Once, in the middle of the lady's eloquence, the late Don Pancho
+startles everybody (myself included) by opening his mouth and drooping
+his head!
+
+In order to facilitate my operations, the body had been propped up in a
+sitting posture, but by some mishap the props had given way. Until the
+real cause of the displacement is made manifest, Doña Dolores is beside
+herself with joy. Her Pancho has been restored to life! Her beloved
+'stepfather, spouse, and compatriot' will drive with her to the Alameda
+to-morrow! He shall have a cigar and a cup of coffee now, and his
+portrait shall not be painted!
+
+'Go,' says the Señora to me in a tone of authority; 'we don't want you
+any more. Panchito will accompany me to the photographer's, and save you
+the trouble!'
+
+Fortunately the lady's friends intercede at this moment; for finding
+that I do not obey her commands, the exasperated Señora makes a wild
+dash at my sketch-book; over-turning in her movements my box of colours
+and one of the long candlesticks! Convinced, however, of the truth, the
+poor lady is pacified, and resumes her place behind me.
+
+On the morning of the second day of the velorio, as I am putting the
+finishing touches to my sketch, certain strange ceremonies are observed.
+
+An undertaker's man is announced, and, apparently with no other object
+in view than to provide becoming robes of sable for the bereaved,
+proceeds to take the general dimensions of everybody present. But I
+observe that a separate length of white tape is employed in each case,
+and that when a sufficient number have been thus collected, the measures
+are consigned to the dead man's pockets, together with the mourners'
+white cambric handkerchiefs.
+
+When these and other curious ceremonials--the precise object of which I
+cannot for the life of me penetrate--have been enacted, more
+undertakers arrive and proceed to prepare the body for decent burial.
+There is much lamentation when the coffin is finally borne from the
+house. The women shriek and swoon, grovel on the ground, and tear their
+hair. As for Doña Dolores--she is inconsolable, and continues to
+harangue the remains until her speech is inarticulate and she is carried
+away in a fainting condition to her chamber.
+
+A procession, consisting of upwards of seventy mourners, follows on foot
+the richly-gilded and ornamented hearse. Everybody is attired in the
+deepest mourning, which, as fashions in Cuba go, includes a tall beaver
+hat adorned with broad crape, a black cloth coat and white trousers. The
+hired mutes, however, present a more sombre appearance, for not only are
+their habiliments black, but also their faces and bare hands; mutes in
+Cuba being represented by negroes of the darkest shade.
+
+The funeral procession now leads on in the direction of the cathedral,
+where mass for the dead is to be performed. Those who do not care to
+enter the sacred edifice will light their cigars and cigarettes, and
+will employ the interval which elapses before the burial service is
+over, by strolling about the neighbourhood, and chatting with
+acquaintances at their grated windows.
+
+Service being over, the funeral will proceed to the cemetery at St.
+Ana's. Arrived at the gates of the burial ground, everybody will return
+home without waiting for the interment, which in Cuba is performed by a
+couple of black sextons who, unattended by either priest, mourner, or
+any other person, lower the remains into the hole which has been dug for
+it!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+CUBAN MODELS.
+
+     Tropical Birds--The Cocos--La Grulla--Vultures--Street
+     Criers--Water Carriers.
+
+
+My companion has a weakness for bird-painting, and it pleases him to
+have the living originals on the premises. Therefore does our spacious
+court-yard contain a goodly collection of the feathered tribe, with one
+or two animals without feathers. A large wirework aviary is filled with
+fifty specimens of tropical birds with pretty plumage and names hard to
+pronounce. A couple of cocos--a species of stork, with clipped
+wings--run freely about the yard, in company with a wild owl and a
+grulla, a tall crane-like bird five feet high. In a tank of water are a
+pair of young caymanes, or crocodiles. These interesting creatures are
+still in their infancy, and at present measure only four feet six inches
+from the tips of their hard noses to the points of their flexible tails.
+We have done our best to tame them; but they have not yet fallen into
+our domestic ways. Nor does time improve their vicious natures, for at
+the tender age of six months they have already shown signs of
+insubordination. If they persist in their evil courses we must needs
+make a premature end of them, which is no easy matter, for their scaly
+hides are already tough as leather, and the only indefensible parts
+about them are their small eyes and open mouths.
+
+The Cocos, male and female, are meagre-bodied birds, with slender legs,
+and beaks twelve inches long. They are an inseparable couple, and wander
+about our patio and rooms in a restless nervous fashion, rattling their
+chop-stick noses into everything. Now they are diving into the mould of
+flower-pots for live food, which they will never swallow till it has
+been previously slain. One of them has espied a cockroach in a corner,
+and in darting towards the prey a scorpion crosses its path. The
+venomous reptile hugs the belligerent beak in the hope of conveying to
+it some of its deadly sting; but the tip of Coco's horny appendage is a
+long way from his tender points, and Scorpio must travel many an inch
+before he can make the desired impression. Meanwhile the stork has
+teased Scorpio's life out, and jerked his remains into that bourn whence
+no defunct reptile returns. Our Coco's chief delight is to play with our
+painting materials, where much amusement may be derived by upsetting a
+bottle of varnish, or by distributing our long brushes in various parts
+of the room.
+
+A fund of entertainment is found in the displacement of every object not
+too weighty for Coco to convey. Thus, when a wineglass or a small coffee
+cup is missing, it will be discovered in the most unlikely spot, such as
+the balcony, on the roof, or maybe in our neighbour's dusthole. By
+Coco's sleight of _beak_, slippers part company and invite us to hunt
+for them, as if we were playing a certain old-fashioned game. As for the
+spoons, knives, and forks--they are disseminated everywhere like seeds
+in a ploughed field.
+
+Has anyone seen my inkstand?
+
+Yes; it has caught Coco's eye, and it has consequently been caught up by
+his chop-stick beak. With the agility of a sprite, he had hopped upon my
+open writing-desk, and having duly overhauled the contents and carefully
+transplanted each particular sheet of paper, envelope, pen and pencil,
+he devotes his attention to the ink; half of which he must surely have
+imbibed, for his beak remains parti-coloured for many days, and the
+inkstand, which I discover on the first fine 'retreta,' reposing within
+my best beaver hat, is perfectly empty!
+
+To their credit, be it said, the two Cocos--male and female--never for
+an instant part company. Where one trips, there trips the other. If
+Señor Coco starts off on any important enterprise, his Señora gives a
+croak expressive of her readiness to follow, and is after him like his
+own shadow. Similarly, when la Señora Coco dives into the depths of an
+old boot in quest of emptiness, her lord assists at the investigation.
+
+Once only, my Lady Coco is missing; having wandered from the house, and
+lost herself in an adjacent field. Until her reappearance, Lord Coco is
+inconsolable. The pastimes of the studio and the patio have no
+attractions for the bereaved bird. He fasts during the day, and croaks
+dismally at night. But when the prodigal at last returns, Lord Coco is
+quite another bird, and in a moment of rapture he secretes our last tube
+of flake white in the water-jug!
+
+The majestic Grulla is a better behaved bird. There is a dignity about
+her walk, and a formality about her ways, which are examples to her
+feathered companions. At night she is as serviceable as the best
+watch-dog, warning all trespassers by her piercing shriek, and by a
+furious dash at them with her strong neck and sharp-pointed beak. Grulla
+abominates all new-comers, and it was long before she was reconciled to
+the presence of her crocodile companions. When first their objectionable
+society was thrust upon the huge bird, she became nearly beside herself
+with vexation, and made savage onslaughts on the invaders' impenetrable
+hides. Once Grulla was in imminent danger of losing her neck whilst
+taking a blind header at the enemy's beady eye; for in a moment the
+reptile opened his yard of jaw for the easy accommodation of the bird's
+three feet of throat. My lady's behaviour at table leaves nothing to be
+desired. At the dinner hour she strides into our apartment without
+bidding, and takes her allotted place. The bird's two feet six inches of
+legs serve her instead of a chair, and her swan-like neck enables her to
+take a bird's-eye view of the most distant dish. But she never ventures
+to help herself to anything till the meal is actually placed on the
+plate before her; nor does she bolt her food like a beast, but disposes
+of it gracefully, like the best educated biped. Jerking the article for
+consumption neatly into her beak, and raising her head high in the air,
+she waits till the comestible has gravitated naturally down her throat.
+The Grulla's favourite dishes are sweet bananas, boiled pumpkin, and the
+crumb of new bread; but she is also partial to fresh raw beefsteak
+whenever she can get it.
+
+Everybody has his likes and his dislikes. Some people cannot abide a
+pig, and Grulla's antipathy is a big Aura.
+
+An Aura is a vulture which sails gracefully over every Cuban town in
+quest of prey. The Aura is an invaluable bird in the tropics; the dead
+carcases of animals being by its means cleared away in a few hours. Its
+services are, in this respect, rated at so high a value that it is
+considered an illicit act to slay one of these useful scavengers of the
+air, and a heavy fine is imposed on the slayer.
+
+Grulla, however, does not appreciate Aura's virtues; but whenever one of
+these vultures is visible from the patio, she shrieks like a maniac,
+flaps her large wings angrily, and turns wild pirouettes in the yard.
+
+Besides our bird-models, the street criers, who pass our doors at all
+hours, are occasionally induced to lend their services to the cause of
+art.
+
+Early in the morning la Lechera goes her rounds, with a large can of
+milk miraculously poised upon her head. The black milkmaid is attired in
+a single garment of cotton or coarse canvas; her feet and ankles are
+exposed, and her head is bound with a coloured handkerchief like a
+turban. We purchase daily of the Lechera a medio's worth of milk, but
+she grins incredulously, when one day we invite her to enter our studio.
+She is a slave belonging to the proprietor of a neighbouring farm, and
+what would 'mi-amo,' her master, say, or more probably 'do,' if he heard
+that his serf employed her time by sitting for her 'paisaje?'
+
+The Almidonero next favours us with a 'call.' This gentleman traffics in
+starch, an article in great demand, being employed for stiffening a
+Cuban's white drill clothes. The vendor of starch is a Chinese by
+birth, and, like other Celestials residing in Cuba, answers to the
+nickname of Chow-chow, from a popular theory that the word (which in the
+Chinese language stands for 'provisions') expresses everything in a
+Chinaman's vocabulary.
+
+Chow-chow carries upon his head a wooden tray, containing a number of
+circular pats of starch, of the consistency and appearance of unbaked
+loaves.
+
+The Panadero, or baker's man, visits us twice a day. In the cool of the
+early morning the little man--an Indian by birth--is extraordinarily
+active and full of his business, but during the heat of mid-day, when
+his visit is repeated, time to him seems of no importance. Our Indian
+baker is usually discovered sleeping a siesta on our broad balcony, and
+by his side lies a flat circular bread-basket as large as the wheel of a
+quitrin. Despite the scorching sun, he remains in this position hatless
+and bare-footed.
+
+La Cascarillera frequently passes our door with her double cry of 'Las
+Cosi-tas!'--'La Cascar-il-la!' The negress offers for sale a kind of
+chalk with which the ladies of Cuba are in the habit of powdering their
+faces and necks. She also sells what she calls 'cositas francesas,'
+which consist of cakes and tarts prepared by the French creoles of Cuba.
+Many of the less opulent Madamas of the town employ their time by making
+French pastry, which their slaves afterwards dispose of in the public
+streets.
+
+The Dulcera deals in 'dulces,' and her cry of 'Dulce de guayaba! Dulce
+de almiba!' proclaims that her tray contains various kinds of West
+Indian preserves. The Dulcera is also a slave, and consequently derives
+no pecuniary benefit from the sale of her sweets, unless, by
+pre-arrangement with her owner, a share in the profits has been
+allowed.
+
+El Malojero is a dark young gentleman who perambulates the town on the
+back of a mule--or more correctly on the summit of a small mountain of
+long, freshly-gathered grass. This grass, or 'maloja' as it is called,
+together with maize, constitute a Creole horse's fodder, and being
+packed in bundles on all sides of the beast of burthen, only the head
+and hoofs of the animal are visible; while el Malojero, perched several
+feet above its back, completes the moving picture.
+
+La Aguadora is perhaps the most attractive of all peripatetics of the
+pavement. It is she who provides the inhabitants with the indispensable
+fluid--water. The water supply of Cuba is derived from wells attached to
+certain houses; but those who, like ourselves, have not this convenience
+on the premises, have water brought to them from the nearest pump or
+spring. More than one Aguadora is employed to replenish our empty
+vessels, and, like all popular characters in Cuba, each is favoured with
+a distinguishing nickname. One of our water-carriers answers to the
+pseudonym Cachon, another is called Tatagüita, a third Mapí, while a
+fourth is dubbed with the imposing title of Regina. In turn, these
+mulatto wenches arrive from the public font with small barrels and
+strangely-fashioned water-jars, and deposit their contents in our
+reservoir and in our 'tina.'
+
+A tina is a filter on a gigantic scale. The exterior resembles a sentry
+box, and is furnished on all sides with ventilating apertures through
+which a current of air passes. At the top of the box or cupboard is
+fixed a huge basin made of a porous stone, through which the water
+slowly drips, and is received thus filtered in an enormous earthen jar.
+A tin pot with a very long handle serves to ladle out the filtered
+liquid, and the rim of this vessel is fringed with sharp projections
+like a chevaux de frise, as a caution to the thirsty not to apply their
+lips to the ladle!
+
+Our nymphs of the pump are more serviceable as models than any of their
+sister itinerants. They have symmetrical forms, which are partially
+revealed through the scantiness of their clothing. Their coffee-coloured
+features are, besides, regular and not devoid of expression.
+
+My companion becomes artistically captivated with Regina, who serves as
+a model for an important picture, which Nicasio paints, but
+unfortunately does not sell, in Cuba!
+
+Mapí, a mulatto girl of tender years, is equally serviceable, and plays
+many parts on canvas; while Cachon and Tatagüita, who are older and less
+comely, impersonate characters becoming their condition.
+
+But alas for art patronage in Cuba! these and other fanciful productions
+do not meet with a purchaser in the Pearl of the Antilles.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+CUBAN BEGGARS.
+
+     Carrapatam Bunga--The Havana Lottery--A Lady Beggar--A Beggar's
+     Opera--Popular Characters--Charity--A Public Raffle--The 'King of
+     the Universe.'
+
+
+Despite the dearth of patrons for the 'legitimate' in art, my companion
+and I continue to occupy our leisure moments in collecting such material
+as may prove attractive in a more art-loving country. Suggestions for
+pictures and sketches are not, however, wholly derived from the street
+vendors I have described. The beggars of Cuba are equally worthy of
+places in our sketch-books.
+
+Spain's romantic 'Beggar on horseback,' in some respects meets with a
+prototype in her colony.
+
+That apparently hapless mendicant shuffling along the white, heated road
+of a narrow street, is a blind negro, with the imposing nickname of
+Carrapatam Bunga. He is attired in a clean suit of brown holland, and he
+wears a broad-brimmed panama. His flat, splay feet are bare, showing
+where one of his toes has been consumed by a nigua, a troublesome insect
+which introduces itself into the foot, and, if not eradicated in time,
+remains there to vegetate. Across his shoulders is slung a huge canvas
+bag for depositing comestible alms, and in his hand is a long rustic
+staff. Charity with a Cuban is a leading principle of his religion, and
+to relieve the indigent--no matter whether the object for relief be
+worthy or not--is next in importance to disburdening the mind to a
+father confessor. Mindful of the native weakness in this respect,
+Carrapatam Bunga bears his sorrows from door to door, confident that his
+affliction and his damaged foot will command pity wheresoever he
+wanders. But he is impudent, and a boisterous, swaggering fellow. Hear
+him as he demands compassion, with his swarthy, fat face upturned to the
+blazing sun, and with a long cigar between his bulging lips.
+
+'Ave Maria! here's the poor blind man; poor fellow! Give him a medio (a
+threepenny-piece) somebody. Does nobody hear him, el pobrecito? Come,
+make haste! Don't keep the poor fellow waiting. Poor Carrapatam Bunga!
+He is stone blind, poor fellow, and his feet are blistered and sore.
+Misericordia, señores. Barajo! why don't somebody answer? Which is mi
+s'ñora Mercedes' house? Will somebody lead me to it? Mi s'ñora
+Mercedes!'
+
+Bunga knows most of his patrons by name. Doña Mercedes appears at her
+iron-grated window, through the bars of which the benevolent lady offers
+a silver coin and a small loaf.
+
+'Gracias, mi s'ñora; Dios se la pague su merced! (May Heaven reward your
+worship.) Who's got a light for the poor ciego?'
+
+Somebody favours the ciego with a light, and Carrapatam Bunga goes on
+his way smoking and humming a tune, and presently harangues in another
+street.
+
+Will it be believed that this wanderer has a farm in the country, with
+slaves in his employ, and hundreds of dollars in his exchequer? When not
+on beggar-beat, Bunga retires to his possessions, where he lives
+luxuriously.
+
+Like some of his begging fraternity, the negro occasionally varies his
+mendicant trade by offering for sale lottery tickets bearing what he
+calls 'lucky numbers.' The Havana lottery is a great institution in
+Cuba, and has an extraordinary fascination for rich as well as poor.
+Each ticket costs seventeen dollars, and is printed in such a form as to
+be susceptible of division into seventeen parts, so as to suit all
+pockets. The prizes vary from 100 to 100,000 dollars, and there are two
+'sorteos,' or draws, monthly. On each occasion 35,000 tickets are
+offered for sale, and out of this number 600 are prizes. He whose number
+happens to approach within ten paces of the 100,000 dollar, or 50,000
+dollar prize, receives a gratuity of 200 dollars as a reward for being
+'near the mark.'
+
+This lottery is a source of revenue to the Spanish state in Cuba, which
+claims a fourth share of the products yielded by the sale of tickets. As
+an instance of the enormous capital sometimes derived from this source,
+it is said that in a certain prosperous year, 546,000 tickets brought to
+the Havana treasury no less than 8,736,000 dollars!
+
+Our friend Carrapatam Bunga often invests in fragments of unsold
+tickets, and on one occasion he drew a prize to the value of 700
+dollars, which good luck, together with his beggar savings, enabled him
+to purchase a farm and to hire a few labourers to work it with. Whether
+from habit or from love of gain, Bunga never forsook his favourite
+vocation, but continued to bear his sorrows from door to door, as if
+they still belonged to him.
+
+In Cuba, at least, beggars may be said to be choosers. Saturday is the
+day which they prefer for transacting their business, because it
+precedes Sunday, when the faithful attend high mass in the church, and
+go to confession. Except on Saturday, and on some festive occasions, it
+is a rare event for a beggar to be seen asking alms in the public
+streets.
+
+Every Saturday morning I pay my respects to Don Benigno and his amiable
+señora, Doña Mercedes, who, as I have already explained, keep open house
+in more than one way; the huge doors of their habitation being ajar at
+all hours. As I sit chatting with my worthy hostess, the street
+door--which has direct communication with the reception room--is boldly
+thrown open, and a white lady, attired in well-starched muslin, and
+adorned with jewels, enters. I rise, in accordance with the polite
+custom of the country, while Don Benigno offers the visitor a
+rocking-chair. The conversation proceeds on subjects of general
+interest, in which the visitor joins. Curiously, I am never introduced
+to the lady in muslin; but the unusual behaviour of my host is soon
+accounted for. After a few minutes the stranger señora rises, and
+approaching Doña Mercedes, offers her hand. Doña Mercedes does not take
+the proffered palm, but simply places upon it a piece of silver coin of
+the value of a franc.
+
+'May Heaven reward you,' says the lady-beggar, and takes her gift and
+her leave without another word.
+
+Something like a Beggars' Opera may be realised whilst sitting before
+Don Benigno's huge window on Saturday morning, and watching the
+thriftless performers as they pass. The entertainment 'opens' at the
+early hour of six A.M.; from that time till the Cuban breakfast-hour of
+eleven, we are treated with begging solos only: mendicants who stand and
+deliver monologues like Carrapatam Bunga or Muñekon--an equally popular
+beggar. Sometimes the applicant for charity announces himself with a
+bold bang on the door, followed by the pious ejaculation, 'Ave Maria!'
+The lame, or otherwise afflicted, are content with simply directing
+attention to their misfortunes, while the less 'favoured' attract public
+regard by humming a wild air, to which a gibberish libretto is attached,
+or by descanting upon social and political matters. The ill-paved
+condition of the Cuban streets, the inefficient supply of water, the bad
+lighting of the town at night, the total absence of anything like proper
+drainage, are favourite topics with these open-air orators.
+
+Like other Cuban celebrities, a characteristic _nom de guerre_ is
+invented for every beggar.
+
+That brown complexioned lady with a man's straw hat on her head, and a
+faded cotton gown clinging to her shrunken form, is called Madama
+Chaleco, from a popular tradition that the old lady formerly donned a
+man's waistcoat or chaleco. From this cause she has become the butt of
+every street boy, who irritates the poor mulatto woman into frenzy by
+shouting her nickname in a derisive tone. The Madama has resided only a
+few years in Cuba; her birthplace being some neighbouring island where
+English and French are spoken: these languages being perfectly familiar
+to the old lady.
+
+Madama Pescuezo is another foreign importation, and her alias is
+founded on a long sinewy throat or pescuezo which the dame possesses.
+
+Isabel Huesito is famous for her leanness, and hence the appellation:
+huesito, or skinny.
+
+Madama Majá is said to have magic dealings with snakes or majás.
+
+Gallito Pigméo is noted for his shortness of stature and his attributes
+of a chicken.
+
+Barrigilla is pot-bellied, and El Ñato has a flatter nose than his black
+brethren.
+
+Carfardóte, Taita Tomás, Macundú, Cotuntum, Carabela Zuzundá, Ña
+Soledad, and Raton Cojonudo, are each named after some personal
+peculiarity.
+
+Sometimes whole sentences stand as nicknames for these popular
+characters.
+
+Amárrame-ese-perro is applied to a beggar who, like most negroes, has a
+dread of dogs, and his repeated, and often causeless, cry of 'Chain me
+up that dog!' earns for him this imposing title.
+
+Another equally nervous negro fears horse-flesh, and his constant
+ejaculation of 'Pull up! you horse-faced animal,' gains him the nickname
+of Jála-pa-lante-cara-de-caballo!
+
+Our Beggars' Opera concludes with a brilliant chorus of mendicants, who,
+at twelve o'clock, visit their patrons in large companies. At that hour,
+one of Don Benigno's slaves enters with a large flat basket containing a
+quantity of small two-penny loaves, which the negro places upon the
+marble floor in front of the open door. Soon a crowd of beggars of all
+shades and castes, who during the last half-hour have been squatting in
+a row under the broad shade of the opposite houses, approach, and,
+without bidding, help to empty the capacious bread-basket. Further up
+the street they go, picking up more crumbs at rich mansions, whose
+owners occasionally vary their entertainment by providing for their
+vagrant visitors a little 'ajiaco,' or native soup.
+
+Cuban people are not fond of bestowing their charity through the medium
+of a public institution. The only place of the kind in that part of Cuba
+which I am describing is called the Beneficencia, or almshouse, which is
+under the superintendence of the Sisters of Charity. Wealthy ladies
+contribute largely towards the support of this establishment, but, in
+order to provide funds, public raffles are indispensable. Nothing
+succeeds in Cuba so well as something in which chance or luck, combined
+with amusement, is the inducement of the venture, and a raffle in aid of
+funds for the famished is always popular.
+
+Doña Mercedes, the most benevolent of ladies, tells me that she and the
+prosperous Señoras already referred to have in project a grand bazaar
+for the benefit of the poor, to which everybody is expected to
+contribute. The articles received for the purposes of the bazaar are to
+be exhibited in one of the big saloons of the Governor's house, which
+overlooks the Plaza de Armas, and they will be raffled for during three
+special evenings. For weeks Doña Mercedes and her charitable sisters are
+busy collecting and numbering the contributions as they arrive, or
+twisting the paper chances into the form of cigar lights.
+
+The military square presents an animated scene on the evenings of the
+raffle. Twelve tables, bearing rich cloths and silver candelabra, are
+distributed about the broad promenade of the plaza. Around each table
+are seated a score of the fairest of Cuba's daughters, elegantly
+attired in evening costume, without any head-covering, and with only a
+scarf or shawl lightly protecting their fair shoulders. Doña Mercedes
+looks charming in a pink grenadine dress, and with her luxuriant black
+hair tastefully arranged, as a Cuban Señora alone knows how. Each lady
+adopts her most insinuating manner in order to dispose of her twisted
+tickets, the greater portion of which contain, of course, blanks, or a
+consolatory couplet, like a motto in a cracker, for the gratification of
+the unsuccessful purchaser. There is loud cheering when a prize is
+drawn, especially if it happen to be of importance, like the 'grand
+prize,' which consists of a prettily worked purse containing six golden
+onzas (twenty pounds sterling).
+
+Crowds of beggars are assembled within range of the plaza, and some of
+them occasionally invest in a medio or peseta's worth of tickets, but as
+coloured people are never permitted to mix with white folk in public,
+their tickets are handed to them by officials appointed for that
+purpose. Some of these blacks are 'retired' slaves: in other words,
+negroes who have become free, either by devoting the savings of many
+years to the purchase of their liberty, or by having their freedom left
+them as a legacy by an indulgent master. Those who have ability and
+industry make the most of their precious gifts by devoting their
+energies to trade or to music, for which accomplishment negroes have
+often a natural inclination; but the infirm or the inactive--and of
+these there is always a majority--are reduced to penury, in which
+condition they fall naturally into begging ways, and prosper
+accordingly.
+
+That intelligent-looking black who craves of me a peseta in order to buy
+a small bundle of tickets for the raffle, is a well-known beggar. His
+name is Roblejo, and he owes his freedom to the publication of a book of
+poems written by himself. Assisted by a benevolent _littérateur_,
+Roblejo was enabled to put his poetic lucubrations into readable form,
+and the novelty taking the public fancy, subscribers were found
+sufficient for the purpose of printing the book, and effecting the
+author's emancipation.
+
+'Holá, Don Pancho! How goes it with thee?' The individual whom I address
+is probably the most popular beggar in the town. His real name is Pancho
+Villergas, but he is commonly known as El Rey del Orbe (the King of the
+Universe). I have often endeavoured to secure a faithful likeness of
+this illustrious gentleman, but Pancho cannot be prevailed upon to sit
+either to an artist or to a photographer. Whenever the subject is
+broached by me, El Rey del Orbe grins, shakes his head knowingly, and
+observes, in the only English with which he is conversant:
+
+'Oh, ye--s; vary vel, no good, good mornin'.'
+
+Pancho is a genuine white man, but age and exposure to the sun and wind
+have bronzed him to a mulatto colour. He has a picturesque Saint Francis
+beard, and a benign, strongly marked countenance. He wears a coat
+purposely patched with many shaded cloths; each shade being considered
+by him to represent one of his numerous dominions. Being buttoned up to
+his neck, the coat gives him a military appearance, while it economises
+his linen. Upon his head is a tall beaver hat, which has seen better
+days, but which the Universe-King is careful to keep well brushed.
+Pancho is slightly crazed, and his monomania consists in the belief that
+he is not a beggar, but a benefactor to his country. With this notion,
+no persuasion will induce him to accept a donation in the shape of
+coin. Those who are acquainted with Pancho's weakness, and desire to
+relieve his wants, must do so through the medium of stratagem. If they
+succeed in imposing upon El Rey del Orbe by prevailing upon him to
+'borrow' food or raiment, they consider themselves amply rewarded for
+their act of charity. The only article which the King of the Universe
+will deign to accept is foolscap writing-paper, because he believes that
+the use to which he applies it will be beneficial to mankind in general,
+and to Cuba in particular. He fills his foolscap with correspondence,
+which he addresses to the highest authorities; the favoured recipients
+being His Excellency the Governor, the alcalde mayor, and members of the
+town council. Whenever any political or social question is raised, the
+King of the Universe is sure to despatch an important document bearing
+his opinion and advice. His majesty is usually his own letter-carrier,
+unless he can meet with a trustworthy messenger in the shape of a
+priest, an officer, or a policeman. The matter contained in these
+momentous memorials occupies from eighteen to twenty closely-written
+sheets, and is always prefaced with the imposing heading: 'Yo, el Rey'
+(I, the King).
+
+Pancho's indigence and infatuation have a romantic origin. This old,
+shabby-looking object before me was at one time a well-to-do planter,
+and held a high position among merchants. One fatal day he became
+enamoured of a creole coquette, who cruelly jilted him. The
+disappointment turned his brain. People attributed his harmless insanity
+to eccentricity, and merchants transacted business with him as of old,
+till one heartless scoundrel, taking advantage of his misfortune,
+swindled him out of a large sum of money, and this deed eventually led
+to Pancho's insolvency and utter ruin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE BLACK ART IN CUBA.
+
+     A Model Mulatto--A Bewitched Watchman--Cuban Sorcery--An Enchanted
+     Painter.
+
+
+It is not always easy to secure the services of a better class of model
+than our peripatetic of the pavement. Before we can induce such a person
+to walk into our studio, many arts, unconnected with our calling, must
+be employed, especially if the object of our solicitation happen to be
+young and fair. Having directed our professional gaze upon such a
+Señorita, it behoves us first to visit her family, and make friends with
+her parents, brothers or sisters, in order that their consent may be
+easily and naturally obtained. Thus, when I cast my artistic eye upon
+the pretty Perpetua, I have to proceed with extreme caution, lest her
+parents should misinterpret the nature of my demand. For Perpetua
+belongs to the octoroon 'species' of mulatto. Her father is a white man,
+and her mother is a free-born quadroon-woman, and they reside with their
+daughter in an humble dwelling near our studio. Don Ramon being a small
+tobacconist, and his wife, Doña Choncha, a laundress, we have sometimes
+patronised the little family, and in this manner I make the acquaintance
+of my future model. It is, however, far from easy to persuade the old
+lady that my admiration for her daughter is wholly confined to the
+picturesque; for when I broach the model-subject, Doña Choncha smiles
+incredulously, and says she will consult her friends. While she is doing
+so, an extraordinary revelation respecting the brown old dame is made to
+me by Mateo, the 'sereno' or watchman of our district.
+
+Armed with a pike, lantern, revolver, and coil of rope for pinioning
+purposes, the watchman wanders about our neighbourhood, halting every
+quarter of an hour to blow a shrill whistle to inform the inhabitants of
+the time of night, and whether it is 'sereno' (fine) or 'nublado'
+(cloudy).
+
+One dark night the sereno pauses before our balcony, and after assuring
+the somnolent, in recitative, that it is 'three-quarters past eleven and
+nu-bla-do!' approaches me, and in a mysterious whisper enquires whether
+I carry 'contradaños,' or charms against evil, about my person. Finding
+that I do not possess such articles, the watchman recommends me to apply
+without delay for a talisman or two. Raw mustard, powdered glass, and
+sulphur, he says, are highly effectual as charms. At that very moment
+Mateo's pockets are full of these safeguards, and when threatened with
+any danger, he has only to sprinkle around him some of the antidote
+against evil.
+
+The watchman then tells me that Doña Choncha is in league with 'brujas'
+(witches), and that if I continue to visit at her house I shall do well
+to take the precautions he has suggested.
+
+Mateo is himself a firm believer in the Black Art, and gives me some
+interesting particulars respecting a secret society of sorcerers, who
+hold certain midnight revels in an empty saloon of a house somewhere in
+the town. There is a kind of freemason mystery attached to their
+proceedings, and none but members are in the secret. It appears,
+however, that their dark deeds consist chiefly in a dead-of-night dance
+around a defunct 'majá' or enchanted snake, by a number of people, most
+of whom are attired in nature's vestments.
+
+The watchman likewise tells me that the practice of witchcraft in Cuba
+is sometimes attended with serious and fatal consequences, and that
+crimes of the worst description are frequently the result of it. An
+individual unwittingly takes his neighbour's life in obedience to
+commands from a sanguinary sorcerer, who requires a certain weight of
+human blood to complete the ingredients of an enchanted preparation.
+'Bring me a couple of handfuls of hair, and four ounces of blood from
+Fulano,' says the weird, who has been applied to for spiritual
+absolution, 'and I will prepare you a contradaño--a charm--that shall
+rid you of your evil genius, and help you out of your present
+difficulty.' Fulano objects to part with his 'personal' property, when
+the request is made to him in a friendly way; so he gets a hard knock on
+the head one day, when he least expects it, and if he escapes with his
+life he is lucky.
+
+Such instances of witchcraft as these, the sereno says, are found only
+among the coloured population of Cuba, and when discovered the
+perpetrators of the nefarious acts are brought to justice and severely
+punished; but belief in necromancy exists even among the more
+enlightened inhabitants of Cuba, and it is far from uncommon to hear of
+highly respectable whites taking part in the practice of it.
+
+Mateo then gives me his own personal experiences of the Black Art as a
+warning against the danger which, he says, will surely threaten me if I
+continue to visit the tobacconist family.
+
+The watchman assures me that for many long weeks he had laboured under
+the depressing influence of a spell. The unfortunate occurrence began
+with an anonymous letter conveying the unwelcome information that a
+certain enemy of Mateo's was engaged in brewing some dreadful mischief
+for his especial benefit. In his professional capacity, the watchman has
+more than one foe in the town, and it is therefore difficult to 'spot,'
+and afterwards capture, the actual offender. The warning letter,
+however, admonishes him that so long as he does not walk in a certain
+locality, no harm to him can possibly accrue. It is not easy for Mateo
+to avoid the indicated thoroughfare, as it happens to come exactly
+within our watchman's beat at night; but he surmounts the obstacle at
+the risk of incurring his employers' displeasure, by exchanging beats
+with a brother watchman. The irregular act is, however, made known to
+the authorities, and Mateo is threatened with instant dismissal if he
+persists in avoiding the street in question. Fortunately, the sereno
+receives a second missive from the anonymous correspondent, containing
+the assurance that there is still hope for immediate and radical
+disenchantment if Mateo will only follow the writer's advice. This
+consists, first of all, in depositing a piece of coin under the door of
+his correspondent's habitation. At an early hour, the money will
+disappear through some unseen agency, and will afterwards be consigned
+to a disenchanting locality in the Cuban bay. The sereno is next
+enjoined to examine the lining of his bran-new panama, which he has
+lately purchased to wear only on festive occasions. If all goes well, he
+will assuredly discover certain black pins and human hairs crossed,
+entwined and affixed in a peculiar fashion to the crown of his hat. The
+same evil omens will likewise appear at the ferule end of his
+gold-knobbed walking-stick. Satisfied that there is 'no deception,' the
+proprietor of the enchanted hat and cane wraps up those articles
+carefully in several folds of paper, according to instructions, and
+early one Sunday morning deposits the parcel in a certain hole in an
+undesirable field on the confines of the town.
+
+'When I had done so,' concludes the watchman, pausing to inform the
+inhabitants that it is three-quarters past midnight and
+nu-bla-do!--'when I had done so, I walked without fear along the
+forbidden street, and I have walked there in safety ever since!'
+
+The watchman enjoins me to be warned by his story, and once more advises
+me to provide myself with a few contradaños.
+
+'Had I taken the same precautions,' observes Mateo, 'I should have
+escaped all my troubles.'
+
+'And preserved your panama and gold-headed cane!' I add.
+
+'Past one o'clock and seren-o!' sings the watchman as he takes his leave
+of me.
+
+My interest in the tobacconist's family is considerably increased by
+what I have heard, and my visits are none the less frequent because of
+the friendly admonitions which I have received. I do not provide myself
+with the talismans which the sereno has recommended; but I watch the
+old lady's ways more narrowly than I have before done, till I begin at
+last to detect something like a malignant expression in her shrunken,
+yellow-brown countenance.
+
+I observe no change in her pretty daughter, though I must confess that
+in one way, at least, La Perpetua is more 'charming' than ever. The
+young girl is full of her approaching 'fiesta,' or saint's day, which
+annual event is to be celebrated by an afternoon ball and early supper
+at her humble home. The presents she expects to receive in the shape of
+trays of dulces and confectionary will, she assures me, exceed those of
+the past fiesta. Perpetua is the acknowledged belle of the 'barrio,' or
+district, where she resides, and she has many admirers. But
+unfortunately the young creole is not so white as her fair complexion
+would lead one to suppose. Don Ramon is undoubtedly a white man, but his
+wife belongs to the mulatto tribe, and Perpetua's origin is
+unquestionably obscure. Still Doña Choncha has great hopes that her
+pretty daughter will command a white alliance among her husband's
+friends in spite of this drawback, and it is whispered that the
+ambitious old dame has her eye upon more than one eligible suitor for
+her child's whitey-brown hand. Mateo, the watchman--ever hard on Doña
+Choncha--declares that it is her 'evil eye' that is being exercised in
+Perpetua's behalf; but I heed him not, though I am now more than ever
+cautious in my behaviour at the tobacconist's.
+
+Whatever truth there may be in the watchman's assertion that I am the
+object of enchantment, at present I have received no practical evidence
+of it. When I probe Perpetua privately on the subject, I find that she
+has little to tell, except that her mother is in the habit of visiting
+a locality in the town unknown to Perpetua and Don Ramon, and that, upon
+one occasion, she administered a harmless drug to her daughter, assuring
+her that it was a protection against cholera.
+
+As for Don Ramon--that good-natured gentleman is altogether a
+disbeliever in witchcraft, and though he admits that the art is popular
+among a certain class in Cuba, he is of opinion that the Cuban bruja, or
+witch, is simply a high order of gipsy, whose chief object is pecuniary
+gain. The government of the country, with its accustomed inertness, has
+not yet established a law for the suppression of this evil; 'and so,'
+says the tobacconist, 'sorcery flourishes, and the brujas prosper.'
+
+I am beginning to abandon all hope of obtaining La Perpetua for a model,
+when one day I receive an anonymous letter, the handwriting and diction
+of which seem to be the production of an uninstructed Ethiop. The writer
+assures me that somebody or other is at present engaged in the useful
+occupation of working for my complete overthrow and subjugation, and
+that if I require further particulars on the subject I may easily obtain
+them for the small consideration of a 'punctured peseta' (a coin with a
+'lucky' hole in it).
+
+When I exhibit the mysterious document to the watchman, that individual
+is of course highly pleased to find that I have, at last, received some
+evidence of the existence of such mighty people as brujas, and his
+advice resolves itself, as usual, into sulphur and powdered mustard. He
+has now not the least doubt that Doña Choncha has made application to
+the brujas for a spell, and he recommends me to pay the peseta asked of
+me by my anonymous correspondent.
+
+A communication from a live witch is worth all the money demanded for
+it, and I accordingly place the coin, as directed, in a crevice under my
+door. Sure enough, it disappears before daylight, and in return I obtain
+a second sheet of magic manuscript, which, like its predecessor, is
+unpleasantly greasy to the touch and offensive to the nose; but it is
+full of information, and concludes with an offer to effect my permanent
+disenchantment if I will but follow the writer's instructions. If I am
+disposed to do so, I must first meet the writer, or his deputy, alone in
+a certain unfrequented locality of the town at a late hour; arming
+myself with a contradaño in the shape of a media onza. Thirty-four
+shillings may appear a high rate for disenchantment, but the watchman
+assures me that the operation often costs four times that amount, and
+that if the unknown bruja fulfils his promise I shall have made a great
+bargain. As I do not value my malignant spirit at any price, I decline
+for the present to avail myself of this opportunity to be relieved of
+it.
+
+My occupations prevent me from paying my accustomed visits at the
+tobacconist's for some days, but one sunny morning I venture to look in
+at the little establishment.
+
+Don Ramon, I am told, is passing some weeks at his 'vega,' or tobacco
+farm; but his black assistants are at their wooden benches as usual,
+rolling tobacco leaves into cigars. I pass through the section of a shop
+(which has neither wall nor window in front of it) into the inner
+apartment, usually occupied by Doña Choncha and her daughter, and find
+the former engaged in sorting tobacco leaves on the brick-floor, and
+the latter in swaying and fanning herself in a cane rocking-chair. Both
+ladies salute me respectfully, and make kind enquiries after my health.
+These formalities over, Doña Choncha collects together her tobacco
+leaves, and, without a word of explanation, adjourns to the 'patio.' For
+the first time, since my acquaintance with the tobacconist's family, I
+am left alone with the pretty Perpetua!
+
+All is not well with her weird-looking mother, as I very shortly have
+reason to find. I have been scarcely ten minutes in Perpetua's agreeable
+society, when she is summoned by her mother to the court-yard. Upon her
+return I am offered some 'refresco,' made from the juicy fruit of the
+guanabana.
+
+'Who mixed this drink?' I enquire, after taking a sip of it.
+
+'La máma mixed it,' replies Perpetua.
+
+Has the old hag added some infernal drug to the refreshment? I wonder;
+for there is something besides guanabana in the libation!
+
+While I am speculating about this, lo! a strange odour is wafted into
+the little chamber, and presently some smoke is seen to issue from an
+aperture in the door.
+
+Is the house on fire? Perpetua is again summoned by Doña Choncha; but
+before leaving the apartment she begs me not to be alarmed, as it is
+only her mother at her duties. I would willingly believe what she says,
+but being sufficiently familiar with the process of drying tobacco
+leaves, I am convinced that sulphur, hair, mustard, and heaven knows
+what besides, are not employed in it. The fumes of these burning
+substances are, however, entering the apartment, and the atmosphere is
+most oppressive--so much so, that my pulse beats high, and my head
+begins to swim.
+
+Without waiting another moment, I seize my walking-stick and panama hat,
+and escape from the enchanted chamber into the street. The hot air does
+not dispel the giddy feeling which had come over me, and not until I
+have reached my well-ventilated abode, changed my damp linen, and
+sponged my fevered body with 'aguardiente' and water, do I feel myself
+again. I am better still after having taken a refreshing siesta in my
+swinging hammock, in which condition I dream of black pins, burnt hair,
+raw mustard, and sulphur. When I awake, I examine carefully the lining
+of my panama, and the ferule end of my walking-stick, to satisfy myself
+that no burglarious bruja has taken advantage of my repose to tamper
+with my property. But whether it is that my stick and hat are of no
+great value, or that the defences of our studio are impregnable, no
+bruja has offered to take 'charge' of these things by labelling them
+with their infernal tickets.
+
+My partner, to whom I record the events of the day, is of opinion that
+if all models are as difficult to secure as La Perpetua, we had better
+abandon our researches in this direction, and abide by our street criers
+and mendicants. He also suggests a little landscape-painting by way of
+variety, and, with this object in view, we plan certain walking
+expeditions into the surrounding country. What subjects for landscape
+pictures we meet with, and whether or not we are more successful in our
+quest after inanimate nature, will be told in another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A TASTE OF CUBAN PRISON-LIFE.
+
+     Two Views of the Morro Castle--The Commandant--The Town Jail--Cuban
+     Policemen--Prisoners--A Captive Indian--Prison Fare--A Court of
+     Justice--A Trial--A Verdict.
+
+
+I dream that I am Silvio Pellico, that the prisoner of St. Helena is my
+fellow-captive, and that an apartment belonging to the Spanish
+Inquisition is our dormitory. Clasps of iron eat their way into our
+ankles and wrists; gigantic rats share our food; our favourite exercise
+is swinging head downwards in the air, and our chief recreation is to
+watch the proceedings of tame spiders.
+
+I awake and find my bed unusually hard. My bed-clothes have vanished,
+and in their stead are a couple of hard benches, with my wearing apparel
+rolled up for a pillow. By a dim light I observe that my apartment is
+remarkably small, bare, damp, and dome-shaped. The window is a barred
+aperture in the door; is only a foot square, and looks on to the patio,
+or narrow passage, where unlimited wall stares me in the face. Do I
+still dream, or is this actually one of 'le mie prigioni'? I rub my eyes
+for a third time, and look about the semi-darkened vault. Somebody is
+snoring. I gaze in the direction whence the sound proceeds, and observe
+indistinctly an object huddled together in a corner. So, this is no
+dream, after all; and that heap of sleeping humanity is not Napoleon,
+but my companion, Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú.
+
+We are both shut up in one of the subterranean dungeons of the Morro
+Castle; not the Havana Morro, but the fortress at Santiago de Cuba,
+alluded to by Tom Cringle.
+
+Why are we here?
+
+What were we doing yesterday afternoon?
+
+Well; we were taking a seven miles walk to the Morro Castle, the
+picturesque neighbourhood of which we had not yet visited, and as the
+grounds attached to the fortress are always open to the public, we
+proposed a quiet evening saunter over them.
+
+We had a negro with us, an old and faithful vassal, who at the present
+moment is enjoying solitary confinement in another part of the fortress.
+We reached the castle grounds, where a group of Spanish 'militares' were
+seated. We gave them the 'Buenas tardes:' they returned our salute, and
+their chief, who was no less a personage than the commandant of the
+Morro, offered us refreshment, and permitted us to wander about the
+grounds. In our ramble we paused here and there to admire the
+picturesque 'bits' of scenery which, at every turn of a winding road,
+broke upon our view. By a narrow path cut in the grey rock we descended
+to the sea-shore, and stood before the entrance of the Cuban harbour. We
+watched the French packet as she steamed into port on her way to the
+town, and saw the gun fired which announced her arrival. The steamer was
+so near, that we could scan the faces of everybody on board, and hear
+enthusiastic congratulations on their safe arrival after their tedious
+voyage. The skipper conferred with the Morro guard. What was the ship's
+name? Where did she hail from? Who was her captain? Where was she bound
+for? A needless demand, I thought, seeing that there is no water
+navigable beyond the town; but it was in strict conformity with Spanish
+regulations.
+
+As evening advanced, we prepared to return to our temporary home, where
+a good dinner doubtless awaited us, with a cup of café noir to follow,
+and correspondence--ah! my friends never missed a mail--to open and to
+devour.
+
+'Alto allá!' The ominous command to halt where we stood, still rings in
+my ear. A party of soldiers, with pointed muskets and fixed bayonets,
+ran with all speed in our direction.
+
+'Car-amba!' Were we the object of their precipitation? We were!
+
+They conducted us to an eminence, where stood a podgy, high-shouldered,
+short-necked man with a squeaky interrogative voice and gold spectacles.
+This was the commandant. Without explanation, that officer, in brief
+words, ordered us to be arrested.
+
+The soldiers obeyed. They bandaged our eyes with handkerchiefs. They led
+us along hollow-sounding alleys; beneath echoing archways; down scores
+of stone steps; through mouldy passages. Lower yet, where a strong
+flavour of cooking assailed our sense of smell. A couple more downward
+flights, and then we paused--heard a jingling of big keys--an opening of
+ponderous doors--and here we were.
+
+Here, in a subterranean vault, I know not how many feet below sunlight.
+The air is close and vaporous; the domed chamber is damp and musty. They
+have divested us of all our portable property save a few cigarettes
+which we have secreted in a dark corner, and there is nothing to be had
+in the way of refreshment for love or money.
+
+Yes, for money. I have bribed the sentinel, who occasionally eclipses
+our square of window, with all my ready cash, and he has brought us
+contraband cups of weak coffee. Will he treat our dark domestic as well?
+We try him, and find that he won't.
+
+What's o'clock? We have no means of ascertaining this, as Phoebus, who
+might have suggested the time of day, is a long way out of sight. Our
+sentinel says it is early morning.
+
+Hark! A sound of many footsteps; a rattling of arms and keys. Enter our
+military jailer with a dozen soldiers to release us from our present
+quarters. Our eyes are bandaged as before, and after passing up several
+flights of steps in another direction, our sight is restored: the scene
+changes, and we are discovered, like the Prince of Denmark, upon another
+part of the platform. Our faithful vassal is with us, looking as much
+like a ghost as it is possible for a negro to appear. They have tied his
+arms behind him with cords, and serve us in the same manner; while eight
+soldiers encircle us at respectful distances, and deliberately proceed
+to load their weapons. The negro trembles with affright, and falls on
+his knees. Misericordia! they are going to shoot us, he thinks; for he
+is ignorant of the Spanish custom of loading in the presence of the
+prisoner before escorting him from one jail to another.
+
+To another? Santo Dios! Then we are prisoners still? I think of the
+victim of Santa Margherita and his many prisons, and begin to wonder how
+many years of incarceration we shall experience.
+
+'En marcha!' Eight 'militares' and a sergeant place us in their midst,
+and in this way we march to town, a distance of seven miles. Our
+sergeant proves to be more humane than his superior, and on the uneven
+road pauses to screw up cigarettes for us, and, in consideration of our
+helpless condition, even places them in our mouths.
+
+It is Sunday morning, and when we reach the town all good Catholics have
+been to high mass, and are parading the narrow thoroughfare dressed in
+fashionable attire. Crowds gather around us and speculate as to the
+particular crime we are guilty of; and, to tell the truth, our
+appearance is by no means respectable. Have we shot the commandant?
+Undermined the Morro? Poisoned the garrison? Have we headed a negro
+conspiracy, or joined a gang of pirates? Friends whom we recognise on
+our way endeavour to interrogate us, but are interrupted by the
+sergeant. We halt before the governor's house; but his excellency is not
+yet out of bed, and may not be disturbed. So we proceed to the town
+jail, where everybody is stirring and where they are happy to see us,
+and receive us with open doors. A dozen policemen, dressed in
+brown-holland coats, trimmed with yellow braid and silver buttons, with
+panama hats, revolvers, and short Roman swords, are seated on benches at
+the prison entrance. Passing them, we are hurried into a white-washed
+chamber, where a frowning functionary, in brown-holland and silver lace,
+with a panama on his head, and a long cigar in his mouth, sits at a desk
+scribbling something on stamped paper. He pauses to examine and peruse
+a large letter which our sergeant hands him, and which contains a
+statement of our arrest, with full particulars of our misdeeds. The
+document is folded in official fashion, is written, regardless of
+economy, with any quantity of margin, and is terminated by a tremendous
+signature, accompanied by an elaborate flourish, which occupies exactly
+half a page. The gentleman in brown-holland casts a look of suspicion at
+us, and directs a couple of policemen to search us, 'registrar' us, as
+he calls it, which they accordingly do; but nothing that we could
+dispense with is found on our persons, except the grime upon our hands
+and faces, and a pearl button, which has strayed during the journey, and
+somehow found its way into my boot.
+
+Nothing further being required of us for the present, we are conducted
+into the centre of the jail to an extensive court-yard, where a crowd of
+prisoners of all shades and castes lie basking in the sun. We are led to
+one of the galleries which surround the patio, our arms are untied, and
+we are introduced into three different chambers.
+
+The apartment alloted to me is spacious and airy enough, and has a huge
+barred window that overlooks the main thoroughfare. In these respects,
+at least, my quarters resemble an ordinary Cuban parlour in a private
+house. But the only articles of furniture are a couple of hard benches
+and a straw mattress; and although a Cuban parlour has a barred window,
+a brick floor, and white-washed walls, it has also a few cane-bottomed
+chairs, an elegant mirror, and a gas chandelier.
+
+The prison in which I am confined was originally a convent, and now it
+is not only devoted to the use of malefactors, but also accommodates
+mad people, whose shrieks and wild laughter I occasionally hear.
+
+From my window I can see into the private houses opposite, where ladies
+are swaying and fanning themselves in 'butacas,' or rocking-chairs,
+while half a dozen naked white and black children play in an adjacent
+room. Friends passing along the street recognise me; but I may not
+converse with them, or the sentry below will inform, and I shall be
+removed to a more secluded part of the stronghold.
+
+I am not alone. My chamber is occupied by a native Indian, whose origin
+is distinguishable by his lank, jet-black hair, his gipsy-like
+complexion, and finely-cut nostrils. He is neither tattooed, nor does he
+wear feathers, beads or animals' hides; but with the exception of his
+face and hands (which are very dirty) he has all the appearance of a
+civilized being.
+
+The Indian has been himself arrested on suspicion, but his trial has
+been postponed for many weary months, and he is at present quite
+ignorant of the charge on which he may stand accused. Having no friends
+to intercede for him, or golden doubloons wherewith to convince the
+authorities of his innocence, the poor fellow is afraid things will go
+hard with him.
+
+The Indian is eloquent on the subjects of slavery and Spanish rule, both
+of which he warmly denounces. He is careful to remind me, that although
+he speaks the Spanish language, and is governed by Spanish laws, he is
+no more a Spaniard than is an American an Englishman. There is something
+in common between these nationalities, he says, whereas between a Cuban
+and a Spaniard there is a very wide gulf!
+
+My patriotic friend gets so excited over these and other favourite
+topics that, afraid of the consequences of his conversation, I propose a
+smoke.
+
+'What!' he exclaims, approaching me in what seems a threatening
+attitude. 'Is it possible that you have any tobacco, and that you are
+going to smoke some here?'
+
+Lest the Indian should be no smoker himself and dislike the odour of
+tobacco, I tell him that if he objects, I will postpone my harmless
+whiff until after captivity.
+
+He does object; but after contemplating my scanty supply of cigarettes
+as I restore them to my pocket, he observes with a sigh:
+
+'I was once an inveterate smoker!'
+
+'Till you very wisely gave up the vice,' I add.
+
+'No!' says he, 'I did not give it up. It was my accursed captors who
+withheld it from me. I have not smoked for many long months, and I would
+often give ten years of my life for one little cigarette!'
+
+'Try one of mine,' I suggest, extracting the packet again which alas!
+contains my last four.
+
+'Gracias; no,' he replies, 'I shall be depriving you, and you will find
+cigarettes scarce in these quarters!'
+
+'If you are a true Cuban,' I observe, 'you will remember that it is next
+to an insult to refuse a man's tobacco. Besides, if you object to my
+indulging in the luxury upon the plea that the delicious perfume is
+unendurable in another, both of us will be deprived of the pleasure!'
+
+'You are right,' says the Indian, 'then I will take just one.'
+
+So saying, he accepts the little paper squib which I offer, and
+carefully divides the contents into two equal parts; explaining, as he
+does so, how he intends to reserve one half of the tobacco for another
+occasion.
+
+While thus engaged I am reminded of the awful fact that I have no means
+of igniting our cigarettes. When I mention this unfortunate circumstance
+to my companion, he smiles triumphantly, and after placing his ear to
+the door in melodramatic fashion, proceeds to raise a particular brick
+in the floor of our apartment under which at least half a dozen matches
+are concealed.
+
+'These matches,' he remarks, 'have been treasured in that hole ever
+since I came to lodge in this jail.'
+
+'Have you resided here long?' I inquire.
+
+'It has appeared long to me,' he answers, 'eighteen months, more or
+less; but I have no record of the date.'
+
+'You must have found the hours hang heavily on you,' I remark, 'or,
+maybe, you have a hobby like the political prisoners one reads of. You
+have a favorite flower somewhere? Or, perhaps, you are partial to
+spiders?'
+
+'There are plenty of gigantic spiders here,' he replies, 'together with
+centipedes and scorpions; but whenever one of those reptiles crosses my
+path--I kill it!'
+
+When my fellow-captive learns my nationality, his surprise and pleasure
+are very great.
+
+'I like the English and Americans,' says he, 'and I would become one or
+the other to-morrow, if it were possible.'
+
+'You are very kind to express so much esteem for my countrymen,' I say.
+
+'It is not so much your countrymen,' he says, 'as your free country with
+its just and humane laws, which every Cuban admires and covets.'
+
+I remind him that, under existing circumstances, I am no better off
+than he is, though to be sure as a British subject, my consul, who
+resides in Santiago, will doubtless see me righted.
+
+The Indian is, however, of a different opinion. He assures me that my
+nationality will avail me nothing if I have no interest with some of the
+Spanish officials. He gives me instances to prove how it is often out of
+the power of a consul to assist a compatriot in difficulties.
+
+'Not long since,' says my friend, 'a marine from your country, being
+intoxicated, and getting mixed up in a street brawl, was arrested and
+locked up with a crowd of insubordinate coolies and Spanish deserters.
+His trial was, as usual, postponed. In the meanwhile, the jail had
+become overcrowded by the arrival of some wounded soldiers from San
+Domingo, and your countryman was shipped off with others to another
+prison at Manzanillo, where he was entered on the list of convicts, and
+has never been heard of since.'
+
+'In this very jail,' continues the Indian, 'are a couple of American
+engineers, both of whom stand accused of being concerned in a negro
+conspiracy, and who have been locked up here for the last six months.
+They are ignorant of the Spanish language, have mislaid their passports,
+and have been denied a conference with their consul, who is, of course,
+unaware of their incarceration.'
+
+I make a mental note of this last case, with a view to submit it to the
+proper authority as soon as I shall be able to do so.
+
+My attention is presently arrested by a sound which reminds me of
+washing, for in Cuba this operation is usually performed by placing the
+wet linen on a flat board, and belabouring it with a smooth stone or a
+heavy roller. My companion smiles when I give him my impression of the
+familiar sounds, and he tells me that white linen is not the object of
+the beating, but black limbs! An unruly slave receives his castigation
+at the jail when it is found inconvenient to perform the operation under
+his master's roof. No inquiry into the offence is made by the officers
+of justice; the miscreant is simply ordered twenty-five or fifty lashes,
+as the case may be, by his accuser, who acts also as his jury, judge,
+and occasionally--executioner!
+
+Whilst listening to the unfortunate's groans and appeals for mercy, I
+watch the proceedings of a chain-gang of labourers, some twenty of whom
+have left the jail for the purpose of repairing a road in an adjacent
+street. They are dressed in canvas suits, numbered and lettered on the
+back, and wear broad-brimmed straw-hats. Each man smokes, and makes a
+great rattling of his chains as he assists in drawing along the heavy
+trucks and implements for work. A couple of armed soldiers and three or
+four prison-warders accompany the gang; the former to keep guard, the
+latter to superintend the labour. Some of the prisoners sell hats, fans,
+toys, and other articles of their own manufacture as they go along. One
+of these industrious gentlemen has entered, chains and all, into a
+private house opposite, and while he stands bargaining with a highly
+respectable white, his keeper sits, like Patience, on the doorstep
+smoking a cigar.
+
+I withdraw from the window to meet my jailer, who has brought--not my
+freedom? no; my food. It is the first meal I have tasted for many long
+hours, and I am prepared to relish it though it be but a banana and
+Catalan wine.
+
+These are, however, the least items in the princely fare which the
+jailer has brought. The whitest of tablecloths is removed from the
+showiest of trays, and discloses a number of small tureens, in which
+fish, flesh, and fowl have been prepared in a variety of appetising
+ways. Besides these are a square cedar-box of guava preserves, a pot of
+boiling black coffee, a bundle of the best Ti Arriba cigars, and a
+packet of Astrea cigarettes; all served on the choicest china. This
+goodly repast cometh from La Señora Mercedes, under whose hospitable
+roof I have lodged and fed for many months. Doña Mercedes has heard of
+our captivity, and, without making any enquiry into the nature of our
+misdemeanour, has instantly despatched one of her black domestics with
+the best breakfast she can prepare.
+
+The Indian assures me that the admittance into jail of such a collation
+augurs well. I have doubtless friends who are using their influence with
+the officials in my behalf, and, in short, he considers my speedy
+release a certainty.
+
+'Usted gusta?' I invite my companion to share the good things, but he
+excuses himself by saying that, with his present prospects, he would
+rather not recall the feeling of a good meal. He, however, partakes of
+some of my coffee, the odour of which is far too savoury for his
+self-denial, and helps me with the tobacco.
+
+Breakfast over, I take a siesta on half the furniture, and after a few
+hours' delicious oblivion am awakened by the jailer, who comes with the
+welcome news that the court is sitting, and that my presence is
+required.
+
+'Imprisoned and tried on the same day!' exclaims my Indian friend.
+'Then,' says he, 'I may well wish you adieu for ever!'
+
+A Cuban court of justice, broadly described, consists of two old men, a
+deal table, a bottle of ink, and a boy. One of the elders is the alcalde
+mayor, an awful being, invested with every kind of administrative power;
+the other functionary is his escribano, or legal man-of-all-work, who
+dispenses Spanish law upon the principle of 'French without a master.'
+He professes to teach prisoners their fate in one easy lesson, without
+the interposition of either counsel or jury. None but those immediately
+concerned in the case are admitted into the tribune; so that the
+prisoner, who is frequently the only party interested, has the court, so
+to speak, all to himself!
+
+The chamber into which I am ushered on the present occasion has very
+much the appearance of a schoolroom during the holidays. The walls are
+white-washed, and half a dozen short forms lie in disorder about the
+brick floor. At one end of the apartment is a yellow map of the
+Antilles; at the other is hung a badly painted oil portrait of her
+Catholic Majesty Isabella, with a soiled coat-of-arms of Castile above
+her, and a faded Spanish banner half concealing her royal countenance.
+Beneath this trophy, on a raised platform, is seated the prison
+magistrate, or fiscal, as he is called. Before him is a cedar-wood
+table, with a bottle of ink, a glass of blotting sand and a quire of
+stamped paper. On his right is an escribano and a couple of
+interpreters, whose knowledge of the English language I afterwards find
+to be extremely limited. On his left is seated my captive companion
+Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú. Everybody present, including a couple of
+brown-holland policemen at the door, is smoking, which has a sociable
+air, and inspires me with confidence. Upon my appearance in court
+everybody rises; the fiscal politely offers me a cigar and a seat on the
+bench.
+
+As a matter of form--for my Spanish is by no means unintelligible--I am
+examined through the medium of an interpreter, who makes a terrible hash
+of my replies. He talks of the 'foots of my friend's negro,' and the
+'commandant's, officers', sergeant's relations,' by which I infer that
+the learned linguist has never overcome the fifth lesson of his
+Ollendorff. It is accordingly found necessary to conduct the rest of the
+inquiry in good Castilian.
+
+A great case has been made out against us by the commandant, who
+represents us in his despatch as spies in league with any quantity of
+confederates. A pocket-book full of nefarious notes and significant
+scratches has been found upon me: together with a four-bladed penknife,
+a metallic corkscrew, a very black lead-pencil, and an ink-eraser! In
+the commandant's opinion the said notes are, without doubt, private
+observations on the mysteries of the Morro, and the scratches are
+nothing more nor less than topographical plans of the fortifications.
+
+Absurd and improbable as the commandant's story may appear, it would
+have had great weight against us with the fiscal, and considerably
+protracted the period of our release, were it not for the fact that the
+fiscal is on intimate terms with my companion's family. This fortunate
+circumstance, aided by the laudable efforts of my consul, who works
+wonders with his excellency the governor, enables us to be set at
+liberty without further delay. There is, however, some difficulty in the
+case of our black attendant, whom the authorities would still keep in
+bondage, out of compliment to stern justice; but we intercede for him,
+and he accompanies us from jail.
+
+Crowds of people await outside and escort us to our studio, where dear
+old Don Benigno, his amiable señora and family, welcome us with joy.
+Wherever we go, we are lionised and loaded with congratulations and
+condolence. A kind of patriotic sentiment is mixed up with the public
+sympathy; Spanish rule being extremely distasteful to a Cuban, and any
+opportunity for expressing his disgust of an incompetent ruler being
+hailed by him with delight. All our Cuban friends--and, to say the
+truth, many of the Spaniards themselves--are unanimous in their
+disapproval of the commandant's conduct.
+
+But I have not yet done with the commandant, as will be seen in another
+chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+A WEST INDIAN EPIDEMIC.
+
+     A Cuban Physician and his Patient--A Nightmare--A Mystery--A
+     Cure--By the Sad Sea Waves--A Cuban
+     Watering-place--Lobster-hunting--Another View of the Morro
+     Castle--What 'Dios sabe' means.
+
+
+Not many days after the events recorded in the last chapter, I am on a
+sick couch.
+
+What is the nature of my infirmity? Neither I nor my companion can tell.
+Don Benigno, who comes to offer me his condolences, attributes the cause
+of my complaint to confinement in the close, vaporous dungeon of the
+Morro Castle, and his medical adviser, Don Francisco, who is summoned to
+my bed-side, confirms Don Benigno's opinion, adding, that the sudden
+transition from a damp atmosphere to the heat of a tropical sun may have
+contributed to produce my disorder.
+
+After examining me in the usual way, the physician inquires whether my
+head throbs without aching; whether I am troubled with certain pains in
+my joints and across my loins, and whether I feel altogether as if I had
+been confined several weeks to my bed.
+
+Marvelling much at the doctor's penetration, I reply that the symptoms
+he described exactly correspond with those which I experience. In short;
+Don Francisco is perfectly acquainted with the nature of my malady.
+Strange to say, however, he does not venture to give it a name, and
+stranger still, he leads my partner into our studio, where with closed
+doors both converse like a couple of assassins conspiring against my
+life. What passes between them is not revealed to me, but after the
+doctor's departure, my companion assures me I have only caught a severe
+cold, and that if I remain 'under cover,' I shall be perfectly well in
+six days.
+
+Why in six days? While pondering much over this, a strange heat
+oppresses me; my head throbs more than ever; my pains increase, and to
+add to my discomfiture, Nicasio, together with Don Benigno and our black
+attendant, suddenly begin to dance furiously around my 'catre,'
+terminating their wild gyrations by vanishing between the bars of the
+grated window!
+
+My friends were doubtless afraid of the commandant of the Morro and her
+Majesty's British consul; for these gentlemen have entered the apartment
+and established themselves on either side of my catre. The commandant,
+claiming me for his prisoner, again attempts to carry me off to the
+Morro Castle, but my consul envelopes me in an enormous Union Jack, and
+declaring that I am a British subject, dares the Spanish officer to lay
+a finger on me. The commandant now draws his sword--a weapon of such
+monstrous length that it cannot be conveniently unsheathed without
+detaching the scabbard from the belt from which it depends. The consul
+in turn exhibits a mighty scroll of parchment, which takes as long to
+unroll as the officer's sabre takes to unsheath. Meanwhile I watch the
+combatants in agonising suspense, till the chamber becomes suddenly
+dark. But, after a painful pause, daylight appears, and to my
+unspeakable relief I find that my formidable visitors have vanished, and
+that I am alone with Nicasio.
+
+My companion smiles and tells me that I have been talking in my sleep.
+In other words, that I have been delirious.
+
+Now that we are alone, I press my partner to reveal to me the true cause
+of my complaint; for, in spite of his previous assertion, I am more than
+ever convinced that the truth is being concealed from me. But Nicasio
+cannot be persuaded, neither does he explain why he mentioned six days
+as the period for my convalescence.
+
+On the fifth day, I am considerably worse than I was before. A feeling
+of utter prostration accompanied by an inordinate thirst comes over me.
+This is followed by a sensation as of sea-sickness and overpowering
+lassitude. I am parched with thirst, but I have neither strength to
+express my want in words nor to indicate it by suitable gestures. Some
+refreshing draught is, however, placed to my lips, which I swallow
+greedily; at the same time my head is relieved by the application of
+'vejicatorios,' or blisters, to the soles of my feet. More than half my
+medical advisers prescribe bleeding, but Don Francisco will not hear of
+it, and from first to last this expedient is never adopted.
+
+My deplorable condition is not improved by a thought which suggests
+itself from the hue of my hands, which I perceive for the first time are
+saffron-coloured.
+
+Santo Dios! Can this be the yellow fever?
+
+The yellow fever it is; though for some mysterious reason the secret is
+carefully kept from me to the last.
+
+Yes: I have the 'fiebre amarilla:' but, thank God, not the 'vómito
+negro,' or black vomit, which is the worst form of the yellow fever, and
+in nine cases out of ten proves fatal. To-morrow my troubles will be
+over, provided that the night is passed tranquilly; but should there be
+the least indication of a relapse before daylight--well; the fact would
+not be recorded by me!
+
+To say that my beloved companion never for an instant leaves my bed-side
+until the critical moment has passed; or that good old Don Benigno
+provides for my wants, and consults at least six different doctors, who
+come at prescribed hours to tap me on the chest, probe me in the ribs,
+and press my pulse; to say that Doña Mercedes proves the best and
+kindest of nurses and most sympathetic of friends; and that even the
+loquacious Tunicú, together with a host of acquaintances, makes kind
+enquiries after my daily progress, and offers to provide a shopful of
+dainties--is to say that the attentions which I receive from strangers
+in a foreign country are all that my dearest relatives at home could
+desire.
+
+Having passed the night of the fifth day tranquilly, I awake on the
+morning of the memorable sixth, in a perfect state of health. All my
+pains have disappeared as if by magic: my head ceases to throb; my body
+is delightfully cool, and I am otherwise so convalescent that were it
+not for my doctor's strict injunctions, I should arise, dress, and
+betake myself to the nearest restaurant. But my West Indian physician
+administers to my wants in easy stages. I am allowed to sit in a rocking
+chair near the window with closed shutters, but I may not wash, neither
+may I brush my hair, nor breathe a new atmosphere for several days to
+come. From the mildest nourishment in the way of sugar panales and
+water, I am gradually introduced to more solid food, and at least a week
+elapses before Don Francisco approves of Don Benigno's proposal to
+recruit his patient's health at the sea-side.
+
+Now that the crisis is over, I learn that the greatest fears had been
+entertained for my recovery; that six out of the seven doctors, who had
+considered my case, had pronounced it hopeless. I was an Englishman,
+they said, and my countrymen had the reputation for indulging rather
+freely in stimulants--above all in malt liquors, and these stimulants
+were fatal to a constitution when attacked by yellow fever. But Don
+Francisco, who had carefully interrogated me on my past, which he found
+greatly belied his brother practitioners' conjectures, was more sanguine
+of the cure, and now that I am free from danger, he pronounces me
+'acclimatised,' and as unlikely to experience another attack of the same
+epidemic as the natives of Cuba themselves. He, however, warns me of
+'tercianas' or intermittent fevers which occasionally succeed yellow
+fever, and which are consequent on intemperate habits and undue exposure
+to the sun.
+
+Accepting Don Benigno's generous invitation to pass a few weeks with
+him, his family and a few friends at a watering place, I take leave of
+Nicasio for the first time, and become Don Benigno's guest once more.
+Our destination is La Socapa, a small fishing village three miles
+distant from town. The only way to reach La Socapa (which is situated at
+the narrow entrance of the Cuban Bay, and faces the Morro Castle which
+stands on the opposite bank) is by water. We therefore hire a heavy
+boat, and after an hour's sail along the sinuous harbour, we are landed
+at La Socapa.
+
+There are no 'apartments to let' at this favourite watering-place. When
+a Cuban gentleman proposes to rusticate with his family at this
+locality, he hires an empty house and fits it up with some furniture
+brought by his slaves from his residence in town. Not more than a dozen
+cottages are available as lodging-houses at La Socapa; the village being
+occupied by fishermen and their families. Don Benigno's temporary abode
+is isolated from the village and stands on an eminence looking seawards.
+It is a single-storied habitation and provides the usual accommodations
+of a Cuban country-house.
+
+There are no bathing machines at La Socapa. Those who are inclined for a
+dip in the sea betake themselves to secluded spots on the coast, and
+disrobe themselves behind rocks and bushes. 'Tiburones,' or sharks,
+occasionally visit this neighbourhood, and as these voracious creatures
+have a strange partiality for human limbs, the bathers are careful not
+to venture beyond certain stones which have been placed for the purpose
+of keeping out the greedy invaders.
+
+Sometimes we indulge in a little fishing off the banks of the harbour,
+or the gentlemen of our party take their sporting guns to an adjacent
+wood where wild pigeons, partridges, quails and guinea-fowl abound. This
+sport may be varied by a hunt after wild deer, small specimens of which
+are to be obtained in these parts. Our favourite evening amusement is
+lobster-hunting. For this sport, a big barge is procured, and, after
+having been furnished with carpets and rugs for the ladies'
+accommodation, we proceed to navigate the shores and creeks of the
+harbour. Three or four black fishermen accompany us and bear long
+torches of wood, by the light of which the ground beneath the shallow
+water is visible. Our prey is secured by throwing a net, in the meshes
+of which the lobster becomes entangled; but should this prove
+ineffectual, a long pole forked at one end is thrust over the creature's
+hard back, and as he struggles to free himself from the pronged embrace,
+a nimble negro dives into the water and captures him alive. Great
+excitement prevails when a lobster comes on board, and bounds among our
+crew and passengers. Having brought provisions with us, we 'make a
+night' of this molluscular expedition, and keep up the convivialities
+till two or three o'clock, A.M.
+
+One of the liveliest of our party is a young Spanish officer, whom
+everybody addresses as Manuel. Manuel is engaged to Don Benigno's eldest
+daughter, Paquita, a young lady of fourteen tropical summers, who,
+however, has the appearance of a señorita of sweet seventeen. I am on
+terms of the closest friendship with the young officer, for it was
+partly through his intercession with the authorities that Nicasio and I
+obtained our release from captivity.
+
+One day, after attiring himself in his regimentals, Don Manuel proposes
+a visit to the Morro Castle, and invites me to accompany him, assuring
+me that under his trusty escort there will be no danger of arrest. We
+accordingly hire a small canoe, and after rowing across the narrow
+harbour, land at one of the forts of the formidable fortress.
+
+The officer's uniform is an all-powerful pass wherever we go. It enables
+us to land, to pass the various sentries, who touch their caps
+respectfully as we approach, and finally to reach the commandant's
+private dwelling in the very heart of the stronghold.
+
+El señor comandante is at home, and invites us in. He is delighted to
+see his young friend the captain, and charmed to form the acquaintance
+of the captain's companion. He does not recognise me in the least, and
+satisfied of that fact, I accept his pressing invitation to lunch with
+himself and officers.
+
+After coffee and cigars, our host offers to show us the secrets of his
+prison-house. This time my eyes are not bandaged, and I follow the
+commandant without military assistance.
+
+We are shown all over the fortifications. We inspect minutely the
+old-fashioned twenty-four pounders; rest on the six bronze French guns
+(which, we are told, are quite new, and the only serviceable weapons in
+the fortress), and make other observations, which, if we were enemies
+with an inclination to storm the place from the sea, would greatly
+assist us in our operations. Now we are in the sleeping caves, where the
+hundred men who compose the garrison are lodged. Now we are descending
+flights of stone steps. We pass along hollow-sounding alleys and under
+echoing archways. Presently we arrive at the cooking department, where
+the atmosphere feels oppressive, and is black with innumerable flies. We
+come at last to the deepest part of the fortress, where 'criminals of
+the worst description' (so the commandant informs me) are lodged.
+Narrow, intricate passages lead to the different cells. Our guide points
+out some of the prisoners, and invites us to look in at them through
+their little square windows. Strange to say, he does not seem to be at
+all conversant with the nature of their offences. 'Dios sabe!'
+accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders, is invariably the commandant's
+reply to any query respecting a particular prisoner. 'Dios sabe' may,
+however, signify a great deal more than 'Heaven knows;' and, perhaps,
+the commandant chooses not to explain himself.
+
+We pause before a dungeon where it is said a Chinaman committed suicide
+after six days' incarceration: self-slaughter among Celestials being
+their favourite mode of killing care. An equally suicidal Chow-chow is
+confined there now; but they have bound him hand and foot, and he lies
+muttering in falsetto like a maniac. He would doubtless give something
+for a little soothing opium!
+
+My friend the commandant assures me that the vault I am now surveying
+with such interest is unoccupied, and persuades me to pass on. But I
+linger lovingly at the little square window, and take a fond look at the
+interior. The theatre of my woe has changed in appearance, the company
+having gone. But there still remain the empty benches!
+
+'Whom have you had within the past twelve months?' I ask.
+
+'Dios sabe!'
+
+It is not the commandant's business to know where his prisoners are
+quartered, or what becomes of them.
+
+I apply afterwards for the same information to the captain of the
+garrison.
+
+'Dios sabe!'
+
+The staff of officers engaged in the Morro service is relieved once a
+month, and the captain I address has only lately taken the command.
+
+'Dios sabe!' In the majority of cases, it is, indeed, Heaven alone who
+knows what becomes of unfortunates in a country where law is directed
+through the agency of military despotism, and where the disposal of a
+man's life and liberty is entrusted to the mercy of a vain and
+capricious commandant.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+GENERAL TACON'S JUDGMENT.
+
+     Pleasant Company--The Cigar Girl of Havana--A Tobacconist's Shop in
+     Cuba--A Romance of Real Life--Spanish Justice abroad.
+
+
+My health being now perfectly established, I signify my intention of
+returning to my companion and duties in town. As my military friend, Don
+Manuel, must also depart--his leave of absence having expired--I accept
+his invitation to share the boat which is to convey him to Santiago, and
+bid adieu to Don Benigno and his family, who contemplate remaining at
+the sea-side for some days longer.
+
+Don Manuel is excellent company, and, although an officer in the Spanish
+service, his views of politics are exceedingly liberal. During the
+homeward passage, the officer entertains me with various stories
+illustrative of Cuban administration. He tells me that since the Pearl
+of the Antilles has adorned the Spanish crown, the island of Cuba has
+always been governed by a captain-general, a mighty personage, invested
+with much the same power and authority as that of a monarch in some
+countries, and, like a king, could not possibly do anything that was
+wrong.
+
+'The Cubans,' says he, 'have seldom had reason to be grateful to Spain
+for the rulers she has appointed over them, because these have been
+usually selected rather on the score of influence than capacity or
+merit. There is, however, on record at least one captain-general whose
+name is held in esteem by the Cuban people, on account of the good he
+effected during his short reign in Havana. Captain-General Tacon
+established some degree of safety for the inhabitants by introducing new
+laws, and by severely punishing certain social offences which his
+predecessors had rather overlooked, if they did not themselves set the
+example. It is said of Tacon that, like Alfred the Great, he promised
+the Cubans that they should be able to cast their purses upon the public
+pavement, and yet find them there again after many days. Stories are
+current in Cuba of the general's singular mode of administering justice,
+which in many cases partook of an originality somewhat whimsical of its
+kind.'
+
+Don Manuel gives me the most popular story of this sort--that of the
+cigar girl of Havana, which I will now repeat to the reader in the
+following form:
+
+Miralda Estalez was remarkable alike for the beauty of her person and
+the excellence of her tobacco. She kept a cigar-shop in Havana, in the
+Calle del Comercio; a narrow street, with a footpath scarcely wider than
+an ordinary kerbstone. It was the veriest section of a shop, without a
+front of any kind; presenting, from the street side, much the same
+appearance as a burnt-out dwelling would exhibit, or a theatrical scene
+viewed by an audience. During the hot hours of the day a curtain was
+suspended before the shop to ward off the powerful rays of the sun,
+under whose influence the delicate goods within might otherwise be
+prematurely dried, while the effect would be equally detrimental to
+their fair vendor. The easy mode of access, assisted by the narrow
+kerbstone, together with many attractions within the shop, tempted many
+passers to drop in for a chat and a cigar. There was a little counter,
+with little pyramidal heaps of cigarette packets and cigars, of the
+genuine Havana brand, distributed upon it. Affixed to a wall at the back
+was a glass show-case, fitted with shelves like a book-case, and laden
+with bundles of the precious leaves, placed like volumes side by side,
+and bound in bright yellow ribbon. Although Miralda was visited from
+morning till night by every kind of male, black and brown, as well as
+white, nothing was ever said against the virtue of the young
+tobacconist.
+
+Like the cigars she sold, Miralda was of 'calidad superior;' and, in the
+same manner, age had rather improved her quality than otherwise, for it
+had ripened her into a charming full-grown woman of sixteen tropical
+summers. Some merit was due to Miralda for the respectable life she led;
+for, besides the temptations to which she was daily and hourly
+subjected, she was quite alone in the world, her parents, brothers, and
+sisters being dead. Miralda naturally found many admirers among her
+numerous customers; she, however, made no distinction with them, but had
+a bright smile and a kind word for all who favoured her with their
+praises and their patronage. One alone, perhaps, held a place nearer her
+heart than all others. This was Don Pedro Mantanez, a young boatman
+employed in the harbour near the Morro Castle. Pedro was of good white
+parentage, though one would not have judged so from the colour of his
+skin, which, from long exposure to the sun and the weather, had turned
+a pale coffee colour. Pedro loved Miralda fondly, and she was by no
+means indifferent to the handsome Creole. But the pretty tobacconist was
+in no hurry to wear the matrimonial chains. The business, like herself,
+was far from old-established, and she thought in her capacity of a
+married woman the attractions of her shop would diminish by at least
+one-half, while her patrons would disappear in the same ratio. Miralda
+once made her lover a promise that she would marry him as soon as he
+should have won a prize in the lottery; for, with his savings, this
+would enable Pedro to have a share in her business as well as in her
+happiness. So, once a month, Pedro invested a doubloon in
+lottery-tickets; but, as he never succeeded in winning a prize, he
+failed to wed the pretty tobacconist. Still, the young boatman continued
+to drop anchor at the cigar-shop as often as his spare time would allow;
+and as the fond couple always conducted themselves with the strictest
+propriety, their engagement remained a secret.
+
+Now Pedro Mantanez had a rival, and, to a certain extent, a formidable
+one. The Count Almante was a noble of Spanish birth, and an officer by
+profession. He was one of those fortunate gentlemen who, from no
+inherent talent or acquired ability, had been sent from the
+mother-country to enrich himself in her prosperous colony. Besides his
+wealth, which report described as ill-gotten, he gloried in the
+reputation of being a gay cavalier in Havana, and a great favourite with
+the Creole ladies. It was his boast that no girl beneath him in station
+had been yet known to reject any offer he might propose; and he would
+sometimes lay wagers with his associates that the lady whom he had
+newly honoured with his admiration would, at a given time, stand entered
+in his book of amours as a fresh conquest. To achieve a particular
+object, the count would never allow anything, human or otherwise, to
+stand in his path; and by reason of his wealth, his nobility, and his
+influence with the authorities, his crimes were numerous and his
+punishments few, if any.
+
+It happened that the last señorita who had taken Count Almante's fancy
+was Miralda Estalez. The count spent many hours and many pesetas at the
+pretty tobacconist's counter, where, we may be sure, he used his most
+persuasive language to attain his very improper purpose. Accustomed to
+have pretty things poured into her ears by a variety of admirers,
+Miralda regarded the count's addresses with indifference; and, while
+behaving with her wonted amiability of manner, gave him neither
+encouragement nor motive for pressing his suit. One evening the count
+lingered at the cigar-shop longer than custom allows, and, under the
+pretence of purchasing and smoking more cigars, remained until the
+neighbouring shops were closed and the streets were deserted. Alone with
+the girl, and insured against intruders, Count Almante ventured to
+disclose his unworthy passion. Amongst other things, he said:
+
+'If you will love me and live with me, I will give you as many golden
+onzas as you require, and I will place at your disposal another and a
+better shop in the suburbs of the Cerro, where you can carry on your
+business as before.'
+
+The Cerro was situated near the count's palace. Miralda said nothing in
+reply; but, looking the count steadily in the face, gave him the name of
+another shop where, she informed him, he would obtain better cigars
+than those she sold.
+
+Heedless of the significance of her remark, which he attributed to
+shyness, Almante rose from where he had been seated, and, approaching
+the girl, endeavoured to place his arm round her waist. Ever guarded
+against the casualties of insult, Miralda retreated a step, and at the
+same moment drawing a small dagger from the folds of her dress, warned
+the count not to touch her. Baulked in his design, Almante withdrew,
+assuring the girl with a smile that he did but jest; but as he left the
+shop he bit his lip and clenched his fist with evident disappointment.
+
+When Pedro heard of what had happened, his indignation was great, and he
+resolved to take summary vengeance; but Miralda begged him not to be
+precipitate, as she had now no fear of further molestation from the
+count; and as days elapsed, and Almante had not resumed his visits, it
+seemed apparent that he had taken Miralda's advice, and transferred his
+custom elsewhere.
+
+One evening, as Miralda was about to close her shop for the night, a
+party of soldiers halted before her door. The commanding officer
+entered, and, without a word, presented to the astonished tobacconist a
+warrant for her arrest. Knowing that it was useless to disobey any
+officer in the employ of the captain-general, Miralda signified her
+readiness to accompany the military escort, who, accordingly, placed her
+in their midst, and conducted her through the streets in the direction
+of the prison. But instead of halting here, the party continued their
+march until they had reached the confines of the city. Miralda's
+courage now deserted her, and, with tears in her eyes, she appealed to
+the officer in command.
+
+'Por la Virgen Santísima!' she exclaimed, 'let me know where I am being
+taken to.'
+
+'You will learn when you get there. Our orders strictly forbid us to
+make any explanation,' was the only reply she obtained.
+
+Miralda was not long in learning the worst. Very shortly, her escort
+halted before Count Almante's castle in the neighbourhood of the Cerro,
+and, having entered the court-yard of that building, the fair captive
+was conducted tremblingly into a chamber elegantly fitted up for her
+reception. After waiting here a few minutes in painful suspense, an
+inner door was thrown open, and Count Almante stood before her. The
+scene which then followed may be better imagined than described. We may
+be sure that the count used every effort in order to prevail upon his
+prisoner, but without success. Miralda's invariable response was a gleam
+of her dagger, which never left her hand from the first moment of
+entering the odious building. Finding that mild measures would not win
+the pretty tobacconist, the count, as is usual under such circumstances
+with persons of his nature, threatened her with violence; and he would,
+doubtless, have carried out his threat, if Miralda had not anticipated
+him by promising to relent and to become his if her persecutor would
+allow her one short week to reconsider her determination. Deceived by
+the girl's assumed manner, Almante acceded to her desire and agreed to
+wait. Miralda, however, felt assured that before long her lover would
+discover her whereabouts, and by some means effect her release. She was
+not disappointed. Miralda's sudden disappearance was soon made known to
+Pedro Mantanez, who, confident that his beloved had fallen into the
+count's clutches, determined to obtain access to Almante's palace. For
+this purpose he assumed the dress of a monk; and, his face being unknown
+at the castle, he easily obtained an entry, and afterwards an interview
+with Miralda herself. The girl's surprise and joy at beholding her lover
+were unbounded. In his strong embrace, she became oblivious of her
+sorrows, confident that the young boatman would now conduct her speedily
+into a harbour of refuge. She was not mistaken. Pedro sought and
+obtained an audience with General Tacon. The general was, as usual,
+immersed in public affairs; but, being gifted with the enviable faculty
+of hearing, talking, and writing at the same moment, merely glanced at
+his applicant, and desired him to tell his story. Pedro did as he was
+desired, and when he had concluded, Tacon, without raising his eyes from
+the papers with which he appeared intently engaged, made the following
+inquiry:
+
+'Is Miralda Estalez your sister?'
+
+'No, su excelencia, she is not,' replied Pedro.
+
+'Your wife, perhaps?' suggested the general.
+
+'She is my betrothed!'
+
+General Tacon motioned the young man to approach, and then directing a
+look to him which seemed to read him through, held up a crucifix, and
+bade him swear to the truth of all that he had stated. Pedro knelt, and
+taking the cross in both hands, kissed it, and made the oath required of
+him. When he had done so, the general pointed to an apartment, where he
+desired Pedro to wait until he was summoned. Aware of the brief and
+severe manner in which General Tacon dealt with all social questions,
+Pedro Mantanez left the august presence in doubt whether his judge would
+decide for or against his case. His suspense was not of long duration.
+In an hour or so, one of the governor's guards entered, ushering in
+Count Almante and his captive lady. The general received the new-comers
+in the same manner as he had received the young boatman. In a tone of
+apparent indifference, he addressed the count as follows:
+
+'If I am not mistaken, you have abused your authority by effecting the
+abduction of this girl?'
+
+'I confess I have done so,' replied the count, in a tone intended to
+match that of his superior; 'but,' he continued, with a conciliatory
+smile, 'I think that the affair is of such a nature that it need not
+occupy the attention of your excellency.'
+
+'Well, perhaps not,' said his judge, still busy over the documents
+before him.
+
+'I simply wish to learn from you, upon your word of honour, whether any
+violence has been used towards the girl.'
+
+'None whatever, upon my honour,' replied Almante, 'and I am happy in
+believing that none will be required!'
+
+'Is the girl already yours, then?'
+
+'Not at present,' said the count, with a supercilious smirk, 'but she
+has promised to become mine very shortly.'
+
+'Is this true?' inquired the captain-general, for the first time raising
+his eyes, and turning to Miralda, who replied:
+
+'My promise was made only with a view to save myself from threatened
+violence.'
+
+'Do you say this upon your oath?'
+
+'Upon my oath I do!'
+
+The general now ordered Pedro Mantanez to appear, and then carefully
+interrogated the lovers upon their engagement. Whilst doing so he wrote
+a dispatch and handed it to one of his guards. When the latter had
+departed, Tacon sent a messenger in quest of a priest and a lawyer. When
+these arrived, the general commanded the priest to perform the ceremony
+of marriage between Miralda Estalez and Count Almante and bade the
+lawyer prepare the necessary documents for the same purpose.
+
+The count, who had already expressed his vexation at what promised to be
+an attempt to deprive him of his new favorite by allying her with the
+boatman, was horrified when he heard what the governor's mandate really
+was. His indignation was extreme, and he endeavoured to show how
+preposterous such an alliance would be, by reminding the general of his
+noble birth and honorable calling. Pedro was equally disappointed at
+being thus dispossessed of his betrothed and appealed to Tacon's
+generosity and sense of right. Miralda remained speechless with
+astonishment, but with the most perfect reliance in the wisdom of her
+judge. Meanwhile, in spite of all remonstrances, the marriage was
+formally solemnised, and Miralda Estalez and Count Almante were man and
+wife. The unhappy bridegroom was then requested to return to his palace
+in the Cerro, while his bride and her late lover were desired to remain.
+
+Upwards of an hour had passed since the count's departure, and nothing
+further transpired. The governor had resumed his business affairs, and
+appeared, as before, utterly unconscious of all present. He was however
+shortly interrupted by the appearance of the guard whom he had
+despatched with his missive.
+
+'Is my order executed?' inquired the general, looking up for a moment
+only.
+
+'Sí, mi general, it is,' replied the guard. 'Nine bullets were fired at
+the count as he rode round the corner of the street mentioned in your
+dispatch.'
+
+Tacon then ordered that the marriage and death of Count Almante should
+receive all publicity, and that legal steps should be taken for the
+purpose of showing that the property and name of the defunct were
+inherited by his disconsolate widow. When the general's commands had
+been fulfilled, and a decent period after the count's demise had
+transpired, it need scarcely be added that Pedro Mantanez married the
+countess, with whom he lived happily ever after.
+
+'Rather a barbarous way of administering justice,' I remark, at the
+conclusion of Don Manuel's story. 'In my country,' I add, 'such an act
+as that which General Tacon committed would be called murder.'
+
+'It is not looked upon in that light here,' says the officer. 'You must
+remember that the count had been already guilty of many crimes worthy
+the punishment of death, and as there had been no means of bringing him
+to justice, justice improved the occasion which his last offence
+presented, and, as it were, came to him!'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+(VERY) HIGH ART IN CUBA.
+
+     On the Ceiling--'Pintar-monos'--A Chemist's Shop _à la
+     Polychrome_--Sculpture under Difficulties--'Nothing like
+     Leather'--A Triumph in Triumphal Arches--Cuban Carpenters--The
+     Captain-General of Havana.
+
+
+Our incarceration proves of professional service to us. It spreads our
+renown and procures us more congenial patronage than we have hitherto
+received. While I have been rusticating at La Socapa, my brother limner
+has been busily employed on work in which he takes especial delight.
+
+A rich marquis having just returned from a visit to Europe, is inspired
+with the desire to decorate his new mansion, which has lately been
+purchased by him, in what he calls a 'tasteful' fashion. For this
+purpose all the decorative talent of the town is engaged. Nicasio is
+also applied to, and undertakes to adorn the ceiling of the long
+reception-room with four large oil paintings representing the seasons.
+The marquis has not perfected his taste for the fine arts by his visit
+to Europe, for he still persists in applying the vulgar term 'mono,' or
+monkey, to all paintings in which figures form the leading features, and
+of classifying everything else under the general denomination of
+'paisaje.' All artists are to him 'pintar-monos,' or painters of
+monkeys, and when he summons my partner to arrange about the pictures
+which he desires to have affixed to his ceiling, he points to the
+octagonal spaces which these productions are destined to fill, and
+observes:
+
+'Quiero cuatro monos para tapar estos hoyos,' which is equivalent to
+saying: I want four daubs (monkeys) to cover over those holes with.
+
+Nicasio accordingly makes sundry small designs for the four 'monos,' in
+which certain allegorical figures of ladies in scanty robes, and Cupids
+without any apparel, are introduced. My partner's favourite
+water-carriers, Regina and Mapí, together with Doña Mercedes'
+well-formed baby Isabelica, serve as models for Spring, Summer and
+Winter which when finished, are affixed to their respective 'hoyos' or
+holes in the ceiling. The picture of Autumn, however, remains
+uncompleted. The rich marquis discovers that the quality of the work far
+exceeds his expectations and finding also that its value has increased
+in proportion, he considers that this season, which happens to be the
+last executed, should be 'thrown in,' or in other words included in the
+price charged for the other three. In short, he declares that unless the
+'pintar-monos' agrees to this arrangement, that he (the marquis) will
+get another pintar-monos to complete the series. As Nicasio objects to
+work gratis, our patron, true to his word, commissions a house decorator
+to supply the missing season, and the result may be easily imagined!
+
+The Cuban critics are, however, sufficiently intelligent to distinguish
+between the good and the very bad; and thus while the local papers are
+unanimous in their praises of Spring, Summer and Winter, they do not
+hesitate to pronounce Autumn a failure and an 'unseasonable'
+production.
+
+The success which attends my companion's efforts, induces others to
+embark in decorative enterprises, and among our patrons for this new
+kind of work, is a 'botecario,' or chemist, who offers us a large amount
+to paint and otherwise adorn his new shop in what he calls the
+polychrome style.
+
+We have the vaguest notions on that subject, but so have also the
+chemist and the Cuban critics. We accordingly undertake the work, and
+manufacture something in which the Pompeian, the Rafaelesque, the
+Arabesque, and the French wall-paper equally participate. In the centre
+of the ceiling is to be placed a large allegorical oil-painting,
+representing a female figure of France in the act of crowning the bust
+of the famous chemist Orfila. In the four angles of the ceiling are to
+be painted portraits of the Spanish physician the Marquis of Joca, the
+English chemist Faraday, the Italian anatomist Paganucci, and the French
+chemist Velpeau. It takes exactly seven months to carry out our design,
+in the execution whereof we are assisted by the native talent already
+alluded to. Among our staff of operators are a couple of black
+white-washers for the broad work, a master carpenter with his apprentice
+for the carvings, and an indefatigable Chow-chow, or Chinaman, whom we
+employ extensively for the elaborate pattern work. Our mulatto pupils
+also help us in many ways.
+
+The chief objects of attraction in this great undertaking are without a
+doubt a pair of life-sized figures of two celebrated French chemists,
+named Parmentier and Vauquelin, destined to stand in a conspicuous part
+of the shop. As there are no sculptors in our town, it devolves as
+usual upon the 'followers of the divine art of Apelles' to try their
+hands at the art of Phidias. Confident of success, the chemist provides
+us with a couple of plaster busts representing the French celebrities in
+question, and bids us do our best. The fragments of drapery exhibited on
+these gentlemen enable us to decide on the kind of costume which our
+figures should wear; the one being indicative of a robe somewhat
+clerical, and the other evincing without a doubt that the original
+belonged to a period when knee-breeches and top-boots were much in
+vogue. The resources of Cuba for the making of statues are limited, so
+the material we employ is slight. We construct our figures upon the
+principle on which paper masks are made, and by painting them afterwards
+in imitation of marble, a very solid appearance may be obtained. I will
+not describe the many difficulties which we encounter at every stage of
+this process; but when the hollow effigies are complete and we have
+fixed them to their painted wooden plinths, we are vain enough to
+believe that we have produced as goodly a pair of sham statues as you
+would see if you travelled from one extremity of Cuba to the other.
+
+It is the night which precedes the opening of the chemist's shop, and we
+have retired to our dormitories after having given a final coat of
+marble colour to our pasteboard productions. I am about to tumble into
+my hammock, when my progress is arrested by a strange sound which seems
+to emanate from an adjoining chamber. I re-ignite my extinguished lamp,
+and take a peep into the studio. Something is certainly moving in that
+apartment. I summon my companion, who joins me, and we enter our
+sanctum.
+
+'Misericordia! One of the statues is alive,' I exclaim, horrified at
+what appears to me a second edition of Frankenstein.
+
+'Eppur si muove!' ejaculates Nicasio, quoting from another authority.
+
+Monsieur Parmentier--he of the periwig and top-boots--is sinking
+perceptibly, though gradually. We advance to save him, but alas! too
+late; the illustrious Frenchman is already on his bended boots. The
+wooden props which supported his hollow legs have given way, and his top
+boots are now a shapeless mass. We pause for a moment to contemplate the
+wreck before us, and immediately set about repairing the damage.
+
+But how? A brilliant idea suggests itself.
+
+In a corner of the studio stand the leather originals which have served
+us as models for the extremities of the injured statue. These same boots
+belong to an obliging shoemaker who has only lent them to us. But what
+of that? The case is urgent, and this is no time to run after our friend
+and bargain with him for his property.
+
+To fill the boots with plaster of Paris; to humour them, while the
+plaster is yet moist, into something which resembles the human leg
+divine, is the work of a few moments. To fix them firmly to the wooden
+plinth, and prop over them the incomplete torso by means of laths
+cunningly concealed, occupies little more than an hour and a half. A
+coat of thick white paint administered below, completes the operation,
+and Parmentier is erect again, and apparently none the worse for his
+disaster. One more layer of paint early next morning, and the statue is
+faultless, and ready for being borne triumphantly from our studio to
+its destination. There it is placed in its niche, and no one suspects
+the mishap. Evening approaches, and with it come crowds of Cuban
+dilettanti and others who have been invited. The ceremony of blessing
+the new undertaking is solemnised according to custom by a priest, and
+an assistant who sprinkles holy-water from a small hand-broom upon
+everything and everybody, while a short prayer in Latin is chanted. Then
+the guests proceed to examine the various embellishments of this
+singular shop, pausing to refresh themselves from the sumptuous repast
+which the chemist has provided for his guests and patrons in an
+adjoining chamber.
+
+The statues form a subject for wonder with everybody, and no one will
+believe that they are constructed of other than solid material. Even the
+credulous, who are permitted to tap one of Parmentier's boots as a
+convincing test, cannot help sharing the popular delusion.
+
+But our friend the shoemaker is not so easily deceived. From certain
+signs, known only to himself, he recognises in the statue's painted
+extremities his own appropriated goods. We swear him to secrecy, and
+offer to pay him liberally for the loss he has sustained; and it pleases
+him to discover that in the pursuit of the fine arts--and as regards
+statue-making in the West Indies we echo the sentiment--there is nothing
+like leather!
+
+The chemist's shop is scarcely disposed of, when application is again
+made to us for another important undertaking.
+
+The Captain-General of Havana has signified his intention to honour our
+town with a visit, and preparations for his reception must accordingly
+be made. The good people of Cuba have not a superabundance of affection
+for their distinguished chief: possibly because captains-general are not
+as a rule all that their subjects might desire. But a visit from his
+excellency is such an unusual event (for our captain-general is rarely
+absent from his comfortable palace in the Havana) that the inhabitants
+of Santiago determine to make at least holiday--if not to profit--out of
+the occasion. The merchants and shopkeepers are especially interested in
+exhibiting their loyalty; for in this manner they hope to obtain many
+mercantile concessions. Certain little nefarious transactions connected
+with the custom-house may through the captain-general's benevolence be
+forgiven or ignored, while other matters, connected with the landing of
+negroes, may also pass censorship. A number of petitions for various
+local favours have been also prepared, and in short the inhabitants hope
+to derive many advantages from the visit of their colonial King.
+
+The merchants' contribution towards the festivities will be a public
+ball in the theatre, and a grand triumphal arch, which they propose to
+erect in the principal thoroughfare. But a triumphal arch, such as these
+gentlemen contemplate, is not so easily obtained in Cuba. Los Señores
+Bosch Brothers--who are appointed to direct this work--have, however, no
+difficulty in providing architects qualified to undertake the
+fabrication required. The followers of the divine art of Apelles no
+doubt 'deal' in triumphal arches, and the 'job' is accordingly offered
+to them.
+
+Our experience in the manufacture of triumphal arches is not wide, but
+our patrons are so very pressing, and their terms are, moreover, so
+very liberal, that we are finally induced to embark in the enterprise.
+
+A plan of the proposed structure having been drawn and submitted for
+approval to Don Elijio, who is the head of the firm of Bosch Brothers,
+our operations begin. The order of architecture which we adopt partakes
+of the Norman and the early Gothic, with a 'dash,' so to speak, of the
+Byzantine, to give it a cheerful aspect. It might remind the learned in
+these matters of York Minster, Temple Bar, or a court in the Crystal
+Palace; but the Señores Bosch Brothers--whose acquaintance with
+architectural master-pieces is confined to the governor's palace of lath
+and plaster, and the white-washed cathedral--are easily satisfied.
+
+Our labours are conducted in the extensive store-room of Messrs. Bosch
+Brothers, which, in order to facilitate our operations, is cleared of
+its cumbersome contents. The arch is destined to stand in that part of
+the street which divides the warehouse from the market-place. The latter
+stands at an elevation of more than forty feet above the pavement, and
+is reached by a wide flight of stone steps. It forms part of our plan to
+connect our frail edifice with the market wall, and match its local
+stone colour.
+
+We have exactly a month for the completion of our task, and we make the
+most of our time. Cart-loads of white wood, in planks and logs, arrive
+at all hours of the day, together with yards upon yards of coarse
+canvas, pounds of nails, colours in powder, huge earthenware pots and
+size. In short, our requirements are akin to those of a scene painter.
+
+Thrifty Don Elijio has periodical moments of panic; for it seems to him
+that our demands for wood, paint, canvas and nails, are exorbitant, and
+more than once he predicts the ruin of his speculation. The merchant
+begins to regret that he did not persuade us to 'contract' for the whole
+expense, instead of receiving a separate remuneration for our time and
+labour. Sometimes he will endeavour to show that there is something
+defective in our agreement.
+
+'Look here!' says he. 'You are artists, and if I come to you to have my
+portrait painted, I suppose you will not expect me to pay for your
+colours and canvas?'
+
+We have neither time nor ability to argue the point; but the man of many
+bargains is easily convinced, when we hint about relinquishing our
+labours!
+
+Foiled in his effort to reduce expenses, the merchant tries to economise
+in another way, by questioning the propriety of adopting certain little
+contrivances which he cannot for the life of him follow in the original
+plan.
+
+'What are those hugh firework sort of wheels for?' he asks one day. 'I
+don't see them in the drawing, and therefore consider them unnecessary.'
+
+'Those wheels,' we explain, 'which you are pleased to compare with
+fireworks, constitute the skeleton, or framework, of four turrets,
+which, after having been concealed behind canvas, painted stone-colour,
+and relieved with imitation port-holes, will be suspended from the
+uppermost angles of the arch.'
+
+'And where is that broad octagonal chimney to be placed?' inquires the
+merchant.
+
+'That "chimney,"' we reply, 'represents a Gothic temple, and is
+destined to stand over the centre of the arch upon a graduated
+pedestal.'
+
+The wood-work of our fabric is put together by a number of black and
+brown carpenters; but we have to superintend every part, as these
+gentlemen have no notion whatever of architectural devices, and our
+eloquence fails to convey to their intelligence our multifarious needs.
+
+The readiest of our assistants is a young mulatto, nicknamed El Tuerto
+by reason of a strong cast in his left eye. He is far more industrious
+than his fellow-workmen, most of whom have a weakness for aguardiente,
+and are consequently often in what my medical friend Doctor Acéro terms,
+'a state of vulgar excitement.' El Tuerto easily grasps at an idea, and
+sometimes offers a useful suggestion or two. It is he who recommends to
+our notice a friend of his who, he thinks, might be serviceable in the
+painting department. The friend in question is a feeble old negro,
+occasionally afflicted with delirium tremens. We try him with the 'line'
+work, which consists in squaring off the imitation stones of the painted
+masonry: but, his hand being too unsteady for this, we employ him for
+the graining, which accords better with his peculiar 'touch,' as the
+process requires certain nervous jerks of the wrist.
+
+At length the day arrives when the stones of the street must be
+uprooted, the tall scaffolding planted, and the innumerable pieces of
+painted canvas which form the external covering of the arch, united and
+raised to their respective places. When the fabric is complete, the
+local papers, which have already noticed its progress from time to time,
+thus describe its beauties:
+
+'The triumphal arch erected in the Calle de la Marina by the merchants
+and planters of Santiago, is the combined work of those illustrious
+followers of the divine art of Apelles, Don Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú
+and El Caballero Inglés Don Gualterio. This imposing structure measures
+forty-five feet in height, thirty feet in breadth, and nine feet in
+depth. It is supposed to represent part of an old feudal castle with its
+turrets, port-holes and belfry, and is painted in imitation of granite
+stone, which forms a striking contrast with the intense blue of our
+tropical sky, against which the arch stands in bold relief.
+
+'On either side of the façade are painted colossal figures representing
+Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Justice. Above these allegories are
+placed the escutcheons of our illustrious Captain-General, together with
+the coats-of-arms belonging to Spain and to Santiago de Cuba. Near the
+centre of the arch are recorded in bold and fanciful letters the various
+triumphs of our distinguished general; such as the blockade of Zaragoza
+in 1843, the glorious campaign in Portugal, 1847, the Italian
+expedition, etc.
+
+'Upon each of the four turrets are planted tall flag-staffs, from which
+coloured streamers gracefully depend, and over the centre of the arch,
+upon the summit of the pretty campanilla, waves majestically in the
+breeze the imposing banner of Spanish commerce.
+
+'From the palms of the arch is suspended a garland of natural
+evergreens, in which is artistically entwined a broad red and
+orange-coloured ribbon bearing the following inscription:
+
+'"To His Excellency the Captain-General: from the Merchants and Planters
+of Santiago de Cuba."'
+
+His excellency arrives in due course, and is so thoroughly gratified
+with his reception in Santiago, that upon his return to Havana he
+reports favourably to his government upon the progress and prosperity of
+our part of the 'Ever-faithful Isle.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+A CORRESPONDENT IN THE WEST INDIES.
+
+     American News-agents and their Work--Local Information--The
+     'Glorious Campaign' of Santo Domingo--'El Cañon de
+     Montecristo'--Wounded Soldiers--Still Life again!--A Visit from the
+     Spanish Fleet--Escape from Jail.
+
+
+'Here is something in your line,' remarks Nicasio one day, handing me a
+letter which has just been brought to our studio by a black messenger.
+
+The letter is from Don Elijio, of the firm of Bosch Brothers, and states
+that the Havana agent of the _New York Trigger_ has commissioned the
+merchants to find him a person who is both qualified and willing to
+undertake the post of newspaper correspondent. The individual must have
+a thorough knowledge of the Spanish and English languages; he must be
+conversant with the ways of Cuba and be in a position to collect facts
+connected with the social and political life of the town in which he
+resides. His duties will also be to receive communications from the
+agents of the American newspaper in question, who are dispersed all over
+the West Indies, and after selecting the chief points of interest
+contained in these communications, he must dispatch them, in the form of
+telegrams and news-letters, to head-quarters in Havana. For these
+services a liberal monthly salary is offered, and Don Elijio presuming
+that journalism is in some way related to 'the divine art of Apelles,'
+and having moreover every confidence in our versatile powers, offers us
+the engagement.
+
+All is fish that comes to our net in Cuban waters, so as art 'trade' is
+looking rather 'dull,' owing to recent monetary panics in the town,
+Nicasio advises me to give the correspondent business a trial. I
+accordingly accept the proffered post, and after some preliminary
+arrangements with Messrs Bosch Brothers, commence operations.
+
+In my capacity of correspondent to the _New York Trigger_, I am required
+to follow certain directions with which the central agent in Havana
+supplies me. First, a telegram, containing the pith of the news I have
+to impart, must be dispatched with all speed to head-quarters in Havana,
+where it will be again transmitted to New York by means of the submarine
+cable between Havana and Florida. The telegram must be shortly followed
+by a carefully composed news-letter, of which press-copies must be taken
+and dispatched by two or three different routes. I am enjoined to
+remember that 'the first thing correspondents should acquire is news,
+and the second is how to give it; not forgetting that they are writing
+for a newspaper and not for a magazine.'
+
+'The correspondence,' says the directions, 'should embrace all that
+bears upon the political, administrative, agricultural, mining,
+commercial and other topics of the day, including new enterprises, new
+railroads and telegraphs. It is important to obtain the particulars of
+any measure contemplated by the Spanish Government, but these must be
+obtained from _reliable_ sources and _before_ they have been made
+public. Local subjects should be eschewed, except they bear on politics,
+or on anything transcendental and of a "sensational" character likely to
+interest the American public.'
+
+The shipping list, containing the names of vessels and their dates of
+arrival and departure to and from any port, together with a brief
+account of any disaster at sea, forms an important item in the agent's
+duties. But above all promptness in the dispatch of news 'bearing a
+sensational character,' is strongly recommended.
+
+To be _in advance_ of its contemporaries--or at least never behind
+them--is the end and aim of the American paper which I serve, and to
+attain these desirable objects, every artifice must be employed and 'no
+expense spared.'
+
+The agents established in the neighbouring islands and in South America
+are mostly natives of the towns where they reside and, like myself, have
+other occupations besides those which concern a newspaper. Señor Pillo,
+who supplies most of my South American news, is a clerk in a sugar
+warehouse. Mons. Blagué of Hayti is a cigar manufacturer in that colony,
+while Meinheer Vandercram is a sorter in the Post-office at St Thomas.
+Then there is Mr. Archibald Cannie, in the adjacent island of Jamaica,
+who furnishes me with abundant news from Colon, Panama, St. Domingo,
+Barbadoes, Trinidad and a family of sister isles. These persons
+sometimes give me a world of trouble with their conflicting statements
+and confused information, and their sins are invariably visited upon my
+shoulders. Mr. Cannie of Jamaica is, however, the best of my
+correspondents, though he is occasionally afflicted with what my
+employer in Havana styles 'Magazine on the brain;' which means that Mr.
+Cannie is too prolific, and adopts a diffuse, rambling mode of imparting
+facts in preference to those much desired virtues brevity and
+conciseness.
+
+My residence--on an elevated part of the town commanding a view of the
+Cuban Bay--enables me to sight vessels before they have anchored in the
+harbour.
+
+Every ship is announced to the authorities by means of signals. A signal
+post is planted on the Morro Castle overlooking the sea. Another is
+situated inland between the fortress and the town, while a third stands
+within telescope range of the Custom-house. It is this last which, on
+certain days, engrosses my attention; for by it I am made aware of the
+approach of vessels long before they are visible in the bay. The signal
+post is shaped like a cross, to the points of which are hoisted black
+and white balls and coloured banners, by means of which the description
+of the craft, together with her name and country, is made known.
+
+In my employ is a young negro who, whenever a vessel is expected, squats
+in the shade of our broad balcony, and with a telescope placed to his
+left eye takes observation of the signal post. As soon as anything is
+hoisted, the black sentinel reports the same to me after the following
+fashion:
+
+'Miamo, alerte! The signal is speaking.'
+
+'What does it say, negrito?' I inquire from within.
+
+'White ball in the centre, miamo.'
+
+By this I know that a steamer is in sight. After a pause my negrito
+informs me that the signal has added something to its last observation.
+
+'What does it say?'
+
+'Blue streamer to windward under white ball.'
+
+From these appearances I gather where the steamer hails from and what
+is her nationality. In the same manner I derive other information
+respecting the coming craft, all of which I hasten to note down.
+
+The sound of a gun warns me that the vessel has already entered the
+harbour, six miles distant. Anon she appears cautiously steering through
+the narrow winding bay; gradually disclosing first her rig, then her
+colours, and lastly her name. Long before the ship has dropped anchor, I
+have reached the quay, where I embark in a small canoe to meet the
+moving steamer. Arrived within hailing distance of the vessel, I shout
+to the purser, the supercargo, or to anybody else who may have brought
+news or correspondence for me. If I succeeded in obtaining some, I land
+again, and before the anchorage gun is fired, I am on my way to the
+telegraph office. Here--with my dispatches before me--I compose and
+forward a brief summary of news from the port whence the steamer hails,
+and if there is nothing to interrupt the line of communication with
+America, the _New York Trigger_ will contain my telegrams in its second
+edition of the following day.
+
+I have many difficulties to contend with in my quest of local matter in
+Santiago. Some of my Cuban friends help me in my researches, and I also
+pick up fragments of 'intelligence' in the cafés, the public promenade,
+the warehouses, and the newspaper offices. Occasionally I hold secret
+audience with an intelligent native, who volunteers some extraordinary
+information on a local subject which is of no interest whatever to
+anybody except my informant. Sometimes the applicant is persuaded that I
+have indirect influence with the American Congress, and presses me to
+communicate his grievance to the authorities in Washington. I dare not
+close my ear against such applicants, for in the mass of valueless dross
+which I receive, I sometimes discover a rough diamond which, after due
+cutting and polishing, I dispose of to the _New York Trigger_.
+
+For instance: an aged negro of my acquaintance comes to me one day, with
+the astounding information that he, and a number of equally decrepit and
+unserviceable slaves, have been killed and buried by his master. In
+other words, the owners of these useless helots have hoodwinked the
+slave emancipators by representing their decrepit human property as
+defunct, while they substitute fresh importations in their places.
+Subsequently I learn that a landing of blacks has been lately effected
+near Guantánamo, and, upon a closer investigation, I gather the curious
+particulars, which are these:--
+
+The Capitan de Partido, or Major of the district, where the nefarious
+transaction took place, was naïvely requested by the parties interested
+in the landing to absent himself from the locality during a certain
+week; for which simple act he would receive four or five thousand
+dollars. During his absence, the landing of slaves is of course
+effected; and when the authorities hear of the transaction, and
+reprimand el Capitan de Partido for his want of vigilance, the latter
+exonerates himself by explaining how he was unfortunately absent from
+his post within the very date of the embarkation.
+
+This is a topic of passing interest to the American people, while it
+affords the _Trigger_ a text for a number of 'telling' articles relative
+to slave-emancipation, in which an appeal is made to the American
+Congress on the expediency of taking the colony in hand.
+
+Many other important events transpire while I am fulfilling my duties of
+correspondent to the _New York Trigger_.
+
+Prominent among these, is the return from Santo Domingo of the Spanish
+army after another unsuccessful attempt to establish a footing in that
+island. In order to assure the people of Cuba that the campaign has been
+attended with 'glorious' results, a public fiesta in honour of the
+return of General Gandarias and his followers is celebrated in our town.
+The streets are gaily decorated, and a certain cannon, which had been
+captured in Montecristo by the Spaniards, is wheeled on a cart through
+the streets, followed by a procession of soldiers and a band of music.
+This cannon--which is a heavy-looking, unserviceable weapon of the
+old-fashioned calibre--is made much of by everybody, and finally a niche
+is built in a wall of the cathedral, and the 'cañon de Montecristo,' as
+it is henceforth derisively termed by the Cubans, is deposited in this
+niche with a railing before it, and an inscription above, in which the
+people of Cuba are reminded of the 'glorious campaign of Santo Domingo.'
+
+Shortly after the appearance of the cañon de Montecristo, some vessels
+of war from the seat of hostilities arrive with a vast cargo of sick and
+wounded Spaniards. 'The Loyal and Ever-faithful' inhabitants of Santiago
+meet them on board, and some volunteer to convey the infirm soldiers to
+the hospitals in town. Nicasio and I are pressed into this service by
+our good friend Doctor Francisco, who is the head medical officer of the
+garrison. Each soldier, as he is landed, is placed on a canvas
+stretcher, provided with a couple of stout poles, and in this manner he
+is borne on the shoulders of four volunteers. When all have safely
+disembarked, a procession is formed, and headed by a band of music, we
+march slowly through the streets in the direction of Santa Ana, where
+the military hospital is situated. The distance is about two miles, and
+we have to move with extreme care so as to aggravate as little as
+possible the sufferings of the wounded men.
+
+The individual whom Nicasio and I, assisted by a couple of friends, have
+volunteered to convey, is the young Spanish officer Don Manuel, the
+betrothed of Don Benigno's daughter. He does not appear to be seriously
+wounded, for he chats pleasantly with us on the way and gives us a vivid
+description of his late experiences.
+
+Arrived at the hospital, we deposit our burthens on their respective
+couches, where the poor fellows are, in due time, left to the tender
+care of Doctor Francisco and his assistant surgeons.
+
+Don Manuel is one of the first whom the doctor visits. A ball has lodged
+in the young fellow's hip, but he endures his painful operation bravely.
+While the ball is being extracted, Don Manuel smokes cigarettes, and
+converses with those around him.
+
+I gather from the communicative young officer much information
+respecting the late war. He tells me that the Spanish soldiers acted
+with their accustomed valour, and did their best to vanquish their black
+opponents; but that in spite of their efforts, the enemy proved more
+than a match for them. The guerilla mode of warfare adopted by the
+swarthy warriors, assisted by the bad roads and impenetrable country,
+together with the fatal effects of the climate, combined to defeat the
+assailants, and, after many fruitless attempts, attended with
+considerable losses to the Spanish army, the troops were ordered to
+withdraw from the scene of hostilities.
+
+Always with an 'eye to business,' my partner and I improve the occasion
+by obtaining sundry commissions for portraits of some of the
+distinguished officers who had fallen in the late campaign. One of the
+more important works of this kind is a large historical picture, in
+which the illustrious commander of the expedition and his staff of
+officers are introduced. In order to ensure correct likenesses of the
+individuals who are to figure in our painted production, photographs,
+and military uniforms are supplied for our use. Many weary weeks are
+devoted to this _capo d'opera,_ and when the picture is completed, it is
+handsomely framed and exhibited to an admiring crowd in one of the
+saloons of the governor's palace.
+
+The war of Santo Domingo being over and forgotten, the town is again
+enlivened by the arrival of the Spanish fleet fresh from Peru after the
+unsatisfactory bombardment of Callao. The vessels are anchored in the
+Cuban harbour and include the iron-clad steamer 'Numancia,' commanded by
+Admiral Mendez Nunez; the 'Villa de Madrid' with Captain Topete on
+board; the 'Resolucion' and the 'Almanza.' Our illustrious visitors are
+lionised for nearly a week at the public expense. Banquets, balls and
+other entertainments are given in their honour; and in acknowledgment of
+these attentions, the officers of the 'Numancia,' before the fleet takes
+its departure, give a grand ball on board their vessel, to which the
+leading families of Santiago are invited. The upper deck of the
+iron-clad is covered with a gigantic awning, and is so disguised with
+flowers, tropical plants, and other adornments, that the guests can
+scarcely realise the fact that they are actually on board a man-of-war.
+A long supper table is laid between decks, and here the visitors are
+invited to inspect the gunnery arrangements and a certain part of the
+vessel which had sustained some damage during the late expedition.
+
+From some of the officers and crew of this vessel I obtain a few
+particulars relative to the bombardment of Callao, and these I hasten to
+use for the benefit of the American newspaper which I serve.
+
+Another interesting event is the attempted escape from the town jail of
+upwards of two hundred prisoners. The whole town is for many days thrown
+into a state of alarm, for eleven out of the number succeed in effecting
+their escape. These are, however, eventually captured by the police, and
+after being tried in the usual way by court-martial, are sentenced to be
+shot in public. Upon the morning of the execution, there is great
+excitement in town. The execution is a fearful spectacle, for the firing
+has to be repeated more than once before the unfortunates are pronounced
+dead. One of the victims is my former fellow-prisoner, the communicative
+Indian, who, after the first shots had been fired by the soldiers,
+offered to confess his sins, which he had hitherto refused to do upon
+the plea that the instrument of confession was 'only a piece of crossed
+wood.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+CUBAN MUSIC.
+
+     A Soirée at Don Laureano's--An eminent Violinist and
+     Composer--Cuban Pianos--Real Negro Minstrels--Carnival
+     Songs--Coloured Improvisatores.
+
+
+All work and no play makes even a 'follower of the divine art of
+Apelles' a dull caballero; so when the day's toils are over, my
+companion and I amuse ourselves in various ways. The theatre, the
+Retreta, or promenade, a ball at the Philharmonic, and masquerading
+during the carnival season, are among our favourite diversions.
+Sometimes I enjoy these amusements in company with my partner; but when
+his society is denied me, I avail myself of the companionship of my
+friend Tunicú, who is a great authority in all matters appertaining to
+the 'gay and festive.'
+
+Being fond of music, Tunicú introduces me to his friend Laureano, who is
+a favourite musical composer and an accomplished violinist. In
+appearance, Don Laureano strongly resembles the renowned Paganini, and
+it is for this reason, together with his marvellous performances on the
+violin, that his admirers sometimes advise him to visit Europe and
+America.
+
+Don Laureano is chiefly employed as leader of the theatrical band and as
+conductor of the orchestra which performs on fiestas at the cathedral.
+He also gives lessons in pianoforte and violin playing, and composes
+songs and 'zarzuelas.' Once this accomplished gentleman wrote an entire
+oratorio of some five hundred pages, which after being printed and
+gorgeously bound, was presented to Her Catholic Majesty the Queen of
+Spain.
+
+Laureano gives musical matinées and soirées at his private dwelling.
+Everybody in the town being personally acquainted with him, no special
+invitations are issued, but those who are inclined to enjoy a little
+music, have only to enter the Don's open door, which has direct
+communication with his reception room. Those who can obtain neither
+seats nor standing-room, remain in the street, where, the huge windows
+of the musician's house being devoid of glass, the performances are
+perfectly audible. Negroes and mulattoes of all shades are among the
+spectators of the pavement; but with the exception of a few coloured
+musicians, only white people are admitted within the building.
+
+The programme of entertainments includes popular melodies, selections
+from oratorios, zarzuelas and Cuban dances. Laureano is assisted by his
+son, Laureanito, who, notwithstanding his tender years, is a proficient
+on the piano. This youthful prodigy usually accompanies his parent when
+the latter enraptures his audience with a brilliant solo performance on
+his favourite instrument.
+
+Don Laureano is fond of comparing 'musical notes' with foreigners, and
+finding that I sing comic songs and strum a little on the piano, he
+occasionally prevails upon me to oblige the company with some of my
+reminiscences of popular European airs.
+
+The productions of such foreigners as have been inspired to compose
+pieces founded on Cuban music, are also included in Don Laureano's
+repertory. Ravina's far-famed 'Habaneros,' Gottschalk's 'Ojos Criollos'
+and Salaman's 'Spanish Caprice,' are favourites with a Cuban audience.
+But, like all Cuban and Spanish music, they require to be played with a
+certain local sentiment, and it is for this reason that the most
+accomplished European performers often fail to satisfy the Cuban musical
+appetite. Under the practised hands of a Cuban player, however, every
+justice is done to the compositions I have quoted.
+
+Don Laureano's piano does not differ from any other piano, save that its
+mechanism is in some way adapted to suit the requirements of a tropical
+climate. Pianos of American manufacture are popular in Cuba; but
+Pleyel's instruments are preferred by some, on account of their soft
+tone and durability. A piano is an expensive luxury in the West Indies;
+its intrinsic value being comparatively small when the cost of its
+transfer from Europe or America, and the duty charged thereon, are
+considered. Pianos, moreover, do not last as long in the tropics as they
+do in colder climates, and great care is accordingly taken of their
+delicate machinery. To ensure against any moisture which may ascend from
+the marble or brick floor of the chamber in which the instrument is
+lodged, small glass cups are placed as insulators under the castors. It
+is considered highly detrimental to the tone of a piano to use it during
+damp or wet weather; so, on a rainy day, the instrument is locked up and
+the key carefully concealed by its owner.
+
+Among the coloured community are many accomplished performers on every
+instrument except the piano; for, somehow, the dark digits of these
+gentlemen do not adapt themselves to the white and black ivories.
+
+Veritable 'negro minstrels' are, in Cuba, as plentiful as blackberries;
+but, as they 'never perform out of' the island, their renown is purely
+local. The mulatto, Urriola, is famous for his performances on the
+cornet-à-piston and the double-bass, and his young son is a favourite
+flute-player. Lino Boza is the name of a distinguished negro performer
+on the clarionet. He is also a popular composer of Cuban dance music.
+These musical geniuses are all free, and reside in La Calle del Rey
+Pelayo--a quarter of the town much frequented by the emancipated tribes.
+
+Urriola and his son, together with Lino Boza and other black and brown
+gentlemen, are great acquisitions in the orchestras of the theatre, the
+cathedral, and the public balls; but their services are mostly in
+request during the carnival season, and on certain fiestas. They are,
+indeed, in such demand for the latter occasions, that engagements with
+them are entered into days before these festivities take place, and not
+unfrequently the same band is required to play at a dozen different
+localities in one day.
+
+The 'Danza Criolla' is the patriotic music of Cuba, and every fresh
+carnival gives birth to a new set of these 'danzas.' When the air
+happens to be unusually 'pegajoza,' or catching, a brief song is
+improvised, and the words of this song chime so well with the music
+which suggests them, as to form a sort of verbal counterpart of the
+melody.
+
+The merits of these songs are not, however, confined to a judicious
+selection of words to suit the air. There is often a quaint local humour
+conveyed in the doggerel verses; the charm being greatly enhanced by the
+introduction of creole slang and mispronounced Spanish. Fragments of
+these effusions occasionally degenerate into street sayings, which are
+in everybody's mouth till the next carnival. One of the most popular
+during a certain year was 'Tocólo mejor que tu!' which means Tocólo is a
+better fellow than you. Other equally choice refrains--though not to be
+rendered into corresponding English--are 'Amarillo! suenemelo
+pinton,'and 'Calabazon, tu estás pinton.'
+
+The following ditty, attached to a favourite Cuban danza, called 'La
+Chupadera,' meets with many admirers. In the original it begins:--
+
+    ¡Ay! si lo sé, que yo estoy diciendo,
+    Que la chupadera á real está vendiendose,
+    Cuando chupamos, cuando llueve, todo mojamos, &c.
+
+which emphatically affirms that at a certain period of the (carnival)
+day one may become comfortably tipsy for the small sum of five-pence,
+and it further demonstrates how rain and rum can alike moisten the human
+body.
+
+Here is some wholesome advice for procrastinating people:--
+
+    ¡Ay! Policarpio; toma la sopa,
+    Mientras que está caliente;
+    Tomela, chino, que te se enfría!
+
+in which Policarpio is recommended to drink his soup while it is hot,
+and not to wait until the nourishment is cold and unpalatable.
+
+    ¡Arrempuja! que por el hoyo se engarta la aguja.
+
+is equally sententious. Forward! for remember that the needle can only
+be threaded through its eye.
+
+The following brief song speaks in praise of the neighbours at Santo
+Domingo:--
+
+    Por un Español doy medio;
+    Por un Cubano--un doblón;
+    Y por un Dominicano
+    ¡Doy vida y corazon!
+
+in which a Spaniard is estimated at two-pence, a Cuban at a doubloon,
+and a Dominican at nothing less than 'life and soul.'
+
+Here is some sage advice for a young lady seeking a husband:--
+
+    Chiquilla, si te casarás,
+    Cásate con un 'scribano;
+    Qu' aunque no tenga dinero,
+    Siempre con la pluma en mano--
+
+recommending to her notice a hard-working clerk, who, although possibly
+deficient in fortune, has the power of earning one with his pen.
+
+A baker is (in song) also considered an eligible match in preference to
+a tobacconist, for whereas the latter cannot always provide the
+necessaries of life, the former is at least sure of bread, chocolate
+(which every Cuban baker manufactures and sells), and a few 'reales,' at
+a very early hour of the day; as the original words clearly
+demonstrate:--
+
+    La mujer del tabaquero
+    No tiene nada seguro.
+    La mujer del panadero
+    Todo lo tiene seguro;
+    Que á las cinco de la mañana
+    Tiene el pan y el chocolate,
+    Y los tres reales, seguros.
+
+The following is a specimen of a serenade, which is more remarkable for
+its local associations than for its originality:--
+
+    No te causas espanto, ne admiracion,
+    Que los que te cantan, tus amigos son.
+    Y abrime la puerta, que estoy en la calle;
+    Que dirán la gente?--Que es un desaire!
+    Cuatro rosas traigo, en cada mano dos,
+    No te canto mas, porque ya nos vamos.
+
+Fear not, nor marvel greatly; for those who sing at your window are your
+truest friends. So, open wide your doors to me, for behold me in the
+street. And what will people say, then? Why sure, that you are slighting
+me! I bring with me four roses fresh--two in every hand; but I'll sing
+to you no more, because--we all must go elsewhere.
+
+Songs similar to those quoted are usually delivered by negroes and
+mulattoes at their tertulias or evening gatherings, where, seated on
+leather-bottomed chairs, or squatting at the portals of their doors,
+they entertain their black and brown divinities. One of the party
+accompanies himself upon a guitar, or a primitive instrument formed out
+of a square box upon which are arranged slips of flexible iron of
+different lengths and tones. Another has a strangely-fashioned harp,
+made from a bent bamboo, to which a solitary string is attached. The
+guitar player is, however, in greater demand than the rest, and is
+perhaps asked to favour the company with a sentimental song, such, for
+example, as the popular ditty called La Bayamesa, which commences:--
+
+    ¿No te acuerdes, gentil Bayamesa,
+    Que tu fuistes el amor de Fulgencio,
+    Cuando alegre en tu candida frente,
+    Beso ardiente imprimí, con pasion?--
+
+that is, a certain 'gentle Bayamese' is reminded that she was the loved
+one of Fulgencio, who, invited by the lady's _open_ countenance
+impressed upon it a passionate kiss.
+
+This being unanimously approved of by the company, the dark-complexioned
+troubadour will probably be called upon for another song, and the
+following mournful ballad will perhaps be chanted:--
+
+    Yo nací solo para padecer;
+    ¡No te acuerdes mas de mí!
+    No tengo ningun placer,
+    Desgraciada y sin salud;
+    Yo nací solo para padecer.
+    Mira, ¡ay! la virtud
+    No se consigue así, &c.
+
+    I was born a child of tears!
+    Think thou then no more of me.
+    Life brings only grief and fears
+    To one worn and pale with care.
+    I was born a child of tears!
+    Ah! can virtue linger where
+    Dwelleth only misery?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+MASQUERADING IN CUBA.
+
+     Deserted!--'Los Mamarrachos'--A French-Creole Ball--Street
+     Masquers--Negro Amateurs--Masks and Dominoes--The Plaza de
+     Armas--Victims of the Carnival--A Cuban Café in Holiday
+     Time--'Comparsas'--White and Black Balls--A Moral.
+
+
+It is the twenty-eighth of December, and the thermometer stands at
+eighty-five in the shade. I rise with the 'ganza grulla'--our bird
+chronometer--that wonderful creature of the crane species, with a yard
+of neck, and two-feet-six of legs. Every morning at six of the clock
+precisely, our grulla awakens us by half-a-dozen gurgling and metallic
+shrieks, in a tone loud enough to be heard by his Excellency the
+Governor, who is a sound sleeper, and lives in a big palace half a
+league from our studio. I descend from my Indian grass hammock, and don
+a suit of the flimsiest cashmere, in compliment to the winter month, and
+because there is still a taste of night air in the early morning. I have
+to manufacture my own café noir to-day, for my companion is absent, and
+our servants--a stalwart Ethiop and a youthful mulatto--are both abroad,
+and will not return for the next three days. It is a fiesta and Friday.
+To-morrow is 'la ñapa,' or day of grace, 'thrown in' to the
+holiday-makers, to enable them to recruit their exhausted frames, which
+they do by repeating the pleasurable excitement of the previous day.
+Then comes Sunday, another fiesta, which, in most foreign climes, is
+another word for day, not of rest, but of restlessness.
+
+The leading characteristics of a Cuban carnival are the street
+'comparsas,' or companies of masqueraders--'mamarrachos' as they are
+called in the creole vernacular--and the masked balls. Here you have a
+comparsa comprised of pure Africans; though you wouldn't believe it, for
+their flat-nosed faces are illumined by a coat of light flesh-colour,
+and their woolly heads are dyed a blazing crimson. The males have also
+assumed female attire, though their better halves have not returned the
+compliment. Here is another and a better comparsa, of mulattoes, with
+cheeks of flaming vermilion, wigs of yellow tow, and false beards. Their
+everyday apparel is worn reversed, and the visible lining is embellished
+with tinsel, paint, and ribbons. They are preceded by a band of music: a
+big drum, hand tambours, basket rattles, conch shells, and a
+nutmeg-grater. The members of this goodly company dance and sing as they
+pass rapidly along the streets, occasionally halting in their career to
+serenade a friend. Now, they pause before a cottage, at the door of
+which is a group of 'mulaticas francesas,' or French mulatto girls. The
+maskers salute them in falsetto voices, and address them by their
+Christian names as a guarantee of their acquaintanceship. The girls try
+hard to recognise the disfigured faces of their visitors. At last:--
+
+'Holá! Musyer Fransoir, je vous conóse!' cries a yellow divinity in
+creole French.
+
+'Venici! Monte!' calls another; at which invitation, Musyer Fransoir,
+who has stood confessed, ascends the narrow side steps which give
+entrance to the cottage, and vanishes through a diminutive door. He
+appears again hatless, and beckons his companions, who follow his lead
+with alacrity. Soon, a hollow drumming, rattling, and grating, is heard,
+varied by the occasional twang of an exceedingly light guitar making
+vain efforts to promote harmony. A shuffling of slippered feet, and
+voices singing, signify that a dance is pending. Everybody--meaning
+myself and my neighbours--moves towards the scene. Everybody passes up
+the perilous steps, and endeavours to squeeze into the spare apartment.
+A few succeed in establishing a permanent footing in the room, and the
+rest stand at the doorway and window, or burst through the chamber by a
+back door into an open yard. In carnival time, everybody's house is
+everybody else's castle.
+
+There is a perfect Babel at the French criolla's. Some are endeavouring
+to dance with little more terra firma to gyrate upon than 'La Nena' had
+on her foot square of table. Others are beating time on tables, trays,
+and tin pots. Somebody has brought a dismal accordion, but he is so
+jammed up in a corner by the dancers, that more wind is jerked out of
+him than he can possibly jerk out of his instrument. The man with the
+faint guitar is no better off. Every now and then a verse of dreary song
+is pronounced by one of the dancers.
+
+Here is a specimen:--
+
+    ¡Ay! Caridad; ¡ay! Caridad; ¡ay! Caridad,
+    Cuidao' con la luna si te dá.
+        ¡Ca-la-ba-zon! tu estás pinton.
+
+    (Oh! Charity, Charity, foolish Charity.
+    Beware of the moon, and avoid her _clarity_!)
+
+There is a pause--an interval of ten minutes or so for refreshments.
+English bottled ale, at two shillings the bottle, is dispensed, together
+with intensely black coffee, which leaves a gold-brown stain on the cup
+in proof of its genuineness; and this is followed by the indispensable
+nip of the native brandy, called aguardiente. Stumps of damp cigars are
+abandoned for fresh ones, and the air is redolent of smoke, beer, and
+brown perspiration. If you remain long in this atmosphere, which reminds
+you of a combination of a London cook-shop and a museum of stuffed birds
+and mummies, you will become impregnated by it, and then not all the
+perfumes of Araby will eradicate it from your system.
+
+I need not go far to witness the street sights in carnival time. Many of
+them I can enjoy from my position on my balcony. 'Enter' the shade of an
+Othello in false whiskers. He is attired in a red shirt, top boots, and
+a glazed cap. In his mouth is a clay pipe; in his hand a black bottle:
+both products of Great Britain. He is followed by a brother black, in
+the disguise of a gentleman, with enormous shirt collars and heavy
+spectacles. In his arms rests a colossal volume, upon which his
+attention is riveted, and against the brim of his napless hat is stuck a
+lighted taper. He stumbles along with uneven step, and occasionally
+pauses for the purpose of giving tongue to his profound cogitations. The
+crowd jeer him as he passes, but he is unmoved, and the expression of
+his copper-coloured countenance is ever grave and unchangeable. His
+eyes--or more correctly speaking, his spectacles--never wander from the
+mystic page, save when he trims his taper of brown wax, or exchanges it
+for another and a longer. One cannot help remarking how on all
+occasions the 'oppressed' negro preserves his natural gravity. Whether
+it be his pleasure or his pain, he takes it stoically, without any
+observable alteration in his sombre physiognomy.
+
+How do you reconcile the singular anomaly of a nigger with his face
+painted black? Here is one, whose face and bare arms are besmeared with
+soot and ink. His thick lips start out in bright scarlet relief, his
+eyebrows are painted white, and his spare garments (quite filthy enough
+before) are bedaubed with tar and treacle. This piece of grimy humanity
+is worthy of note as showing that the despised nigger is really not so
+black as he is painted; if the truth were known, perhaps, the man
+himself has adopted this disguise with a view to prove to the meditative
+world that there may yet be another, and a blacker, population!
+
+It is not wise to be too contemplative, and to stay at home, on a
+carnival day in Cuba. All the world recognises you in the character of a
+moralising recluse, and all the carnival world will surely make you its
+victim. As I sit, despising these frivolities, as I call them, a great
+'comparsa' of whites--the genuine article--comes rushing along in my
+direction. Out of the carnival season, the dramatis personæ of this
+comparsa are respectable members of society, in white drill suits and
+Spanish leather boots. To-day they are disreputable-looking and
+unrecognisable. Their faces are painted black, red, and mulatto-colour.
+Their disguise is of the simplest, and withal most conspicuous nature,
+consisting of a man's hat and a woman's chemise--low-necked,
+short-sleeved, and reaching to the ground. They dance, they sing, and
+jingle rattles and other toys, and are followed by a band of music of
+the legitimate kind. In it are violins, a double-bass, a clarionet, a
+French horn, a bassoon, a brace of tambours, and the indispensable
+nutmeg-grater, performed upon with a piece of wire exactly as the actual
+grater is by the nutmeg. The musicians, who are all respectably dressed
+blacks, hired for the occasion, play the everlasting 'Danza Cubana.'
+This is Cuba's national dance, impossible to be described as it is
+impossible to be correctly played by those who have never heard it as
+executed by the native. In a country where carnivals are objected to by
+the police, I have heard but one pianoforte player who, in his very
+excellent imitation of the quaint music of 'La Danza,' has in the least
+reminded me of the original, with its peculiar hopping staccato bass and
+running and waltzing treble; but he had long been a resident in the
+Pearl of the Antilles.
+
+The comparsa just described has halted before my balcony, as I guessed
+it would from the fact that its members were white people, and possibly
+friends. Oh, why did I not follow Nicasio's example and accept José
+Joaquin's invitation last evening to make one of a comparsa of wax
+giantesses! But I preferred seclusion to-day, and must take the
+consequences! Here they come straight into my very balcony with their
+'Holá! Don Gualterio. No me conóces?' in falsetto voices. Do I know you?
+How should I in that ungentlemanly make-up? Let me see. Yes, Frasquito
+it is, by all that's grimy! What! and Tunicú, too, and Bimba? I feel
+like Bottom the weaver when he summoned his sprites. Que hay, amigos? By
+this time my amigos have taken unlawful possession of my innermost
+apartments. It's of no use to expostulate. I must bottle up my
+indignation, and uncork my pale ale. I do the latter by producing all
+my English supply of that beverage; but it proves insufficient. The
+thirst of my burglarious intruders is not easily sated. The cry is
+still: 'Cerveza!' Convinced that I have exhausted all my beer, they are
+content to fall back upon aguardiente; which very plebeian liquor, to
+judge from their alcoholic breath, my guests have been falling back upon
+ever since the morning.
+
+'Musica! Vamos á bailar!' The chemised cavaliers propose a dance.
+Musica! The musica strikes up with a deafening echo under my spacious
+roof. At the inspiring tones of 'La Danza,' a dozen spectators from the
+pavement, consisting chiefly of mulatto girls and white neighbours,
+invite themselves in. Here's a pretty thing! An extemporised public
+masked ball in my private dwelling in the middle of the day! If this
+were Cornwall-road, Bayswater, I would have every one of them prosecuted
+for trespass. Music--a! Aguardiente! They combine singing with dancing,
+and mix these with cigar smoking and aguardiente drinking. To save my
+credit, the genuine white brandy I provide is diluted to ten degrees of
+strength, and costs only two dollars and a quarter the garafon! I find
+myself suddenly whirled round by one of my uninvited visitors. I would
+not have selected such a partner, but I have no choice. Smoke is said to
+be a disinfectant; so I smoke as I dance. For the closeness of the
+atmosphere, and the muskiness of mulatto girls, are not congenial to
+one's olfactory and respiratory organs. At last the final drop of
+aguardiente is drained, the music ceases, and my friends, and my
+friends' friends, and the strangers that were without my gate, take
+their not unwelcome departure.
+
+This has been a warning, which, as I live, I'll profit by. I
+extemporise and assume a home-made disguise. A strange sensation of
+guilt, of going to do something wrong, comes over me and makes me quake
+from the top of my extemporised turban to the sole of my sandal
+slippers. Whither shall I wander, forlorn pantomimist that I am? I
+loiter about the least frequented neighbourhoods, until the shades of
+eve--which in this climate come with a rush--have fallen, and then I mix
+fearlessly with the throng, among whom I am but as a drop in a Black
+Sea. In my peregrinations I meet a company of negro masqueraders, who,
+without the least ceremony, are entering the private dwelling of an
+opulent Don. The illustrious family are tranquilly seated in the elegant
+sala; but what care their visitors? It is carnival time and they, serfs
+of that same house, are licensed to bring themselves and their friends.
+They bear between them a painted screen, which they unfold and plant in
+the middle of the saloon. It forms a theatrical proscenium on a small
+scale. An orchestra of tambours, tin-trays, and nutmeg-grating güiros
+opens the performances, and then the actors proceed to saw the air. They
+perform this operation in turn, by reason of the limited proportions of
+their stage; and one very tall negro, who appears to have been
+altogether omitted in the carpenter's calculations, has to speak his
+speech behind the top drop. He speaks it trippingly too; for in the
+middle of a most exciting monologue, he upsets the whole paraphernalia
+and himself into the bargain. The entertainment, including refreshments,
+has lasted some fifteen minutes, when the itinerant troupe (who derive
+no benefit from their labours save what honour and self-enjoyment yield)
+pick up their portable proscenium and walk away.
+
+By far the gayest region of the city during a carnival is the spacious
+square called the Plaza de Armas. Here are the governor's house, the
+residences of Cuban Belgravia, the cafés, and the cathedral. Myriads of
+masqueraders, in every variety of motley and domino, congregate in the
+plaza after their day's perambulations, and dance, sing, or bewitch each
+other with their disguises. There is a party of masqued and dominoed
+ladies: genuine whites all--you can tell it by the shape of their
+gloveless hands and the transparent pink of their
+finger-nails--endeavouring to hoax a couple of swains in false noses and
+green spectacles, both of whom have been already recognised. The
+perplexed youths try their hardest to discover their fair interlocutors
+by peeping at their profiles through their wire masks, but in vain. At
+the next quiet tertulia these same ladies will have rare fun with their
+puzzled victims of the night of the masquerade. Within earshot of where
+I am standing are a small crew of ancient mariners, Britons every one of
+them; unless they happen to be Americans from Boston: it does not matter
+which to a Cuban. They belong to the good ship _Mary Barker_, lately
+arrived from Halifax, in quest of Cuban copper. Jack has come ashore
+to-night to see the sights and collect material for a new yarn, which he
+will deliver at his native fireside one of these odd days. Some masker
+has approached the group, and has brought them the astounding
+information that he--the unknown--belongs to the _Mary Barker_. Jack
+turns to his messmates with a bewildered air. Then, addressing the
+masker, 'What, Joe?' says he at a venture.
+
+'No, not Joe,' says the man behind the mask. 'Try again.'
+
+'Shiver my timbers!' exclaims Jack, 'I give it up. Here, Tom,' says he
+to a shipmate of that name, 'you're good at conhumdrums; just step
+for'ard and tell this here lubber who he his.'
+
+Tom tries and fails, but arrives at the possible conclusion that it is
+'some o' them 'ere Cubeyans a-making game on us.'
+
+Refreshment stalls stand at intervals along the pavement of the plaza.
+Each table has a white tablecloth, and is dimly illumined by candles
+sheltered from the wind by enormous stand shades of glass, or lamps of
+portable gas. Leather-bottomed chairs are placed invitingly around, and
+charcoal braziers for warming drinks keep their respectful distances.
+Egg-flip, bottled ale, café noir, and a kind of soupe à la Julienne,
+called by the natives 'aijaco,' are dispensed by negress vendors, who
+charge double for everything, and drive a roaring trade. Approaching one
+of the tables, I call for a plate of aijaco, and am perfectly understood
+by the dark divinity, who places before me a pot-pourri of yams, green
+bananas, cut pumpkins, 'aguacates,' chicken, and broth of the same. I do
+full justice to this rich and substantial repast, and, by way of
+dessert, conclude with a very small cup of properly made café noir and a
+genuine Yara. I then betake myself to the nearest coffee-house. After
+black coffee cometh what is popularly termed 'plus-café,' and this being
+an unlicensed spirit, cannot be had in the street. The coffee-saloon is
+well patronised, and the air of carnival is here very strong. Everybody
+and everything seem to follow the masquerade lead, the very furniture
+forming no exception to the rule: for the gas chandeliers are encased in
+fancy papers, the walls and pictures are adorned by tropical leaves and
+evergreens, the chairs are transformed into shapes of seated humanity,
+the marble slabs of the little round tables are partially disguised in
+robes of glass and crystal. As for the white-jacketed proprietor and his
+myrmidons, including Rubio, the mixer of liquors, behind the counter,
+they all wear smiles or holiday faces, while they carefully conceal
+their natural sleepiness.
+
+'Mozo! garçon! Una copita con cognac!' The waiter hears, but does not
+obey, having already too many copitas on his mind. 'Allá voy, señor!'
+he, however, says; and as it is some consolation to know that he will
+come eventually, I forgive his procrastination, and bide my time.
+Meanwhile, I watch a group of maskers who surround a guitar-playing
+improvisatore, who assures his audience in song that he is expiring
+because of the faithlessness of his mulatto, who has rejected his
+advances with ridicule.
+
+    ¡Ay, ay, ay! que me estoy muriendo, si.
+    ¡Ay, ay, ay! por una mulata;
+    Y ella está reyendose,
+    Que es cosa que me mata!
+
+In an opposite corner are a pair of moralising Davids gravely descanting
+upon the frailty of woman to the accompaniment of a windy accordion and
+a güiro nutmeg-grater, something after this fashion:--
+
+    Women there are in this world, we see,
+    Whose tongues are long enough for three;
+    They bear their neighbours' skins about,
+    And twist and turn them inside out.
+          Pellejo ajeno! lo viran al revés.
+
+This is the whole song, and nothing but the song: for negro melodies,
+of which the above is a specimen, are essentially epigrammatic.
+
+A rush is made to the big barred windows and open doors of the café. An
+important comparsa of Congo negroes of both sexes is passing in
+procession along the street. They have just been paying their respects
+to no less a personage than his Excellency the Governor of Santiago, in
+the long reception-room of whose palace, and in whose august presence
+they have dared to dance! The troupe is headed by a brace of blacks, who
+carry banners with passing strange devices, and a dancing mace-bearer.
+These are followed by a battalion of colonels, generals, and
+field-marshals, in gold-braided coats and gilded cocked-hats. Each wears
+a broad sash of coloured silk, a sword and enormous spurs. These are not
+ordinary, masqueraders be it known, but grave subjects of his sombre
+majesty King Congo, the oldest and blackest of all the blacks: the
+lawfully appointed sovereign of the coloured community. It seems to form
+part of the drilling of his majesty's military to march with a
+tumble-down, pick-me-up step, for as each member of the corps moves, he
+is for ever losing his balance and finding his equilibrium; but whether
+on the present occasion this remarkable step proceeds from loyalty or
+liquor, I cannot say. In the rear of his Congo Majesty's officers are a
+crowd of copper-coloured amazons, in pink muslins trimmed with flowers
+and tinsel, who march trippingly in files of four, at well-measured
+distances, and form a connecting link with each other by means of their
+pocket-handkerchiefs held by the extreme corners. Each damsel carries a
+lighted taper of brown wax, and a tin rattle, which she jingles as she
+moves. The whole procession terminates in a military band, composed of
+musicians whose hard work and little pay are exhibited in their
+uniforms, which are limited to buttonless shirts and brief
+unmentionables. Their instruments are a big drum, hand tambours, huge
+cone-shaped basket rattles, a bent bamboo harp with a solitary string,
+and the indispensable güiro or nutmeg-grater. There is harmony in this
+outline of an orchestra, let him laugh who may. No actual tune is there,
+but you have all the lights and shadows--the skeleton, so to speak--of a
+tune, and if your imagination be musical, that will suffice to supply
+the melody. The peculiar measure adopted in the negro drum-music, and
+imitated in 'La Danza' and in church-bell chiming, has an origin which
+those who have a taste for natural history will do well to make a note
+of. There is an insect--I forget the name, but you may hear it any fine
+night in the wilds of a tropical country--that gives out a continuous
+croak, which exactly corresponds with this measure.
+
+'Al fin y al cabo,' I have taken my plus-café; and now that it is very
+early morning, I take the nearest way to my virtuous home. On my way
+thither, I pause before the saloons of the Philharmonic, where a grand
+bal masqué of genuine, and doubtful, whites is being held. From my
+position on the pavement I can see perfectly well into the salon de bal,
+so I will not evade the door-keeper, as others do, by introducing myself
+in disguise as somebody else. I observe that the proceedings within have
+already begun to grow warm. There is no lack of partners in carnival
+time, as everybody, save the black musicians, is dancing the everlasting
+contra-danza. Some of the excited toe-trippers have abandoned their
+masks. One of these, an olive-complexioned señorita, wears a tell-tale
+patch of blue paint on her left cheek; condemning testimony that at some
+period of the evening she danced with that 'mamarracho' whose face is
+painted like an Indian chief! In a dark corner of the billiard-room,
+where two gentlemen attired in the garb of Philip the Second are playing
+carambola against a couple of travestied Charles the Fifths, are seated
+a snug couple--lover and mistress to all appearance. The dominoed lady
+is extremely bashful, her replies are brief and all but inaudible. The
+fond youth has proposed a saunter into the refreshing night air, where a
+moon, bright enough to read the smallest print by, is shining. His
+proposal is acceded to. His heart is glad now: but what will his
+feelings be when he discovers that the beloved object is a bearded brute
+like himself! The orchestra is playing one of Lino Boza's last danzas.
+Lino Boza is, as I have already stated, a negro composer and clarionet
+player of great renown in Cuba, and this particular danza is one of the
+'pegajosa' or 'irresistible' kind. You have heard it played all over the
+town to-day, and to-morrow you will hear it sung with a couple of
+doggerel rhymes in creole Spanish, which fit into the music so well as
+to 'appear to be the echoes of the _melody_.' The way in which Lino
+helps the dancers in their favourite gyrations by his inimitable and
+ever-varied performance on the clarionet, should be a warning to
+protecting mammas! The step of 'La Danza' is difficult for an amateur to
+acquire, but when once it is achieved, and you are fortunate enough to
+secure a graceful partner, the result is highly satisfactory. I am
+almost tempted to trespass upon the early hours of the morning, for the
+sake of the music of 'La Danza' and those open-air refreshment stalls
+where everything looks hot and inviting. The night breeze is, moreover,
+cool and exhilarating, and, after all, it is not later than nine
+P.M.--in Europe. I lead on, nevertheless, in the direction of the
+heights of El Tivoli, where I reside; stopping not in my upward career,
+save to pay a flying visit at a ball of mulattoes. A crowd of uninvited
+are gazing, like myself, between the bars of the huge windows; for the
+ball is conducted upon exclusive principles, and is accessible only with
+tickets of admission. Two 'policias,' armed with revolvers and short
+Roman Swords, are stationed at the entrance-door, and this looks very
+much like the precursor of a row. Mulatto balls generally do end in some
+unlooked-for 'compromisa,' and it would not surprise me if this
+particular ball were to terminate in something sensational.
+
+I am home, and am myself again, ruminating upon the events of the day
+and night, and I arrive at the conclusion that the despised and
+oppressed negro is not so ill off as he is made out to be, especially in
+carnival time. As I enter, our grulla thinks it must be six o'clock, and
+essays to shriek that hour, as is her custom; but I startle her in the
+middle of her fourth chime, and she stops at half-past three. Then I
+climb into my aerial couch, in whose embrace I presently invoke that of
+the grim masker, Morpheus!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+AN EVENING AT THE RETRETA.
+
+     A Musical Promenade--My Friend Tunicú--Cuban Beauties--Dark
+     Divinities--A Cuban Café--A Popular 'Pollo'--Settling the Bill.
+
+
+The Retreta is a musical promenade, or 'retreat,' held upon the evenings
+of every Sunday and Thursday, between the hours of eight and ten, in the
+Plaza de Armas. Here all the fashionables of Santiago congregate, to
+converse and to listen to the military band. Those who reside in the
+square itself, or in the adjacent streets, have a few ordinary chairs
+conveyed from their houses and planted in a convenient situation near
+the music. The promenade is a broad gravel walk, in the centre of a
+railed square, and is bounded by little garden plots, fountains, and
+huge overhanging tropical trees. Those who have not brought with them
+any domestic furniture, occupy, when weary with walking, the stone
+benches at the outskirts of the square and in the line of march. The
+promenaders form a kind of animated oval as they parade the boundaries
+of the gravel walk, and they consist chiefly of ladies attired in pretty
+muslin dresses, but divested of all head covering save that which nature
+lavishly supplies. The interior of the moving oval thus formed is
+exclusively occupied by gentlemen, dressed either in suits of white
+drill, Panama hats, and shoes of Spanish leather, or in black coats and
+tall beaver 'bómbas.' These fashionables wander about their allotted
+ground, occasionally halting to contemplate the moving panorama of
+divinities, by which they are encircled. There is much to admire in the
+plainest of Creoles, whether the point of attraction be her graceful
+manner of walking--and in this no other lady can equal her--the taste
+exhibited in her dress, or in the arrangement of her luxuriant hair.
+
+My friend Tunicú is a great authority upon the subject of Cuban beauty,
+and appears to be a favourite with everybody. Like most young Creoles of
+his kind, Tunicú prides himself upon his intimacy with everybody of
+importance in the town. From his point of view, the inhabitants of
+Santiago belong to one gigantic family, the different members of which
+are all, more or less, related to one another, and to him. Tunicú has
+this family, so to speak, at his fingers' ends, and is full of
+information respecting their antecedents and their private concerns. He
+points out for me some of the leading families who are present at the
+promenade. He shows me which are the Palacios, the Castillos, the
+Torres, the Brooks, and the Puentes. Those cane chairs are occupied by
+the Agramontes, the Duanys, the Vinents, and the Quintanas. Upon the
+stone benches are seated the Bravos, the Valientes, and the Villalons.
+Those ladies who have just joined the promenaders belong to the
+distinguished families of the Ferrers, the Fajados, the Fuentes, the
+Castros, and the Colases. He offers to present me to any of the company
+whom I may care to become acquainted with; and in proof of his intimacy
+with everybody who passes us, he salutes many of the ladies, and
+addresses them, whether they be married or single, by their Christian
+names.
+
+'Adios, Carmecita!' he remarks, as a young lady of that name sails by
+us.
+
+'Au revoir, Manuelica!' he says to a dark beauty with remarkably large
+eyes and exaggerated eyelashes.
+
+'A tus piés, lovely Teresita!' says he to another olive-complexioned
+damsel, whose chief attractions are a very perfect profile and an
+intelligent brow.
+
+'Till we meet again, Marianita!' he observes, when Marianita, who has a
+pretty figure and small hands, passes our way.
+
+'How bewitching you look to-night, my pretty Panchita!' he murmurs, as a
+charming young girl, with fair hair and a pink and white complexion,
+blushes and hurries on.
+
+'Farewell, my fascinating Frasquita!' he ejaculates to an equally blonde
+Creole.
+
+Tunicú's fair hearers apparently do not disapprove of these al fresco
+compliments, but occasionally acknowledge them by bestowing upon him a
+momentary smile or a graceful inclination of the head, as they do with
+scores of admirers, who, like Tunicú, venture to give voice to their
+sentiments.
+
+Whenever I question my loquacious friend about anybody in whom I may
+feel interested, he positively overwhelms me with the most minute
+particulars respecting his or her antecedents.
+
+For example: Fulana de Tal is a visitor at Don Benigno's, and for some
+mysterious reason Doña Mercedes has, on more than one occasion, offered
+her pecuniary assistance.
+
+'Do you know that lady?' I inquire, as Fulana de Tal seats herself
+beside Doña Mercedes.
+
+'Fulana de Tal!' exclaims Tunicú with a contemptuous chuckle; 'I should
+rather think I do! Fulana de Tal, widow of the late Timothy de Tallo y
+Gallo, the large importer of soap and composites, in Candela Street
+number sixty-eight, corner of Vela Lane, opposite Snúfa's the
+ironmonger. Old Timothy de Tallo failed for forty thousand dollars four
+years and ten months ago; ran away from his creditors and embarked for
+France, where he died fourteen months after his arrival in Paris. His
+widow, related to my uncle Benigno, was left destitute with three
+children--two boys, and one girl named Fefita. But nobody starves in my
+country! Fefita is engaged to Nicolás, son of Nicolás Neira, director of
+the St. Michael copper mines. They say young Nicolás will have thirty
+thousand dollars if he marries, and when his governor dies will be a
+millionaire. Old Nicolás is awfully lucky--won a hundred thousand
+dollars in the Havana lottery upon one occasion, and twenty thousand on
+another. He has three coffee plantations and two sugar estates. One of
+them is worked by no less than four hundred and fifty slaves. Car-amba!
+you should see the procession of mules that arrives in town every day
+from the Camino del Cobre: each beast laden with sacks weighing nearly
+two hundredweight. When Fefita marries, her mother will be well off
+again; meanwhile Don Benigno supports her, though nobody is supposed to
+know it.'
+
+'Who is that charming girl with the neat little figure and the dark
+frizzled hair?' I inquire, as the object of my admiration, accompanied
+by an elderly lady, passes close to where I am standing.
+
+'Oh! that is Cachita,' says Tunicú; 'Cachita Perales, with her mother
+Doña Belen--amiable but weak old lady; very much directed by her husband
+Don Severiano, who is an old brute--plenty of "paja" (tin) though, but
+close-fisted.'
+
+'I fancy I have met the younger lady at the theatre, and at other places
+of amusement,' I observe.
+
+'Very likely,' says Tunicú. 'Cachita is fond of amusement. You see, she
+has no lover yet to fall back upon, as it were. Lots of admirers,
+though; but the old man wants to wed her to young Amador, son of old
+Catasus, the rich planter; and the sensible young lady dislikes Amador
+because he is a Spaniard, and a coxcomb into the bargain.'
+
+'Are you very intimate with the Perales?' I ask.
+
+'Intimate!' repeats my friend with a scornful smirk. 'Well, I look in at
+their tertulia at least twice a week. But you seem interested in the
+family--sweet upon the señorita, eh! Admire your taste--acknowledged
+beauty, you know.'
+
+'Can you introduce me to the young lady and her mama?' I ask.
+
+Can he? of course he can! He has been waiting till now to do so.
+
+I am accordingly presented to the ladies as 'El Caballero Inglés, Don
+Gualterio, bosom companion of Don Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú,' whom
+everybody has heard of. Then all four stroll round the promenade; Tunicú
+artfully engaging the old lady, and leaving me to do the amiable with
+the pretty creole.
+
+As we walk and converse, the military band continues to play operatic
+selections, zarzuela medleys, pots-pourris of favourite airs and Cuban
+dances. At ten o'clock precisely the music ceases, and the band removes
+to the governor's house which faces the square. At a given signal, a
+quick march is played, and before the music is half over, the
+instrumentalists depart in procession through the streets leading to
+their barracks.
+
+We now take leave of our lady friends, who intimate their intention of
+being present at the Philharmonic rooms, where a grand ball has been
+advertised for to-night. Many of the invited remain in the Plaza till
+the opening of this ball, which is announced by a band of negro
+minstrels who come to escort the dancers to the scene of festivities.
+During the promenade, partners have been already engaged, and as Tunicú
+is a member of the Philharmonic, and has offered to procure me an
+admission, I engage myself to the charming Cachita for the first three
+dances.
+
+Tunicú and I occupy the interval which precedes the opening of the ball
+in various ways. The terrace of the cathedral, which overlooks the
+square, is thronged with coloured people, who, not being allowed to join
+in the promenade below, watch their white brethren from a distance.
+There is, however, among this assembly, a sprinkling of whites, some of
+whom are in a state of mourning, and consider it indecorous to show
+themselves in public; while others, like Tunicú and myself, visit the
+occupants of the terrace to exchange greetings with some of the dark
+divinities there. Tunicú is a great admirer of whitey-brown beauty,
+especially that which birth and the faintest coffee-colour alone
+distinguish from the pure and undefiled. He is also an advocate of
+equality of races, and like many other liberal Cubans, sighs for the
+day when slavery shall be abolished. Some of the brown ladies whom he
+addresses belong to respectable families of wealth and importance in the
+town; and were it not for certain rules which society prescribes, Tunicú
+says they would contract the whitest of alliances.
+
+Descending the broad flight of steps of the cathedral, Tunicú invites me
+to partake of some refreshment at a neighbouring café. The round marble
+tables of the café are crowded with fashionables fresh from the Retreta.
+Some of Tunicú's companions are sipping and smoking at one of these
+tables. The moment we appear, his friends rise, salute us elaborately,
+and offer us places at their festive board.
+
+What will we take in the way of refreshment?
+
+This requires reflection, and meanwhile we gather a suggestion or two
+from the libations already before us. There are sugar and water panales,
+cream-ices, cold fruit drinks, bottles of English ale, and 'sangria' or
+rum punch, to choose from.
+
+'When you are in doubt, order café noir and a petit verre,' is Tunicú's
+maxim, which we both adopt on this occasion. Cups of coffee and cognac
+are accordingly brought, cigarettes are handed round, and the
+convivialities of the café proceed. The company at the Retreta is
+discussed, and the brown beauties of the cathedral terrace are descanted
+upon. One of our party, whom everybody addresses by his nickname of
+'Bimba,' is more loquacious than the rest, not excepting the garrulous
+Tunicú.
+
+Bimba is a popular character in Cuba, and in some respects represents a
+type of the Creole 'pollo,' or man-about-town. He is short of stature,
+lean and bony. He has a long thin face, with a very sun-burnt
+complexion, a prominent proboscis, and his hair, eyes and eyebrows are
+remarkably black and lustrous. The pollo's weakness is over-confidence
+in himself and in the ways of the world. To him everything appears
+bright and sunny. Nothing in his estimation seems impossible of
+realisation. If you are in a difficulty, Bimba is the man to help you
+through, or at least to _offer_ to do so! Bimba takes especial care to
+let everybody know that he is a 'travelled man' and a linguist; which
+literally translated means, that he has spent a few weeks in Havana and
+a few months in New York; in which places he has acquired a smattering
+of two or three different languages.
+
+Learning that I am an Englishman, Bimba improves the occasion to air all
+the Anglo-Saxon in his vocabulary for the edification of his friends,
+who marvel much at Bimba's fluency in a foreign tongue. But whether it
+is that my residence among Spanish-speaking people has demoralised my
+native lingo, or whether it is that Bimba's English has grown rusty--it
+is evident that at least three-fourths of his rapidly spoken words are
+as incomprehensible to me as they are to the rest of our party.
+
+Bimba's knowledge is not however, confined to languages and to mundane
+matters. As a 'man of business' no one can surpass him; though it is
+never clear to anybody what kind of occupation he follows. He is,
+besides, conversant with most of the arts and sciences. As for
+painting--well; he says that he has 'dabbled' in the art for years; and
+though he confesses he has not practised it of late, he knows well
+enough what materials are used for the construction of a picture. In
+proof of this knowledge, he offers to introduce me to a number of
+highly 'picturesque' models, and mentions a locality which, he declares,
+abounds with subjects worthy of an artist's attention. This locality is
+called La Calle del Gallo, and is a street which, I am afterwards told,
+is inhabited by certain coloured ladies of doubtful repute.
+
+Being the hour of departure for the Philharmonic ball, the conversation
+ceases and the important operation of paying for what has been consumed
+must be undertaken. When a party of Cubans meet at a public
+refreshment-room, settling the bill is a serious matter. Everybody
+aspires to the privilege, and everybody presents his coin to the waiter.
+
+'Here, garçon! Take for all,' says one of the company, offering a golden
+doubloon to the attendant.
+
+'Excuse me, I spoke first,' observes another, exhibiting a gold coin of
+about the size of a five-shilling piece.
+
+'No, no; it was I,' protests a third; while others, with fingers in
+fobs, wink and shake their heads at the bewildered waiter as if to imply
+that one of them will settle with the 'mozo' in secret.
+
+The mozo will not, however, accept payment from anybody.
+
+'Está pago ya' (it is already paid for), he observes, and walks away.
+
+The company are amazed. Who could have been guilty of the treacherous
+act? and how and when was it performed?
+
+Presently one of the party rises and feigns impatience for his
+departure. He smiles, and all declare that he was the culprit.
+Subsequently, this individual leads the waiter into a dark corner of the
+café, where accounts are squared; by which we know that before the
+refreshments were ordered he had arranged with the garden about payment.
+
+'Nada, chicos!' observes the successful payee, as we quit the café,
+'otra dia tocará á ustedes.' (Never mind, my boys! it will be your turn
+another day.)
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+AT A CUBAN BALL.
+
+     The Philharmonic and its Members--A Street Audience--The
+     Guests--Engaging Partners--'La Carabina'--'La Danza Criolla'--Dance
+     Music--Refreshments--A Pretty Partner--A Night with Cuban
+     Gamblers--Spanish Cards--An Old Hand--'Temblores!'
+
+
+The saloons of the Philharmonic are well suited for dancing as well as
+for other purposes. The spacious apartments are entered by enormous
+doors, and those which are set apart for the use of the dancers are
+separated one from the other by narrow slips of wall. The heat,
+generated by the gas, finds an easy egress through the open doors and
+unglazed windows, and by these means the ventilation within is only
+surpassed by the open air. A balcony--resembling part of a ship's
+upper-deck--occupies the entire breadth of the building, and it affords
+an excellent promenade and lounge in the intervals of dancing. The
+street is crowded with a mixed audience, composed of coloured people and
+of whites in mourning, for whose accommodation chairs of all kinds are
+brought from their houses in the neighbourhood. The interior of the
+Philharmonic is perfectly visible to these spectators of the pavement,
+who, consequently, watch the proceedings within, as they would watch an
+entertainment at the theatre.
+
+The ladies of the ball are attired in simple muslin dresses of the
+grenadine, the tarlatan, or the tulle kind; but no rule is observed with
+regard to the cut or shape of their costume. She whom nature has endowed
+with a comely figure, adopts the 'decolado,' or low-necked,
+short-sleeved fashion, while her less favoured sisters prefer to conceal
+their charms behind spotted lace or tulle. In short, the frequenters of
+such a ball as that to which I refer are licensed to dress as becomingly
+as they please, and only on rare occasions, such as a ball at the
+theatre, at the governor's house, or at the mansion of some equally
+distinguished person, are the strict rules of French etiquette observed.
+
+The señoritas and their escorts are received in an ante-chamber by nine
+of the oldest members of the society, who conduct the ladies to the
+dressing-room of the establishment, where a few mulatto girls are in
+attendance. Their toilettes being complete, it is considered 'the
+correct thing' for one of these nine deputies of the Philharmonic to
+offer to escort the lady dancers to the 'salon de bal;' and afterwards
+to conduct the non-dancers to a locality set apart for the 'old people,'
+for people in a state of mourning, and for those ladies whose lovers do
+not approve of their dancing.
+
+The male dancers--the majority of whom are pale-faced gentlemen with
+black mustachios, imperials, and cropped hair--appear in ordinary
+walking costume, consisting of black frock coats, black or white vests,
+and white trousers, and neither they nor their fair partners include
+gloves in their toilettes. Fans are used irrespective of sex, as a
+creole gentleman considers that such commodities are as indispensable to
+him as they are to his lady.
+
+As most of the guests have already secured partners at the Retreta and
+elsewhere, and as at all respectable gatherings in Cuba everybody is
+supposed to know everybody else, the irksome formalities of introduction
+are altogether dispensed with.
+
+'Me hará usted el obsequio de cederme ésta danza?' is in Spanish the
+politest form for asking a lady 'if you may have the pleasure of dancing
+with her.' But should you be on intimate terms with her, you may inform
+yourself whether she is willing to 'take a little turn with you,' by
+making the inquiry:--
+
+'Quiere usted que demos una vueltecita?'
+
+If the lady is 'sorry to say that she is engaged,' her answer will be,
+'Lo siento; estoy comprometida.' If, on the contrary, she 'will have
+much pleasure,' she replies, 'Con mucho gusto.'
+
+It is not unusual for a gentleman who is not dancing to _borrow_ another
+gentleman's partner for a 'carabina,' or round or two; for which purpose
+the aspirant for that privilege has only to approach the dancing couple,
+and in his politest tone say--addressing his remarks indirectly to
+both:--
+
+'Will the señorita be good enough to consent, with you, to my taking a
+turn with her?' or, as it is better expressed in Spanish, 'La señorita
+será bastante amable para que con usted consiente el darme una
+carabina?'
+
+Sometimes when the aspirant is very intimate with the couple, he
+observes simply: 'Chico; una carabina?' (A turn, old fellow?) and
+without waiting for a reply, seizes his friend's partner round the waist
+and waltzes her away.
+
+Occasionally the carabina is taken without asking; but this is done only
+by certain pollos who are vain enough to believe that they confer an
+honour upon the ladies of their preference by confining their evening's
+gyrations to carabinas. These attentions, however, sometimes involve the
+pollo in a quarrel with the lady's partner, as happened once with a
+certain Acha--a Spanish officer from Guantánamo--who fought a duel for
+the sake of a carabina which he had danced illicitly with a famous
+creole beauty called La Nena.
+
+It frequently happens that the much-desired carabina is graciously
+conceded to an unfortunate pollito, or very young gentleman, who has
+been unable to secure a partner. Tunicú often avails himself of a
+pollito when he happens to be afflicted with an uncongenial partner, or
+one whose manner of dancing does not satisfy him!
+
+The famous 'danza criolla' is the favourite dance of the evening:
+indeed, with the exception of a vagrant polka and a mazurka or two, this
+dance occupies the entire programme.
+
+The danza criolla requires great practice before it can be successfully
+accomplished; but no amount of private tuition will help the novice to
+acquire the approved step. The best school for the study and pursuit of
+the art is a mulatto ball, or such a ball as the Philharmonic society
+gives on every Palm Sunday at seven in the morning. There is a very
+mixed attendance at the last-mentioned ball, as the members usually
+invite their 'guariminicas,' or companions of the carnival. A Cuban
+pollo has generally three ladies to whom he is devoted. The first of
+these is represented by the señorita whom he is destined to marry one of
+these days, but with whom he may not be seen alone. The second lady of
+his choice is the afore-mentioned 'guariminica querida,' who accompanies
+him about town when any fiesta is held; and the third is the mulatto
+beauty, whom he serenades and presents with various gifts in token of
+his admiration for her charms.
+
+The step of la danza is distantly related to a slow valse; but being
+accompanied by certain graceful movements of the limbs--vulgarly termed,
+in creole vernacular, 'la sopimpa'--the excitement is far greater than
+it is with the fastest 'trois temps' on record. So great indeed, that
+after every other 'round' the couples pause and perform a kind of
+lady's-chain in quadrille groups of six or eight. Each dancer gives his
+or her favourite version of this remarkable step. Some appear to glide
+around as if propelled on wheels; while others define the step by hops,
+backward skips and short turns, now to the right, now the left; but all
+preserve the same graceful movements of the body.
+
+The pleasures of the dance are greatly enhanced by the quality of the
+music, which is more or less inspiriting according to the air selected.
+Among the best Cuban dance music are the Cocuyé, the Chupadera, the
+Calabazon, the Sopimpa, the Mulata, the Pollita Americana, Merenguito,
+Lunarcitos, Al Mediodia, and 'á las Bellas Cubanas.' The clarionet takes
+the lead in the band of black musicians, and the güiro and tambours
+serve to mark the peculiar chopping compass which is the leading feature
+of the creole dance. The güiro proper is an instrument made from the
+hard fruit whence it derives its name. The güiro of society is, however,
+manufactured out of tin, and shaped like a broad tube rounded at one end
+to a fine point To one side is attached a handle; the other side is
+furnished with notches or transverse ridges, which being rapidly scraped
+by a piece of thick wire, a hollow, grating sound is produced. The
+monotony of this sound is varied on the tambours, and neither of those
+instruments is used when the dancers pause for the lady's-chain.
+
+It is not unusual for an enthusiastic dancer to present the leader of
+the band with a piece of money, as an inducement for the latter to
+prolong the dance, and as a graceful tribute to his partner's dancing.
+But this proceeding not being always approved of by the rest of the
+dancers, a master of the ceremonies--called 'el bastonero'--is sometimes
+appointed for the purpose of regulating the duration of the dances; but
+as el bastonero is himself a dancer, he takes care to time the dances
+according to his own requirements.
+
+At an ordinary Philharmonic ball, such as that which I am describing,
+the frequenters of the 'ambigú,' or refreshment room, must pay for what
+they consume. This is a serious consideration with the pollo, for he is
+expected to invite not only his partner, but also his partner's parents,
+brothers, or chaperones, and sometimes a friend or two of the family!
+The ambigú refreshment stall provides chiefly hams, lobsters, turkeys,
+chickens, fried fish, escabeche (another variety of fish), tongue, and
+other substantial viands; all of which are done full justice to by the
+señorita's relatives and friends! The appetite of the young lady herself
+is, however, more easily satisfied. A cup of thick chocolate with
+'panatela' or pound cake, and an 'helado,' or ice is all that she
+requires in the way of refreshment; unless, later in the evening, she
+prefer a 'jigote,' which is a kind of thick soup made from boiled
+chicken, minced fine, and flavoured with herbs.
+
+Adjoining the ambigú is a small apartment, where gentlemen--and some of
+the older ladies too--may enjoy a smoke while they sip their café and
+cognac.
+
+Of course Tunicú has a variety of partners, but Bimba being partial to
+billiards, divides his time between the ballroom and the billiard-table.
+
+Cachita--with whom I dance more than three times in the course of the
+evening--makes a delightful partner, and when, after sundry experiments,
+we are agreed upon the matter of step, I feel in the seventh heaven!
+
+Cachita's manners and conversation are as agreeable as her dancing is,
+and combine to impress me with the fancy that our acquaintance dates
+from a more remote period than the present evening. Upon the strength of
+my being an artist, she examines me on the subject of Cuban beauty, and
+my replies are not unfavourable to Cachita and her countrywomen. In
+turn, I interrogate her on the popular impression of foreigners, and
+from her responses I gather that the people of nearly every country,
+except Spain, hold a distinguished place in a Cuban's esteem. The palm
+is, however, given to the Americans and English. Cachita has been early
+taught to regard these nations with favour, and that to possess the
+political and social advantages which English and Americans enjoy, is
+the ambition of every right-minded Cuban.
+
+But politics is dangerous ground to tread, especially when you are
+discussing them with a beautiful young lady, who expresses so much
+enthusiasm for your 'patria,' and who, moreover, tells you to your face
+that your countrymen are 'simpáticos.' There is no telling what
+conversation such topics might lead to, if Cachita's mamma, Doña Belen,
+did not interrupt our tête-à-tête by coming to inform her daughter that
+the ball is nearly over, and that it is time to depart.
+
+No ball at the Philharmonic is said to have terminated until the members
+of the society and their male friends have indulged in a little
+gambling. So when the ladies and their escorts have departed, and the
+gas in the ball rooms has been extinguished, old as well as young pollos
+betake themselves to an apartment, where they pass the small hours of
+the night in card-playing.
+
+Curious to learn the mysteries of Cuban gambling, I accept Tunicú's
+invitation to watch the proceedings, one night after such a ball as that
+which I have described.
+
+The chamber into which I am conducted is illumined in one part only,
+where a group of gentlemen are seated or standing around a square table.
+Having decided whether the game of the evening shall be 'monté,'
+'tresillo,' or 'burro,' the dealer proceeds to shuffle the cards, which
+he does in an elaborate manner, and afterwards grasps the pack firmly in
+his left hand, taking care to conceal the bottom card. The dealer has a
+partner who is seated on the opposite side of the table with a pile of
+golden 'onzas' before him. These onzas, which represent the 'bank,' look
+like medals about to be awarded as prizes for merit, for each coin is of
+the size of a five-shilling piece, and is equal in value to seventeen
+dollars, or three pounds eight shillings sterling.
+
+Carefully extracting four cards from the top and bottom of the pack, and
+after placing them, faces upwards, on the table, the dealer invites the
+company to stake their money. Gold in onzas, half-onzas, four-dollar
+pieces, and 'escudos,' or two dollars, is produced; but he who is
+indisposed to risk more than a fractional part of his money at one time,
+expresses his desire by concealing a portion of his coin beneath the
+card of his selection. Thus an onza placed half-way under a card
+signifies that the owner wishes to stake only half that coin, or eight
+dollars and fifty cents. Similarly a fourth of the money being
+exhibited, represents four dollars and twenty-five cents.
+
+'Al juego, caballeros!' cries the dealer, and everybody accordingly
+stakes his money. Satisfied that the four cards are not equalised, the
+dealer, by a dexterous turn of the wrist, reverses the pack, by which
+means the bottom card is exposed. If this card does not pair with one of
+those on the table, other cards are slowly revealed, till one of the
+four on the table has been 'casado' or paired. The nine of spades being
+drawn, pairs with the nine of clubs on the table. The banker
+consequently pays on this card, and receives on that which lies by its
+side. The other two cards are similarly disposed of, and this, with a
+few variations, constitutes the game.
+
+With the exception of 'el rey' (the king) and 'la zota' (the knave), a
+Spanish pack of cards differs considerably from the French or English
+pack. There are no tens, to begin with, consequently the total number of
+cards is forty-eight. The queen is also absent. Her majesty is,
+however, represented by 'el caballo,' a figure of a knight on horseback.
+Clubs (called 'bastos') are veritable clubs of the Hercules pattern; and
+a spade is not a spade in this instance, but it is an 'espada,' or sword
+of the approved shape. Each player has a favourite card, upon which he
+invariably stakes his money whenever it is turned up in the course of
+the game. Tunicú's 'winning' colour is 'el caballo' (horse and rider).
+Bimba swears by the king, while his neighbour, Don Vicente, has a
+partiality for the royal fives of every suit. These gentlemen are fond
+of apostrophising the cards of their selection, as if to encourage the
+pasteboard to win. Thus, Tunicú not unfrequently addresses his caballo
+as a 'noble animal' or a 'trusty steed,' while Bimba speaks of 'el rey'
+as a 'right royal gentleman' and a 'just sovereign.' But when, as it too
+often happens, 'el caballo' proves faithless, and 'el rey' unprofitable,
+their praises are no longer sung, but certain disrespectful adjectives
+are applied to them. The Spanish language is rich in oaths, the mildest
+of which are some of those expressions which begin with the syllable
+'Car,' such, for example, as 'Caramba!' 'Carambóla!' (the billiard
+cannon), 'Caracóles!' (shells), and 'Caracolito!' (a small shell).
+
+One of the greatest gamblers at the Philharmonic is Don Vicente. Tunicú
+tells me, _sotto voce_, that the old gentleman has had a run of ill-luck
+for the past fortnight, and that, having exhausted all his ready cash,
+he is about to wager his 'quitrin' and horses. If the five of swords on
+the table is not paired in the next draw, Don Vicente will lose his
+equipage. The next 'turn up' being a king, and a king being opposed to
+the five of swords, Don Vicente loses.
+
+'Watch the old man now,' whispers Tunicú. I glance in the direction
+indicated by my companion, and observe that the gambler's right hand,
+which for some minutes past had been concealed beneath his shirt-front,
+is drawn with violence across his breast.
+
+'A habit of his when he loses an important amount,' remarks Tunicú under
+his breath; 'the old fellow has torn his bare flesh.'
+
+Except ourselves, no one present has paid the least regard to the
+unfortunate gamester, for until the past fortnight Don Vicente had been
+usually lucky.
+
+While the dealer is in the act of shuffling a bran-new pack as a
+preliminary to the fiftieth game to-night, the cards suddenly fall from
+his fingers, and he, his partner, together with the rest of the company,
+turn deadly pale and rush wildly to the broad balcony.
+
+I follow them; though for the moment I am unable to account for this
+strange diversion in the proceedings. In another instant, however, the
+truth flashes across me. The apartment which we have deserted had, for a
+few seconds only, oscillated as if a thousand ghosts were dancing in the
+empty saloons adjoining, or as if a train were passing beneath the
+floor.
+
+From the balcony I observe that the dark streets are already crowded
+with people, most of whom are scantily clothed in night attire. Some are
+kneeling and praying aloud for Misericordia! others are shrieking and
+invoking a variety of saints, and the greatest confusion prevails.
+
+It was only a 'temblor,' or shock of earthquake, in its mildest form,
+but it may be the precursor of a more serious disaster.
+
+'Such a calamity,' says Tunicú, 'has happened ten years ago, when the
+earth opened, and many buildings, including the cathedral, fell like
+packs of cards to the ground. The inhabitants fled in terror from the
+town and encamped for many days and nights in the neighbouring country,
+where one is comparatively out of danger.'
+
+Before daylight, another 'temblor,' or trembling of the earth, is felt,
+but, like its predecessor, it is unattended with disastrous
+consequences.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+CUBAN THEATRICALS.
+
+     The Stage Door-Keeper--A Rehearsal--The Spanish Censor--A Cuban
+     Audience--Dramatic Performances--Between Acts--Behind the Scenes--A
+     Dénouement in Real Life.
+
+
+A Call for seven A.M. would hardly meet with a punctual response were
+such an announcement posted behind the stage-door of a London theatre;
+but in Cuba the more important business of the day is transacted during
+the cool hours of the morning, and it does not surprise Roscius of the
+West Indies when he finds himself summoned to a theatrical rehearsal
+some three or four hours before breakfast. After that meal, Roscius
+makes up for lost sleeping-time by taking a long siesta till the hour of
+dinner.
+
+During rehearsal, in the theatre I am describing, the doors are open to
+the public, and, there being nothing to pay for admission, the stalls
+and private boxes are always well filled by a not very select audience.
+Gentlemen of colour are not inadmissible on these occasions; hats may be
+worn at pleasure, and smoking is so far from being strictly prohibited,
+that manager and actors themselves set the example. I am tempted to
+stroll into the theatre during rehearsal, because it is a refreshing
+lounge after toiling up the stony, hilly, Cuban streets, and because I
+may gather a new fact or two connected with life behind the Cuban
+curtain, from my friend who is popularly known as El Marquesito del
+Queso. El Marquesito is a great authority in matters theatrical. He
+resides permanently in the building itself, and is paid for taking care
+of it by night and by day. He is, besides, property-man, costumier, and
+a good mimic, often obliging the manager by imitating the bark of a dog,
+the crow of a cock, or the bray of a donkey behind the wings. At the end
+of the season he is allowed half a benefit, on which occasion only he
+delights his numerous patrons by enacting the fore-paws in a dancing
+donkey, to the tune of the Zapateo, a popular negro double-shuffle. In
+carnival time, El Marquesito lets out dominoes and masks of his own
+manufacture, or faded theatrical costumes and properties; and whenever
+the Captain-General honours the town with his august presence, it
+devolves upon my friend to superintend the decorations of the houses and
+those of the theatre, where a grand ball to celebrate the event is held.
+
+His imposing nickname of El Marquesito del Queso, is derived from the
+fact that the property-man is in the habit of supping on 'queso' or
+cheese, and of afterwards making believe that he has feasted like a
+young Marquis.
+
+The curtain being raised for rehearsal, discloses the whole strength of
+a very fair company of Spanish actors. None of them bear the
+conventional air of strolling players; the men are moustached, and
+fashionably attired, and the women, from leading lady to insignificant
+super, are elegantly dressed. Apropos of supers, El Marquesito assures
+me it is no easy matter to secure the invaluable services of a genuine
+white for these purposes. A white lady is not to be had for love or
+money; and when fairies are required for a burlesque, the children of
+respectable families are sometimes prevailed upon to appear. Male supers
+are not so scarce; Spanish soldiers may occasionally be hired; and when
+these are otherwise engaged, a dozen stage-struck youths of good family
+volunteer their services as chorus, crowd, or army. The important rôles
+of quadruped and agitated water are filled by negroes, who, in Cuba,
+are, of course, plentiful as blackberries; but when a real black face is
+required to figure in the performance, it is represented by a painted
+mulatto, for Spanish law in Cuba is strict, and prohibits the genuine
+article from appearing on the stage. The theatre opens four times a
+week, including Sunday, and the entertainment is varied every night.
+To-day the company rehearse a local drama, a zarzuela, and a farce
+called 'Un Cuarto con dos Camas' being a version of Morton's
+'Double-bedded Room.' A famous actor from Spain is the star of the
+present season. At rehearsal he is a fallen star, being extremely old
+and shaky, but at night his make-up is wonderful, and he draws large
+audiences, who witness his great scene of a detected thief in
+convulsions. The prompter is seated under a cupola in the centre of the
+stage near the footlights, as at the opera, and his duties are arduous.
+It devolves upon him to read over the part of each performer in a
+suppressed tone, and to direct their manner of exit and their position
+on the stage. He is unseen by the audience, but often heard by them, for
+the actors have only a faint notion of their parts, and cannot repeat a
+line at night without having it first hissed at them by their friend at
+the footlights.
+
+El Marquesito del Queso has much to say upon the subject of censorship
+of plays in Cuba. A play, he tells me, cannot be acted before it has
+been first submitted to the censor, who, empowered by government, is at
+liberty to place his red mark of disapproval over any word, line, or
+passage which he may deem offensive to Spanish morality or to Spanish
+politics. There is no rule attached to this dramatic censorship, and
+each censor, in every town throughout the island, has his own way of
+passing judgment; thus, what would suit the politics and morality of
+Havana, might be considered treasonable and profane at Santiago, and
+_vice versâ_. A capital comedy is often so mutilated by the Cuban censor
+as to be rendered dramatically unfit for representation.
+
+All Cuban buildings are constructed with a provident eye to earthquake
+and tropical heat, and the theatre is no exception to the rule. The
+means of egress are ample and facile, so that in case of emergency the
+audience may, comparatively speaking, step from their places into the
+street. On every side are huge open windows and doors, by means of which
+perfect ventilation is ensured. Fire is also carefully provided against,
+and there is always a small regiment of black 'bomberos,' or firemen,
+stationed in readiness within the theatre. There are two tiers of
+private boxes, and a gallery. The first tier is but slightly elevated
+above the pit, enabling the occupants to converse, as is the fashion,
+with friends in the stalls. Both tiers have the appearance of an
+ordinary dress circle, with a low partition to distinguish one box from
+another. There are wide lobbies at the back, and an ornamental iron
+grating in front. Like most houses in Cuba, the theatre is without
+drapery, the stall-seats and box-chairs, which are cane-bottomed, not
+excepted. The interior of a Cuban theatre is barren as a bull-ring.
+
+Despite my intimacy with El Marquesito del Queso, I pay my money at the
+doors, before I enter the theatre at night, like everybody else; for in
+this proud country it is considered humiliating in a respectable person
+to beg an order or a pass. I accordingly purchase two separate tickets;
+one for my admission into the theatre, and one for my seat in it;
+otherwise, I should have to stand, like the indigent few, at the back of
+the boxes. Tunicú sometimes accompanies me on these occasions, and gives
+me the names and occupation of most of the audience, whom he seems to
+know personally. For the matter of that, everybody in a Cuban theatre is
+on intimate terms with everybody else, and there is much conversation
+between the occupants of the boxes, who are, with few exceptions,
+ladies, and those of the pit, who are exclusively gentlemen. The
+señoritas, in low-necked muslin dresses, with a wealth of genuine hair,
+and with their inevitable fans, form a pleasing frame of fair humanity
+around the picture of dark coats and white drill trousers in the pit.
+Their hands are gloveless, and their diminutive fingers are loaded with
+rings of great value: for Cuban ladies are fond of jewellery, and make a
+great display of it upon all public occasions. Some of the señoras have
+brought slave attendants, who crouch in waiting on the ground behind
+them. Tunicú points me out the doctor's box, and when that eminent
+gentleman appears late in the evening, I recognise him as the man who
+saved me from the yellow fever. The doctor, I learn, is strong on that
+disorder, but weak on the subject of earthquake, against which, no West
+Indian physician has succeeded in finding a remedy. His box is nearest
+the principal entrance door, for he is nervous about earthquake, and is
+ever on the alert when he visits a theatre. Tunicú informs me that an
+earthquake in a theatre is worse than a fire, and gives me the
+interesting particulars of such a catastrophe as it happened in the
+doctor's own experience. It was a slight affair, he says, a mere
+'temblorcito', as he calls it; one wall was seen to crack from top to
+bottom, some plaster from an opposite wall peeled off, a globe from one
+of the gas lamps fell among the audience, and that was all; but the
+panic was terrible for all that, and many were crushed to death in their
+attempt to escape.
+
+The stout gentleman who occupies that big box all to himself in the
+centre of the theatre, is his excellency the president. No Spanish
+entertainment is complete without its president. The curtain may not
+rise till his excellency has taken his seat; the actors may not respond
+to a call or an encore if the president is not agreeable, and does not
+flutter the big play-bill before him, in token of his acquiescence. The
+box to the right is the lawful property of the censor, who, like most
+Spanish authorities in Cuba, rarely pays for his pleasure. He is
+extremely affable and condescending with everybody before the curtain,
+though so stern and unyielding behind the scenes. His daughters,
+charming young ladies, are with him, and flirt freely with the numerous
+Pollos, who come to pay their homage. That stall in the centre of the
+pit is occupied by the editor of the _Diario_, a Cuban daily paper,
+whose politics and local information are strongly diluted by censorial
+ink, and which is, therefore, unintelligible and devoid of interest. The
+editor of the _Diario_ is extremely lenient in his reports of
+theatrical entertainments, and on him the manager, at least, may always
+rely. His contemporary and rival, the editor of the _Redactor_,
+government organ, is seated in a stall near his excellency the
+governor-general, who is enthroned in a wide stage-box, and is dressed
+in full uniform, covered with orders. His excellency is accompanied by
+an aide-de-camp and half a dozen bronze-faced, heavily moustached
+officers, all of whom are more or less adorned with orders, crosses, and
+other military decorations. In the bend of the theatre are the boxes of
+the English and American consuls; and within earshot of where Tunicú and
+I are seated, is the box occupied by Cachita, her parents and sister,
+whom we visit between the acts.
+
+But what are those mysterious enclosures with trellis-work before them
+on either side of the proscenium? Those are special private boxes for
+the use of persons or families who are still in a state of
+half-mourning, and may not yet expose themselves to public scrutiny. But
+these boxes are not always occupied by mourners, whispers Tunicú, in
+great confidence. There are a certain class, he tells me, who wear a
+kind of half-mourning, which never becomes out of fashion; these are the
+half-castes or quadroons, who dare not be seen in public with
+acknowledged white people. The gallery is as usual devoted to soldiers,
+sailors, and persons of slender means; and in the extreme background are
+a few benches set apart for the exclusive accommodation of mulatto girls
+and negroes of both sexes, most of whom are elegantly attired; for
+coloured people are scrupulous in their dress on all public occasions.
+
+After the overture--a medley of Cuban dance music and Spanish fandango,
+played upon ordinary instruments by black musicians--a big bell, to
+summon all stragglers to their places, is heard, the curtain is raised,
+and the performance begins. There is nothing peculiar in a Cuban drama
+except that no allusion to political matters is made, and that the
+profane and immoral are somewhat freely indulged in. The comic players
+perplex the prompter with inordinate gagging, and delight in
+personalities with occupants of the orchestra and pit. There is much
+applause when the comic man shuffles through the charinga--a popular
+negro dance, difficult of performance, and shouts of laughter are
+produced in the scene between a Yankee, who speaks very broken Spanish,
+and a lady who speaks Spanish with the approved Cuban accent. It is an
+enthusiastic and excitable audience.
+
+The entirely new drama is a complete success, owing to the realistic
+performance of the famous star from old Spain. That gentleman is on the
+point of breaking a blood-vessel in his effort to impersonate the
+convulsive thief; but he is saved by the doctor in the private box, who
+is suddenly summoned to the actor's dressing-room. This interesting
+incident makes a deep impression upon the sympathising public, and
+greatly increases the interest of the drama. Then the curtain is lowered
+amidst rapturous applause, and calls for the infirm player, who is
+presently led on the stage, supported by one of the company and by the
+doctor. In the following act, the star astonishes his audience by a
+vivid representation of a detected thief gone mad, and his private
+convulsions being still fresh in their memories, many are seen to direct
+their gaze towards the doctor's box, in doubt whether that gentleman
+will not be required to administer also to a mind diseased. But all
+conjecture on this point is presently set at rest by the acting madman
+himself, who is duly restored to his senses at the conclusion of the
+play.
+
+An interval of from twenty to thirty minutes elapses between each act,
+during which the whole audience rise from their places and promenade
+around and about the theatre. The ladies betake themselves to the
+lobbies to flirt, fan, and refresh themselves with ice 'sorbetes.' The
+gentlemen from the pit are everywhere. Some are conferring with friends
+in the 'grilles,' or mourning-boxes; some are smoking cigarettes in
+spacious saloons provided for smokers; others are in the street drinking
+'orchata' or 'bul,' a compound of English beer with iced water and
+syrup. The stage itself is, however, their favourite resort. Open doors
+give access to that mysterious ground from the front of the theatre, and
+the pit public is thus enabled to wander into every nook and corner,
+from the traps below to the flies above. The players do not shun their
+visitors, but rather court their society, for a friend in front is
+considered a desirable acquisition, and half-way towards a reputation as
+'favourite;' to say nothing of benefit nights at the end of a season. A
+small crowd of Pollos waylay the 'first lady' as she leaves her
+dressing-room. As many as conveniently can, enter the leading actor's
+room to congratulate him on his success and his speedy recovery from the
+sensational scene. Another party of Pollos chokes the narrow passage
+leading to the premiere danseuse's boudoir, and great is their joy when
+they catch a glimpse of the gauze goddess as she flutters hurriedly past
+on her way to the green-room. The stage is thronged with these walking
+gentlemen, who require no rehearsal or prompter, and whose most
+attractive performance consists in unbounded cigarette smoking, and in
+getting in everybody's way. It is a miracle how, in the midst of this
+dire confusion, carpenters, scene-shifters, and managers contrive to set
+the stage for another act; and what a scene would be disclosed if the
+drop were to rise prematurely! Presently a voice is heard to cry,
+'Fuera!' this being Spanish for 'Clear the stage;' the big bell tolls,
+and the audience in due course return to their places in front. The
+curtain having been drawn up after the drama, a man comes round, like a
+ticket-collector on a railway, to demand the cards of reserved seats
+from their holders, and to distribute programmes for to-morrow's
+performances. Everybody is in turn disturbed and annoyed, for at that
+moment the low-comedy man is singing a comic parody, in a farce called
+'The Sexton and the Widow.'
+
+But there is a graver interruption than that caused by the
+ticket-collector--an interruption which affects actors as well as
+audience, rendering everybody within the theatre walls motionless and
+speechless. Some ladies are seen to cross themselves devoutly, and are
+heard to utter ejaculations about 'Misericordia' and 'Maria Santísima.'
+Every door in the theatre is thrown wide open, and the servants of the
+establishment stand before them with lighted candles. What is amiss? I
+look for El Marquesito del Queso, but he has disappeared. Fire? The
+black bombero firemen are in their accustomed places, and exhibit no
+sign that such a catastrophe has occurred. Rebellious outbreak of
+runaway niggers? I glance at the military-box, and find the occupants
+peacefully inclined. Earthquake? I look towards the doctor's box, and
+observe that nervous gentleman perfectly tranquil and unmoved. Hark! a
+tinkling bell is ringing somewhere outside the theatre. From my
+position in the stalls I can see into the open street beyond, and anon I
+descry a procession of church dignitaries in full canonicals, the first
+of whom bears the tinkling bell, while the rest carry long wax candles,
+the Host, and the sacred umbrella. Their mission at this hour of the
+evening is that of administering the holy sacrament to a dying man, and
+as they pass along the streets, it behoves all occupants of houses
+within the route devoutly to acknowledge the procession as it passes.
+The audience and actors accordingly kneel and cross themselves while the
+holy functionaries and their sacrament are in view. One of the
+ecclesiastical party enters the theatre and glances hurriedly within, to
+see that all are in the approved attitude. I am thankful to find myself
+doing as the good Catholics are doing, for I know that our visitor has
+no respect of persons or creeds, and would call me to order without the
+least hesitation, were I inclined to rebel. When the religious
+'function' in the street (all public shows, from a bull-fight to high
+mass, are called 'functions' in the Spanish language) is out of sight
+and hearing, and the candles at the door are extinguished, the
+spectators resume their seats, and the farce 'function' on the stage
+proceeds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+MY DÉBUT ON A CUBAN STAGE.
+
+     An Engagement--A Foreign 'Star'--A Benefit Night--A Local
+     Play--First Appearance--A Serious 'Hitch'--Re-engagement.
+
+
+I have already noted how Nicasio and I have lent our art services at the
+theatre whenever scenic decorations were required. Our colour boxes have
+also been in demand on certain occasions when the leading performers
+were particular respecting the correct pencilling of their eyebrows, the
+effective corking of their cheeks, and other attributes of an actor's
+'make-up.' Whenever an English play is wanted for adaptation to the
+Spanish stage, the manager--very naturally--'falls back upon' the
+Anglo-Saxon follower of the divine art of Apelles. Upon one occasion I
+am required to translate the famous farce of 'Box and Cox'--a farce
+entirely new to a Cuban audience and, consequently, a great success when
+interpreted for them into choice Castilian.
+
+One day, application is made to me by Señor Don Baltazar Telon y
+Escotillon, impresario and first low comedian of the Teatro Real de
+Cuba, who begs me, as a personal favour, to undertake an important rôle
+in a new farce which he proposes to present to the Cuban public on the
+occasion of his annual benefit.
+
+The farce is from the pen of a popular Cuban author, and is called 'Los
+Mocitos del Dia' (Fops of the Period). The subject of the play is of
+local interest, with a moral exposing in farcical colours the foibles of
+the Cuban 'Pollo,' or dandy, whose taste for pleasure and idleness is
+only exceeded by his aversion for manual labour and for early matrimony.
+The characters are as follows:--
+
+Teresita, a beautiful young Creole.
+
+Doña Lola, her aunt.
+
+Juana, a mulatto slave.
+
+Ramon, a 'mocito' in love with Teresita.
+
+Don Gabriel, a fruiterer.
+
+Mister Charles, a Yankee engineer from a sugar plantation.
+
+To lend a realistic tone to the last-mentioned personage, the manager
+has 'secured the services of a live Yankee from the United States'--at
+least, such is his announcement; but, in reality, the gentleman who has
+offered to fill the part is an Englishman, and one of 'the famous
+followers of the divine art of Apelles.'
+
+'Posters,' bearing my Anglo-Saxon name--which to a Cuban ear has an
+imposing sound--are affixed to the corners of every street, and bills of
+the play are distributed gratis throughout the town. In accordance with
+custom, the beneficee has addressed envelopes, enclosing a programme of
+the entertainments, together with a photograph of himself and a 'luneta'
+or reserved-seat ticket, to all the known frequenters of the theatre.
+Those who appreciate the compliment implied by the talented comedian,
+will assuredly lend their patronage on his benefit night, and perhaps
+forward twice or thrice the value of the ticket of admission. The
+manager is confident of a 'bumper,' and bids me do my best.
+
+To acquit myself with credit is not so easy as Don Baltazar supposes.
+First, it is necessary to eschew my irreproachable Spanish, and to
+assume that language as it is spoken by an American of the lower orders,
+residing in Cuba. During my visits to sugar plantations, I have
+sometimes made the acquaintance of certain engineers from Philadelphia,
+who, while the cane harvest lasts, are employed to work the machinery
+used in sugar making. With these gentlemen before me for models, and
+with Nicasio at hand, I study my part.
+
+Contrary to the system adopted by my brother-players, I carefully commit
+the whole of my part to memory, noting the grammatical errors, which are
+numerous, and the fragments of English which occasionally appear. I am
+punctual in my attendance at the rehearsals, which is more than some of
+my fellow-comedians can say. When an actor of the Teatro Real de Cuba is
+absent from rehearsal, a super or a scene-shifter is called to read over
+his part until he arrives.
+
+I have considerable difficulty in following the prompter, whose duty it
+is to dictate to the performer the words which the latter afterwards
+repeats. Seated in a stage trap before the leader of the orchestra, he
+is conveniently within hearing of the actors, who upon the evening of
+representation never desert him if they can possibly help it. But I, who
+have studied my part after the manner of English actors, could easily
+dispense with the Cuban prompter's services. His prompting is
+perplexing, and fills me with prospective terrors of a 'break-down.'
+Often while I am in the middle of a speech, my officious friend at the
+footlights has already whispered the remainder, besides uttering the
+words which belong to the next speaker. If I pause for purposes of
+'by-play,' the gentleman in the trap is convinced that I have forgotten
+my rôle, and insists upon repeating the missing line, though I
+expostulate in a low voice, and beg him, by all the saints in the
+calendar, to hold his peace.
+
+A copy of the new farce is dispatched, previous to its representation,
+to the Spanish Censor, who, after a careful perusal, returns it with the
+following foot-note:--
+
+'Having examined this comedy, I find in it nothing which should prevent
+its representation from being authorised. Signed: The Censor of
+Theatres--Antonio de los Sandos y Ribaldos.'
+
+In spite of this formal declaration, one passage in the farce is found
+to bear a condemnatory red mark. The objectionable phrase belongs to
+Mister Charles, the Yankee engineer, who, in the course of the play's
+action, is made to observe: 'These poor Spanish brutes want civilising
+badly!'
+
+Don Baltazar is puzzled, and consults his company upon the
+propriety--not to say safety--of using the questionable words. All agree
+that the point is a telling one, and would gratify an audience composed
+principally of Cubans, who have no affection for Spaniards; and they are
+of opinion that as no written exception to the play has, as is usual in
+such cases, been made by the censor, the text may safely be followed.
+
+From the broad balcony of my private dwelling, I watch with eager
+interest the Spanish orange and red banner, which, on a certain day,
+waves over the Teatro Real de Cuba, in token of an evening's
+performance. If the weather prove unfavourable, this fluttering emblem
+of fine weather will fall like a barometer; the doors of the theatre
+will close, and a notice, postponing the entertainments for another
+evening, will be affixed over the entrance. Such an event is, however,
+not in store; and at seven o'clock precisely the huge doors of the
+Teatro Real de Cuba are thrown open.
+
+The performances begin with a stirring drama in a prologue and three
+acts, entitled 'Flor de un Dia.' The tone of this very favourite piece
+would, without doubt, be questioned by a Lord Chamberlain, but as it
+contains no political offence, it meets with the unqualified approval of
+his Excellency the Spanish Censor.
+
+Before the curtain rises, the manager peeps through a small glazed hole,
+in the centre of the act-drop, and surveys the audience. The house is
+full, 'de bóte en bóte,' as the newspapers afterwards express it. His
+Excellency the Governor, attended by his staff of officers, occupies the
+big stage box on the left of the proscenium, and there is a goodly
+sprinkling of Spaniards in every part of the theatre.
+
+Of course I have many friendly 'hands' in the house. The English and
+American consuls are in their respective pálcos. Nicasio is seated in
+the third row of the stalls, together with Tunicú, Bimba, and a host of
+their Pollo companions. Don Benigno, Doña Mercedes and their daughters
+and friends, are also present; and Cachita and her parents occupy their
+favourite private box.
+
+Most foreign plays are divided into 'escenas,' and the farce of 'Los
+Mocitos del Dia' contains no less than twenty-four. My 'call' is for
+scene nine, so after the second act of the drama, I go to my
+dressing-room and arrange my 'make-up' for the Cubanised Yankee.
+Agreeably to the Cuban notion of American costume, I don a suit of
+dark-coloured winter clothing, together with a red flannel shirt, heavy
+hob-nailed boots, and an engineer's broad-peaked cap. Similarly, I apply
+cosmetic to my hair, which I comb flat and lank; I rouge my cheeks and
+nose plentifully with crimson colour, attach a thick tuft of hair to my
+chin, and with the aid of burnt cork give to my naturally round face a
+lantern-jawed, cadaverous appearance.
+
+When the curtain has fallen upon the three-act drama, my dressing-room
+is besieged by a host of Cuban friends, who have come to wish me success
+and to inspect my make-up behind the scenes. All congratulate me on my
+effective disguise, and promise to assist towards giving me a warm
+reception.
+
+Nicasio remains with me till the last moment, to run over my part again,
+put the finishing touches to my toilette and inspire me with confidence.
+
+But now the big bell, summoning all stragglers to their places, is
+heard, the audience resume their seats, and the curtain rises for 'Los
+Mocitos del Dia.'
+
+The scene of the farce is laid in the interior of a 'ventorillo,' or
+fruiterer's shop, in Cuba, with real bananas, plantains, sugar-cane,
+cocoa-nuts, mangoes, Panama hats, and limp hand-baskets distributed
+about the stage. Juana, the mulatto girl--attired in a low-necked,
+short-sleeved cotton gown and a coloured turban--is discovered smoking
+an enormous cigar, and washing clothes in a kind of flat tub, called in
+Creole vernacular a 'batea.' She soliloquises in the drawling nasal tone
+peculiar to her race, and adopts a Spanish _patois_ which abounds in
+abbreviated words, suppressed s's, unlisped z's, and s-sounding c's.
+After singing the 'Candelita,' a favourite Cuban ditty, Juana discourses
+upon her master Don Gabriel's objections to 'lo mocito,' as she calls
+them, and describes their rakish habits.
+
+Enter Teresita's lover, Ramon.
+
+The 'mocito' desires an uninterrupted interview with his mistress, and
+offers to bribe the mulatto with silver 'medios' if she will warn the
+lovers of the 'enemy's' approach by singing the 'Candelita' outside.
+Juana accepts the bribe, which she places carefully within the folds of
+her turban after the fashion of her tribe, and vanishes in quest of her
+young mistress.
+
+Enter Teresita.--'Válgame Dios! Ramon?'
+
+Ramon.--'Teresita de mi vida!' (Love-scene.)
+
+Teresita refers to her father's dislike to 'los mocitos,' whom Don
+Gabriel declares to have no occupations save those of gambling and
+dancing, and who go about 'perfumed with eau-de-Cologne and violet
+powder.' Her papa's notion of a model son-in-law is an individual who
+savours of the workshop. Such a man Don Gabriel has discovered in the
+person of Mister Charles (pronounced Charleys), the engineer of Don
+Hermenejildo Sanchez' sugar estate.
+
+Ramon is disgusted with this information.
+
+'What!' he exclaims, 'you married to a "fogonero"--a stoker! I will
+never consent to such a union--first because of my deeply-rooted love
+for you, and secondly because of my patriotic feeling on the subject.
+This is a question of race, Teresita mia. It is war between coal and
+café-a fight between brandy and bananas. Yes; rosbif _versus_ fufú.
+Mister Charleys is a bisteque (beefsteak), and I am your tasajito con
+platanito verde machucado!' (a favourite Creole dish).
+
+The infatuated fruiterer is, nevertheless, resolved to make up a match
+between his daughter and the industrious mechanic, and, accordingly,
+brings Mister Charleys home with him.
+
+Mister Charleys, who has fortified himself with a strong stimulant, is
+waiting at the wing for his cue, in company with the 'call-boy' (an old
+man in this instance), who holds a copy of cues in one hand and a
+lighted candle in the other. The call-boy whispers 'Fuera!' as a signal
+for me to disappear from the wing, gives me an encouraging push, and the
+gloom behind the scenes is suddenly exchanged for a blaze of gas, and a
+theatre full of enthusiastic spectators.
+
+Following Don Gabriel, who leads the way, I am greeted with a round of
+hearty applause in acknowledgement of my effective make-up, and when I
+give utterance to the opening words, in which reference is made to the
+heat of the weather, and to the difficulties Mister Charleys has
+encountered in his quest after refreshment, the house is convulsed.
+
+Some time, however, elapses before I can thoroughly appreciate my
+situation, and realise the fact that all this applause and laughter is
+due to my appearance on the stage. I easily overcome the temporary
+agitation induced by the glare of the lamps and the gaze of the hundreds
+of upturned faces before me; but I cannot withstand the behaviour of the
+gentleman in the domed trap. His perpetual prompting, combined with his
+perceptible enjoyment of the new piece, is, to say the least of it,
+confusing, and fills me with misgivings of a premature 'hitch.'
+
+The play proceeds. I am formally introduced to the ladies, whose hands I
+squeeze awkwardly and savagely, while Don Gabriel--whom I address as Don
+Guebriel--sings the praises of Mister Charleys.
+
+Enter my rival Ramon, disguised as a Catalan shopkeeper, in false
+whiskers, and a tall white hat with a black band. Shopkeepers in Cuba
+are usually natives of Barcelona, and the object of Ramon's disguise, is
+to persuade Don Gabriel that he is one of that money-making community.
+He talks Spanish with the approved Catalonian accent; introduces himself
+as 'Dun Panchu Defulou, Cutulan y cumerciante,' and offers to traffic
+with his host. The imposture is, however, short-lived. In a hard squeeze
+of the hand which I give the sham Catalan at parting, he inadvertently
+roars out in a good Creole accent:--
+
+'Ay! ay! ay! caramba, suelte usted.' (Oh! for goodness' sake, let go!)
+
+The old gentleman suspects his maiden sister of aiding and abetting the
+dangerous 'mocito,' and there is every reason for his suspicion; Doña
+Lola having persuaded herself that it is she, and not her young niece,
+who is the object of the 'mocito's' solicitations. Deluded with this
+notion, the elderly spinster facilitates Ramon's visit to the house, and
+there is a scene in which she helps to conceal him in a huge barrel used
+for storing charcoal. One of the chief 'situations' in the farce occurs
+when Don Gabriel, at the instigation of Mister Charleys (whom Ramon
+nicknames Mister Estornudo, or Sneezer, from the resemblance of his name
+to a sneeze as expressed in Spanish), fires a loaded pistol at the
+barrel and its human contents.
+
+It is during the action of this scene that the questionable phrase,
+already referred to, should be delivered by the Yankee engineer.
+
+The cue being given, I am in the act of repeating the lines, when the
+voice of Don Baltazar, the manager, to whom is apportioned the rôle of
+Ramon, is heard imploring me, from the barrel, to omit the words.
+Conscious of the presence of his Excellency the Governor, the manager is
+suddenly seized with misgivings as to the manner in which the expression
+will be received, and will not risk his Excellency's displeasure. My
+fellow-comedians, who are all Cubans, urge me to proceed. The prompter
+thinks I have forgotten my part, and repeats the text--so often, indeed,
+that the spectators in the third row of the stalls at last overhear him,
+and call unanimously for the correct version of the play.
+
+'These poor Span---- ' I begin. The barrel trembles visibly.
+
+'Por Dios,' hisses the manager, bobbing up from the barrel like an
+undecided Jack-in-the-box--'for Heaven's sake, don't compromise me!'
+
+The audience begin to show signs of impatience. Again the prompter
+maddens me by giving the text.
+
+Myself (_aside to prompter_): 'Bar--ajo! sir, I know my part.'
+
+Mister Charleys (_very loud to audience_): 'These poor Spanish brutes
+want civilising badly!'
+
+'Bravo! Muy bien!' from the Cuban party.
+
+Groans and loud whistling from the Spaniards.
+
+'That was well said!' observes a voice.
+
+'Fuera!' (Turn him out!) observes another.
+
+'It was a good home-thrust!' cries the first.
+
+'Fuera ese hombre!' (Turn out that man!) shrieks voice number two.
+
+'Polizia!' The theatrical president rises angrily from his box and
+summons the police.
+
+The male spectators who occupy the pit-stalls begin to be as unruly as
+they are at a bull-fight. The ladies move from their boxes to the
+lobbies.
+
+The censor is sent for by the president. The manager is charged to
+appear by the censor; and anon Ramon, _alias_ Don Baltazar Telon y
+Escotillon, his face and dress besmeared with charcoal, steps into the
+president's 'palco.'
+
+'Bravo! Bien!' from the audience, whose good-humour is at once restored
+by this new and unexpected diversion.
+
+A mighty conference is held in the president's box, and the matter of
+dispute is warmly discussed with suitable gesticulations. The question
+is, however, finally decided in favour of the manager.
+
+Order being now established, the president's box is cleared, the actors
+resume their positions on the stage, and the farce, which proves a great
+success, terminates happily.
+
+When the performances are over, and I have attired myself in the costume
+of the country, I join my friends in the front of the house.
+
+Don Benigno and his family congratulate me on my successful début and
+express a hope that it will not be my last appearance on the Cuban
+stage.
+
+Tunicú, Bimba and others of my Pollo friends overwhelm me with
+compliments, and as soon as I am at liberty, they hurry me and Nicasio
+off to the nearest café, where a substantial supper is soon provided.
+
+Cachita and her relations are equally warm in their praises, and
+Cachita's father, Don Severiano--to whom I am for the first time
+introduced--very much rewards my efforts, by inviting me to pass a few
+days, during the approaching summer, at his coffee estate, whither he
+and his family are bound.
+
+As for Don Baltazar, the manager--he is so rejoiced at the success of
+his plan of presenting the public not only with a 'real Yankee from the
+United States,' but with one of the 'original' followers of the divine
+art of Apelles, that he induces me to repeat the performance; and 'Los
+Mocitos del Dia' is forthwith announced for another evening.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+COFFEE GROUNDS OF CUBA.
+
+     Going out of Town--On the Road--A Wayside Inn--A Cane
+     Field--West-Indian Fruit Trees--The Arrival--A Dinner in the
+     Country--The Evening Blessing--Tropical Reptiles--A
+     Farm-Yard--Slave Flogging--Coffee--Tropical Scenery--A Siesta.
+
+
+My experience of the Spanish West Indies warrants me in the assertion
+that a tropical climate has but one season throughout the year, and that
+season is summer. The months of August and September, however, are
+favoured with a special season of their own; but the prevailing
+temperature can scarcely be defined by mounting mercury, neither can it
+be adequately described. It is during these blazing hot months that the
+ever-azure firmament seems to blink with blue: that the roads and
+pavement blister the soles of your feet; and that the gay-coloured
+house-fronts scorch your clothes of white drill and tan your Anglo-Saxon
+complexion. The Cubans have a mania for painting the fronts of their
+town residences a celestial blue, a blinding white, or a feverish yellow
+ochre: colours singularly trying to the eyes, and figurative eyesores to
+artists in search of the harmonious. It is at this oppressive season of
+the year that I would relieve my exhausted vision with the grateful
+greens of the dusky olive, the pale pea, and the lively emerald. I pant
+for a plantation which shall shelter and not suffocate.
+
+The realisation of my desire is kindly brought about by Cachita's
+father, Don Severiano, who hospitably places at my disposal his hacienda
+in the country. Thither he himself is bound, with Doña Belen his wife,
+his children, certain friends and domestics. So I make one of his party.
+Don Severiano is a wealthy planter, with I know not how many acres of
+rich soil, where the coffee-plant grows, yielding a couple of crops or
+so per annum to the labour of a small battalion of blacks.
+
+On the morning of our departure for Don Severiano's coffee estate, Don
+Severiano himself is in the patio, presiding over the saddling and
+harnessing department; for some of us are to bestride horses. The ladies
+and children are to drive; and mules, and carts drawn by oxen, are
+reserved for the conveyance of the luggage and the domestics. By way of
+dispelling our lingering somnolence, and fortifying us for the heavy
+journey before us, cups of strong coffee are handed round; and, with a
+view to getting over as much ground as possible before blinding daylight
+shall appear, we start at three o'clock to the minute.
+
+The quitrins--light gig vehicles on wheels six yards in circumference,
+with shafts sixteen feet long, and drawn by mules bearing negro
+postilions in jack-boots--lead the way. The equestrians follow at a
+jog-trot; the extreme tips of their buff-coloured shoes lightly touching
+the stirrups; their knees firmly pressed against the saddles; their
+figures bolt upright and immovable. Then come the carts with shady
+awnings of palm leaves, drawn by oxen with yokes fastened to the points
+of their horns. The drivers probe them with long iron-tipped lances, and
+further goad them by shouting their names and adjective titles. But they
+move slowly, and are soon left miles behind. In their rear are about a
+dozen mules with well-filled panniers, linked together in line by their
+tails and rope reins, and led by a mounted driver with a long whip, who
+grasps the end of the cord by which they are united, and shouts
+ferocious menaces as he goes.
+
+It is still dark. The dew lies thick on everything; myriads of frogs and
+night insects yet hold their croaking concert; and the fire-fly cucullo,
+with its phosphorescent lantern, darts about here and there, like
+falling stars and fireworks. A stony stream has now to be forded. Into
+it splash the gigs; our horses following willingly, for they are
+thirsty, poor beasts, and the cool spring water is inviting. The roads
+are, so far, favourable to our march; but we have arrived at a piece of
+ground where muddy puddles lie horse-leg deep. A bridle road invites,
+but the thoroughfare being intercepted by brushwood and overhanging
+branches, it is not easy to effect a passage. Our leader, Don Severiano,
+accordingly unsheathes the long machete, which he wears like a sword,
+and hacks him an avenue for self and followers. The thicket is even
+darker than the high-road we have deserted, and our leader curbs his
+horse with caution while he lights a taper of brown wax; for the ground
+is slippery, and abounds in deep holes and unexpected crevices. From my
+position in the rear, the effect produced by the rays of the solitary
+illumination is agreeable to the sight. The dark outlines of the riders
+who precede me, appear like black silhouettes against a background of
+green and brown, and nature by candle-light looks like stage scenery.
+
+We emerge again upon the main road, and at full speed gallop after our
+friends. We fall in with them at a tienda, or wayside inn, at which they
+have halted. Dismounting from our horses, we assist the ladies to alight
+from their carriages. Of course I attend upon the fair Cachita, whose
+agreeable society I enjoy till our departure from the tienda. The tienda
+is a queer combination of tavern, coffee-house, chandler's shop, and
+marine-store dealer's. The walls and ceiling are completely concealed by
+miscellaneous wares. Spurs and sardine boxes; candles, calico, and
+crockery; knives and nutmeg-graters; toys, tubs, and timepieces; rows of
+sweet hams, sheathed machetes, pulleys, coils of rope and farming
+implements; Panama hats, buff-coloured country shoes; tin spoons,
+preserves, and French brandy. The innkeeper or shopkeeper of this
+out-of-the-world store is a native of Barcelona--by name Boy--who
+pronounces Spanish with a very broad Catalan accent. We travellers are
+his sole customers at present, and as we require only hot coffee at a
+medio the cup, aguardiente brandy at a creole penny the nip, a handful
+of cigars, and a packet of paper cigarettes, the profits derived from
+our patronage cannot be very great.
+
+We are off once more, not to halt again until a cane field stops the
+way. The growing cane, with its bamboo-shaped fruit, and waving leaf of
+long grass, crops up to the right and left of us for miles, and
+terminates in the 'ingenio' or sugar-works. The entrance to the
+proprietor's grounds is by a five-barred gate and a wigwam, both of
+which have been designed and constructed by an aged and decrepit
+African who occupies the latter. He crawls out of his domicile as we
+approach, and his meagre form is barely covered by a grimy blanket
+fastened to his girdle by means of a strip of dried palm bark. To all
+our questions his solitary response is 'Sí, sñor, miamo,' being exactly
+the creole Spanish for the creole English 'Yes, massa.' Having by this
+means satisfied ourselves that 'miamo,' his massa, is at home and
+willing to receive us, we proceed until we hear the clicking of a whip,
+and observe indistinctly a row of naked blacks, who are engaged in some
+earthy occupation. A big bronze-faced man, in a white canvas suit and a
+pancake Panama hat, stands behind them and holds a long knotted whip,
+which he occasionally applies to their backs as a gentle reminder that
+time represents so many Spanish doubloons. This is the 'mayoral,' or
+overseer. He seems to pride himself upon his masterly touch with the
+thong, for when no black skin forms an excuse for the practice of his
+skill, he flicks at nothing, to keep his hand in. The sorrow of this
+sight is greatly augmented by the dead silence; for whenever the
+chastising weapon descends, the sufferer is mute.
+
+The lawful owner of these lashed shoulders and of a couple of hundred
+more, has turned out to greet us. His unshaved countenance wears a
+sleepy expression, but the stump of a lighted cigar is already in his
+mouth. At a given signal, a couple of small slaves appear, with cups of
+hot coffee and a tray of long home-made cigars. 'Candela!' Mine host
+invokes fire, and a little mulatto girl, upon whom it devolves to
+provide it, presents each smoker with a lump of red-hot charcoal in the
+clutches of a lengthy pair of tongs. Daylight is appearing, and warns
+us that we must be on the move again.
+
+'Adelante, caballeros!' Leaving the level cane district, for the next
+few hours we are winding up mountains. At every turn of the road, the
+ingenio we have quitted grows smaller and smaller, till the planter's
+residence, the big engine-shed, and the negro cottages, become mere toys
+under our gaze. Now we are descending. Our sure-footed animals
+understand the kind of travelling perfectly, and, placing their
+fore-paws together, like horses trained for a circus, slide down with
+the greatest ease.
+
+Somebody ahead has exclaimed, 'Miren!' We look, and behold a distant
+view of Don Severiano's 'cafetal.' The path has become narrower, and we
+are encompassed by short thick hedges, dotted with red and black berries
+of a form not unlike diminutive olives. I pick and open one of these
+berries, and somebody observing, 'Que café tan abundante!' I discover
+that what I have plucked is coffee in a raw state.
+
+'Que admirable es la naturaleza!' sings a Spanish dramatist. Nature is,
+indeed, much to be admired, especially when you are viewing her in
+orange groves, where oranges, for the trouble of picking them, hang
+invitingly over your very mouth, seeming to say, 'Eat me, stranger.'
+Some are small and green as gooseberries; others are big as your head,
+and of the bright hue to which they give a name. Next on the carte of
+nature's dessert are the heart-shaped, smooth-skinned mangoes, with
+their massive and symmetrical tree. They are followed by a procession of
+lime-trees, citrons, nisperos, granadas, marañones, anones, zapotes,
+mamoncillos, and a host of other fruits with strange shapes and equally
+odd Hispano-Indian appellations. I grieve to relate that the king of
+fruits--the princely pine-apple--is far from being the exalted personage
+you would have expected him to be. Like a bachelor cabbage, he grovels
+in solitary state under our feet! We play at marbles with pomegranates,
+and practise tilting at the ring with citrons. Throw into the scene a
+few parasite and plantain trees with slender trunks and colossal leaves;
+fill in the foreground with gigantic ferns, aloes, and palmettoes, and
+the background with spotless blue; select for yourself from the nearest
+hot-house where specimens of exotic plants are nursed, and you are with
+us, dear--and none the less dear for being imaginative--reader!
+
+Distant barking denotes that we are within earshot of our destination;
+and anon a couple of Don Severiano's faithful dogs come bounding along
+the road towards us.
+
+'Hey, Esperules, old girl! What, and Tocólo too?' Don Severiano caresses
+them in turn as each leaps to his saddle. A dozen more lie in ambush at
+the gate which leads to the coffee grounds, and through which we are now
+passing. The mayoral, with his wife and children, turn out to meet and
+welcome us. Crowds of Africans pay us homage and grin with delight. We
+halt in the patio, and a score of half-naked grooms assist us in
+alighting, and watch and help us at our lightest movement. As it is
+evening dusk when we arrive, and as we are exhausted with our day's
+pilgrimage, we betake ourselves to our dormitories without a word. Here
+we are served by stalwart domestics, who bathe our burning feet in
+luke-warm water, and sponge our irritated bodies with diluted
+aguardiente. A clean shirt of fine linen; a fresh suit of whity-brown
+drill; a toy cup of black coffee; and we are refreshed and ready to do
+justice to dinner; to the 'aijaco' of chicken and native vegetables; to
+the 'bacalao' or stock-fish, with tomato sauce; to the boiled meat,
+cabbage, 'chocho,' bacon, and 'garbanzos'; to the stewed goat, with
+accompaniment of yams, baked bananas, pumpkin and Indian corn; to the
+guava jellies and guanavana preserves mashed up with insipid creole
+cheese; to the juicy mangoes cut up in slices in the midst of Catalan
+wine and sugar; to the excellent black coffee, and home-made cigars.
+These we discuss in the broad balcony without, where, seated on
+leather-bottomed chairs, we pass the rest of the evening.
+
+The second overseer, with his staff of field slaves, fills the yard
+which faces us. The faithful vassals have ended their day's toil, and
+are come to beg the evening blessing of their lord and master. Blacks of
+both sexes and all ages, stand before us in a row; some with machete
+reaping-knives under their arms, or bundles of maloja-fodder for the
+stable supply; others with the empty baskets into which they have been
+plucking the ripe coffee berry. Their evening costume consists of a
+loose garment of coarse canvas. The women wear head-dresses of
+gaily-coloured handkerchiefs twisted and tied in a peculiar fashion; the
+men have broad-brimmed straw hats and imitation panamas. The second
+overseer, with his inseparable whip, leans against our balcony with the
+air of a showman, as each black approaches with crossed arms to crave
+his or her master's blessing.
+
+'La ben'dicion, miamo.'
+
+'It is given,' says Miamo Don Severiano with the supremest indifference.
+
+Being in the country, and moreover tired, we retire for the night at a
+reasonable hour. We have to make the best of our extemporised couches,
+for our luggage and furniture are yet on their way, and probably will
+not put in an appearance before morning. Some of the guests, therefore,
+betake themselves to swinging hammocks, while others occupy the mayoral
+Don José's catres--a species of folding bedstead not unlike an open
+apple-stall with a canvas tray.
+
+Not until we have fairly taken possession of our temporary couches, do
+we fully appreciate Doña Belen's fore-thought in providing many yards of
+mosquito netting. I have always dreaded a country life, no matter in
+what part of the world, on account of strange vermin. A shudder runs
+through me at the mention of earwigs and caterpillars; but give me a
+hatful of those interesting creatures for bedfellows in preference to a
+cot in Cuba without a mosquito net!
+
+What is that sweet creature crawling cautiously towards me along the
+brick floor, looking like a black star-fish with a round body?
+
+'Oh, it is nothing, massa,' says my black valet 'I kill him in a minute,
+massa.' Which he does with his naked heel. Only an 'araña peluda;' in
+plain English, a spider of gigantic proportions, whose lightest touch
+will draw you like a poultice. I let the 'cucurrachos' pass, for I
+recognise in them my old familiar friend the cockroach, whose worst
+crime is to leave an offensive smell on every object he touches. Neither
+do I object to the 'grillo,' a green thing which hops all over the
+room; for I know it to be but a specimen of magnified grasshopper, who
+will surely cease its evening gambols as soon as the light is
+extinguished. But oh, by Santiago or any other saint you please, I would
+have you crush, mangle, kill, and utterly exterminate that dark brown
+long-tailed brute, from whose body branch all kinds of horrible limbs,
+the most conspicuous of which are a pair of claws that resemble the
+handles of a jeweller's nippers. Only an 'alacran,' is it? Son of the
+tropics, it may sound mildly to thee in thy romantic dialect, but in the
+language of Miamo Darwin, let me tell you, it is nothing more nor less
+than a scurrilous scorpion, whose gentlest sting is worse than the
+stings of twenty wasps. If the brother of that now squashed brute should
+drop upon me, during my repose, from that roof (which I perceive is of
+'guano' leaf, and admirably adapted for scorpion gymnastics), my
+appearance at the breakfast-table to-morrow, and for days after, will be
+hideous; to say nothing of personal discomfort and fever. Now, a
+mosquito net stretched over you on its frame, effectually insures you
+against such midnight visitors; and, if well secured on every side, will
+even serve to ward off the yard and a half of 'culebra' or snake, which
+at certain seasons is wont to invade your bedroom floor at night.
+
+I am awakened at an early hour by Don Severiano's live stock, who hold
+their musical matinée in the big yard exactly under my open window. The
+bloated and presumptuous turkey-cock, 'guanajo,' is leading tenor in the
+poultry programme. First fiddle is the 'gallo Inglés,' or English
+rooster. Then come the double-bass pigs, who have free access to the
+balcony and parlour. A chorus of hens, chickens, and guinea-fowls,
+varies the entertainment; while the majestic 'perjuil,' or peacock,
+perched on his regal box, the guano roof, applauds the performance below
+in plaintive and heart-rending tones. Before I am up and stirring, a
+dark domestic brings me a tiny cup of boiling coffee and a paper
+cigarette, and waits for further orders. Don Severiano proposes a stroll
+(he tells me) through his grounds. Our horses are soon led out, and we
+bestride them, with an empty sack for a saddle and a bit of rope for a
+bridle. Better riders than the Cubans I never saw in an equestrian
+circus, and steadier and easier-going animals than Cuban horses I have
+never ridden on a 'roundabout' at a country fair.
+
+We come upon a sorry sight at one of the 'secaderos,' or coffee-drying
+platforms. A young mulatto woman is undergoing 'veinte cinco' on a short
+ladder: in other words, is being flogged. They have tied her, face
+downwards, by her wrists and ankles, to a slanting ladder, while an
+overseer and a muscular assistant in turn administer two dozen lashes
+with a knotted thong. She receives her punishment with low groans; when
+she catches a glimpse of the spectators, she craves our intercession.
+
+'Perdona, miamo!'
+
+The overseer laughs, and, turning to his visitors, offers his weapon
+with a polite invitation that one of us will try our skill. We all
+appeal to Don Severiano, and, at our earnest request, that humane
+gentleman orders his mayoral to let the culprit off. Smarting salt and
+aguardiente are then rubbed in for healing purposes, and the wretched
+girl is conducted to a dark chamber, where her baby, five months old, is
+shortly afterwards brought her for solace and aliment. I venture to
+inquire the nature of her crime, and am assured that it is ungovernable
+temper and general insubordination of more than a month's standing.
+
+Our horses are halting on one of the four secaderos, or
+'barbacués'--smooth platforms on which the ripe coffee-berry is laid and
+raked out to be blackened and baked by the sun. Near the secaderos is a
+circle of ground, hedged in like a bull-ring and containing a horizontal
+fluted roller, turned by a crank. This roller, or pulping-mill, is made
+to gyrate by a mule, crushing in its perpetual journey the already baked
+coffee-berry, until the crisp husk peels off and exposes a couple of
+whity-brown, hard, oval seeds, upon which are inscribed two straight
+furrows. There are winnowing-machines, for separating the chaff from the
+already milled grain. In that outhouse a group of dark divinities are
+engaged in the difficult process of sieving and sorting. See with what
+exceeding dexterity Alicia, Ernestina, and Constancia--the black workers
+have the whitest of Christian names--handle their big sieves. Alicia,
+cigar in mouth, takes an armful of the winnowed seed from the sack at
+her side, and transfers it to her sieve, which she shakes until the dust
+and remaining particles of husk fall like floating feathers to the
+ground. Then, by an expert turn of the wrist, she separates the smaller
+and better quality of seed from the larger and coarser; and by another
+remarkable sleight of hand, tilts the former into its corresponding heap
+on the ground, and pours the latter into a sack. Constancia is scarcely
+as expert as Alicia though. The sieve's perforations are wide enough to
+admit the small seed of the 'caracol,' and she separates the two
+qualities by the ordinary process of sieving the small and retaining the
+great.
+
+Well seated on his chesnut charger, Don Severiano conducts us by a
+circuitous path up an exceedingly steep hill. The trees are tall and
+ponderous; the leaves are, for the most part, gigantic and easy to
+count; the fruits are of the biggest; the mountain tops are
+inaccessible; and the rivers contain fish for Titans. Surely giants must
+have peopled Cuba, long before Columbus found out the colony! Don
+Severiano takes little or no interest in the landscape, his attention
+being wholly absorbed by the small round berries, which may before long
+be converted into grains of gold, if the coffee crop yield as it
+promises.
+
+The pickers are at their work. A score of them are close at hand, with
+their baskets already filled. Observe how they choose the dark red, and
+eschew the unripe green, or the black and overdone berry. The second
+overseer, whip in hand, is ever behind, to see that the pickers do not
+flag. He is a genuine white; but his complexion is so bronzed, that you
+would scarcely distinguish him from a mulatto, save for his lank hair
+and thin lips. He volunteers explanation. He points to the big fruit of
+the cacao, or cocoa plant, and shows which are the bread, the milk and
+the cotton trees. Learning that I am a foreigner and an Englishman, he
+offers some useful information respecting certain trees and plants which
+yield invaluable products, such as might be turned to good account by an
+enterprising European, but which are unnoticed and neglected by the
+wealthy independent native. At our request, he unsheathes his machete
+and cuts us a few odd-shaped twigs from a coffee bush, with which we may
+manufacture walking-sticks. He exhibits one of his own handiwork. It is
+engraved all over, polished and stained in imitation of a snake; and,
+as it rests in the green grass, it looks the very counterpart of such a
+reptile, with beady eyes and scaly back. On closer acquaintanceship, I
+find the second overseer to be a great connoisseur in canes.
+
+It is our breakfast hour, and Doña Belen and the other ladies will not
+like to be kept waiting. So we return to the barbacué, where the
+powerful odour of roasting coffee is wafted towards us. The black cook
+is roasting a quantity of the drab seed, in a flat pipkin over a slow
+fire. She is careful to keep the seed in motion with a stick, lest it
+burn; and when it has attained the approved rich brown hue, she
+sprinkles a spoonful of sugar over it to bring out its flavour, and then
+leaves it to cool on the ground. Near her are a wooden pestle and mortar
+for reducing the crisp toasted seed to powder; and a small framework of
+wood in which rests a flannel bag for straining the rich brown decoction
+after it has been mixed and boiled.
+
+Substantial breakfast over, some of us carry our hammocks and betake
+ourselves to the adjacent stream. Here, beneath the shade of lofty
+bamboos, within hearing of the musical mocking-bird, the wild pigeon and
+the humming-bird, in the midst of sweet-smelling odours, we lotus-eaters
+encamp, affixing each a hammock between a couple of trunks of trees.
+Here, we see nature under her brightest and sunniest aspect, and,
+divesting our imagination of oil and canvas landscape, arrive at the
+conclusion that trees and plants are very green indeed, and of an
+endless variety of shade; that stones do not glitter, save where water
+damps them; and that a Cuban sky is far bluer than the most expensive
+ultramarine on a painter's palette.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+COUNTRY LIFE AT A SUGAR ESTATE.
+
+     An Artist's Tent--Early Sport--An 'Ingenio'--Sugar and
+     Rum--Afternoon Sport--A Ride through the Country--Negro Dancing--An
+     Evening in the Country--'La Loteria.'
+
+
+With my companion Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú, behold me passing the
+sultry months of August and September at the plantation of our worthy
+friend Don Benigno, who, with his wife and family, have encamped for the
+summer season at a farm-house on his sugar estate.
+
+Our host's party is somewhat larger than usual, consisting of, besides
+his wife and family, his eldest daughter's intended, Don Manuel, and
+_his_ family. After our arrival, it is found that Don Benigno's premises
+cannot accommodate us; we therefore obligingly seek a lodging elsewhere,
+and as in the tropics any place of shelter serves for a habitation, we
+do not greatly sacrifice our comfort.
+
+Assisted by a stalwart negro, Nicasio and I improvise a lodging on the
+banks of the river which flows near Don Benigno's country house. Our
+rustic bower consists of a framework of roughly cut branches, and has an
+outer covering formed of the dried papyrus-like bark of palms. The
+interior is not spacious, but it meets all our requirements. In it we
+can swing our hammocks at night, and assume a sitting posture without
+inconvenience during the day. Our implements for sketching, together
+with a couple of double-barrelled guns and some fishing-tackle,
+distributed about the apartment, form agreeable objects for our gaze,
+while, at the same time, they are within our easiest grasp. Plenty of
+good fishing may be obtained in the deep, wide river which flows at our
+feet, and our guns may be equally well employed with sport in the
+opposite direction. As for our more peaceful instruments of art, there
+is abundant scope for them on every side; and thus we can shoot, angle,
+or sketch, as we may feel inclined, without moving from our shady
+retreat, which, during the sunnier hours of the day, we dare not desert.
+
+We rise at a very early hour; indeed, it is not yet daylight when our
+dark domestic brings us our early cup of café noir and cigarettes. After
+refreshing our bodies in the natural gigantic bath which flows before
+our domicile, we dress: an operation which does not occupy much time, as
+our wardrobe consists simply of coloured flannel shirts, brown holland
+trousers, Panama hats, and buff-coloured shoes. Thus attired, with
+ammunition affixed to our girdles, and guns shouldered, we plunge into
+an adjacent thicket in quest of game; the objects of our sport being
+chiefly wild guinea-fowl, quails, partridges, and wild pigeons. No game
+license is required of us in these parts, and the sporting competition
+is very small, if indeed it exists at all, within earshot of us; at
+least, at this hour of the morning we have the field to ourselves. We
+hear nothing as yet but the rustling of gigantic ferns, bamboos, and
+plantain leaves, together with the occasional song of the winged tribe,
+whose united harmony it is our purpose soon to interrupt. The silence
+of the grey dawn is eminently favourable to our sport, and the low
+bushes which intercept our path screen us from the penetrating gaze of
+our prey. The guinea-fowl, or 'gallos de Guinea' as they are styled,
+occupy our first attention. At this hour they emerge from their
+hiding-places by the score to feed among the dewy heather. We have to
+move with extreme caution, for the colour of their soft feathers is
+scarcely distinguishable from the ground which they have selected as a
+table for their morning meal. Nicasio is in advance of me, tracking a
+company of guinea-fowls, whose melodious chirp has caught his accustomed
+ear. They are not yet visible, but my sporting friend has halted behind
+a bush, and thrown away his white tell-tale panama. This means mischief.
+The dark-grey clothes and sun-burnt face of my companion blend naturally
+with the surroundings, and, as he crouches motionless on the ground, he,
+like the birds just described, is barely discernible. I watch him with
+interest and some impatience, for a covey of large pigeons challenge my
+weapon close at hand. Their cooing seems to proceed from a great
+distance, but, conscious of the enemy's ventriloquial power, his muffled
+music does not deceive me. My companion has now levelled his gun, and,
+taking steady aim, presently fires. At the sound of fire-arms my pigeons
+take flight, and as they rise I fire into their midst. My companion now
+discharges his second barrel into a covey of quails, which had been
+feeding unobserved within a few paces of him. I take a shot at one of
+these birds as it flutters incautiously over my head, and it falls with
+a heavy thud at my feet. The firing has reached the quick ears of Don
+Benigno's watch-dogs, and anon our favourite animals, Arrempuja and
+No-se-puede, come bounding towards us. The sagacious brutes help to
+bring in our wounded, which we are gratified to find are more numerous
+than we contemplated. Gathering together our spoil, we remove to another
+spot, where our performances are repeated, though scarcely with the same
+success. The sun has already begun to cast broad shadows along the soil,
+and warns us that the hour for our 'tienta pie,' or early meal,
+approaches; so we return to our hut, change our damp linen for dry, and
+join the company, who are already seated on the broad balcony of Don
+Benigno's house, watching the interesting process of milking cows. Bowls
+of warm milk are presently handed round by negroes, who bring also new
+milk rolls which have just arrived from the village ten miles distant.
+
+'What luck have you had?' inquires our host of his sporting friends.
+
+We exhibit the result of our morning's sport, which gains us much
+applause and approving cries of 'Ay! que bonito. Ay! que bueno.' The
+black cook to whom we consign our game, promises to do culinary justice
+to them at breakfast.
+
+We employ the interval which precedes that late meal in a saunter
+through Don Benigno's sugar works, where some of us are initiated into
+the mysteries of sugar making and rum distilling. The operations are
+conducted under a spacious shed in the piazza which faces the Don's
+dwelling-house, and here the whole process, from the crushing of the
+newly-gathered cane to the distilling of the aguardiente, or white
+brandy, is explained to us by our host, who apologises because he cannot
+show everything in working condition at this time of the year. He,
+however, enlightens us as to the uses of all we behold, and leaves the
+rest to our imagination.
+
+Here is the store-house where the freshly-gathered cane is kept ready
+for the crushing process. Under that spacious shed is the engine-room in
+connexion with the rollers that crush the cane. Near us are the tanks or
+boilers for the reception of the 'jugo' or cane-juice. We are shown the
+clarifying pans and the coolers in which the boiled liquid, after being
+skimmed, is transformed into sugar grains or crystals. One of the most
+interesting sights is the process of separating the molasses, or
+treacle, from the crystalline portion of the sugar, which is done by the
+action of centrifugal force. The sugar, still in a liquid condition, is
+poured into a deep circular pan, which contains a movable drum-shaped
+cylinder of wire gauze. The latter is whirled rapidly round by means of
+machinery, and in doing so drives the liquid against the sides of the
+gauze drum, through the meshes of which the molasses escapes, leaving
+the dry white sugar clinging in hard cakes to the sides. Don Benigno
+gives us interesting statistics on his favourite subject, informing us
+how twelve or fourteen tons of ripe cane may be converted into one
+thousand five hundred hogsheads of sugar.
+
+The machinery and engine are at present taking their periodical doze
+like a great boa constrictor. The engineer--a native of
+Philadelphia--has gone home for the holidays, and will not return till
+October or November, when the cane harvest begins and his indispensable
+services will be required. He has unscrewed all the brass fittings,
+taken out the slender and highly polished steel work, and stowed them
+away with fatherly care, while he has greased whatever is immovable,
+and then wrapped it up tenderly in machinery swaddling clothes.
+
+Being an Englishman, I am looked upon by the company as an authority in
+matters mechanical, and my opinion touching the merits of the
+engineering works is consulted. I accordingly peer into everything with
+the air of a connoisseur, and happening to catch a glimpse of the
+maker's name and address on one of the shafts, observe grandly:--
+
+'Ah, Fletcher and Company, I have heard of the firm.'
+
+We have yet to visit Don Benigno's distillery, where the molasses or
+refuse of the sugar is converted into white brandy or rum. This is a
+simple process. The raw liquid is first boiled, and the steam which
+generates passes through a complication of sinuous tubing until it
+reaches a single tap, where it spirts out in fits and starts into the
+cold colourless spirit called 'aguardiente.' A glass valve is connected
+with the tap, and by means of this the degrees of strength formed by the
+spirit are gauged. The distillers are already at work, as the operations
+in this department are best accomplished out of harvest time. One of
+them invites us to test the strength of the precious spirit, which the
+gentlemen of our party do with their mouths, while the ladies are
+content to bathe their hands and temples in the icy-cold liquid.
+
+Everybody takes a deep interest in all that is shown by our amicable
+cicerone, save, perhaps, Don Manuel and his inamorata, who occasionally
+loiter behind congenial cogwheels, huge coolers, clarifying pans, and
+other objects used in the process of sugar-making. The attachment which
+the lovers conceive for this particular portion of Don Benigno's
+possessions is so great, that it is with difficulty that they are
+induced to abandon it. Their repeated visits to the same secluded spot
+upon subsequent occasions, only confirms our host's theory, that
+machinery has a strange fascination for persons of all ages and sexes!
+
+Our morning's perambulations terminate with a visit to the infirmary
+where the sick people, employed on the estate, are tended, and a stroll
+through the black barracks, which consists of rows of neatly built
+cottages, occupied by the Don's slaves and their families.
+
+After a substantial breakfast, which resembles dinner in the variety of
+dishes provided, some of our party betake themselves to their
+dormitories with a siesta in view, being incapable of any more active
+service till the hot hours have passed. Nicasio and I, however, prefer
+to improve the sunny moments under the grateful shade of our improvised
+wigwam, in which position we may sketch, fish, or shoot without much
+exertion: but despite our laudable efforts to do something useful, our
+pencils drop from our hands, our angling is neglected, and we surrender
+to the overpowering heat.
+
+I am awakened by my companion, who enjoins me, perhaps because I am
+indulging too loudly in somnolence, to be silent.
+
+'What is it? Fish or feather?' I ask.
+
+'Both,' he replies, under his breath. 'Hush! it's a river bird.'
+
+'What is its shape?'
+
+'I haven't seen it yet; but it has been chirping among the reeds and
+long grasses there, for the last half-hour.'
+
+My friend's gun is half cocked in readiness, and presented through an
+aperture in our hut. After a long pause the bird emerges from its
+hiding-place, and with astonishing velocity half flies, half skims
+across the river, and vanishes between the reeds on the opposite bank.
+
+Bang! bang! go both barrels of Nicasio's 'escopeta,' and both have
+missed their mark. My sporting friend is, however, determined to secure
+his game, which is an odd-looking creature, with a long neck and longer
+legs, similar to a crane. He accordingly fords the river at a shallow
+point, and in spite of my remonstrances (for a river bird is not easy to
+bag) goes in quest of his prey. At the expiration of a couple of hours,
+Nicasio, who has followed the bird two or three miles up and down the
+river, returns with it triumphantly, but he is himself very wet,
+footsore, and exhausted.
+
+Our fishing is not so successful as our shooting to-day, and we have
+soon to abandon both amusements, together with our sketching, for the
+day is on the wane, and the ladies have come down to the river to take
+their afternoon's bath before dinner. So we modestly withdraw, and
+betake ourselves to a neighbouring 'cocoral,' where we refresh ourselves
+with the cool drink furnished by the cocoa-nut.
+
+Towards nightfall, when dinner, with its indispensable accompaniments of
+café and cigars, is over, our host invites the gentlemen to accompany
+him to the plantations of a few friendly neighbours. Horses are
+accordingly saddled, spurs are affixed to our boots, and away we gallop.
+
+Our first halt is made at a grazing-farm belonging to Don Benigno, and
+kept by his mayoral, or overseer, a stout, bronze-faced man, who, we are
+told, rarely moves during the day from a leather-bottomed chair, which
+he places slopingly against a post of the verandah. After inspecting
+Don Benigno's cattle, which consist chiefly of oxen, cows, and goats, we
+ride over to some coffee estates and tobacco farms, whose owners, or
+representatives, give us a hearty welcome, and are lavish of their
+hospitality, offering for our acceptance everything they possess except
+their wives and families, whom they, however, present to us as our
+'servants.'
+
+Our time being limited, we cannot partake of their bounty to-night, but
+promise to return another day. On the road homewards, we dismount at a
+coffee estate belonging to Don Benigno's kinsman, Don Felipe, where we
+remain for an hour or so, and watch the performances of a crowd of black
+labourers, who are keeping holiday in honour of some favoured saint.
+Dancing, with 'tumba' or drum accompaniments, forms the leading feature
+in the entertainments. The negroes, in turn, take part in the drumming,
+which is performed by bestriding barrel-shaped tambours, and beating the
+parchment side rapidly with their hands. The strange measure of the
+dance is so varied and well sustained, that the outline of an air may be
+easily distinguished. This primitive music is accompanied by a
+performance on rattles, by singing, and by scraping the güiro. This
+instrument is, in the country, roughly made from a dry calabash, notched
+in such a manner that a hollow grating sound is produced by scraping the
+rough surface with a fragment of bone. The dancers warm to their work in
+every sense. Only two couples volunteer at one time, and when they are
+utterly exhausted, others take their place. The partners dance
+independently of one another, and only join hands occasionally. The
+women, attired in long cotton gowns and coloured turbans, assume a
+short, shuffling kind of step, which gives them the appearance of
+gliding on wheels, while the upper parts of their persons oscillate, or
+sway to and fro in a manner peculiar to their tribe. The men, whose
+evening costume consists of buttonless shirts and short canvas trousers,
+are more demonstrative than their partners. Sometimes they throw up
+their arms in wild ecstacy, or leap madly into the air; varying these
+gymnastic performances by squatting, frog-fashion, near the ground, or
+turning pirouettes. They get so excited and warm over their gyrations,
+that their Panama hats, which have been doffed and donned fifty times,
+are thrown away, their buff-coloured shoes are kicked off, and finally
+their shirts are disposed of in a similar manner.
+
+Nicasio and I contemplate the animated scene with painters' eyes, and
+during the pauses of the dance, we mix and fraternise with the swarthy
+company.
+
+Having expressed a wish to immortalise on canvas a couple of brown
+divinities, picturesquely attired, our hospitable host, Don Felipe, who
+has already offered us his country residence, together with the
+surroundings, including horses, cattle, tobacco, coffee, and all that is
+his, does not hesitate to add to his list of gifts, the model-ladies
+that have attracted our observation; so, after his accustomed
+declaration, 'They are at your disposal,' he promises to have them
+'forwarded' to Don Benigno's hacienda without much delay.
+
+The lateness of the hour warns us that we must be moving, so after a
+parting cup with our host and his family, we remount our steeds, and
+turn homewards.
+
+During our absence, the ladies and children have been playing the
+old-fashioned round game of loto, over which they are intently occupied
+when we join them.
+
+Doña Mercedes is calling the numbers from a bag, but not in the orthodox
+way. In order to increase the excitement and confusion of the game, the
+playful lady invents noms de guerre for some of the numbers. Number one
+is by her transformed into 'el único' (the only one); number two, when
+drawn, is termed 'el par dichoso' (the happy pair); and number three,
+'las Gracias' (the Graces). Similarly, number fifteen becomes 'la niña
+bonita' (the pretty girl); number thirty-two, 'la edad de Cristo,' and
+so on up to number sixty-nine, which she describes as 'el arriba para
+abajo' (the upside down number). All the tens she gives in their
+numerical form, coupled with the creolised adjective 'pelao,' or shaven,
+because the ciphers in these numbers are thought to resemble a bald
+head.
+
+When 'Loteria!' has been at last shouted by a successful winner, loto is
+abandoned, and cards, in which the gentlemen take the lead, are
+substituted. Don Benigno proposes the exciting and speculative game of
+monté, and all the ready cash of the company is forthwith exhibited on
+the table. Long after the children and ladies have retired, the males of
+our party continue to gamble over this fascinating game.
+
+While we are finishing our last round but six, a slave enters the broad
+airy balcony where we are assembled, and approaching our host, whispers
+mysteriously in his ear. Don Benigno directs a look at my companion and
+me, and observes, with a smile, 'Señores artistas, your models have
+arrived.'
+
+True to his word, Don Felipe has dispatched our swarthy models that same
+evening, so as to be in readiness for to-morrow's pictorial operations,
+and the good-natured coffee-planter begs as a personal favour to
+himself, that we will return his property not later than the day after
+to-morrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+LOVE-MAKING IN THE TROPICS.
+
+     My Inamorata--Clandestine Courtship--A Love Scene--'Il Bacio' in
+     Cuba--The Course of True Love--A Stern Parent.
+
+
+I am in love. The object of my affection is, I need scarcely explain,
+the fair Cachita, who lives in the heart of sunny Santiago. She has the
+blackest of bright eyes, a profusion of dark, frizzled hair, with
+eyebrows and lashes to match. It is universally admitted that the
+complexion of my inamorata is fair for a daughter of the tropics, but
+truth compels me to state that in one sense Cachita is not so white as
+she is painted. During the day she plasters her delicate skin with
+'cascarilla:' a chalky composition of powdered egg-shell and rum. This
+she applies without the least regard for effect, after the manner of
+other Cuban ladies, who have a theory that whitewash is a protection
+against the sun, and a check to unbecoming perspiration. Towards the
+cool of the evening, however, my Cachita divests herself of her
+calcareous mask, and appears in all her native bloom.
+
+Since my return from Don Severiano's plantation, I have been a constant
+visitor at the parental residence in town, and here, in due course, the
+tender passion gradually developes itself.
+
+For reasons presently to be explained, we occasionally meet at the
+window of Cachita's boudoir, which is admirably adapted for purposes of
+wooing, being wide, lofty, and within easy reach from the street. Like
+other Cuban windows, it is guiltless of glass, but anything like
+elopement from within, or burglary from without, is effectually provided
+against by means of strong iron bars, placed wide enough apart, however,
+to admit the arm and shoulder of a Pyramus on the pavement, or the
+yielding face of a Thisbe on the other side. An open engagement in Cuba
+has many disadvantages which an open-air engagement has not. Seated in
+an uncongenial arm-chair, the conventional lover may enjoy the society
+of his betrothed any hour of the day or evening, but he may not meet her
+by gaslight alone, nor may he exhibit his passion in a demonstrative
+manner, save in the presence of others. Warned by these objections,
+Cachita and I have agreed to keep our own counsel, and court in this al
+fresco way. Besides, it is the Cuban custom for a lady to sit before her
+window, in the cool of the evening, and converse with a passing
+acquaintance, without infringing the rules of propriety.
+
+Cachita's parents are in the 'comedor' taking their early supper of
+thick chocolate and new milk rolls. Doña Belen is a corpulent lady, with
+a couple of last century side-curls, and a round, good-natured face. Don
+Severiano is a short, shrivelled old gentleman, with a sallow
+countenance, closely shaved like a priest's, and a collar and cravat of
+the latest fashion. These worthy people are at present ignorant of their
+daughter's attachment, and we have agreed not to enlighten them, because
+their opinions respecting matrimony differ. Doña Belen is easily won if
+a suitor to her daughter's hand can prove his genuine white origin,
+while Don Severiano has an extreme partiality for gentlemen with coffee
+plantations, sugar estates, or tobacco farms.
+
+The Spanish language is an agreeable medium for expressing the tender
+passion; creole Spanish is even more suited to such a purpose, being
+full of endearing epithets and affectionate diminutives. I am not
+obliged to address my lady-love by her simple name of Caridad; I may
+call her Caridadcita, Cachita, Chuchú, Concha, Cachona, Conchita, or
+Cachumbita, and be perfectly grammatical, and at the same time fond. The
+same romantic language enables me to use such pretty epithets as 'Mi
+mulatica' (my little mulatto girl), 'Mi Chinita' (my little Chinawoman),
+'Mi negrita' (my pretty negress).
+
+And if these endearing epithets are found insufficient to express my
+affectionate regard, I have the option of addressing my beloved in such
+terms as:
+
+  Prenda de mi alma!     My soul's jewel!
+
+  Botoncito de rosa!     Little rose-bud!
+
+  Lucero de la mañana!   Dawn of the day!
+
+  Luz de mi vida!        Light of my life!
+
+  Ojitos de cocuyo!      Little fire-fly eyes!
+
+  Consuelo mio!          My own joy!
+
+  Mi merenguito!         My little merengue!
+
+  Ojitos de pega-pega!   Eyes that rivet!
+
+  Mi monona!             My lovely one!
+
+  Mi tormento!           My little torment!
+
+  Mi consolacion!        My consolation!
+
+  Hija de mi alma!       Child of my soul!
+
+and a number of expressions as choice as those quoted above.
+
+Our conversation is carried on in epigrammatic phrases. I need not waste
+words by making the long-winded inquiry, 'Do you love me?' It is
+sufficient to ask simply, 'Me quieres?' And when Cachita tells me, in
+reply, that her love for me may be compared to her fondness for her
+mother's precious bones ('Te quiero mas que á los huesitos de mi mamá'),
+and when, following suit, I assure my beloved that I value her as I do
+the apple of mine eye ('como la niña de mis ojos'), I know well enough
+that these are only figures of speech adopted by lovers in the Spanish
+tropics.
+
+'Mi corazoncito,' says Cachita, fondly, 'I fear that your visits here
+must be suspended for the present.'
+
+'Why so, mi vida?'
+
+'Papacito (Don Severiano) suspects something. His friend, Señor Catasus,
+who passes here every evening, has seen us converse at the window more
+frequently than custom allows, and he has mentioned it to papacito.'
+
+Old Catasus has a son whom Don Severiano employs, and I fancy that his
+interest in Cachita's welfare is not purely disinterested.
+
+'Young Amador is a frequent visitor at your father's house?'
+
+'He comes with others in the evening sometimes.'
+
+'He danced three times with you at the Piñata ball, and he walks with
+you on Sunday evenings in the Plaza de Armas, when the military band
+plays.'
+
+'You are not jealous?'
+
+'N--no; I am only afraid lest young Amador admires you too much.'
+
+'What of that?'
+
+'Don Catasus has a large coffee plantation, and you know what a
+partiality your father has for sons of wealthy planters.'
+
+'Are you angry?'
+
+'No, I am not angry, mi tojosita.'
+
+'Me quieres mucho?'
+
+'Muchísimo, pichona mia. Deme un beso.'
+
+'Before giving you one, you must promise two things.'
+
+'What are they?'
+
+'That you will not be jealous, and that you will go no more to the
+Pica-pica balls.'
+
+'I have been only once this season, mi vidita.'
+
+'My black maid Gumersinda was there, and she says that you danced all
+night with the mulattoes.'
+
+'I was practising the difficult step of La Danza Criolla.'
+
+'It is danced very improperly by the coloured people at the Pica-pica.'
+
+'Many of my white acquaintances go to these balls, and I am only
+following their custom and that of the country.'
+
+'Promise not to go again this season.'
+
+'I promise; so, deme un beso.'
+
+Cachita inserts her soft face between the obliging bars of the huge
+window, and as nobody is passing at that moment, I take an affectionate
+leave of my 'Piedra.'
+
+My interviews with Cachita at her window become rare on account of Don
+Severiano's suspicions, and as Cuban ladies of all ages never leave
+their homes to visit their next-door neighbour without a trusty escort,
+I have no other opportunity for an uninterrupted tête-à-tête.
+Occasionally I meet my fair one at early mass in one of the churches, or
+at the musical promenade in the public square, but on these occasions
+she is always accompanied by a friend or a relative, and a couple of
+black attendants.
+
+On the approach of Cachita's saint's day, Santa Caridad, I favour my
+divinity with a little midnight music. Those of my friends whose
+sweethearts are called Caridad, join me in hiring a few musicians and a
+couple of vocalists. When our minstrels have performed their first
+melody, the Sereno, or night-watchman, appears, and demands to see our
+serenade licence, because, out of the carnival season, no serenading is
+allowed without a special permit from the authorities. After duly
+exhibiting our licence, the music proceeds, and when a song, composed
+expressly for the lady we are serenading, has been sung, and a few more
+danzas have been played, a shutter of the grated window is seen to open,
+a white hand with a white handkerchief flutters approvingly between the
+iron bars, and a significant flower is offered for the acceptance of him
+whom it may most concern.
+
+Tunicú takes a friendly interest in my affaire d'amour, and gives me the
+benefit of his experience in such matters.
+
+In the carnival season, and on certain fiestas, I visit my Caridad, in
+company with a dozen Pollo friends, amongst whom are Tunicú and Bimba,
+and we bring with us a full band of black musicians, bearing ordinary
+stringed instruments. Our visit is paid in broad daylight, but we are
+masked, and so disguised that paterfamilias cannot recognise his guests;
+he is, however, satisfied as regards our respectability, when my good
+friend Tunicú privately reveals his name. At the inspiring tones of La
+Danza some lady neighbours flock to the scene, and follow us and our
+swarthy instrumentalists into our host's reception-room, which is
+entered direct from the street by a huge door. Then a dance is
+extemporised. The fascinating step of La Danza Criolla lends itself to a
+little secret love-making, and with a partner like the graceful Cachita
+(to whom alone I disclose myself when my turn comes to visit her house),
+I feel in the seventh heaven! But dancing at twelve o'clock in the day,
+with a tropical sun blazing in at the windows and open doors, and a room
+full of excited dancers, merits some more substantial reward, and in the
+pauses of the danza, our hospitable host invites us into his spacious
+comedor, where refreshments in the shape of champagne, English bottled
+ale, café noir, and dulces, are lavishly dispensed.
+
+Report, which in Cuba travels like a tornado, and distorts like a convex
+mirror, poisons the mind of Cachita's parent, Don Severiano, and one
+sultry afternoon, Cachita's black maid, Gumersinda, brings me a
+billet-doux from her young mistress, which fills me with alarm. Don
+Severiano knows all--more than all--and has resolved to separate us by
+removing Cachita to one of his sugar estates, eight leagues from town.
+For some weeks I hear nothing of her whereabouts, but at last one of Don
+Severiano's black mule-drivers halts before my door. He tells me that
+Cachita and her family are staying at La Intimidad, a sugar estate; and
+after searching among his mule's complicated trappings, he produces a
+missive from his young mistress. Absence has affected Cachita, as it
+affects other ladies in love, and my fair creole expresses a desire to
+see me. Don Severiano will be leaving the estate for town on a certain
+day, and, if I am willing, a meeting may easily be effected. Saturnino,
+the mule-driver, who is in the secret, undertakes to guide me to the
+trysting-place. I accordingly obtain a fast-trotting steed, and follow
+him through the intricate country, which, after many hours' riding,
+brings us to the neighbourhood of La Intimidad. There my guide conducts
+me to a tumble-down negro hut kept by a decrepit negress, and situated
+in the midst of a very paradise of banana-trees, plantains, palms, and
+gigantic ferns. The fare which my hostess provides consists of native
+fruits and vegetables, cooked in a variety of ways, together with
+'bacalao' (dried cod-fish), and 'tasajito,' or salted meat, dried in the
+sun. After my fatiguing pilgrimage, I refresh myself with a cigarette
+and a cup of well-made 'café negro;' I bathe in spring water diluted
+with aguardiente rum, and exchange my soiled clothes of white drill for
+a fresh suit of the same material. Towards the cool of the evening, as I
+sit smoking a long damp cigar before the door of my rustic habitation,
+the flapping of huge plantain-leaves, and the clatter of horses' hoofs,
+announce the approach of my charmer, who, escorted by the faithful
+Gumersinda, has come to visit me in my homely retreat. I assist Cachita
+in alighting from her steed, and in due course we are seated beneath the
+shade of an overhanging mango-tree, whose symmetrical leaves reach to
+the ground, and completely conceal us. We are disturbed by no other
+sound than the singing of birds, the creaking of hollow bamboos, and the
+rippling of water. Under these pleasant circumstances, we converse and
+make love to our hearts' content. The cautious Gumersinda warns us when
+the hour for separation arrives, and then we reluctantly part. Our
+agreeable tête-à-tête is repeated on the following day, but as Don
+Severiano is expected to return the day after, this is our last
+interview.
+
+On my road back to town, whom should I meet, at a wayside tienda, but
+Cachita's formidable parent, together with his friend Señor Catasus,
+and my rival, the young Amador! Don Severiano is furious. High words
+pass between us, there is a scene, and I leave the cane-field proprietor
+swearing to punish everybody concerned in his daughter's secret
+engagement.
+
+Some days after my return to town, I learn that the black maid
+Gumersinda, and the mule-driver Saturnino, have suffered the penalty of
+slave law at the hands of their owner, who has sentenced them both to a
+severe flogging. Through the medium of a friend, I receive a note from
+Cachita, to inform me that her father is determined to break off my
+engagement with his daughter by a more effectual separation than that
+which has been already attempted. 'If you love me,' the note concludes,
+'have me deposited without delay.'
+
+To 'deposit' a young lady in Cuba, is to have her legally transferred to
+the house of a trustworthy relative, or a respectable family. A legal
+document for her arrest is presented at the parental house, and if the
+young lady be of age, and willing to sign her assent, no opposition on
+the part of her parents will avail. If, at the expiration of the
+prescribed period, no reason is shown why the deposited damsel should
+not follow her inclinations, the lover may release his precious pledge
+by marrying her at once.
+
+In accordance with Cachita's desire, I consult the nearest lawyer, from
+whom I obtain a formal document, empowering me to deposit Cachita as
+soon as she shall have arrived at her town residence. I await this event
+with impatience, but days elapse, and the shutters of Don Severiano's
+habitation remain closed. I am soon relieved from my anxiety, but am
+horrified to learn that Cachita has been removed from the sugar estate,
+and consigned to the tender care of nuns in the town convent. As my
+legal powers cannot penetrate that sanctum, I am compelled to await the
+natural course of events. Cachita is destined to pass six long months
+within the convent walls, during which time Don Severiano confidently
+hopes that solitary confinement and holy teaching will have a beneficial
+effect upon Cachita's mind. Should this prove otherwise, the period for
+her incarceration will be prolonged, until the fire of her young
+affections shall have been completely quenched.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+A CUBAN CONVENT.
+
+     Without the Walls--'El Torno'--A Convent Letter--Accomplices--A
+     Powder Plot--With the Nuns--Don Francisco the Dentist.
+
+
+My creole inamorata has been already immured five long weeks in the
+nunnery, expiating there her 'sin' of secret love-making. Nearly five
+months must yet elapse before she will be released and restored to her
+stern parent Don Severiano: that is, if the nuns' report of her be
+favourable; but should the efforts of those estimable ladies prove
+unsuccessful, and Cachita persist in following the inclinations of her
+heart, the term of her incarceration will be protracted another six
+months, when, in accordance with conventual discipline, she will be
+required to commence her duties as a novice.
+
+Desirous of ascertaining how far monastic confinement has affected my
+Cachita's sentiments, I propose to sound her on the subject by private
+communication. Tunicú, whom I consult, tells me that this is not easily
+accomplished, and I soon find that his statement is correct. The convent
+is a strong building. At fixed hours the outer doors are thrown open,
+and disclose a small stone ante-chamber, furnished with wooden benches
+like a prison. Here may a pilgrim enter, but no further. There is
+another and a stronger door, communicating with the interior, and
+accessible only to a favoured few. Near it is a panelled or blind
+window, forming part of a 'torno' or turnstile--a mechanical contrivance
+by means of which articles for the convent use are secretly admitted.
+
+On more than one occasion have I visited the torno, in the vain hope of
+persuading the invisible door-keeper behind to receive some love-tokens
+for my captive mistress. Tapping three times on the hollow window, I
+pause until a voice murmurs 'Ave Maria!' to which I respond, being well
+versed in conventual watchwords, 'Por mis pecados!' The voice inquires
+my pleasure. If it be my pleasure to have a missive conveyed to an
+immured 'sister,' and I can satisfy my unseen interlocutor by
+representing myself as a relative of the captive lady in whom I am
+interested, the turnstile rotates with magic velocity, the flat panel
+vanishes, and, behold, a species of cupboard with many shelves, upon
+which anything of a moderate size may be placed. Having deposited my
+letter on one of the shelves, it disappears, with the cupboard, like a
+pantomime trick, and the panelled window resumes its original dull
+aspect. But whether my document will reach the rightful owner, I can
+never ascertain, for days elapse, and no reply is forthcoming. Varying
+my proceedings at the torno, I sometimes express a desire to exchange a
+few greetings with my cloistered love, by meeting her in a certain
+chamber appointed for such a purpose, and conversing with her through a
+double grating. But the door-keeper informs me that such a privilege is
+accorded to parents only of the immured, who can prove their identity;
+so my effort in that direction is a failure.
+
+At Tunicú's suggestion, every Sunday morning I visit the convent chapel
+which is attached to the building itself, and is open to the public at
+prescribed hours. The chapel is a bare-looking sanctuary of small
+dimensions, and easily crowded by a score or two of ladies with white
+veils, who come to pay their devotions from the neighbouring houses. At
+one extremity of the white-washed chamber is an altar-piece, before
+which a priest, assisted by a boy, officiates, and to the left is a
+strongly-barred window connected with the interior of the convent.
+Behind this window, which is heavily curtained as well as railed, stand
+the nuns and other inmates of the cloister, who have come to take part
+in the ceremonies. The responses are chanted by this invisible
+congregation in a subdued tone. During a certain portion of the
+ceremonies, the curtain is partially drawn, and the outline of a thickly
+veiled devotee is discerned as she bends forward to kiss the priest's
+hand and to receive his blessing. I envy the ecclesiastic, and gaze with
+eager interest, as figure after figure approaches in turn; but my sight
+cannot penetrate the dark recesses of the curtain, and the lady whom I
+seek comes and disappears unrecognised.
+
+I am aroused early one morning by a black messenger, who delivers me a
+thick letter, which I open nervously, for I find it comes from the
+'Convento de la Enseñanza.' The writing, though the contents savour
+strongly of monastic diction, is certainly in Cachita's hand, and is
+signed by herself.
+
+'My dream of happiness,' the letter begins, 'can no longer be realised.
+My conscience, my teachers, and my father-confessor, all persuade me
+that I have sinned in the outer world, and that if I desire to be
+absolved, I must repent without delay. Exhorted by the worthy nuns, I
+am daily becoming more alive to a sense of my unworthiness, and
+convinced of the urgent necessity for beginning a new life of holiness
+and virtue. Guided to this blessed convent by the finger of Providence,
+I have been enabled, with the assistance of the best of counsel, to
+reflect seriously over what has happened, and I have now taken a vow
+never again to act from the impulse of my young and inexperienced
+heart.'
+
+After dwelling upon the enormity of the offence of making love without
+the approval of a parent, the writer exhorts me, by my 'mother,' and by
+other people whom I 'hold dear,' to return her letters, and all other
+evidence of the past, with the assurance that by so doing I shall
+accomplish one important step towards the 'termination of the sad story
+of this ill-begotten wooing' (para completar la triste historia de ese
+amor desgraciado).
+
+The letter concludes as follows:--
+
+'Perhaps you will receive a parting word from me' (the present document
+occupies exactly eight pages of closely written convent paper), 'which
+will put an end to this unfortunate story. You must, then, forget me
+entirely. Look upon the past as a dream, an illusion, a flash of
+happiness which is no more. Never must the name of Cachita escape your
+lips. I shall remember you only in my prayers' (the word 'only' is
+erased with pencil). 'Fail not to send the letters. And adios! till we
+meet in heaven.--CARIDAD.'
+
+The bearer of this letter is Guadalupe, a slave of Cachita's father, Don
+Severiano, and she is intrusted with messages to and from the convent.
+Twice a week she visits the torno cupboard, charged with changes of
+linen and other articles for her young mistress's use. Everything is
+carefully examined by a nun, before being consigned to its owner; so
+Tunicú's ingenious notion of conveying by this opportunity something
+contraband to the fair prisoner cannot be entertained.
+
+Having bribed Guadalupe with a bundle of cigars and a coloured
+handkerchief for a turban, I obtain from her, in return, some
+intelligence of her young mistress.
+
+'Have you heard how la Niña Cachita fares?' I inquire.
+
+'Badly,' says the negress. 'The monastic life does not agree with her
+lively disposition, and she yearns for freedom again, la pobre!'
+
+'Then the nuns have not succeeded in converting her?'
+
+'I think not, miamo. In a letter to her mother, Doña Belen, who has
+still a good opinion of your worship, mi amita Cachita ridicules the
+Monjas (nuns), and describes their strange ways.'
+
+'Has Don Severiano expressed his intention to release la Niña at the
+expiration of her allotted six months?'
+
+'I believe so; but even then, it will be nearly five long months before
+she can be with us again!'
+
+The most important information which I draw from the communicative black
+is, that my medical friend, Don Francisco, who is a dentist as well as a
+doctor, is attending my beloved for professional purposes. I resolved to
+call upon Don Francisco, and when Guadalupe has taken her departure with
+a packet containing a selection from Cachita's letters, and one of my
+own, which I have carefully worded, in case it should fall into wrong
+hands, I repair at once to the house of my medical friend.
+
+Don Francisco sympathises with me, and promises to aid me in a plan
+which I have conceived for communicating by letter with my absent
+mistress; but he warns me that there are many difficulties in the way of
+doing so.
+
+'The nuns,' he says, 'who accompany my patient, stand like a couple of
+sentinels on each side of her, and no word or gesture escapes their
+attentive ears and watchful gaze. He must have more than a conjuror's
+hand who can perform any epistolary feat and escape their keen
+observation.'
+
+The allusion to conjuring reminds me of my scheme.
+
+Will Don Francisco recommend to his patient a box of his registered
+tooth-powder?
+
+He will be delighted to have that opportunity.
+
+'One of my assistants who accompanies me in my convent rounds shall
+include such a box in my dentist's bag.'
+
+Don Francisco sees through my 'little powder plot,' as he calls it, and
+hands me a box of his patented tooth-powder, beneath which I afterwards
+carefully deposit a billet-doux.
+
+But Don Francisco can improve upon my scheme, and staggers me with his
+new idea.
+
+'You shall deliver the box yourself!' says he.
+
+The convent rules, he explains, allow him to introduce an assistant, or
+'practicante,' as he is called. The same practicante does not always
+accompany him in his semi-weekly visits to the convent.
+
+'As I am about to visit La Cachita for dental purposes only,' says the
+considerate gentleman, 'you shall on this occasion act as my
+practicante.'
+
+Early next morning we are on the threshold of the sacred ground. Don
+Francisco boldly enters the stone ante-chamber, which I have so often
+timidly approached, and taps with a firm knuckle on the torno.
+
+'Ave Maria Purísima!' murmurs the door-keeper from behind.
+
+'Pecador de mí!' (sinner as I am) replies the practised Don.
+
+'Que se ofrece usted?' (what is your pleasure?) inquires the voice. And
+when the dentist has satisfied the door-keeper's numerous demands, a
+spring door flies open, and we step into a narrow passage. Here we
+remain for some moments, while our persons are carefully identified
+through a perforated disc. Then another door opens, the mysterious
+door-keeper appears and conducts us into the very core of the convent.
+As we look over the convent garden, which is tastefully laid out with
+tropical plants and kitchen stuff, a thickly veiled nun approaches us.
+The lady seems to be on familiar terms with the dentist, whom she
+addresses in a mild, soothing tone, as if she were administering words
+of comfort to a sick person. We follow her through a narrow corridor,
+where I observe numerous doors, which I am told give access to the
+apartments or cells occupied by the convent inmates. We pass a chamber
+where children's voices are heard. There is a school attached to the
+convent, for the benefit of those who desire their offspring to receive
+religious instruction from the nuns. Music and fancy needlework are also
+taught, and some of the distressed damsels, who, like Cachita, are
+undergoing a term of conventual imprisonment for similar offences,
+impose upon themselves a mild form of hard labour by assisting to
+improve the infant mind. Cachita, who is a good musician, takes an
+active part in this branch of education.
+
+At last we are ushered into a gloomy, white-washed apartment
+(everything in the convent appears to be of wood and whitewash), where
+our guide takes leave of us.
+
+While the dentist, assisted by his practicante, is arranging his
+implements for tooth-stopping on a deal table, which, together with a
+couple of wooden chairs, constitute the furniture of this cheerless
+chamber, an inner door is thrown open, and a couple of nuns, attired in
+sombre black, enter with Don Francisco's fair patient. Cachita is
+dressed in spotless white, a knotted rope suspended from her girdle, and
+a yellowish veil affixed in such a manner to her brow as to completely
+conceal her hair, which, simple practicante though I be, I know is dark,
+soft, and frizzled at the top. Her pretty face is pale, and already
+wears (or seems to wear) the approved expression of monastic
+resignation.
+
+At Don Francisco's suggestion, I carefully conceal my face while Cachita
+seats herself between the sentinel nuns.
+
+The dentist, with a presence of mind which I emulate but little,
+commences his business of tooth-stopping, pausing in his work to
+exchange a few friendly words with his patient and the amicable nuns.
+Hitherto my services have not been in requisition; but anon the subject
+of the tooth-powder is introduced.
+
+Will La Cachita allow the dentist to recommend her a tooth-powder of his
+own preparation?
+
+Cachita is in no immediate need of such an article, but the dentist is
+persuasive, and the young lady is prevailed upon to give the powder a
+trial.
+
+'You will derive much benefit from its use,' observes Don Francisco. 'My
+assistant' (and here the cunning tooth-stopper, being close to his
+patient's ear, whispers my name) 'will bring it you presently.'
+
+'What ails la Niña?' inquires one of the nuns, bending forward; for
+Cachita has uttered a cry, and swooned away.
+
+'Nothing, señora,' says Don Francisco with the same sang-froid already
+noted. 'Only a nerve which I have accidentally excited in my operation.
+She will be better presently.'
+
+The dentist desires me to bring him a certain bottle, and with the
+contents of this, his patient is soon restored to consciousness.
+
+'Keep her head firm,' says my artful friend, addressing me with a faint
+smile on his countenance, 'while I put the finishing touches to my
+work.'
+
+I obey; and though my hands are far from being as steady as an
+assistant's should be, I acquit myself creditably.
+
+Cachita's mouth is again open to facilitate the dentist's operations,
+but also, as it seems to me, in token of surprise at the apparition now
+bending over her.
+
+'You will find much relief in the use of this tooth-powder,' continues
+my friend, in a careless tone, as though nothing had happened. 'Very
+strengthening to the gums. When you have got to the bottom of the
+box--just open your mouth a little wider--when you have got to the
+bottom of the box--where' (he whispers) 'you will find a note--I will
+send you another.'
+
+Cachita, by this time accustomed to my presence, can now look me
+fearlessly in the face with those expressive eyes of hers, which I can
+read so well, and before the dentist's operations are over, we have
+contrived, unobserved, to squeeze hands on three distinct occasions.
+
+Assured by this means of my lover's constancy, I now take my leave of
+her, and, advised by my friends, patiently await the term of her convent
+captivity, which expires, as I have already stated, in four months and
+three weeks.
+
+Upwards of three of these months elapse and I hear nothing more of the
+fair recluse, and during that long interval many strange and unexpected
+events transpire as to the 'Ever-faithful Isle.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+A CRUISE IN THE WEST INDIES.
+
+     Cuban Telegraphy--The _New York Trigger_--News from Porto Rico--A
+     day in Porto Rico--Don Felipe--A Mail
+     Agent--Coasting--Aguadilla--Mayagüez--Santo
+     Domingo--Sight-seeing--Telegraphic News.
+
+
+There has been a sad dearth of news in the tropics for many long months.
+The war of Santo Domingo is at an end. The great hurricane at St. Thomas
+has passed into oblivion. The rising of negroes in Jamaica is forgotten.
+The civil war in Hayti is suspended for the nineteenth time. Not so much
+as a shipwreck is afloat; even the yellow fever is on the wane, and not
+a single case of cholera has been quoted. The people of the tropics are
+enjoying a delightful and uninterrupted repose, and the elements and
+climate are perfectly inoffensive. It seems as if our part of the world
+had sunk into a delicious paradise, and that my services on behalf of
+the _New York Trigger_ would be for the future dispensed with.
+
+I am, shortly, recalled to my journalistic duties by the arrival of some
+'startling' news from Porto Rico. An insurrection has broken out in the
+interior of that island, where the inhabitants have planted what they
+call their 'flag of freedom,' intimating their intention to rebel
+against their Spanish rulers.
+
+This is food for the _Trigger_, and I hasten to prepare it daintily, for
+transmission by telegraph.
+
+At the office of the telegraph, I meet the American consul's secretary.
+Now, as I know that that gentleman is connected with the _Central Press
+of Havana_, I conclude that he is upon the same errand as myself. In the
+interests of the _New York Trigger_, it is therefore my duty now to
+forestall the secretary, by forwarding my news before he has had time to
+dispatch his.
+
+The secretary is at the telegraph table scribbling at a rapid rate, and
+you may be sure he does not slacken his speed when he becomes conscious
+of the presence of the formidable agent of the _New York Trigger_! Only
+one instrument is used for telegraphic purposes, so he whose telegram is
+first handed to the clerk is first to be served by that functionary.
+
+The system of telegraphy--like every other system in Cuba--is supervised
+by the Spanish administration. Every telegram must be submitted to the
+authorities before it is dispatched, in case anything treasonable or
+offensive to the government should enter into its composition. The
+dispatch being approved of, it is returned to the telegraph office and
+transmitted in the usual manner. The sender is, however, obliged to pay
+for his message in paper stamps, and these must be affixed to the
+document; but under no circumstances is he permitted to make his
+payments in Spanish coin.
+
+This paper money--which in form resembles postage-stamps--cannot be
+obtained at the telegraph office, but must be purchased at the
+'Colecturía,' a certain government establishment in another part of the
+town. Thus, the unfortunate individual who happens to be unprovided
+with sufficient stamps, is often at a standstill.
+
+By a miracle, my important news from Porto Rico is ready for
+transmission as soon as that of my rival, the American secretary; but,
+unfortunately, that gentleman is before me in presenting his document to
+the telegraph clerk. The latter examines the message carefully to see
+that nothing is wanting, when, to my great joy, he returns it with the
+remark, that the indispensable stamps have not been affixed!
+
+My rival is aghast, and offers to pay in golden doubloons; but the
+official is not to be bribed--especially before a witness--so the
+American secretary, who is unprovided with stamps, has no other
+alternative but to go in quest of them.
+
+Meanwhile I, whose pocket-book is full of the precious paper-money, hand
+in my message, which the clerk accepts, and in my presence ticks off to
+Havana. From thence it will proceed by submarine cable to the coast of
+Florida, where, after being duly translated into English, it will be
+transmitted to New York, and to-morrow, if all goes well, it will appear
+in the columns of the _New York Trigger_.
+
+On my way to a neighbouring café for refreshment after my labours, I
+gather from a printed placard on a wall of the governor's palace, some
+further particulars concerning the rebellion:--
+
+'The Spanish troops have had an encounter with the insurgents, and
+utterly routed them, with a loss, on the Spanish side, of one man killed
+and three slightly wounded. The enemy's losses are incalculable!'
+
+This piece of intelligence, of course, proceeds from government
+sources, and is therefore doubtful; but all is fish that comes to my
+journalistic net, so I return to the telegraph office, and give the
+_Trigger_ the benefit of the doubt.
+
+In the course of the day, I obtain the rebel version of the fight:--
+
+'A great battle has been fought between the _Patriots_ and the
+Spaniards, in which the latter were forced to retreat with considerable
+losses.'
+
+Twenty-three words more for the _Trigger_.
+
+The revolution spreads; the news circulates, and every mail steamer from
+Porto Rico brings correspondence for me from the agent in that island.
+Day by day the _New York Trigger_ is filled with telegrams and editorial
+paragraphs about the revolution in the Spanish colony; and that widely
+circulating newspaper is often in advance, and never behind, its
+contemporaries with 'latest intelligence from the seat of war.'
+
+At length a fatal piece of news reaches us.
+
+Afraid lest the revolutionary mania should infect our town, the Spanish
+authorities have subjected the mail bags from Porto Rico to an
+epistolary quarantine; in other words, all our correspondence is
+overhauled at the post-office, and any document bearing upon the
+revolution is confiscated.
+
+The central agent in Havana of the _New York Trigger_ is beside himself
+when he finds that no more telegrams and news-letters are forthcoming,
+and reminds me, per wire, of my duties. It is in vain to assure him of
+the true state of affairs, and of my inability to supply him with the
+dearly coveted 'intelligence.' He will not believe that my resources
+for information are as limited as I represent them to be. One day I
+receive a mighty telegram from him, acquainting me with the fact that a
+contemporary of the _Trigger_ has actually published some 'startling'
+news from the seat of war!
+
+This fearful announcement is shortly followed by another dispatch to the
+following effect:--
+
+'If you cannot obtain the news required by remaining in Santiago, leave
+immediately for Principe (our alias for Porto Rico). If no steamer is
+ready, charter a sailing vessel. Collect all the information you can in
+detail, and return without loss of time. N.B. Spare no expense. The
+"Gatillo" (Spanish for "Trigger") thirsts for particulars.'
+
+As no steamer is announced to sail before another week, I take the other
+alternative, and charter a small sailing vessel.
+
+I land in due time at Porto Rico. I seek our agent, Don Felipe, and
+after some trouble, I find him--in jail! He is a native of the village
+near the scene of the outbreak, and for some mysterious reason has been
+arrested 'on suspicion.'
+
+Assisted by the English and American consuls, to whom I have letters of
+introduction, and using the _Trigger's_ dollars for the pockets of the
+officials, I ultimately succeed in procuring the agent's release. Don
+Felipe then produces press copies of certain communications which he had
+dispatched by the last mail steamers, but which had been intercepted at
+the Cuban post-office, and, after inviting me to lunch at one of the
+finest cafés I have ever had the pleasure of entering, he accompanies me
+over the town, where we collect the latest particulars respecting the
+insurrection.
+
+San Juan de Puerto Rico is a fine city. The houses are three and four
+stories high, and are constructed after the American fashion. The
+streets are wide and symmetrically arranged. The roads are all paved and
+hilly. Every street leads to a fort, a gun and a sentry; and, in some
+cases, to high cliffs with an extensive view of the open sea. In short,
+San Juan is a strongly-fortified place. Everything is very clean, very
+new, and very modern looking. The cathedral is a noble edifice, and the
+theatre is in every way equal to the best buildings of the kind in
+Europe.
+
+Crossing an open square, in which appear a number of bronze statues, Don
+Felipe conducts me back to the café, where we partake of refreshment,
+and arrange the various items of news which we have collected during our
+afternoon's ramble over the town.
+
+Don Felipe advises me to dispatch the frail bark which had brought me
+from Cuba, and return by the mail steamer which has just arrived from
+St. Thomas, and is announced to sail for Cuba early next morning. As
+this is by far the speediest way of getting home, I follow my friend's
+advice, and accept his invitation to repose for the night at his humble
+dwelling.
+
+The rest of the day and evening is passed very agreeably.
+
+The British consul--a fine military-looking old fellow--invites me to
+dine with him and his charming family. It is pleasant to speak and hear
+spoken one's native tongue again, after being comparatively deaf and
+dumb in that language for nearly five years. It is still more
+delightful to feel at home with one's countrymen and countrywomen in a
+strange land, and thus, when I take leave of my hospitable English host
+and his family, I sincerely regret, with them, the brevity of my visit.
+
+I rise at a very early hour next morning, and, accompanied by Don
+Felipe, I take my passage on board the 'Pájaro del Oceano,' that being
+the name of the steamer which is to convey me to Cuba.
+
+The naval agent of the English mail company, who is a young Cuban named
+Fernandez, salutes me as I embark, for we had been slightly acquainted
+with one another in Santiago. Before taking leave of Don Felipe, I
+introduce him to the mail agent, for by the latter's means I hope for
+the future to ensure the safe delivery of my dispatches from Porto Rico
+and other islands. Don Fernandez touches at the port of Santiago at
+least once a month, and if he can be pressed into the _Trigger's_
+service, he will be invaluable to that newspaper.
+
+The mail agent has a compartment on board all to himself, and invites me
+to occupy one of the comfortable berths which it contains. He is in
+other ways so civil and obliging, that his company is altogether most
+congenial during the voyage, and before our arrival in Cuba, we have
+become the closest of friends.
+
+I am alarmed to find that our steamer will touch at other ports before
+reaching its destination; but Fernandez assures me that the voyage will
+occupy much less time than it would if it were made in a sailing vessel,
+especially in the present somewhat stormy weather. In short, if all goes
+well, we shall sight the Morro Castle in less than five days.
+
+In sorting his correspondence, the mail agent discovers some important
+missives addressed to me. These, which he kindly hands to me, I find
+come from the _Trigger's_ agents in St. Thomas, Jamaica, and other
+islands; and contain some interesting intelligence respecting the
+projected purchase by the United States of the Bay of Samana, together
+with the particulars of an earthquake near Callao, a scheme for a
+floating dock at Kingston, Jamaica, and other topics equally interesting
+to Americans. These matters, together with my Porto Rico news, I proceed
+to arrange in concise form, for immediate dispatch by telegraph, on my
+arrival at Santiago.
+
+Friend Fernandez very much excites my curiosity by exhibiting the mail
+bags from Southampton. One of these bags is labelled 'Havana,' the other
+'Santiago de Cuba,' and as they contain the correspondence from Europe,
+doubtless letters and newspapers addressed to me and Nicasio Rodriguez y
+Boldú are among the number. But the mouths of both sacks--which make
+_my_ mouth 'water'--are securely tied and sealed, and the mail agent
+dares not venture to open them, until they have been deposited at the
+Cuban post-office.
+
+On the evening of the following day we land in a boat at Aguadilla--a
+small watering-place on the coast of Porto Rico. The village is
+represented by a row of tumble-down houses and a scattering of
+picturesque negro huts. While my companion confers with the postal agent
+of Aguadilla, I occupy the time by a saunter through the quiet,
+primitive streets, picking up here and there from a communicative native
+scraps of news concerning the insurrection, which I learn is now very
+much on the wane.
+
+The business of the mail agent being over, we return to our steamer,
+where, after partaking of a hearty meal--in spite of wind and
+weather--we turn into our snug berths and chat and smoke our cigarettes
+till sleep overtakes us.
+
+We awake early next morning to find that we have already anchored off
+Mayagüez.
+
+Mayagüez is an important sea-side town on the Porto Rico coast, and is
+surrounded by the loveliest tropical scenery that I have yet beheld in
+the West Indies. One long, broad and perfectly level street runs in a
+direct line from the quay to the confines of the town. Branching off
+from this formidable thoroughfare are a few narrow streets which
+terminate in small rivers and streams, across which innumerable little
+bridges are thrown.
+
+As we are destined to halt at this delightful spot for several hours, we
+make the most of our time. After calling upon our vice-consul--who is
+also the English postal agent, and has an office in one of the numerous
+warehouses which face the quay--and after having partaken of some
+refreshment at a café, my companion and I hail a quaint dilapidated
+vehicle of the fly species and drive through _the_ street of the town.
+This street beginning with shops, continues with tall private dwellings,
+which, in turn, are succeeded by pretty villas, till the open country
+suddenly appears.
+
+I am amazed to find that for our drive through the town, half a mile
+beyond it and back again, we are charged the astonishingly modest fare
+of two-pence half-penny!
+
+We have embarked again and are off to Santo Domingo, where we land on
+the following day.
+
+Santo Domingo--the capital of the island of that name--is an antiquated
+city, with brown, sombre-looking stone houses intermingled with quaint
+towers and gateways, tropical trees, shrubbery and ruins. We reach the
+city in a small boat, passing up a long river called the Ozana, and
+after Don Fernandez has deposited his mail bags at the post-office, we
+wander over the town. My companion knows every part of it well, having,
+as he tells me, visited it at least twice a month for the past three
+years. Acting, therefore, as a cicerone, he conducts me through the
+Calle del Comercio, which is the principal street in the city, but which
+has a very dismal and deserted aspect. The cathedral is an ancient
+building, and has resisted wind, weather, earthquake, and revolution for
+upwards of three hundred years. The interior is full of interest for the
+artist and the antiquarian, containing, among other objects, the first
+mausoleum of Christopher Columbus. Don Fernandez tells me that the
+remains of the great discoverer were originally brought from Spain and
+deposited here, and that they were afterwards transferred to the
+cathedral of Havana, where they at present repose.
+
+On our way from the cathedral we meet a number of coloured officials
+belonging to the republic; and for the first time in my experience, I
+behold a negro policeman! We pause before an old picturesque archway
+where a sentry is on guard. The sentry is a black youth of not more than
+eighteen Dominican summers. His uniform consists of a ragged shirt,
+brown holland trousers, and a broad Panama hat. He has apparently an
+easy life of it, for his musket reposes in a corner of the gateway,
+while he himself is seated, half dozing, on a big stone!
+
+After inspecting the quaint old market-place, together with an ancient
+Franciscan monastery called La Forsza, the 'Well of Columbus,' and other
+interesting 'sights,' Don Fernandez warns me that the hour for our
+departure is near. I accordingly accompany him to the office of the
+English consul, where he has to receive the mail bags of Santo Domingo.
+We have to wait some time at the consul's office, for important
+dispatches from President Baez. I devote the time which elapses before
+these dispatches appear, to a little business on behalf of the _New York
+Trigger_. There is, however, scarcely any news of importance to be
+obtained. Since the war of Santo Domingo, the inhabitants have enjoyed
+an uninterrupted peace, and with the exception of a few petty squabbles
+with their neighbours, the Haytiens, and the projected purchase of the
+Bay of Samana, nothing eventful has transpired in the island.
+
+The President's dispatches having arrived, we take leave of the consul
+and the company assembled, and, under the escort of a torn and tattered
+negro porter bearing the mail bags, reach the quay. Passing through the
+custom-house, which is represented by a roof and eight posts, we embark
+in our little canoe, and gliding over the waters of the river Ozana,
+which skirts the town, reach our steamer.
+
+In rather more than forty-eight hours the Morro Castle is sighted, and
+in due course I land once again at the Pearl of the Antilles.
+
+The various items of information collected during my cruise being
+already carefully prepared for telegraphic purposes, I repair without
+loss of time to the telegraph office.
+
+Behold me safely seated in the scribbling department of that
+establishment, rejoicing in the fact that I am the sole occupant of the
+apartment. From the perfect quiet which reigns in the operating room, I
+conclude that the clerks are not very busy, and that they are prepared
+to 'wire' any number of words which I may present to them. I have no
+dread of competition, at least for the present; for even if my rival
+correspondents should have received news by the same steamer which
+brought me, I know from experience, that some hours must necessarily
+elapse before it can be in a condition for telegraphing.
+
+With a triumphant smile, I seize a quire of printed telegraph forms, and
+proceed to copy in 'a clear, bold hand' from my notes.
+
+Now to astonish the _Trigger_, and all whom my abundant information may
+concern!
+
+I have scarcely finished my first instalment of news, when a telegraph
+messenger taps me on the shoulder and staggers me with the information,
+that in consequence of a serious interruption in the line of
+communication with Havana, the operations of the telegraph are for the
+present suspended!
+
+Then I learn for the first time that a great revolution has broken out
+in Spain, and that, despite the precautions of the governor of our town,
+the revolutionary mania has seized the natives of Cuba, many of whom
+have already risen in arms not many leagues from Santiago! Among other
+achievements, the rebellious party have cut the telegraph wires and
+intercepted the land mails.
+
+There are no railways in direct communication with Havana, and the
+postal service is effected by means of mounted carriers. Thus the
+speediest ways for conveying news to Havana are cut off, and there is
+no other resource but the tardy steamer. I accordingly return without
+delay to the 'Pájaro del Oceano,' which is to sail for Havana in three
+hours' time, and finding my good friend Don Fernandez on board, I
+secretly hand him my big budget of news, begging him by all the saints
+in the calendar to deliver the same into the hands of the Havana agent.
+
+I am afraid to think what effect this further delay will have upon the
+_New York Trigger_! Still it may be some consolation for the
+enterprising proprietor of that newspaper if he find that his
+contemporaries are suffering from the same complaint.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+A STATE OF SIEGE IN CUBA.
+
+     A Cuban Newspaper Office--Local Intelligence--The Cuban
+     Revolution--Spanish Volunteers--A Recruit--With Bimba--- 'Los
+     Insurrectos'--At a Fire--Cuban Firemen.
+
+
+'We are in a state of siege!' says my friend, Don Javier, editor of a
+Cuban periodical called _El Sufragio Universâl_.
+
+'Y bien, amigo mio; how does the situation affect you?'
+
+'Malisísimamente!' returns Don Javier, offering me a seat at his
+editorial table. 'The maldito censor,' he whispers, 'has suppressed four
+columns of to-day's paper; and there remains little in the way of
+information, besides the feuilleton, some advertisements, and a long
+sonnet addressed to 'Lola' on the occasion of her saint's day, by an
+amorous Pollo-poet.
+
+The weather is sultry and oppressive. The huge doors and windows of _El
+Sufragio Universâl_ office are thrown wide open. Everybody is dressed in
+a coat of white drill, a pair of white trousers, is without waistcoat,
+cravat, or shirt-collar, wears a broad-brimmed Panama, and smokes a long
+damp cigar.
+
+The sub-editor--a lean, coffee-coloured person, with inky sleeves--is
+seated at a separate table making up columns for to-morrow's 'tirada,'
+or impression. Before him is a pile of important news from Puerto Rico
+and San Domingo, besides a voluminous budget from that indefatigable
+correspondent, Mr. Archibald Cannie, of Jamaica. More than half of this
+interesting news has been already marked out by the censor's red pencil,
+and the bewildered sub looks high and low for material wherewith to
+replenish the censorial gaps. Small, half-naked negroes, begrimed with
+ink--veritable printer's devils--appear and crave for 'copy,' but in
+vain.
+
+'Give out the foreign blocks,' says the editor, in the tone of a
+commander.
+
+The foreign blocks are stereotyped columns, supplied by American quacks
+and other advertisers to every newspaper proprietor throughout the West
+Indies. On account of their extreme length and picturesque
+embellishments, these advertisements are used only in cases of
+emergency.
+
+While the foreign blocks are being dispensed, the 'localista,' or
+general reporter, enters in breathless haste. He has brought several
+fragments of local information. Four runaway negroes have been captured
+by the police. Two English sailors have died of yellow fever in the Casa
+de Salud. A coolie has stabbed another coolie at the copper mines, and
+has escaped justice by leaping into an adjacent pit. A gigantic cayman,
+or shark, has been caught in the harbour. The localista has also some
+items of news about the Cuban insurrection. The rebels have increased in
+numbers. They have occupied all the districts which surround our town,
+destroyed the aqueduct, cut the telegraph wire, and intercepted the land
+mails to Havana. There is now no communication with the capital, save
+by sea. Troops have again been dispatched to the interior, but their
+efforts have proved ineffectual. Upon their appearance, the rebels
+vanish into the woods and thickets, and there exhaust the patience and
+the energy of the military.
+
+The sub-editor notes everything down, taking care to eschew that which
+is likely to prove offensive to the sensitive ears of the authorities.
+The material is then given out for printing purposes; for his worship
+the censor will read nothing until it has been previously set up in
+type. As many hours will elapse before the proof sheets are returned
+with censorial corrections, Don Javier proposes a saunter through the
+town.
+
+On the way, Don Javier entertains me with an account of the revolution.
+
+'The first grito de independencia,' says he, 'took place on October the
+tenth (1868), at La Demajagua--an ingenio, or sugar estate, belonging to
+Don Carlos Manuel Cespedes, a wealthy Cuban planter and a distinguished
+advocate. One hundred and forty-seven men, armed with forty-five
+fowling-pieces, four rifles and a few pistols and machetes, constituted
+the rebellious band which, under Señor Cespedes' leadership, had
+ventured to raise the standard of independence. Two days after, their
+numbers were increased to 4,000.
+
+'When our governor was first told that a party of Cubans had risen in
+open revolt, not many leagues from our town, he publicly proclaimed that
+the rebellious band consisted of a small crowd of "descamisados," or
+ragged vagrants, and runaway negroes, whom a dozen policemen could
+easily disperse. In spite of this pretended indifference, he
+nevertheless thought fit to communicate with the Captain-General of
+Havana. That mighty functionary thought more seriously of the outbreak;
+he was perfectly aware of the heavy taxes which had been imposed upon
+the inhabitants of our island; of the state of ruin into which many of
+our leading planters had been thrown by these taxes; and conscious also
+of the oppression and despotism which had been exercised over our colony
+during the reign of the lately dethroned Queen of Spain, he doubtless
+calculated that the revolutionary mania inaugurated in the Mother
+Country would naturally be imitated in the Loyal and Ever-faithful Isle.
+But whatever may have been his speculations, certain it is that as soon
+as he heard of the rebellious movement, he telegraphed to our governor,
+commanding him to dispatch to the scene of the outbreak as many troops
+as could be safely spared from the garrison at Santiago. Meanwhile, he
+himself dispatched a battalion of tried warriors from the capital.
+
+'Before our apathetic governor had had time to obey the orders of his
+chief, an encounter had already taken place at Yara, in the district of
+Manzanillo, between some of the rebels and a column of the Crown
+regiment who were quartered at the town of Bayamo.
+
+'Our governor was now alive to the gravity of the situation, and in due
+course began to take what he called "active measures." Following the
+example set by the governor of Manzanillo, he declared our town in a
+state of siege; and you will now have an opportunity of judging for
+yourself what a siege in Cuba is like.'
+
+The usual military precautions against assault on an unfortified place
+have been taken. The entrances to the streets have been barricaded with
+huge hogsheads containing sand and stones; small cannon stand in the
+plaza and principal thoroughfares. At every corner that we turn, we are
+accosted by a sentry, who challenges us three times over: 'Who goes
+there?' 'Spain.' 'What kind of people?' 'Inoffensive.' And so forth. The
+theatre, the bull-ring, the promenade, are all closed for the season.
+The masquerading and carnival amusements are at an end. Payments have
+been suspended, and provisions have become scarce and dear. The people
+whom we meet have grown low-spirited, and the sunny streets look gloomy
+and deserted. We glance in at the warehouses and manufactories, and find
+everybody within attired in military costume; for many of the
+inhabitants have enrolled themselves as volunteers for the pleasure of
+wearing a uniform at their own expense, and of sporting a rifle provided
+by the government. The names of those who object to play at soldiers
+have been noted down, and their proceedings are narrowly watched.
+
+The Plaza de Armas is crowded with volunteers; their uniform consists of
+a blue and white striped blouse, white drill trousers, and a Panama hat,
+to the band of which is attached a vermilion-coloured cockade
+embellished with silver lace. The majority of these amateur warriors are
+Catalan shopkeepers, and clerks from Spanish warehouses.
+
+Don Javier tells me that these gentlemen, together with the Havana
+volunteers, represent a very formidable army; and that in the event of
+affairs taking a more serious turn, the volunteers would take an active
+part in the hostilities.
+
+'The Catalan shopkeepers,' says Don Javier, 'are even more interested
+than Spain in preserving our colony under its present administration.'
+
+'Under a more just and humane government, together with the abolition of
+slavery, these traders would be considerable losers; for most of them
+are large slave-owners, and enjoy certain mercantile privileges, which
+would be denied them under a new policy.'
+
+I remind Don Javier that these said Catalans are after all Spaniards
+born, and that, whatever their private object may be, for patriotic
+reasons it seems only natural that they should desire to maintain order
+in the Spanish colony.
+
+'No muy! not a bit of it,' says my friend; 'they are not prompted by any
+feeling of patriotism. They have been too long estranged from their home
+at Barcelona, and love Cuba and her rich resources too much, to make
+that a consideration. I have heard them say that they would take up arms
+against their own government, rather than that Cuba should enjoy the
+privileges to which I have alluded.'
+
+While we are conversing, a couple of volunteers approach and salute us.
+
+One of them is my friend Bimba, who tells me that he has enlisted,
+partly for the 'fun' of wearing a uniform, and partly to ensure himself
+against arrest.
+
+'Well, Don Javier,' says he,'are you not one of us yet? And you too, Don
+Gualterio, surely you will help to protect our town?'
+
+I plead, as an excuse, my nationality.
+
+'Que caramba!' exclaims Bimba; 'why, your countryman, the clerk in B----
+'s warehouse, is a volunteer; and so are the S---- 's from the German
+house in the Calle de la Marina.'
+
+Don Javier observes that our numerous duties prevent us from joining the
+corps.
+
+'Car! Que duties y duties?' says Bimba; 'business is slack with all of
+us now. You, Don Javier, will have an easy time of it, notwithstanding
+your trade of news-disseminator; for you know, only "official" accounts
+of the war are fit for publication in your paper! As for you, amigo
+Gualterio, there will be no more triumphal arches wanted for the
+present; and no more "monos" (portraits) of defunct people, till the
+revolution is over, and then I have no doubt there will be more than
+enough to occupy you and your partner Nicasio! The theatre, too, is
+closed until further notice, so there will be no more theatricals.'
+
+Leaving Don Javier to chat with the other volunteer, I withdraw with
+Bimba to a quiet corner of the square and converse with him in private.
+
+Bimba is one of the favoured few who is aware of my connection with an
+American newspaper, because, for obvious reasons, I have always been
+careful to preserve my incognito. Now, more than ever, it behoves me to
+adopt this precaution.
+
+As a blind to the authorities and in order to facilitate my journalistic
+operations, Bimba suggests that I should join the volunteers. He tells
+me that our governor has signified his intention to make another sally
+with the troops, and that he has invited some of the volunteers to
+accompany the expedition. Enrolled as a volunteer, my friend says that
+it will not be difficult to obtain permission to follow with others in
+the rear of the Spanish regulars, and that by so doing I shall be able
+to 'report progress.'
+
+Our mutual friend Tunicú has not yet enlisted, I find.
+
+'That gentleman is otherwise engaged,' says Bimba; 'his leisure moments
+are occupied at the house of his uncle Don Benigno, in the enjoyment of
+the society of his little mulatto-lady, who is, as you know, Don
+Benigno's adopted daughter.'
+
+'What! the pretty Ermiña?' I exclaim; 'why, she is a mere child!'
+
+'She was a child five years ago, when you and your partner were the
+Don's guests,' says Bimba. 'Now Ermiña is a grown woman of fifteen
+tropical summers.'
+
+'There is some mystery connected with that young lady,' I observe; 'and
+I have never yet been able to fathom it. Can you enlighten me?'
+
+'Not much,' returns Bimba; 'I strongly suspect--but let us not talk
+scandal in these warlike times. I only know that Ermiña is a remarkably
+white mulatto of the octoroon class; that she has been educated like a
+lady; and that she is the bosom companion of Don Benigno's daughters.'
+
+My curiosity being aroused, I resolve to probe Tunicú on the subject of
+his affaire de coeur, at our next meeting.
+
+Meanwhile I adopt friend Bimba's suggestion and enroll myself in his
+corps, and, with others, obtain permission to accompany the troops on
+their expedition.
+
+Some days, however, elapse before our feeble-minded governor can make up
+his mind to the sally. A couple of Spanish frigates lie at anchor in the
+harbour, in readiness to bombard the town if the rebels should effect an
+entrance and stir up the inhabitants, their countrymen, to revolt. The
+garrison has been considerably augmented by the arrival of fresh troops
+from Puerto Rico and Spain, who are quartered indiscriminately in the
+jail, the hospitals, and churches, to expire there by the score of
+yellow fever, vómito negro, and dysentery. Meanwhile the besiegers make
+no attempt at assault, but occasionally challenge the troops to sally
+from their stronghold by firing their sporting rifles within earshot of
+the town.
+
+Several foreign vessels of war are stationed in the bay ready, if
+necessary, to assist the foreign residents of the town. Among these
+vessels are the American war steamer 'Penobscot' and H.B.M.'s steam-ship
+the 'Eclipse;' the latter having been summoned from Port Royal, Jamaica,
+by the English vice-consul of Santiago.
+
+One day a great panic is raised, with cries of' Los insurrectos! Los
+insurrectos!' followed by a charge of mounted military through the
+streets. It is reported that the insurgents are coming; so everybody
+hastens home, and much slamming of doors and barring of windows is
+heard. But the alarm proves a false one; and, with the exception of a
+few arrests made by the police, just to keep up appearances, no further
+damage results.
+
+One memorable night, shortly after the inhabitants have retired, the
+terrible cry of 'fire!' is heard throughout the town, and a report
+spreads that the insurgents have at last effected an entrance, and set
+fire to several houses.
+
+Sure enough, from the roof of our studio, Nicasio and I witness what, at
+our distance, seems to be the burning of Santiago de Cuba! The sky is
+black with smoke, and from the centre of the town broad flames mount
+high into the air. Verily, part of Santiago is in flames, but the cause
+of the conflagration is--as we afterwards find--in no way connected with
+the insurrection.
+
+A 'panaderia' (baker's shop) and a linen-draper's warehouse, called 'El
+Globo,' owned by Catalans, have both caught fire by accident. Under
+ordinary circumstances, the disaster would not have created any other
+alarm than that which usually accompanies such a rare event as a fire in
+Cuba. But having connected its origin with the pending revolution, the
+town is thrown into a state of extreme panic, and until the truth is
+made manifest, the greatest confusion prevails. Mounted guards and
+policemen--armed to the teeth--charge through the streets in all
+directions, and the volunteers turn out en masse and congregate in large
+numbers before the scene of the conflagration in the Plaza de Dolores.
+
+Even the foreign consuls share for the moment in the popular
+apprehension. Their national flags are seen to flutter over their
+respective consulates, and a few well-armed marines from the 'Penobscot'
+and 'Eclipse' war-steamers are despatched by the captains of these
+vessels for the protection of the American and English residents.
+Passing the British consulate on our way to the Plaza de Dolores, we
+observed a couple of British tars--their cutlasses shouldered and with
+revolvers in their belts--on guard at the open doors.
+
+Meanwhile the black 'bomberos,' or firemen of the town, are at their
+work. But they are ill-provided with the machinery for extinguishing a
+great fire. Only one engine is available, and their water is supplied in
+buckets and by means of a long hose which communicates with the
+court-yard of an opposite house.
+
+The gallant captain of the British war-steamer offers to provide the
+firemen with an engine and men from his vessel; but the bomberos are
+able to dispense with this assistance, as their plan of operations
+consists chiefly in cutting off all communication with the fire, by
+destroying the surrounding houses.
+
+If any proof were wanting to show that the despised, but free and
+well-paid negro, is not devoid of ability and energy, these black and
+brown bomberos would surely provide ample testimony. A better conducted,
+better disciplined body of men than the coloured firemen of Cuba it has
+never been my fortune to meet anywhere. Steady, earnest of purpose, and
+perfectly free from excitement, they work like veritable negroes, and
+they prove as serviceable as the whitest of their bombero brethren.
+
+In less than four hours the safety of the surrounding habitations is
+ensured, and the fire, being now confined to the doomed buildings, is
+left to burn itself out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+CUBAN WARFARE.
+
+     Spanish Soldiers--A Sally--Prisoners of War--'Los Voluntarios'--A
+     triumphant Return--Danger!--Cuban Emigrants.
+
+
+Our vacillating governor having at last consented to another chase after
+the rebels, under the leadership of a certain Spanish colonel, a body of
+volunteers--myself among the number--join the troops on the appointed
+day and march with them from town.
+
+The Spanish troops muster some five hundred strong. Their hand weapons
+are of the old-fashioned calibre, and they carry small field guns on the
+backs of mules. Every man is smoking either a cigarette or a cigar as he
+tramps along. His uniform is of dark blue cotton, or other light
+material suitable to the tropical heat. He carries little else besides
+his gun, his tobacco, and a tin-pot for making coffee; for the country
+through which he is passing abounds naturally in nearly every kind of
+provender.
+
+The besiegers have altogether disappeared from the neighbouring country,
+and for the first few miles our march is easy and uninterrupted. But
+soon the passes grow narrower, until our progress is effected in single
+file. Occasionally we halt to refresh ourselves, for the weather is
+intensely hot, and the sun blazes upon our backs. To ensure ourselves
+against brain fever, we gather a few cool plantain leaves and place them
+in layers in the crowns of our Panamas. Our way is incessantly
+intercepted by fallen trees and brushwood; but we can see nothing of the
+enemy, and hear little besides the singing of birds and the ripple of
+hidden water. Many of our party would gladly abandon the quest after
+human game, and make use of their weapons in a hunt after wild pig, or
+small deer, which animals abound in this part of the country.
+
+'Alto!' We have waded at last through the intricate forest, and halt in
+an open plain. It is evening, and as we are weary with our wanderings,
+we encamp here all night. A moon is shining bright enough for us to read
+the smallest print; but we are disinclined to be studious, and smoke our
+cigarettes and sip our hot coffee. Men are dispatched to a neighbouring
+plantation in quest of bananas, pumpkins, Indian corn, sugar-cane,
+pine-apples, pomegranates, cocoa-nuts, and mangoes, and with this
+princely fare we take our suppers. Then sleep overtakes us.
+
+Early next morning we are called to arms by the sound of firing, which
+seems to reach us from a hill in the distance. The noise is as if a
+thousand sportsmen were out for a battue. Our commander assures us that
+the enemy is near at hand, and soon crowds of mounted men appear on the
+hill before us. With the aid of our field-glasses, we watch their
+movements, and can distinguish their dresses of white canvas, their
+sporting guns, and primitive spears. A body of them surrounds a thatched
+hut, over the roof of which droops a white banner with a strange device,
+consisting of a silver star on a square of republican red. The enemy
+appears to be very numerous, and as he marches along the ridge of the
+hill, his line seems interminable. All our opponents are mounted on
+horses, or mules with strange saddles and equipments.
+
+'Adelante!' We advance to meet the foe. Some hours elapse before we can
+reach the thatched hut, as our course is exceedingly circuitous. We find
+the hut occupied by a decrepit, half-naked negro, but our birds have
+flown. The negro, who tells us he is a hermit, and that his name is San
+Benito, can give us no information as to the whereabouts of the enemy,
+so we make him a prisoner of war. The opposing forces have left nothing
+but their patriotic banner behind them. This trophy our commander
+possesses himself of, and bears off in triumph. Then we scour the
+country in companies of fifty; but we meet with nothing more formidable,
+than a barricade of felled trees and piled stones. Once we capture a
+strange weapon, made out of the trunk of a very hard tree, scooped and
+trimmed into the form of a cannon, and bound with strong iron hoops.
+Upon another occasion we discharge our rifles into a thicket whence
+sounds of firing proceed, and we make two more prisoners of war, in the
+shape of a couple of runaway negroes.
+
+Though we have had no encounter with the enemy, our 'losses' are not
+inconsiderable; many of the soldiers having been attacked by those
+terrible and invincible foes--fever and dysentery. In this manner at
+least two-thirds of our force is put _hors de combat_. Our colonel is in
+despair. As for the volunteers, their disappointment at the unsuccessful
+issue is very great.
+
+At length our colonel, disgusted with the result of the campaign, orders
+a retreat. The troops willingly obey, and are preparing for their march
+back, when twenty of the volunteers come to the front and propose making
+one effort to storm the enemy's impregnable fortress. Finding our
+colonel opposed to such a wild enterprise, these gentlemen, reckless of
+the consequences, plunge headlong into an adjacent thicket, and thence
+presently the sound of fire-arms proceeds. For upwards of an hour we
+await the return of these mad adventurers, and during the interval the
+firing is incessant. Finally the 'besiegers' are seen to emerge from a
+distant part of the thicket. When we join them, we find that more than
+half their number are wounded, and the rest bear between them no less
+than three prisoners of war! For the first time I have the pleasure of
+standing before veritable rebels! Two of the prisoners are whites and
+are seriously maimed; the third is a mulatto youth of not more than
+sixteen years. They are all attired in brown holland blouses, white
+trousers, buff-coloured shoes and straw hats. The white men have been
+disarmed, but the mulatto lad has still a revolver and machete-sword in
+his belt.
+
+The volunteers are elated beyond measure by their formidable(?)
+captures, and endeavour to persuade their chief to make another attempt
+with the troops. But the colonel will not hear of it, and commands the
+men instantly to retreat. The volunteers obey this time, in spite of
+their protestations, but before doing so, a horrible scene is enacted.
+
+The mulatto lad, who is only slightly wounded, is bound hand and foot
+with strong cords, and consigned to the care of the soldiers, but the
+other two unfortunates, who lie groaning in agony on the ground, are
+brutally seized by some of the volunteers, who, after maltreating them
+in a shocking manner, stab them to death with the points of their
+bayonets!
+
+Sickening at the fearful spectacle, I gladly follow the colonel and his
+men, who are unanimous in their indignation at the outrage.
+
+A two days' march brings us to the confines of the town again; but
+before we proceed to enter, the governor, accompanied by a staff of
+officers and a band of music, comes out to meet us. A cart, driven by
+oxen, is procured, and upon it are placed the captured cannon and rebel
+banner, the former of which is as much as possible concealed by Spanish
+flags and flowers. A procession is then formed, and in this way we pass
+through the streets, followed by the military band, which plays a hymn
+of victory in commemoration of our triumphant return. The houses become
+suddenly decorated with banners, blankets, and pieces of drugget
+suspended from the windows, and the inhabitants welcome us with loud
+cheers and 'vivas.'
+
+Immediately upon quitting the ranks, I repair to the office of _El
+Sufragio Universál_, for the purpose of reporting to Don Javier the
+result of our expedition. Strange to relate, that gentleman has already
+perused a glowing account of our glorious campaign in _El Redactor_, the
+government organ in Cuba. The editor hands me a copy of that periodical,
+and there, sure enough, is a thrilling description of what we might have
+achieved, if we had had the good fortune to encounter the enemy in the
+open field!
+
+But the editor has some strange news for my private ear. He tells me
+that a fillibustering expedition from the United States has landed with
+arms, ammunition, and a thousand American fillibusters, in the Bay of
+Nipe, not many leagues from our town. With this reinforcement it is
+confidently expected that the rebels will make an attempt to attack the
+Spanish troops in their stronghold. Don Javier, who is a Cuban to the
+bone, is sanguine of his countrymen's success. With a few more such
+expeditions, he is sure that the colony will soon be rid of its Spanish
+rulers. Then the editor gives me some extraordinary information about
+myself. It appears that during my absence, _El Redactor_ has made the
+wonderful discovery that I am one of the agents of an American
+newspaper; has referred in its leading articles to the 'scandalous and
+untruthful reports' published by its American contemporary, and has
+insinuated that henceforth the climate of Cuba will be found by many
+degrees too warm for me.
+
+But this is not the worst news which the Cuban editor has to impart. The
+cholera, he says, has been raging in many parts of the town, and
+innumerable families have in consequence of this disaster and the
+continued arrests, fled from Santiago. The majority of them had embarked
+in the first steamer announced to leave the island, which happened to be
+the 'Caravelle,' bound for Jamaica; others had taken refuge at their
+estates in the country, while numbers of young Cubans, who had been
+threatened with arrest, had made their escape and joined the insurgent
+army.
+
+On my way from Don Javier's office, I meet Bimba, and from him I learn
+further particulars respecting this wholesale flight of Cubans. He tells
+me that, among the departures are Don Benigno and his family, who fled
+to his country estate. That Don Severiano and _his_ family have set sail
+for Europe, taking with them my creole lady-love, who had been for this
+purpose released from the convent. My friend says that their
+destination is Paris. So au revoir, Cachita mia; we may meet again!
+Quien sabe?
+
+Bimba then discloses the wonderful intelligence, that among the
+passengers by the French steamer bound for Jamaica was my companion
+Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú; and he hands me a letter which my partner had
+entrusted to his care. The contents of this document only confirms what
+I have already heard. The cholera, the recent arrests, the fact that
+Nicasio is the close friend of the formidable agent of the _New York
+Trigger_, have combined to induce him to abandon the island before my
+return. He urges me to follow his example without delay and embark in
+the first steamer which leaves the island. He himself will remain in
+Jamaica till he hears from me, and if I am unable to join him there, we
+shall--si Dios quiere--meet again in that part of Europe where for many
+years we have dwelt together and practised, under more favourable
+auspices, 'the divine art of Apelles.'
+
+The first steamer announced to leave Santiago is the 'Pelayo,' and as
+this vessel will sail for Havana in four hours' time, I prepare for my
+journey to the Cuban capital. Bimba and those of my friends who still
+remain in this disturbed part of the Ever-faithful Isle, accompany me on
+board. Foremost is the editor of _El Sufragio Universál_, who, after
+wishing me a 'bon voyage' and a hearty 'vaya usted con Dios,' secretly
+hands me a bundle of papers, containing, among other matters, the
+'leavings' of the censor for the past fortnight, which Don Javier hopes
+will be acceptable to the proprietors of the _New York Trigger_.
+
+I had almost forgotten Tunicú! 'What has become of him?' I ask.
+
+Bimba tells me that Tunicú has disappeared no one knows whither.
+
+'Eloped with his mulatto lady?' I suggest.
+
+'No muy!' says Bimba; 'la Ermiña accompanied Don Benigno to his estate.
+You will probably hear of them again.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+HAVANA CIGARETTES.
+
+     Cigars--The Etiquette of Smoking--A Cigarette Manufactory--The
+     Courteous Proprietor--The Visitors' Book--Cigarette Rolling.
+
+
+That the characteristics of Cuba, and the ways of the people, are better
+observed in the Santiago end of the island than they are in Havana, is
+apparent to me after my arrival in the latter city. Here I am reminded
+in many respects of a fashionable European town--indeed, by reason of
+its modern innovations, the Cuban capital has been styled the 'Paris of
+the tropics.' Compared with Santiago, Havana offers few attractions to
+the traveller in quest of 'Cosas de Cuba,' besides its tobacco; and to
+this subject I accordingly devote my attention.
+
+I am in the Louvre. Not the French palace of that name, but a
+fashionable café in the heart of Havana. The interior of the Café del
+Louvre is tastefully decorated; the walls are concealed behind huge
+mirrors, the floor is of marble, and countless tables crowded with
+Habaneros and foreigners from all parts of Las Americas, are distributed
+about the saloon. At one end is a long 'mostrador' or counter, where
+fancy chocolate, confectionary, and tobacco in all its branches are
+sold. Here you have your pick of brands, from the gigantic and costly
+Ramas cigar to the 'tamaño pequeño' cigarette. But do not suppose that
+because you are at the birthplace of your choice Havanas, you will get
+those articles at a cost comparatively next to nothing. I, who from
+infancy upwards have cherished this fiction, am lamentably disappointed
+when I discover what exorbitant prices are demanded for the best brands.
+The cedar boxes, with their precious contents, set like gems in the
+midst of tinfoil and fancy-cut paper, look inviting; but I seek in vain
+for a cigar at the ridiculously cheap rate I have prepared myself to
+pay. I try Brevas, and ask for a penn'orth of the best, but am horrified
+when I am told that a single specimen of that brand costs five-pence!
+The Intimidads alarm me; the Bravas unman me; and as for the Cabañas,
+the Partagas, the Henry Clays, and the Upmanns, I am filled with awe at
+the bare mention of their value per pound. A real Ramas, I am informed,
+is worth eighteen-pence English, while superior Upmanns are not to be
+had under ten sovereigns a hundred. In despair of finding anything
+within my means at the Louvre counter, I purchase a 'medio's' worth of
+cigarettes--a medio, or two-pence half-penny being the smallest coin
+current in Cuba--order a cup of café noir, and sally forth in quest of
+cheaper smokeables.
+
+Crossing the square where the Tacon theatre and circus stand, I wander
+through the narrow, ill-paved streets of the Cuban capital. At the
+corner of every hotel, under archways and arcades, I meet with tables
+laid out like fruit-stalls, bearing bundles of cigars and cigarettes.
+Here, at least, I expect to find something to smoke at a fabulously low
+rate. Yes; here are cigars at two, three, and five for a silver
+two-pence; but those I invest in do not satisfy me; they are damp, new,
+badly rolled, won't draw, and have all kinds of odd shapes. Some are
+curved like Turkish scimetars, others are square and flat, as if they
+had been mangled or sat upon, while a few are undecided in form like
+horse-radish. The vendor assures me that all his cigars are born of
+'tabaco legitimo,' of 'calidad superior,' grown on the low sandy soil of
+the famous Vuelta Abajo district; but I know what a very small area that
+tract of land comprises, and I will no more believe in the abundance of
+its resources than I will in those of Champagne and Oporto.
+
+In my peregrinations, I gaze fondly into the interior of wholesale cigar
+warehouses, but dare not enter and demand the price of half of one of
+those countless cedar-boxes, which I see piled up to the very ceiling in
+walls fifty boxes thick. At last I founder on the Plaza de Santa Isabel,
+a spacious square, laid out with pretty gardens and tropical trees. Here
+is the grand hotel where the Special Correspondent to the _New York
+Trigger_ wields his mighty pen. To him and to other acquaintances I
+apply for information on the subject of tobacco. My foreign friends
+assure me you cannot get a good cigar in Havana at any price, as all the
+best are exported to Europe and the United States; unless you prefer
+German tobacco, of which great quantities are imported into Havana. The
+natives have quite a different account to give. They declare that the
+best cigars never leave the country but are easily obtained if you know
+where to seek them; and they refer me to the warehouses. Every one whom
+I consult graciously offers me a few specimens from his own particular
+cigar-case; and as in Cuba it is considered an offence to refuse a man's
+tobacco, I am soon in possession of a goodly stock, which I calculate
+will last me for the next eight and forty hours at least.
+
+A singular etiquette is observed all over Cuba with respect to smoking,
+which a rough Britisher does not always appreciate. An utter stranger is
+at liberty to stop you in the middle of the street to beg the favour of
+your 'candela,' or light from your cigar. If you are polite, you will
+immediately hand him your weed, with the ashes carefully shaken off, and
+the lighted end conveniently pointed in his direction. Part of your fire
+having been successfully transferred to his cigar, the stranger is bound
+to return your property, presenting it, by a dexterous turn of the
+wrist, with the mouth end towards you; an operation which requires no
+little practice, as it is accompanied with a downward jerk to express
+deep obligation. If, after this, you are inclined to abandon your cigar
+for a fresh one, you may not do so in the stranger's presence, but wait
+till he has disappeared. There is a sort of smoking freemasonry, too,
+between Cubans all over the world. A Cuban recognises a compatriot
+anywhere, by the manner in which he screws up his cigarette, holds it,
+and offers or accepts a light.
+
+Advised by a friend who is a great smoker, I give up my cigar
+investigations, and devote my attention to the humbler cigarette. With
+this object in view, I ramble down the narrow 'calles' or streets of St.
+Ignacio, del Obispo, and de Cuba. At every twelfth house which I pass is
+a small shop where only the article I seek is sold. In the
+first-mentioned calle is the 'deposito' of the far-famed Cabañas
+cigarette; in the second, the Gallito and Honradez stores. I visit the
+latter, which holds the highest reputation, and take an inventory of
+the stock. I am shown an endless variety of cigarettes at comparatively
+insignificant prices; a packet of twenty-six of those mostly in vogue
+costing only a silver medio, or two-pence half-penny English. There are
+innumerable sizes, from the smallest named Acacias, to the biggest, or
+tamaño mayor, called Grandifloras. The floor of the shop is sanded with
+burnt cigarette ends, looking like exhausted cartridges, and the
+pavement without is peppered with their fragments. Every man or
+responsible child whom I pass has a little tube of smoking paper between
+his lips, and glancing in at an open restaurant, I observe a group of
+feeders, each of whom has a cigarette stuck behind his ear like a pen.
+
+At last I pause before the imposing factory of Louis Susini and Son,
+situated in a little plaza in the Calle de Cuba. It is here that the
+best cigarettes, popularly known as Honradez, are manufactured. The
+exterior of the building, with its marble columns reminding one of a
+Genoese palace, is worthy of attention. Above the grand entrance is the
+Honradez figure of Justice, bearing the famous motto: 'Los hechos me
+justificarán' (my deeds will justify me). But there is much to be seen
+within; and as a party of half a dozen ladies and gentlemen are about to
+enter, I join them and unite with them in begging permission of the
+proprietor to inspect the works. One of the firm soon appears, and after
+a polite greeting, kindly appoints an assistant to show us over the
+manufactory. We are told that everything in connection with cigarette
+making, except the actual growing of the tobacco, takes place within
+these extensive premises, and are forewarned that a long afternoon is
+necessary to see everything to our satisfaction.
+
+Before we begin, we are politely requested to affix our signatures in a
+ledger provided for visitors to the establishment; and having obeyed,
+copies of our autographs are made on slips of paper, and, by a
+mechanical contrivance in the wall, these are dispatched for some
+mysterious purpose to the regions above. At the suggestion of the
+cicerone, we follow our names; not by the same means, however, but by
+winding staircases and intricate passages. Before starting, we peep into
+the engine-room to glance at the steam power which works the machinery
+required in the different departments. The first ascent brings us to
+spacious store-rooms, where loose cigarettes, and those already packed
+in bundles, are kept. The walls are literally papered with cigarettes in
+wheels, which look like complicated fireworks. As we move from one wheel
+to another, we are invited to help ourselves to, and test, the different
+qualities, which some of us accordingly do in wine-tasting fashion;
+taking a couple of whiffs from each sample and flinging the rest in the
+dust. Further on, we come to a small apartment where the operation of
+sorting the labels for enveloping each packet of twenty cigarettes,
+takes place. The labels are fresh from the printers; a workman is
+standing before a round movable table, and as this revolves, he drops
+them into little boxes belonging to their respective patterns. Each
+label is stamped with the Honradez figure of Justice, accompanied either
+by a charade, a comic verse, a piece of dance music on a small scale, an
+illuminated coat of arms, or a monogram pattern for Berlin wool-work.
+Some are adorned with artistic designs of a superior order, such as
+coloured landscapes, groups of figures, or photographs of eminent
+persons.
+
+Another ascent, and we are in the stationery department. It seems odd to
+examine large sheets and thick reams of paper, which we have been
+accustomed to see only in the form of cigarette books or tubes of small
+dimensions. A wonderful variety of rice and other paper is before us.
+There are two or three qualities of white, and endless shades of brown
+and yellow. Some are lightly tinted as the complexion of a half-caste;
+others are quadroon-hued, or of a yellow-brown mulatto-colour. We are
+shown medicated and scented papers. The first of these, called pectoral
+paper, is recommended by the faculty to persons with weak chests; the
+last, when ignited, gives out an agreeable perfume.
+
+Yet another floor, and we are introduced into a long chamber with rows
+of long tables, at which a hundred Chinese workmen are engaged in
+counting the already twisted cigarettes into bundles of twenty-six, and
+enveloping them in their ornamental labels or covers. To accomplish this
+operation with necessary speed, much practice and dexterity in the
+handling is required. The coolies--a thousand of whom are employed on
+the establishment--are, however, great adepts at the art, and patient
+and plodding as beasts of burthen. But among the celestials there is one
+master-hand who distinguishes himself above all the others by his
+superior skill. Piles of loose cigarettes and gummed labels are before
+him. Into the former he digs his dexterous fingers, and he knows by the
+feel alone whether he has the prescribed twenty-six within his grasp. By
+a peculiar shake he humours the handful into its tubular form, and with
+another movement wraps it lightly in a paper cover, which he leaves open
+at one end and neatly tucks in at the other. He is so rapid in his work,
+that we can scarcely follow him with our eyes, and the whole
+performance, from beginning to end, looks to us like a conjuring trick.
+Our guide tells us how many thousands of packets per day are in this way
+completed by these useful coolies.
+
+'Arriba!' Another flight leads to the 'picadura' department, where
+tobacco leaves are prepared for cigarette making. The aspect on all
+sides reminds us of a room in a Manchester factory. We wade carefully
+through a maze of busy machinery. There are huge contrivances for
+pressing tobacco into solid cakes hard as brickbats; ingenious apparatus
+for chopping these cakes into various sized grains of 'picadura' or
+tobacco cuttings; horizontal and vertical tramways for forwarding the
+latter to their respective compartments. Near us is a winnowing chamber
+for separating particles of dust from the newly cut picadura. We enter
+by a spring door which closes after us with a bang, and everybody is
+immediately seized with a violent fit of sneezing. Particles of escaping
+tobacco dust float in the air and tickle our olfactories. We are
+actually standing within a huge snuff-box! After inhaling a wholesale
+pinch of this powder, which leaves us sneezing for the next quarter of
+an hour, we clamber to the heights of the establishment, and find
+ourselves in the printing and paper cutting departments. Here artists
+are engaged in preparing lithographic stones and wood blocks with
+various picturesque designs for cigarette labels. Gilders are
+illuminating labels, and cutters are shaping paper into their cigarette
+and label sizes. Further on are printing offices, where all the
+letterpress and lithography required in the establishment is
+accomplished. This is far from an insignificant item in the manufactory,
+for, besides the pictorial and letterpress covers, there are the
+Honradez advertisements to print; circulars, pamphlets, together with
+dedicatory dance music, and an occasional local newspaper. We linger
+lovingly about this interesting department, and, before we leave, the
+foreman of the printing office presents each lady member of our party
+with a piece of Cuban dance music, upon the cover of which is printed a
+few words of dedication, accompanied by the lady's own name in full.
+Whilst wondering at the magic by which this mark of attention has been
+quietly accomplished, we descend to the ground floor, and are again met
+by the courteous proprietor, who presents each gentleman visitor with a
+newly-made packet of cigarettes upon which, lo! and behold! are our
+names. It is pleasing to see one's name in print, and when it is
+witnessed on an ordinary Havana cigarette packet, the charm is greatly
+augmented.
+
+Before taking leave of our civil host, we are invited to comment upon
+what we have seen, in the visitors' book, and you may be sure that our
+observations are not unfavourable to the courteous proprietor and his
+interesting exhibition. Susini & Son have published a thick pamphlet
+containing a list of names and remarks of distinguished visitors to his
+establishment. It is a curious work in its way, for the epigrammatic
+effusions are varied, amusing, and composed in at least half a dozen
+languages. Some of the authors have chosen a poetic style of commentary,
+while others content themselves with matter-of-fact prose. A well-known
+signature is here and there recognisable among these cosmopolitan
+productions. A famous Italian opera star has rhymed in her native lingo;
+a popular French acrobat--possibly one of a company of strolling
+equestrians--has immortalised himself in Parisian heroics. M.
+Pianatowsky, the Polish fiddler, has scrawled something incomprehensible
+in Russian or Arabic--no matter which; while Mein Herr Van Trinkenfeld
+comes out strong in double Dutch. Need I add that the immortal Smith of
+London is in great force in the book, or that his Queen's English is
+worthy of his world-wide reputation?
+
+We are in the act of quitting the Honradez establishment, when it
+suddenly occurs to one of us that, after all that has been said and
+seen, we have failed to watch a cigarette in actual process of
+manufacture. What! have we presided at a performance of 'Hamlet' with
+the hero omitted; or are the component parts of cigarettes planted in
+the ground to sprout out ready-made like radishes?
+
+I return and ask for information on this subject.
+
+'Perdonen, ustedes,' says our hospitable friend, 'I had forgotten to
+tell you that our cigarrillos are rolled by the presidiarios.'
+
+What's a 'presidiario'? A 'presidiario' is a convict, and convicts in
+Cuba are sentenced to eternal cigarette-making in lieu of oakum-picking.
+The government contract with the manufacturers for this purpose,
+and--voilà tout!
+
+Anxious to 'sit out' the whole cigarette performance to the very last
+act, I ask and obtain permission to visit the town jail. In one of the
+stone apartments of this well-regulated building are groups of convicts
+dressed in white blouses and loose trousers of coarse canvas. Amongst
+them are Africans, Congos, mulattoes of many shades, Chinese--Chow-chows
+as they are called--and sun-burnt whites, who are principally
+insubordinate Spanish soldiers and sailors. Each has a heavy chain
+dangling from his waist and attached to his ankle, wears a broad-brimmed
+straw hat of his own manufacture, and incessantly smokes. Before him is
+a wooden box filled with picadura and small squares of tissue paper.
+Great nicety is required to roll a cigarette after the approved fashion;
+the strength or mildness of the tobacco being in a great measure
+influenced by the way the grains are more or less compressed. A smoker
+of course finds a tightly-twisted cigarette more difficult to draw than
+a loosely twisted one.
+
+The presidiario does not seem to object to his hard labour, but
+doubtless prefers it to other kinds of perpetual rolling on a wheel. He
+employs no sticky element to secure the edges of his cigarette, but
+tucks the ends neatly in, by means of a pointed thimble which he wears
+on his forefinger.
+
+Ponder well over this, ye Havana cigarette smokers! and when next you
+indulge in a whiff from your favourite luxury, remember that a
+pickpocket has had his hand on your picadura!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+A MULATTO GIRL.
+
+     An Obscure Birth--Bondage--A Bad Master--A Good God-Father--A Cuban
+     Christening--Anomaly of Slavery--A White Lover--Rivals--An
+     Important Event.
+
+
+My contemplated departure for New York is for many days postponed by the
+unexpected meeting with Don Benigno's family, who, under extraordinary
+circumstances presently to be related, have recently arrived in the
+Havana.
+
+My old friends are also bound for the great American city; but at
+present they are full of preparations for the approaching marriage
+between Don Benigno's eldest daughter, Paquita and the young Spanish
+officer, Don Manuel. The latter has lately received a military
+appointment in the Cuban capital, and as he contemplates residing there
+with his future bride, Don Benigno is anxious that the wedding shall
+take place with as little delay as possible.
+
+Before that event, and before Don Benigno and the rest of his family
+leave with me for New York, I am made acquainted with the fact, that
+another marriage will be shortly celebrated in the Don's family, and
+that the betrothed lady is no other than Don Benigno's adopted
+daughter, the fair Ermiña!
+
+Don Benigno tells me that for certain reasons this wedding will not take
+place in the Ever-faithful Isle. What those reasons are, and how my
+curiosity respecting the past of the pretty mulatto girl is at last
+gratified, will appear in the following brief narrative, which, as the
+matter contained in it was chiefly derived from the young lady herself,
+I propose to repeat as nearly as possible in her own words.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I was bought and paid for before I was born.
+
+My own mother bargained for, and finally secured me, for the sum of
+twenty-five dollars. A kind of speculative interest was attached to my
+nativity. Had my sale not been effected previous to my appearance in the
+world, I should have become the property of my mother's master, who, in
+accordance with the laws of serfdom, might then dispose of me, if he
+pleased, at a rate far exceeding my mother's slender savings; and, if
+nature had destined me for a healthy boy instead of a girl, my value
+would have been still greater.
+
+My mother was a slave belonging to a wealthy coffee-planter. Of my
+father I know little, save that he was a white man, and that being a
+professed gambler and deeply in debt, he disappeared from Cuba shortly
+before I was ushered into the world. His flight concerned no one more
+than my mother, for he had promised to purchase her liberty for a
+thousand dollars, which was the price demanded by her owner.
+
+There was no world to censure my parent for the trouble she had brought
+upon herself, because, in a slave-country, little importance is attached
+to such a common occurrence as the birth of a mulatto. My mother's
+master would have exhibited a similar indifference, if, indeed, he would
+not have rejoiced at the event--for it added a few dollars to his
+exchequer--were it not for the fact that Don Vicente had a secret motive
+for great displeasure. His slave was a mulatto, belonging to the fair
+class known as quadroons. My mother was a comely specimen of her race,
+and Don Vicente, being well aware of this, had his own reasons for
+qualifying her conduct as an act of disobedience. This act he determined
+should receive punishment, and accordingly, when his human property was
+convalescent, she was removed, with her infant, to one of Don Vicente's
+estates, and there cruelly flogged!
+
+You may be sure that this severe treatment did not increase my mother's
+affection for Don Vicente, and, in spite of his dreadful threat to
+employ his slave as a common coffee-picker--which, for a mulatto,
+accustomed to the luxuries of town life, is worse than sending her to
+the galleys--my mother remained true to herself.
+
+Finding menaces of no avail, and afraid of disturbing his domestic
+tranquillity, Don Vicente abandoned his purpose and advertised his human
+property for hire at so much per month. In its way, this was a sore
+trial for my dear parent, for although she heartily loathed her master,
+she was greatly attached to his family, at whose hands she had known
+only kindness and humanity. Her new master might prove to be as bad as,
+or even worse than, her owner, and such a prospect was far from
+pleasant. She was, however, agreeably disappointed.
+
+Don Benigno responded to the advertisement, and would have purchased my
+mother outright, but the times were critical, and the worthy gentleman
+could not afford the exorbitant price demanded for her. He, however,
+agreed to hire my parent, who was forthwith removed, with her free-born
+child, to her new habitation.
+
+Don Benigno was of course the kindest of masters; in proof of which, his
+first act, after procuring my mother's temporary release, was to
+interest himself in her child's baptism. For this purpose, he ordered
+that every formality connected with this ceremony should be rigidly
+observed. He himself officiated as godfather, and, in accordance with
+custom, invited my mother's relatives and friends to be present at the
+festivities, which were to be held at a small farm on one of his
+estates. As is usual on such occasions, my generous godfather sent a
+'baptismal token' to every guest. The nearest relatives received an
+'escudo de oro,' or two-dollar piece. The next of kin were presented
+with pesetas, while the friends were favoured with silver medios. Each
+token was pierced with a 'lucky' hole, to which was attached a piece of
+coloured ribbon, with my name and the date of my birth printed in gold
+letters on either side. The ceremony of christening being over, Don
+Benigno gave a grand banquet and a ball, at his farm-house, to which all
+the farmers and white country people in the neighbourhood were invited.
+
+My kind godfather was in the habit of investing a 'doblón' of four
+dollars every month in the Havana lottery; and he promised that if he
+should succeed in drawing a prize, he would devote part of the amount to
+the purchase of my mother. But no such good fortune ever happened to
+the worthy gentleman, although, upon more than one occasion, he expended
+a whole 'onza' in tickets.
+
+Nothing worthy of note transpired during the early years of my
+childhood. My health was all that could be desired after my teething--an
+operation whose successful issue, it was confidently believed, was due
+to the bone necklace which I wore from my birth, and which the good
+people of my country consider acts as a charm against the evils imminent
+to infancy.
+
+Don Benigno's children--who were somewhat older than myself--were my
+closest companions. We were, indeed, more like sisters together, than
+young mistresses and maid. As for my dear godfather and Doña
+Mercedes--they treated me as a pet child.
+
+Before I had turned fourteen, I was already a grown woman, and, as far
+as outward appearance, as white as it is possible for my caste to be.
+With the exception of my lips, which are, as you observe, somewhat
+_prononcé_, and the whites of my eyes, which are slightly tinged with
+yellow, there is no perceptible difference between me and those creoles
+whose origin is less doubtful than my own.
+
+Despite, however, my personal attractions, I was fully conscious of the
+nice distinction between white and white about which the people of my
+country are so jealously exacting; and my dark origin always formed a
+barrier between me and my thoroughbred sisters. Whenever Don Benigno, or
+his family, addressed me as 'Mulatica,' 'Chinita,' or 'Negrita,' I
+sometimes thought of the literal meaning of those endearing epithets!
+
+Tunicú, as you know, was always a frequent visitor at Don Benigno's
+tertulia, but at the period to which I now refer, he used to pass some
+hours with us during the daytime. I think Tunicú always admired me more
+than he did Don Benigno's daughters, and now that I was a grown woman,
+he often gave expression to his sentiments. I was by no means insensible
+to Tunicú's attentions, for he was a handsome young gentleman, with a
+dark brown moustache and imperial to match. His complexion, too, was
+several shades darker than my own, though this, of course, did not
+detract from the purity of his descent, which was apparent in the clear
+white of his eyeballs, the transparent pink of his finger nails, and
+other signs peculiar to offspring of white parents.
+
+Our admiration for one another gradually developed itself into something
+more serious, until one day Tunicú gave me to understand that he loved
+me truly. I think he was sincere, at least I chose to believe so, and,
+besides, he gave daily proof of his preference for me to the whitest
+ladies of his acquaintance.
+
+Notwithstanding this, the wide gulf of origin which existed between
+Tunicú and me could not be concealed, and was continually made manifest.
+My white lover was passionately fond of dancing, and frequently attended
+at the balls given at the Philharmonic, where I dared not be seen, save
+in the capacity of spectator. Crowds of coloured people were permitted,
+like myself, to watch the dancing from a distance, but none were allowed
+to trespass upon the hallowed threshold. The same stern rule separated
+me and my lover at the Retreta in the public square. I might stand, with
+others of my class, on the broad terrace of the cathedral and watch the
+promenaders, or listen to the military band; but I dared not be seen
+with the unsullied gentlefolks below. Occasionally, Tunicú would desert
+his white companions, and ascending the broad steps of the cathedral,
+pass the rest of the evening in my society. On these occasions I should
+have felt supremely happy, but for the painful thought that Tunicú was
+sacrificing his position for my sake. The white ladies, who visited at
+Don Benigno's, though sometimes deigning to notice me, out of compliment
+to their host, secretly hated and despised me; and if they did not
+actually scandalise me behind my back, they never forgot to remind those
+around them of my parentage, and of the unquestionable difference which
+existed between us.
+
+Then there was my mother, whose cruel fate was ever a dark cloud in my
+happiest moments with my lover. Thanks to her, I was a free-born woman,
+while she, alas! still endured a state of bondage. I often wished that I
+might be enabled to turn to profitable account the education which I had
+received through Don Benigno's bounty, and in this manner earn enough to
+pay for my parent's liberty; but, unfortunately, there are no
+governesses in Cuba, and what white lady of respectability would care to
+send her child to my school, supposing that I had been able to set up
+such an establishment?
+
+Sometimes I indulged in the wild hope that Tunicú might one day take me
+to a foreign country, where my past would be ignored, and where we might
+be married without regard to the opinion of the world. But my lover,
+though always full of projects and promises, had never once alluded to
+the subject of matrimony. People broadly hinted that my Tunicú was a
+libertine, like some of his companions and that he had no intention of
+making me his wife; but we were both favoured with rivals whose
+interest it was to speak in these terms. My rivals were the white
+ladies, who were jealous of Tunicú's attentions to me, and who never
+forgot to openly express their indignation at the relationship which
+they knew to exist between me and my lover. Tunicú's rivals were even
+more numerous; some of them would show their regard for me by serenading
+under my window with a band of music, upon such occasions as my saint's
+day, or during the fiestas. I dared not exhibit an indifference to these
+attentions, without transgressing certain social laws of the country;
+besides, I found that Tunicú himself did not disapprove of them--he
+never explained why, but I suppose he considered these little attentions
+as a sort of acknowledgment of his good taste, or, perhaps, they
+afforded a proof to him of my constancy.
+
+The boldest of my admirers was a young half-caste called Frasquito,
+whose mulatto-father was a wealthy tobacco trader and held a high
+position among the Cuban merchants.
+
+Frasquito was an occasional visitor at Don Benigno's, for, being an
+accomplished musician, he was a great acquisition when a dance was given
+at our residence. Once he composed a Cuban danza, and dedicated it to
+me, calling it after my name: 'La Bella Ermiña.'
+
+Frasquito was perfectly aware of my relations with Tunicú, but he must
+have regarded them with the same levity as others did; for, one day,
+happening to be alone with my admirer, he, to my great confusion and
+surprise, made me an offer of marriage; assuring me that his father had
+already approved of his choice, and promising that if I would accept him
+for a husband, he would, previous to the marriage ceremony, procure my
+beloved mother's liberty.
+
+I fear that my reply was unsatisfactory to both of us. I could not tell
+him with truth that I was betrothed to another, because, though that
+other had long appropriated my heart, he had never openly asked my hand.
+It was equally difficult to show why I did not avail myself of this
+opportunity for effecting my mother's emancipation; and Frasquito knew
+too well that I would make any personal sacrifice to release my beloved
+parent from bondage.
+
+I, however, told Frasquito that his offer had so taken me by surprise,
+that he must give me time to consider of it, and that in the meanwhile
+he must never allude to the subject.
+
+Tunicú, to whom alone I confided what had passed between me and my
+admirer, scouted the notion of my alliance with the 'son of a nigger,'
+as he expressed it; but strange to tell, he did not seem angry at the
+fact of matrimony having been proposed by another.
+
+'You are too fair and too refined,' said he, 'for the son of a black
+man. When you marry, you must be wedded to somebody having better
+antecedents than that, Ermiña mia.'
+
+I felt the truth of his remark, and now began to consider my late offer
+in the light of an insult. The mulatto's pretensions to my hand must
+surely, I thought, have been induced by his knowledge of my birth, for
+he would not have ventured to make such a proposal to a white woman; and
+perfectly aware of my secret attachment, he seemed to have implied that
+I was incapable of commanding the true love of a white man. Impressed
+with these reflections, I resolved to test the truth of the mulatto's
+inuendos, and, for the first time, I broached to Tunicú the subject
+nearest my heart.
+
+'Do you think, mi amor,' said I to my lover, 'that I shall ever marry as
+well as you could desire?'
+
+Tunicú paused, before replying to my question, and then
+observed--turning his gaze from me as he spoke:--
+
+'Why should not mi Ermiña marry well? She is young, beautiful,
+accomplished--'
+
+--'and the daughter of a slave!' I added; my eyes moistening as I
+uttered the terrible words.
+
+For a few moments my lover remained silent and pensive Then recovering
+himself, he began to converse in his old, confident, assuring manner,
+gratifying my imagination with pictures of events which were never to
+happen, and promising things impossible to be realised. At least nothing
+ever did happen as Tunicú had predicted, while one event shortly
+transpired which in his wildest dreams had never occurred to him.
+
+That event was the Cuban insurrection, which, as you know, has already
+affected the lives of hundreds of my unhappy countrymen and
+countrywomen; but in what manner it would concern our future destinies,
+neither Tunicú nor I could possibly foretell.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+A MULATTO GIRL (_continued_).
+
+     The Slave Trade--Ermiña and her Lover--Panics--'Los Insurrectos' v.
+     'Los Voluntaries'--A Wounded Patriot--Spanish Law and Cuban
+     Law--The 'Mambís'--A Promise--An Alarm--All's Well that Ends Well.
+
+
+You already know how, during the early stages of the Cuban revolution,
+the inhabitants of Santiago were called upon to enroll themselves as
+volunteers; that those who evaded the order were regarded with
+suspicion, in many cases arrested, and occasionally shot after a mock
+trial; that others who preferred to abandon the town, were punished for
+their want of loyalty to their rulers, who confiscated their property.
+My good benefactor, Don Benigno, was too old to enlist and even more
+disinclined to fight against his countrymen, the rebels; so when the
+cholera broke out, he made this a pretext for escaping the vigilance of
+the authorities, and fled with his family and belongings to a farm on
+his sugar estate. My mother would have accompanied us, but for a
+circumstance which obliged her to remain in the town. Her rightful
+owner, Don Vicente, had in one day lost half his fortune; the rebels
+having encamped at his principal estate and utterly despoiled it. Four
+hundred negroes employed on this estate had joined the revolutionists,
+and as each slave was valued, on the average, at five hundred dollars,
+the loss which Don Vicente sustained may be easily estimated. To provide
+against fresh losses, Don Vicente determined to sell all that still
+remained to him, and embark with his family for a more peaceful country.
+He hoped to realise a large amount from the sale of his town slaves, and
+as my mother represented no insignificant item in this valuable
+property, she was, of course, included in the list of vendibles. I was
+in despair!
+
+'Tunicú, del alma!' said I to my lover, 'if you are as devoted to me as
+you profess to be, buy--borrow--beg my beloved parent; but don't let her
+fall into strange hands!' My dread lest she should become the property
+of an utter stranger, drove me to this appeal.
+
+Tunicú was equal to the occasion, as he always was; whether with the
+same disappointing result in view, I could not tell.
+
+'Ermiña de mi corazon!' he replied, 'I am not in a position to buy your
+mother. Don Benigno has already borrowed her and must now return her. To
+beg her is out of the question. But I think I have a more practical
+plan. It may not agree with the laws of this country, and it must be
+attended with great personal risk; but I will try it.'
+
+I looked inquiringly.
+
+'I am aware, 'continued Tunicú, with one of his pleasant smiles, 'that
+in the course of true love it rarely happens that in order to prove his
+affection for his mistress, the lover must first elope with his
+lady-love's mother; but circumstances create strange situations, and
+under the present circumstances, I see no other alternative than to run
+away with your parent.'
+
+Conscious of the great risk attending such an enterprise, and of the
+terrible consequences which would inevitably result from an untimely
+discovery, I begged that Tunicú would reveal to me his plan of
+operations. But to this he objected.
+
+'No,' said he, 'I have found of late that my outspoken projects have
+exhausted themselves in words, so you must allow me, for this once, to
+keep my own counsel.'
+
+My lover's unusual reply somehow inspired me with greater confidence
+than anything he had ever uttered: so, woman though I was, I determined
+to restrain my curiosity.
+
+'Whatever your plan may be, dearest Tunicú,' said I, 'I agree to it
+blindly.'
+
+'Then,' said he, 'you will also agree to our temporary separation. You
+will accompany my uncle to the farm?'
+
+To this I also, though reluctantly, acceded.
+
+So my mother was returned to Don Vicente, with whose family she was to
+reside until a purchaser was found. Tunicú remained in town; while I and
+Don Benigno's family were conveyed in a covered cart drawn by oxen to
+the farm-house.
+
+We arrived opportunely. The town which we had left was, as you know,
+already in a state of siege, and shortly after our departure, Count
+Valmaseda's dreadful manifesto, announcing that every man, woman, and
+child who should be discovered in certain districts of the country were
+to be shot like dogs, was published. We dared not now venture beyond the
+limits of the farm-grounds, for the report of fire-arms was continually
+heard in the neighbouring woods. Don Benigno was in daily fear lest the
+volunteers should visit our retreat, for he was well acquainted with the
+details of their past iniquities.
+
+Early one morning we were awakened by a negro, who hastened to the
+farm-house, shouting as he came: 'Los Insurrectos! Los Insurrectos!'
+
+'The insurgents are coming!' was the signal of alarm usually adopted by
+non-combatants, because the insurgents, and not the volunteers, were
+said to be the scarecrows of our island.
+
+It was, however, 'Los Voluntaries' and not 'Los Insurrectos' this time,
+for a party of volunteers were visible on a distant eminence.
+
+Our black sentinel, however, still persisted in shouting, 'Los
+Insurrectos!' The same cry was echoed by other negroes, who, with their
+faces tinged with the pale green of a black's fear, came running towards
+us with the information that three insurgents were riding within a mile
+of our habitation. The statement proved correct, for presently three
+horsemen arrived at the farm. All three were armed with revolvers, and
+short swords called 'machetes,' and they were attired in brown holland
+blouses, buff-coloured shoes, and Panama hats.
+
+One of these men appeared to be suffering great bodily pain, but his
+face was so besmeared with dirt and blood, that we could scarcely tell
+whether he was a mulatto or a white man. The poor fellow had been
+seriously wounded, and groaned in agony as Don Benigno's slaves assisted
+him to dismount.
+
+After he had been placed upon a catre in one of our apartments and
+revived with a draught of aguardiente, the invalid smiled mournfully
+around him, and then, to our unspeakable astonishment, inquired whether
+we did not recognise in him Don Benigno's nephew!
+
+I will not describe the scene which followed this disclosure, but I will
+endeavour to repeat to you what Tunicú had now to reveal. His first
+words caused me great happiness; though the strange tone in which they
+were uttered seemed scarcely to correspond with the good news conveyed
+in them.
+
+'Your mother,' said he, glancing in my direction, 'is free!'
+
+He now told us how, in spite of his efforts to steal my dear parent, Don
+Vicente had succeeded in selling her to a brutal slave-trader, who
+contemplated employing her as a common labourer at a coffee plantation,
+and how, being aware of this, my lover determined to save her from such
+a terrible fate.
+
+Parties of young Cubans were then secretly planning expeditions into the
+heart of the country, where their compatriots in arms were concealed,
+and this being known to my lover, he lost no time in enrolling himself
+among them. A party of these young men were on the eve of departing on
+their rebellious or patriotic mission, and as my mother's new master had
+already started for his plantation with his recent purchases and
+half-a-dozen armed negroes, Tunicú persuaded his companions to help him
+to rescue my parent. Well armed, well acquainted with the roads of their
+intricate country, and mounted on fast trotting horses, the little band
+of warriors followed in the track of the slave-owner, and, after some
+hours of hard riding, they succeeded in overtaking him. They then
+demanded, in the name of 'Cuban justice,' every slave in his possession,
+declaring, that now the Cuban people had risen in defence of their
+rights and for the abolition of slavery, they were no longer amenable
+to Spanish law.
+
+'We are all Cubans,' said they, 'and well armed, as you see; and we
+intend to fight for both causes whenever an opportunity presents
+itself.'
+
+Hostile measures were, however, quite unnecessary in this instance. The
+eloquence of my brave countrymen sufficed to create a mutiny among the
+trader's black body-guard, who with one accord came over to the enemy.
+In short, the slaves were all released, and their late owner, after
+vowing to be avenged, rode off to the nearest garrison for the purpose
+of reporting to the authorities what had happened, and, if possible,
+obtain redress for the wrongs he had sustained. In the meantime the
+victorious party hastened to join their brethren in arms, some of whom
+were encamped in one of the strong fortifications which nature so
+generously provides in our well-wooded mountains. But they had scarcely
+reached this part of the country, when a battalion of volunteers, guided
+by the slave-trader, went in pursuit of them.
+
+Tunicú then described an encounter which afterwards took place between
+the latter and the patriots. He said that for upwards of an hour shots
+were exchanged, but with no advantage to either side; till the
+slave-trader (doubtless acquainted with the roads of this intricate
+country) suddenly discovered an opening in the forest. Through this
+opening he, followed by a number of the volunteers, entered, and,
+sheltered by the surrounding foliage and trees, took deadly aim at those
+of their enemies who were exposed to their view. Many of my countrymen
+fell in this cruel slaughter, and amongst them were two of the recently
+captured slaves. Horrible to relate, one of these slaves was my mother.
+Seeing her fall, Tunicú boldly advanced towards the spot whence the
+firing proceeded, and there beheld the slave-trader who, he had no
+doubt, was my parent's assassin. Without a moment's hesitation, Tunicú
+shot this man dead with his revolver. A dozen rifles were levelled at
+the daring fellow as he hastened to return to his companions, and
+unfortunately a bullet lodged in his side.
+
+My warlike countrymen now retreated to a safe part of the forest, and
+here they remained, till the patience and the ammunition of their
+assailants were exhausted.
+
+As soon as my lover was sufficiently recovered from his wound, he was
+escorted by two of his companions to Don Benigno's farm, where they duly
+arrived.
+
+How shall I describe the agony which Tunicú's narrative caused me! My
+mother was indeed free, and by the hand of her own master; but alas! how
+dearly was her liberty purchased! I consoled myself with the reflection
+that my dear parent had been saved from a fate such as was in store for
+her had she been recaptured by her owner. Our anxiety was now devoted to
+my lover, who had suffered considerably from his long ride to the farm.
+We were able to attend the invalid unmolested; though news reached us
+that the insurrection was spreading in all directions, and we were in
+constant fear that it would reach too near our retreat.
+
+I was happier with my lover during his recovery, than I had ever been.
+The perils which he had undergone for my sake seemed to have toned down
+his volatile nature, and although his habit of promising had not wholly
+deserted him, I had reason to be grateful for at least one sweet promise
+which he made me!
+
+'Ermiña de mi alma!' said he, one evening that we were alone together,
+'my uncle contemplates leaving with you all for North America, there to
+remain till the revolution is over. I cannot accompany you, but we shall
+meet there, and if, after your intercourse with the white society of
+that country--where you will be treated as an equal--your feelings with
+regard to me are unchanged, we will be married, and I will endeavour to
+make your life happier than it has hitherto been.'
+
+'Not happier than it is now,' said I.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+'Los Insurrectos!--Los Insurrectos!'
+
+The insurgents again? No; our swarthy sentinels were wrong this time,
+for presently a dozen Spanish troopers, all armed to the teeth, galloped
+into our court-yard. We were, of course, greatly alarmed at their
+appearance; for we had no doubt that they had come to apprehend my
+lover. We were, however, soon agreeably relieved from our anxiety on
+this account, by a letter which the officer in command had brought for
+Don Benigno. This letter came from his future son-in-law, Don Manuel,
+who, since the commencement of the revolution, had been quartered with
+his regiment at Manzanillo, not many leagues from our farm. Aware that
+we had left town for Don Benigno's plantation, and conscious of the
+danger which was now threatening every district in the eastern extremity
+of the island, Don Manuel proposed that we should join him without delay
+at Manzanillo, and thence proceed to Havana, to which the young officer
+was shortly to be transferred. As yet perfect tranquillity reigned at
+the Cuban capital; and 'here,' suggested Don Manuel, 'we might remain,'
+under his official protection, 'until the rebellion was suppressed.'
+
+'The rest of her story,' says Don Benigno, breaking in at this point of
+it, 'is soon told. The soldiers remained with us for two or three days
+while we prepared for our departure, and in the meantime they discussed
+the merits of our fried bananas with boiled rice, our bacalao and
+casabe, our tasajo, our chimbombó, our ajiaco and our Catalan wine.
+Then, consigning my plantation to the care of my trusty major-domo, we
+all left for Manzanillo, under our military escort. Shortly after our
+arrival, Tunicú set sail for North America; for Don Manuel was of
+opinion that unless my nephew joined the Mambís (nickname for the
+rebellious party), it would not be safe for him to remain in any part of
+the Ever-faithful Isle. But we hope to meet him there, and, meanwhile we
+intend to practise those virtues of patience and amiability which have
+hitherto served us so well--eh, mi Ermiña? My daughter's marriage will
+soon be celebrated, and after the nuptials some of us will, I hope--si
+Dios quiere--depart for the great city of New York.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+A CUBAN WEDDING.
+
+     Open Engagements--A Marriage Ceremony--A Wedding Breakfast--The
+     Newly-Married Couple.
+
+
+A number of Don Benigno's relatives and friends have, like ourselves,
+taken refuge in the peaceful city of Havana. Some of them purpose
+remaining here till affairs at Santiago are more settled, while others,
+like Don Benigno, intend to make New York their temporary abode.
+
+Surrounded by his friends, the Don begins to feel at home again. Every
+evening he holds a tertulia at his temporary residence, as of old, and
+upon these occasions I recognise many familiar faces. Señor Esteban, the
+lawyer, Don Magin, the merchant, and Don Felipe, the sugar planter, are
+the Don's guests again. Doctor Francisco and his family have also
+arrived in Havana, en route for Europe: for even our medical friend has
+been in danger of arrest for having administered to some wounded
+'patriots' at a village near Santiago.
+
+Don Manuel is of course a constant visitor at Don Benigno's, but I do
+not envy him the term of courtship which precedes the marriage, nor is
+the ceremony itself very inviting.
+
+In his capacity of lover, Don Manuel is bound to submit to many
+hardships. He may not meet his fiancée alone under any circumstances;
+her society must be enjoyed only in the presence of the numerous friends
+and relatives who visit her at all hours of the day and evening. Then,
+he is expected to return some of these visits, in company with his
+future bride, her mother and sister. He must also submit to certain
+formalities required of him by the priest who is to unite the 'promessi
+sposi,' and the most irksome of these is that of confession. Paquita
+confesses, and that is nothing new to her, but it is otherwise with the
+young officer. In short, until Don Manuel is actually a happy husband,
+his position is by no means enviable, and for my own part, I would
+gladly relinquish two years of married life in Cuba for half an hour's
+secret love-making at a certain grated window!
+
+The wearisome ordeal at length comes to an end--the nuptial day arrives.
+The ceremony, such as it is, takes place very late in the night; indeed,
+it is early morning before Don Manuel and his male friends reach the
+cathedral, where the event is to be celebrated. A single bell tolls like
+a funeral knell as we enter a small chapel connected with the sacred
+edifice. It is a dreary apartment, dismally lighted with two long wax
+candles. Nobody is present, save Don Manuel, the male friends already
+mentioned, and the sacristan, who enlivens us by trying (and failing) to
+beautify, with false flowers and false candles, a miserable altar-piece
+at one extremity of the chapel. The young officer's importance as a
+bridegroom is not at present appreciated, either by himself or by his
+friends, with whom he converses upon indifferent subjects, and who, like
+myself, are attired in ordinary walking costume.
+
+Presently a Quitrin, drawn by a couple of mules, with a black postilion
+in jack-boots, halts without. The bride, accompanied by her mother and a
+friend, alight, and, without taking notice of anybody in particular,
+pass silently into the chapel. The importance of Don Manuel's position
+does not reveal itself by this act, nor is it considerably improved,
+when the ecclesiastic, who is to marry the happy pair, emerges from a
+dark corner, smiles artificially around him, and exhausts the rest of
+his amiability with the ladies. But the priest is not so unconscious of
+Don Manuel as that gentleman supposes. Soon he singles the officer out
+from the group of males, and bids him follow the bride, and his future
+mother-in-law, into an adjacent chamber. But little is required of the
+bridegroom besides his signature to a paper, which he does not read; and
+when the holy man has addressed something or other to him in the Latin
+language, he is politely requested to withdraw. Shortly after Don
+Manuel's retirement, the bride and her escort issue from the mysterious
+chamber, and, after saluting us all round, take their departure and
+drive away. Don Manuel's distinguished position seems to be scarcely
+increased by these proceedings; but when his friends congratulate him,
+the lights of the chapel are extinguished, and the decorations on the
+miserable altar-piece are stowed away, he endeavours to realise the
+feelings of a married man. Don Manuel follows his friends as they lead
+the way to the bride's parental roof, consoling himself with
+newly-rolled cigarettes as he walks along.
+
+It is nearly two A.M. before we reach the scene of the festivities,
+where most of the guests are already assembled. A long table has been
+tastefully arranged with sweetmeats, cakes, fruit, wine, and other
+luxuries, and some of the guests, whose appetites could not be
+restrained, have already inaugurated the festivities. Much confusion,
+uproar, and struggling after dainties peculiar to a Cuban banquet,
+prevail, and it is not without an effort that the young officer
+contrives at last to find a place near his bride. Healths are drunk and
+responded to incessantly, and often simultaneously; rather, as it would
+seem, for the excuse of drinking champagne and English bottled ale, than
+from motives of sentiment.
+
+When enough cigarettes have been smoked, and enough wine and beer have
+been disposed of, all the company rises with one accord. The ladies
+throw light veils across their shoulders, the gentlemen don their
+panamas; and the bride and her mother, together with the bridegroom and
+all the guests, followed by an army of black domestics, leave Don
+Benigno's habitation, and marching in noisy procession along the narrow
+streets, arrive at the bride's future home. It is a one-storied dwelling
+with marble floors and white-washed walls, and is furnished with
+bran-new cane-bottomed chairs and other adornments belonging to a Cuban
+residence. The huge doors and windows of every apartment are thrown open
+to their widest and the interior being brilliantly lighted with gas, the
+view from the street is almost as complete as within the premises.
+Everybody crowds into the latter, and examines the arrangements of each
+chamber with as deep an interest as if they were wandering through an
+old baronial mansion with cards of invitation from its absent owner. The
+reception-room, the comedor or dining-room, the out-houses round the
+patio or court-yard, are carefully inspected by the throng, who are
+irrepressible even in respect to the dormitory assigned for the use of
+the bridegroom, and that allotted to the bride, and situated in quite a
+different quarter.
+
+Everybody's curiosity being satisfied, everybody, save the newly-married
+pair and a few black domestics, is wished a 'muy buenas noches,' or,
+more correctly speaking (for the hour is 4 A.M.), a very good morning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+CUBANS IN NEW YORK.
+
+     The Morro Castle again--Summer and Winter--Cuban
+     Refugees--Filibusters--'Los Laborantes' of New York and their
+     Work--American Sympathisers.
+
+
+I am a prisoner in the Morro Castle again, and this time my fellow
+captives are more numerous. We occupy separate apartments. The chamber
+which has been allotted to me is considerably smaller than that of the
+fortress at Santiago. So small that the floor measures barely four feet
+in width, and seated in my narrow cot, my head approaches within a few
+inches of the ceiling. Don Benigno, his wife, his unmarried daughter,
+and the pretty Ermiña, together with a score of Cuban families, are all
+imprisoned in the same stronghold, whence there is no escape. For we are
+encompassed on every side by a moat so deep and so wide that no
+engineering skill would avail to connect us with terra firma.
+
+This is, however, not the Havana Morro, nor is it the fortress at
+Santiago de Cuba; but an American steamer called the 'Morro Castle' and
+bound for New York, where--wind and weather permitting--we shall all
+arrive, in little more than four days!
+
+Although the month is January, the atmosphere is still sultry and
+oppressive; so much so that most of the passengers prefer to sleep on
+deck. But on the morning of the third day of our voyage, there is a
+perceptible change in the temperature. The passengers are seen to shiver
+and to huddle together in warm corners of the cabin. Everybody has
+exchanged his or her summer clothing for warmer vestments. The ladies
+appear no more in light muslin dresses, and without any head covering.
+The gentlemen have eschewed their suits of white drill and Panama hats,
+and have assumed heavy over-coats and flannel under-clothing. It is a
+'nipping and an eager air,' closely resembling winter, and reminding
+everybody of the fact, that in one short hour we have tripped lightly
+from the perpetual summer of the tropics into the coldest season of the
+north. Some sea water which had been hauled up in a bucket half an hour
+ago was perfectly tepid, and now when the bucket is lowered and raised
+we are amazed to find that the contents are icy cold!
+
+Next day the liquid in our water jugs is discovered to be in a freezing
+condition, and fires have been lighted in all the stoves. But our chilly
+Creoles derive little or no warmth from these artificial means, although
+they are swathed in garments ten inches deep.
+
+Great is the joy when the 'Morro Castle' at last sails into the wide and
+picturesque harbour of the great American city, and when we have safely
+landed, satisfied the Custom-house officers, and are finally lodged in a
+comfortable hotel in Broadway, our happiness is complete.
+
+Numbers of Cuban families are already encamped in the hotel which Don
+Benigno has selected for himself, family and friend, and at the table
+d'hôte where we take our first American meal, the conversation is held
+exclusively in the Spanish language. Don Benigno is delighted to find
+himself among his countrymen again, and as the city is over-run with
+Cuban refugees, he soon meets many of his old friends. Some of them tell
+him that, having had their property confiscated, and being too old to
+take part in the revolution, they intend to remain in America, where
+they hope to improve their fortunes; while the more able-bodied are
+recruiting with a view to certain secret expeditions to Cuba.
+
+Tunicú, who joins us shortly after our arrival, is of course overjoyed
+at our appearance, and welcomes some of us literally with 'open arms!'
+Having passed some weeks in New York, he is of course already acquainted
+with everybody of note in the city, and is familiar with American ways.
+He tells us all about the Cuban 'Laborantes' of New York, and how they
+are labouring in behalf of their bellicose countrymen. How juntas are
+held, and how the Cuban ladies take a prominent part in these meetings,
+and provide funds for the relief of their sick and wounded compatriots
+in arms. Tunicú informs us that a grand bazaar, with this object in
+view, is now being promoted by these energetic señoras, and when Doña
+Mercedes hears of this, she and her daughters are soon busy at their
+favourite occupation. Tunicú says that the proceeds of the bazaar will
+not be wholly devoted to the purpose for which it is publicly announced,
+but that a large amount will be set apart for the purchase of arms and
+accoutrements; it being whispered that another fillibustering expedition
+is contemplated, and that great hopes are entertained of its safe
+departure from America. He says that an important landing has been
+lately effected at Guanaja--a small town on the Cuban coast--where
+Manuel Quesada, the newly-appointed general of the Cuban army, has
+arrived with eighty well-drilled men, 2,700 muskets and necessary
+ammunition.
+
+Besides the bazaar money, large amounts are raised by giving public
+concerts and by an occasional dramatic performance at one of the Bowery
+theatres, at which a stirring drama founded on the Cuban revolution is
+presented.
+
+The concerts, however, prove more attractive and remunerative;
+especially if it is announced that a young and lovely Creole, attired as
+'Liberty' and holding a Cuban flag in her hand, will sing a patriotic
+ballad. Equally effective are recitals from the famous Cuban
+poets--Heredia and Placida. When the 'Himno del Desterrado,' by the
+first-named author, is given, it is always received with great applause
+by the Cuban members of the audience and by those who understand the
+beautiful language in which this favourite poem is written. But nothing
+pleases the mixed audience of Cubans and Americans half so well as when
+a renowned pianist favours them with a performance on the piano of a
+'Danza Criolla.' At the first strains of their patriotic melody, the
+Creoles present become wild with enthusiasm. The Cuban ladies wave their
+handkerchiefs with delight, while their brother-patriots stand on their
+seats, and for the moment drown their favourite music with loud and
+prolonged cheering, accompanied by shouts of 'Viva Cuba libre!' (Long
+live free Cuba!) 'Muerte á España!' (Death to Spain!) and other
+patriotic sentiments.
+
+The American people are unanimous in their sympathy for the Cuban cause,
+and the sentiment is popular even with the New York shopkeepers, who
+already offer for sale 'Cravats à la Cespedes,' 'Insurrectionary
+Inkstands,' and 'Patriot Pockethandkerchiefs.'
+
+Important meetings, too, are held at Cooper's Institute, Steinway Hall,
+and other public places, at each of which a great concourse of American
+sympathisers gathers. Many eminent orators preside at these meetings,
+and endeavour with all their eloquence to urge upon the Congress at
+Washington the necessity for immediate recognition of the rights of the
+Cuban belligerents. Annexation is, of course, suggested, and slavery
+loudly denounced.
+
+One eloquent speaker is of opinion that the present struggle of the
+Cubans for independence and self-government belongs to the same category
+as the American Revolution in 1776; that it should excite the sympathy
+of all friends of popular progress, and that it deserves every kind of
+assistance that other nations may be able to render.
+
+Another well-known orator, connected with the church, declares that 'the
+Cuban cause is just, and that the wrongs against which the Cubans have
+revolted are such as should arouse the indignation of mankind, inasmuch
+as these wrongs include taxation without representation, the forced
+maintenance of slavery, the exclusion of all natives of the island from
+public service, the denial of the right to bear arms and of all the
+sacred privileges of citizenship and nationality.'
+
+A third speaker avers, among other sentiments, that, in proclaiming the
+abolition of slavery, the patriots of Cuba have given conclusive
+evidence that they share the most substantial ideas of modern democracy,
+and that their political principles are in unison with those which
+inspire and govern the profoundest thinkers and statesmen of the age.
+That while men of free minds in all countries must view with interest
+and hope the uprising in Cuba, 'we, as citizens of the Republic of North
+America, and near neighbours of the beautiful and productive island,
+recognise a special obligation towards those patriots who are toiling
+and fighting for its emancipation from Spanish tyranny.'
+
+'It is the duty of our Government,' concludes another speaker, amidst
+loud and prolonged applause, 'to recognise the belligerent rights of the
+Cubans at the earliest practicable moment, and thus to show the world,
+that the American nation is always on the side of those who contend
+against despotism and oppression; and we earnestly entreat the Executive
+at Washington that there may be no unnecessary delay in dealing with
+this important subject.'
+
+But in spite of these demonstrations of public sympathy, the mighty
+House of Representatives cannot be induced to join in the popular
+sentiment. Memorials are addressed to the American President, and
+persons of influence labour in behalf of the Cuban cause. Upon one
+occasion a party of Cuba's fairest daughters 'interview' the President's
+wife and secretary, but nothing comes of it except more sympathy and
+more able editorials in the New York papers, in which it is again
+suggested that a bold and decisive policy should be commenced with
+regard to Cuba and to American interests there, and that the shortest
+way to settle now and for ever all difficulty relative to that island,
+is to send out a powerful fleet and to recognise the independence of the
+people of the Pearl of the Antilles.
+
+
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+'We conclude with a cordial recommendation of this valuable book. In
+former years, Mr. Vambéry gave ample proofs of his powers as an
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+raised him to the dignity of an historian.' SATURDAY REVIEW.
+
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+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of
+The Pearl of The
+Antilles, by Walter Goodman.
+    </title>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pearl of the Antilles, or An Artist in
+Cuba, by Walter Goodman
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Pearl of the Antilles, or An Artist in Cuba
+
+Author: Walter Goodman
+
+Release Date: August 1, 2009 [EBook #29564]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PEARL OF THE ANTILLES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+produced from scanned images of public domain material
+from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+
+
+<table summary="note"
+cellpadding="8" style="background-color: #ccffff;
+border:4px double gray;text-align:center;
+font-size:80%;margin:5% auto% 5% auto;">
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">Aside from obvious typographical errors, the spelling of the original
+book has been preserved.<br />The spelling and accentuation of Spanish and
+French words have not been modernized or corrected.<br />(note of
+transcriber)
+  </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+
+
+<h1 class="top20">THE PEARL OF THE</h1>
+
+<h1>ANTILLES</h1>
+
+<p class="c">OR</p>
+
+<p class="c"><i>AN ARTIST IN CUBA</i></p>
+
+<p class="c top5">BY</p>
+
+<h3 class="top5">WALTER GOODMAN</h3>
+
+<p class="c top15"><span class="smcap">Henry S. King &amp; Co.</span>
+<span class="smcap">65 Cornhill &amp; 12 Paternoster Row, London</span>
+1873</p>
+
+<p class="c">(<i>All rights reserved</i>)</p>
+<hr class="top15" />
+<p class="c">TO</p>
+
+<p class="c smcap1">MY TRAVELLING-COMPANION AND BROTHER-ARTIST</p>
+
+<p class="c"><b>SEÑOR DON JOAQUIN CUADRAS</b></p>
+
+<p class="c smcap1">OF CUBA</p>
+
+<p class="c smcap1"><i>THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED</i></p>
+
+<p class="c smcap1 top5">IN REMEMBRANCE OF OUR LONG AND UNINTERRUPTED FRIENDSHIP</p>
+
+<p class="c smcap1">AT HOME AND ABROAD</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3 class="top20">PREFACE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Cuba having lately become a prominent object of attention,
+both to Europe and America, I venture to think that
+any trustworthy information that can be given respecting
+it, may prove acceptable to the reader. I approach my
+task with no great pretensions, but yet with an experience
+acquired by many years' residence in the Island, and an
+intimate intercourse with its inhabitants. I arrived there
+in 1864, when Cuba was enjoying uninterrupted peace and
+prosperity, and my departure took place in the first year
+of her adversity. Having thus viewed society in the Island
+under the most opposite conditions, I have had various
+and ample opportunities of studying its institutions, its
+races and its government; and in availing myself of these
+opportunities I have endeavoured, as far as possible, to
+avoid those matters which are alike common to life in
+Spain and in Cuba.</p>
+
+<p>As I write, Cuba is passing through a great crisis in her
+history. For this reason my experiences may prove more
+interesting than they might otherwise have done; nor do
+I think that they will be found less attractive, because it
+has been my choice to deal with the subject before me
+from the point of view rather of an artist than of a traveller
+or a statistician.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps I may be allowed to add, that the matter contained
+in these pages will be almost entirely fresh to the
+reader; for, although I have included a few papers which
+I have from time to time contributed to <i>All the Year
+Round</i>, <i>Cassell's Magazine</i>, and <i>London Society</i>, I have
+taken care to introduce them in such a manner as not to
+break the continuity with which I have endeavoured to
+connect the various parts of my subject.</p>
+
+<p>In explanation of the title chosen for this volume,
+I may remark that 'the Pearl of the Antilles' is one of the
+prettiest in that long series of eulogistic and endearing
+titles conferred by poets and others on the Island of Cuba,
+which includes 'the Queen of the Antilles,' 'the Jewel
+in the Spanish Crown,' 'the Promised Land,' 'the Summer
+Isle of Eden,' 'the Garden of the West,' and 'the Loyal
+and Ever-faithful Isle.'</p>
+
+<p class="r smcap">Walter Goodman.</p>
+
+<p class="smcap">22 Lancaster Road,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Westbourne Park,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6em;">London: 1873.</span></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3>CONTENTS</h3>
+
+<table
+summary="toc"
+cellspacing="9"
+cellpadding="5"
+style="text-align:center;">
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b> <br />CHAPTER I.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A CUBAN WELCOME.</td></tr>
+
+
+<tr><td>Our Reception at Santiago de Cuba--Spanish Law--A Commemorative
+Feast--Cuban Courtesy--Coffee House Politeness</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b> <br />CHAPTER II.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>DAILY LIFE IN CUBA.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A Cuban Home--My Bed-Room--A Creole Breakfast--Don Benigno
+and his Family--A Cuban Matron--Church-going in connection with
+Shopping--An Evening Tertulia--A Tropical Moon</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b> <br />CHAPTER III.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>ART-PATRONAGE IN CUBA.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>Our Studio--Our Critics--Our Patrons--Still-Life</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b> <br />CHAPTER IV.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A CUBAN 'VELORIO.'</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>More Still-Life--A Night-Wake--Mourners--Doña Dolores--A Funeral
+Procession--A Burial</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b> <br />CHAPTER V.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>CUBAN MODELS.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>Tropical Birds--The Coco's--La Grulla--Vultures--Street Criers--Water
+Carriers</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b> <br />CHAPTER VI.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>CUBAN BEGGARS.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>Carrapatam Bunga--The Havana Lottery--A Lady Beggar--A Beggar's
+Opera--Popular Characters--Charity--A Public Raffle--The 'King of
+the Universe'</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b> <br />CHAPTER VII.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>THE BLACK ART IN CUBA.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A Model Mulatto--A Bewitched Watchman--Cuban Sorcery--An Enchanted
+Painter</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b> <br />CHAPTER VIII.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A TASTE OF CUBAN PRISON-LIFE.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>Two Views of the Morro Castle--The Commandant--The Town Jail--Cuban
+Policemen--Prisoners--A Captive Indian--Prison Fare--A
+Court of Justice--A Trial--A Verdict</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b> <br />CHAPTER IX.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A WEST INDIAN EPIDEMIC.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A Cuban Physician and his Patient--A Nightmare--A Mystery--A
+Cure--By the Sad Sea Waves--A Cuban Watering-place--Lobster-hunting--Another
+View of the Morro Castle--What 'Dios sabe'
+means</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b> <br />CHAPTER X.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>GENERAL TACON'S JUDGMENT.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>Pleasant Company--The Cigar Girl of Havana--A Tobacconist Shop in
+Cuba--A Romance of Real Life--Spanish Justice abroad</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b> <br />CHAPTER XI.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>(VERY) HIGH ART IN CUBA.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>On the Ceiling--'Pintar-monos'--A Chemist's Shop à la Polychrome--Sculpture
+under Difficulties--'Nothing like Leather'--A Triumph in
+Triumphal Arches--Cuban Carpenters--The Captain-General of
+Havana</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b> <br />CHAPTER XII.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A CORRESPONDENT IN THE WEST INDIES.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>American News-agents and their Work--Local Information--The
+'Glorious Campaign' of Santo Domingo--'El Cañon de Montecristo'
+Wounded Soldiers--Still-Life again--A Visit from the Spanish Fleet--Escape
+from Jail</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b> <br />CHAPTER XIII.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>CUBAN MUSIC.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A Soirée at Don Laureano's--An eminent Violinist and Composer--Cuban
+Pianos--<i>Real</i> Negro Minstrels--Carnival Songs--Coloured
+Improvisatores</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b> <br />CHAPTER XIV.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>MASQUERADING IN CUBA.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>Deserted--'Los Mamarrachos'--A French-Creole Ball--Street Masquers--Negro
+Amateurs--Masks and Dominoes--The Plaza de Armas--Victims
+of the Carnival--A Cuban Café in Holiday Time--'Comparsas'--White
+and Black Balls--A Moral</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b> <br />CHAPTER XV.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>AN EVENING AT THE RETRETA.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A Musical Promenade--My Friend Tunicú--Cuban Beauties--Dark
+Divinities--A Cuban Café--A Popular 'Pollo'--Settling the Bill!</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b> <br />CHAPTER XVI.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>AT A CUBAN BALL.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>The Philharmonic and its Members--A Street Audience--The Guests--Engaging
+Partners--'La Carabina'--'La Danza Criolla'--Dance
+Music--Refreshments--A Pretty Partner--A Night with Cuban
+Gamblers--Spanish Cards--An Old Hand--'Temblores'</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b> <br />CHAPTER XVII.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>CUBAN THEATRICALS.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>The Stage-Door Keeper--A Rehearsal--The Spanish Censor--A Cuban
+Audience--Dramatic Performances--Between Acts--Behind the
+Scenes--A Dénouement in Real Life</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b> <br />CHAPTER XVIII.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>MY DÉBUT ON A CUBAN STAGE.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>An Engagement--A Foreign 'Star'--A Benefit Night--A Local Play--First
+Appearance--A serious 'Hitch'--Re-engagement</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b> <br />CHAPTER XIX.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>COFFEE GROUNDS OF CUBA.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>Going out of Town--On the Road--A wayside Inn--A Cane Field--West
+Indian Fruit Trees--The Arrival--A Dinner in the Country--The
+Evening Blessing--Tropical Reptiles--A Farm Yard--Slave
+Flogging--Coffee--Tropical Scenery--A Siesta</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><b> <br />CHAPTER XX.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>COUNTRY-LIFE AT A SUGAR ESTATE.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>An Artist's Tent--Early Sport--An 'Ingenio'--Sugar and Rum--Afternoon
+Sport--A Ride through the Country--Negro Dancing--An
+Evening in the Country--'La Loteria'</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><b> <br />CHAPTER XXI.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>LOVE-MAKING IN THE TROPICS.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>My Inamorata--Clandestine Courtship--A Love Scene--'Il Baccio' in
+Cuba--The Course of True Love--A Stern Parent</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><b> <br />CHAPTER XXII.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A CUBAN CONVENT.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>Without the Walls--'El Torno'--A Convent Letter--Accomplices--A
+Powder Plot--With the Nuns--Don Francisco the Dentist</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><b> <br />CHAPTER XXIII.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A CRUISE IN THE WEST INDIES.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>Cuban Telegraphy--The 'New York Trigger'--News from Porto Rico--A
+Day in Porto Rico--Don Felipe--A Mail Agent--Coasting--Aguadilla--Mayagüez--Santo
+Domingo--Sight-seeing--Telegraphic
+News</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><b> <br />CHAPTER XXIV.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A STATE OF SIEGE IN CUBA.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A Cuban Newspaper Office--Local Intelligence--The Cuban Revolution--Spanish
+Volunteers--A Recruit--With Bimba--'Los Insurrectos'--At
+a Fire--Cuban Firemen</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"><b> <br />CHAPTER XXV.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>CUBAN WARFARE.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>Spanish Soldiers--A Sally--Prisoners of War--'Los Voluntarios'--A
+Triumphant Return--Danger!--Cuban Emigrants</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI"><b> <br />CHAPTER XXVI.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>HAVANA CIGARETTES.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>Cigars--The Etiquette of Smoking--A Cigarette Manufactory--The
+Courteous Proprietor--The Visitors' Book--Cigarette Rolling</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII"><b> <br />CHAPTER XXVII.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A MULATTO GIRL.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>An Obscure Birth--Bondage--A Bad Master--A Good Godfather--A
+Cuban Christening--Anomaly of Slavery--A White Lover--Rivals--An
+Important Event</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII"><b> <br />CHAPTER XXVIII.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A MULATTO GIRL (<i>continued</i>).</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>The Slave Trade--Ermiña and her Lover--Panics--'Los Insurrectos'
+v. 'Los Voluntarios'--A Wounded Patriot--Spanish Law and Cuban
+Law--The 'Mambi's'--A Promise--An Alarm--All's Well that
+ends Well</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX"><b> <br />CHAPTER XXIX.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>A CUBAN WEDDING.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>Open Engagements--A Marriage Ceremony--A Wedding Breakfast--The
+Newly Married Couple</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX"><b> <br />CHAPTER XXX.</b></a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>CUBANS IN NEW YORK.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>The Morro Castle again--Summer and Winter--Cuban Refugees--Filibusters--'Los
+Laborantes' of New York and their Work--American
+Sympathisers</td></tr>
+
+</table>
+<hr />
+
+<p class="c top20">THE</p>
+
+<h2>PEARL OF THE ANTILLES</h2>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">A CUBAN WELCOME.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">Our Reception at Santiago de Cuba&mdash;Spanish Law&mdash;A Commemorative
+Feast&mdash;Cuban Courtesy&mdash;Coffee-House Politeness.</p>
+
+
+<p>My companion and brother-artist, Nicasio Rodriguez y
+Boldú, is a native of Cuba, and as he has signified his intention
+to visit his birthplace in the West Indies, we bid
+'addio' to fair Florence, where for three years we have dwelt
+together and followed our profession, and, embarking in a
+French steamer at St. Nazaire, we set sail for the Pearl of
+the Antilles.</p>
+
+<p>Our official reception at Santiago de Cuba is far from
+cordial. Before we land, the Spanish authorities meet us
+on board, and, after a careful inspection of our passports,
+present each of us with what they call a 'permit of disembarcation,'
+for which we have to pay sixteen reales
+'fuertes.' Having, so to speak, purchased 'tickets of admission'
+to the Spanish colony, and having also deposited
+our luggage in the 'cloak-room' of the establishment&mdash;which
+in this instance is represented by a custom-house&mdash;we
+naturally expect to be favoured with a 'bill' of
+tropical performances. No such bill is, however, presented
+to us; but as a substitute, we obtain full particulars
+by application, within a month after our arrival, to
+the chief of police. From this functionary we learn that
+our 'tickets of admission' are available only for one
+quarter's sojourn in the island, and that if we desire to
+remain for a longer period, an official 'season-ticket' must
+be procured. The authorised programme of the 'Loyal
+and Ever-faithful Isle' is divided into a great many Acts.
+One of these acts announces that 'no foreigner is allowed
+to reside more than three months in the island without
+procuring first a carta de domicilio (habitation license),
+which he may obtain by a petition supported by the consul
+of his nation.' The carta de domicilio will enable the
+foreigner in question to dwell unmolested in this strangely
+governed country for a period not exceeding five years;
+but he may not leave the island, neither may he remove
+to another town, without a pass from a Capitan de Partido,
+a Celador, or some such official.</p>
+
+<p>The chief of police moreover tells us that, conformably
+with another act or article in his code, the 'applicant'
+must represent himself as a Catholic; that he must take
+the oaths of fidelity and vassalage before the governor, and
+that within the prescribed five years 'a foreigner must be
+either naturalised, or he must leave the country.'</p>
+
+<p>Yet another act proclaims that during the first five
+years of his residence, 'the said foreigner may not carry on
+nor may he possess a shop, a warehouse, or
+become a captain of a vessel. He may, however, have a
+share in a company or firm of Spaniards.'</p>
+
+<p>But the strangest mandate of all is that which denies to
+'any inhabitant whatsoever' the privilege of moving from
+one house to another 'without giving notice of such removal
+to the chief of police!'</p>
+
+<p>Thus much for our welcome by the authorities of Cuba!</p>
+
+<p>The Cubans themselves are, however, more obsequious.
+Long before we have anchored in the Cuban bay, the news
+of our arrival has reached the ears of my companion's
+friends, who hasten to greet us from little canoes with white
+awnings to ward off the rays of the scorching sun. Having
+landed, and satisfied the authorities, we are escorted by a
+number of these friends to our future residence, which we
+had decided should be an hotel. But my partner's friends
+will not hear of our lodging at a strange place, and one of
+their number, who claims close relationship with Nicasio,
+succeeds in persuading us both to become his guests. He
+accordingly hails his two-wheeled quitrin, and drives us to
+his dwelling. The rest of our friends follow on foot, and
+are invited by our host, Don Benigno, to partake of the
+sumptuous banquet which has been prepared in honour of
+Nicasio's return to his native country. Several ladies are
+present, and with these in light muslin dresses&mdash;the
+gentlemen in their suits of white drill&mdash;the long table
+with its white covering&mdash;the spacious dining-hall with its
+white-washed walls&mdash;and the glare of the sun which pours
+in from numerous windows and open doors&mdash;the scene is
+enlivening, to say the least of it; while a singular contrast
+is supplied by the sombre appearance of the slaves who
+serve round the condiments.</p>
+
+<p>Of course my companion is lionised and made much of
+on this occasion, and his friend&mdash;whom everybody addresses,
+on account of his nationality, as 'el Caballero Inglés,' is
+treated with every show of attention. Being fresh from
+Europe we are both examined and cross-examined upon the
+questions of news, and to satisfy all demands requires no
+inconsiderable amount of oratory. Healths are drunk and
+responded to by some of the company, and Don Benigno's
+nephew, Tunicú, delivers some appropriate verses of his
+own composition, which he has dedicated to his kinsman
+Nicasio.</p>
+
+<p>It is not the custom in this country for the ladies to
+retire after a meal, and leave their lords to their cups and
+conversation, but everybody remains seated until black
+coffee and big Havana cigars are handed, the cloth has
+been removed, and our host's baby&mdash;a girl ten months old
+attired in nature's vestments&mdash;has been placed for general
+inspection and approval in the centre of the festive board.</p>
+
+<p>When everybody has sufficiently devoured with his or
+her eyes this kind of human dessert, Don Benigno's lady&mdash;Doña
+Mercedes&mdash;proposes to adjourn for music and
+dancing to the reception-room&mdash;an apartment which is
+little better than a continuation of the dining-hall; the
+boundary line between the two chambers being defined by
+a narrow slip of wall.</p>
+
+<p>The musical entertainments begin with a performance
+on the piano by a sun-burnt young lady attired in a low-necked,
+short-sleeved dress, who accompanies another
+young lady who essays a patriotic song commencing:</p>
+
+<p class="c">
+Cuba, Cuba! mi patria querida,<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>in which she assures her audience, in Spanish verse, that
+there is no place like Cuba, and no country more fertile and
+picturesque than the Pearl of the Antilles. This favourite
+ditty is called a Melopea, or words without a melody&mdash;the
+words being simply 'spoken,' and closely followed on the
+piano by lively music.</p>
+
+<p>This song and another having been disposed of, partners
+are selected and the Danza Criolla&mdash;a popular Cuban
+valse&mdash;is for the rest of the afternoon (for it is still broad
+daylight) performed. The guests then depart; and after a
+little conversation with Don Benigno and his family, Nicasio
+and I are conducted by a black domestic to our dormitories.
+Here we indulge in a siesta, and otherwise refresh
+ourselves till the hour of dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Those of Nicasio's friends who have been foiled in their
+attempt to secure us for their guests, console themselves
+by exhibiting their hospitality in other ways. We are
+overwhelmed with invitations to pass the temporada, or
+season, at their estates in the country, and so numerous are
+these invitations that, were we to accept them all, two years
+would scarcely suffice for the fulfilment of our engagements.</p>
+
+<p>During the first weeks of our residence in Santiago, the
+hospitality which we receive in various ways is sometimes
+overpowering. Wherever we may wander some unknown
+friend has anticipated our arrival, and secretly provided
+for our wants. We turn into a café for refreshments,
+and when we offer to pay for what we have ordered,
+the waiter refuses to take our coin, while he assures
+us that our repast has already been paid for! Subsequently
+we discover that the proprietors of all the
+restaurants and cafés in the town have been instructed
+by some mysterious person or persons not to accept
+payment from 'Don Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú and his
+English companion,' but to 'put it down to the account.'
+Whenever we visit the theatre, the same pecuniary objections
+are raised; and upon one occasion, the haberdasher
+to whom we apply for a dozen shirts à la créole actually
+refuses to favour us with a bill!</p>
+
+<p>These attentions are, however, short-lived, for my
+partner, after permitting them to exist for a reasonable
+length of time, publicly gives out that unless this overpowering
+hospitality altogether ceases, he and el Caballero
+Inglés will remove to a less demonstrative town. This
+warning takes effect, but still the tendency to 'stand treat'&mdash;which
+is a special weakness in Cuba&mdash;manifests itself in
+other ways.</p>
+
+<p>I go into a café where some creoles&mdash;utter strangers to
+me&mdash;are grouped around one of the marble tables. If I
+happen to be accompanied by a lady, every man rises and
+salutes us. If alone, I am offered a seat and refreshments;
+for under no circumstances, and in no locality, does a Cuban
+eat and drink without first inviting his neighbours to
+partake of his fare. 'Usted gusta?' (Will you partake of
+this?) or 'Gusta usted tomar algo?' (Won't you take
+something?) is a Cuban's grace before meat.</p>
+
+<p>These, attentions are not, however, confined to feeding.
+They are adapted to everything that a Cuban possesses.
+If I admire any article or individual belonging to a Cuban&mdash;no
+matter whether the object of my admiration be a
+watch-guard&mdash;a handsome cane&mdash;a horse&mdash;a gun&mdash;a slave,
+or a pretty child&mdash;I am invariably assured that it is mine
+(Es para usted), or that it is my servant (Un servidor de
+usted). When I ask a Cuban where he lives, he promptly
+replies: 'At your house,' in such-and-such a street, number
+so-and-so; and whenever such an individual favours me
+with a letter, I always find the document addressed:
+'From your house' (Su casa).</p>
+
+<p>In short, I never know what politeness means, nor what
+extensive West Indian possessions are at my disposal, till
+I live amidst the luxuries of the Pearl of the Antilles!</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">DAILY LIFE IN CUBA.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">A Cuban Home&mdash;My Bed-Room&mdash;A Creole Breakfast&mdash;Don Benigno and
+his Family&mdash;A Cuban Matron&mdash;Church-going in connection with Shopping&mdash;An
+Evening Tertulia&mdash;A Tropical Moon.</p>
+
+
+<p>Like most of his neighbours, Don Benigno keeps 'open
+house' in more than one way. The huge street-door of
+his habitation remains unclosed at all hours of the day and
+evening, and anyone who pleases may walk in and partake
+of the Don's hospitality.</p>
+
+<p>Don Benigno's house is constructed after the pattern of
+the good, old-fashioned Cuban dwellings, with an eye to
+earthquake, heavy rains, and excessive heat. So careful is
+a creole to provide against these casualties, that his residence
+serves less as an abode for comfort than as a place of
+shelter. It has a single storey, and is roofed with Roman
+tiles. The walls are of lath and plaster, or mamposteria,
+as it is called, and the beams which support the roof are
+visible from the interior as they are in a barn. Some of
+the apartments are paved with marble, while others are
+paved with brick. In the centre of the spacious reception-room,
+or sala, is laid a small square of carpet, like a misplaced
+hearth-rug, on which stand twelve rocking-chairs,
+arranged face to face like seats in a railway carriage. They
+are accompanied by a few footstools and some spittoons.
+The rooms are not overcrowded with furniture and ornaments,
+and these scarce commodities stand out in bold
+relief against the white-washed walls and bare flooring.
+The chairs and sofas are all cane-backed and cane-bottomed.
+Tables are not plentiful, and curtains are employed
+as adornments for some of the doors instead of the
+windows, which are also devoid of glass. An elegant gas
+chandelier is suspended from one of the cross-beams of the
+sloping roof, and a couple of unserviceable console tables,
+with their corresponding pier-glasses, complete the decorations
+of the sala.</p>
+
+<p>No fire-stoves are required in any chamber except the
+kitchen, and the latter being situated in the patio, or court-yard,
+at the back of the premises, the residents in a Cuban
+house are never troubled with any other smoke than that
+which is generated by tobacco.</p>
+
+<p>As for the dormitories&mdash;the one which I occupy might
+belong to a holy friar. There is an aspect of cell and
+sanctity about everything in it. The furniture is nothing to
+speak of, and the bed, which is called a catre, closely resembles
+a tressled apple-stall with a canvas tray. When not
+in use, the catre is shut up and whisked away into an
+obscure corner. When required for sleeping purposes, it is
+opened, and the bed having been 'made' with a couple of
+sheets and a pillow, it is planted in a cool place, which often
+happens to be the centre of the apartment.</p>
+
+<p>The monotonous appearance of the white-washed walls
+is relieved by coloured lithograph drawings of saints and
+virgins, and against one of the walls is placed a table decorated
+like a small altar with a white lace-trimmed cloth
+upon which stand some gilded candlesticks, vases containing
+artificial flowers, and a large wooden statuette,
+gorgeously painted and embellished. This image represents
+the patron saint, Santiago, beneath whose feet burns
+night and day a small oil lamp. The object for which
+this luminary is intended is ignored by me for many days,
+and meanwhile I use it, when nobody is looking, for the
+lighting of my cigarettes. My authority for this sacrilegious
+act is derived from my companion, Nicasio, who is a
+liberal-minded Catholic, and as I find he also performs
+the same ceremony in his own dormitory, my conscience
+is relieved. Equally mysterious are a couple of dry
+fonts which have in all respects the appearances of china
+watch-pockets. I make use of one for the accommodation of
+my time-piece, until I am informed that only holy water is
+allowed to repose within its sacred embraces.</p>
+
+<p>In fine weather my slumbers at night are uninterrupted,
+but when it rains&mdash;and in Cuba it never rains but it pours
+in bucketfuls&mdash;my rest is at intervals sorely disturbed.
+I dream that a thousand belligerent cats are at civil war
+on the Roman-tiled roof above me, and that for some unknown
+reason I alone expiate their bloodthirsty crimes,
+by enduring a horrible penance, which consists in the historical
+torture of a slow and perpetual stream of liquid
+which dribbles upon my bare cranium. I awake suddenly
+to find that my nightmare has not been unfounded. Something
+damp, proceeding from the sloping roof, drops at
+regular intervals upon my forehead. By the light of the
+patron saint who watches over me I perceive that the rain
+has found an inlet through a gotera in the roof. A gotera
+is a hole in the tiles, formed during the day by the action
+of the baking sun upon the mortar, which yields to its
+cracking influence and leaves an aperture. Rising hurriedly
+in the dead of night, I remove my catre to a dry corner,
+and at the same time place a basin beneath the spot from
+whence the drops of rain issue. Once more I awake under
+the same moistening influence. A fresh gotera has arisen
+over my dry place of repose. Again I shift my ground,
+and use an empty pail for the accommodation of the intrusive
+element; but fresh goteras appear wherever I
+pitch my catre, until, having circumnavigated all the safe
+coasts of my tempestuous apartment and exhausted every
+receptacle for water, I take up my bed and deposit it in
+an adjoining chamber, which happening to be unoccupied
+and free from goteras, allows my slumbers to remain undisturbed
+till morning.</p>
+
+<p>Don Benigno's family take what we should call breakfast,
+but which they term 'tienta pie,' in their respective sleeping
+chambers. At six <span class="smcap">A.M.</span> a dark domestic enters my dormitory
+with a cup of black coffee and a cigarette. Later,
+this is followed by a larger cup of milk qualified with
+coffee, or, if I prefer chocolate, the latter in an extraordinary
+thick form is brought. The beverage is accompanied
+by a Cuban bun or a milk roll with foreign butter:
+for as the native cow does not supply the material for that
+luxury, the butter used in Cuba is all imported in bottles
+like preserves.</p>
+
+<p>Eleven o'clock is the hour appointed for breakfast. This
+is a substantial meal and appears to be breakfast, dinner,
+and supper rolled into one. Every item of food is served
+as a separate course, of which there are more than fourteen
+different 'fuentes,' or dishes, on the table. A plate
+of eggs and sliced bananas fried in butter constitutes the
+first course. A second course is represented by a dish
+containing a combination of boiled rice and dried cod-fish,
+or 'bacalao,' with tomato sauce. 'Serence,' with 'congri,'
+is a Creole dish composed of Indian corn, rice, and red beans,
+and forms course number three. Sambumbia, anis, and
+chimbombó, are native vegetables prepared in a variety of
+palatable ways. An olla podrida of sweet yams, pumpkins,
+white beans, bacon, sausage, and cabbage is another favourite
+dish; and, lastly, fish, flesh, and fowl in a dozen different
+guises complete the bill of fare. This sumptuous repast
+having been washed down with Catalan claret, some West
+Indian fruits and solid-looking preserves are partaken of,
+and the indispensable cigar or cigarette and wholesome café
+noir are handed round.</p>
+
+<p>Breakfast over, the Don's family disperse, each to his or
+her occupation. The children retire to their schoolroom,
+where the different masters (for in Cuba there are no 'out-door'
+governesses) engaged for their instruction arrive at
+their prescribed hours, give their lessons, and depart. A
+master is provided for every branch of learning and for
+teaching every art except that of dancing, this accomplishment
+being naturally and easily acquired by the graceful
+little ladies and gentlemen themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Don Benigno retreats, after breakfast, to his office, where
+he transacts his business affairs, which seem to consist
+chiefly in lolling in an easy chair with a long cigar between
+his lips, while he watches his escribano, or clerk, as that
+functionary makes up accounts and writes letters.</p>
+
+<p>As for the Don's lady, Doña Mercedes, she may be described
+broadly as a sleeping partner, her department in
+the firm being literally the sleeping department. After
+disposing of her housekeeping duties, which are briefly
+accomplished by handing the black cook a certain sum
+daily for marketing purposes, the worthy lady passes
+the rest of the day with a fan in a rocking chair, in which
+she sways and fans herself cool. Doña Mercedes has a
+youthful appearance from her neck upwards, but being
+somewhat corpulent, her figure scarcely corresponds with
+the attractions of her face. Being, however, attired in a
+loose linen gown which falls like a sack, ungirdled and uninterrupted,
+from her fair shoulders to her remarkably small
+shoes, the protuberances of her person escape notice, and,
+with her jet-black hair neatly and tastefully arranged, she
+may be said to represent an agreeable type of the Cuban
+matron.</p>
+
+<p>It is often a matter for wonder with me, how Señora
+Mercedes and her friends contrive to keep their hair in
+such perfect order. Cuban ladies being gifted by nature
+with a wealth of hair require no artificial aid; but I am
+told that their heads being once 'dressed' for the day
+remain intact till night, a fact which I can easily credit,
+seeing that no ceole lady assumes either bonnet, hat,
+or other covering for the head, when she takes her walks
+abroad.</p>
+
+<p>But Doña Mercedes is not always such a helpless
+member of society as I have represented her. She is
+possessed of a warm, generous nature, and this quality
+often prompts the good lady to perform many useful acts
+of kindness and charity to those who are in need of her
+benevolence.</p>
+
+<p>Between one and three in the afternoon, Don Benigno
+and his family indulge in the wholesome luxury of a warm
+bath; for, despite the climate, a creole, when in town,
+rarely immerses his or her body in perfectly cold water.
+The water intended for bathing purposes is sometimes
+placed in the centre of the patio, or court-yard, where, under
+the powerful influence of the sun, it is soon warmed to any
+reasonable degree of temperature.</p>
+
+<p>Ablutions over, the indispensable siesta is enjoyed by
+everybody, on catres or in hammocks; for the heat of mid-day
+is insupportable, and repose after a bath is considered
+salutary.</p>
+
+<p>After the siesta, Doña Mercedes and her young daughters,
+accompanied by her adopted child&mdash;a girl of ten&mdash;do what
+the ladies of many other countries do late in the afternoon.
+They attire themselves fashionably and take a stroll in the
+Plaza or a drive in the Alameda, which is the Rotten Row
+of a Cuban town.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever shopping Doña Mercedes contemplates is
+effected in the cool of the early morning after her devotions
+at the church, whither she repairs at the hour of six
+<span class="smcap">A.M.</span> Church-going is a serious undertaking with the
+good lady. Firstly, she and her daughters must be becomingly
+attired, and on this occasion black lace veils are
+included in their toilettes. Besides prayer-books, rosaries,
+and fans, the devotees must be provided with small squares
+of carpet and toy-like chairs of papier maché inlaid with
+gold and pearl ornaments. These articles of furniture are
+conveyed to the sacred edifice by some young negress
+servants, for with the exception of a few wooden benches,
+a Cuban church offers no relief to the weary flesh.</p>
+
+<p>Having entered the church, Doña Mercedes proceeds to
+moisten the tips of her ungloved fingers in some holy
+water from a font, and after duly crossing herself, extends
+her hand to her daughters, who touch it and thus partake
+of the blessed liquid. The black attendants then spread
+the fragments of carpet, place the chairs, and retire to a
+dark corner of the building. The ceremonies begin. Doña
+Mercedes and her daughters follow the ecclesiastic in their
+miniature prayer-books, and alternately kneel and cross
+themselves when required to do so; gaze with a devout expression
+at their favourite saint, and tell their beads; take
+a mental note of their neighbours' dresses, fan themselves,
+and exchange nods of recognition with acquaintances&mdash;till
+a little bell from one of the side-chapels tinkles for the
+final ceremony of elevating the host.</p>
+
+<p>Matins over, the ladies betake themselves to the principal
+thoroughfares, where the best shops are to be found, and when
+their purchases have been made they return home, calling
+on the way at the houses of their friends.</p>
+
+<p>When there is no performance at the theatre or the promenade
+in the military square, Don Benigno holds a tertulia
+in his balcony.</p>
+
+<p>A tertulia is a reception, or social gathering, and may be
+held at any hour of the day; but the best time for a tertulia
+is the cool of the evening.</p>
+
+<p>The five o'clock dinner being over and digested, Don
+Benigno sallies forth&mdash;cigar in mouth&mdash;upon his covered
+balcony, or coridor, as it is called, which in length and
+breadth strikingly resembles the platform of a small railway
+station.</p>
+
+<p>'Traigan las balanzas!' drawls the Don, and in answer
+to his summons a couple of negroes appear with a number
+of rocking-chairs, which they place&mdash;when the moon is at
+its brightest&mdash;in a shady corner of the verandah. Here
+we all seat ourselves, and await the arrival of any guest
+who may 'drop in' for a sociable chat and a cigar.</p>
+
+<p>Don Francisco&mdash;the chief doctor of the town&mdash;is usually
+the first to appear. He is followed by Señor Esteban, the
+lawyer, Don Magin, the merchant, Don Felipe, the sugar-planter,
+and one or two young creoles whose avocations
+are doubtful. As each guest appears, everybody rises
+and salutes him elaborately. The visitors are all attired
+for the evening in black alpaca coats, white drill trousers,
+and waistcoats, patent leather thin-soled boots, and bran
+new 'bómbas'&mdash;a bomba being the slang term for a tall
+beaver hat.</p>
+
+<p>For some moments the company assembled remain
+speechless, and no sounds are heard in the silent evening
+but the swaying of the rocking-chairs and the creaking of
+the gentlemen's stiffly-starched trousers. Presently someone
+produces a neat home-made cigarette case, and before
+selecting a cigar or a cigarette for his own consumption
+offers it to all the males present, who accept of his generosity.
+The conversation, in which those who are not
+already asleep join, now becomes general. The weather, and
+the state of the coffee and cane crops, are all duly discussed,
+together with the theatre and the last ball at the Philharmonic.
+Politics are lightly touched upon, for two of
+the gentlemen present are Spaniards, and for obvious
+reasons a Cuban usually avoids all topics which concern
+the government of his country. Occasionally someone
+who is well-read in the day's newspaper, essays a mild
+discussion with somebody else who has not seen the paper
+for a week; but as Cuban periodicals are under official
+control, they are not remarkable for their political veracity,
+and the well-read member of the company usually gets the
+worst of the argument.</p>
+
+<p>Learning that my companion and I contemplate establishing
+a studio for the practice of our profession in the
+town, everybody offers us his advice, and recommends to
+our notice certain houses suitable for art purposes. Don
+Esteban, the lawyer, favours us with his legal opinion,
+reminding us of the law which prohibits a foreigner from
+setting up in business on his own account; but we assure
+him of our intention to 'go into partnership,' and that as
+one of us is a Cuban born, we have no uneasiness.</p>
+
+<p>It is considered fatal to sit under the rays of a Cuban
+moon, so when that luminary is visible to any occupant
+of the balcony, his rocking-chair is immediately shifted
+into a shadier part. But, in doing so, extreme care is
+taken lest the occupant should reseat himself with his back
+inclined in the least manner towards his neighbour, as a
+Cuban would rather suffer any personal inconvenience than
+be discovered in this impolite posture.</p>
+
+<p>No refreshment of any kind is offered by our host during
+the tertulia, but if one of the company feels thirsty he calls
+for a glass of iced water, which is accordingly brought to
+him by a slave, who, if necessary, qualifies the harmless
+beverage with 'panales,' which is a kind of cake prepared
+with white sugar.</p>
+
+<p>Other tertulias are being held at neighbouring houses.
+Those who have no balconies to boast of, place their
+rocking-chairs in the passage or hall of their dwelling, while
+others, who have neither the one accommodation nor the
+other, deposit their receptacles for the weary on the pavement
+in the street. The black domestics form a tertulia
+on the door-steps or squat together in dark unoccupied
+parts of the corridors. Their jabber is incessant and
+occasionally requires a gentle reminder. Sometimes one
+of their company essays a wild melody, accompanying his
+song on a primitive instrument of his own manufacture.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the evening the streets are utterly deserted,
+and as, moreover, they are badly illuminated with gas, the
+aspect on a dark night is not cheerful. But on a bright,
+moonlit night, such as that to which I have referred, artificial
+lighting is altogether dispensed with. The moon in
+the tropics is, for astronomical reasons, brighter than it is
+elsewhere; but as regards Cuba, another reason might be
+derived from the fact that, metaphorically speaking, a
+slave country and a badly governed one into the bargain,
+is about the darkest spot in the habitable globe. At least,
+in Cuba the lamp of Heaven shines with increased brilliancy,
+illuminating alike Spaniard, Cuban, freedman, and
+bondsman!</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">ART-PATRONAGE IN CUBA.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">Our Studio&mdash;Our Critics&mdash;Our Patrons&mdash;Still-Life.</p>
+
+
+<p>Assisted by Don Benigno's nephew Tunicú, Nicasio and
+I in time meet with a residence suitable for art purposes.</p>
+
+<p>Our habitation consists of six rooms on a single floor,
+with a wide balcony in front, and a spacious patio, or
+court-yard, at the back. We have no furniture worth
+mentioning; furniture in Cuba being represented by a few
+cane or leather-bottomed chairs, some spittoons, and a
+small square of carpet. But our walls are well hung with
+works of art in various stages of progress, which, in a great
+measure, compensate for the otherwise barren appearance
+of our apartments. Our studio is a spacious chamber on a
+level with the street which it overlooks. The windows
+occupy more than half of the wall space, are guiltless of
+glass, and are protected by iron bars. The accessories of
+our strange calling lend an interest to our domestic arrangements,
+and form a kind of free entertainment for the
+vulgar. To insure privacy, we have sometimes curtained
+the lower half of our enormous windows; but this contrivance
+has always proved ineffectual, for in the midst of
+our labour, the space above the curtains has been gradually
+eclipsed by the appearance of certain playful blacks who
+have clambered to the heights by means of the accommodating
+rails. Gentlemen of colour have little respect for
+the polite arts; they look upon our sanctum as a sort of
+permanent peep-show, and upon us as a superior order of
+photographers. Primed with these delusions our Spanish
+Sambo comes for his carte-de-visite at all hours of the
+sunny day, persuaded that we undertake black physiognomies
+at four dollars a dozen; and when we assure him
+that ours is the legitimate colouring business, and that we
+have no connexion with Señor Collodión up the street, our
+swarthy patron produces a ready-made black and white
+miniature of himself, and commissions us to colour it in
+our best manner.</p>
+
+<p>The press of Santiago dubs us 'followers of the divine
+art of Apelles,' and an inspection of our works of art is
+thus described in one of the local papers:</p>
+
+<p>'We have lately visited those industrious gentlemen Don
+Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú and El Caballero Inglés Don
+Gualterio who, as the public are aware, have established a
+studio in Cuba for the practice of the divine art of Raphael
+and Michael Angelo. It is the duty of every art-loving
+person to inspect all temples of the beautiful whether they
+be represented by the luxurious palaces of the great or the
+humblest cottages on earth. Knowledge reveals itself in
+the dullest as well as the brightest localities, for true genius
+can abide anywhere.</p>
+
+<p>'He who, like ourselves, has frequently traversed the
+Calle de Santa Rosa, must have observed that in that
+street stands a priceless casket, which being open leads to
+the studio of the two distinguished followers of the divine
+art of Apelles to whom we have referred.'</p>
+
+<p>After continuing to indulge in this poetical strain for
+another paragraph or two, the enthusiastic writer is recalled
+to his duties of art-showman, and proceeds to describe in
+glowing colours all that is contained in the 'priceless
+casket,' open for his inspection. He lingers lovingly over
+a large copy of Titian's 'Venus' which, together with other
+pictures and unfinished sketches, we had brought with us
+from Italy. He is perfectly enraptured with the charms of
+the painted goddess, from whom he can scarcely tear himself
+away even on paper, and he concludes with the
+remark that, 'after contemplating this life-like representation
+of nature, the spectator is disposed to touch the
+canvas to convince himself that what he beholds is merely
+a painted shadow of the reality!'</p>
+
+<p>Sketches and portraits next occupy his attention; 'and
+if,' he adds, 'the visitor's curiosity is not satisfied with the
+representations of men and women, he can relieve his
+vision by regarding beasts and birds, which, although
+only depicted upon canvas, appear to be endowed with
+animation!'</p>
+
+<p>In spite, however, of these and other published tributes
+to our genius, we find that high art, at least, does not pay
+in our part of the tropics. Regardless of posterity, therefore,
+we abandon the sublime, and offer our art services for
+anything that may present itself. A bonâ fide painter is
+a rarity in the town I am describing, so Nicasio and I are
+comparatively alone in the fine art field. Our patrons are
+numerous, but we are expected by them to be as versatile
+as the 'general utility' of theatrical life.</p>
+
+<p>Nicasio finds a lucrative post vacant at the public
+'Academy of Arts'&mdash;an institution supported by the
+municipality of the town. There is a great dearth of
+'professors of drawing,' owing to the sudden resignation of
+a gentleman who previous to our arrival had been the sole
+representative of 'the divine art of Apelles.' The academy
+is a dreary apology for a school of art. The accommodation
+is scanty, and the 'models' provided for the
+scholars or 'discipulos,' as they are grandly styled, consist
+wholly of bad lithographic drawings. The post of professor,
+however, yields a fair monthly stipend, and it being
+offered to and accepted by my companion, contributes no
+inconsiderable item towards our united income.</p>
+
+<p>We are overwhelmed with portrait work, but most of it
+is connected with defunct people, for we cannot induce our
+patrons to believe that a living person is a fit subject for
+our brush. And so it often happens that we are summoned
+from our homes, doctor-like, at all hours of the night, to
+hasten to the house of a moribund, for the purpose of
+making such notes as shall afterwards serve as guides for a
+replica of the late lamented in his habit as he lived.</p>
+
+<p>One of our first applicants for this kind of patronage is
+Don Magin, the merchant, whose acquaintance we have
+made at Don Benigno's tertulia. The Don stops me in
+the street one day, and with a disturbed countenance tells
+me that his only child&mdash;a girl of three&mdash;has been lately
+buried. Will I, or my partner, be so good as to restore
+her to life on canvas? I agree to undertake the work if
+Don Magin will provide me with a guide in the shape of a
+photograph.</p>
+
+<p>'I am sorry to inform you,' says the Don, 'that my poor
+child never sat for her photograph.'</p>
+
+<p>'Then,' I remark, 'I will be satisfied with a slight but
+faithful sketch, or even a coloured miniature.'</p>
+
+<p>'I regret that I cannot supply you with any representation
+of my departed daughter,' replies Don Magin.</p>
+
+<p>'How then can you expect to possess a portrait of her?'
+I enquire.</p>
+
+<p>'Easily enough,' he answers. 'It is true that I have no
+actual likeness of the child; but equally good guides are
+at your disposal. I can provide you with the little dress,
+the little hat, the little shoes and socks which she was accustomed
+to wear. I have also taken the measure of her
+height, and the size round her pretty waist. I can furnish
+you with minute particulars respecting the colour of her
+complexion, hair and eyes, and I will show you a lovely
+child who resembles my own in many ways. Besides this,
+my Engracia was considered to bear a strong likeness to
+her father. Make her appear so also in the painting; introduce
+the accessories which I have mentioned; take a
+notion or two from the girl that I will send, and I am
+convinced that the result will be satisfactory to both of us.'</p>
+
+<p>In vain do I endeavour to show the impossibility of such
+an achievement; the merchant will not hear of refusal, and
+as an inducement for me to make only a trial, he offers me
+a large price, promising to double the amount if I succeed
+to his liking.</p>
+
+<p>It is a source of infinite consolation to the distressed
+old gentleman&mdash;who by the way is very grey and wrinkled&mdash;when
+I finally agree to make a trial; but I warn him
+that his anticipations about the result will never be
+realised.</p>
+
+<p>Sanguine and happy, my strange patron departs, and in
+due course I receive the various articles he had specified.
+The pretty child serves well enough as a model for the
+proportions of the figure, and attired in the garb of her late
+lamented playmate, she enables me to devote every attention
+to the detail. I am also able to crown the little pink dress
+with an infantile face, whose hair, eyes, and complexion I
+colour according to instructions; and with the introduction
+of a landscape background and with a stray flower or two
+arranged in the foreground, the sum total is a pretty
+picture which, on that account, leaves at least a 'balance in
+my favour!'</p>
+
+<p>The portrait (?) having been placed in its gilded frame,
+my patron is invited to inspect it.</p>
+
+<p>For many long moments Don Magin contemplates the
+work without uttering a word. His countenance, which I
+watch with an anxious eye&mdash;as yet expresses neither
+approval nor the reverse.</p>
+
+<p>Does this portrait on my easel remind the bereaved
+parent of his lost offspring?</p>
+
+<p>It does! yes; there faithfully depicted are the very
+dress, the very little hat, and the still smaller shoes which
+she was wont to wear in life! The figure, complexion,
+colour of eyes and hair, are all hers to a shade. In short, a
+resemblance to his child gradually developes itself before the
+old gentleman's vision, till at last clasping both my hands,
+and with tears in his eyes, he declares that I have succeeded
+far beyond his best expectations.</p>
+
+<p>In this instance everything terminates like the last scene
+in the drama, where the aged father recognises his long lost
+child. But work of this nature does not always end so
+satisfactorily.</p>
+
+<p>Happily, portraiture is not our only resource. We hold
+important professorships in colleges, schools, and ladies'
+academies, where we impart every accomplishment in
+which drawing-paper and pencils are used, including the
+art of caligraphy, missal-painting, and designing for fancy
+needlework.</p>
+
+<p>Whenever a strolling company of Spanish players encamp
+for the season at the theatre, our services are required
+as the company's special scenic artists. The demand for
+scenery at the Teatro Real Cuba is, however, small; a
+divergence from its standard repertoire being considered as
+next to an infringement on public rights; so our labours
+rarely extend beyond an occasional property, or 'set' in
+the shape of a painted 'ancestor,' a practicable piece of
+furniture, or a bit of bank for introduction into the elegant
+saloon, the cottage interior, or the wood scene. Once only
+are our scenic services in special request for a fairy piece,
+which the manager has announced with 'entirely new decorations.'
+Though the public believe that four months
+have been employed in the preparations, we have barely as
+many days for the purpose, and during this short space we
+produce that gorgeous temple which is destined to form a
+conspicuous feature in the well-worn wood scene, and we
+add to the native charm of the elegant saloon and the
+cottage interior with suitable embellishments. Dutch
+metal and coloured foils, lavishly administered, cover a
+multitude of imperfections, and we have still the red fire
+and an indulgent public to fall back upon. Our efforts
+are rewarded by thunders of applause on the part of the
+audience, and eulogistic paragraphs in the local papers.</p>
+
+<p>To oblige our worthy friend Don Benigno we are, upon
+another occasion, induced to paint and embellish his quitrin&mdash;a
+two-wheeled carriage of the gig class, the component
+parts of which bear one to the other something of the
+proportions of a spider and his web; the body of the conveyance
+being extremely small, the shafts inconceivably long,
+and the wheels of a gigantic circumference. The street-doors
+of most Cuban houses are constructed with a view to
+the admittance of such a vehicle, which when not in use is
+carefully enveloped in brown holland, like a harp or a
+chandelier during the out-of-town season, and is deposited
+in the hall or passage of the threshold, and in some cases
+in a corner of the marble-paved reception room. The presence
+in our studio of Don Benigno's quitrin is therefore not
+very remarkable. Many weeks, however, elapse before we
+can get rid of this unsightly piece of furniture. Several
+coats of paint and varnish have to be applied, and innumerable
+coloured lines introduced, before it is ready to
+receive the more artistic touches. All devices connected
+with painting are by our Cuban patrons generalised under
+the head of 'paisaje' or landscape, and in the present instance
+the landscapes include two views of Don Benigno's
+crest together with his elaborate monogram.</p>
+
+<p>A couple of mulatto art-aspirants whom we graciously
+receive as disciples for one hour daily, help considerably in
+this undertaking, and take such an especial delight in it
+that it is a sorrowful day for them when Saturnine&mdash;Don
+Benigno's black postilion&mdash;comes to wheel away their
+handiwork.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">A CUBAN 'VELORIO.'</p>
+
+<p class="heading">More Still-Life&mdash;A Night Wake&mdash;Mourners&mdash;Doña Dolores&mdash;A Funeral
+Procession&mdash;A Burial.</p>
+
+
+<p>To be summoned from his couch at all hours of the night is
+not an uncommon occurrence with a medical man, but for
+a follower of 'the divine art of Apelles' to be thus disturbed
+in his slumbers is, to say the least of it, an unreasonable
+proceeding.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless one of us must rise and don his clothes at
+three <span class="smcap">A.M.</span>; for a black varlet has come to inform us that
+his 'amo,' Don Pancho Agüerro y Matos, has just died,
+and that his bereaved family are desirous of preserving
+his image on canvas. Nicasio and I, as usual, draw lots
+for the questionable privilege of immortalising the late
+lamented, and as this time I am the unfortunate winner,
+it behoves me to gather together the implements of our
+craft, attire myself in my darkest garments, and follow the
+sombre messenger of death to the house of mourning.</p>
+
+<p>Here a 'velorio,' or night-wake, for the departed is being
+held. The reception room is already crowded with the
+defunct's relatives and dearest friends, who are seated on
+chairs and low stools against the walls. As soon as I
+appear everybody rises in accordance with the polite
+custom of the country, and the chief mourners crowd around
+me and give expression to their grief in a variety of ways.
+Some clasp my neck and waist; others cling to my legs,
+and pointing to an adjoining chamber, they beseech me
+to restore the late lamented to life&mdash;on canvas.</p>
+
+<p>Encompassed as I am, it is no easy matter to reach the
+apartment where the deceased, surrounded by long wax
+candles and tall silver candlesticks, lies in state.</p>
+
+<p>Though my duties are confined to the portrayal of the
+inanimate face before me, I often pause to take mental as
+well as pictorial notes of the surroundings. I observe that
+the defunct is attired in a suit of black, which has doubtless
+been provided by the undertakers; for the clothes are
+much too wide for his wasted anatomy, and give him the
+appearance of a misfitted dissenting minister. I remark that
+the dead man's relatives and friends bear their loss bravely;
+for some are endeavouring to drown their sorrows in the cup
+that cheers, and in lively conversation. I am reminded of
+the popular theory that tobacco is a disinfectant, from the
+fact that most of the company, including the elderly ladies,
+are indulging in that luxury. Occasionally a tray of cigars
+is handed round together with coffee, chocolate, sweetmeats,
+and biscuits. I note that these convivialities are only interrupted
+when a visitor is announced. That upon these
+occasions the mourners are inspired to give loud expression
+to their grief. That the women shriek, rave, and occasionally
+vary their proceedings by swooning and going into
+hysterics. I observe that the new arrival is seized and
+surrounded as I had been and conducted into the chamber of
+death, where some of the mourners give vent to their sorrow
+by clasping the clerical-looking clothes or embracing the
+borrowed boots. I find that among the lady mourners the
+most demonstrative is Doña Dolores, who is said to be the
+nearest surviving relative of the departed; though from the
+language which she occasionally utters it is not clear to me
+what kind of relationship she claims.</p>
+
+<p>Whenever a new mourner appears, Doña Dolores, who
+has been hitherto silently seated behind me, springs to her
+feet and in the following terms apostrophises the dead:</p>
+
+<p>'Oh! Pancho. My little dear! (the defunct was a
+middle-aged gentleman). Answer me, my love. Where
+are you, my brother? Ah! it's all over with you now,
+Panchito. To-morrow you will be quite alone, with nobody
+to speak to you. Oh! my Panchito&mdash;my love&mdash;my life&mdash;my
+entraños! Pancho of my heart; of my soul! My
+brother&mdash;my son&mdash;my love&mdash;my father; for thou hast been
+more than father, lover, son, and brother to me!'</p>
+
+<p>After a short pause the lady breaks out afresh:</p>
+
+<p>'Virgen Santísima! Virgen de la Caridad! Where is
+my poor Panchito? What have you done with him?
+Where are you, Pancho? Answer me, my love! Maria
+Santísima; look at my poor brother all alone without the
+power to speak or rise! Make him answer me! Oh! my
+dear companion&mdash;my cousin&mdash;my godfather&mdash;mi compadre&mdash;my
+parent&mdash;my friend; speak! Tell me where you
+are! Come to me, my Pancho; my Panchito. Oh!
+Pancho&mdash;Pan-cho! Pa-n-n-cho!!'</p>
+
+<p>Once, in the middle of the lady's eloquence, the late Don
+Pancho startles everybody (myself included) by opening
+his mouth and drooping his head!</p>
+
+<p>In order to facilitate my operations, the body had been
+propped up in a sitting posture, but by some mishap the
+props had given way. Until the real cause of the displacement
+is made manifest, Doña Dolores is beside herself
+with joy. Her Pancho has been restored to life! Her
+beloved 'stepfather, spouse, and compatriot' will drive
+with her to the Alameda to-morrow! He shall have a
+cigar and a cup of coffee now, and his portrait shall not be
+painted!</p>
+
+<p>'Go,' says the Señora to me in a tone of authority; 'we
+don't want you any more. Panchito will accompany me to
+the photographer's, and save you the trouble!'</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately the lady's friends intercede at this moment;
+for finding that I do not obey her commands, the exasperated
+Señora makes a wild dash at my sketch-book; over-turning
+in her movements my box of colours and one
+of the long candlesticks! Convinced, however, of the
+truth, the poor lady is pacified, and resumes her place
+behind me.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the second day of the velorio, as I am
+putting the finishing touches to my sketch, certain strange
+ceremonies are observed.</p>
+
+<p>An undertaker's man is announced, and, apparently with
+no other object in view than to provide becoming robes
+of sable for the bereaved, proceeds to take the general
+dimensions of everybody present. But I observe that a
+separate length of white tape is employed in each case, and
+that when a sufficient number have been thus collected, the
+measures are consigned to the dead man's pockets, together
+with the mourners' white cambric handkerchiefs.</p>
+
+<p>When these and other curious ceremonials&mdash;the precise
+object of which I cannot for the life of me penetrate&mdash;have
+been enacted, more undertakers arrive and proceed
+to prepare the body for decent burial. There is much
+lamentation when the coffin is finally borne from the house.
+The women shriek and swoon, grovel on the ground, and
+tear their hair. As for Doña Dolores&mdash;she is inconsolable,
+and continues to harangue the remains until her speech is
+inarticulate and she is carried away in a fainting condition
+to her chamber.</p>
+
+<p>A procession, consisting of upwards of seventy mourners,
+follows on foot the richly-gilded and ornamented hearse.
+Everybody is attired in the deepest mourning, which, as
+fashions in Cuba go, includes a tall beaver hat adorned
+with broad crape, a black cloth coat and white trousers. The
+hired mutes, however, present a more sombre appearance,
+for not only are their habiliments black, but also their faces
+and bare hands; mutes in Cuba being represented by
+negroes of the darkest shade.</p>
+
+<p>The funeral procession now leads on in the direction of
+the cathedral, where mass for the dead is to be performed.
+Those who do not care to enter the sacred edifice will light
+their cigars and cigarettes, and will employ the interval
+which elapses before the burial service is over, by strolling
+about the neighbourhood, and chatting with acquaintances
+at their grated windows.</p>
+
+<p>Service being over, the funeral will proceed to the cemetery
+at St. Ana's. Arrived at the gates of the burial
+ground, everybody will return home without waiting for
+the interment, which in Cuba is performed by a couple
+of black sextons who, unattended by either priest, mourner,
+or any other person, lower the remains into the hole
+which has been dug for it!</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">CUBAN MODELS.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">Tropical Birds&mdash;The Cocos&mdash;La Grulla&mdash;Vultures&mdash;Street Criers&mdash;Water
+Carriers.</p>
+
+
+<p>My companion has a weakness for bird-painting, and it
+pleases him to have the living originals on the premises.
+Therefore does our spacious court-yard contain a goodly
+collection of the feathered tribe, with one or two animals
+without feathers. A large wirework aviary is filled with
+fifty specimens of tropical birds with pretty plumage and
+names hard to pronounce. A couple of cocos&mdash;a species
+of stork, with clipped wings&mdash;run freely about the yard, in
+company with a wild owl and a grulla, a tall crane-like
+bird five feet high. In a tank of water are a pair of young
+caymanes, or crocodiles. These interesting creatures are
+still in their infancy, and at present measure only four
+feet six inches from the tips of their hard noses to the
+points of their flexible tails. We have done our best to
+tame them; but they have not yet fallen into our domestic
+ways. Nor does time improve their vicious natures, for at
+the tender age of six months they have already shown
+signs of insubordination. If they persist in their evil
+courses we must needs make a premature end of them,
+which is no easy matter, for their scaly hides are already
+tough as leather, and the only indefensible parts about
+them are their small eyes and open mouths.</p>
+
+<p>The Cocos, male and female, are meagre-bodied birds,
+with slender legs, and beaks twelve inches long. They are
+an inseparable couple, and wander about our patio and
+rooms in a restless nervous fashion, rattling their chop-stick
+noses into everything. Now they are diving into the
+mould of flower-pots for live food, which they will never
+swallow till it has been previously slain. One of them has
+espied a cockroach in a corner, and in darting towards the
+prey a scorpion crosses its path. The venomous reptile
+hugs the belligerent beak in the hope of conveying to it
+some of its deadly sting; but the tip of Coco's horny appendage
+is a long way from his tender points, and Scorpio
+must travel many an inch before he can make the desired
+impression. Meanwhile the stork has teased Scorpio's life
+out, and jerked his remains into that bourn whence no
+defunct reptile returns. Our Coco's chief delight is to play
+with our painting materials, where much amusement may
+be derived by upsetting a bottle of varnish, or by distributing
+our long brushes in various parts of the room.</p>
+
+<p>A fund of entertainment is found in the displacement of
+every object not too weighty for Coco to convey. Thus,
+when a wineglass or a small coffee cup is missing, it will
+be discovered in the most unlikely spot, such as the
+balcony, on the roof, or maybe in our neighbour's dusthole.
+By Coco's sleight of <i>beak</i>, slippers part company and
+invite us to hunt for them, as if we were playing a certain
+old-fashioned game. As for the spoons, knives, and forks&mdash;they
+are disseminated everywhere like seeds in a ploughed
+field.</p>
+
+<p>Has anyone seen my inkstand?</p>
+
+<p>Yes; it has caught Coco's eye, and it has consequently
+been caught up by his chop-stick beak. With the agility
+of a sprite, he had hopped upon my open writing-desk,
+and having duly overhauled the contents and carefully
+transplanted each particular sheet of paper, envelope,
+pen and pencil, he devotes his attention to the ink; half
+of which he must surely have imbibed, for his beak remains
+parti-coloured for many days, and the inkstand, which I
+discover on the first fine 'retreta,' reposing within my best
+beaver hat, is perfectly empty!</p>
+
+<p>To their credit, be it said, the two Cocos&mdash;male and
+female&mdash;never for an instant part company. Where one
+trips, there trips the other. If Señor Coco starts off on any
+important enterprise, his Señora gives a croak expressive
+of her readiness to follow, and is after him like his own
+shadow. Similarly, when la Señora Coco dives into the
+depths of an old boot in quest of emptiness, her lord assists
+at the investigation.</p>
+
+<p>Once only, my Lady Coco is missing; having wandered
+from the house, and lost herself in an adjacent field. Until
+her reappearance, Lord Coco is inconsolable. The pastimes
+of the studio and the patio have no attractions for the
+bereaved bird. He fasts during the day, and croaks dismally
+at night. But when the prodigal at last returns,
+Lord Coco is quite another bird, and in a moment of
+rapture he secretes our last tube of flake white in the
+water-jug!</p>
+
+<p>The majestic Grulla is a better behaved bird. There is
+a dignity about her walk, and a formality about her ways,
+which are examples to her feathered companions. At
+night she is as serviceable as the best watch-dog, warning
+all trespassers by her piercing shriek, and by a furious
+dash at them with her strong neck and sharp-pointed
+beak. Grulla abominates all new-comers, and it was
+long before she was reconciled to the presence of her
+crocodile companions. When first their objectionable
+society was thrust upon the huge bird, she became nearly
+beside herself with vexation, and made savage onslaughts
+on the invaders' impenetrable hides. Once Grulla was in
+imminent danger of losing her neck whilst taking a blind
+header at the enemy's beady eye; for in a moment the
+reptile opened his yard of jaw for the easy accommodation
+of the bird's three feet of throat. My lady's behaviour at
+table leaves nothing to be desired. At the dinner hour
+she strides into our apartment without bidding, and takes
+her allotted place. The bird's two feet six inches of legs
+serve her instead of a chair, and her swan-like neck enables
+her to take a bird's-eye view of the most distant dish.
+But she never ventures to help herself to anything till the
+meal is actually placed on the plate before her; nor does
+she bolt her food like a beast, but disposes of it gracefully,
+like the best educated biped. Jerking the article for consumption
+neatly into her beak, and raising her head high
+in the air, she waits till the comestible has gravitated naturally
+down her throat. The Grulla's favourite dishes are
+sweet bananas, boiled pumpkin, and the crumb of new
+bread; but she is also partial to fresh raw beefsteak whenever
+she can get it.</p>
+
+<p>Everybody has his likes and his dislikes. Some people
+cannot abide a pig, and Grulla's antipathy is a big Aura.</p>
+
+<p>An Aura is a vulture which sails gracefully over every
+Cuban town in quest of prey. The Aura is an invaluable
+bird in the tropics; the dead carcases of animals being by
+its means cleared away in a few hours. Its services are,
+in this respect, rated at so high a value that it is considered
+an illicit act to slay one of these useful scavengers of the
+air, and a heavy fine is imposed on the slayer.</p>
+
+<p>Grulla, however, does not appreciate Aura's virtues; but
+whenever one of these vultures is visible from the patio,
+she shrieks like a maniac, flaps her large wings angrily,
+and turns wild pirouettes in the yard.</p>
+
+<p>Besides our bird-models, the street criers, who pass our
+doors at all hours, are occasionally induced to lend their
+services to the cause of art.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the morning la Lechera goes her rounds, with
+a large can of milk miraculously poised upon her head.
+The black milkmaid is attired in a single garment of
+cotton or coarse canvas; her feet and ankles are exposed,
+and her head is bound with a coloured handkerchief like a
+turban. We purchase daily of the Lechera a medio's worth
+of milk, but she grins incredulously, when one day we
+invite her to enter our studio. She is a slave belonging to
+the proprietor of a neighbouring farm, and what would
+'mi-amo,' her master, say, or more probably 'do,' if he heard
+that his serf employed her time by sitting for her
+'paisaje?'</p>
+
+<p>The Almidonero next favours us with a 'call.' This
+gentleman traffics in starch, an article in great demand,
+being employed for stiffening a Cuban's white drill clothes.
+The vendor of starch is a Chinese by birth, and, like other
+Celestials residing in Cuba, answers to the nickname of
+Chow-chow, from a popular theory that the word (which in
+the Chinese language stands for 'provisions') expresses
+everything in a Chinaman's vocabulary.</p>
+
+<p>Chow-chow carries upon his head a wooden tray, containing
+a number of circular pats of starch, of the consistency
+and appearance of unbaked loaves.</p>
+
+<p>The Panadero, or baker's man, visits us twice a day. In
+the cool of the early morning the little man&mdash;an Indian by
+birth&mdash;is extraordinarily active and full of his business, but
+during the heat of mid-day, when his visit is repeated, time
+to him seems of no importance. Our Indian baker is
+usually discovered sleeping a siesta on our broad balcony,
+and by his side lies a flat circular bread-basket as large as
+the wheel of a quitrin. Despite the scorching sun, he
+remains in this position hatless and bare-footed.</p>
+
+<p>La Cascarillera frequently passes our door with her
+double cry of 'Las Cosi-tas!'&mdash;'La Cascar-il-la!' The
+negress offers for sale a kind of chalk with which the ladies
+of Cuba are in the habit of powdering their faces and necks.
+She also sells what she calls 'cositas francesas,' which
+consist of cakes and tarts prepared by the French creoles
+of Cuba. Many of the less opulent Madamas of the town
+employ their time by making French pastry, which their
+slaves afterwards dispose of in the public streets.</p>
+
+<p>The Dulcera deals in 'dulces,' and her cry of 'Dulce de
+guayaba! Dulce de almiba!' proclaims that her tray
+contains various kinds of West Indian preserves. The
+Dulcera is also a slave, and consequently derives no pecuniary
+benefit from the sale of her sweets, unless, by pre-arrangement
+with her owner, a share in the profits has been
+allowed.</p>
+
+<p>El Malojero is a dark young gentleman who perambulates
+the town on the back of a mule&mdash;or more correctly on
+the summit of a small mountain of long, freshly-gathered
+grass. This grass, or 'maloja' as it is called, together with
+maize, constitute a Creole horse's fodder, and being packed
+in bundles on all sides of the beast of burthen, only the head
+and hoofs of the animal are visible; while el Malojero,
+perched several feet above its back, completes the moving
+picture.</p>
+
+<p>La Aguadora is perhaps the most attractive of all peripatetics
+of the pavement. It is she who provides the
+inhabitants with the indispensable fluid&mdash;water. The
+water supply of Cuba is derived from wells attached to
+certain houses; but those who, like ourselves, have not this
+convenience on the premises, have water brought to them
+from the nearest pump or spring. More than one Aguadora
+is employed to replenish our empty vessels, and, like
+all popular characters in Cuba, each is favoured with a distinguishing
+nickname. One of our water-carriers answers
+to the pseudonym Cachon, another is called Tatagüita,
+a third Mapí, while a fourth is dubbed with the imposing
+title of Regina. In turn, these mulatto wenches arrive
+from the public font with small barrels and strangely-fashioned
+water-jars, and deposit their contents in our
+reservoir and in our 'tina.'</p>
+
+<p>A tina is a filter on a gigantic scale. The exterior
+resembles a sentry box, and is furnished on all sides with
+ventilating apertures through which a current of air passes.
+At the top of the box or cupboard is fixed a huge basin
+made of a porous stone, through which the water slowly drips,
+and is received thus filtered in an enormous earthen jar.
+A tin pot with a very long handle serves to ladle out the
+filtered liquid, and the rim of this vessel is fringed with
+sharp projections like a chevaux de frise, as a caution to
+the thirsty not to apply their lips to the ladle!</p>
+
+<p>Our nymphs of the pump are more serviceable as models
+than any of their sister itinerants. They have symmetrical
+forms, which are partially revealed through the scantiness
+of their clothing. Their coffee-coloured features are,
+besides, regular and not devoid of expression.</p>
+
+<p>My companion becomes artistically captivated with
+Regina, who serves as a model for an important picture,
+which Nicasio paints, but unfortunately does not sell, in
+Cuba!</p>
+
+<p>Mapí, a mulatto girl of tender years, is equally serviceable,
+and plays many parts on canvas; while Cachon and
+Tatagüita, who are older and less comely, impersonate characters
+becoming their condition.</p>
+
+<p>But alas for art patronage in Cuba! these and other
+fanciful productions do not meet with a purchaser in the
+Pearl of the Antilles.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">CUBAN BEGGARS.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">Carrapatam Bunga&mdash;The Havana Lottery&mdash;A Lady Beggar&mdash;A Beggar's
+Opera&mdash;Popular Characters&mdash;Charity&mdash;A Public Raffle&mdash;The 'King of
+the Universe.'</p>
+
+
+<p>Despite the dearth of patrons for the 'legitimate' in art,
+my companion and I continue to occupy our leisure
+moments in collecting such material as may prove attractive
+in a more art-loving country. Suggestions for
+pictures and sketches are not, however, wholly derived
+from the street vendors I have described. The beggars of
+Cuba are equally worthy of places in our sketch-books.</p>
+
+<p>Spain's romantic 'Beggar on horseback,' in some respects
+meets with a prototype in her colony.</p>
+
+<p>That apparently hapless mendicant shuffling along the
+white, heated road of a narrow street, is a blind negro, with
+the imposing nickname of Carrapatam Bunga. He is
+attired in a clean suit of brown holland, and he wears a
+broad-brimmed panama. His flat, splay feet are bare,
+showing where one of his toes has been consumed by a
+nigua, a troublesome insect which introduces itself into the
+foot, and, if not eradicated in time, remains there to
+vegetate. Across his shoulders is slung a huge canvas bag
+for depositing comestible alms, and in his hand is a long
+rustic staff. Charity with a Cuban is a leading principle of
+his religion, and to relieve the indigent&mdash;no matter whether
+the object for relief be worthy or not&mdash;is next in importance
+to disburdening the mind to a father confessor.
+Mindful of the native weakness in this respect, Carrapatam
+Bunga bears his sorrows from door to door, confident that
+his affliction and his damaged foot will command pity
+wheresoever he wanders. But he is impudent, and a
+boisterous, swaggering fellow. Hear him as he demands
+compassion, with his swarthy, fat face upturned to the
+blazing sun, and with a long cigar between his bulging
+lips.</p>
+
+<p>'Ave Maria! here's the poor blind man; poor fellow!
+Give him a medio (a threepenny-piece) somebody. Does
+nobody hear him, el pobrecito? Come, make haste!
+Don't keep the poor fellow waiting. Poor Carrapatam
+Bunga! He is stone blind, poor fellow, and his feet are
+blistered and sore. Misericordia, señores. Barajo! why
+don't somebody answer? Which is mi s'ñora Mercedes'
+house? Will somebody lead me to it? Mi s'ñora Mercedes!'</p>
+
+<p>Bunga knows most of his patrons by name. Doña
+Mercedes appears at her iron-grated window, through the
+bars of which the benevolent lady offers a silver coin
+and a small loaf.</p>
+
+<p>'Gracias, mi s'ñora; Dios se la pague su merced! (May
+Heaven reward your worship.) Who's got a light for the
+poor ciego?'</p>
+
+<p>Somebody favours the ciego with a light, and Carrapatam
+Bunga goes on his way smoking and humming a tune, and
+presently harangues in another street.</p>
+
+<p>Will it be believed that this wanderer has a farm in the
+country, with slaves in his employ, and hundreds of dollars
+in his exchequer? When not on beggar-beat, Bunga
+retires to his possessions, where he lives luxuriously.</p>
+
+<p>Like some of his begging fraternity, the negro occasionally
+varies his mendicant trade by offering for sale lottery
+tickets bearing what he calls 'lucky numbers.' The
+Havana lottery is a great institution in Cuba, and has
+an extraordinary fascination for rich as well as poor.
+Each ticket costs seventeen dollars, and is printed in such
+a form as to be susceptible of division into seventeen parts,
+so as to suit all pockets. The prizes vary from 100
+to 100,000 dollars, and there are two 'sorteos,' or draws,
+monthly. On each occasion 35,000 tickets are offered
+for sale, and out of this number 600 are prizes. He whose
+number happens to approach within ten paces of the 100,000
+dollar, or 50,000 dollar prize, receives a gratuity of 200
+dollars as a reward for being 'near the mark.'</p>
+
+<p>This lottery is a source of revenue to the Spanish
+state in Cuba, which claims a fourth share of the products
+yielded by the sale of tickets. As an instance of
+the enormous capital sometimes derived from this source,
+it is said that in a certain prosperous year, 546,000 tickets
+brought to the Havana treasury no less than 8,736,000
+dollars!</p>
+
+<p>Our friend Carrapatam Bunga often invests in fragments
+of unsold tickets, and on one occasion he drew a prize to
+the value of 700 dollars, which good luck, together with
+his beggar savings, enabled him to purchase a farm and to
+hire a few labourers to work it with. Whether from habit
+or from love of gain, Bunga never forsook his favourite
+vocation, but continued to bear his sorrows from door to
+door, as if they still belonged to him.</p>
+
+<p>In Cuba, at least, beggars may be said to be choosers.
+Saturday is the day which they prefer for transacting their
+business, because it precedes Sunday, when the faithful
+attend high mass in the church, and go to confession.
+Except on Saturday, and on some festive occasions, it is a
+rare event for a beggar to be seen asking alms in the public
+streets.</p>
+
+<p>Every Saturday morning I pay my respects to Don
+Benigno and his amiable señora, Doña Mercedes, who, as I
+have already explained, keep open house in more than one
+way; the huge doors of their habitation being ajar at all hours.
+As I sit chatting with my worthy hostess, the street door&mdash;which
+has direct communication with the reception room&mdash;is
+boldly thrown open, and a white lady, attired in well-starched
+muslin, and adorned with jewels, enters. I rise,
+in accordance with the polite custom of the country, while
+Don Benigno offers the visitor a rocking-chair. The conversation
+proceeds on subjects of general interest, in which
+the visitor joins. Curiously, I am never introduced to the
+lady in muslin; but the unusual behaviour of my host is
+soon accounted for. After a few minutes the stranger
+señora rises, and approaching Doña Mercedes, offers her
+hand. Doña Mercedes does not take the proffered palm,
+but simply places upon it a piece of silver coin of the value
+of a franc.</p>
+
+<p>'May Heaven reward you,' says the lady-beggar, and
+takes her gift and her leave without another word.</p>
+
+<p>Something like a Beggars' Opera may be realised whilst
+sitting before Don Benigno's huge window on Saturday
+morning, and watching the thriftless performers as they
+pass. The entertainment 'opens' at the early hour of six
+<span class="smcap">A.M.</span>; from that time till the Cuban breakfast-hour of
+eleven, we are treated with begging solos only: mendicants
+who stand and deliver monologues like Carrapatam Bunga
+or Muñekon&mdash;an equally popular beggar. Sometimes the
+applicant for charity announces himself with a bold bang
+on the door, followed by the pious ejaculation, 'Ave
+Maria!' The lame, or otherwise afflicted, are content
+with simply directing attention to their misfortunes, while
+the less 'favoured' attract public regard by humming a
+wild air, to which a gibberish libretto is attached, or by
+descanting upon social and political matters. The ill-paved
+condition of the Cuban streets, the inefficient supply of
+water, the bad lighting of the town at night, the total
+absence of anything like proper drainage, are favourite
+topics with these open-air orators.</p>
+
+<p>Like other Cuban celebrities, a characteristic <i>nom de
+guerre</i> is invented for every beggar.</p>
+
+<p>That brown complexioned lady with a man's straw hat
+on her head, and a faded cotton gown clinging to her
+shrunken form, is called Madama Chaleco, from a popular
+tradition that the old lady formerly donned a man's waistcoat
+or chaleco. From this cause she has become the butt
+of every street boy, who irritates the poor mulatto woman
+into frenzy by shouting her nickname in a derisive tone.
+The Madama has resided only a few years in Cuba; her
+birthplace being some neighbouring island where English
+and French are spoken: these languages being perfectly
+familiar to the old lady.</p>
+
+<p>Madama Pescuezo is another foreign importation, and
+her alias is founded on a long sinewy throat or pescuezo
+which the dame possesses.</p>
+
+<p>Isabel Huesito is famous for her leanness, and hence the
+appellation: huesito, or skinny.</p>
+
+<p>Madama Majá is said to have magic dealings with
+snakes or majás.</p>
+
+<p>Gallito Pigméo is noted for his shortness of stature and
+his attributes of a chicken.</p>
+
+<p>Barrigilla is pot-bellied, and El Ñato has a flatter nose
+than his black brethren.</p>
+
+<p>Carfardóte, Taita Tomás, Macundú, Cotuntum, Carabela
+Zuzundá, Ña Soledad, and Raton Cojonudo, are each named
+after some personal peculiarity.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes whole sentences stand as nicknames for these
+popular characters.</p>
+
+<p>Amárrame-ese-perro is applied to a beggar who, like
+most negroes, has a dread of dogs, and his repeated, and
+often causeless, cry of 'Chain me up that dog!' earns for
+him this imposing title.</p>
+
+<p>Another equally nervous negro fears horse-flesh, and his
+constant ejaculation of 'Pull up! you horse-faced animal,'
+gains him the nickname of Jála-pa-lante-cara-de-caballo!</p>
+
+<p>Our Beggars' Opera concludes with a brilliant chorus of
+mendicants, who, at twelve o'clock, visit their patrons in
+large companies. At that hour, one of Don Benigno's slaves
+enters with a large flat basket containing a quantity of small
+two-penny loaves, which the negro places upon the marble
+floor in front of the open door. Soon a crowd of beggars of
+all shades and castes, who during the last half-hour have
+been squatting in a row under the broad shade of the opposite
+houses, approach, and, without bidding, help to empty
+the capacious bread-basket. Further up the street they go,
+picking up more crumbs at rich mansions, whose owners
+occasionally vary their entertainment by providing for
+their vagrant visitors a little 'ajiaco,' or native soup.</p>
+
+<p>Cuban people are not fond of bestowing their charity
+through the medium of a public institution. The only
+place of the kind in that part of Cuba which I am
+describing is called the Beneficencia, or almshouse, which
+is under the superintendence of the Sisters of Charity.
+Wealthy ladies contribute largely towards the support of
+this establishment, but, in order to provide funds, public
+raffles are indispensable. Nothing succeeds in Cuba so
+well as something in which chance or luck, combined with
+amusement, is the inducement of the venture, and a raffle
+in aid of funds for the famished is always popular.</p>
+
+<p>Doña Mercedes, the most benevolent of ladies, tells me
+that she and the prosperous Señoras already referred to
+have in project a grand bazaar for the benefit of the poor,
+to which everybody is expected to contribute. The articles
+received for the purposes of the bazaar are to be exhibited
+in one of the big saloons of the Governor's house, which
+overlooks the Plaza de Armas, and they will be raffled for
+during three special evenings. For weeks Doña Mercedes
+and her charitable sisters are busy collecting and numbering
+the contributions as they arrive, or twisting the
+paper chances into the form of cigar lights.</p>
+
+<p>The military square presents an animated scene on the
+evenings of the raffle. Twelve tables, bearing rich cloths
+and silver candelabra, are distributed about the broad promenade
+of the plaza. Around each table are seated a
+score of the fairest of Cuba's daughters, elegantly attired
+in evening costume, without any head-covering, and with
+only a scarf or shawl lightly protecting their fair shoulders.
+Doña Mercedes looks charming in a pink grenadine dress,
+and with her luxuriant black hair tastefully arranged, as a
+Cuban Señora alone knows how. Each lady adopts her
+most insinuating manner in order to dispose of her twisted
+tickets, the greater portion of which contain, of course,
+blanks, or a consolatory couplet, like a motto in a cracker,
+for the gratification of the unsuccessful purchaser. There
+is loud cheering when a prize is drawn, especially if it
+happen to be of importance, like the 'grand prize,' which
+consists of a prettily worked purse containing six golden
+onzas (twenty pounds sterling).</p>
+
+<p>Crowds of beggars are assembled within range of the
+plaza, and some of them occasionally invest in a medio or
+peseta's worth of tickets, but as coloured people are never
+permitted to mix with white folk in public, their tickets
+are handed to them by officials appointed for that purpose.
+Some of these blacks are 'retired' slaves: in other words,
+negroes who have become free, either by devoting the
+savings of many years to the purchase of their liberty, or by
+having their freedom left them as a legacy by an indulgent
+master. Those who have ability and industry make the
+most of their precious gifts by devoting their energies to
+trade or to music, for which accomplishment negroes have
+often a natural inclination; but the infirm or the inactive&mdash;and
+of these there is always a majority&mdash;are reduced to
+penury, in which condition they fall naturally into begging
+ways, and prosper accordingly.</p>
+
+<p>That intelligent-looking black who craves of me a peseta
+in order to buy a small bundle of tickets for the raffle, is a
+well-known beggar. His name is Roblejo, and he owes
+his freedom to the publication of a book of poems written
+by himself. Assisted by a benevolent <i>littérateur</i>, Roblejo
+was enabled to put his poetic lucubrations into readable
+form, and the novelty taking the public fancy, subscribers
+were found sufficient for the purpose of printing the book,
+and effecting the author's emancipation.</p>
+
+<p>'Holá, Don Pancho! How goes it with thee?' The
+individual whom I address is probably the most popular
+beggar in the town. His real name is Pancho Villergas,
+but he is commonly known as El Rey del Orbe (the King
+of the Universe). I have often endeavoured to secure a
+faithful likeness of this illustrious gentleman, but Pancho
+cannot be prevailed upon to sit either to an artist or to a
+photographer. Whenever the subject is broached by me,
+El Rey del Orbe grins, shakes his head knowingly, and
+observes, in the only English with which he is conversant:</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, ye&mdash;s; vary vel, no good, good mornin'.'</p>
+
+<p>Pancho is a genuine white man, but age and exposure to
+the sun and wind have bronzed him to a mulatto colour.
+He has a picturesque Saint Francis beard, and a benign,
+strongly marked countenance. He wears a coat purposely
+patched with many shaded cloths; each shade being considered
+by him to represent one of his numerous dominions.
+Being buttoned up to his neck, the coat gives him a military
+appearance, while it economises his linen. Upon his
+head is a tall beaver hat, which has seen better days, but
+which the Universe-King is careful to keep well brushed.
+Pancho is slightly crazed, and his monomania consists
+in the belief that he is not a beggar, but a benefactor to
+his country. With this notion, no persuasion will induce
+him to accept a donation in the shape of coin. Those
+who are acquainted with Pancho's weakness, and desire
+to relieve his wants, must do so through the medium
+of stratagem. If they succeed in imposing upon El
+Rey del Orbe by prevailing upon him to 'borrow' food
+or raiment, they consider themselves amply rewarded for
+their act of charity. The only article which the King of
+the Universe will deign to accept is foolscap writing-paper,
+because he believes that the use to which he applies it will
+be beneficial to mankind in general, and to Cuba in particular.
+He fills his foolscap with correspondence, which he
+addresses to the highest authorities; the favoured recipients
+being His Excellency the Governor, the alcalde mayor,
+and members of the town council. Whenever any political
+or social question is raised, the King of the Universe is
+sure to despatch an important document bearing his
+opinion and advice. His majesty is usually his own letter-carrier,
+unless he can meet with a trustworthy messenger
+in the shape of a priest, an officer, or a policeman. The
+matter contained in these momentous memorials occupies
+from eighteen to twenty closely-written sheets, and is
+always prefaced with the imposing heading: 'Yo, el Rey'
+(I, the King).</p>
+
+<p>Pancho's indigence and infatuation have a romantic
+origin. This old, shabby-looking object before me was at one
+time a well-to-do planter, and held a high position among
+merchants. One fatal day he became enamoured of a
+creole coquette, who cruelly jilted him. The disappointment
+turned his brain. People attributed his harmless
+insanity to eccentricity, and merchants transacted business
+with him as of old, till one heartless scoundrel, taking
+advantage of his misfortune, swindled him out of a large
+sum of money, and this deed eventually led to Pancho's
+insolvency and utter ruin.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">THE BLACK ART IN CUBA.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">A Model Mulatto&mdash;A Bewitched Watchman&mdash;Cuban Sorcery&mdash;An Enchanted
+Painter.</p>
+
+
+<p>It is not always easy to secure the services of a better
+class of model than our peripatetic of the pavement.
+Before we can induce such a person to walk into our
+studio, many arts, unconnected with our calling, must be
+employed, especially if the object of our solicitation happen
+to be young and fair. Having directed our professional
+gaze upon such a Señorita, it behoves us first to visit her
+family, and make friends with her parents, brothers or
+sisters, in order that their consent may be easily and naturally
+obtained. Thus, when I cast my artistic eye upon the
+pretty Perpetua, I have to proceed with extreme caution,
+lest her parents should misinterpret the nature of my
+demand. For Perpetua belongs to the octoroon 'species'
+of mulatto. Her father is a white man, and her mother is
+a free-born quadroon-woman, and they reside with their
+daughter in an humble dwelling near our studio. Don
+Ramon being a small tobacconist, and his wife, Doña
+Choncha, a laundress, we have sometimes patronised the
+little family, and in this manner I make the acquaintance
+of my future model. It is, however, far from easy to persuade
+the old lady that my admiration for her daughter is
+wholly confined to the picturesque; for when I broach the
+model-subject, Doña Choncha smiles incredulously, and
+says she will consult her friends. While she is doing so,
+an extraordinary revelation respecting the brown old dame
+is made to me by Mateo, the 'sereno' or watchman of our
+district.</p>
+
+<p>Armed with a pike, lantern, revolver, and coil of rope
+for pinioning purposes, the watchman wanders about our
+neighbourhood, halting every quarter of an hour to blow a
+shrill whistle to inform the inhabitants of the time of
+night, and whether it is 'sereno' (fine) or 'nublado' (cloudy).</p>
+
+<p>One dark night the sereno pauses before our balcony, and
+after assuring the somnolent, in recitative, that it is 'three-quarters
+past eleven and nu-bla-do!' approaches me, and in
+a mysterious whisper enquires whether I carry 'contradaños,'
+or charms against evil, about my person. Finding that
+I do not possess such articles, the watchman recommends
+me to apply without delay for a talisman or two. Raw
+mustard, powdered glass, and sulphur, he says, are highly
+effectual as charms. At that very moment Mateo's
+pockets are full of these safeguards, and when threatened
+with any danger, he has only to sprinkle around him some
+of the antidote against evil.</p>
+
+<p>The watchman then tells me that Doña Choncha is in
+league with 'brujas' (witches), and that if I continue to
+visit at her house I shall do well to take the precautions
+he has suggested.</p>
+
+<p>Mateo is himself a firm believer in the Black Art,
+and gives me some interesting particulars respecting a
+secret society of sorcerers, who hold certain midnight
+revels in an empty saloon of a house somewhere in the
+town. There is a kind of freemason mystery attached to
+their proceedings, and none but members are in the secret.
+It appears, however, that their dark deeds consist chiefly in
+a dead-of-night dance around a defunct 'majá' or enchanted
+snake, by a number of people, most of whom are
+attired in nature's vestments.</p>
+
+<p>The watchman likewise tells me that the practice of
+witchcraft in Cuba is sometimes attended with serious and
+fatal consequences, and that crimes of the worst description
+are frequently the result of it. An individual unwittingly
+takes his neighbour's life in obedience to commands
+from a sanguinary sorcerer, who requires a certain
+weight of human blood to complete the ingredients of an
+enchanted preparation. 'Bring me a couple of handfuls
+of hair, and four ounces of blood from Fulano,' says the
+weird, who has been applied to for spiritual absolution,
+'and I will prepare you a contradaño&mdash;a charm&mdash;that shall
+rid you of your evil genius, and help you out of your
+present difficulty.' Fulano objects to part with his 'personal'
+property, when the request is made to him in a friendly
+way; so he gets a hard knock on the head one day, when
+he least expects it, and if he escapes with his life he is
+lucky.</p>
+
+<p>Such instances of witchcraft as these, the sereno says,
+are found only among the coloured population of Cuba,
+and when discovered the perpetrators of the nefarious acts
+are brought to justice and severely punished; but belief in
+necromancy exists even among the more enlightened inhabitants
+of Cuba, and it is far from uncommon to hear of
+highly respectable whites taking part in the practice of it.</p>
+
+<p>Mateo then gives me his own personal experiences of
+the Black Art as a warning against the danger which, he
+says, will surely threaten me if I continue to visit the
+tobacconist family.</p>
+
+<p>The watchman assures me that for many long weeks he
+had laboured under the depressing influence of a spell. The
+unfortunate occurrence began with an anonymous letter
+conveying the unwelcome information that a certain
+enemy of Mateo's was engaged in brewing some dreadful
+mischief for his especial benefit. In his professional
+capacity, the watchman has more than one foe in the
+town, and it is therefore difficult to 'spot,' and afterwards
+capture, the actual offender. The warning letter, however,
+admonishes him that so long as he does not walk in a
+certain locality, no harm to him can possibly accrue. It is
+not easy for Mateo to avoid the indicated thoroughfare, as
+it happens to come exactly within our watchman's beat at
+night; but he surmounts the obstacle at the risk of incurring
+his employers' displeasure, by exchanging beats with
+a brother watchman. The irregular act is, however, made
+known to the authorities, and Mateo is threatened with
+instant dismissal if he persists in avoiding the street in
+question. Fortunately, the sereno receives a second missive
+from the anonymous correspondent, containing the assurance
+that there is still hope for immediate and radical disenchantment
+if Mateo will only follow the writer's advice.
+This consists, first of all, in depositing a piece of coin under
+the door of his correspondent's habitation. At an early
+hour, the money will disappear through some unseen
+agency, and will afterwards be consigned to a disenchanting
+locality in the Cuban bay. The sereno is next enjoined
+to examine the lining of his bran-new panama, which he
+has lately purchased to wear only on festive occasions. If
+all goes well, he will assuredly discover certain black pins
+and human hairs crossed, entwined and affixed in a peculiar
+fashion to the crown of his hat. The same evil omens will
+likewise appear at the ferule end of his gold-knobbed
+walking-stick. Satisfied that there is 'no deception,' the
+proprietor of the enchanted hat and cane wraps up those
+articles carefully in several folds of paper, according to
+instructions, and early one Sunday morning deposits the
+parcel in a certain hole in an undesirable field on the
+confines of the town.</p>
+
+<p>'When I had done so,' concludes the watchman, pausing
+to inform the inhabitants that it is three-quarters past midnight
+and nu-bla-do!&mdash;'when I had done so, I walked
+without fear along the forbidden street, and I have walked
+there in safety ever since!'</p>
+
+<p>The watchman enjoins me to be warned by his story,
+and once more advises me to provide myself with a few
+contradaños.</p>
+
+<p>'Had I taken the same precautions,' observes Mateo,
+'I should have escaped all my troubles.'</p>
+
+<p>'And preserved your panama and gold-headed cane!'
+I add.</p>
+
+<p>'Past one o'clock and seren-o!' sings the watchman
+as he takes his leave of me.</p>
+
+<p>My interest in the tobacconist's family is considerably
+increased by what I have heard, and my visits are none the
+less frequent because of the friendly admonitions which I
+have received. I do not provide myself with the talismans
+which the sereno has recommended; but I watch the old
+lady's ways more narrowly than I have before done, till I
+begin at last to detect something like a malignant expression
+in her shrunken, yellow-brown countenance.</p>
+
+<p>I observe no change in her pretty daughter, though I
+must confess that in one way, at least, La Perpetua is
+more 'charming' than ever. The young girl is full of her
+approaching 'fiesta,' or saint's day, which annual event is to
+be celebrated by an afternoon ball and early supper at her
+humble home. The presents she expects to receive in the
+shape of trays of dulces and confectionary will, she assures
+me, exceed those of the past fiesta. Perpetua is the
+acknowledged belle of the 'barrio,' or district, where she
+resides, and she has many admirers. But unfortunately
+the young creole is not so white as her fair complexion
+would lead one to suppose. Don Ramon is undoubtedly a
+white man, but his wife belongs to the mulatto tribe, and
+Perpetua's origin is unquestionably obscure. Still Doña
+Choncha has great hopes that her pretty daughter will
+command a white alliance among her husband's friends
+in spite of this drawback, and it is whispered that the
+ambitious old dame has her eye upon more than one
+eligible suitor for her child's whitey-brown hand.
+Mateo, the watchman&mdash;ever hard on Doña Choncha&mdash;declares
+that it is her 'evil eye' that is being exercised in
+Perpetua's behalf; but I heed him not, though I am
+now more than ever cautious in my behaviour at the
+tobacconist's.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever truth there may be in the watchman's assertion
+that I am the object of enchantment, at present I have
+received no practical evidence of it. When I probe Perpetua
+privately on the subject, I find that she has little to
+tell, except that her mother is in the habit of visiting a
+locality in the town unknown to Perpetua and Don Ramon,
+and that, upon one occasion, she administered a harmless
+drug to her daughter, assuring her that it was a protection
+against cholera.</p>
+
+<p>As for Don Ramon&mdash;that good-natured gentleman is altogether
+a disbeliever in witchcraft, and though he admits
+that the art is popular among a certain class in Cuba, he is
+of opinion that the Cuban bruja, or witch, is simply a high
+order of gipsy, whose chief object is pecuniary gain. The
+government of the country, with its accustomed inertness,
+has not yet established a law for the suppression of this
+evil; 'and so,' says the tobacconist, 'sorcery flourishes,
+and the brujas prosper.'</p>
+
+<p>I am beginning to abandon all hope of obtaining La
+Perpetua for a model, when one day I receive an anonymous
+letter, the handwriting and diction of which seem
+to be the production of an uninstructed Ethiop. The
+writer assures me that somebody or other is at present
+engaged in the useful occupation of working for my
+complete overthrow and subjugation, and that if I
+require further particulars on the subject I may easily
+obtain them for the small consideration of a 'punctured
+peseta' (a coin with a 'lucky' hole in it).</p>
+
+<p>When I exhibit the mysterious document to the watchman,
+that individual is of course highly pleased to find that
+I have, at last, received some evidence of the existence of
+such mighty people as brujas, and his advice resolves
+itself, as usual, into sulphur and powdered mustard. He
+has now not the least doubt that Doña Choncha has made
+application to the brujas for a spell, and he recommends
+me to pay the peseta asked of me by my anonymous correspondent.</p>
+
+<p>A communication from a live witch is worth all the
+money demanded for it, and I accordingly place the coin, as
+directed, in a crevice under my door. Sure enough, it disappears
+before daylight, and in return I obtain a second
+sheet of magic manuscript, which, like its predecessor, is
+unpleasantly greasy to the touch and offensive to the
+nose; but it is full of information, and concludes with an
+offer to effect my permanent disenchantment if I will but
+follow the writer's instructions. If I am disposed to do
+so, I must first meet the writer, or his deputy, alone in a
+certain unfrequented locality of the town at a late hour;
+arming myself with a contradaño in the shape of a media
+onza. Thirty-four shillings may appear a high rate for
+disenchantment, but the watchman assures me that the
+operation often costs four times that amount, and that if
+the unknown bruja fulfils his promise I shall have made a
+great bargain. As I do not value my malignant spirit at
+any price, I decline for the present to avail myself of this
+opportunity to be relieved of it.</p>
+
+<p>My occupations prevent me from paying my accustomed
+visits at the tobacconist's for some days, but one sunny
+morning I venture to look in at the little establishment.</p>
+
+<p>Don Ramon, I am told, is passing some weeks at his
+'vega,' or tobacco farm; but his black assistants are at their
+wooden benches as usual, rolling tobacco leaves into cigars.
+I pass through the section of a shop (which has neither
+wall nor window in front of it) into the inner apartment,
+usually occupied by Doña Choncha and her daughter, and
+find the former engaged in sorting tobacco leaves on the
+brick-floor, and the latter in swaying and fanning herself in
+a cane rocking-chair. Both ladies salute me respectfully,
+and make kind enquiries after my health. These formalities
+over, Doña Choncha collects together her tobacco
+leaves, and, without a word of explanation, adjourns to the
+'patio.' For the first time, since my acquaintance with the
+tobacconist's family, I am left alone with the pretty Perpetua!</p>
+
+<p>All is not well with her weird-looking mother, as I very
+shortly have reason to find. I have been scarcely ten minutes
+in Perpetua's agreeable society, when she is summoned by
+her mother to the court-yard. Upon her return I am offered
+some 'refresco,' made from the juicy fruit of the guanabana.</p>
+
+<p>'Who mixed this drink?' I enquire, after taking a sip
+of it.</p>
+
+<p>'La máma mixed it,' replies Perpetua.</p>
+
+<p>Has the old hag added some infernal drug to the refreshment?
+I wonder; for there is something besides guanabana
+in the libation!</p>
+
+<p>While I am speculating about this, lo! a strange odour
+is wafted into the little chamber, and presently some
+smoke is seen to issue from an aperture in the door.</p>
+
+<p>Is the house on fire? Perpetua is again summoned by
+Doña Choncha; but before leaving the apartment she
+begs me not to be alarmed, as it is only her mother at her
+duties. I would willingly believe what she says, but being
+sufficiently familiar with the process of drying tobacco
+leaves, I am convinced that sulphur, hair, mustard, and
+heaven knows what besides, are not employed in it. The
+fumes of these burning substances are, however, entering
+the apartment, and the atmosphere is most oppressive&mdash;so
+much so, that my pulse beats high, and my head begins to
+swim.</p>
+
+<p>Without waiting another moment, I seize my walking-stick
+and panama hat, and escape from the enchanted
+chamber into the street. The hot air does not dispel the
+giddy feeling which had come over me, and not until I have
+reached my well-ventilated abode, changed my damp linen,
+and sponged my fevered body with 'aguardiente' and water,
+do I feel myself again. I am better still after having taken
+a refreshing siesta in my swinging hammock, in which condition
+I dream of black pins, burnt hair, raw mustard, and
+sulphur. When I awake, I examine carefully the lining of
+my panama, and the ferule end of my walking-stick, to
+satisfy myself that no burglarious bruja has taken advantage
+of my repose to tamper with my property. But whether it
+is that my stick and hat are of no great value, or that the
+defences of our studio are impregnable, no bruja has
+offered to take 'charge' of these things by labelling them
+with their infernal tickets.</p>
+
+<p>My partner, to whom I record the events of the day, is
+of opinion that if all models are as difficult to secure as La
+Perpetua, we had better abandon our researches in this
+direction, and abide by our street criers and mendicants.
+He also suggests a little landscape-painting by way of
+variety, and, with this object in view, we plan certain
+walking expeditions into the surrounding country. What
+subjects for landscape pictures we meet with, and
+whether or not we are more successful in our quest after
+inanimate nature, will be told in another chapter.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">A TASTE OF CUBAN PRISON-LIFE.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">Two Views of the Morro Castle&mdash;The Commandant&mdash;The Town Jail&mdash;Cuban
+Policemen&mdash;Prisoners&mdash;A Captive Indian&mdash;Prison Fare&mdash;A Court
+of Justice&mdash;A Trial&mdash;A Verdict.</p>
+
+
+<p>I dream that I am Silvio Pellico, that the prisoner of
+St. Helena is my fellow-captive, and that an apartment
+belonging to the Spanish Inquisition is our dormitory.
+Clasps of iron eat their way into our ankles and wrists;
+gigantic rats share our food; our favourite exercise is
+swinging head downwards in the air, and our chief
+recreation is to watch the proceedings of tame spiders.</p>
+
+<p>I awake and find my bed unusually hard. My bed-clothes
+have vanished, and in their stead are a couple of
+hard benches, with my wearing apparel rolled up for a
+pillow. By a dim light I observe that my apartment is
+remarkably small, bare, damp, and dome-shaped. The
+window is a barred aperture in the door; is only a foot
+square, and looks on to the patio, or narrow passage,
+where unlimited wall stares me in the face. Do I still
+dream, or is this actually one of 'le mie prigioni'? I rub
+my eyes for a third time, and look about the semi-darkened
+vault. Somebody is snoring. I gaze in the
+direction whence the sound proceeds, and observe indistinctly
+an object huddled together in a corner. So, this is
+no dream, after all; and that heap of sleeping humanity
+is not Napoleon, but my companion, Nicasio Rodriguez
+y Boldú.</p>
+
+<p>We are both shut up in one of the subterranean
+dungeons of the Morro Castle; not the Havana Morro,
+but the fortress at Santiago de Cuba, alluded to by Tom
+Cringle.</p>
+
+<p>Why are we here?</p>
+
+<p>What were we doing yesterday afternoon?</p>
+
+<p>Well; we were taking a seven miles walk to the Morro
+Castle, the picturesque neighbourhood of which we had not
+yet visited, and as the grounds attached to the fortress are
+always open to the public, we proposed a quiet evening
+saunter over them.</p>
+
+<p>We had a negro with us, an old and faithful vassal, who
+at the present moment is enjoying solitary confinement in
+another part of the fortress. We reached the castle
+grounds, where a group of Spanish 'militares' were seated.
+We gave them the 'Buenas tardes:' they returned our
+salute, and their chief, who was no less a personage than
+the commandant of the Morro, offered us refreshment, and
+permitted us to wander about the grounds. In our ramble
+we paused here and there to admire the picturesque 'bits' of
+scenery which, at every turn of a winding road, broke upon
+our view. By a narrow path cut in the grey rock we descended
+to the sea-shore, and stood before the entrance of
+the Cuban harbour. We watched the French packet as she
+steamed into port on her way to the town, and saw the gun
+fired which announced her arrival. The steamer was so
+near, that we could scan the faces of everybody on board,
+and hear enthusiastic congratulations on their safe arrival
+after their tedious voyage. The skipper conferred with the
+Morro guard. What was the ship's name? Where did
+she hail from? Who was her captain? Where was she
+bound for? A needless demand, I thought, seeing that
+there is no water navigable beyond the town; but it was
+in strict conformity with Spanish regulations.</p>
+
+<p>As evening advanced, we prepared to return to our
+temporary home, where a good dinner doubtless awaited us,
+with a cup of café noir to follow, and correspondence&mdash;ah!
+my friends never missed a mail&mdash;to open and to devour.</p>
+
+<p>'Alto allá!' The ominous command to halt where we
+stood, still rings in my ear. A party of soldiers, with
+pointed muskets and fixed bayonets, ran with all speed in
+our direction.</p>
+
+<p>'Car-amba!' Were we the object of their precipitation?
+We were!</p>
+
+<p>They conducted us to an eminence, where stood a podgy,
+high-shouldered, short-necked man with a squeaky interrogative
+voice and gold spectacles. This was the commandant.
+Without explanation, that officer, in brief words,
+ordered us to be arrested.</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers obeyed. They bandaged our eyes with
+handkerchiefs. They led us along hollow-sounding alleys;
+beneath echoing archways; down scores of stone steps;
+through mouldy passages. Lower yet, where a strong
+flavour of cooking assailed our sense of smell. A couple
+more downward flights, and then we paused&mdash;heard a
+jingling of big keys&mdash;an opening of ponderous doors&mdash;and
+here we were.</p>
+
+<p>Here, in a subterranean vault, I know not how many
+feet below sunlight. The air is close and vaporous; the
+domed chamber is damp and musty. They have divested
+us of all our portable property save a few cigarettes which
+we have secreted in a dark corner, and there is nothing to
+be had in the way of refreshment for love or money.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, for money. I have bribed the sentinel, who occasionally
+eclipses our square of window, with all my ready
+cash, and he has brought us contraband cups of weak
+coffee. Will he treat our dark domestic as well? We try
+him, and find that he won't.</p>
+
+<p>What's o'clock? We have no means of ascertaining this,
+as Ph&oelig;bus, who might have suggested the time of day, is a
+long way out of sight. Our sentinel says it is early morning.</p>
+
+<p>Hark! A sound of many footsteps; a rattling of arms
+and keys. Enter our military jailer with a dozen soldiers
+to release us from our present quarters. Our eyes are
+bandaged as before, and after passing up several flights of
+steps in another direction, our sight is restored: the scene
+changes, and we are discovered, like the Prince of Denmark,
+upon another part of the platform. Our faithful vassal is
+with us, looking as much like a ghost as it is possible for a
+negro to appear. They have tied his arms behind him
+with cords, and serve us in the same manner; while eight
+soldiers encircle us at respectful distances, and deliberately
+proceed to load their weapons. The negro trembles with
+affright, and falls on his knees. Misericordia! they are
+going to shoot us, he thinks; for he is ignorant of the
+Spanish custom of loading in the presence of the prisoner
+before escorting him from one jail to another.</p>
+
+<p>To another? Santo Dios! Then we are prisoners still?
+I think of the victim of Santa Margherita and his many
+prisons, and begin to wonder how many years of incarceration
+we shall experience.</p>
+
+<p>'En marcha!' Eight 'militares' and a sergeant place us
+in their midst, and in this way we march to town, a
+distance of seven miles. Our sergeant proves to be more
+humane than his superior, and on the uneven road pauses
+to screw up cigarettes for us, and, in consideration of our
+helpless condition, even places them in our mouths.</p>
+
+<p>It is Sunday morning, and when we reach the town all
+good Catholics have been to high mass, and are parading
+the narrow thoroughfare dressed in fashionable attire.
+Crowds gather around us and speculate as to the particular
+crime we are guilty of; and, to tell the truth, our appearance
+is by no means respectable. Have we shot the commandant?
+Undermined the Morro? Poisoned the garrison?
+Have we headed a negro conspiracy, or joined a
+gang of pirates? Friends whom we recognise on our way
+endeavour to interrogate us, but are interrupted by the
+sergeant. We halt before the governor's house; but his
+excellency is not yet out of bed, and may not be disturbed.
+So we proceed to the town jail, where everybody is stirring
+and where they are happy to see us, and receive us with
+open doors. A dozen policemen, dressed in brown-holland
+coats, trimmed with yellow braid and silver buttons, with
+panama hats, revolvers, and short Roman swords, are
+seated on benches at the prison entrance. Passing them,
+we are hurried into a white-washed chamber, where a
+frowning functionary, in brown-holland and silver lace, with
+a panama on his head, and a long cigar in his mouth, sits
+at a desk scribbling something on stamped paper. He
+pauses to examine and peruse a large letter which our
+sergeant hands him, and which contains a statement of our
+arrest, with full particulars of our misdeeds. The document
+is folded in official fashion, is written, regardless of economy,
+with any quantity of margin, and is terminated by a
+tremendous signature, accompanied by an elaborate flourish,
+which occupies exactly half a page. The gentleman in
+brown-holland casts a look of suspicion at us, and directs a
+couple of policemen to search us, 'registrar' us, as he calls
+it, which they accordingly do; but nothing that we could
+dispense with is found on our persons, except the grime
+upon our hands and faces, and a pearl button, which has
+strayed during the journey, and somehow found its way
+into my boot.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing further being required of us for the present, we
+are conducted into the centre of the jail to an extensive
+court-yard, where a crowd of prisoners of all shades and
+castes lie basking in the sun. We are led to one of the
+galleries which surround the patio, our arms are untied, and
+we are introduced into three different chambers.</p>
+
+<p>The apartment alloted to me is spacious and airy enough,
+and has a huge barred window that overlooks the main
+thoroughfare. In these respects, at least, my quarters
+resemble an ordinary Cuban parlour in a private house.
+But the only articles of furniture are a couple of hard
+benches and a straw mattress; and although a Cuban
+parlour has a barred window, a brick floor, and white-washed
+walls, it has also a few cane-bottomed chairs, an elegant
+mirror, and a gas chandelier.</p>
+
+<p>The prison in which I am confined was originally a convent,
+and now it is not only devoted to the use of malefactors,
+but also accommodates mad people, whose shrieks and
+wild laughter I occasionally hear.</p>
+
+<p>From my window I can see into the private houses
+opposite, where ladies are swaying and fanning themselves
+in 'butacas,' or rocking-chairs, while half a dozen naked
+white and black children play in an adjacent room. Friends
+passing along the street recognise me; but I may not converse
+with them, or the sentry below will inform, and I shall
+be removed to a more secluded part of the stronghold.</p>
+
+<p>I am not alone. My chamber is occupied by a native
+Indian, whose origin is distinguishable by his lank, jet-black
+hair, his gipsy-like complexion, and finely-cut nostrils. He
+is neither tattooed, nor does he wear feathers, beads or
+animals' hides; but with the exception of his face and hands
+(which are very dirty) he has all the appearance of a civilized
+being.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian has been himself arrested on suspicion, but
+his trial has been postponed for many weary months, and
+he is at present quite ignorant of the charge on which he
+may stand accused. Having no friends to intercede for him,
+or golden doubloons wherewith to convince the authorities
+of his innocence, the poor fellow is afraid things will go
+hard with him.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian is eloquent on the subjects of slavery and
+Spanish rule, both of which he warmly denounces. He is
+careful to remind me, that although he speaks the Spanish
+language, and is governed by Spanish laws, he is no more
+a Spaniard than is an American an Englishman. There
+is something in common between these nationalities, he
+says, whereas between a Cuban and a Spaniard there is a
+very wide gulf!</p>
+
+<p>My patriotic friend gets so excited over these and other
+favourite topics that, afraid of the consequences of his conversation,
+I propose a smoke.</p>
+
+<p>'What!' he exclaims, approaching me in what seems a
+threatening attitude. 'Is it possible that you have any
+tobacco, and that you are going to smoke some here?'</p>
+
+<p>Lest the Indian should be no smoker himself and dislike
+the odour of tobacco, I tell him that if he objects, I will
+postpone my harmless whiff until after captivity.</p>
+
+<p>He does object; but after contemplating my scanty
+supply of cigarettes as I restore them to my pocket, he
+observes with a sigh:</p>
+
+<p>'I was once an inveterate smoker!'</p>
+
+<p>'Till you very wisely gave up the vice,' I add.</p>
+
+<p>'No!' says he, 'I did not give it up. It was my accursed
+captors who withheld it from me. I have not smoked for
+many long months, and I would often give ten years of my
+life for one little cigarette!'</p>
+
+<p>'Try one of mine,' I suggest, extracting the packet again
+which alas! contains my last four.</p>
+
+<p>'Gracias; no,' he replies, 'I shall be depriving you, and
+you will find cigarettes scarce in these quarters!'</p>
+
+<p>'If you are a true Cuban,' I observe, 'you will remember
+that it is next to an insult to refuse a man's tobacco.
+Besides, if you object to my indulging in the luxury upon
+the plea that the delicious perfume is unendurable in
+another, both of us will be deprived of the pleasure!'</p>
+
+<p>'You are right,' says the Indian, 'then I will take just
+one.'</p>
+
+<p>So saying, he accepts the little paper squib which I offer,
+and carefully divides the contents into two equal parts;
+explaining, as he does so, how he intends to reserve one
+half of the tobacco for another occasion.</p>
+
+<p>While thus engaged I am reminded of the awful fact that
+I have no means of igniting our cigarettes. When I mention
+this unfortunate circumstance to my companion, he
+smiles triumphantly, and after placing his ear to the door
+in melodramatic fashion, proceeds to raise a particular
+brick in the floor of our apartment under which at least
+half a dozen matches are concealed.</p>
+
+<p>'These matches,' he remarks, 'have been treasured in
+that hole ever since I came to lodge in this jail.'</p>
+
+<p>'Have you resided here long?' I inquire.</p>
+
+<p>'It has appeared long to me,' he answers, 'eighteen
+months, more or less; but I have no record of the date.'</p>
+
+<p>'You must have found the hours hang heavily on you,' I
+remark, 'or, maybe, you have a hobby like the political
+prisoners one reads of. You have a favorite flower somewhere?
+Or, perhaps, you are partial to spiders?'</p>
+
+<p>'There are plenty of gigantic spiders here,' he replies,
+'together with centipedes and scorpions; but whenever one
+of those reptiles crosses my path&mdash;I kill it!'</p>
+
+<p>When my fellow-captive learns my nationality, his surprise
+and pleasure are very great.</p>
+
+<p>'I like the English and Americans,' says he, 'and I would
+become one or the other to-morrow, if it were possible.'</p>
+
+<p>'You are very kind to express so much esteem for my
+countrymen,' I say.</p>
+
+<p>'It is not so much your countrymen,' he says, 'as your
+free country with its just and humane laws, which every
+Cuban admires and covets.'</p>
+
+<p>I remind him that, under existing circumstances, I am no
+better off than he is, though to be sure as a British subject,
+my consul, who resides in Santiago, will doubtless see me
+righted.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian is, however, of a different opinion. He
+assures me that my nationality will avail me nothing if I
+have no interest with some of the Spanish officials. He
+gives me instances to prove how it is often out of the power
+of a consul to assist a compatriot in difficulties.</p>
+
+<p>'Not long since,' says my friend, 'a marine from your
+country, being intoxicated, and getting mixed up in a street
+brawl, was arrested and locked up with a crowd of insubordinate
+coolies and Spanish deserters. His trial was, as
+usual, postponed. In the meanwhile, the jail had become
+overcrowded by the arrival of some wounded soldiers from
+San Domingo, and your countryman was shipped off with
+others to another prison at Manzanillo, where he was
+entered on the list of convicts, and has never been heard of
+since.'</p>
+
+<p>'In this very jail,' continues the Indian, 'are a couple of
+American engineers, both of whom stand accused of being
+concerned in a negro conspiracy, and who have been locked
+up here for the last six months. They are ignorant of the
+Spanish language, have mislaid their passports, and have
+been denied a conference with their consul, who is, of
+course, unaware of their incarceration.'</p>
+
+<p>I make a mental note of this last case, with a view to
+submit it to the proper authority as soon as I shall be able
+to do so.</p>
+
+<p>My attention is presently arrested by a sound which
+reminds me of washing, for in Cuba this operation is
+usually performed by placing the wet linen on a flat board,
+and belabouring it with a smooth stone or a heavy roller.
+My companion smiles when I give him my impression of
+the familiar sounds, and he tells me that white linen is not
+the object of the beating, but black limbs! An unruly
+slave receives his castigation at the jail when it is found
+inconvenient to perform the operation under his master's
+roof. No inquiry into the offence is made by the officers
+of justice; the miscreant is simply ordered twenty-five or
+fifty lashes, as the case may be, by his accuser, who acts
+also as his jury, judge, and occasionally&mdash;executioner!</p>
+
+<p>Whilst listening to the unfortunate's groans and appeals
+for mercy, I watch the proceedings of a chain-gang of
+labourers, some twenty of whom have left the jail for the
+purpose of repairing a road in an adjacent street. They
+are dressed in canvas suits, numbered and lettered on the
+back, and wear broad-brimmed straw-hats. Each man
+smokes, and makes a great rattling of his chains as he
+assists in drawing along the heavy trucks and implements
+for work. A couple of armed soldiers and three or four
+prison-warders accompany the gang; the former to keep
+guard, the latter to superintend the labour. Some of the
+prisoners sell hats, fans, toys, and other articles of their own
+manufacture as they go along. One of these industrious
+gentlemen has entered, chains and all, into a private house
+opposite, and while he stands bargaining with a highly
+respectable white, his keeper sits, like Patience, on the doorstep
+smoking a cigar.</p>
+
+<p>I withdraw from the window to meet my jailer, who has
+brought&mdash;not my freedom? no; my food. It is the first
+meal I have tasted for many long hours, and I am prepared
+to relish it though it be but a banana and Catalan wine.</p>
+
+<p>These are, however, the least items in the princely fare
+which the jailer has brought. The whitest of tablecloths is
+removed from the showiest of trays, and discloses a
+number of small tureens, in which fish, flesh, and fowl have
+been prepared in a variety of appetising ways. Besides
+these are a square cedar-box of guava preserves, a pot of
+boiling black coffee, a bundle of the best Ti Arriba cigars,
+and a packet of Astrea cigarettes; all served on the
+choicest china. This goodly repast cometh from La
+Señora Mercedes, under whose hospitable roof I have
+lodged and fed for many months. Doña Mercedes has
+heard of our captivity, and, without making any enquiry
+into the nature of our misdemeanour, has instantly despatched
+one of her black domestics with the best breakfast
+she can prepare.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian assures me that the admittance into jail
+of such a collation augurs well. I have doubtless friends
+who are using their influence with the officials in my
+behalf, and, in short, he considers my speedy release a
+certainty.</p>
+
+<p>'Usted gusta?' I invite my companion to share the
+good things, but he excuses himself by saying that, with his
+present prospects, he would rather not recall the feeling of
+a good meal. He, however, partakes of some of my coffee,
+the odour of which is far too savoury for his self-denial,
+and helps me with the tobacco.</p>
+
+<p>Breakfast over, I take a siesta on half the furniture, and
+after a few hours' delicious oblivion am awakened by the
+jailer, who comes with the welcome news that the court is
+sitting, and that my presence is required.</p>
+
+<p>'Imprisoned and tried on the same day!' exclaims my
+Indian friend. 'Then,' says he, 'I may well wish you adieu
+for ever!'</p>
+
+<p>A Cuban court of justice, broadly described, consists of
+two old men, a deal table, a bottle of ink, and a boy. One
+of the elders is the alcalde mayor, an awful being, invested
+with every kind of administrative power; the other
+functionary is his escribano, or legal man-of-all-work, who
+dispenses Spanish law upon the principle of 'French without
+a master.' He professes to teach prisoners their fate
+in one easy lesson, without the interposition of either
+counsel or jury. None but those immediately concerned
+in the case are admitted into the tribune; so that the
+prisoner, who is frequently the only party interested, has
+the court, so to speak, all to himself!</p>
+
+<p>The chamber into which I am ushered on the present
+occasion has very much the appearance of a schoolroom
+during the holidays. The walls are white-washed, and half
+a dozen short forms lie in disorder about the brick floor.
+At one end of the apartment is a yellow map of the
+Antilles; at the other is hung a badly painted oil portrait
+of her Catholic Majesty Isabella, with a soiled coat-of-arms
+of Castile above her, and a faded Spanish banner
+half concealing her royal countenance. Beneath this
+trophy, on a raised platform, is seated the prison magistrate,
+or fiscal, as he is called. Before him is a cedar-wood
+table, with a bottle of ink, a glass of blotting sand
+and a quire of stamped paper. On his right is an escribano
+and a couple of interpreters, whose knowledge of the
+English language I afterwards find to be extremely limited.
+On his left is seated my captive companion Nicasio Rodriguez
+y Boldú. Everybody present, including a couple of
+brown-holland policemen at the door, is smoking, which
+has a sociable air, and inspires me with confidence. Upon
+my appearance in court everybody rises; the fiscal politely
+offers me a cigar and a seat on the bench.</p>
+
+<p>As a matter of form&mdash;for my Spanish is by no means
+unintelligible&mdash;I am examined through the medium of an
+interpreter, who makes a terrible hash of my replies. He
+talks of the 'foots of my friend's negro,' and the 'commandant's,
+officers', sergeant's relations,' by which I infer
+that the learned linguist has never overcome the fifth
+lesson of his Ollendorff. It is accordingly found necessary
+to conduct the rest of the inquiry in good Castilian.</p>
+
+<p>A great case has been made out against us by the commandant,
+who represents us in his despatch as spies in
+league with any quantity of confederates. A pocket-book
+full of nefarious notes and significant scratches has been
+found upon me: together with a four-bladed penknife, a
+metallic corkscrew, a very black lead-pencil, and an ink-eraser!
+In the commandant's opinion the said notes are,
+without doubt, private observations on the mysteries of the
+Morro, and the scratches are nothing more nor less than
+topographical plans of the fortifications.</p>
+
+<p>Absurd and improbable as the commandant's story may
+appear, it would have had great weight against us with the
+fiscal, and considerably protracted the period of our release,
+were it not for the fact that the fiscal is on intimate terms
+with my companion's family. This fortunate circumstance,
+aided by the laudable efforts of my consul, who works
+wonders with his excellency the governor, enables us to be
+set at liberty without further delay. There is, however,
+some difficulty in the case of our black attendant, whom
+the authorities would still keep in bondage, out of compliment
+to stern justice; but we intercede for him, and he
+accompanies us from jail.</p>
+
+<p>Crowds of people await outside and escort us to our
+studio, where dear old Don Benigno, his amiable señora
+and family, welcome us with joy. Wherever we go, we are
+lionised and loaded with congratulations and condolence.
+A kind of patriotic sentiment is mixed up with the public
+sympathy; Spanish rule being extremely distasteful to a
+Cuban, and any opportunity for expressing his disgust of
+an incompetent ruler being hailed by him with delight.
+All our Cuban friends&mdash;and, to say the truth, many of the
+Spaniards themselves&mdash;are unanimous in their disapproval
+of the commandant's conduct.</p>
+
+<p>But I have not yet done with the commandant, as will
+be seen in another chapter.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">A WEST INDIAN EPIDEMIC.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">A Cuban Physician and his Patient&mdash;A Nightmare&mdash;A Mystery&mdash;A Cure&mdash;By
+the Sad Sea Waves&mdash;A Cuban Watering-place&mdash;Lobster-hunting&mdash;Another
+View of the Morro Castle&mdash;What 'Dios sabe' means.</p>
+
+
+<p>Not many days after the events recorded in the last
+chapter, I am on a sick couch.</p>
+
+<p>What is the nature of my infirmity? Neither I nor my
+companion can tell. Don Benigno, who comes to offer
+me his condolences, attributes the cause of my complaint to
+confinement in the close, vaporous dungeon of the Morro
+Castle, and his medical adviser, Don Francisco, who is
+summoned to my bed-side, confirms Don Benigno's opinion,
+adding, that the sudden transition from a damp atmosphere
+to the heat of a tropical sun may have contributed
+to produce my disorder.</p>
+
+<p>After examining me in the usual way, the physician
+inquires whether my head throbs without aching; whether
+I am troubled with certain pains in my joints and across
+my loins, and whether I feel altogether as if I had been
+confined several weeks to my bed.</p>
+
+<p>Marvelling much at the doctor's penetration, I reply that
+the symptoms he described exactly correspond with those
+which I experience. In short; Don Francisco is perfectly
+acquainted with the nature of my malady. Strange to say,
+however, he does not venture to give it a name, and stranger
+still, he leads my partner into our studio, where with closed
+doors both converse like a couple of assassins conspiring
+against my life. What passes between them is not revealed
+to me, but after the doctor's departure, my companion
+assures me I have only caught a severe cold, and
+that if I remain 'under cover,' I shall be perfectly well in
+six days.</p>
+
+<p>Why in six days? While pondering much over this, a
+strange heat oppresses me; my head throbs more than
+ever; my pains increase, and to add to my discomfiture,
+Nicasio, together with Don Benigno and our black attendant,
+suddenly begin to dance furiously around my 'catre,'
+terminating their wild gyrations by vanishing between the
+bars of the grated window!</p>
+
+<p>My friends were doubtless afraid of the commandant of
+the Morro and her Majesty's British consul; for these
+gentlemen have entered the apartment and established
+themselves on either side of my catre. The commandant,
+claiming me for his prisoner, again attempts to carry me off
+to the Morro Castle, but my consul envelopes me in an
+enormous Union Jack, and declaring that I am a British
+subject, dares the Spanish officer to lay a finger on me.
+The commandant now draws his sword&mdash;a weapon of such
+monstrous length that it cannot be conveniently unsheathed
+without detaching the scabbard from the belt from which it
+depends. The consul in turn exhibits a mighty scroll of
+parchment, which takes as long to unroll as the officer's
+sabre takes to unsheath. Meanwhile I watch the combatants
+in agonising suspense, till the chamber becomes
+suddenly dark. But, after a painful pause, daylight appears,
+and to my unspeakable relief I find that my formidable
+visitors have vanished, and that I am alone with Nicasio.</p>
+
+<p>My companion smiles and tells me that I have been
+talking in my sleep. In other words, that I have been
+delirious.</p>
+
+<p>Now that we are alone, I press my partner to reveal to
+me the true cause of my complaint; for, in spite of his
+previous assertion, I am more than ever convinced that the
+truth is being concealed from me. But Nicasio cannot be
+persuaded, neither does he explain why he mentioned six
+days as the period for my convalescence.</p>
+
+<p>On the fifth day, I am considerably worse than I was
+before. A feeling of utter prostration accompanied by an
+inordinate thirst comes over me. This is followed by a
+sensation as of sea-sickness and overpowering lassitude. I
+am parched with thirst, but I have neither strength to
+express my want in words nor to indicate it by suitable
+gestures. Some refreshing draught is, however, placed to
+my lips, which I swallow greedily; at the same time my
+head is relieved by the application of 'vejicatorios,' or blisters,
+to the soles of my feet. More than half my medical
+advisers prescribe bleeding, but Don Francisco will not hear
+of it, and from first to last this expedient is never adopted.</p>
+
+<p>My deplorable condition is not improved by a thought
+which suggests itself from the hue of my hands, which I
+perceive for the first time are saffron-coloured.</p>
+
+<p>Santo Dios! Can this be the yellow fever?</p>
+
+<p>The yellow fever it is; though for some mysterious reason
+the secret is carefully kept from me to the last.</p>
+
+<p>Yes: I have the 'fiebre amarilla:' but, thank God, not
+the 'vómito negro,' or black vomit, which is the worst form
+of the yellow fever, and in nine cases out of ten proves
+fatal. To-morrow my troubles will be over, provided that
+the night is passed tranquilly; but should there be the least
+indication of a relapse before daylight&mdash;well; the fact
+would not be recorded by me!</p>
+
+<p>To say that my beloved companion never for an instant
+leaves my bed-side until the critical moment has passed; or
+that good old Don Benigno provides for my wants, and
+consults at least six different doctors, who come at prescribed
+hours to tap me on the chest, probe me in the ribs, and press
+my pulse; to say that Doña Mercedes proves the best
+and kindest of nurses and most sympathetic of friends; and
+that even the loquacious Tunicú, together with a host of
+acquaintances, makes kind enquiries after my daily progress,
+and offers to provide a shopful of dainties&mdash;is to say that
+the attentions which I receive from strangers in a foreign
+country are all that my dearest relatives at home could
+desire.</p>
+
+<p>Having passed the night of the fifth day tranquilly, I
+awake on the morning of the memorable sixth, in a perfect
+state of health. All my pains have disappeared as if by
+magic: my head ceases to throb; my body is delightfully
+cool, and I am otherwise so convalescent that were it not
+for my doctor's strict injunctions, I should arise, dress, and
+betake myself to the nearest restaurant. But my West
+Indian physician administers to my wants in easy stages.
+I am allowed to sit in a rocking chair near the window
+with closed shutters, but I may not wash, neither may I
+brush my hair, nor breathe a new atmosphere for several
+days to come. From the mildest nourishment in the way
+of sugar panales and water, I am gradually introduced to
+more solid food, and at least a week elapses before Don
+Francisco approves of Don Benigno's proposal to recruit his
+patient's health at the sea-side.</p>
+
+<p>Now that the crisis is over, I learn that the greatest fears
+had been entertained for my recovery; that six out of
+the seven doctors, who had considered my case, had
+pronounced it hopeless. I was an Englishman, they said,
+and my countrymen had the reputation for indulging rather
+freely in stimulants&mdash;above all in malt liquors, and these
+stimulants were fatal to a constitution when attacked
+by yellow fever. But Don Francisco, who had carefully
+interrogated me on my past, which he found greatly belied
+his brother practitioners' conjectures, was more sanguine of
+the cure, and now that I am free from danger, he pronounces
+me 'acclimatised,' and as unlikely to experience another
+attack of the same epidemic as the natives of Cuba themselves.
+He, however, warns me of 'tercianas' or intermittent
+fevers which occasionally succeed yellow fever, and which
+are consequent on intemperate habits and undue exposure
+to the sun.</p>
+
+<p>Accepting Don Benigno's generous invitation to pass a
+few weeks with him, his family and a few friends at a watering
+place, I take leave of Nicasio for the first time, and
+become Don Benigno's guest once more. Our destination
+is La Socapa, a small fishing village three miles distant
+from town. The only way to reach La Socapa (which is
+situated at the narrow entrance of the Cuban Bay, and faces
+the Morro Castle which stands on the opposite bank) is by
+water. We therefore hire a heavy boat, and after an hour's
+sail along the sinuous harbour, we are landed at La
+Socapa.</p>
+
+<p>There are no 'apartments to let' at this favourite watering-place.
+When a Cuban gentleman proposes to rusticate
+with his family at this locality, he hires an empty house and
+fits it up with some furniture brought by his slaves from
+his residence in town. Not more than a dozen cottages are
+available as lodging-houses at La Socapa; the village being
+occupied by fishermen and their families. Don Benigno's
+temporary abode is isolated from the village and stands on
+an eminence looking seawards. It is a single-storied habitation
+and provides the usual accommodations of a Cuban
+country-house.</p>
+
+<p>There are no bathing machines at La Socapa. Those
+who are inclined for a dip in the sea betake themselves to
+secluded spots on the coast, and disrobe themselves behind
+rocks and bushes. 'Tiburones,' or sharks, occasionally visit
+this neighbourhood, and as these voracious creatures have a
+strange partiality for human limbs, the bathers are careful
+not to venture beyond certain stones which have been placed
+for the purpose of keeping out the greedy invaders.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes we indulge in a little fishing off the banks of
+the harbour, or the gentlemen of our party take their sporting
+guns to an adjacent wood where wild pigeons, partridges,
+quails and guinea-fowl abound. This sport may be varied
+by a hunt after wild deer, small specimens of which are to
+be obtained in these parts. Our favourite evening amusement
+is lobster-hunting. For this sport, a big barge is procured,
+and, after having been furnished with carpets and rugs
+for the ladies' accommodation, we proceed to navigate the
+shores and creeks of the harbour. Three or four black
+fishermen accompany us and bear long torches of wood, by
+the light of which the ground beneath the shallow water
+is visible. Our prey is secured by throwing a net, in
+the meshes of which the lobster becomes entangled; but
+should this prove ineffectual, a long pole forked at one end
+is thrust over the creature's hard back, and as he struggles to
+free himself from the pronged embrace, a nimble negro dives
+into the water and captures him alive. Great excitement
+prevails when a lobster comes on board, and bounds among
+our crew and passengers. Having brought provisions with
+us, we 'make a night' of this molluscular expedition, and
+keep up the convivialities till two or three o'clock, A.M.</p>
+
+<p>One of the liveliest of our party is a young Spanish
+officer, whom everybody addresses as Manuel. Manuel is
+engaged to Don Benigno's eldest daughter, Paquita, a young
+lady of fourteen tropical summers, who, however, has the
+appearance of a señorita of sweet seventeen. I am on
+terms of the closest friendship with the young officer, for it
+was partly through his intercession with the authorities
+that Nicasio and I obtained our release from captivity.</p>
+
+<p>One day, after attiring himself in his regimentals, Don
+Manuel proposes a visit to the Morro Castle, and invites me
+to accompany him, assuring me that under his trusty
+escort there will be no danger of arrest. We accordingly
+hire a small canoe, and after rowing across the narrow
+harbour, land at one of the forts of the formidable fortress.</p>
+
+<p>The officer's uniform is an all-powerful pass wherever we
+go. It enables us to land, to pass the various sentries, who
+touch their caps respectfully as we approach, and finally to
+reach the commandant's private dwelling in the very heart
+of the stronghold.</p>
+
+<p>El señor comandante is at home, and invites us in.
+He is delighted to see his young friend the captain, and
+charmed to form the acquaintance of the captain's companion.
+He does not recognise me in the least, and
+satisfied of that fact, I accept his pressing invitation to
+lunch with himself and officers.</p>
+
+<p>After coffee and cigars, our host offers to show us the
+secrets of his prison-house. This time my eyes are not
+bandaged, and I follow the commandant without military
+assistance.</p>
+
+<p>We are shown all over the fortifications. We inspect
+minutely the old-fashioned twenty-four pounders; rest on
+the six bronze French guns (which, we are told, are quite
+new, and the only serviceable weapons in the fortress), and
+make other observations, which, if we were enemies with an
+inclination to storm the place from the sea, would greatly
+assist us in our operations. Now we are in the sleeping
+caves, where the hundred men who compose the garrison
+are lodged. Now we are descending flights of stone steps.
+We pass along hollow-sounding alleys and under echoing
+archways. Presently we arrive at the cooking department,
+where the atmosphere feels oppressive, and is black with
+innumerable flies. We come at last to the deepest part of
+the fortress, where 'criminals of the worst description' (so
+the commandant informs me) are lodged. Narrow, intricate
+passages lead to the different cells. Our guide points out
+some of the prisoners, and invites us to look in at them
+through their little square windows. Strange to say, he
+does not seem to be at all conversant with the nature of
+their offences. 'Dios sabe!' accompanied by a shrug of
+the shoulders, is invariably the commandant's reply to any
+query respecting a particular prisoner. 'Dios sabe' may,
+however, signify a great deal more than 'Heaven knows;'
+and, perhaps, the commandant chooses not to explain himself.</p>
+
+<p>We pause before a dungeon where it is said a Chinaman
+committed suicide after six days' incarceration: self-slaughter
+among Celestials being their favourite mode of
+killing care. An equally suicidal Chow-chow is confined
+there now; but they have bound him hand and foot, and
+he lies muttering in falsetto like a maniac. He would
+doubtless give something for a little soothing opium!</p>
+
+<p>My friend the commandant assures me that the vault I
+am now surveying with such interest is unoccupied, and
+persuades me to pass on. But I linger lovingly at the little
+square window, and take a fond look at the interior. The
+theatre of my woe has changed in appearance, the company
+having gone. But there still remain the empty benches!</p>
+
+<p>'Whom have you had within the past twelve months?'
+I ask.</p>
+
+<p>'Dios sabe!'</p>
+
+<p>It is not the commandant's business to know where his
+prisoners are quartered, or what becomes of them.</p>
+
+<p>I apply afterwards for the same information to the captain
+of the garrison.</p>
+
+<p>'Dios sabe!'</p>
+
+<p>The staff of officers engaged in the Morro service is
+relieved once a month, and the captain I address has only
+lately taken the command.</p>
+
+<p>'Dios sabe!' In the majority of cases, it is, indeed,
+Heaven alone who knows what becomes of unfortunates in
+a country where law is directed through the agency of military
+despotism, and where the disposal of a man's life and
+liberty is entrusted to the mercy of a vain and capricious
+commandant.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">GENERAL TACON'S JUDGMENT.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">Pleasant Company&mdash;The Cigar Girl of Havana&mdash;A Tobacconist's Shop in Cuba&mdash;A
+Romance of Real Life&mdash;Spanish Justice abroad.</p>
+
+
+<p>My health being now perfectly established, I signify my
+intention of returning to my companion and duties in
+town. As my military friend, Don Manuel, must also
+depart&mdash;his leave of absence having expired&mdash;I accept his
+invitation to share the boat which is to convey him to
+Santiago, and bid adieu to Don Benigno and his family,
+who contemplate remaining at the sea-side for some days
+longer.</p>
+
+<p>Don Manuel is excellent company, and, although an
+officer in the Spanish service, his views of politics are
+exceedingly liberal. During the homeward passage, the
+officer entertains me with various stories illustrative of
+Cuban administration. He tells me that since the Pearl of
+the Antilles has adorned the Spanish crown, the island of
+Cuba has always been governed by a captain-general, a
+mighty personage, invested with much the same power and
+authority as that of a monarch in some countries, and, like
+a king, could not possibly do anything that was wrong.</p>
+
+<p>'The Cubans,' says he, 'have seldom had reason to be
+grateful to Spain for the rulers she has appointed over
+them, because these have been usually selected rather on
+the score of influence than capacity or merit. There is,
+however, on record at least one captain-general whose name
+is held in esteem by the Cuban people, on account of the
+good he effected during his short reign in Havana.
+Captain-General Tacon established some degree of safety
+for the inhabitants by introducing new laws, and by
+severely punishing certain social offences which his predecessors
+had rather overlooked, if they did not themselves
+set the example. It is said of Tacon that, like Alfred the
+Great, he promised the Cubans that they should be able to
+cast their purses upon the public pavement, and yet find
+them there again after many days. Stories are current in
+Cuba of the general's singular mode of administering
+justice, which in many cases partook of an originality
+somewhat whimsical of its kind.'</p>
+
+<p>Don Manuel gives me the most popular story of this
+sort&mdash;that of the cigar girl of Havana, which I will now
+repeat to the reader in the following form:</p>
+
+<p>Miralda Estalez was remarkable alike for the beauty of
+her person and the excellence of her tobacco. She kept
+a cigar-shop in Havana, in the Calle del Comercio; a
+narrow street, with a footpath scarcely wider than an
+ordinary kerbstone. It was the veriest section of a shop,
+without a front of any kind; presenting, from the street
+side, much the same appearance as a burnt-out dwelling
+would exhibit, or a theatrical scene viewed by an audience.
+During the hot hours of the day a curtain was suspended
+before the shop to ward off the powerful rays of the sun,
+under whose influence the delicate goods within might
+otherwise be prematurely dried, while the effect would be
+equally detrimental to their fair vendor. The easy mode
+of access, assisted by the narrow kerbstone, together with
+many attractions within the shop, tempted many passers to
+drop in for a chat and a cigar. There was a little counter,
+with little pyramidal heaps of cigarette packets and
+cigars, of the genuine Havana brand, distributed upon it.
+Affixed to a wall at the back was a glass show-case, fitted
+with shelves like a book-case, and laden with bundles of
+the precious leaves, placed like volumes side by side, and
+bound in bright yellow ribbon. Although Miralda was
+visited from morning till night by every kind of male,
+black and brown, as well as white, nothing was ever said
+against the virtue of the young tobacconist.</p>
+
+<p>Like the cigars she sold, Miralda was of 'calidad
+superior;' and, in the same manner, age had rather
+improved her quality than otherwise, for it had ripened
+her into a charming full-grown woman of sixteen tropical
+summers. Some merit was due to Miralda for the respectable
+life she led; for, besides the temptations to which she
+was daily and hourly subjected, she was quite alone in the
+world, her parents, brothers, and sisters being dead.
+Miralda naturally found many admirers among her
+numerous customers; she, however, made no distinction
+with them, but had a bright smile and a kind word for all
+who favoured her with their praises and their patronage.
+One alone, perhaps, held a place nearer her heart than all
+others. This was Don Pedro Mantanez, a young boatman
+employed in the harbour near the Morro Castle. Pedro was
+of good white parentage, though one would not have judged
+so from the colour of his skin, which, from long exposure
+to the sun and the weather, had turned a pale coffee colour.
+Pedro loved Miralda fondly, and she was by no means
+indifferent to the handsome Creole. But the pretty tobacconist
+was in no hurry to wear the matrimonial chains.
+The business, like herself, was far from old-established, and
+she thought in her capacity of a married woman the attractions
+of her shop would diminish by at least one-half, while
+her patrons would disappear in the same ratio. Miralda once
+made her lover a promise that she would marry him as soon
+as he should have won a prize in the lottery; for, with his
+savings, this would enable Pedro to have a share in her
+business as well as in her happiness. So, once a month,
+Pedro invested a doubloon in lottery-tickets; but, as he
+never succeeded in winning a prize, he failed to wed the
+pretty tobacconist. Still, the young boatman continued
+to drop anchor at the cigar-shop as often as his spare
+time would allow; and as the fond couple always conducted
+themselves with the strictest propriety, their engagement
+remained a secret.</p>
+
+<p>Now Pedro Mantanez had a rival, and, to a certain extent,
+a formidable one. The Count Almante was a noble of
+Spanish birth, and an officer by profession. He was one
+of those fortunate gentlemen who, from no inherent talent
+or acquired ability, had been sent from the mother-country
+to enrich himself in her prosperous colony. Besides his
+wealth, which report described as ill-gotten, he gloried in
+the reputation of being a gay cavalier in Havana, and a
+great favourite with the Creole ladies. It was his boast
+that no girl beneath him in station had been yet known to
+reject any offer he might propose; and he would sometimes
+lay wagers with his associates that the lady whom he had
+newly honoured with his admiration would, at a given time,
+stand entered in his book of amours as a fresh conquest.
+To achieve a particular object, the count would never
+allow anything, human or otherwise, to stand in his path;
+and by reason of his wealth, his nobility, and his influence
+with the authorities, his crimes were numerous and his
+punishments few, if any.</p>
+
+<p>It happened that the last señorita who had taken Count
+Almante's fancy was Miralda Estalez. The count spent
+many hours and many pesetas at the pretty tobacconist's
+counter, where, we may be sure, he used his most persuasive
+language to attain his very improper purpose.
+Accustomed to have pretty things poured into her ears by
+a variety of admirers, Miralda regarded the count's
+addresses with indifference; and, while behaving with her
+wonted amiability of manner, gave him neither encouragement
+nor motive for pressing his suit. One evening the
+count lingered at the cigar-shop longer than custom allows,
+and, under the pretence of purchasing and smoking more
+cigars, remained until the neighbouring shops were closed
+and the streets were deserted. Alone with the girl, and
+insured against intruders, Count Almante ventured to disclose
+his unworthy passion. Amongst other things, he
+said:</p>
+
+<p>'If you will love me and live with me, I will give you as
+many golden onzas as you require, and I will place at your
+disposal another and a better shop in the suburbs of the
+Cerro, where you can carry on your business as before.'</p>
+
+<p>The Cerro was situated near the count's palace. Miralda
+said nothing in reply; but, looking the count steadily in
+the face, gave him the name of another shop where, she
+informed him, he would obtain better cigars than those she
+sold.</p>
+
+<p>Heedless of the significance of her remark, which he
+attributed to shyness, Almante rose from where he had
+been seated, and, approaching the girl, endeavoured to
+place his arm round her waist. Ever guarded against the
+casualties of insult, Miralda retreated a step, and at the
+same moment drawing a small dagger from the folds of
+her dress, warned the count not to touch her. Baulked
+in his design, Almante withdrew, assuring the girl with
+a smile that he did but jest; but as he left the shop
+he bit his lip and clenched his fist with evident disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>When Pedro heard of what had happened, his indignation
+was great, and he resolved to take summary
+vengeance; but Miralda begged him not to be precipitate,
+as she had now no fear of further molestation from the
+count; and as days elapsed, and Almante had not resumed
+his visits, it seemed apparent that he had taken Miralda's
+advice, and transferred his custom elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>One evening, as Miralda was about to close her shop for
+the night, a party of soldiers halted before her door. The
+commanding officer entered, and, without a word, presented
+to the astonished tobacconist a warrant for her arrest.
+Knowing that it was useless to disobey any officer in the
+employ of the captain-general, Miralda signified her readiness
+to accompany the military escort, who, accordingly,
+placed her in their midst, and conducted her through the
+streets in the direction of the prison. But instead of
+halting here, the party continued their march until they
+had reached the confines of the city. Miralda's courage
+now deserted her, and, with tears in her eyes, she appealed
+to the officer in command.</p>
+
+<p>'Por la Virgen Santísima!' she exclaimed, 'let me know
+where I am being taken to.'</p>
+
+<p>'You will learn when you get there. Our orders strictly
+forbid us to make any explanation,' was the only reply she
+obtained.</p>
+
+<p>Miralda was not long in learning the worst. Very
+shortly, her escort halted before Count Almante's castle in
+the neighbourhood of the Cerro, and, having entered the
+court-yard of that building, the fair captive was conducted
+tremblingly into a chamber elegantly fitted up for her
+reception. After waiting here a few minutes in painful
+suspense, an inner door was thrown open, and Count Almante
+stood before her. The scene which then followed
+may be better imagined than described. We may be sure
+that the count used every effort in order to prevail upon
+his prisoner, but without success. Miralda's invariable
+response was a gleam of her dagger, which never left her
+hand from the first moment of entering the odious building.
+Finding that mild measures would not win the pretty
+tobacconist, the count, as is usual under such circumstances
+with persons of his nature, threatened her with violence; and
+he would, doubtless, have carried out his threat, if Miralda
+had not anticipated him by promising to relent and to
+become his if her persecutor would allow her one short
+week to reconsider her determination. Deceived by the
+girl's assumed manner, Almante acceded to her desire and
+agreed to wait. Miralda, however, felt assured that before
+long her lover would discover her whereabouts, and by
+some means effect her release. She was not disappointed.
+Miralda's sudden disappearance was soon made known to
+Pedro Mantanez, who, confident that his beloved had fallen
+into the count's clutches, determined to obtain access to
+Almante's palace. For this purpose he assumed the dress
+of a monk; and, his face being unknown at the castle, he
+easily obtained an entry, and afterwards an interview with
+Miralda herself. The girl's surprise and joy at beholding
+her lover were unbounded. In his strong embrace, she became
+oblivious of her sorrows, confident that the young
+boatman would now conduct her speedily into a harbour of
+refuge. She was not mistaken. Pedro sought and obtained
+an audience with General Tacon. The general was, as
+usual, immersed in public affairs; but, being gifted with
+the enviable faculty of hearing, talking, and writing at the
+same moment, merely glanced at his applicant, and desired
+him to tell his story. Pedro did as he was desired, and
+when he had concluded, Tacon, without raising his eyes
+from the papers with which he appeared intently engaged,
+made the following inquiry:</p>
+
+<p>'Is Miralda Estalez your sister?'</p>
+
+<p>'No, su excelencia, she is not,' replied Pedro.</p>
+
+<p>'Your wife, perhaps?' suggested the general.</p>
+
+<p>'She is my betrothed!'</p>
+
+<p>General Tacon motioned the young man to approach,
+and then directing a look to him which seemed to read him
+through, held up a crucifix, and bade him swear to the truth
+of all that he had stated. Pedro knelt, and taking the cross
+in both hands, kissed it, and made the oath required of him.
+When he had done so, the general pointed to an apartment,
+where he desired Pedro to wait until he was summoned.
+Aware of the brief and severe manner in which General
+Tacon dealt with
+all social questions, Pedro Mantanez left
+the august presence in doubt whether his judge would decide
+for or against his case. His suspense was not of long
+duration. In an hour or so, one of the governor's guards
+entered, ushering in Count Almante and his captive lady.
+The general received the new-comers in the same manner
+as he had received the young boatman. In a tone of
+apparent indifference, he addressed the count as follows:</p>
+
+<p>'If I am not mistaken, you have abused your authority
+by effecting the abduction of this girl?'</p>
+
+<p>'I confess I have done so,' replied the count, in a tone
+intended to match that of his superior; 'but,' he continued,
+with a conciliatory smile, 'I think that the affair is
+of such a nature that it need not occupy the attention of
+your excellency.'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, perhaps not,' said his judge, still busy over the
+documents before him.</p>
+
+<p>'I simply wish to learn from you, upon your word of
+honour, whether any violence has been used towards the
+girl.'</p>
+
+<p>'None whatever, upon my honour,' replied Almante, 'and
+I am happy in believing that none will be required!'</p>
+
+<p>'Is the girl already yours, then?'</p>
+
+<p>'Not at present,' said the count, with a supercilious smirk,
+'but she has promised to become mine very shortly.'</p>
+
+<p>'Is this true?' inquired the captain-general, for the first
+time raising his eyes, and turning to Miralda, who replied:</p>
+
+<p>'My promise was made only with a view to save myself
+from threatened violence.'</p>
+
+<p>'Do you say this upon your oath?'</p>
+
+<p>'Upon my oath I do!'</p>
+
+<p>The general now ordered Pedro Mantanez
+to appear, and
+then carefully interrogated the lovers upon their engagement.
+Whilst doing so he wrote a dispatch and handed
+it to one of his guards. When the latter had departed,
+Tacon sent a messenger in quest of a priest and a lawyer.
+When these arrived, the general commanded the priest to
+perform the ceremony of marriage between Miralda Estalez
+and Count Almante and bade the lawyer prepare the necessary
+documents for the same purpose.</p>
+
+<p>The count, who had already expressed his vexation at
+what promised to be an attempt to deprive him of his new
+favorite by allying her with the boatman, was horrified
+when he heard what the governor's mandate really was.
+His indignation was extreme, and he endeavoured to show
+how preposterous such an alliance would be, by reminding
+the general of his noble birth and honorable calling. Pedro
+was equally disappointed at being thus dispossessed of his
+betrothed and appealed to Tacon's generosity and sense of
+right. Miralda remained speechless with astonishment, but
+with the most perfect reliance in the wisdom of her judge.
+Meanwhile, in spite of all remonstrances, the marriage
+was formally solemnised, and Miralda Estalez and Count
+Almante were man and wife. The unhappy bridegroom
+was then requested to return to his palace in the Cerro,
+while his bride and her late lover were desired to remain.</p>
+
+<p>Upwards of an hour had passed since the count's
+departure, and nothing further transpired. The governor
+had resumed his business affairs, and appeared, as before,
+utterly unconscious of all present. He was however shortly
+interrupted by the appearance of the guard whom he had
+despatched with his missive.</p>
+
+<p>'Is my order executed?' inquired the general, looking
+up for a moment only.</p>
+
+<p>'Sí, mi general, it is,' replied the guard. 'Nine bullets
+were fired at the count as he rode round the corner of the
+street mentioned in your dispatch.'</p>
+
+<p>Tacon then ordered that the marriage and death of
+Count Almante should receive all publicity, and that legal
+steps should be taken for the purpose of showing that
+the property and name of the defunct were inherited by his
+disconsolate widow. When the general's commands had
+been fulfilled, and a decent period after the count's demise
+had transpired, it need scarcely be added that Pedro Mantanez
+married the countess, with whom he lived happily
+ever after.</p>
+
+<p>'Rather a barbarous way of administering justice,' I
+remark, at the conclusion of Don Manuel's story. 'In my
+country,' I add, 'such an act as that which General Tacon
+committed would be called murder.'</p>
+
+<p>'It is not looked upon in that light here,' says the officer.
+'You must remember that the count had been already
+guilty of many crimes worthy the punishment of death, and
+as there had been no means of bringing him to justice,
+justice improved the occasion which his last offence presented,
+and, as it were, came to him!'</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">(VERY) HIGH ART IN CUBA.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">On the Ceiling&mdash;'Pintar-monos'&mdash;A Chemist's Shop <i>à la Polychrome</i>&mdash;Sculpture
+under Difficulties&mdash;'Nothing like Leather'&mdash;A Triumph in Triumphal
+Arches&mdash;Cuban Carpenters&mdash;The Captain-General of Havana.</p>
+
+
+<p>Our incarceration proves of professional service to us.
+It spreads our renown and procures us more congenial
+patronage than we have hitherto received. While I have
+been rusticating at La Socapa, my brother limner has been
+busily employed on work in which he takes especial delight.</p>
+
+<p>A rich marquis having just returned from a visit to
+Europe, is inspired with the desire to decorate his new mansion,
+which has lately been purchased by him, in what he
+calls a 'tasteful' fashion. For this purpose all the decorative
+talent of the town is engaged. Nicasio is also applied
+to, and undertakes to adorn the ceiling of the long reception-room
+with four large oil paintings representing the seasons.
+The marquis has not perfected his taste for the fine arts
+by his visit to Europe, for he still persists in applying the
+vulgar term 'mono,' or monkey, to all paintings in which
+figures form the leading features, and of classifying everything
+else under the general denomination of 'paisaje.' All
+artists are to him 'pintar-monos,' or painters of monkeys,
+and when he summons my partner to arrange about the
+pictures which he desires to have affixed to his ceiling, he
+points to the octagonal spaces which these productions are
+destined to fill, and observes:</p>
+
+<p>'Quiero cuatro monos para tapar estos hoyos,' which is
+equivalent to saying: I want four daubs (monkeys) to cover
+over those holes with.</p>
+
+<p>Nicasio accordingly makes sundry small designs for the
+four 'monos,' in which certain allegorical figures of ladies in
+scanty robes, and Cupids without any apparel, are introduced.
+My partner's favourite water-carriers, Regina and
+Mapí, together with Doña Mercedes' well-formed baby
+Isabelica, serve as models for Spring, Summer and Winter
+which when finished, are affixed to their respective 'hoyos'
+or holes in the ceiling. The picture of Autumn, however,
+remains uncompleted. The rich marquis discovers that the
+quality of the work far exceeds his expectations and finding
+also that its value has increased in proportion, he considers
+that this season, which happens to be the last executed,
+should be 'thrown in,' or in other words included in the
+price charged for the other three. In short, he declares that
+unless the 'pintar-monos' agrees to this arrangement, that
+he (the marquis) will get another pintar-monos to complete
+the series. As Nicasio objects to work gratis, our patron,
+true to his word, commissions a house decorator to supply
+the missing season, and the result may be easily imagined!</p>
+
+<p>The Cuban critics are, however, sufficiently intelligent to
+distinguish between the good and the very bad; and thus
+while the local papers are unanimous in their praises of
+Spring, Summer and Winter, they do not hesitate to
+pronounce Autumn a failure and an 'unseasonable' production.</p>
+
+<p>The success which attends my companion's efforts, induces
+others to embark in decorative enterprises, and among our
+patrons for this new kind of work, is a 'botecario,' or chemist,
+who offers us a large amount to paint and otherwise adorn
+his new shop in what he calls the polychrome style.</p>
+
+<p>We have the vaguest notions on that subject, but so have
+also the chemist and the Cuban critics. We accordingly
+undertake the work, and manufacture something in which
+the Pompeian, the Rafaelesque, the Arabesque, and the
+French wall-paper equally participate. In the centre of the
+ceiling is to be placed a large allegorical oil-painting, representing
+a female figure of France in the act of crowning
+the bust of the famous chemist Orfila. In the four angles of
+the ceiling are to be painted portraits of the Spanish physician
+the Marquis of Joca, the English chemist Faraday, the
+Italian anatomist Paganucci, and the French chemist Velpeau.
+It takes exactly seven months to carry out our design, in
+the execution whereof we are assisted by the native talent
+already alluded to. Among our staff of operators are
+a couple of black white-washers for the broad work, a
+master carpenter with his apprentice for the carvings, and
+an indefatigable Chow-chow, or Chinaman, whom we employ
+extensively for the elaborate pattern work. Our mulatto
+pupils also help us in many ways.</p>
+
+<p>The chief objects of attraction in this great undertaking
+are without a doubt a pair of life-sized figures of two
+celebrated French chemists, named Parmentier and
+Vauquelin, destined to stand in a conspicuous part of the
+shop. As there are no sculptors in our town, it devolves as
+usual upon the 'followers of the divine art of Apelles' to
+try their hands at the art of Phidias. Confident of success,
+the chemist provides us with a couple of plaster busts
+representing the French celebrities in question, and bids
+us do our best. The fragments of drapery exhibited on
+these gentlemen enable us to decide on the kind of costume
+which our figures should wear; the one being indicative of
+a robe somewhat clerical, and the other evincing without a
+doubt that the original belonged to a period when knee-breeches
+and top-boots were much in vogue. The resources
+of Cuba for the making of statues are limited, so the
+material we employ is slight. We construct our figures
+upon the principle on which paper masks are made, and by
+painting them afterwards in imitation of marble, a very
+solid appearance may be obtained. I will not describe the
+many difficulties which we encounter at every stage of this
+process; but when the hollow effigies are complete and we
+have fixed them to their painted wooden plinths, we are
+vain enough to believe that we have produced as goodly a
+pair of sham statues as you would see if you travelled from
+one extremity of Cuba to the other.</p>
+
+<p>It is the night which precedes the opening of the
+chemist's shop, and we have retired to our dormitories after
+having given a final coat of marble colour to our pasteboard
+productions. I am about to tumble into my hammock, when
+my progress is arrested by a strange sound which seems to
+emanate from an adjoining chamber. I re-ignite my
+extinguished lamp, and take a peep into the studio.
+Something is certainly moving in that apartment. I
+summon my companion, who joins me, and we enter our
+sanctum.</p>
+
+<p>'Misericordia! One of the statues is alive,' I exclaim,
+horrified at what appears to me a second edition of
+Frankenstein.</p>
+
+<p>'Eppur si muove!' ejaculates Nicasio, quoting from
+another authority.</p>
+
+<p>Monsieur Parmentier&mdash;he of the periwig and top-boots&mdash;is
+sinking perceptibly, though gradually. We advance to
+save him, but alas! too late; the illustrious Frenchman is
+already on his bended boots. The wooden props which
+supported his hollow legs have given way, and his top
+boots are now a shapeless mass. We pause for a moment
+to contemplate the wreck before us, and immediately set
+about repairing the damage.</p>
+
+<p>But how? A brilliant idea suggests itself.</p>
+
+<p>In a corner of the studio stand the leather originals
+which have served us as models for the extremities of the
+injured statue. These same boots belong to an obliging
+shoemaker who has only lent them to us. But what of
+that? The case is urgent, and this is no time to run after
+our friend and bargain with him for his property.</p>
+
+<p>To fill the boots with plaster of Paris; to humour them,
+while the plaster is yet moist, into something which
+resembles the human leg divine, is the work of a few
+moments. To fix them firmly to the wooden plinth, and
+prop over them the incomplete torso by means of laths
+cunningly concealed, occupies little more than an hour and
+a half. A coat of thick white paint administered below,
+completes the operation, and Parmentier is erect again, and
+apparently none the worse for his disaster. One more
+layer of paint early next morning, and the statue is faultless,
+and ready for being borne triumphantly from our
+studio to its destination. There it is placed in its niche,
+and no one suspects the mishap. Evening approaches, and
+with it come crowds of Cuban dilettanti and others who have
+been invited. The ceremony of blessing the new undertaking
+is solemnised according to custom by a priest, and
+an assistant who sprinkles holy-water from a small hand-broom
+upon everything and everybody, while a short
+prayer in Latin is chanted. Then the guests proceed to
+examine the various embellishments of this singular shop,
+pausing to refresh themselves from the sumptuous repast
+which the chemist has provided for his guests and patrons
+in an adjoining chamber.</p>
+
+<p>The statues form a subject for wonder with everybody,
+and no one will believe that they are constructed of other
+than solid material. Even the credulous, who are permitted
+to tap one of Parmentier's boots as a convincing
+test, cannot help sharing the popular delusion.</p>
+
+<p>But our friend the shoemaker is not so easily deceived.
+From certain signs, known only to himself, he recognises
+in the statue's painted extremities his own appropriated
+goods. We swear him to secrecy, and offer to pay him
+liberally for the loss he has sustained; and it pleases him
+to discover that in the pursuit of the fine arts&mdash;and as
+regards statue-making in the West Indies we echo the
+sentiment&mdash;there is nothing like leather!</p>
+
+<p>The chemist's shop is scarcely disposed of, when application
+is again made to us for another important undertaking.</p>
+
+<p>The Captain-General of Havana has signified his intention
+to honour our town with a visit, and preparations
+for his reception must accordingly be made. The good
+people of Cuba have not a superabundance of affection
+for their distinguished chief: possibly because captains-general
+are not as a rule all that their subjects might
+desire. But a visit from his excellency is such an unusual
+event (for our captain-general is rarely absent from his
+comfortable palace in the Havana) that the inhabitants of
+Santiago determine to make at least holiday&mdash;if not to
+profit&mdash;out of the occasion. The merchants and shopkeepers
+are especially interested in exhibiting their loyalty;
+for in this manner they hope to obtain many mercantile
+concessions. Certain little nefarious transactions connected
+with the custom-house may through the captain-general's
+benevolence be forgiven or ignored, while other matters,
+connected with the landing of negroes, may also pass
+censorship. A number of petitions for various local
+favours have been also prepared, and in short the inhabitants
+hope to derive many advantages from the visit of
+their colonial King.</p>
+
+<p>The merchants' contribution towards the festivities will
+be a public ball in the theatre, and a grand triumphal
+arch, which they propose to erect in the principal thoroughfare.
+But a triumphal arch, such as these gentlemen
+contemplate, is not so easily obtained in Cuba. Los
+Señores Bosch Brothers&mdash;who are appointed to direct this
+work&mdash;have, however, no difficulty in providing architects
+qualified to undertake the fabrication required. The
+followers of the divine art of Apelles no doubt 'deal' in
+triumphal arches, and the 'job' is accordingly offered
+to them.</p>
+
+<p>Our experience in the manufacture of triumphal arches
+is not wide, but our patrons are so very pressing, and their
+terms are, moreover, so very liberal, that we are finally
+induced to embark in the enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>A plan of the proposed structure having been drawn and
+submitted for approval to Don Elijio, who is the head of
+the firm of Bosch Brothers, our operations begin. The
+order of architecture which we adopt partakes of the
+Norman and the early Gothic, with a 'dash,' so to speak, of
+the Byzantine, to give it a cheerful aspect. It might remind
+the learned in these matters of York Minster, Temple
+Bar, or a court in the Crystal Palace; but the Señores
+Bosch Brothers&mdash;whose acquaintance with architectural
+master-pieces is confined to the governor's palace of lath
+and plaster, and the white-washed cathedral&mdash;are easily
+satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>Our labours are conducted in the extensive store-room
+of Messrs. Bosch Brothers, which, in order to facilitate our
+operations, is cleared of its cumbersome contents. The
+arch is destined to stand in that part of the street which
+divides the warehouse from the market-place. The latter
+stands at an elevation of more than forty feet above the
+pavement, and is reached by a wide flight of stone steps.
+It forms part of our plan to connect our frail edifice with
+the market wall, and match its local stone colour.</p>
+
+<p>We have exactly a month for the completion of our task,
+and we make the most of our time. Cart-loads of white
+wood, in planks and logs, arrive at all hours of the day, together
+with yards upon yards of coarse canvas, pounds of
+nails, colours in powder, huge earthenware pots and size.
+In short, our requirements are akin to those of a scene
+painter.</p>
+
+<p>Thrifty Don Elijio has periodical moments of panic; for
+it seems to him that our demands for wood, paint, canvas
+and nails, are exorbitant, and more than once he predicts
+the ruin of his speculation. The merchant begins to regret
+that he did not persuade us to 'contract' for the whole
+expense, instead of receiving a separate remuneration for
+our time and labour. Sometimes he will endeavour to
+show that there is something defective in our agreement.</p>
+
+<p>'Look here!' says he. 'You are artists, and if I come to
+you to have my portrait painted, I suppose you will not
+expect me to pay for your colours and canvas?'</p>
+
+<p>We have neither time nor ability to argue the point; but
+the man of many bargains is easily convinced, when we hint
+about relinquishing our labours!</p>
+
+<p>Foiled in his effort to reduce expenses, the merchant
+tries to economise in another way, by questioning the propriety
+of adopting certain little contrivances which he cannot
+for the life of him follow in the original plan.</p>
+
+<p>'What are those hugh firework sort of wheels for?' he
+asks one day. 'I don't see them in the drawing, and therefore
+consider them unnecessary.'</p>
+
+<p>'Those wheels,' we explain, 'which you are pleased to
+compare with fireworks, constitute the skeleton, or framework,
+of four turrets, which, after having been concealed
+behind canvas, painted stone-colour, and relieved with
+imitation port-holes, will be suspended from the uppermost
+angles of the arch.'</p>
+
+<p>'And where is that broad octagonal chimney to be
+placed?' inquires the merchant.</p>
+
+<p>'That "chimney,"' we reply, 'represents a Gothic temple,
+and is destined to stand over the centre of the arch upon a
+graduated pedestal.'</p>
+
+<p>The wood-work of our fabric is put together by a number
+of black and brown carpenters; but we have to superintend
+every part, as these gentlemen have no notion whatever
+of architectural devices, and our eloquence fails to
+convey to their intelligence our multifarious needs.</p>
+
+<p>The readiest of our assistants is a young mulatto, nicknamed
+El Tuerto by reason of a strong cast in his left eye.
+He is far more industrious than his fellow-workmen, most
+of whom have a weakness for aguardiente, and are consequently
+often in what my medical friend Doctor Acéro
+terms, 'a state of vulgar excitement.' El Tuerto easily
+grasps at an idea, and sometimes offers a useful suggestion
+or two. It is he who recommends to our notice a friend
+of his who, he thinks, might be serviceable in the painting
+department. The friend in question is a feeble old negro,
+occasionally afflicted with delirium tremens. We try him
+with the 'line' work, which consists in squaring off the
+imitation stones of the painted masonry: but, his hand
+being too unsteady for this, we employ him for the graining,
+which accords better with his peculiar 'touch,' as the
+process requires certain nervous jerks of the wrist.</p>
+
+<p>At length the day arrives when the stones of the street
+must be uprooted, the tall scaffolding planted, and the innumerable
+pieces of painted canvas which form the external
+covering of the arch, united and raised to their
+respective places. When the fabric is complete, the local
+papers, which have already noticed its progress from time
+to time, thus describe its beauties:</p>
+
+<p>'The triumphal arch erected in the Calle de la Marina
+by the merchants and planters of Santiago, is the combined
+work of those illustrious followers of the divine art of Apelles,
+Don Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú and El Caballero Inglés
+Don Gualterio. This imposing structure measures forty-five
+feet in height, thirty feet in breadth, and nine feet in
+depth. It is supposed to represent part of an old feudal
+castle with its turrets, port-holes and belfry, and is painted
+in imitation of granite stone, which forms a striking contrast
+with the intense blue of our tropical sky, against which
+the arch stands in bold relief.</p>
+
+<p>'On either side of the façade are painted colossal
+figures representing Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and
+Justice. Above these allegories are placed the escutcheons
+of our illustrious Captain-General, together with the coats-of-arms
+belonging to Spain and to Santiago de Cuba.
+Near the centre of the arch are recorded in bold and fanciful
+letters the various triumphs of our distinguished general;
+such as the blockade of Zaragoza in 1843, the glorious
+campaign in Portugal, 1847, the Italian expedition, etc.</p>
+
+<p>'Upon each of the four turrets are planted tall flag-staffs,
+from which coloured streamers gracefully depend, and
+over the centre of the arch, upon the summit of the pretty
+campanilla, waves majestically in the breeze the imposing
+banner of Spanish commerce.</p>
+
+<p>'From the palms of the arch is suspended a garland of
+natural evergreens, in which is artistically entwined a broad
+red and orange-coloured ribbon bearing the following inscription:</p>
+
+<p>'"To His Excellency the Captain-General: from the
+Merchants and Planters of Santiago de Cuba."'</p>
+
+<p>His excellency arrives in due course, and is so
+thoroughly gratified with his reception in Santiago, that
+upon his return to Havana he reports favourably to his
+government upon the progress and prosperity of our part
+of the 'Ever-faithful Isle.'</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">A CORRESPONDENT IN THE WEST INDIES.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">American News-agents and their Work&mdash;Local Information&mdash;The 'Glorious
+Campaign' of Santo Domingo&mdash;'El Cañon de Montecristo'&mdash;Wounded
+Soldiers&mdash;Still Life again!&mdash;A Visit from the Spanish Fleet&mdash;Escape from
+Jail.</p>
+
+
+<p>'Here is something in your line,' remarks Nicasio one
+day, handing me a letter which has just been brought to
+our studio by a black messenger.</p>
+
+<p>The letter is from Don Elijio, of the firm of Bosch Brothers,
+and states that the Havana agent of the <i>New York
+Trigger</i> has commissioned the merchants to find him a
+person who is both qualified and willing to undertake the
+post of newspaper correspondent. The individual must
+have a thorough knowledge of the Spanish and English
+languages; he must be conversant with the ways of Cuba
+and be in a position to collect facts connected with the
+social and political life of the town in which he resides.
+His duties will also be to receive communications from the
+agents of the American newspaper in question, who are dispersed
+all over the West Indies, and after selecting the
+chief points of interest contained in these communications,
+he must dispatch them, in the form of telegrams and news-letters,
+to head-quarters in Havana. For these services a
+liberal monthly salary is offered, and Don Elijio presuming
+that journalism is in some way related to 'the divine art of
+Apelles,' and having moreover every confidence in our
+versatile powers, offers us the engagement.</p>
+
+<p>All is fish that comes to our net in Cuban waters, so as
+art 'trade' is looking rather 'dull,' owing to recent monetary
+panics in the town, Nicasio advises me to give the correspondent
+business a trial. I accordingly accept the proffered
+post, and after some preliminary arrangements with Messrs
+Bosch Brothers, commence operations.</p>
+
+<p>In my capacity of correspondent to the <i>New York
+Trigger</i>, I am required to follow certain directions with
+which the central agent in Havana supplies me. First, a
+telegram, containing the pith of the news I have to impart,
+must be dispatched with all speed to head-quarters in
+Havana, where it will be again transmitted to New York by
+means of the submarine cable between Havana and Florida.
+The telegram must be shortly followed by a carefully composed
+news-letter, of which press-copies must be taken and
+dispatched by two or three different routes. I am enjoined
+to remember that 'the first thing correspondents should
+acquire is news, and the second is how to give it; not
+forgetting that they are writing for a newspaper and not for
+a magazine.'</p>
+
+<p>'The correspondence,' says the directions, 'should
+embrace all that bears upon the political, administrative,
+agricultural, mining, commercial and other topics of the day,
+including new enterprises, new railroads and telegraphs. It
+is important to obtain the particulars of any measure
+contemplated by the Spanish Government, but these must
+be obtained from <i>reliable</i> sources and <i>before</i> they have been
+made public. Local subjects should be eschewed, except
+they bear on politics, or on anything transcendental and of a
+"sensational" character likely to interest the American
+public.'</p>
+
+<p>The shipping list, containing the names of vessels and
+their dates of arrival and departure to and from any port,
+together with a brief account of any disaster at sea, forms
+an important item in the agent's duties. But above all
+promptness in the dispatch of news 'bearing a sensational
+character,' is strongly recommended.</p>
+
+<p>To be <i>in advance</i> of its contemporaries&mdash;or at least
+never behind them&mdash;is the end and aim of the American
+paper which I serve, and to attain these desirable objects,
+every artifice must be employed and 'no expense spared.'</p>
+
+<p>The agents established in the neighbouring islands and in
+South America are mostly natives of the towns where they
+reside and, like myself, have other occupations besides those
+which concern a newspaper. Señor Pillo, who supplies
+most of my South American news, is a clerk in a sugar
+warehouse. Mons. Blagué of Hayti is a cigar manufacturer
+in that colony, while Meinheer Vandercram is a
+sorter in the Post-office at St Thomas. Then there is Mr.
+Archibald Cannie, in the adjacent island of Jamaica, who
+furnishes me with abundant news from Colon, Panama, St.
+Domingo, Barbadoes, Trinidad and a family of sister isles.
+These persons sometimes give me a world of trouble with
+their conflicting statements and confused information, and
+their sins are invariably visited upon my shoulders. Mr.
+Cannie of Jamaica is, however, the best of my correspondents,
+though he is occasionally afflicted with what my
+employer in Havana styles 'Magazine on the brain;' which
+means that Mr. Cannie is too prolific, and adopts a diffuse,
+rambling mode of imparting facts in preference to those
+much desired virtues brevity and conciseness.</p>
+
+<p>My residence&mdash;on an elevated part of the town commanding
+a view of the Cuban Bay&mdash;enables me to sight vessels
+before they have anchored in the harbour.</p>
+
+<p>Every ship is announced to the authorities by means of
+signals. A signal post is planted on the Morro Castle overlooking
+the sea. Another is situated inland between the
+fortress and the town, while a third stands within telescope
+range of the Custom-house. It is this last which, on certain
+days, engrosses my attention; for by it I am made aware
+of the approach of vessels long before they are visible in
+the bay. The signal post is shaped like a cross, to the points
+of which are hoisted black and white balls and coloured
+banners, by means of which the description of the craft,
+together with her name and country, is made known.</p>
+
+<p>In my employ is a young negro who, whenever a vessel is
+expected, squats in the shade of our broad balcony, and with
+a telescope placed to his left eye takes observation of the
+signal post. As soon as anything is hoisted, the black
+sentinel reports the same to me after the following fashion:</p>
+
+<p>'Miamo, alerte! The signal is speaking.'</p>
+
+<p>'What does it say, negrito?' I inquire from within.</p>
+
+<p>'White ball in the centre, miamo.'</p>
+
+<p>By this I know that a steamer is in sight. After a pause
+my negrito informs me that the signal has added something
+to its last observation.</p>
+
+<p>'What does it say?'</p>
+
+<p>'Blue streamer to windward under white ball.'</p>
+
+<p>From these appearances I gather where the steamer hails
+from and what is her nationality. In the same manner I
+derive other information respecting the coming craft, all of
+which I hasten to note down.</p>
+
+<p>The sound of a gun warns me that the vessel has already
+entered the harbour, six miles distant. Anon she appears
+cautiously steering through the narrow winding bay;
+gradually disclosing first her rig, then her colours, and
+lastly her name. Long before the ship has dropped
+anchor, I have reached the quay, where I embark in a
+small canoe to meet the moving steamer. Arrived within
+hailing distance of the vessel, I shout to the purser, the
+supercargo, or to anybody else who may have brought
+news or correspondence for me. If I succeeded in obtaining
+some, I land again, and before the anchorage gun is
+fired, I am on my way to the telegraph office. Here&mdash;with
+my dispatches before me&mdash;I compose and forward a
+brief summary of news from the port whence the steamer
+hails, and if there is nothing to interrupt the line of
+communication with America, the <i>New York Trigger</i> will
+contain my telegrams in its second edition of the following
+day.</p>
+
+<p>I have many difficulties to contend with in my quest
+of local matter in Santiago. Some of my Cuban friends
+help me in my researches, and I also pick up fragments of
+'intelligence' in the cafés, the public promenade, the warehouses,
+and the newspaper offices. Occasionally I hold
+secret audience with an intelligent native, who volunteers
+some extraordinary information on a local subject which is
+of no interest whatever to anybody except my informant.
+Sometimes the applicant is persuaded that I have indirect
+influence with the American Congress, and presses me to
+communicate his grievance to the authorities in Washington.
+I dare not close my ear against such applicants, for
+in the mass of valueless dross which I receive, I sometimes
+discover a rough diamond which, after due cutting and
+polishing, I dispose of to the <i>New York Trigger</i>.</p>
+
+<p>For instance: an aged negro of my acquaintance comes
+to me one day, with the astounding information that he,
+and a number of equally decrepit and unserviceable slaves,
+have been killed and buried by his master. In other words,
+the owners of these useless helots have hoodwinked the
+slave emancipators by representing their decrepit human
+property as defunct, while they substitute fresh importations
+in their places. Subsequently I learn that a landing of
+blacks has been lately effected near Guantánamo, and,
+upon a closer investigation, I gather the curious particulars,
+which are these:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>The Capitan de Partido, or Major of the district, where
+the nefarious transaction took place, was naïvely requested
+by the parties interested in the landing to absent himself
+from the locality during a certain week; for which simple
+act he would receive four or five thousand dollars. During
+his absence, the landing of slaves is of course effected; and
+when the authorities hear of the transaction, and reprimand
+el Capitan de Partido for his want of vigilance, the latter
+exonerates himself by explaining how he was unfortunately
+absent from his post within the very date of the embarkation.</p>
+
+<p>This is a topic of passing interest to the American
+people, while it affords the <i>Trigger</i> a text for a number of
+'telling' articles relative to slave-emancipation, in which
+an appeal is made to the American Congress on the expediency
+of taking the colony in hand.</p>
+
+<p>Many other important events transpire while I am fulfilling
+my duties of correspondent to the <i>New York Trigger</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Prominent among these, is the return from Santo Domingo
+of the Spanish army after another unsuccessful
+attempt to establish a footing in that island. In order to
+assure the people of Cuba that the campaign has been
+attended with 'glorious' results, a public fiesta in honour
+of the return of General Gandarias and his followers is
+celebrated in our town. The streets are gaily decorated,
+and a certain cannon, which had been captured in Montecristo
+by the Spaniards, is wheeled on a cart through the
+streets, followed by a procession of soldiers and a band of
+music. This cannon&mdash;which is a heavy-looking, unserviceable
+weapon of the old-fashioned calibre&mdash;is made much of
+by everybody, and finally a niche is built in a wall of
+the cathedral, and the 'cañon de Montecristo,' as it is
+henceforth derisively termed by the Cubans, is deposited
+in this niche with a railing before it, and an inscription
+above, in which the people of Cuba are reminded of the
+'glorious campaign of Santo Domingo.'</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after the appearance of the cañon de Montecristo,
+some vessels of war from the seat of hostilities arrive with
+a vast cargo of sick and wounded Spaniards. 'The Loyal
+and Ever-faithful' inhabitants of Santiago meet them on
+board, and some volunteer to convey the infirm soldiers to
+the hospitals in town. Nicasio and I are pressed into this
+service by our good friend Doctor Francisco, who is the
+head medical officer of the garrison. Each soldier, as he is
+landed, is placed on a canvas stretcher, provided with a
+couple of stout poles, and in this manner he is borne on
+the shoulders of four volunteers. When all have safely
+disembarked, a procession is formed, and headed by a band
+of music, we march slowly through the streets in the
+direction of Santa Ana, where the military hospital is
+situated. The distance is about two miles, and we have
+to move with extreme care so as to aggravate as little as
+possible the sufferings of the wounded men.</p>
+
+<p>The individual whom Nicasio and I, assisted by a
+couple of friends, have volunteered to convey, is the young
+Spanish officer Don Manuel, the betrothed of Don Benigno's
+daughter. He does not appear to be seriously
+wounded, for he chats pleasantly with us on the way
+and gives us a vivid description of his late experiences.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at the hospital, we deposit our burthens on
+their respective couches, where the poor fellows are, in due
+time, left to the tender care of Doctor Francisco and his
+assistant surgeons.</p>
+
+<p>Don Manuel is one of the first whom the doctor visits.
+A ball has lodged in the young fellow's hip, but he endures
+his painful operation bravely. While the ball is being
+extracted, Don Manuel smokes cigarettes, and converses
+with those around him.</p>
+
+<p>I gather from the communicative young officer much
+information respecting the late war. He tells me that the
+Spanish soldiers acted with their accustomed valour, and
+did their best to vanquish their black opponents; but that
+in spite of their efforts, the enemy proved more than a
+match for them. The guerilla mode of warfare adopted
+by the swarthy warriors, assisted by the bad roads and
+impenetrable country, together with the fatal effects of the
+climate, combined to defeat the assailants, and, after many
+fruitless attempts, attended with considerable losses to the
+Spanish army, the troops were ordered to withdraw from
+the scene of hostilities.</p>
+
+<p>Always with an 'eye to business,' my partner and I
+improve the occasion by obtaining sundry commissions for
+portraits of some of the distinguished officers who had
+fallen in the late campaign. One of the more important
+works of this kind is a large historical picture, in which the
+illustrious commander of the expedition and his staff of
+officers are introduced. In order to ensure correct likenesses
+of the individuals who are to figure in our painted
+production, photographs, and military uniforms are supplied
+for our use. Many weary weeks are devoted to
+this <i>capo d'opera,</i> and when the picture is completed, it is
+handsomely framed and exhibited to an admiring crowd in
+one of the saloons of the governor's palace.</p>
+
+<p>The war of Santo Domingo being over and forgotten,
+the town is again enlivened by the arrival of the Spanish
+fleet fresh from Peru after the unsatisfactory bombardment
+of Callao. The vessels are anchored in the Cuban harbour
+and include the iron-clad steamer 'Numancia,' commanded
+by Admiral Mendez Nunez; the 'Villa de Madrid'
+with Captain Topete on board; the 'Resolucion' and the
+'Almanza.' Our illustrious visitors are lionised for nearly
+a week at the public expense. Banquets, balls and other
+entertainments are given in their honour; and in acknowledgment
+of these attentions, the officers of the 'Numancia,'
+before the fleet takes its departure, give a grand ball on
+board their vessel, to which the leading families of Santiago
+are invited. The upper deck of the iron-clad is covered
+with a gigantic awning, and is so disguised with flowers,
+tropical plants, and other adornments, that the guests can
+scarcely realise the fact that they are actually on board a
+man-of-war. A long supper table is laid between decks,
+and here the visitors are invited to inspect the gunnery
+arrangements and a certain part of the vessel which had
+sustained some damage during the late expedition.</p>
+
+<p>From some of the officers and crew of this vessel I obtain
+a few particulars relative to the bombardment of Callao,
+and these I hasten to use for the benefit of the American
+newspaper which I serve.</p>
+
+<p>Another interesting event is the attempted escape from
+the town jail of upwards of two hundred prisoners. The
+whole town is for many days thrown into a state of alarm,
+for eleven out of the number succeed in effecting their
+escape. These are, however, eventually captured by the
+police, and after being tried in the usual way by court-martial,
+are sentenced to be shot in public. Upon the
+morning of the execution, there is great excitement in town.
+The execution is a fearful spectacle, for the firing has to be
+repeated more than once before the unfortunates are pronounced
+dead. One of the victims is my former fellow-prisoner,
+the communicative Indian, who, after the first shots
+had been fired by the soldiers, offered to confess his sins,
+which he had hitherto refused to do upon the plea that the
+instrument of confession was 'only a piece of crossed
+wood.'</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">CUBAN MUSIC.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">A Soirée at Don Laureano's&mdash;An eminent Violinist and Composer&mdash;Cuban
+Pianos&mdash;Real Negro Minstrels&mdash;Carnival Songs&mdash;Coloured Improvisatores.</p>
+
+
+<p>All work and no play makes even a 'follower of the divine
+art of Apelles' a dull caballero; so when the day's toils are
+over, my companion and I amuse ourselves in various
+ways. The theatre, the Retreta, or promenade, a ball at
+the Philharmonic, and masquerading during the carnival
+season, are among our favourite diversions. Sometimes I
+enjoy these amusements in company with my partner;
+but when his society is denied me, I avail myself of the
+companionship of my friend Tunicú, who is a great authority
+in all matters appertaining to the 'gay and festive.'</p>
+
+<p>Being fond of music, Tunicú introduces me to his friend
+Laureano, who is a favourite musical composer and an
+accomplished violinist. In appearance, Don Laureano
+strongly resembles the renowned Paganini, and it is for this
+reason, together with his marvellous performances on the
+violin, that his admirers sometimes advise him to visit
+Europe and America.</p>
+
+<p>Don Laureano is chiefly employed as leader of the
+theatrical band and as conductor of the orchestra which
+performs on fiestas at the cathedral. He also gives lessons
+in pianoforte and violin playing, and composes songs and
+'zarzuelas.' Once this accomplished gentleman wrote an
+entire oratorio of some five hundred pages, which after
+being printed and gorgeously bound, was presented to Her
+Catholic Majesty the Queen of Spain.</p>
+
+<p>Laureano gives musical matinées and soirées at his
+private dwelling. Everybody in the town being personally
+acquainted with him, no special invitations are issued, but
+those who are inclined to enjoy a little music, have only to
+enter the Don's open door, which has direct communication
+with his reception room. Those who can obtain neither
+seats nor standing-room, remain in the street, where, the
+huge windows of the musician's house being devoid of
+glass, the performances are perfectly audible. Negroes
+and mulattoes of all shades are among the spectators of the
+pavement; but with the exception of a few coloured
+musicians, only white people are admitted within the
+building.</p>
+
+<p>The programme of entertainments includes popular
+melodies, selections from oratorios, zarzuelas and Cuban
+dances. Laureano is assisted by his son, Laureanito, who,
+notwithstanding his tender years, is a proficient on the
+piano. This youthful prodigy usually accompanies his
+parent when the latter enraptures his audience with a
+brilliant solo performance on his favourite instrument.</p>
+
+<p>Don Laureano is fond of comparing 'musical notes' with
+foreigners, and finding that I sing comic songs and strum a
+little on the piano, he occasionally prevails upon me to
+oblige the company with some of my reminiscences of
+popular European airs.</p>
+
+<p>The productions of such foreigners as have been inspired
+to compose pieces founded on Cuban music, are also included
+in Don Laureano's repertory. Ravina's far-famed
+'Habaneros,' Gottschalk's 'Ojos Criollos' and Salaman's
+'Spanish Caprice,' are favourites with a Cuban audience.
+But, like all Cuban and Spanish music, they require
+to be played with a certain local sentiment, and it is for
+this reason that the most accomplished European performers
+often fail to satisfy the Cuban musical appetite.
+Under the practised hands of a Cuban player, however,
+every justice is done to the compositions I have quoted.</p>
+
+<p>Don Laureano's piano does not differ from any other
+piano, save that its mechanism is in some way adapted to
+suit the requirements of a tropical climate. Pianos of
+American manufacture are popular in Cuba; but Pleyel's
+instruments are preferred by some, on account of their soft
+tone and durability. A piano is an expensive luxury in
+the West Indies; its intrinsic value being comparatively
+small when the cost of its transfer from Europe or America,
+and the duty charged thereon, are considered. Pianos,
+moreover, do not last as long in the tropics as they do in
+colder climates, and great care is accordingly taken of their
+delicate machinery. To ensure against any moisture which
+may ascend from the marble or brick floor of the chamber
+in which the instrument is lodged, small glass cups are
+placed as insulators under the castors. It is considered
+highly detrimental to the tone of a piano to use it during
+damp or wet weather; so, on a rainy day, the instrument
+is locked up and the key carefully concealed by its owner.</p>
+
+<p>Among the coloured community are many accomplished
+performers on every instrument except the piano; for,
+somehow, the dark digits of these gentlemen do not adapt
+themselves to the white and black ivories.</p>
+
+<p>Veritable 'negro minstrels' are, in Cuba, as plentiful as
+blackberries; but, as they 'never perform out of' the
+island, their renown is purely local. The mulatto, Urriola,
+is famous for his performances on the cornet-à-piston and
+the double-bass, and his young son is a favourite flute-player.
+Lino Boza is the name of a distinguished negro
+performer on the clarionet. He is also a popular composer
+of Cuban dance music. These musical geniuses are
+all free, and reside in La Calle del Rey Pelayo&mdash;a quarter
+of the town much frequented by the emancipated tribes.</p>
+
+<p>Urriola and his son, together with Lino Boza and other
+black and brown gentlemen, are great acquisitions in the
+orchestras of the theatre, the cathedral, and the public
+balls; but their services are mostly in request during the
+carnival season, and on certain fiestas. They are, indeed,
+in such demand for the latter occasions, that engagements
+with them are entered into days before these festivities take
+place, and not unfrequently the same band is required to
+play at a dozen different localities in one day.</p>
+
+<p>The 'Danza Criolla' is the patriotic music of Cuba, and
+every fresh carnival gives birth to a new set of these 'danzas.'
+When the air happens to be unusually 'pegajoza,' or catching,
+a brief song is improvised, and the words of this song
+chime so well with the music which suggests them, as to
+form a sort of verbal counterpart of the melody.</p>
+
+<p>The merits of these songs are not, however, confined
+to a judicious selection of words to suit the air. There
+is often a quaint local humour conveyed in the doggerel
+verses; the charm being greatly enhanced by the introduction
+of creole slang and mispronounced Spanish.
+Fragments of these effusions occasionally degenerate into
+street sayings, which are in everybody's mouth till the
+next carnival. One of the most popular during a certain
+year was 'Tocólo mejor que tu!' which means Tocólo is a
+better fellow than you. Other equally choice refrains&mdash;though
+not to be rendered into corresponding English&mdash;are
+'Amarillo! suenemelo pinton,'and 'Calabazon, tu estás
+pinton.'</p>
+
+<p>The following ditty, attached to a favourite Cuban
+danza, called 'La Chupadera,' meets with many admirers.
+In the original it begins:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+¡Ay! si lo sé, que yo estoy diciendo,<br />
+Que la chupadera á real está vendiendose,<br />
+Cuando chupamos, cuando llueve, todo mojamos, &amp;c.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="non">which emphatically affirms that at a certain period of the
+(carnival) day one may become comfortably tipsy for the
+small sum of five-pence, and it further demonstrates how
+rain and rum can alike moisten the human body.</p>
+
+<p>Here is some wholesome advice for procrastinating
+people:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+¡Ay! Policarpio; toma la sopa,<br />
+Mientras que está caliente;<br />
+Tomela, chino, que te se enfría!<br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="non">in which Policarpio is recommended to drink his soup while
+it is hot, and not to wait until the nourishment is cold and
+unpalatable.</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+¡Arrempuja! que por el hoyo se engarta la aguja.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="non">is equally sententious. Forward! for remember that the
+needle can only be threaded through its eye.</p>
+
+<p>The following brief song speaks in praise of the neighbours
+at Santo Domingo:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+Por un Español doy medio;<br />
+Por un Cubano&mdash;un doblón;<br />
+Y por un Dominicano<br />
+¡Doy vida y corazon!<br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="non">in which a Spaniard is estimated at two-pence, a Cuban at
+a doubloon, and a Dominican at nothing less than 'life and
+soul.'</p>
+
+<p>Here is some sage advice for a young lady seeking a
+husband:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+Chiquilla, si te casarás,<br />
+Cásate con un 'scribano;<br />
+Qu' aunque no tenga dinero,<br />
+Siempre con la pluma en mano&mdash;<br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="non">recommending to her notice a hard-working clerk, who,
+although possibly deficient in fortune, has the power of
+earning one with his pen.</p>
+
+<p>A baker is (in song) also considered an eligible match in
+preference to a tobacconist, for whereas the latter cannot
+always provide the necessaries of life, the former is at least
+sure of bread, chocolate (which every Cuban baker manufactures
+and sells), and a few 'reales,' at a very early hour
+of the day; as the original words clearly demonstrate:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+La mujer del tabaquero<br />
+No tiene nada seguro.<br />
+La mujer del panadero<br />
+Todo lo tiene seguro;<br />
+Que á las cinco de la mañana<br />
+Tiene el pan y el chocolate,<br />
+Y los tres reales, seguros.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The following is a specimen of a serenade, which is
+more remarkable for its local associations than for its originality:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+No te causas espanto, ne admiracion,<br />
+Que los que te cantan, tus amigos son.<br />
+Y abrime la puerta, que estoy en la calle;<br />
+Que dirán la gente?&mdash;Que es un desaire!<br />
+Cuatro rosas traigo, en cada mano dos,<br />
+No te canto mas, porque ya nos vamos.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Fear not, nor marvel greatly; for those who sing at
+your window are your truest friends. So, open wide your
+doors to me, for behold me in the street. And what will
+people say, then? Why sure, that you are slighting me!
+I bring with me four roses fresh&mdash;two in every hand; but
+I'll sing to you no more, because&mdash;we all must go elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>Songs similar to those quoted are usually delivered by
+negroes and mulattoes at their tertulias or evening gatherings,
+where, seated on leather-bottomed chairs, or squatting
+at the portals of their doors, they entertain their black and
+brown divinities. One of the party accompanies himself
+upon a guitar, or a primitive instrument formed out of a
+square box upon which are arranged slips of flexible iron
+of different lengths and tones. Another has a strangely-fashioned
+harp, made from a bent bamboo, to which a
+solitary string is attached. The guitar player is, however,
+in greater demand than the rest, and is perhaps asked to
+favour the company with a sentimental song, such, for
+example, as the popular ditty called La Bayamesa, which
+commences:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+¿No te acuerdes, gentil Bayamesa,<br />
+Que tu fuistes el amor de Fulgencio,<br />
+Cuando alegre en tu candida frente,<br />
+Beso ardiente imprimí, con pasion?&mdash;<br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="non">that is, a certain 'gentle Bayamese' is reminded that she
+was the loved one of Fulgencio, who, invited by the lady's
+<i>open</i> countenance impressed upon it a passionate kiss.</p>
+
+<p>This being unanimously approved of by the company,
+the dark-complexioned troubadour will probably be called
+upon for another song, and the following mournful ballad
+will perhaps be chanted:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+Yo nací solo para padecer;<br />
+¡No te acuerdes mas de mí!<br />
+No tengo ningun placer,<br />
+Desgraciada y sin salud;<br />
+Yo nací solo para padecer.<br />
+Mira, ¡ay! la virtud<br />
+No se consigue así, &amp;c.<br />
+<br />
+I was born a child of tears!<br />
+Think thou then no more of me.<br />
+Life brings only grief and fears<br />
+To one worn and pale with care.<br />
+I was born a child of tears!<br />
+Ah! can virtue linger where<br />
+Dwelleth only misery?<br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">MASQUERADING IN CUBA.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">Deserted!&mdash;'Los Mamarrachos'&mdash;A French-Creole Ball&mdash;Street Masquers&mdash;Negro
+Amateurs&mdash;Masks and Dominoes&mdash;The Plaza de Armas&mdash;Victims of
+the Carnival&mdash;A Cuban Café in Holiday Time&mdash;'Comparsas'&mdash;White and
+Black Balls&mdash;A Moral.</p>
+
+
+<p>It is the twenty-eighth of December, and the thermometer
+stands at eighty-five in the shade. I rise with the 'ganza
+grulla'&mdash;our bird chronometer&mdash;that wonderful creature of
+the crane species, with a yard of neck, and two-feet-six of
+legs. Every morning at six of the clock precisely, our grulla
+awakens us by half-a-dozen gurgling and metallic shrieks,
+in a tone loud enough to be heard by his Excellency the
+Governor, who is a sound sleeper, and lives in a big palace
+half a league from our studio. I descend from my Indian
+grass hammock, and don a suit of the flimsiest cashmere,
+in compliment to the winter month, and because there is
+still a taste of night air in the early morning. I have to
+manufacture my own café noir to-day, for my companion is
+absent, and our servants&mdash;a stalwart Ethiop and a youthful
+mulatto&mdash;are both abroad, and will not return for the
+next three days. It is a fiesta and Friday. To-morrow is
+'la ñapa,' or day of grace, 'thrown in' to the holiday-makers,
+to enable them to recruit their exhausted frames, which
+they do by repeating the pleasurable excitement of the
+previous day. Then comes Sunday, another fiesta, which,
+in most foreign climes, is another word for day, not of rest,
+but of restlessness.</p>
+
+<p>The leading characteristics of a Cuban carnival are the
+street 'comparsas,' or companies of masqueraders&mdash;'mamarrachos'
+as they are called in the creole vernacular&mdash;and the
+masked balls. Here you have a comparsa comprised of
+pure Africans; though you wouldn't believe it, for their
+flat-nosed faces are illumined by a coat of light flesh-colour,
+and their woolly heads are dyed a blazing crimson. The
+males have also assumed female attire, though their better
+halves have not returned the compliment. Here is another
+and a better comparsa, of mulattoes, with cheeks of flaming
+vermilion, wigs of yellow tow, and false beards. Their
+everyday apparel is worn reversed, and the visible lining is
+embellished with tinsel, paint, and ribbons. They are preceded
+by a band of music: a big drum, hand tambours,
+basket rattles, conch shells, and a nutmeg-grater. The
+members of this goodly company dance and sing as they
+pass rapidly along the streets, occasionally halting in their
+career to serenade a friend. Now, they pause before a
+cottage, at the door of which is a group of 'mulaticas
+francesas,' or French mulatto girls. The maskers salute
+them in falsetto voices, and address them by their Christian
+names as a guarantee of their acquaintanceship. The girls
+try hard to recognise the disfigured faces of their visitors.
+At last:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Holá! Musyer Fransoir, je vous conóse!' cries a yellow
+divinity in creole French.</p>
+
+<p>'Venici! Monte!' calls another; at which invitation,
+Musyer Fransoir, who has stood confessed, ascends the
+narrow side steps which give entrance to the cottage, and
+vanishes through a diminutive door. He appears again
+hatless, and beckons his companions, who follow his lead
+with alacrity. Soon, a hollow drumming, rattling, and
+grating, is heard, varied by the occasional twang of an
+exceedingly light guitar making vain efforts to promote
+harmony. A shuffling of slippered feet, and voices singing,
+signify that a dance is pending. Everybody&mdash;meaning
+myself and my neighbours&mdash;moves towards the scene.
+Everybody passes up the perilous steps, and endeavours to
+squeeze into the spare apartment. A few succeed in
+establishing a permanent footing in the room, and the rest
+stand at the doorway and window, or burst through the
+chamber by a back door into an open yard. In carnival
+time, everybody's house is everybody else's castle.</p>
+
+<p>There is a perfect Babel at the French criolla's. Some
+are endeavouring to dance with little more terra firma to
+gyrate upon than 'La Nena' had on her foot square of table.
+Others are beating time on tables, trays, and tin pots.
+Somebody has brought a dismal accordion, but he is so
+jammed up in a corner by the dancers, that more wind is
+jerked out of him than he can possibly jerk out of his
+instrument. The man with the faint guitar is no better off.
+Every now and then a verse of dreary song is pronounced
+by one of the dancers.</p>
+
+<p>Here is a specimen:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+¡Ay! Caridad; ¡ay! Caridad; ¡ay! Caridad,<br />
+Cuidao' con la luna si te dá.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">¡Ca-la-ba-zon! tu estás pinton.</span><br />
+<br />
+(Oh! Charity, Charity, foolish Charity.<br />
+Beware of the moon, and avoid her <i>clarity</i>!)<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>There is a pause&mdash;an interval of ten minutes or so for
+refreshments. English bottled ale, at two shillings the
+bottle, is dispensed, together with intensely black coffee,
+which leaves a gold-brown stain on the cup in proof of
+its genuineness; and this is followed by the indispensable
+nip of the native brandy, called aguardiente. Stumps of
+damp cigars are abandoned for fresh ones, and the air is
+redolent of smoke, beer, and brown perspiration. If you
+remain long in this atmosphere, which reminds you of a
+combination of a London cook-shop and a museum of
+stuffed birds and mummies, you will become impregnated
+by it, and then not all the perfumes of Araby will eradicate
+it from your system.</p>
+
+<p>I need not go far to witness the street sights in carnival
+time. Many of them I can enjoy from my position on my
+balcony. 'Enter' the shade of an Othello in false whiskers.
+He is attired in a red shirt, top boots, and a glazed
+cap. In his mouth is a clay pipe; in his hand a black
+bottle: both products of Great Britain. He is followed by
+a brother black, in the disguise of a gentleman, with enormous
+shirt collars and heavy spectacles. In his arms rests
+a colossal volume, upon which his attention is riveted, and
+against the brim of his napless hat is stuck a lighted taper.
+He stumbles along with uneven step, and occasionally
+pauses for the purpose of giving tongue to his profound
+cogitations. The crowd jeer him as he passes, but he is
+unmoved, and the expression of his copper-coloured
+countenance is ever grave and unchangeable. His eyes&mdash;or
+more correctly speaking, his spectacles&mdash;never wander
+from the mystic page, save when he trims his taper of
+brown wax, or exchanges it for another and a longer. One
+cannot help remarking how on all occasions the 'oppressed'
+negro preserves his natural gravity. Whether it be his
+pleasure or his pain, he takes it stoically, without any
+observable alteration in his sombre physiognomy.</p>
+
+<p>How do you reconcile the singular anomaly of a nigger
+with his face painted black? Here is one, whose face and
+bare arms are besmeared with soot and ink. His thick lips
+start out in bright scarlet relief, his eyebrows are painted
+white, and his spare garments (quite filthy enough before)
+are bedaubed with tar and treacle. This piece of grimy
+humanity is worthy of note as showing that the despised
+nigger is really not so black as he is painted; if the truth
+were known, perhaps, the man himself has adopted this
+disguise with a view to prove to the meditative world that
+there may yet be another, and a blacker, population!</p>
+
+<p>It is not wise to be too contemplative, and to stay at
+home, on a carnival day in Cuba. All the world recognises
+you in the character of a moralising recluse, and all the
+carnival world will surely make you its victim. As I sit,
+despising these frivolities, as I call them, a great 'comparsa'
+of whites&mdash;the genuine article&mdash;comes rushing along in my
+direction. Out of the carnival season, the dramatis personæ
+of this comparsa are respectable members of society, in
+white drill suits and Spanish leather boots. To-day they
+are disreputable-looking and unrecognisable. Their faces
+are painted black, red, and mulatto-colour. Their disguise
+is of the simplest, and withal most conspicuous nature, consisting
+of a man's hat and a woman's chemise&mdash;low-necked,
+short-sleeved, and reaching to the ground. They dance,
+they sing, and jingle rattles and other toys, and are followed
+by a band of music of the legitimate kind. In it are
+violins, a double-bass, a clarionet, a French horn, a bassoon,
+a brace of tambours, and the indispensable nutmeg-grater,
+performed upon with a piece of wire exactly as the
+actual grater is by the nutmeg. The musicians, who are
+all respectably dressed blacks, hired for the occasion, play
+the everlasting 'Danza Cubana.' This is Cuba's national
+dance, impossible to be described as it is impossible to be
+correctly played by those who have never heard it as
+executed by the native. In a country where carnivals are
+objected to by the police, I have heard but one pianoforte
+player who, in his very excellent imitation of the quaint
+music of 'La Danza,' has in the least reminded me of the
+original, with its peculiar hopping staccato bass and running
+and waltzing treble; but he had long been a resident in the
+Pearl of the Antilles.</p>
+
+<p>The comparsa just described has halted before my
+balcony, as I guessed it would from the fact that its members
+were white people, and possibly friends. Oh, why did
+I not follow Nicasio's example and accept José Joaquin's
+invitation last evening to make one of a comparsa of wax
+giantesses! But I preferred seclusion to-day, and must
+take the consequences! Here they come straight into my
+very balcony with their 'Holá! Don Gualterio. No me
+conóces?' in falsetto voices. Do I know you? How
+should I in that ungentlemanly make-up? Let me see.
+Yes, Frasquito it is, by all that's grimy! What! and
+Tunicú, too, and Bimba? I feel like Bottom the weaver
+when he summoned his sprites. Que hay, amigos? By
+this time my amigos have taken unlawful possession of my
+innermost apartments. It's of no use to expostulate. I
+must bottle up my indignation, and uncork my pale ale.
+I do the latter by producing all my English supply of that
+beverage; but it proves insufficient. The thirst of my
+burglarious intruders is not easily sated. The cry is still:
+'Cerveza!' Convinced that I have exhausted all my beer,
+they are content to fall back upon aguardiente; which very
+plebeian liquor, to judge from their alcoholic breath, my
+guests have been falling back upon ever since the morning.</p>
+
+<p>'Musica! Vamos á bailar!' The chemised cavaliers propose
+a dance. Musica! The musica strikes up with a
+deafening echo under my spacious roof. At the inspiring
+tones of 'La Danza,' a dozen spectators from the pavement,
+consisting chiefly of mulatto girls and white neighbours,
+invite themselves in. Here's a pretty thing! An extemporised
+public masked ball in my private dwelling in the
+middle of the day! If this were Cornwall-road, Bayswater,
+I would have every one of them prosecuted for trespass.
+Music&mdash;a! Aguardiente! They combine singing with
+dancing, and mix these with cigar smoking and aguardiente
+drinking. To save my credit, the genuine white brandy I
+provide is diluted to ten degrees of strength, and costs
+only two dollars and a quarter the garafon! I find myself
+suddenly whirled round by one of my uninvited visitors.
+I would not have selected such a partner, but I have no
+choice. Smoke is said to be a disinfectant; so I smoke as
+I dance. For the closeness of the atmosphere, and the
+muskiness of mulatto girls, are not congenial to one's olfactory
+and respiratory organs. At last the final drop of
+aguardiente is drained, the music ceases, and my friends,
+and my friends' friends, and the strangers that were without
+my gate, take their not unwelcome departure.</p>
+
+<p>This has been a warning, which, as I live, I'll profit by.
+I extemporise and assume a home-made disguise. A
+strange sensation of guilt, of going to do something wrong,
+comes over me and makes me quake from the top of my
+extemporised turban to the sole of my sandal slippers.
+Whither shall I wander, forlorn pantomimist that I am? I
+loiter about the least frequented neighbourhoods, until the
+shades of eve&mdash;which in this climate come with a rush&mdash;have
+fallen, and then I mix fearlessly with the throng,
+among whom I am but as a drop in a Black Sea. In my
+peregrinations I meet a company of negro masqueraders,
+who, without the least ceremony, are entering the private
+dwelling of an opulent Don. The illustrious family are
+tranquilly seated in the elegant sala; but what care their
+visitors? It is carnival time and they, serfs of that same
+house, are licensed to bring themselves and their friends.
+They bear between them a painted screen, which they unfold
+and plant in the middle of the saloon. It forms a
+theatrical proscenium on a small scale. An orchestra of
+tambours, tin-trays, and nutmeg-grating güiros opens the
+performances, and then the actors proceed to saw the air.
+They perform this operation in turn, by reason of the
+limited proportions of their stage; and one very tall negro,
+who appears to have been altogether omitted in the
+carpenter's calculations, has to speak his speech behind the
+top drop. He speaks it trippingly too; for in the middle
+of a most exciting monologue, he upsets the whole paraphernalia
+and himself into the bargain. The entertainment,
+including refreshments, has lasted some fifteen minutes,
+when the itinerant troupe (who derive no benefit from their
+labours save what honour and self-enjoyment yield) pick up
+their portable proscenium and walk away.</p>
+
+<p>By far the gayest region of the city during a carnival is
+the spacious square called the Plaza de Armas. Here are
+the governor's house, the residences of Cuban Belgravia, the
+cafés, and the cathedral. Myriads of masqueraders, in
+every variety of motley and domino, congregate in the
+plaza after their day's perambulations, and dance, sing, or
+bewitch each other with their disguises. There is a party
+of masqued and dominoed ladies: genuine whites all&mdash;you
+can tell it by the shape of their gloveless hands and the transparent
+pink of their finger-nails&mdash;endeavouring to hoax a
+couple of swains in false noses and green spectacles, both of
+whom have been already recognised. The perplexed youths
+try their hardest to discover their fair interlocutors by peeping
+at their profiles through their wire masks, but in vain. At
+the next quiet tertulia these same ladies will have rare fun
+with their puzzled victims of the night of the masquerade.
+Within earshot of where I am standing are a small crew of
+ancient mariners, Britons every one of them; unless they
+happen to be Americans from Boston: it does not matter
+which to a Cuban. They belong to the good ship <i>Mary
+Barker</i>, lately arrived from Halifax, in quest of Cuban
+copper. Jack has come ashore to-night to see the sights
+and collect material for a new yarn, which he will deliver
+at his native fireside one of these odd days. Some masker
+has approached the group, and has brought them the
+astounding information that he&mdash;the unknown&mdash;belongs
+to the <i>Mary Barker</i>. Jack turns to his messmates with
+a bewildered air. Then, addressing the masker, 'What,
+Joe?' says he at a venture.</p>
+
+<p>'No, not Joe,' says the man behind the mask. 'Try
+again.'</p>
+
+<p>'Shiver my timbers!' exclaims Jack, 'I give it up.
+Here, Tom,' says he to a shipmate of that name, 'you're
+good at conhumdrums; just step for'ard and tell this here
+lubber who he his.'</p>
+
+<p>Tom tries and fails, but arrives at the possible conclusion
+that it is 'some o' them 'ere Cubeyans a-making game
+on us.'</p>
+
+<p>Refreshment stalls stand at intervals along the pavement
+of the plaza. Each table has a white tablecloth, and is
+dimly illumined by candles sheltered from the wind by
+enormous stand shades of glass, or lamps of portable gas.
+Leather-bottomed chairs are placed invitingly around, and
+charcoal braziers for warming drinks keep their respectful
+distances. Egg-flip, bottled ale, café noir, and a kind of
+soupe à la Julienne, called by the natives 'aijaco,' are
+dispensed by negress vendors, who charge double for
+everything, and drive a roaring trade. Approaching one
+of the tables, I call for a plate of aijaco, and am perfectly
+understood by the dark divinity, who places before me a
+pot-pourri of yams, green bananas, cut pumpkins, 'aguacates,'
+chicken, and broth of the same. I do full justice to
+this rich and substantial repast, and, by way of dessert,
+conclude with a very small cup of properly made café noir
+and a genuine Yara. I then betake myself to the nearest
+coffee-house. After black coffee cometh what is popularly
+termed 'plus-café,' and this being an unlicensed spirit, cannot
+be had in the street. The coffee-saloon is well patronised,
+and the air of carnival is here very strong. Everybody
+and everything seem to follow the masquerade lead,
+the very furniture forming no exception to the rule: for
+the gas chandeliers are encased in fancy papers, the walls
+and pictures are adorned by tropical leaves and evergreens,
+the chairs are transformed into shapes of seated humanity,
+the marble slabs of the little round tables are partially
+disguised in robes of glass and crystal. As for the white-jacketed
+proprietor and his myrmidons, including Rubio,
+the mixer of liquors, behind the counter, they all wear
+smiles or holiday faces, while they carefully conceal their
+natural sleepiness.</p>
+
+<p>'Mozo! garçon! Una copita con cognac!' The waiter
+hears, but does not obey, having already too many copitas
+on his mind. 'Allá voy, señor!' he, however, says; and
+as it is some consolation to know that he will come
+eventually, I forgive his procrastination, and bide my time.
+Meanwhile, I watch a group of maskers who surround a
+guitar-playing improvisatore, who assures his audience in
+song that he is expiring because of the faithlessness of his
+mulatto, who has rejected his advances with ridicule.</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+¡Ay, ay, ay! que me estoy muriendo, si.<br />
+¡Ay, ay, ay! por una mulata;<br />
+Y ella está reyendose,<br />
+Que es cosa que me mata!<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>In an opposite corner are a pair of moralising Davids
+gravely descanting upon the frailty of woman to the
+accompaniment of a windy accordion and a güiro nutmeg-grater,
+something after this fashion:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+Women there are in this world, we see,<br />
+Whose tongues are long enough for three;<br />
+They bear their neighbours' skins about,<br />
+And twist and turn them inside out.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Pellejo ajeno! lo viran al revés.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>This is the whole song, and nothing but the song: for
+negro melodies, of which the above is a specimen, are
+essentially epigrammatic.</p>
+
+<p>A rush is made to the big barred windows and open
+doors of the café. An important comparsa of Congo
+negroes of both sexes is passing in procession along the
+street. They have just been paying their respects to no
+less a personage than his Excellency the Governor of
+Santiago, in the long reception-room of whose palace, and
+in whose august presence they have dared to dance! The
+troupe is headed by a brace of blacks, who carry banners
+with passing strange devices, and a dancing mace-bearer.
+These are followed by a battalion of colonels, generals, and
+field-marshals, in gold-braided coats and gilded cocked-hats.
+Each wears a broad sash of coloured silk, a sword
+and enormous spurs. These are not ordinary, masqueraders
+be it known, but grave subjects of his sombre
+majesty King Congo, the oldest and blackest of all the
+blacks: the lawfully appointed sovereign of the coloured
+community. It seems to form part of the drilling of his
+majesty's military to march with a tumble-down, pick-me-up
+step, for as each member of the corps moves, he is for
+ever losing his balance and finding his equilibrium; but
+whether on the present occasion this remarkable step
+proceeds from loyalty or liquor, I cannot say. In the rear
+of his Congo Majesty's officers are a crowd of copper-coloured
+amazons, in pink muslins trimmed with flowers
+and tinsel, who march trippingly in files of four, at well-measured
+distances, and form a connecting link with each
+other by means of their pocket-handkerchiefs held by the
+extreme corners. Each damsel carries a lighted taper of
+brown wax, and a tin rattle, which she jingles as she moves.
+The whole procession terminates in a military band, composed
+of musicians whose hard work and little pay are
+exhibited in their uniforms, which are limited to buttonless
+shirts and brief unmentionables. Their instruments
+are a big drum, hand tambours, huge cone-shaped basket
+rattles, a bent bamboo harp with a solitary string, and the
+indispensable güiro or nutmeg-grater. There is harmony
+in this outline of an orchestra, let him laugh who may. No
+actual tune is there, but you have all the lights and shadows&mdash;the
+skeleton, so to speak&mdash;of a tune, and if your imagination
+be musical, that will suffice to supply the melody. The
+peculiar measure adopted in the negro drum-music, and
+imitated in 'La Danza' and in church-bell chiming, has an
+origin which those who have a taste for natural history will
+do well to make a note of. There is an insect&mdash;I forget the
+name, but you may hear it any fine night in the wilds of a
+tropical country&mdash;that gives out a continuous croak, which
+exactly corresponds with this measure.</p>
+
+<p>'Al fin y al cabo,' I have taken my plus-café; and now that it
+is very early morning, I take the nearest way to my virtuous
+home. On my way thither, I pause before the saloons of the
+Philharmonic, where a grand bal masqué of genuine, and
+doubtful, whites is being held. From my position on the
+pavement I can see perfectly well into the salon de bal, so I
+will not evade the door-keeper, as others do, by introducing
+myself in disguise as somebody else. I observe that the
+proceedings within have already begun to grow warm.
+There is no lack of partners in carnival time, as everybody,
+save the black musicians, is dancing the everlasting contra-danza.
+Some of the excited toe-trippers have abandoned
+their masks. One of these, an olive-complexioned señorita,
+wears a tell-tale patch of blue paint on her left cheek;
+condemning testimony that at some period of the evening
+she danced with that 'mamarracho' whose face is painted
+like an Indian chief! In a dark corner of the billiard-room,
+where two gentlemen attired in the garb of Philip the
+Second are playing carambola against a couple of travestied
+Charles the Fifths, are seated a snug couple&mdash;lover
+and mistress to all appearance. The dominoed lady is
+extremely bashful, her replies are brief and all but inaudible.
+The fond youth has proposed a saunter into the
+refreshing night air, where a moon, bright enough to read
+the smallest print by, is shining. His proposal is acceded
+to. His heart is glad now: but what will his feelings be
+when he discovers that the beloved object is a bearded
+brute like himself! The orchestra is playing one of Lino
+Boza's last danzas. Lino Boza is, as I have already stated,
+a negro composer and clarionet player of great renown in
+Cuba, and this particular danza is one of the 'pegajosa' or
+'irresistible' kind. You have heard it played all over the
+town to-day, and to-morrow you will hear it sung with a
+couple of doggerel rhymes in creole Spanish, which fit into
+the music so well as to 'appear to be the echoes of the
+<i>melody</i>.' The way in which Lino helps the dancers in
+their favourite gyrations by his inimitable and ever-varied
+performance on the clarionet, should be a warning to
+protecting mammas! The step of 'La Danza' is difficult
+for an amateur to acquire, but when once it is achieved,
+and you are fortunate enough to secure a graceful partner,
+the result is highly satisfactory. I am almost tempted to
+trespass upon the early hours of the morning, for the sake
+of the music of 'La Danza' and those open-air refreshment
+stalls where everything looks hot and inviting. The
+night breeze is, moreover, cool and exhilarating, and, after
+all, it is not later than nine <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>&mdash;in Europe. I lead on,
+nevertheless, in the direction of the heights of El Tivoli,
+where I reside; stopping not in my upward career, save
+to pay a flying visit at a ball of mulattoes. A crowd of
+uninvited are gazing, like myself, between the bars of the
+huge windows; for the ball is conducted upon exclusive
+principles, and is accessible only with tickets of admission.
+Two 'policias,' armed with revolvers and short Roman
+Swords, are stationed at the entrance-door, and this looks
+very much like the precursor of a row. Mulatto balls
+generally do end in some unlooked-for 'compromisa,' and it
+would not surprise me if this particular ball were to terminate
+in something sensational.</p>
+
+<p>I am home, and am myself again, ruminating upon the
+events of the day and night, and I arrive at the conclusion
+that the despised and oppressed negro is not so ill off as
+he is made out to be, especially in carnival time. As I
+enter, our grulla thinks it must be six o'clock, and essays
+to shriek that hour, as is her custom; but I startle her in
+the middle of her fourth chime, and she stops at half-past
+three. Then I climb into my aerial couch, in whose
+embrace I presently invoke that of the grim masker, Morpheus!</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">AN EVENING AT THE RETRETA.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">A Musical Promenade&mdash;My Friend Tunicú&mdash;Cuban Beauties&mdash;Dark Divinities&mdash;A
+Cuban Café&mdash;A Popular 'Pollo'&mdash;Settling the Bill.</p>
+
+
+<p>The Retreta is a musical promenade, or 'retreat,' held
+upon the evenings of every Sunday and Thursday, between
+the hours of eight and ten, in the Plaza de Armas. Here
+all the fashionables of Santiago congregate, to converse and
+to listen to the military band. Those who reside in the
+square itself, or in the adjacent streets, have a few ordinary
+chairs conveyed from their houses and planted in a convenient
+situation near the music. The promenade is a
+broad gravel walk, in the centre of a railed square, and is
+bounded by little garden plots, fountains, and huge overhanging
+tropical trees. Those who have not brought with
+them any domestic furniture, occupy, when weary with
+walking, the stone benches at the outskirts of the square
+and in the line of march. The promenaders form a kind of
+animated oval as they parade the boundaries of the gravel
+walk, and they consist chiefly of ladies attired in pretty
+muslin dresses, but divested of all head covering save that
+which nature lavishly supplies. The interior of the moving
+oval thus formed is exclusively occupied by gentlemen,
+dressed either in suits of white drill, Panama hats, and
+shoes of Spanish leather, or in black coats and tall beaver
+'bómbas.' These fashionables wander about their allotted
+ground, occasionally halting to contemplate the moving
+panorama of divinities, by which they are encircled. There
+is much to admire in the plainest of Creoles, whether the
+point of attraction be her graceful manner of walking&mdash;and
+in this no other lady can equal her&mdash;the taste exhibited in
+her dress, or in the arrangement of her luxuriant hair.</p>
+
+<p>My friend Tunicú is a great authority upon the subject
+of Cuban beauty, and appears to be a favourite with
+everybody. Like most young Creoles of his kind, Tunicú
+prides himself upon his intimacy with everybody of importance
+in the town. From his point of view, the inhabitants
+of Santiago belong to one gigantic family, the different
+members of which are all, more or less, related to one
+another, and to him. Tunicú has this family, so to speak,
+at his fingers' ends, and is full of information respecting
+their antecedents and their private concerns. He points
+out for me some of the leading families who are present
+at the promenade. He shows me which are the Palacios,
+the Castillos, the Torres, the Brooks, and the Puentes.
+Those cane chairs are occupied by the Agramontes, the
+Duanys, the Vinents,
+and the Quintanas. Upon the
+stone benches are seated the Bravos, the Valientes, and
+the Villalons. Those ladies who have just joined the
+promenaders belong to the distinguished families of the
+Ferrers, the Fajados, the Fuentes, the Castros, and the
+Colases. He offers to present me to any of the company
+whom I may care to become acquainted with; and in proof
+of his intimacy with everybody who passes us, he salutes
+many of the ladies, and addresses them, whether they be
+married or single, by their Christian names.</p>
+
+<p>'Adios, Carmecita!' he remarks, as a young lady of that
+name sails by us.</p>
+
+<p>'Au revoir, Manuelica!' he says to a dark beauty with
+remarkably large eyes and exaggerated eyelashes.</p>
+
+<p>'A tus piés, lovely Teresita!' says he to another olive-complexioned
+damsel, whose chief attractions are a very
+perfect profile and an intelligent brow.</p>
+
+<p>'Till we meet again, Marianita!' he observes, when
+Marianita, who has a pretty figure and small hands, passes
+our way.</p>
+
+<p>'How bewitching you look to-night, my pretty Panchita!'
+he murmurs, as a charming young girl, with fair
+hair and a pink and white complexion, blushes and hurries
+on.</p>
+
+<p>'Farewell, my fascinating Frasquita!' he ejaculates to an
+equally blonde Creole.</p>
+
+<p>Tunicú's fair hearers apparently do not disapprove of
+these al fresco compliments, but occasionally acknowledge
+them by bestowing upon him a momentary smile or a
+graceful inclination of the head, as they do with scores of
+admirers, who, like Tunicú, venture to give voice to their
+sentiments.</p>
+
+<p>Whenever I question my loquacious friend about anybody
+in whom I may feel interested, he positively overwhelms
+me with the most minute particulars respecting his
+or her antecedents.</p>
+
+<p>For example: Fulana de Tal is a visitor at Don Benigno's,
+and for some mysterious reason Doña Mercedes has, on more
+than one occasion, offered her pecuniary assistance.</p>
+
+<p>'Do you know that lady?' I inquire, as Fulana de Tal
+seats herself beside Doña Mercedes.</p>
+
+<p>'Fulana de Tal!' exclaims Tunicú with a contemptuous
+chuckle; 'I should rather think I do! Fulana de Tal, widow
+of the late Timothy de Tallo y Gallo, the large importer of
+soap and composites, in Candela Street number sixty-eight,
+corner of Vela Lane, opposite Snúfa's the ironmonger.
+Old Timothy de Tallo failed for forty thousand dollars
+four years and ten months ago; ran away from his creditors
+and embarked for France, where he died fourteen months
+after his arrival in Paris. His widow, related to my uncle
+Benigno, was left destitute with three children&mdash;two boys,
+and one girl named Fefita. But nobody starves in my
+country! Fefita is engaged to Nicolás, son of Nicolás
+Neira, director of the St. Michael copper mines. They say
+young Nicolás will have thirty thousand dollars if he
+marries, and when his governor dies will be a millionaire.
+Old Nicolás is awfully lucky&mdash;won a hundred thousand
+dollars in the Havana lottery upon one occasion, and
+twenty thousand on another. He has three coffee plantations
+and two sugar estates. One of them is worked by no
+less than four hundred and fifty slaves. Car-amba! you
+should see the procession of mules that arrives in town
+every day from the Camino del Cobre: each beast laden
+with sacks weighing nearly two hundredweight. When
+Fefita marries, her mother will be well off again; meanwhile
+Don Benigno supports her, though nobody is
+supposed to know it.'</p>
+
+<p>'Who is that charming girl with the neat little figure
+and the dark frizzled hair?' I inquire, as the object of my
+admiration, accompanied by an elderly lady, passes close
+to where I am standing.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh! that is Cachita,' says Tunicú; 'Cachita Perales,
+with her mother Doña Belen&mdash;amiable but weak old lady;
+very much directed by her husband Don Severiano, who is
+an old brute&mdash;plenty of "paja" (tin) though, but close-fisted.'</p>
+
+<p>'I fancy I have met the younger lady at the theatre, and
+at other places of amusement,' I observe.</p>
+
+<p>'Very likely,' says Tunicú. 'Cachita is fond of amusement.
+You see, she has no lover yet to fall back upon, as
+it were. Lots of admirers, though; but the old man wants
+to wed her to young Amador, son of old Catasus, the rich
+planter; and the sensible young lady dislikes Amador
+because he is a Spaniard, and a coxcomb into the bargain.'</p>
+
+<p>'Are you very intimate with the Perales?' I ask.</p>
+
+<p>'Intimate!' repeats my friend with a scornful smirk.
+'Well, I look in at their tertulia at least twice a week.
+But you seem interested in the family&mdash;sweet upon the
+señorita, eh! Admire your taste&mdash;acknowledged beauty,
+you know.'</p>
+
+<p>'Can you introduce me to the young lady and her
+mama?' I ask.</p>
+
+<p>Can he? of course he can! He has been waiting till
+now to do so.</p>
+
+<p>I am accordingly presented to the ladies as 'El Caballero
+Inglés, Don Gualterio, bosom companion of Don Nicasio
+Rodriguez y Boldú,' whom everybody has heard of. Then
+all four stroll round the promenade; Tunicú artfully engaging
+the old lady, and leaving me to do the amiable with
+the pretty creole.</p>
+
+<p>As we walk and converse, the military band continues to
+play operatic selections, zarzuela medleys, pots-pourris of
+favourite airs and Cuban dances. At ten o'clock precisely
+the music ceases, and the band removes to the governor's
+house which faces the square. At a given signal, a quick
+march is played, and before the music is half over, the
+instrumentalists depart in procession through the streets
+leading to their barracks.</p>
+
+<p>We now take leave of our lady friends, who intimate their
+intention of being present at the Philharmonic rooms, where
+a grand ball has been advertised for to-night. Many of the
+invited remain in the Plaza till the opening of this ball,
+which is announced by a band of negro minstrels who come
+to escort the dancers to the scene of festivities. During the
+promenade, partners have been already engaged, and as
+Tunicú is a member of the Philharmonic, and has offered to
+procure me an admission, I engage myself to the charming
+Cachita for the first three dances.</p>
+
+<p>Tunicú and I occupy the interval which precedes the
+opening of the ball in various ways. The terrace of the cathedral,
+which overlooks the square, is thronged with coloured
+people, who, not being allowed to join in the promenade
+below, watch their white brethren from a distance. There
+is, however, among this assembly, a sprinkling of whites,
+some of whom are in a state of mourning, and consider it
+indecorous to show themselves in public; while others, like
+Tunicú and myself, visit the occupants of the terrace to
+exchange greetings with some of the dark divinities there.
+Tunicú is a great admirer of whitey-brown beauty, especially
+that which birth and the faintest coffee-colour alone distinguish
+from the pure and undefiled. He is also an
+advocate of equality of races, and like many other liberal
+Cubans, sighs for the day when slavery shall be abolished.
+Some of the brown ladies whom he addresses belong to
+respectable families of wealth and importance in the town;
+and were it not for certain rules which society prescribes,
+Tunicú says they would contract the whitest of alliances.</p>
+
+<p>Descending the broad flight of steps of the cathedral,
+Tunicú invites me to partake of some refreshment at a
+neighbouring café. The round marble tables of the café
+are crowded with fashionables fresh from the Retreta.
+Some of Tunicú's companions are sipping and smoking at
+one of these tables. The moment we appear, his friends
+rise, salute us elaborately, and offer us places at their
+festive board.</p>
+
+<p>What will we take in the way of refreshment?</p>
+
+<p>This requires reflection, and meanwhile we gather a
+suggestion or two from the libations already before us.
+There are sugar and water panales, cream-ices, cold fruit
+drinks, bottles of English ale, and 'sangria' or rum punch,
+to choose from.</p>
+
+<p>'When you are in doubt, order café noir and a petit
+verre,' is Tunicú's maxim, which we both adopt on this
+occasion. Cups of coffee and cognac are accordingly
+brought, cigarettes are handed round, and the convivialities
+of the café proceed. The company at the Retreta
+is discussed, and the brown beauties of the cathedral terrace
+are descanted upon. One of our party, whom everybody
+addresses by his nickname of 'Bimba,' is more loquacious
+than the rest, not excepting the garrulous Tunicú.</p>
+
+<p>Bimba is a popular character in Cuba, and in some respects
+represents a type of the Creole 'pollo,' or man-about-town.
+He is short of stature, lean and bony. He has a long thin
+face, with a very sun-burnt complexion, a prominent
+proboscis, and his hair, eyes and eyebrows are remarkably
+black and lustrous. The pollo's weakness is over-confidence
+in himself and in the ways of the world. To him everything
+appears bright and sunny. Nothing in his estimation seems
+impossible of realisation. If you are in a difficulty, Bimba
+is the man to help you through, or at least to <i>offer</i> to do
+so! Bimba takes especial care to let everybody know that
+he is a 'travelled man' and a linguist; which literally
+translated means, that he has spent a few weeks in Havana
+and a few months in New York; in which places he has
+acquired a smattering of two or three different languages.</p>
+
+<p>Learning that I am an Englishman, Bimba improves the
+occasion to air all the Anglo-Saxon in his vocabulary for
+the edification of his friends, who marvel much at Bimba's
+fluency in a foreign tongue. But whether it is that my
+residence among Spanish-speaking people has demoralised
+my native lingo, or whether it is that Bimba's English has
+grown rusty&mdash;it is evident that at least three-fourths of his
+rapidly spoken words are as incomprehensible to me as they
+are to the rest of our party.</p>
+
+<p>Bimba's knowledge is not however, confined to languages
+and to mundane matters. As a 'man of business' no one
+can surpass him; though it is never clear to anybody what
+kind of occupation he follows. He is, besides, conversant
+with most of the arts and sciences. As for painting&mdash;well;
+he says that he has 'dabbled' in the art for years; and
+though he confesses he has not practised it of late, he knows
+well enough what materials are used for the construction of
+a picture. In proof of this knowledge, he offers to introduce
+me to a number of highly 'picturesque' models, and mentions
+a locality which, he declares, abounds with subjects
+worthy of an artist's attention. This locality is called La
+Calle del Gallo, and is a street which, I am afterwards told,
+is inhabited by certain coloured ladies of doubtful repute.</p>
+
+<p>Being the hour of departure for the Philharmonic ball, the
+conversation ceases and the important operation of paying
+for what has been consumed must be undertaken. When
+a party of Cubans meet at a public refreshment-room,
+settling the bill is a serious matter. Everybody aspires to
+the privilege, and everybody presents his coin to the waiter.</p>
+
+<p>'Here, garçon! Take for all,' says one of the company,
+offering a golden doubloon to the attendant.</p>
+
+<p>'Excuse me, I spoke first,' observes another, exhibiting
+a gold coin of about the size of a five-shilling piece.</p>
+
+<p>'No, no; it was I,' protests a third; while others, with
+fingers in fobs, wink and shake their heads at the bewildered
+waiter as if to imply that one of them will settle with the
+'mozo' in secret.</p>
+
+<p>The mozo will not, however, accept payment from anybody.</p>
+
+<p>'Está pago ya' (it is already paid for), he observes, and
+walks away.</p>
+
+<p>The company are amazed. Who could have been guilty
+of the treacherous act? and how and when was it performed?</p>
+
+<p>Presently one of the party rises and feigns impatience for
+his departure. He smiles, and all declare that he was the
+culprit. Subsequently, this individual leads the waiter into
+a dark corner of the café, where accounts are squared; by
+which we know that before the refreshments were ordered
+he had arranged with the garden about payment.</p>
+
+<p>'Nada, chicos!' observes the successful payee, as we quit
+the café, 'otra dia tocará á ustedes.' (Never mind, my
+boys! it will be your turn another day.)</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">AT A CUBAN BALL.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">The Philharmonic and its Members&mdash;A Street Audience&mdash;The Guests&mdash;Engaging
+Partners&mdash;'La Carabina'&mdash;'La Danza Criolla'&mdash;Dance Music&mdash;Refreshments&mdash;A
+Pretty Partner&mdash;A Night with Cuban Gamblers&mdash;Spanish
+Cards&mdash;An Old Hand&mdash;'Temblores!'</p>
+
+
+<p>The saloons of the Philharmonic are well suited for dancing
+as well as for other purposes. The spacious apartments are
+entered by enormous doors, and those which are set apart
+for the use of the dancers are separated one from the other
+by narrow slips of wall. The heat, generated by the gas,
+finds an easy egress through the open doors and unglazed
+windows, and by these means the ventilation within is only
+surpassed by the open air. A balcony&mdash;resembling part of
+a ship's upper-deck&mdash;occupies the entire breadth of the
+building, and it affords an excellent promenade and lounge
+in the intervals of dancing. The street is crowded with
+a mixed audience, composed of coloured people and of
+whites in mourning, for whose accommodation chairs of
+all kinds are brought from their houses in the neighbourhood.
+The interior of the Philharmonic is perfectly visible
+to these spectators of the pavement, who, consequently,
+watch the proceedings within, as they would watch an
+entertainment at the theatre.</p>
+
+<p>The ladies of the ball are attired in simple muslin dresses
+of the grenadine, the tarlatan, or the tulle kind; but no
+rule is observed with regard to the cut or shape of their
+costume. She whom nature has endowed with a comely
+figure, adopts the 'decolado,' or low-necked, short-sleeved
+fashion, while her less favoured sisters prefer to conceal
+their charms behind spotted lace or tulle. In short, the
+frequenters of such a ball as that to which I refer are
+licensed to dress as becomingly as they please, and only on
+rare occasions, such as a ball at the theatre, at the governor's
+house, or at the mansion of some equally distinguished
+person, are the strict rules of French etiquette
+observed.</p>
+
+<p>The señoritas and their escorts are received in an ante-chamber
+by nine of the oldest members of the society, who
+conduct the ladies to the dressing-room of the establishment,
+where a few mulatto girls are in attendance. Their
+toilettes being complete, it is considered 'the correct thing'
+for one of these nine deputies of the Philharmonic to offer
+to escort the lady dancers to the 'salon de bal;' and afterwards
+to conduct the non-dancers to a locality set apart
+for the 'old people,' for people in a state of mourning, and
+for those ladies whose lovers do not approve of their
+dancing.</p>
+
+<p>The male dancers&mdash;the majority of whom are pale-faced
+gentlemen with black mustachios, imperials, and cropped
+hair&mdash;appear in ordinary walking costume, consisting of
+black frock coats, black or white vests, and white trousers,
+and neither they nor their fair partners include gloves in
+their toilettes. Fans are used irrespective of sex, as a
+creole gentleman considers that such commodities are as
+indispensable to him as they are to his lady.</p>
+
+<p>As most of the guests have already secured partners at
+the Retreta and elsewhere, and as at all respectable gatherings
+in Cuba everybody is supposed to know everybody
+else, the irksome formalities of introduction are altogether
+dispensed with.</p>
+
+<p>'Me hará usted el obsequio de cederme ésta danza?' is in
+Spanish the politest form for asking a lady 'if you may
+have the pleasure of dancing with her.' But should you be
+on intimate terms with her, you may inform yourself
+whether she is willing to 'take a little turn with you,' by
+making the inquiry:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Quiere usted que demos una vueltecita?'</p>
+
+<p>If the lady is 'sorry to say that she is engaged,' her
+answer will be, 'Lo siento; estoy comprometida.' If, on
+the contrary, she 'will have much pleasure,' she replies,
+'Con mucho gusto.'</p>
+
+<p>It is not unusual for a gentleman who is not dancing to
+<i>borrow</i> another gentleman's partner for a 'carabina,' or
+round or two; for which purpose the aspirant for that
+privilege has only to approach the dancing couple, and in
+his politest tone say&mdash;addressing his remarks indirectly to
+both:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Will the señorita be good enough to consent, with you,
+to my taking a turn with her?' or, as it is better expressed
+in Spanish, 'La señorita será bastante amable para que con
+usted consiente el darme una carabina?'</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes when the aspirant is very intimate with the
+couple, he observes simply: 'Chico; una carabina?' (A
+turn, old fellow?) and without waiting for a reply, seizes his
+friend's partner round the waist and waltzes her away.</p>
+
+<p>Occasionally the carabina is taken without asking; but
+this is done only by certain pollos who are vain enough to
+believe that they confer an honour upon the ladies of their
+preference by confining their evening's gyrations to carabinas.
+These attentions, however, sometimes involve the
+pollo in a quarrel with the lady's partner, as happened once
+with a certain Acha&mdash;a Spanish officer from Guantánamo&mdash;who
+fought a duel for the sake of a carabina which he
+had danced illicitly with a famous creole beauty called
+La Nena.</p>
+
+<p>It frequently happens that the much-desired carabina is
+graciously conceded to an unfortunate pollito, or very
+young gentleman, who has been unable to secure a partner.
+Tunicú often avails himself of a pollito when he happens
+to be afflicted with an uncongenial partner, or one whose
+manner of dancing does not satisfy him!</p>
+
+<p>The famous 'danza criolla' is the favourite dance of the
+evening: indeed, with the exception of a vagrant polka and
+a mazurka or two, this dance occupies the entire programme.</p>
+
+<p>The danza criolla requires great practice before it can
+be successfully accomplished; but no amount of private
+tuition will help the novice to acquire the approved step.
+The best school for the study and pursuit of the art is a
+mulatto ball, or such a ball as the Philharmonic society
+gives on every Palm Sunday at seven in the morning.
+There is a very mixed attendance at the last-mentioned
+ball, as the members usually invite their 'guariminicas,' or
+companions of the carnival. A Cuban pollo has generally
+three ladies to whom he is devoted. The first of these is
+represented by the señorita whom he is destined to marry
+one of these days, but with whom he may not be seen
+alone. The second lady of his choice is the afore-mentioned
+'guariminica querida,' who accompanies him about
+town when any fiesta is held; and the third is the mulatto
+beauty, whom he serenades and presents with various gifts
+in token of his admiration for her charms.</p>
+
+<p>The step of la danza is distantly related to a slow
+valse; but being accompanied by certain graceful movements
+of the limbs&mdash;vulgarly termed, in creole vernacular,
+'la sopimpa'&mdash;the excitement is far greater than it is with
+the fastest 'trois temps' on record. So great indeed, that
+after every other 'round' the couples pause and perform a
+kind of lady's-chain in quadrille groups of six or eight.
+Each dancer gives his or her favourite version of this remarkable
+step. Some appear to glide around as if propelled
+on wheels; while others define the step by hops,
+backward skips and short turns, now to the right, now the
+left; but all preserve the same graceful movements of the
+body.</p>
+
+<p>The pleasures of the dance are greatly enhanced by the
+quality of the music, which is more or less inspiriting
+according to the air selected. Among the best Cuban
+dance music are the Cocuyé, the Chupadera, the Calabazon,
+the Sopimpa, the Mulata, the Pollita Americana, Merenguito,
+Lunarcitos, Al Mediodia, and 'á las Bellas Cubanas.' The
+clarionet takes the lead in the band of black musicians,
+and the güiro and tambours serve to mark the peculiar
+chopping compass which is the leading feature of the creole
+dance. The güiro proper is an instrument made from
+the hard fruit whence it derives its name. The güiro of
+society is, however, manufactured out of tin, and shaped
+like a broad tube rounded at one end to a fine point To
+one side is attached a handle; the other side is furnished
+with notches or transverse ridges, which being rapidly
+scraped by a piece of thick wire, a hollow, grating sound is
+produced. The monotony of this sound is varied on the
+tambours, and neither of those instruments is used when
+the dancers pause for the lady's-chain.</p>
+
+<p>It is not unusual for an enthusiastic dancer to present
+the leader of the band with a piece of money, as an inducement
+for the latter to prolong the dance, and as a graceful
+tribute to his partner's dancing. But this proceeding not
+being always approved of by the rest of the dancers, a
+master of the ceremonies&mdash;called 'el bastonero'&mdash;is sometimes
+appointed for the purpose of regulating the duration
+of the dances; but as el bastonero is himself a dancer, he
+takes care to time the dances according to his own requirements.</p>
+
+<p>At an ordinary Philharmonic ball, such as that which I
+am describing, the frequenters of the 'ambigú,' or refreshment
+room, must pay for what they consume. This is a
+serious consideration with the pollo, for he is expected
+to invite not only his partner, but also his partner's
+parents, brothers, or chaperones, and sometimes a friend
+or two of the family! The ambigú refreshment stall provides
+chiefly hams, lobsters, turkeys, chickens, fried fish,
+escabeche (another variety of fish), tongue, and other substantial
+viands; all of which are done full justice to by the
+señorita's relatives and friends! The appetite of the
+young lady herself is, however, more easily satisfied. A
+cup of thick chocolate with 'panatela' or pound cake, and an
+'helado,' or ice is all that she requires in the way of refreshment;
+unless, later in the evening, she prefer a 'jigote,'
+which is a kind of thick soup made from boiled chicken,
+minced fine, and flavoured with herbs.</p>
+
+<p>Adjoining the ambigú is a small apartment, where
+gentlemen&mdash;and some of the older ladies too&mdash;may enjoy
+a smoke while they sip their café and cognac.</p>
+
+<p>Of course Tunicú has a variety of partners, but Bimba
+being partial to billiards, divides his time between the ballroom
+and the billiard-table.</p>
+
+<p>Cachita&mdash;with whom I dance more than three times in
+the course of the evening&mdash;makes a delightful partner, and
+when, after sundry experiments, we are agreed upon the
+matter of step, I feel in the seventh heaven!</p>
+
+<p>Cachita's manners and conversation are as agreeable as
+her dancing is, and combine to impress me with the fancy
+that our acquaintance dates from a more remote period
+than the present evening. Upon the strength of my being
+an artist, she examines me on the subject of Cuban beauty,
+and my replies are not unfavourable to Cachita and her
+countrywomen. In turn, I interrogate her on the popular
+impression of foreigners, and from her responses I gather
+that the people of nearly every country, except Spain,
+hold a distinguished place in a Cuban's esteem. The
+palm is, however, given to the Americans and English.
+Cachita has been early taught to regard these nations with
+favour, and that to possess the political and social advantages
+which English and Americans enjoy, is the ambition
+of every right-minded Cuban.</p>
+
+<p>But politics is dangerous ground to tread, especially
+when you are discussing them with a beautiful young lady,
+who expresses so much enthusiasm for your 'patria,' and
+who, moreover, tells you to your face that your countrymen
+are 'simpáticos.' There is no telling what conversation
+such topics might lead to, if Cachita's mamma, Doña
+Belen, did not interrupt our tête-à-tête by coming to inform
+her daughter that the ball is nearly over, and that it is
+time to depart.</p>
+
+<p>No ball at the Philharmonic is said to have terminated
+until the members of the society and their male friends
+have indulged in a little gambling. So when the ladies
+and their escorts have departed, and the gas in the ball
+rooms has been extinguished, old as well as young pollos
+betake themselves to an apartment, where they pass the
+small hours of the night in card-playing.</p>
+
+<p>Curious to learn the mysteries of Cuban gambling, I
+accept Tunicú's invitation to watch the proceedings, one
+night after such a ball as that which I have described.</p>
+
+<p>The chamber into which I am conducted is illumined in
+one part only, where a group of gentlemen are seated or
+standing around a square table. Having decided whether
+the game of the evening shall be 'monté,' 'tresillo,' or 'burro,'
+the dealer proceeds to shuffle the cards, which he does in
+an elaborate manner, and afterwards grasps the pack
+firmly in his left hand, taking care to conceal the bottom
+card. The dealer has a partner who is seated on the
+opposite side of the table with a pile of golden 'onzas'
+before him. These onzas, which represent the 'bank,'
+look like medals about to be awarded as prizes for merit,
+for each coin is of the size of a five-shilling piece, and is
+equal in value to seventeen dollars, or three pounds eight
+shillings sterling.</p>
+
+<p>Carefully extracting four cards from the top and bottom
+of the pack, and after placing them, faces upwards, on the
+table, the dealer invites the company to stake their money.
+Gold in onzas, half-onzas, four-dollar pieces, and 'escudos,'
+or two dollars, is produced; but he who is indisposed to
+risk more than a fractional part of his money at one time,
+expresses his desire by concealing a portion of his coin
+beneath the card of his selection. Thus an onza placed
+half-way under a card signifies that the owner wishes to
+stake only half that coin, or eight dollars and fifty cents.
+Similarly a fourth of the money being exhibited, represents
+four dollars and twenty-five cents.</p>
+
+<p>'Al juego, caballeros!' cries the dealer, and everybody
+accordingly stakes his money. Satisfied that the four
+cards are not equalised, the dealer, by a dexterous turn of
+the wrist, reverses the pack, by which means the bottom
+card is exposed. If this card does not pair with one of
+those on the table, other cards are slowly revealed, till one
+of the four on the table has been 'casado' or paired. The
+nine of spades being drawn, pairs with the nine of clubs
+on the table. The banker consequently pays on this card,
+and receives on that which lies by its side. The other
+two cards are similarly disposed of, and this, with a few
+variations, constitutes the game.</p>
+
+<p>With the exception of 'el rey' (the king) and 'la zota'
+(the knave), a Spanish pack of cards differs considerably
+from the French or English pack. There are no tens, to
+begin with, consequently the total number of cards is forty-eight.
+The queen is also absent. Her majesty is, however,
+represented by 'el caballo,' a figure of a knight on
+horseback. Clubs (called 'bastos') are veritable clubs of the
+Hercules pattern; and a spade is not a spade in this
+instance, but it is an 'espada,' or sword of the approved
+shape. Each player has a favourite card, upon which he
+invariably stakes his money whenever it is turned up in
+the course of the game. Tunicú's 'winning' colour is 'el
+caballo' (horse and rider). Bimba swears by the king, while
+his neighbour, Don Vicente, has a partiality for the royal
+fives of every suit. These gentlemen are fond of apostrophising
+the cards of their selection, as if to encourage
+the pasteboard to win. Thus, Tunicú not unfrequently
+addresses his caballo as a 'noble animal' or a 'trusty
+steed,' while Bimba speaks of 'el rey' as a 'right royal
+gentleman' and a 'just sovereign.' But when, as it too
+often happens, 'el caballo' proves faithless, and 'el rey'
+unprofitable, their praises are no longer sung, but certain
+disrespectful adjectives are applied to them. The
+Spanish language is rich in oaths, the mildest of which are
+some of those expressions which begin with the syllable
+'Car,' such, for example, as 'Caramba!' 'Carambóla!' (the
+billiard cannon), 'Caracóles!' (shells), and 'Caracolito!' (a
+small shell).</p>
+
+<p>One of the greatest gamblers at the Philharmonic is Don
+Vicente. Tunicú tells me, <i>sotto voce</i>, that the old gentleman
+has had a run of ill-luck for the past fortnight, and
+that, having exhausted all his ready cash, he is about to
+wager his 'quitrin' and horses. If the five of swords on the
+table is not paired in the next draw, Don Vicente will lose
+his equipage. The next 'turn up' being a king, and a
+king being opposed to the five of swords, Don Vicente
+loses.</p>
+
+<p>'Watch the old man now,' whispers Tunicú. I glance
+in the direction indicated by my companion, and observe
+that the gambler's right hand, which for some minutes past
+had been concealed beneath his shirt-front, is drawn with
+violence across his breast.</p>
+
+<p>'A habit of his when he loses an important amount,'
+remarks Tunicú under his breath; 'the old fellow has torn
+his bare flesh.'</p>
+
+<p>Except ourselves, no one present has paid the least
+regard to the unfortunate gamester, for until the past fortnight
+Don Vicente had been usually lucky.</p>
+
+<p>While the dealer is in the act of shuffling a bran-new
+pack as a preliminary to the fiftieth game to-night, the
+cards suddenly fall from his fingers, and he, his partner,
+together with the rest of the company, turn deadly pale and
+rush wildly to the broad balcony.</p>
+
+<p>I follow them; though for the moment I am unable
+to account for this strange diversion in the proceedings.
+In another instant, however, the truth flashes
+across me. The apartment which we have deserted had,
+for a few seconds only, oscillated as if a thousand ghosts
+were dancing in the empty saloons adjoining, or as
+if a train
+were passing beneath the floor.</p>
+
+<p>From the balcony I observe that the dark streets are
+already crowded with people, most of whom are scantily
+clothed in night attire. Some are kneeling and praying
+aloud for Misericordia! others are shrieking and invoking a
+variety of saints, and the greatest confusion prevails.</p>
+
+<p>It was only a 'temblor,' or shock of earthquake, in its
+mildest form, but it may be the precursor of a more serious
+disaster.</p>
+
+<p>'Such a calamity,' says Tunicú, 'has happened ten
+years ago, when the earth opened, and many buildings, including
+the cathedral, fell like packs of cards to the ground.
+The inhabitants fled in terror from the town and encamped
+for many days and nights in the neighbouring
+country, where one is comparatively out of danger.'</p>
+
+<p>Before daylight, another 'temblor,' or trembling of the
+earth, is felt, but, like its predecessor, it is unattended with
+disastrous consequences.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">CUBAN THEATRICALS.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">The Stage Door-Keeper&mdash;A Rehearsal&mdash;The Spanish Censor&mdash;A Cuban
+Audience&mdash;Dramatic Performances&mdash;Between Acts&mdash;Behind the Scenes&mdash;A
+Dénouement in Real Life.</p>
+
+
+<p>A Call for seven <span class="smcap">A.M.</span> would hardly meet with a punctual
+response were such an announcement posted behind the
+stage-door of a London theatre; but in Cuba the more
+important business of the day is transacted during the cool
+hours of the morning, and it does not surprise Roscius of
+the West Indies when he finds himself summoned to a
+theatrical rehearsal some three or four hours before breakfast.
+After that meal, Roscius makes up for lost sleeping-time
+by taking a long siesta till the hour of dinner.</p>
+
+<p>During rehearsal, in the theatre I am describing, the
+doors are open to the public, and, there being nothing to
+pay for admission, the stalls and private boxes are always
+well filled by a not very select audience. Gentlemen of
+colour are not inadmissible on these occasions; hats may
+be worn at pleasure, and smoking is so far from being
+strictly prohibited, that manager and actors themselves set
+the example. I am tempted to stroll into the theatre
+during rehearsal, because it is a refreshing lounge after
+toiling up the stony, hilly, Cuban streets, and because I
+may gather a new fact or two connected with life behind the
+Cuban curtain, from my friend who is popularly known as
+El Marquesito del Queso. El Marquesito is a great authority
+in matters theatrical. He resides permanently in the
+building itself, and is paid for taking care of it by night
+and by day. He is, besides, property-man, costumier, and
+a good mimic, often obliging the manager by imitating the
+bark of a dog, the crow of a cock, or the bray of a donkey
+behind the wings. At the end of the season he is allowed
+half a benefit, on which occasion only he delights his
+numerous patrons by enacting the fore-paws in a dancing
+donkey, to the tune of the Zapateo, a popular negro double-shuffle.
+In carnival time, El Marquesito lets out dominoes
+and masks of his own manufacture, or faded theatrical
+costumes and properties; and whenever the Captain-General
+honours the town with his august presence, it devolves
+upon my friend to superintend the decorations of the houses
+and those of the theatre, where a grand ball to celebrate
+the event is held.</p>
+
+<p>His imposing nickname of El Marquesito del Queso, is
+derived from the fact that the property-man is in the habit
+of supping on 'queso' or cheese, and of afterwards making
+believe that he has feasted like a young Marquis.</p>
+
+<p>The curtain being raised for rehearsal, discloses the
+whole strength of a very fair company of Spanish actors.
+None of them bear the conventional air of strolling players;
+the men are moustached, and fashionably attired, and the
+women, from leading lady to insignificant super, are
+elegantly dressed. Apropos of supers, El Marquesito
+assures me it is no easy matter to secure the invaluable
+services of a genuine white for these purposes. A white
+lady is not to be had for love or money; and when fairies
+are required for a burlesque, the children of respectable
+families are sometimes prevailed upon to appear. Male
+supers are not so scarce; Spanish soldiers may occasionally
+be hired; and when these are otherwise engaged, a dozen
+stage-struck youths of good family volunteer their services
+as chorus, crowd, or army. The important rôles of quadruped
+and agitated water are filled by negroes, who, in
+Cuba, are, of course, plentiful as blackberries; but when a
+real black face is required to figure in the performance, it is
+represented by a painted mulatto, for Spanish law in Cuba
+is strict, and prohibits the genuine article from appearing
+on the stage. The theatre opens four times a week, including
+Sunday, and the entertainment is varied every night.
+To-day the company rehearse a local drama, a zarzuela,
+and a farce called 'Un Cuarto con dos Camas' being a
+version of Morton's 'Double-bedded Room.' A famous
+actor from Spain is the star of the present season. At
+rehearsal he is a fallen star, being extremely old and shaky,
+but at night his make-up is wonderful, and he draws large
+audiences, who witness his great scene of a detected thief
+in convulsions. The prompter is seated under a cupola in
+the centre of the stage near the footlights, as at the opera,
+and his duties are arduous. It devolves upon him to read
+over the part of each performer in a suppressed tone, and to
+direct their manner of exit and their position on the stage.
+He is unseen by the audience, but often heard by them, for
+the actors have only a faint notion of their parts, and cannot
+repeat a line at night without having it first hissed at
+them by their friend at the footlights.</p>
+
+<p>El Marquesito del Queso has much to say upon the subject
+of censorship of plays in Cuba. A play, he tells me,
+cannot be acted before it has been first submitted to the
+censor, who, empowered by government, is at liberty to
+place his red mark of disapproval over any word, line, or
+passage which he may deem offensive to Spanish morality
+or to Spanish politics. There is no rule attached to this
+dramatic censorship, and each censor, in every town throughout
+the island, has his own way of passing judgment; thus,
+what would suit the politics and morality of Havana, might
+be considered treasonable and profane at Santiago, and <i>vice
+versâ</i>. A capital comedy is often so mutilated by the Cuban
+censor as to be rendered dramatically unfit for representation.</p>
+
+<p>All Cuban buildings are constructed with a provident
+eye to earthquake and tropical heat, and the theatre is no
+exception to the rule. The means of egress are ample
+and facile, so that in case of emergency the audience may,
+comparatively speaking, step from their places into the
+street. On every side are huge open windows and doors,
+by means of which perfect ventilation is ensured. Fire is
+also carefully provided against, and there is always a small
+regiment of black 'bomberos,' or firemen, stationed in readiness
+within the theatre. There are two tiers of private
+boxes, and a gallery. The first tier is but slightly elevated
+above the pit, enabling the occupants to converse, as is the
+fashion, with friends in the stalls. Both tiers have the
+appearance of an ordinary dress circle, with a low partition
+to distinguish one box from another. There are wide
+lobbies at the back, and an ornamental iron grating in
+front. Like most houses in Cuba, the theatre is without
+drapery, the stall-seats and box-chairs, which are cane-bottomed,
+not excepted. The interior of a Cuban theatre
+is barren as a bull-ring.</p>
+
+<p>Despite my intimacy with El Marquesito del Queso, I
+pay my money at the doors, before I enter the theatre at
+night, like everybody else; for in this proud country it is
+considered humiliating in a respectable person to beg an
+order or a pass. I accordingly purchase two separate
+tickets; one for my admission into the theatre, and one for
+my seat in it; otherwise, I should have to stand, like the
+indigent few, at the back of the boxes. Tunicú sometimes
+accompanies me on these occasions, and gives me the
+names and occupation of most of the audience, whom he
+seems to know personally. For the matter of that, everybody
+in a Cuban theatre is on intimate terms with everybody
+else, and there is much conversation between the occupants
+of the boxes, who are, with few exceptions, ladies,
+and those of the pit, who are exclusively gentlemen. The
+señoritas, in low-necked muslin dresses, with a wealth of
+genuine hair, and with their inevitable fans, form a pleasing
+frame of fair humanity around the picture of dark coats
+and white drill trousers in the pit. Their hands are gloveless,
+and their diminutive fingers are loaded with rings of
+great value: for Cuban ladies are fond of jewellery, and
+make a great display of it upon all public occasions. Some
+of the señoras have brought slave attendants, who crouch
+in waiting on the ground behind them. Tunicú points me
+out the doctor's box, and when that eminent gentleman
+appears late in the evening, I recognise him as the man
+who saved me from the yellow fever. The doctor, I learn,
+is strong on that disorder, but weak on the subject of
+earthquake, against which, no West Indian physician has
+succeeded in finding a remedy. His box is nearest the
+principal entrance door, for he is nervous about earthquake,
+and is ever on the alert when he visits a theatre. Tunicú
+informs me that an earthquake in a theatre is worse than
+a fire, and gives me the interesting particulars of such a
+catastrophe as it happened in the doctor's own experience.
+It was a slight affair, he says, a mere 'temblorcito', as he
+calls it; one wall was seen to crack from top to bottom,
+some plaster from an opposite wall peeled off, a globe
+from one of the gas lamps fell among the audience, and
+that was all; but the panic was terrible for all that, and
+many were crushed to death in their attempt to escape.</p>
+
+<p>The stout gentleman who occupies that big box all to
+himself in the centre of the theatre, is his excellency the
+president. No Spanish entertainment is complete without
+its president. The curtain may not rise till his
+excellency has taken his seat; the actors may not respond
+to a call or an encore if the president is not agreeable, and
+does not flutter the big play-bill before him, in token of his
+acquiescence. The box to the right is the lawful property
+of the censor, who, like most Spanish authorities in Cuba,
+rarely pays for his pleasure. He is extremely affable and
+condescending with everybody before the curtain, though
+so stern and unyielding behind the scenes. His daughters,
+charming young ladies, are with him, and flirt freely with
+the numerous Pollos, who come to pay their homage. That
+stall in the centre of the pit is occupied by the editor of the
+<i>Diario</i>, a Cuban daily paper, whose politics and local
+information are strongly diluted by censorial ink, and which
+is, therefore, unintelligible and devoid of interest. The
+editor of the <i>Diario</i> is extremely lenient in his reports of
+theatrical entertainments, and on him the manager, at least,
+may always rely. His contemporary and rival, the editor
+of the <i>Redactor</i>, government organ, is seated in a stall
+near his excellency the governor-general, who is enthroned
+in a wide stage-box, and is dressed in full uniform, covered
+with orders. His excellency is accompanied by an aide-de-camp
+and half a dozen bronze-faced, heavily moustached
+officers, all of whom are more or less adorned with orders,
+crosses, and other military decorations. In the bend of the
+theatre are the boxes of the English and American consuls;
+and within earshot of where Tunicú and I are seated, is
+the box occupied by Cachita, her parents and sister, whom
+we visit between the acts.</p>
+
+<p>But what are those mysterious enclosures with trellis-work
+before them on either side of the proscenium? Those
+are special private boxes for the use of persons or families
+who are still in a state of half-mourning, and may not yet
+expose themselves to public scrutiny. But these boxes are
+not always occupied by mourners, whispers Tunicú, in great
+confidence. There are a certain class, he tells me, who
+wear a kind of half-mourning, which never becomes out of
+fashion; these are the half-castes or quadroons, who dare
+not be seen in public with acknowledged white people.
+The gallery is as usual devoted to soldiers, sailors, and
+persons of slender means; and in the extreme background
+are a few benches set apart for the exclusive accommodation
+of mulatto girls and negroes of both sexes, most
+of whom are elegantly attired; for coloured people are
+scrupulous in their dress on all public occasions.</p>
+
+<p>After the overture&mdash;a medley of Cuban dance music and
+Spanish fandango, played upon ordinary instruments by
+black musicians&mdash;a big bell, to summon all stragglers to
+their places, is heard, the curtain is raised, and the performance
+begins. There is nothing peculiar in a Cuban
+drama except that no allusion to political matters is made,
+and that the profane and immoral are somewhat freely
+indulged in. The comic players perplex the prompter with
+inordinate gagging, and delight in personalities with occupants
+of the orchestra and pit. There is much applause
+when the comic man shuffles through the charinga&mdash;a
+popular negro dance, difficult of performance, and shouts of
+laughter are produced in the scene between a Yankee, who
+speaks very broken Spanish, and a lady who speaks Spanish
+with the approved Cuban accent. It is an enthusiastic and
+excitable audience.</p>
+
+<p>The entirely new drama is a complete success, owing to
+the realistic performance of the famous star from old Spain.
+That gentleman is on the point of breaking a blood-vessel
+in his effort to impersonate the convulsive thief; but he is
+saved by the doctor in the private box, who is suddenly
+summoned to the actor's dressing-room. This interesting
+incident makes a deep impression upon the sympathising
+public, and greatly increases the interest of the drama. Then
+the curtain is lowered amidst rapturous applause, and calls
+for the infirm player, who is presently led on the stage,
+supported by one of the company and by the doctor. In
+the following act, the star astonishes his audience by a vivid
+representation of a detected thief gone mad, and his private
+convulsions being still fresh in their memories, many are
+seen to direct their gaze towards the doctor's box, in doubt
+whether that gentleman will not be required to administer
+also to a mind diseased. But all conjecture on this point
+is presently set at rest by the acting madman himself, who
+is duly restored to his senses at the conclusion of the play.</p>
+
+<p>An interval of from twenty to thirty minutes elapses
+between each act, during which the whole audience rise
+from their places and promenade around and about the
+theatre. The ladies betake themselves to the lobbies to
+flirt, fan, and refresh themselves with ice 'sorbetes.' The
+gentlemen from the pit are everywhere. Some are conferring
+with friends in the 'grilles,' or mourning-boxes;
+some are smoking cigarettes in spacious saloons provided
+for smokers; others are in the street drinking 'orchata' or
+'bul,' a compound of English beer with iced water and syrup.
+The stage itself is, however, their favourite resort. Open
+doors give access to that mysterious ground from the front
+of the theatre, and the pit public is thus enabled to wander
+into every nook and corner, from the traps below to the
+flies above. The players do not shun their visitors, but
+rather court their society, for a friend in front is considered
+a desirable acquisition, and half-way towards a reputation as
+'favourite;' to say nothing of benefit nights at the end of
+a season. A small crowd of Pollos waylay the 'first lady'
+as she leaves her dressing-room. As many as conveniently
+can, enter the leading actor's room to congratulate him on
+his success and his speedy recovery from the sensational
+scene. Another party of Pollos chokes the narrow passage
+leading to the premiere danseuse's boudoir, and great is their
+joy when they catch a glimpse of the gauze goddess as she
+flutters hurriedly past on her way to the green-room. The
+stage is thronged with these walking gentlemen, who require
+no rehearsal or prompter, and whose most attractive performance
+consists in unbounded cigarette smoking, and in
+getting in everybody's way. It is a miracle how, in the
+midst of this dire confusion, carpenters, scene-shifters, and
+managers contrive to set the stage for another act; and
+what a scene would be disclosed if the drop were to rise
+prematurely! Presently a voice is heard to cry, 'Fuera!'
+this being Spanish for 'Clear the stage;' the big bell tolls,
+and the audience in due course return to their places in
+front. The curtain having been drawn up after the drama,
+a man comes round, like a ticket-collector on a railway, to
+demand the cards of reserved seats from their holders, and
+to distribute programmes for to-morrow's performances.
+Everybody is in turn disturbed and annoyed, for at that
+moment the low-comedy man is singing a comic parody, in
+a farce called 'The Sexton and the Widow.'</p>
+
+<p>But there is a graver interruption than that caused by
+the ticket-collector&mdash;an interruption which affects actors
+as well as audience, rendering everybody within the theatre
+walls motionless and speechless. Some ladies are seen to
+cross themselves devoutly, and are heard to utter ejaculations
+about 'Misericordia' and 'Maria Santísima.' Every
+door in the theatre is thrown wide open, and the servants
+of the establishment stand before them with lighted candles.
+What is amiss? I look for El Marquesito del Queso, but
+he has disappeared. Fire? The black bombero firemen
+are in their accustomed places, and exhibit no sign that
+such a catastrophe has occurred. Rebellious outbreak of
+runaway niggers? I glance at the military-box, and find
+the occupants peacefully inclined. Earthquake? I look
+towards the doctor's box, and observe that nervous gentleman
+perfectly tranquil and unmoved. Hark! a tinkling
+bell is ringing somewhere outside the theatre. From my
+position in the stalls I can see into the open street beyond,
+and anon I descry a procession of church dignitaries in full
+canonicals, the first of whom bears the tinkling bell, while
+the rest carry long wax candles, the Host, and the sacred
+umbrella. Their mission at this hour of the evening is that
+of administering the holy sacrament to a dying man, and
+as they pass along the streets, it behoves all occupants of
+houses within the route devoutly to acknowledge the procession
+as it passes. The audience and actors accordingly
+kneel and cross themselves while the holy functionaries and
+their sacrament are in view. One of the ecclesiastical party
+enters the theatre and glances hurriedly within, to see that
+all are in the approved attitude. I am thankful to find
+myself doing as the good Catholics are doing, for I know
+that our visitor has no respect of persons or creeds, and
+would call me to order without the least hesitation, were I
+inclined to rebel. When the religious 'function' in the
+street (all public shows, from a bull-fight to high mass, are
+called 'functions' in the Spanish language) is out of sight
+and hearing, and the candles at the door are extinguished,
+the spectators resume their seats, and the farce 'function'
+on the stage proceeds.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">MY DÉBUT ON A CUBAN STAGE.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">An Engagement&mdash;A Foreign 'Star'&mdash;A Benefit Night&mdash;A Local Play&mdash;First
+Appearance&mdash;A Serious 'Hitch'&mdash;Re-engagement.</p>
+
+
+<p>I have already noted how Nicasio and I have lent our art
+services at the theatre whenever scenic decorations were
+required. Our colour boxes have also been in demand on
+certain occasions when the leading performers were particular
+respecting the correct pencilling of their eyebrows,
+the effective corking of their cheeks, and other attributes of
+an actor's 'make-up.' Whenever an English play is
+wanted for adaptation to the Spanish stage, the manager&mdash;very
+naturally&mdash;'falls back upon' the Anglo-Saxon follower
+of the divine art of Apelles. Upon one occasion I am required
+to translate the famous farce of 'Box and Cox'&mdash;a
+farce entirely new to a Cuban audience and, consequently,
+a great success when interpreted for them into choice Castilian.</p>
+
+<p>One day, application is made to me by Señor Don
+Baltazar Telon y Escotillon, impresario and first low
+comedian of the Teatro Real de Cuba, who begs me, as a
+personal favour, to undertake an important rôle in a new
+farce which he proposes to present to the Cuban public on
+the occasion of his annual benefit.</p>
+
+<p>The farce is from the pen of a popular Cuban author,
+and is called 'Los Mocitos del Dia' (Fops of the Period). The
+subject of the play is of local interest, with a moral exposing
+in farcical colours the foibles of the Cuban 'Pollo,' or
+dandy, whose taste for pleasure and idleness is only exceeded
+by his aversion for manual labour and for early matrimony.
+The characters are as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="nonpp">
+Teresita, a beautiful young Creole.<br />
+Doña Lola, her aunt.<br />
+Juana, a mulatto slave.<br />
+Ramon, a 'mocito' in love with Teresita.<br />
+Don Gabriel, a fruiterer.<br />
+Mister Charles, a Yankee engineer from a sugar plantation.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>To lend a realistic tone to the last-mentioned personage,
+the manager has 'secured the services of a live Yankee
+from the United States'&mdash;at least, such is his announcement;
+but, in reality, the gentleman who has offered to
+fill the part is an Englishman, and one of 'the famous
+followers of the divine art of Apelles.'</p>
+
+<p>'Posters,' bearing my Anglo-Saxon name&mdash;which to a
+Cuban ear has an imposing sound&mdash;are affixed to the
+corners of every street, and bills of the play are distributed
+gratis throughout the town. In accordance with custom,
+the beneficee has addressed envelopes, enclosing a programme
+of the entertainments, together with a photograph
+of himself and a 'luneta' or reserved-seat ticket, to all the
+known frequenters of the theatre. Those who appreciate
+the compliment implied by the talented comedian, will
+assuredly lend their patronage on his benefit night, and
+perhaps forward twice or thrice the value of the ticket of
+admission. The manager is confident of a 'bumper,' and
+bids me do my best.</p>
+
+<p>To acquit myself with credit is not so easy as Don Baltazar
+supposes. First, it is necessary to eschew my irreproachable
+Spanish, and to assume that language as it is
+spoken by an American of the lower orders, residing in
+Cuba. During my visits to sugar plantations, I have
+sometimes made the acquaintance of certain engineers from
+Philadelphia, who, while the cane harvest lasts, are employed
+to work the machinery used in sugar making. With these
+gentlemen before me for models, and with Nicasio at hand,
+I study my part.</p>
+
+<p>Contrary to the system adopted by my brother-players,
+I carefully commit the whole of my part to memory,
+noting the grammatical errors, which are numerous, and
+the fragments of English which occasionally appear. I am
+punctual in my attendance at the rehearsals, which is more
+than some of my fellow-comedians can say. When an
+actor of the Teatro Real de Cuba is absent from rehearsal, a
+super or a scene-shifter is called to read over his part until
+he arrives.</p>
+
+<p>I have considerable difficulty in following the prompter,
+whose duty it is to dictate to the performer the words
+which the latter afterwards repeats. Seated in a stage
+trap before the leader of the orchestra, he is conveniently
+within hearing of the actors, who upon the evening of
+representation never desert him if they can possibly help
+it. But I, who have studied my part after the manner of
+English actors, could easily dispense with the Cuban
+prompter's services. His prompting is perplexing, and
+fills me with prospective terrors of a 'break-down.' Often
+while I am in the middle of a speech, my officious friend
+at the footlights has already whispered the remainder,
+besides uttering the words which belong to the next
+speaker. If I pause for purposes of 'by-play,' the gentleman
+in the trap is convinced that I have forgotten my rôle,
+and insists upon repeating the missing line, though I expostulate
+in a low voice, and beg him, by all the saints in
+the calendar, to hold his peace.</p>
+
+<p>A copy of the new farce is dispatched, previous to its
+representation, to the Spanish Censor, who, after a careful
+perusal, returns it with the following foot-note:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Having examined this comedy, I find in it nothing
+which should prevent its representation from being authorised.
+Signed: The Censor of Theatres&mdash;Antonio de los
+Sandos y Ribaldos.'</p>
+
+<p>In spite of this formal declaration, one passage in the
+farce is found to bear a condemnatory red mark. The
+objectionable phrase belongs to Mister Charles, the Yankee
+engineer, who, in the course of the play's action, is made
+to observe: 'These poor Spanish brutes want civilising
+badly!'</p>
+
+<p>Don Baltazar is puzzled, and consults his company upon
+the propriety&mdash;not to say safety&mdash;of using the questionable
+words. All agree that the point is a telling one, and
+would gratify an audience composed principally of Cubans,
+who have no affection for Spaniards; and they are of
+opinion that as no written exception to the play has, as is
+usual in such cases, been made by the censor, the text may
+safely be followed.</p>
+
+<p>From the broad balcony of my private dwelling, I watch
+with eager interest the Spanish orange and red banner,
+which, on a certain day, waves over the Teatro Real de
+Cuba, in token of an evening's performance. If the weather
+prove unfavourable, this fluttering emblem of fine weather
+will fall like a barometer; the doors of the theatre will
+close, and a notice, postponing the entertainments for
+another evening, will be affixed over the entrance. Such
+an event is, however, not in store; and at seven o'clock
+precisely the huge doors of the Teatro Real de Cuba are
+thrown open.</p>
+
+<p>The performances begin with a stirring drama in a prologue
+and three acts, entitled 'Flor de un Dia.' The tone of
+this very favourite piece would, without doubt, be questioned
+by a Lord Chamberlain, but as it contains no
+political offence, it meets with the unqualified approval of
+his Excellency the Spanish Censor.</p>
+
+<p>Before the curtain rises, the manager peeps through a
+small glazed hole, in the centre of the act-drop, and surveys
+the audience. The house is full, 'de bóte en bóte,' as
+the newspapers afterwards express it. His Excellency the
+Governor, attended by his staff of officers, occupies the big
+stage box on the left of the proscenium, and there is a
+goodly sprinkling of Spaniards in every part of the
+theatre.</p>
+
+<p>Of course I have many friendly 'hands' in the house.
+The English and American consuls are in their respective
+pálcos. Nicasio is seated in the third row of the stalls,
+together with Tunicú, Bimba, and a host of their Pollo
+companions. Don Benigno, Doña Mercedes and their
+daughters and friends, are also present; and Cachita and
+her parents occupy their favourite private box.</p>
+
+<p>Most foreign plays are divided into 'escenas,' and the farce
+of 'Los Mocitos del Dia' contains no less than twenty-four.
+My 'call' is for scene nine, so after the second act of the
+drama, I go to my dressing-room and arrange my 'make-up'
+for the Cubanised Yankee. Agreeably to the Cuban
+notion of American costume, I don a suit of dark-coloured
+winter clothing, together with a red flannel shirt, heavy hob-nailed
+boots, and an engineer's broad-peaked cap. Similarly,
+I apply cosmetic to my hair, which I comb flat and lank; I
+rouge my cheeks and nose plentifully with crimson colour,
+attach a thick tuft of hair to my chin, and with the aid of
+burnt cork give to my naturally round face a lantern-jawed,
+cadaverous appearance.</p>
+
+<p>When the curtain has fallen upon the three-act drama,
+my dressing-room is besieged by a host of Cuban friends,
+who have come to wish me success and to inspect my make-up
+behind the scenes. All congratulate me on my effective
+disguise, and promise to assist towards giving me a warm
+reception.</p>
+
+<p>Nicasio remains with me till the last moment, to run over
+my part again, put the finishing touches to my toilette and
+inspire me with confidence.</p>
+
+<p>But now the big bell, summoning all stragglers to their
+places, is heard, the audience resume their seats, and the
+curtain rises for 'Los Mocitos del Dia.'</p>
+
+<p>The scene of the farce is laid in the interior of a 'ventorillo,'
+or fruiterer's shop, in Cuba, with real bananas, plantains,
+sugar-cane, cocoa-nuts, mangoes, Panama hats, and limp
+hand-baskets distributed about the stage. Juana, the
+mulatto girl&mdash;attired in a low-necked, short-sleeved cotton
+gown and a coloured turban&mdash;is discovered smoking an
+enormous cigar, and washing clothes in a kind of flat tub,
+called in Creole vernacular a 'batea.' She soliloquises in
+the drawling nasal tone peculiar to her race, and adopts a
+Spanish <i>patois</i> which abounds in abbreviated words, suppressed
+s's, unlisped z's, and s-sounding c's. After singing
+the 'Candelita,' a favourite Cuban ditty, Juana discourses
+upon her master Don Gabriel's objections to 'lo mocito,'
+as she calls them, and describes their rakish habits.</p>
+
+<p>Enter Teresita's lover, Ramon.</p>
+
+<p>The 'mocito' desires an uninterrupted interview with his
+mistress, and offers to bribe the mulatto with silver 'medios'
+if she will warn the lovers of the 'enemy's' approach by
+singing the 'Candelita' outside. Juana accepts the bribe,
+which she places carefully within the folds of her turban
+after the fashion of her tribe, and vanishes in quest of her
+young mistress.</p>
+
+<p>Enter Teresita.&mdash;'Válgame Dios! Ramon?'</p>
+
+<p>Ramon.&mdash;'Teresita de mi vida!' (Love-scene.)</p>
+
+<p>Teresita refers to her father's dislike to 'los mocitos,'
+whom Don Gabriel declares to have no occupations save
+those of gambling and dancing, and who go about 'perfumed
+with eau-de-Cologne and violet powder.' Her papa's
+notion of a model son-in-law is an individual who savours
+of the workshop. Such a man Don Gabriel has discovered
+in the person of Mister Charles (pronounced Charleys), the
+engineer of Don Hermenejildo Sanchez' sugar estate.</p>
+
+<p>Ramon is disgusted with this information.</p>
+
+<p>'What!' he exclaims, 'you married to a "fogonero"&mdash;a
+stoker! I will never consent to such a union&mdash;first
+because of my deeply-rooted love for you, and secondly
+because of my patriotic feeling on the subject. This is a
+question of race, Teresita mia. It is war between coal and
+café-a fight between brandy and bananas. Yes; rosbif
+<i>versus</i> fufú. Mister Charleys is a bisteque (beefsteak),
+and I am your tasajito con platanito verde machucado!'
+(a favourite Creole dish).</p>
+
+<p>The infatuated fruiterer is, nevertheless, resolved to
+make up a match between his daughter and the industrious
+mechanic, and, accordingly, brings Mister Charleys home
+with him.</p>
+
+<p>Mister Charleys, who has fortified himself with a strong
+stimulant, is waiting at the wing for his cue, in company
+with the 'call-boy' (an old man in this instance), who holds
+a copy of cues in one hand and a lighted candle in the other.
+The call-boy whispers 'Fuera!' as a signal for me to disappear
+from the wing, gives me an encouraging push, and the
+gloom behind the scenes is suddenly exchanged for a blaze
+of gas, and a theatre full of enthusiastic spectators.</p>
+
+<p>Following Don Gabriel, who leads the way, I am
+greeted with a round of hearty applause in acknowledgement
+of my effective make-up, and when I give utterance
+to the opening words, in which reference is made to the
+heat of the weather, and to the difficulties Mister Charleys
+has encountered in his quest after refreshment, the house is
+convulsed.</p>
+
+<p>Some time, however, elapses before I can thoroughly
+appreciate my situation, and realise the fact that all this
+applause and laughter is due to my appearance on the stage.
+I easily overcome the temporary agitation induced by
+the glare of the lamps and the gaze of the hundreds
+of upturned faces before me; but I cannot withstand
+the behaviour of the gentleman in the domed trap.
+His perpetual prompting, combined with his perceptible
+enjoyment of the new piece, is, to say the least of it,
+confusing, and fills me with misgivings of a premature
+'hitch.'</p>
+
+<p>The play proceeds. I am formally introduced to the
+ladies, whose hands I squeeze awkwardly and savagely,
+while Don Gabriel&mdash;whom I address as Don Guebriel&mdash;sings
+the praises of Mister Charleys.</p>
+
+<p>Enter my rival Ramon, disguised as a Catalan shopkeeper,
+in false whiskers, and a tall white hat with a
+black band. Shopkeepers in Cuba are usually natives
+of Barcelona, and the object of Ramon's disguise, is to
+persuade Don Gabriel that he is one of that money-making
+community. He talks Spanish with the approved
+Catalonian accent; introduces himself as 'Dun Panchu
+Defulou, Cutulan y cumerciante,' and offers to traffic with
+his host. The imposture is, however, short-lived. In a
+hard squeeze of the hand which I give the sham Catalan
+at parting, he inadvertently roars out in a good Creole
+accent:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Ay! ay! ay! caramba, suelte usted.' (Oh! for
+goodness' sake, let go!)</p>
+
+<p>The old gentleman suspects his maiden sister of aiding
+and abetting the dangerous 'mocito,' and there is every
+reason for his suspicion; Doña Lola having persuaded
+herself that it is she, and not her young niece, who is
+the object of the 'mocito's' solicitations. Deluded with this
+notion, the elderly spinster facilitates Ramon's visit to the
+house, and there is a scene in which she helps to conceal
+him in a huge barrel used for storing charcoal. One of
+the chief 'situations' in the farce occurs when Don Gabriel,
+at the instigation of Mister Charleys (whom Ramon
+nicknames Mister Estornudo, or Sneezer, from the resemblance
+of his name to a sneeze as expressed in Spanish),
+fires a loaded pistol at the barrel and its human contents.</p>
+
+<p>It is during the action of this scene that the questionable
+phrase, already referred to, should be delivered by the
+Yankee engineer.</p>
+
+<p>The cue being given, I am in the act of repeating the lines,
+when the voice of Don Baltazar, the manager, to whom is
+apportioned the rôle of Ramon, is heard imploring me,
+from the barrel, to omit the words. Conscious of the
+presence of his Excellency the Governor, the manager is
+suddenly seized with misgivings as to the manner in
+which the expression will be received, and will not risk
+his Excellency's displeasure. My fellow-comedians, who
+are all Cubans, urge me to proceed. The prompter thinks
+I have forgotten my part, and repeats the text&mdash;so often,
+indeed, that the spectators in the third row of the stalls at
+last overhear him, and call unanimously for the correct
+version of the play.</p>
+
+<p>'These poor Span&mdash;&mdash; ' I begin. The barrel trembles
+visibly.</p>
+
+<p>'Por Dios,' hisses the manager, bobbing up from the
+barrel like an undecided Jack-in-the-box&mdash;'for Heaven's
+sake, don't compromise me!'</p>
+
+<p>The audience begin to show signs of impatience. Again
+the prompter maddens me by giving the text.</p>
+
+<p>Myself (<i>aside to prompter</i>): 'Bar&mdash;ajo! sir, I know my
+part.'</p>
+
+<p>Mister Charleys (<i>very loud to audience</i>): 'These poor
+Spanish brutes want civilising badly!'</p>
+
+<p>'Bravo! Muy bien!' from the Cuban party.</p>
+
+<p>Groans and loud whistling from the Spaniards.</p>
+
+<p>'That was well said!' observes a voice.</p>
+
+<p>'Fuera!' (Turn him out!) observes another.</p>
+
+<p>'It was a good home-thrust!' cries the first.</p>
+
+<p>'Fuera ese hombre!' (Turn out that man!) shrieks voice
+number two.</p>
+
+<p>'Polizia!' The theatrical president rises angrily from his
+box and summons the police.</p>
+
+<p>The male spectators who occupy the pit-stalls begin to
+be as unruly as they are at a bull-fight. The ladies move
+from their boxes to the lobbies.</p>
+
+<p>The censor is sent for by the president. The manager
+is charged to appear by the censor; and anon Ramon, <i>alias</i>
+Don Baltazar Telon y Escotillon, his face and dress besmeared
+with charcoal, steps into the president's 'palco.'</p>
+
+<p>'Bravo! Bien!' from the audience, whose good-humour
+is at once restored by this new and unexpected diversion.</p>
+
+<p>A mighty conference is held in the president's box, and
+the matter of dispute is warmly discussed with suitable
+gesticulations. The question is, however, finally decided
+in favour of the manager.</p>
+
+<p>Order being now established, the president's box is
+cleared, the actors resume their positions on the stage, and
+the farce, which proves a great success, terminates happily.</p>
+
+<p>When the performances are over, and I have attired
+myself in the costume of the country, I join my friends in
+the front of the house.</p>
+
+<p>Don Benigno and his family congratulate me on my successful
+début and express a hope that it will not be my
+last appearance on the Cuban stage.</p>
+
+<p>Tunicú, Bimba and others of my Pollo friends overwhelm
+me with compliments, and as soon as I am at liberty, they
+hurry me and Nicasio off to the nearest café, where a substantial
+supper is soon provided.</p>
+
+<p>Cachita and her relations are equally warm in their
+praises, and Cachita's father, Don Severiano&mdash;to whom I
+am for the first time introduced&mdash;very much rewards my
+efforts, by inviting me to pass a few days, during the approaching
+summer, at his coffee estate, whither he and his
+family are bound.</p>
+
+<p>As for Don Baltazar, the manager&mdash;he is so rejoiced at
+the success of his plan of presenting the public not only
+with a 'real Yankee from the United States,' but with one
+of the 'original' followers of the divine art of Apelles, that
+he induces me to repeat the performance; and 'Los
+Mocitos del Dia' is forthwith announced for another
+evening.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">COFFEE GROUNDS OF CUBA.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">Going out of Town&mdash;On the Road&mdash;A Wayside Inn&mdash;A Cane Field&mdash;West-Indian
+Fruit Trees&mdash;The Arrival&mdash;A Dinner in the Country&mdash;The Evening
+Blessing&mdash;Tropical Reptiles&mdash;A Farm-Yard&mdash;Slave Flogging&mdash;Coffee&mdash;Tropical
+Scenery&mdash;A Siesta.</p>
+
+
+<p>My experience of the Spanish West Indies warrants me in
+the assertion that a tropical climate has but one season
+throughout the year, and that season is summer. The
+months of August and September, however, are favoured
+with a special season of their own; but the prevailing
+temperature can scarcely be defined by mounting mercury,
+neither can it be adequately described. It is during these
+blazing hot months that the ever-azure firmament seems
+to blink with blue: that the roads and pavement blister the
+soles of your feet; and that the gay-coloured house-fronts
+scorch your clothes of white drill and tan your Anglo-Saxon
+complexion. The Cubans have a mania for painting the
+fronts of their town residences a celestial blue, a blinding
+white, or a feverish yellow ochre: colours singularly trying
+to the eyes, and figurative eyesores to artists in search of
+the harmonious. It is at this oppressive season of the year
+that I would relieve my exhausted vision with the grateful
+greens of the dusky olive, the pale pea, and the lively
+emerald. I pant for a plantation which shall shelter and
+not suffocate.</p>
+
+<p>The realisation of my desire is kindly brought about by
+Cachita's father, Don Severiano, who hospitably places at
+my disposal his hacienda in the country. Thither he
+himself is bound, with Doña Belen his wife, his children,
+certain friends and domestics. So I make one of his party.
+Don Severiano is a wealthy planter, with I know not how
+many acres of rich soil, where the coffee-plant grows, yielding
+a couple of crops or so per annum to the labour of a
+small battalion of blacks.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of our departure for Don Severiano's coffee
+estate, Don Severiano himself is in the patio, presiding over
+the saddling and harnessing department; for some of us
+are to bestride horses. The ladies and children are to drive;
+and mules, and carts drawn by oxen, are reserved for the
+conveyance of the luggage and the domestics. By way of
+dispelling our lingering somnolence, and fortifying us for the
+heavy journey before us, cups of strong coffee are handed
+round; and, with a view to getting over as much ground as
+possible before blinding daylight shall appear, we start at
+three o'clock to the minute.</p>
+
+<p>The quitrins&mdash;light gig vehicles on wheels six yards in
+circumference, with shafts sixteen feet long, and drawn by
+mules bearing negro postilions in jack-boots&mdash;lead the way.
+The equestrians follow at a jog-trot; the extreme tips of
+their buff-coloured shoes lightly touching the stirrups; their
+knees firmly pressed against the saddles; their figures bolt
+upright and immovable. Then come the carts with shady
+awnings of palm leaves, drawn by oxen with yokes fastened
+to the points of their horns. The drivers probe them with
+long iron-tipped lances, and further goad them by shouting
+their names and adjective titles. But they move slowly,
+and are soon left miles behind. In their rear are about a
+dozen mules with well-filled panniers, linked together in
+line by their tails and rope reins, and led by a mounted
+driver with a long whip, who grasps the end of the cord by
+which they are united, and shouts ferocious menaces as he
+goes.</p>
+
+<p>It is still dark. The dew lies thick on everything;
+myriads of frogs and night insects yet hold their croaking
+concert; and the fire-fly cucullo, with its phosphorescent
+lantern, darts about here and there, like falling stars and
+fireworks. A stony stream has now to be forded. Into it
+splash the gigs; our horses following willingly, for they are
+thirsty, poor beasts, and the cool spring water is inviting.
+The roads are, so far, favourable to our march; but we have
+arrived at a piece of ground where muddy puddles lie
+horse-leg deep. A bridle road invites, but the thoroughfare
+being intercepted by brushwood and overhanging branches,
+it is not easy to effect a passage. Our leader, Don
+Severiano, accordingly unsheathes the long machete, which
+he wears like a sword, and hacks him an avenue for self and
+followers. The thicket is even darker than the high-road
+we have deserted, and our leader curbs his horse with
+caution while he lights a taper of brown wax; for the
+ground is slippery, and abounds in deep holes and unexpected
+crevices. From my position in the rear, the effect
+produced by the rays of the solitary illumination is
+agreeable to the sight. The dark outlines of the riders
+who precede me, appear like black silhouettes against a
+background of green and brown, and nature by candle-light
+looks like stage scenery.</p>
+
+<p>We emerge again upon the main road, and at full speed
+gallop after our friends. We fall in with them at a tienda, or
+wayside inn, at which they have halted. Dismounting from
+our horses, we assist the ladies to alight from their carriages.
+Of course I attend upon the fair Cachita, whose
+agreeable society I enjoy till our departure from the
+tienda. The tienda is a queer combination of tavern,
+coffee-house, chandler's shop, and marine-store dealer's.
+The walls and ceiling are completely concealed by miscellaneous
+wares. Spurs and sardine boxes; candles, calico,
+and crockery; knives and nutmeg-graters; toys, tubs, and
+timepieces; rows of sweet hams, sheathed machetes,
+pulleys, coils of rope and farming implements; Panama
+hats, buff-coloured country shoes; tin spoons, preserves,
+and French brandy. The innkeeper or shopkeeper of this
+out-of-the-world store is a native of Barcelona&mdash;by name
+Boy&mdash;who pronounces Spanish with a very broad Catalan
+accent. We travellers are his sole customers at present,
+and as we require only hot coffee at a medio the cup,
+aguardiente brandy at a creole penny the nip, a handful of
+cigars, and a packet of paper cigarettes, the profits derived
+from our patronage cannot be very great.</p>
+
+<p>We are off once more, not to halt again until a cane
+field stops the way. The growing cane, with its bamboo-shaped
+fruit, and waving leaf of long grass, crops up to the
+right and left of us for miles, and terminates in the 'ingenio'
+or sugar-works. The entrance to the proprietor's grounds
+is by a five-barred gate and a wigwam, both of which have
+been designed and constructed by an aged and decrepit
+African who occupies the latter. He crawls out of his
+domicile as we approach, and his meagre form is barely
+covered by a grimy blanket fastened to his girdle by means
+of a strip of dried palm bark. To all our questions his
+solitary response is 'Sí, sñor, miamo,' being exactly the
+creole Spanish for the creole English 'Yes, massa.'
+Having by this means satisfied ourselves that 'miamo,' his
+massa, is at home and willing to receive us, we proceed
+until we hear the clicking of a whip, and observe indistinctly
+a row of naked blacks, who are engaged in some
+earthy occupation. A big bronze-faced man, in a white
+canvas suit and a pancake Panama hat, stands behind
+them and holds a long knotted whip, which he occasionally
+applies to their backs as a gentle reminder that
+time represents so many Spanish doubloons. This is the
+'mayoral,' or overseer. He seems to pride himself upon
+his masterly touch with the thong, for when no black skin
+forms an excuse for the practice of his skill, he flicks
+at nothing, to keep his hand in. The sorrow of this
+sight is greatly augmented by the dead silence; for
+whenever the chastising weapon descends, the sufferer is
+mute.</p>
+
+<p>The lawful owner of these lashed shoulders and of a
+couple of hundred more, has turned out to greet us. His
+unshaved countenance wears a sleepy expression, but the
+stump of a lighted cigar is already in his mouth. At a
+given signal, a couple of small slaves appear, with cups of
+hot coffee and a tray of long home-made cigars. 'Candela!'
+Mine host invokes fire, and a little mulatto girl, upon whom
+it devolves to provide it, presents each smoker with a lump
+of red-hot charcoal in the clutches of a lengthy pair of
+tongs. Daylight is appearing, and warns us that we must
+be on the move again.</p>
+
+<p>'Adelante, caballeros!' Leaving the level cane district,
+for the next few hours we are winding up mountains. At
+every turn of the road, the ingenio we have quitted grows
+smaller and smaller, till the planter's residence, the big
+engine-shed, and the negro cottages, become mere toys
+under our gaze. Now we are descending. Our sure-footed
+animals understand the kind of travelling perfectly, and,
+placing their fore-paws together, like horses trained for a
+circus, slide down with the greatest ease.</p>
+
+<p>Somebody ahead has exclaimed, 'Miren!' We look,
+and behold a distant view of Don Severiano's 'cafetal.' The
+path has become narrower, and we are encompassed by
+short thick hedges, dotted with red and black berries of a
+form not unlike diminutive olives. I pick and open one of
+these berries, and somebody observing, 'Que café tan
+abundante!' I discover that what I have plucked is coffee
+in a raw state.</p>
+
+<p>'Que admirable es la naturaleza!' sings a Spanish
+dramatist. Nature is, indeed, much to be admired, especially
+when you are viewing her in orange groves,
+where oranges, for the trouble of picking them, hang
+invitingly over your very mouth, seeming to say, 'Eat
+me, stranger.' Some are small and green as gooseberries;
+others are big as your head, and of the bright
+hue to which they give a name. Next on the carte of nature's
+dessert are the heart-shaped, smooth-skinned mangoes, with
+their massive and symmetrical tree. They are followed by
+a procession of lime-trees, citrons, nisperos, granadas, marañones,
+anones, zapotes, mamoncillos, and a host of other
+fruits with strange shapes and equally odd Hispano-Indian
+appellations. I grieve to relate that the king of fruits&mdash;the
+princely pine-apple&mdash;is far from being the exalted
+personage you would have expected him to be. Like a
+bachelor cabbage, he grovels in solitary state under our
+feet! We play at marbles with pomegranates, and practise
+tilting at the ring with citrons. Throw into the scene a
+few parasite and plantain trees with slender trunks and
+colossal leaves; fill in the foreground with gigantic
+ferns, aloes, and palmettoes, and the background with
+spotless blue; select for yourself from the nearest hot-house
+where specimens of exotic plants are nursed, and
+you are with us, dear&mdash;and none the less dear for being
+imaginative&mdash;reader!</p>
+
+<p>Distant barking denotes that we are within earshot of
+our destination; and anon a couple of Don Severiano's
+faithful dogs come bounding along the road towards us.</p>
+
+<p>'Hey, Esperules, old girl! What, and Tocólo too?'
+Don Severiano caresses them in turn as each leaps to his
+saddle. A dozen more lie in ambush at the gate which
+leads to the coffee grounds, and through which we are now
+passing. The mayoral, with his wife and children, turn out
+to meet and welcome us. Crowds of Africans pay us
+homage and grin with delight. We halt in the patio, and
+a score of half-naked grooms assist us in alighting, and
+watch and help us at our lightest movement. As it is
+evening dusk when we arrive, and as we are exhausted
+with our day's pilgrimage, we betake ourselves to our
+dormitories without a word. Here we are served by
+stalwart domestics, who bathe our burning feet in luke-warm
+water, and sponge our irritated bodies with diluted
+aguardiente. A clean shirt of fine linen; a fresh suit of
+whity-brown drill; a toy cup of black coffee; and we are
+refreshed and ready to do justice to dinner; to the 'aijaco'
+of chicken and native vegetables; to the 'bacalao' or stock-fish,
+with tomato sauce; to the boiled meat, cabbage,
+'chocho,' bacon, and 'garbanzos'; to the stewed goat, with
+accompaniment of yams, baked bananas, pumpkin and
+Indian corn; to the guava jellies and guanavana preserves
+mashed up with insipid creole cheese; to the juicy mangoes
+cut up in slices in the midst of Catalan wine and sugar;
+to the excellent black coffee, and home-made cigars.
+These we discuss in the broad balcony without, where,
+seated on leather-bottomed chairs, we pass the rest of the
+evening.</p>
+
+<p>The second overseer, with his staff of field slaves, fills
+the yard which faces us. The faithful vassals have ended
+their day's toil, and are come to beg the evening blessing
+of their lord and master. Blacks of both sexes and all
+ages, stand before us in a row; some with machete reaping-knives
+under their arms, or bundles of maloja-fodder for
+the stable supply; others with the empty baskets into
+which they have been plucking the ripe coffee berry. Their
+evening costume consists of a loose garment of coarse
+canvas. The women wear head-dresses of gaily-coloured
+handkerchiefs twisted and tied in a peculiar fashion; the
+men have broad-brimmed straw hats and imitation panamas.
+The second overseer, with his inseparable whip,
+leans against our balcony with the air of a showman, as
+each black approaches with crossed arms to crave his or
+her master's blessing.</p>
+
+<p>'La ben'dicion, miamo.'</p>
+
+<p>'It is given,' says Miamo Don Severiano with the
+supremest indifference.</p>
+
+<p>Being in the country, and moreover tired, we retire for
+the night at a reasonable hour. We have to make the
+best of our extemporised couches, for our luggage and
+furniture are yet on their way, and probably will not put
+in an appearance before morning. Some of the guests,
+therefore, betake themselves to swinging hammocks, while
+others occupy the mayoral Don José's catres&mdash;a species of
+folding bedstead not unlike an open apple-stall with a
+canvas tray.</p>
+
+<p>Not until we have fairly taken possession of our temporary
+couches, do we fully appreciate Doña Belen's fore-thought
+in providing many yards of mosquito netting. I
+have always dreaded a country life, no matter in what
+part of the world, on account of strange vermin. A
+shudder runs through me at the mention of earwigs and
+caterpillars; but give me a hatful of those interesting
+creatures for bedfellows in preference to a cot in Cuba
+without a mosquito net!</p>
+
+<p>What is that sweet creature crawling cautiously towards
+me along the brick floor, looking like a black star-fish with
+a round body?</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, it is nothing, massa,' says my black valet 'I kill
+him in a minute, massa.' Which he does with his naked
+heel. Only an 'araña peluda;' in plain English, a spider of
+gigantic proportions, whose lightest touch will draw you like
+a poultice. I let the 'cucurrachos' pass, for I recognise in
+them my old familiar friend the cockroach, whose worst
+crime is to leave an offensive smell on every object he
+touches. Neither do I object to the 'grillo,' a green thing
+which hops all over the room; for I know it to be but a
+specimen of magnified grasshopper, who will surely cease
+its evening gambols as soon as the light is extinguished.
+But oh, by Santiago or any other saint you please, I would
+have you crush, mangle, kill, and utterly exterminate that
+dark brown long-tailed brute, from whose body branch all
+kinds of horrible limbs, the most conspicuous of which are
+a pair of claws that resemble the handles of a jeweller's
+nippers. Only an 'alacran,' is it? Son of the tropics, it
+may sound mildly to thee in thy romantic dialect, but in
+the language of Miamo Darwin, let me tell you, it is nothing
+more nor less than a scurrilous scorpion, whose gentlest
+sting is worse than the stings of twenty wasps. If the
+brother of that now squashed brute should drop upon me,
+during my repose, from that roof (which I perceive is of
+'guano' leaf, and admirably adapted for scorpion gymnastics),
+my appearance at the breakfast-table to-morrow,
+and for days after, will be hideous; to say nothing of
+personal discomfort and fever. Now, a mosquito net
+stretched over you on its frame, effectually insures you
+against such midnight visitors; and, if well secured on
+every side, will even serve to ward off the yard and a half
+of 'culebra' or snake, which at certain seasons is wont to
+invade your bedroom floor at night.</p>
+
+<p>I am awakened at an early hour by Don Severiano's live
+stock, who hold their musical matinée in the big yard
+exactly under my open window. The bloated and presumptuous
+turkey-cock, 'guanajo,' is leading tenor in the
+poultry programme. First fiddle is the 'gallo Inglés,' or
+English rooster. Then come the double-bass pigs, who
+have free access to the balcony and parlour. A chorus of
+hens, chickens, and guinea-fowls, varies the entertainment;
+while the majestic 'perjuil,' or peacock, perched on his regal
+box, the guano roof, applauds the performance below in
+plaintive and heart-rending tones. Before I am up and stirring,
+a dark domestic brings me a tiny cup of boiling coffee
+and a paper cigarette, and waits for further orders. Don
+Severiano proposes a stroll (he tells me) through his grounds.
+Our horses are soon led out, and we bestride them, with an
+empty sack for a saddle and a bit of rope for a bridle.
+Better riders than the Cubans I never saw in an equestrian
+circus, and steadier and easier-going animals than Cuban
+horses I have never ridden on a 'roundabout' at a country
+fair.</p>
+
+<p>We come upon a sorry sight at one of the 'secaderos,'
+or coffee-drying platforms. A young mulatto woman is
+undergoing 'veinte cinco' on a short ladder: in other
+words, is being flogged. They have tied her, face downwards,
+by her wrists and ankles, to a slanting ladder, while an
+overseer and a muscular assistant in turn administer two
+dozen lashes with a knotted thong. She receives her
+punishment with low groans; when she catches a glimpse
+of the spectators, she craves our intercession.</p>
+
+<p>'Perdona, miamo!'</p>
+
+<p>The overseer laughs, and, turning to his visitors, offers his
+weapon with a polite invitation that one of us will try our
+skill. We all appeal to Don Severiano, and, at our earnest
+request, that humane gentleman orders his mayoral to let
+the culprit off. Smarting salt and aguardiente are then
+rubbed in for healing purposes, and the wretched girl is
+conducted to a dark chamber, where her baby, five months
+old, is shortly afterwards brought her for solace and aliment.
+I venture to inquire the nature of her crime, and am assured
+that it is ungovernable temper and general insubordination
+of more than a month's standing.</p>
+
+<p>Our horses are halting on one of the four secaderos, or
+'barbacués'&mdash;smooth platforms on which the ripe coffee-berry
+is laid and raked out to be blackened and baked by the sun.
+Near the secaderos is a circle of ground, hedged in like a
+bull-ring and containing a horizontal fluted roller, turned by
+a crank. This roller, or pulping-mill, is made to gyrate by
+a mule, crushing in its perpetual journey the already baked
+coffee-berry, until the crisp husk peels off and exposes a
+couple of whity-brown, hard, oval seeds, upon which are
+inscribed two straight furrows. There are winnowing-machines,
+for separating the chaff from the already milled
+grain. In that outhouse a group of dark divinities are engaged
+in the difficult process of sieving and sorting. See
+with what exceeding dexterity Alicia, Ernestina, and Constancia&mdash;the
+black workers have the whitest of Christian
+names&mdash;handle their big sieves. Alicia, cigar in mouth,
+takes an armful of the winnowed seed from the sack at her
+side, and transfers it to her sieve, which she shakes until
+the dust and remaining particles of husk fall like floating
+feathers to the ground. Then, by an expert turn of the
+wrist, she separates the smaller and better quality of seed
+from the larger and coarser; and by another remarkable
+sleight of hand, tilts the former into its corresponding heap
+on the ground, and pours the latter into a sack. Constancia
+is scarcely as expert as Alicia though. The sieve's perforations
+are wide enough to admit the small seed of the 'caracol,'
+and she separates the two qualities by the ordinary
+process of sieving the small and retaining the great.</p>
+
+<p>Well seated on his chesnut charger, Don Severiano conducts
+us by a circuitous path up an exceedingly steep hill.
+The trees are tall and ponderous; the leaves are, for the
+most part, gigantic and easy to count; the fruits are of the
+biggest; the mountain tops are inaccessible; and the
+rivers contain fish for Titans. Surely giants must have
+peopled Cuba, long before Columbus found out the colony!
+Don Severiano takes little or no interest in the landscape,
+his attention being wholly absorbed by the small round
+berries, which may before long be converted into grains of
+gold, if the coffee crop yield as it promises.</p>
+
+<p>The pickers are at their work. A score of them are close
+at hand, with their baskets already filled. Observe how
+they choose the dark red, and eschew the unripe green, or
+the black and overdone berry. The second overseer, whip
+in hand, is ever behind, to see that the pickers do not flag.
+He is a genuine white; but his complexion is so bronzed,
+that you would scarcely distinguish him from a mulatto,
+save for his lank hair and thin lips. He volunteers explanation.
+He points to the big fruit of the cacao, or cocoa
+plant, and shows which are the bread, the milk and the
+cotton trees. Learning that I am a foreigner and an Englishman,
+he offers some useful information respecting
+certain trees and plants which yield invaluable products,
+such as might be turned to good account by an enterprising
+European, but which are unnoticed and neglected by
+the wealthy independent native. At our request, he unsheathes
+his machete and cuts us a few odd-shaped twigs
+from a coffee bush, with which we may manufacture walking-sticks.
+He exhibits one of his own handiwork. It is
+engraved all over, polished and stained in imitation of a
+snake; and, as it rests in the green grass, it looks the very
+counterpart of such a reptile, with beady eyes and scaly
+back. On closer acquaintanceship, I find the second overseer
+to be a great connoisseur in canes.</p>
+
+<p>It is our breakfast hour, and Doña Belen and the other
+ladies will not like to be kept waiting. So we return to the
+barbacué, where the powerful odour of roasting coffee is
+wafted towards us. The black cook is roasting a quantity
+of the drab seed, in a flat pipkin over a slow fire. She is
+careful to keep the seed in motion with a stick, lest it burn;
+and when it has attained the approved rich brown hue, she
+sprinkles a spoonful of sugar over it to bring out its flavour,
+and then leaves it to cool on the ground. Near her are a
+wooden pestle and mortar for reducing the crisp toasted
+seed to powder; and a small framework of wood in which
+rests a flannel bag for straining the rich brown decoction
+after it has been mixed and boiled.</p>
+
+<p>Substantial breakfast over, some of us carry our hammocks
+and betake ourselves to the adjacent stream. Here,
+beneath the shade of lofty bamboos, within hearing of
+the musical mocking-bird, the wild pigeon and the humming-bird,
+in the midst of sweet-smelling odours, we
+lotus-eaters encamp, affixing each a hammock between a
+couple of trunks of trees. Here, we see nature under her
+brightest and sunniest aspect, and, divesting our imagination
+of oil and canvas landscape, arrive at the conclusion
+that trees and plants are very green indeed, and of an
+endless variety of shade; that stones do not glitter, save
+where water damps them; and that a Cuban sky is far
+bluer than the most expensive ultramarine on a painter's
+palette.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">COUNTRY LIFE AT A SUGAR ESTATE.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">An Artist's Tent&mdash;Early Sport&mdash;An 'Ingenio'&mdash;Sugar and Rum&mdash;Afternoon
+Sport&mdash;A Ride through the Country&mdash;Negro Dancing&mdash;An Evening in
+the Country&mdash;'La Loteria.'</p>
+
+
+<p>With my companion Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú, behold
+me passing the sultry months of August and September
+at the plantation of our worthy friend Don Benigno, who,
+with his wife and family, have encamped for the summer
+season at a farm-house on his sugar estate.</p>
+
+<p>Our host's party is somewhat larger than usual, consisting
+of, besides his wife and family, his eldest daughter's
+intended, Don Manuel, and <i>his</i> family. After our arrival,
+it is found that Don Benigno's premises cannot accommodate
+us; we therefore obligingly seek a lodging elsewhere,
+and as in the tropics any place of shelter serves for a
+habitation, we do not greatly sacrifice our comfort.</p>
+
+<p>Assisted by a stalwart negro, Nicasio and I improvise a
+lodging on the banks of the river which flows near Don
+Benigno's country house. Our rustic bower consists of a
+framework of roughly cut branches, and has an outer
+covering formed of the dried papyrus-like bark of palms.
+The interior is not spacious, but it meets all our requirements.
+In it we can swing our hammocks at night, and
+assume a sitting posture without inconvenience during the
+day. Our implements for sketching, together with a
+couple of double-barrelled guns and some fishing-tackle,
+distributed about the apartment, form agreeable objects
+for our gaze, while, at the same time, they are within our
+easiest grasp. Plenty of good fishing may be obtained
+in the deep, wide river which flows at our feet, and our
+guns may be equally well employed with sport in the
+opposite direction. As for our more peaceful instruments
+of art, there is abundant scope for them on every side; and
+thus we can shoot, angle, or sketch, as we may feel inclined,
+without moving from our shady retreat, which, during the
+sunnier hours of the day, we dare not desert.</p>
+
+<p>We rise at a very early hour; indeed, it is not yet daylight
+when our dark domestic brings us our early cup of
+café noir and cigarettes. After refreshing our bodies in
+the natural gigantic bath which flows before our domicile,
+we dress: an operation which does not occupy much time,
+as our wardrobe consists simply of coloured flannel shirts,
+brown holland trousers, Panama hats, and buff-coloured
+shoes. Thus attired, with ammunition affixed to our girdles,
+and guns shouldered, we plunge into an adjacent thicket in
+quest of game; the objects of our sport being chiefly wild
+guinea-fowl, quails, partridges, and wild pigeons. No game
+license is required of us in these parts, and the sporting
+competition is very small, if indeed it exists at all, within
+earshot of us; at least, at this hour of the morning we
+have the field to ourselves. We hear nothing as yet but
+the rustling of gigantic ferns, bamboos, and plantain leaves,
+together with the occasional song of the winged tribe,
+whose united harmony it is our purpose soon to interrupt.
+The silence of the grey dawn is eminently favourable to
+our sport, and the low bushes which intercept our path
+screen us from the penetrating gaze of our prey. The
+guinea-fowl, or 'gallos de Guinea' as they are styled, occupy
+our first attention. At this hour they emerge from their
+hiding-places by the score to feed among the dewy heather.
+We have to move with extreme caution, for the colour of
+their soft feathers is scarcely distinguishable from the
+ground which they have selected as a table for their
+morning meal. Nicasio is in advance of me, tracking a
+company of guinea-fowls, whose melodious chirp has caught
+his accustomed ear. They are not yet visible, but my
+sporting friend has halted behind a bush, and thrown away
+his white tell-tale panama. This means mischief. The
+dark-grey clothes and sun-burnt face of my companion
+blend naturally with the surroundings, and, as he crouches
+motionless on the ground, he, like the birds just described,
+is barely discernible. I watch him with interest and some
+impatience, for a covey of large pigeons challenge my
+weapon close at hand. Their cooing seems to proceed
+from a great distance, but, conscious of the enemy's ventriloquial
+power, his muffled music does not deceive me.
+My companion has now levelled his gun, and, taking
+steady aim, presently fires. At the sound of fire-arms my
+pigeons take flight, and as they rise I fire into their midst.
+My companion now discharges his second barrel into a
+covey of quails, which had been feeding unobserved within
+a few paces of him. I take a shot at one of these birds
+as it flutters incautiously over my head, and it falls with a
+heavy thud at my feet. The firing has reached the quick
+ears of Don Benigno's watch-dogs, and anon our favourite
+animals, Arrempuja and No-se-puede, come bounding
+towards us. The sagacious brutes help to bring in our
+wounded, which we are gratified to find are more numerous
+than we contemplated. Gathering together our spoil, we
+remove to another spot, where our performances are repeated,
+though scarcely with the same success. The sun
+has already begun to cast broad shadows along the soil,
+and warns us that the hour for our 'tienta pie,' or early
+meal, approaches; so we return to our hut, change our
+damp linen for dry, and join the company, who are already
+seated on the broad balcony of Don Benigno's house,
+watching the interesting process of milking cows. Bowls
+of warm milk are presently handed round by negroes,
+who bring also new milk rolls which have just arrived from
+the village ten miles distant.</p>
+
+<p>'What luck have you had?' inquires our host of his
+sporting friends.</p>
+
+<p>We exhibit the result of our morning's sport, which gains
+us much applause and approving cries of 'Ay! que bonito.
+Ay! que bueno.' The black cook to whom we consign our
+game, promises to do culinary justice to them at breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>We employ the interval which precedes that late meal
+in a saunter through Don Benigno's sugar works, where
+some of us are initiated into the mysteries of sugar
+making and rum distilling. The operations are conducted
+under a spacious shed in the piazza which faces the Don's
+dwelling-house, and here the whole process, from the
+crushing of the newly-gathered cane to the distilling of the
+aguardiente, or white brandy, is explained to us by our
+host, who apologises because he cannot show everything in
+working condition at this time of the year. He, however,
+enlightens us as to the uses of all we behold, and leaves the
+rest to our imagination.</p>
+
+<p>Here is the store-house where the freshly-gathered cane
+is kept ready for the crushing process. Under that spacious
+shed is the engine-room in connexion with the rollers that
+crush the cane. Near us are the tanks or boilers for the
+reception of the 'jugo' or cane-juice. We are shown the
+clarifying pans and the coolers in which the boiled liquid,
+after being skimmed, is transformed into sugar grains or
+crystals. One of the most interesting sights is the process
+of separating the molasses, or treacle, from the crystalline
+portion of the sugar, which is done by the action of centrifugal
+force. The sugar, still in a liquid condition, is
+poured into a deep circular pan, which contains a movable
+drum-shaped cylinder of wire gauze. The latter is whirled
+rapidly round by means of machinery, and in doing so
+drives the liquid against the sides of the gauze drum,
+through the meshes of which the molasses escapes, leaving
+the dry white sugar clinging in hard cakes to the sides.
+Don Benigno gives us interesting statistics on his favourite
+subject, informing us how twelve or fourteen tons of ripe
+cane may be converted into one thousand five hundred
+hogsheads of sugar.</p>
+
+<p>The machinery and engine are at present taking their
+periodical doze like a great boa constrictor. The engineer&mdash;a
+native of Philadelphia&mdash;has gone home for the holidays,
+and will not return till October or November, when the
+cane harvest begins and his indispensable services will be
+required. He has unscrewed all the brass fittings, taken
+out the slender and highly polished steel work, and stowed
+them away with fatherly care, while he has greased whatever
+is immovable, and then wrapped it up tenderly in
+machinery swaddling clothes.</p>
+
+<p>Being an Englishman, I am looked upon by the company
+as an authority in matters mechanical, and my opinion
+touching the merits of the engineering works is consulted.
+I accordingly peer into everything with the air of a connoisseur,
+and happening to catch a glimpse of the maker's
+name and address on one of the shafts, observe grandly:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Ah, Fletcher and Company, I have heard of the firm.'</p>
+
+<p>We have yet to visit Don Benigno's distillery, where the
+molasses or refuse of the sugar is converted into white
+brandy or rum. This is a simple process. The raw liquid
+is first boiled, and the steam which generates passes through
+a complication of sinuous tubing until it reaches a single
+tap, where it spirts out in fits and starts into the cold
+colourless spirit called 'aguardiente.' A glass valve is connected
+with the tap, and by means of this the degrees of
+strength formed by the spirit are gauged. The distillers are
+already at work, as the operations in this department are
+best accomplished out of harvest time. One of them
+invites us to test the strength of the precious spirit, which
+the gentlemen of our party do with their mouths, while the
+ladies are content to bathe their hands and temples in the
+icy-cold liquid.</p>
+
+<p>Everybody takes a deep interest in all that is shown by
+our amicable cicerone, save, perhaps, Don Manuel and his
+inamorata, who occasionally loiter behind congenial cogwheels,
+huge coolers, clarifying pans, and other objects used
+in the process of sugar-making. The attachment which
+the lovers conceive for this particular portion of Don
+Benigno's possessions is so great, that it is with difficulty
+that they are induced to abandon it. Their repeated visits
+to the same secluded spot upon subsequent occasions, only
+confirms our host's theory, that machinery has a strange
+fascination for persons of all ages and sexes!</p>
+
+<p>Our morning's perambulations terminate with a visit to
+the infirmary where the sick people, employed on the estate,
+are tended, and a stroll through the black barracks, which
+consists of rows of neatly built cottages, occupied by the
+Don's slaves and their families.</p>
+
+<p>After a substantial breakfast, which resembles dinner in
+the variety of dishes provided, some of our party betake
+themselves to their dormitories with a siesta in view, being
+incapable of any more active service till the hot hours have
+passed. Nicasio and I, however, prefer to improve the
+sunny moments under the grateful shade of our improvised
+wigwam, in which position we may sketch, fish, or shoot
+without much exertion: but despite our laudable efforts to
+do something useful, our pencils drop from our hands, our
+angling is neglected, and we surrender to the overpowering
+heat.</p>
+
+<p>I am awakened by my companion, who enjoins me, perhaps
+because I am indulging too loudly in somnolence, to
+be silent.</p>
+
+<p>'What is it? Fish or feather?' I ask.</p>
+
+<p>'Both,' he replies, under his breath. 'Hush! it's a river
+bird.'</p>
+
+<p>'What is its shape?'</p>
+
+<p>'I haven't seen it yet; but it has been chirping among
+the reeds and long grasses there, for the last half-hour.'</p>
+
+<p>My friend's gun is half cocked in readiness, and presented
+through an aperture in our hut. After a long pause the
+bird emerges from its hiding-place, and with astonishing
+velocity half flies, half skims across the river, and vanishes
+between the reeds on the opposite bank.</p>
+
+<p>Bang! bang! go both barrels of Nicasio's 'escopeta,' and
+both have missed their mark. My sporting friend is, however,
+determined to secure his game, which is an odd-looking
+creature, with a long neck and longer legs, similar to a
+crane. He accordingly fords the river at a shallow point,
+and in spite of my remonstrances (for a river bird is not
+easy to bag) goes in quest of his prey. At the expiration
+of a couple of hours, Nicasio, who has followed the bird
+two or three miles up and down the river, returns with it
+triumphantly, but he is himself very wet, footsore, and exhausted.</p>
+
+<p>Our fishing is not so successful as our shooting to-day,
+and we have soon to abandon both amusements, together
+with our sketching, for the day is on the wane, and the
+ladies have come down to the river to take their afternoon's
+bath before dinner. So we modestly withdraw, and betake
+ourselves to a neighbouring 'cocoral,' where we refresh ourselves
+with the cool drink furnished by the cocoa-nut.</p>
+
+<p>Towards nightfall, when dinner, with its indispensable
+accompaniments of café and cigars, is over, our host invites
+the gentlemen to accompany him to the plantations of a
+few friendly neighbours. Horses are accordingly saddled,
+spurs are affixed to our boots, and away we gallop.</p>
+
+<p>Our first halt is made at a grazing-farm belonging to
+Don Benigno, and kept by his mayoral, or overseer, a stout,
+bronze-faced man, who, we are told, rarely moves during
+the day from a leather-bottomed chair, which he places
+slopingly against a post of the verandah. After inspecting
+Don Benigno's cattle, which consist chiefly of oxen, cows,
+and goats, we ride over to some coffee estates and tobacco
+farms, whose owners, or representatives, give us a hearty
+welcome, and are lavish of their hospitality, offering for our
+acceptance everything they possess except their wives and
+families, whom they, however, present to us as our 'servants.'</p>
+
+<p>Our time being limited, we cannot partake of their
+bounty to-night, but promise to return another day. On
+the road homewards, we dismount at a coffee estate belonging
+to Don Benigno's kinsman, Don Felipe, where we
+remain for an hour or so, and watch the performances of a
+crowd of black labourers, who are keeping holiday in
+honour of some favoured saint. Dancing, with 'tumba' or
+drum accompaniments, forms the leading feature in the
+entertainments. The negroes, in turn, take part in the
+drumming, which is performed by bestriding barrel-shaped
+tambours, and beating the parchment side rapidly with
+their hands. The strange measure of the dance is so varied
+and well sustained, that the outline of an air may be easily
+distinguished. This primitive music is accompanied by a
+performance on rattles, by singing, and by scraping the
+güiro. This instrument is, in the country, roughly made from
+a dry calabash, notched in such a manner that a hollow
+grating sound is produced by scraping the rough surface with
+a fragment of bone. The dancers warm to their work in
+every sense. Only two couples volunteer at one time, and
+when they are utterly exhausted, others take their place.
+The partners dance independently of one another, and only
+join hands occasionally. The women, attired in long
+cotton gowns and coloured turbans, assume a short,
+shuffling kind of step, which gives them the appearance of
+gliding on wheels, while the upper parts of their persons
+oscillate, or sway to and fro in a manner peculiar to their
+tribe. The men, whose evening costume consists of buttonless
+shirts and short canvas trousers, are more demonstrative
+than their partners. Sometimes they throw up their arms
+in wild ecstacy, or leap madly into the air; varying these
+gymnastic performances by squatting, frog-fashion, near
+the ground, or turning pirouettes. They get so excited
+and warm over their gyrations, that their Panama hats,
+which have been doffed and donned fifty times, are thrown
+away, their buff-coloured shoes are kicked off, and finally
+their shirts are disposed of in a similar manner.</p>
+
+<p>Nicasio and I contemplate the animated scene with
+painters' eyes, and during the pauses of the dance, we mix
+and fraternise with the swarthy company.</p>
+
+<p>Having expressed a wish to immortalise on canvas a
+couple of brown divinities, picturesquely attired, our hospitable
+host, Don Felipe, who has already offered us his
+country residence, together with the surroundings, including
+horses, cattle, tobacco, coffee, and all that is his, does not
+hesitate to add to his list of gifts, the model-ladies that
+have attracted our observation; so, after his accustomed
+declaration, 'They are at your disposal,' he promises to
+have them 'forwarded' to Don Benigno's hacienda without
+much delay.</p>
+
+<p>The lateness of the hour warns us that we must be
+moving, so after a parting cup with our host and his family,
+we remount our steeds, and turn homewards.</p>
+
+<p>During our absence, the ladies and children have been
+playing the old-fashioned round game of loto, over which
+they are intently occupied when we join them.</p>
+
+<p>Doña Mercedes is calling the numbers from a bag, but
+not in the orthodox way. In order to increase the excitement
+and confusion of the game, the playful lady invents
+noms de guerre for some of the numbers. Number one
+is by her transformed into 'el único' (the only one);
+number two, when drawn, is termed 'el par dichoso' (the
+happy pair); and number three, 'las Gracias' (the Graces).
+Similarly, number fifteen becomes 'la niña bonita' (the
+pretty girl); number thirty-two, 'la edad de Cristo,' and so
+on up to number sixty-nine, which she describes as 'el arriba
+para abajo' (the upside down number). All the tens she gives
+in their numerical form, coupled with the creolised adjective
+'pelao,' or shaven, because the ciphers in these numbers are
+thought to resemble a bald head.</p>
+
+<p>When 'Loteria!' has been at last shouted by a successful
+winner, loto is abandoned, and cards, in which the
+gentlemen take the lead, are substituted. Don Benigno
+proposes the exciting and speculative game of monté, and
+all the ready cash of the company is forthwith exhibited
+on the table. Long after the children and ladies have
+retired, the males of our party continue to gamble over
+this fascinating game.</p>
+
+<p>While we are finishing our last round but six, a slave
+enters the broad airy balcony where we are assembled, and
+approaching our host, whispers mysteriously in his ear.
+Don Benigno directs a look at my companion and me, and
+observes, with a smile, 'Señores artistas, your models have
+arrived.'</p>
+
+<p>True to his word, Don Felipe has dispatched our swarthy
+models that same evening, so as to be in readiness for to-morrow's
+pictorial operations, and the good-natured coffee-planter
+begs as a personal favour to himself, that we will
+return his property not later than the day after to-morrow.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">LOVE-MAKING IN THE TROPICS.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">My Inamorata&mdash;Clandestine Courtship&mdash;A Love Scene&mdash;'Il Bacio' in Cuba&mdash;The
+Course of True Love&mdash;A Stern Parent.</p>
+
+
+<p>I am in love. The object of my affection is, I need scarcely
+explain, the fair Cachita, who lives in the heart of sunny
+Santiago. She has the blackest of bright eyes, a profusion
+of dark, frizzled hair, with eyebrows and lashes to match.
+It is universally admitted that the complexion of my inamorata
+is fair for a daughter of the tropics, but truth compels
+me to state that in one sense Cachita is not so white
+as she is painted. During the day she plasters her delicate
+skin with 'cascarilla:' a chalky composition of powdered
+egg-shell and rum. This she applies without the least
+regard for effect, after the manner of other Cuban ladies,
+who have a theory that whitewash is a protection against
+the sun, and a check to unbecoming perspiration. Towards
+the cool of the evening, however, my Cachita divests herself
+of her calcareous mask, and appears in all her native
+bloom.</p>
+
+<p>Since my return from Don Severiano's plantation, I have
+been a constant visitor at the parental residence in town,
+and here, in due course, the tender passion gradually developes
+itself.</p>
+
+<p>For reasons presently to be explained, we occasionally
+meet at the window of Cachita's boudoir, which is admirably
+adapted for purposes of wooing, being wide, lofty,
+and within easy reach from the street. Like other Cuban
+windows, it is guiltless of glass, but anything like elopement
+from within, or burglary from without, is effectually
+provided against by means of strong iron bars, placed
+wide enough apart, however, to admit the arm and
+shoulder of a Pyramus on the pavement, or the yielding
+face of a Thisbe on the other side. An open engagement
+in Cuba has many disadvantages which an open-air engagement
+has not. Seated in an uncongenial arm-chair,
+the conventional lover may enjoy the society of his betrothed
+any hour of the day or evening, but he may not
+meet her by gaslight alone, nor may he exhibit his passion
+in a demonstrative manner, save in the presence of others.
+Warned by these objections, Cachita and I have agreed to
+keep our own counsel, and court in this al fresco way.
+Besides, it is the Cuban custom for a lady to sit before her
+window, in the cool of the evening, and converse with a
+passing acquaintance, without infringing the rules of propriety.</p>
+
+<p>Cachita's parents are in the 'comedor' taking their early
+supper of thick chocolate and new milk rolls. Doña Belen
+is a corpulent lady, with a couple of last century side-curls,
+and a round, good-natured face. Don Severiano is a short,
+shrivelled old gentleman, with a sallow countenance, closely
+shaved like a priest's, and a collar and cravat of the latest
+fashion. These worthy people are at present ignorant of
+their daughter's attachment, and we have agreed not to
+enlighten them, because their opinions respecting matrimony
+differ. Doña Belen is easily won if a suitor to her
+daughter's hand can prove his genuine white origin, while
+Don Severiano has an extreme partiality for gentlemen
+with coffee plantations, sugar estates, or tobacco farms.</p>
+
+<p>The Spanish language is an agreeable medium for expressing
+the tender passion; creole Spanish is even more
+suited to such a purpose, being full of endearing epithets
+and affectionate diminutives. I am not obliged to address
+my lady-love by her simple name of Caridad; I may call her
+Caridadcita, Cachita, Chuchú, Concha, Cachona, Conchita,
+or Cachumbita, and be perfectly grammatical, and at the
+same time fond. The same romantic language enables
+me to use such pretty epithets as 'Mi mulatica' (my little
+mulatto girl), 'Mi Chinita' (my little Chinawoman), 'Mi
+negrita' (my pretty negress).</p>
+
+<p>And if these endearing epithets are found insufficient to
+express my affectionate regard, I have the option of addressing
+my beloved in such terms as:</p>
+
+<table summary="prenda"
+cellpadding="0"
+cellspacing="0">
+<tr valign="top"><td>Prenda de mi alma!</td><td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td>My soul's jewel!</td></tr>
+<tr valign="top"><td>Botoncito de rosa!</td><td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td>     Little rose-bud!</td></tr>
+<tr valign="top"><td>Lucero de la mañana!</td><td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td>   Dawn of the day!</td></tr>
+<tr valign="top"><td>Luz de mi vida!</td><td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td>        Light of my life!</td></tr>
+<tr valign="top"><td>Ojitos de cocuyo!</td><td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td>      Little fire-fly eyes!</td></tr>
+<tr valign="top"><td>Consuelo mio! </td><td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td>         My own joy!</td></tr>
+<tr valign="top"><td>Mi merenguito!</td><td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td>         My little merengue!</td></tr>
+<tr valign="top"><td>Ojitos de pega-pega!</td><td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td>   Eyes that rivet!</td></tr>
+<tr valign="top"><td>Mi monona! </td><td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td> My lovely one!</td></tr>
+<tr valign="top"><td>Mi tormento! </td><td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td>          My little torment!</td></tr>
+<tr valign="top"><td>Mi consolacion!</td><td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td>        My consolation!</td></tr>
+<tr valign="top"><td>Hija de mi alma!</td><td>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td><td>       Child of my soul!</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="non">and a number of expressions as choice as those quoted
+above.</p>
+
+<p>Our conversation is carried on in epigrammatic phrases.
+I need not waste words by making the long-winded
+inquiry, 'Do you love me?' It is sufficient to ask simply,
+'Me quieres?' And when Cachita tells me, in reply, that
+her love for me may be compared to her fondness for her
+mother's precious bones ('Te quiero mas que á los huesitos
+de mi mamá'), and when, following suit, I assure my beloved
+that I value her as I do the apple of mine eye ('como la
+niña de mis ojos'), I know well enough that these are only
+figures of speech adopted by lovers in the Spanish tropics.</p>
+
+<p>'Mi corazoncito,' says Cachita, fondly, 'I fear that your
+visits here must be suspended for the present.'</p>
+
+<p>'Why so, mi vida?'</p>
+
+<p>'Papacito (Don Severiano) suspects something. His
+friend, Señor Catasus, who passes here every evening, has
+seen us converse at the window more frequently than
+custom allows, and he has mentioned it to papacito.'</p>
+
+<p>Old Catasus has a son whom Don Severiano employs,
+and I fancy that his interest in Cachita's welfare is not
+purely disinterested.</p>
+
+<p>'Young Amador is a frequent visitor at your father's
+house?'</p>
+
+<p>'He comes with others in the evening sometimes.'</p>
+
+<p>'He danced three times with you at the Piñata ball, and
+he walks with you on Sunday evenings in the Plaza de
+Armas, when the military band plays.'</p>
+
+<p>'You are not jealous?'</p>
+
+<p>'N&mdash;no; I am only afraid lest young Amador admires
+you too much.'</p>
+
+<p>'What of that?'</p>
+
+<p>'Don Catasus has a large coffee plantation, and you
+know what a partiality your father has for sons of wealthy
+planters.'</p>
+
+<p>'Are you angry?'</p>
+
+<p>'No, I am not angry, mi tojosita.'</p>
+
+<p>'Me quieres mucho?'</p>
+
+<p>'Muchísimo, pichona mia. Deme un beso.'</p>
+
+<p>'Before giving you one, you must promise two things.'</p>
+
+<p>'What are they?'</p>
+
+<p>'That you will not be jealous, and that you will go no
+more to the Pica-pica balls.'</p>
+
+<p>'I have been only once this season, mi vidita.'</p>
+
+<p>'My black maid Gumersinda was there, and she says
+that you danced all night with the mulattoes.'</p>
+
+<p>'I was practising the difficult step of La Danza Criolla.'</p>
+
+<p>'It is danced very improperly by the coloured people at
+the Pica-pica.'</p>
+
+<p>'Many of my white acquaintances go to these balls, and
+I am only following their custom and that of the country.'</p>
+
+<p>'Promise not to go again this season.'</p>
+
+<p>'I promise; so, deme un beso.'</p>
+
+<p>Cachita inserts her soft face between the obliging bars of
+the huge window, and as nobody is passing at that moment,
+I take an affectionate leave of my 'Piedra.'</p>
+
+<p>My interviews with Cachita at her window become rare
+on account of Don Severiano's suspicions, and as Cuban
+ladies of all ages never leave their homes to visit their next-door
+neighbour without a trusty escort, I have no other
+opportunity for an uninterrupted tête-à-tête. Occasionally
+I meet my fair one at early mass in one of the churches, or
+at the musical promenade in the public square, but on
+these occasions she is always accompanied by a friend or a
+relative, and a couple of black attendants.</p>
+
+<p>On the approach of Cachita's saint's day, Santa Caridad,
+I favour my divinity with a little midnight music. Those
+of my friends whose sweethearts are called Caridad, join me
+in hiring a few musicians and a couple of vocalists. When
+our minstrels have performed their first melody, the Sereno,
+or night-watchman, appears, and demands to see our serenade
+licence, because, out of the carnival season, no serenading
+is allowed without a special permit from the
+authorities. After duly exhibiting our licence, the music
+proceeds, and when a song, composed expressly for the lady
+we are serenading, has been sung, and a few more danzas
+have been played, a shutter of the grated window is seen
+to open, a white hand with a white handkerchief flutters
+approvingly between the iron bars, and a significant flower
+is offered for the acceptance of him whom it may most
+concern.</p>
+
+<p>Tunicú takes a friendly interest in my affaire d'amour,
+and gives me the benefit of his experience in such matters.</p>
+
+<p>In the carnival season, and on certain fiestas, I visit my
+Caridad, in company with a dozen Pollo friends, amongst
+whom are Tunicú and Bimba, and we bring with us a full
+band of black musicians, bearing ordinary stringed instruments.
+Our visit is paid in broad daylight, but we are
+masked, and so disguised that paterfamilias cannot recognise
+his guests; he is, however, satisfied as regards our
+respectability, when my good friend Tunicú privately
+reveals his name. At the inspiring tones of La Danza some
+lady neighbours flock to the scene, and follow us and our
+swarthy instrumentalists into our host's reception-room,
+which is entered direct from the street by a huge door.
+Then a dance is extemporised. The fascinating step of La
+Danza Criolla lends itself to a little secret love-making,
+and with a partner like the graceful Cachita (to whom
+alone I disclose myself when my turn comes to visit her
+house), I feel in the seventh heaven! But dancing at
+twelve o'clock in the day, with a tropical sun blazing in at
+the windows and open doors, and a room full of excited
+dancers, merits some more substantial reward, and in the
+pauses of the danza, our hospitable host invites us into his
+spacious comedor, where refreshments in the shape of
+champagne, English bottled ale, café noir, and dulces, are
+lavishly dispensed.</p>
+
+<p>Report, which in Cuba travels like a tornado, and distorts
+like a convex mirror, poisons the mind of Cachita's
+parent, Don Severiano, and one sultry afternoon, Cachita's
+black maid, Gumersinda, brings me a billet-doux from her
+young mistress, which fills me with alarm. Don Severiano
+knows all&mdash;more than all&mdash;and has resolved to separate
+us by removing Cachita to one of his sugar estates, eight
+leagues from town. For some weeks I hear nothing of her
+whereabouts, but at last one of Don Severiano's black
+mule-drivers halts before my door. He tells me that
+Cachita and her family are staying at La Intimidad, a
+sugar estate; and after searching among his mule's complicated
+trappings, he produces a missive from his young
+mistress. Absence has affected Cachita, as it affects other
+ladies in love, and my fair creole expresses a desire to see
+me. Don Severiano will be leaving the estate for town on
+a certain day, and, if I am willing, a meeting may easily
+be effected. Saturnino, the mule-driver, who is in the
+secret, undertakes to guide me to the trysting-place. I
+accordingly obtain a fast-trotting steed, and follow him
+through the intricate country, which, after many hours'
+riding, brings us to the neighbourhood of La Intimidad.
+There my guide conducts me to a tumble-down negro hut
+kept by a decrepit negress, and situated in the midst of a
+very paradise of banana-trees, plantains, palms, and gigantic
+ferns. The fare which my hostess provides consists of native
+fruits and vegetables, cooked in a variety of ways, together
+with 'bacalao' (dried cod-fish), and 'tasajito,' or salted meat,
+dried in the sun. After my fatiguing pilgrimage, I refresh
+myself with a cigarette and a cup of well-made 'café negro;'
+I bathe in spring water diluted with aguardiente rum, and
+exchange my soiled clothes of white drill for a fresh suit of
+the same material. Towards the cool of the evening, as I
+sit smoking a long damp cigar before the door of my rustic
+habitation, the flapping of huge plantain-leaves, and the
+clatter of horses' hoofs, announce the approach of my
+charmer, who, escorted by the faithful Gumersinda, has
+come to visit me in my homely retreat. I assist Cachita in
+alighting from her steed, and in due course we are seated
+beneath the shade of an overhanging mango-tree, whose
+symmetrical leaves reach to the ground, and completely conceal
+us. We are disturbed by no other sound than the
+singing of birds, the creaking of hollow bamboos, and the
+rippling of water. Under these pleasant circumstances,
+we converse and make love to our hearts' content. The
+cautious Gumersinda warns us when the hour for separation
+arrives, and then we reluctantly part. Our agreeable
+tête-à-tête is repeated on the following day, but as Don
+Severiano is expected to return the day after, this is our
+last interview.</p>
+
+<p>On my road back to town, whom should I meet, at a
+wayside tienda, but Cachita's formidable parent, together
+with his friend Señor Catasus, and my rival, the young
+Amador! Don Severiano is furious. High words pass
+between us, there is a scene, and I leave the cane-field
+proprietor swearing to punish everybody concerned in his
+daughter's secret engagement.</p>
+
+<p>Some days after my return to town, I learn that the
+black maid Gumersinda, and the mule-driver Saturnino,
+have suffered the penalty of slave law at the hands of their
+owner, who has sentenced them both to a severe flogging.
+Through the medium of a friend, I receive a note from
+Cachita, to inform me that her father is determined to
+break off my engagement with his daughter by a more
+effectual separation than that which has been already
+attempted. 'If you love me,' the note concludes, 'have me
+deposited without delay.'</p>
+
+<p>To 'deposit' a young lady in Cuba, is to have her legally
+transferred to the house of a trustworthy relative, or a respectable
+family. A legal document for her arrest is presented
+at the parental house, and if the young lady be of
+age, and willing to sign her assent, no opposition on the
+part of her parents will avail. If, at the expiration of the
+prescribed period, no reason is shown why the deposited
+damsel should not follow her inclinations, the lover may
+release his precious pledge by marrying her at once.</p>
+
+<p>In accordance with Cachita's desire, I consult the nearest
+lawyer, from whom I obtain a formal document, empowering
+me to deposit Cachita as soon as she shall have arrived
+at her town residence. I await this event with impatience,
+but days elapse, and the shutters of Don Severiano's
+habitation remain closed. I am soon relieved from
+my anxiety, but am horrified to learn that Cachita has been
+removed from the sugar estate, and consigned to the tender
+care of nuns in the town convent. As my legal powers
+cannot penetrate that sanctum, I am compelled to await
+the natural course of events. Cachita is destined to pass
+six long months within the convent walls, during which
+time Don Severiano confidently hopes that solitary confinement
+and holy teaching will have a beneficial effect upon
+Cachita's mind. Should this prove otherwise, the period
+for her incarceration will be prolonged, until the fire of her
+young affections shall have been completely quenched.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">A CUBAN CONVENT.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">Without the Walls&mdash;'El Torno'&mdash;A Convent Letter&mdash;Accomplices&mdash;A
+Powder Plot&mdash;With the Nuns&mdash;Don Francisco the Dentist.</p>
+
+
+<p>My creole inamorata has been already immured five long
+weeks in the nunnery, expiating there her 'sin' of secret
+love-making. Nearly five months must yet elapse before
+she will be released and restored to her stern parent Don
+Severiano: that is, if the nuns' report of her be favourable;
+but should the efforts of those estimable ladies prove
+unsuccessful, and Cachita persist in following the inclinations
+of her heart, the term of her incarceration will be
+protracted another six months, when, in accordance with
+conventual discipline, she will be required to commence
+her duties as a novice.</p>
+
+<p>Desirous of ascertaining how far monastic confinement
+has affected my Cachita's sentiments, I propose to sound her
+on the subject by private communication. Tunicú, whom
+I consult, tells me that this is not easily accomplished, and
+I soon find that his statement is correct. The convent is
+a strong building. At fixed hours the outer doors are
+thrown open, and disclose a small stone ante-chamber,
+furnished with wooden benches like a prison. Here may a
+pilgrim enter, but no further. There is another and a
+stronger door, communicating with the interior, and
+accessible only to a favoured few. Near it is a panelled or
+blind window, forming part of a 'torno' or turnstile&mdash;a
+mechanical contrivance by means of which articles for the
+convent use are secretly admitted.</p>
+
+<p>On more than one occasion have I visited the torno, in
+the vain hope of persuading the invisible door-keeper
+behind to receive some love-tokens for my captive mistress.
+Tapping three times on the hollow window, I pause until a
+voice murmurs 'Ave Maria!' to which I respond, being
+well versed in conventual watchwords, 'Por mis pecados!'
+The voice inquires my pleasure. If it be my pleasure to
+have a missive conveyed to an immured 'sister,' and I can
+satisfy my unseen interlocutor by representing myself as a
+relative of the captive lady in whom I am interested, the
+turnstile rotates with magic velocity, the flat panel vanishes,
+and, behold, a species of cupboard with many shelves, upon
+which anything of a moderate size may be placed. Having
+deposited my letter on one of the shelves, it disappears,
+with the cupboard, like a pantomime trick, and the panelled
+window resumes its original dull aspect. But whether my
+document will reach the rightful owner, I can never
+ascertain, for days elapse, and no reply is forthcoming.
+Varying my proceedings at the torno, I sometimes express
+a desire to exchange a few greetings with my cloistered
+love, by meeting her in a certain chamber appointed for
+such a purpose, and conversing with her through a double
+grating. But the door-keeper informs me that such a
+privilege is accorded to parents only of the immured, who
+can prove their identity; so my effort in that direction is a
+failure.</p>
+
+<p>At Tunicú's suggestion, every Sunday morning I visit
+the convent chapel which is attached to the building itself,
+and is open to the public at prescribed hours. The chapel
+is a bare-looking sanctuary of small dimensions, and easily
+crowded by a score or two of ladies with white veils, who
+come to pay their devotions from the neighbouring houses.
+At one extremity of the white-washed chamber is an altar-piece,
+before which a priest, assisted by a boy, officiates,
+and to the left is a strongly-barred window connected with
+the interior of the convent. Behind this window, which is
+heavily curtained as well as railed, stand the nuns and other
+inmates of the cloister, who have come to take part in the
+ceremonies. The responses are chanted by this invisible
+congregation in a subdued tone. During a certain portion
+of the ceremonies, the curtain is partially drawn, and the
+outline of a thickly veiled devotee is discerned as she bends
+forward to kiss the priest's hand and to receive his blessing.
+I envy the ecclesiastic, and gaze with eager interest, as
+figure after figure approaches in turn; but my sight cannot
+penetrate the dark recesses of the curtain, and the lady
+whom I seek comes and disappears unrecognised.</p>
+
+<p>I am aroused early one morning by a black messenger,
+who delivers me a thick letter, which I open nervously, for
+I find it comes from the 'Convento de la Enseñanza.' The
+writing, though the contents savour strongly of monastic
+diction, is certainly in Cachita's hand, and is signed by
+herself.</p>
+
+<p>'My dream of happiness,' the letter begins, 'can no
+longer be realised. My conscience, my teachers, and my
+father-confessor, all persuade me that I have sinned in the
+outer world, and that if I desire to be absolved, I must
+repent without delay. Exhorted by the worthy nuns, I am
+daily becoming more alive to a sense of my unworthiness,
+and convinced of the urgent necessity for beginning a new
+life of holiness and virtue. Guided to this blessed convent
+by the finger of Providence, I have been enabled, with the
+assistance of the best of counsel, to reflect seriously over
+what has happened, and I have now taken a vow never
+again to act from the impulse of my young and inexperienced
+heart.'</p>
+
+<p>After dwelling upon the enormity of the offence of
+making love without the approval of a parent, the writer
+exhorts me, by my 'mother,' and by other people whom I
+'hold dear,' to return her letters, and all other evidence of
+the past, with the assurance that by so doing I shall
+accomplish one important step towards the 'termination of
+the sad story of this ill-begotten wooing' (para completar
+la triste historia de ese amor desgraciado).</p>
+
+<p>The letter concludes as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Perhaps you will receive a parting word from me' (the
+present document occupies exactly eight pages of closely
+written convent paper), 'which will put an end to this unfortunate
+story. You must, then, forget me entirely. Look
+upon the past as a dream, an illusion, a flash of happiness
+which is no more. Never must the name of Cachita escape
+your lips. I shall remember you only in my prayers' (the
+word 'only' is erased with pencil). 'Fail not to send the
+letters. And adios! till we meet in heaven.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Caridad.</span>'</p>
+
+<p>The bearer of this letter is Guadalupe, a slave of Cachita's
+father, Don Severiano, and she is intrusted with messages
+to and from the convent. Twice a week she visits the
+torno cupboard, charged with changes of linen and other
+articles for her young mistress's use. Everything is carefully
+examined by a nun, before being consigned to its
+owner; so Tunicú's ingenious notion of conveying by this
+opportunity something contraband to the fair prisoner
+cannot be entertained.</p>
+
+<p>Having bribed Guadalupe with a bundle of cigars and a
+coloured handkerchief for a turban, I obtain from her, in
+return, some intelligence of her young mistress.</p>
+
+<p>'Have you heard how la Niña Cachita fares?' I inquire.</p>
+
+<p>'Badly,' says the negress. 'The monastic life does not
+agree with her lively disposition, and she yearns for freedom
+again, la pobre!'</p>
+
+<p>'Then the nuns have not succeeded in converting her?'</p>
+
+<p>'I think not, miamo. In a letter to her mother, Doña
+Belen, who has still a good opinion of your worship, mi
+amita Cachita ridicules the Monjas (nuns), and describes
+their strange ways.'</p>
+
+<p>'Has Don Severiano expressed his intention to release
+la Niña at the expiration of her allotted six months?'</p>
+
+<p>'I believe so; but even then, it will be nearly five long
+months before she can be with us again!'</p>
+
+<p>The most important information which I draw from the
+communicative black is, that my medical friend, Don Francisco,
+who is a dentist as well as a doctor, is attending my
+beloved for professional purposes. I resolved to call upon
+Don Francisco, and when Guadalupe has taken her departure
+with a packet containing a selection from Cachita's
+letters, and one of my own, which I have carefully worded,
+in case it should fall into wrong hands, I repair at once to
+the house of my medical friend.</p>
+
+<p>Don Francisco sympathises with me, and promises to aid
+me in a plan which I have conceived for communicating by
+letter with my absent mistress; but he warns me that there
+are many difficulties in the way of doing so.</p>
+
+<p>'The nuns,' he says, 'who accompany my patient, stand
+like a couple of sentinels on each side of her, and no word
+or gesture escapes their attentive ears and watchful gaze.
+He must have more than a conjuror's hand who can perform
+any epistolary feat and escape their keen observation.'</p>
+
+<p>The allusion to conjuring reminds me of my scheme.</p>
+
+<p>Will Don Francisco recommend to his patient a box of
+his registered tooth-powder?</p>
+
+<p>He will be delighted to have that opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>'One of my assistants who accompanies me in my convent
+rounds shall include such a box in my dentist's bag.'</p>
+
+<p>Don Francisco sees through my 'little powder plot,' as
+he calls it, and hands me a box of his patented tooth-powder,
+beneath which I afterwards carefully deposit a
+billet-doux.</p>
+
+<p>But Don Francisco can improve upon my scheme, and
+staggers me with his new idea.</p>
+
+<p>'You shall deliver the box yourself!' says he.</p>
+
+<p>The convent rules, he explains, allow him to introduce
+an assistant, or 'practicante,' as he is called. The same
+practicante does not always accompany him in his semi-weekly
+visits to the convent.</p>
+
+<p>'As I am about to visit La Cachita for dental purposes
+only,' says the considerate gentleman, 'you shall on this
+occasion act as my practicante.'</p>
+
+<p>Early next morning we are on the threshold of the
+sacred ground. Don Francisco boldly enters the stone
+ante-chamber, which I have so often timidly approached,
+and taps with a firm knuckle on the torno.</p>
+
+<p>'Ave Maria Purísima!' murmurs the door-keeper from
+behind.</p>
+
+<p>'Pecador de mí!' (sinner as I am) replies the practised Don.</p>
+
+<p>'Que se ofrece usted?' (what is your pleasure?) inquires
+the voice. And when the dentist has satisfied the door-keeper's
+numerous demands, a spring door flies open, and
+we step into a narrow passage. Here we remain for some
+moments, while our persons are carefully identified through
+a perforated disc. Then another door opens, the mysterious
+door-keeper appears and conducts us into the very core of
+the convent. As we look over the convent garden, which
+is tastefully laid out with tropical plants and kitchen stuff,
+a thickly veiled nun approaches us. The lady seems to be
+on familiar terms with the dentist, whom she addresses in
+a mild, soothing tone, as if she were administering words of
+comfort to a sick person. We follow her through a narrow
+corridor, where I observe numerous doors, which I am told
+give access to the apartments or cells occupied by the convent
+inmates. We pass a chamber where children's voices
+are heard. There is a school attached to the convent, for
+the benefit of those who desire their offspring to receive
+religious instruction from the nuns. Music and fancy
+needlework are also taught, and some of the distressed
+damsels, who, like Cachita, are undergoing a term of conventual
+imprisonment for similar offences, impose upon
+themselves a mild form of hard labour by assisting to improve
+the infant mind. Cachita, who is a good musician,
+takes an active part in this branch of education.</p>
+
+<p>At last we are ushered into a gloomy, white-washed
+apartment (everything in the convent appears to be of
+wood and whitewash), where our guide takes leave of us.</p>
+
+<p>While the dentist, assisted by his practicante, is arranging
+his implements for tooth-stopping on a deal table, which,
+together with a couple of wooden chairs, constitute the
+furniture of this cheerless chamber, an inner door is thrown
+open, and a couple of nuns, attired in sombre black, enter
+with Don Francisco's fair patient. Cachita is dressed in
+spotless white, a knotted rope suspended from her girdle,
+and a yellowish veil affixed in such a manner to her brow
+as to completely conceal her hair, which, simple practicante
+though I be, I know is dark, soft, and frizzled at the top.
+Her pretty face is pale, and already wears (or seems to
+wear) the approved expression of monastic resignation.</p>
+
+<p>At Don Francisco's suggestion, I carefully conceal my
+face while Cachita seats herself between the sentinel nuns.</p>
+
+<p>The dentist, with a presence of mind which I emulate
+but little, commences his business of tooth-stopping,
+pausing in his work to exchange a few friendly words with
+his patient and the amicable nuns. Hitherto my services
+have not been in requisition; but anon the subject of the
+tooth-powder is introduced.</p>
+
+<p>Will La Cachita allow the dentist to recommend her a
+tooth-powder of his own preparation?</p>
+
+<p>Cachita is in no immediate need of such an article, but
+the dentist is persuasive, and the young lady is prevailed
+upon to give the powder a trial.</p>
+
+<p>'You will derive much benefit from its use,' observes Don
+Francisco. 'My assistant' (and here the cunning tooth-stopper,
+being close to his patient's ear, whispers my name)
+'will bring it you presently.'</p>
+
+<p>'What ails la Niña?' inquires one of the nuns, bending
+forward; for Cachita has uttered a cry, and swooned away.</p>
+
+<p>'Nothing, señora,' says Don Francisco with the same
+sang-froid already noted. 'Only a nerve which I have
+accidentally excited in my operation. She will be better
+presently.'</p>
+
+<p>The dentist desires me to bring him a certain bottle, and
+with the contents of this, his patient is soon restored to consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>'Keep her head firm,' says my artful friend, addressing
+me with a faint smile on his countenance, 'while I put the
+finishing touches to my work.'</p>
+
+<p>I obey; and though my hands are far from being as
+steady as an assistant's should be, I acquit myself creditably.</p>
+
+<p>Cachita's mouth is again open to facilitate the dentist's
+operations, but also, as it seems to me, in token of surprise
+at the apparition now bending over her.</p>
+
+<p>'You will find much relief in the use of this tooth-powder,'
+continues my friend, in a careless tone, as though
+nothing had happened. 'Very strengthening to the gums.
+When you have got to the bottom of the box&mdash;just open
+your mouth a little wider&mdash;when you have got to the
+bottom of the box&mdash;where' (he whispers) 'you will find a
+note&mdash;I will send you another.'</p>
+
+<p>Cachita, by this time accustomed to my presence, can
+now look me fearlessly in the face with those expressive
+eyes of hers, which I can read so well, and before the
+dentist's operations are over, we have contrived, unobserved,
+to squeeze hands on three distinct occasions.</p>
+
+<p>Assured by this means of my lover's constancy, I now
+take my leave of her, and, advised by my friends, patiently
+await the term of her convent captivity, which expires, as I
+have already stated, in four months and three weeks.</p>
+
+<p>Upwards of three of these months elapse and I hear
+nothing more of the fair recluse, and during that long
+interval many strange and unexpected events transpire as
+to the 'Ever-faithful Isle.'</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">A CRUISE IN THE WEST INDIES.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">Cuban Telegraphy&mdash;The <i>New York Trigger</i>&mdash;News from Porto Rico&mdash;A day
+in Porto Rico&mdash;Don Felipe&mdash;A Mail Agent&mdash;Coasting&mdash;Aguadilla&mdash;Mayagüez&mdash;Santo
+Domingo&mdash;Sight-seeing&mdash;Telegraphic News.</p>
+
+
+<p>There has been a sad dearth of news in the tropics for
+many long months. The war of Santo Domingo is at an
+end. The great hurricane at St. Thomas has passed into
+oblivion. The rising of negroes in Jamaica is forgotten.
+The civil war in Hayti is suspended for the nineteenth
+time. Not so much as a shipwreck is afloat; even the
+yellow fever is on the wane, and not a single case of cholera
+has been quoted. The people of the tropics are enjoying
+a delightful and uninterrupted repose, and the elements
+and climate are perfectly inoffensive. It seems as if our
+part of the world had sunk into a delicious paradise, and
+that my services on behalf of the <i>New York Trigger</i>
+would be for the future dispensed with.</p>
+
+<p>I am, shortly, recalled to my journalistic duties by the
+arrival of some 'startling' news from Porto Rico. An insurrection
+has broken out in the interior of that island,
+where the inhabitants have planted what they call their
+'flag of freedom,' intimating their intention to rebel
+against their Spanish rulers.</p>
+
+<p>This is food for the <i>Trigger</i>, and I hasten to prepare it
+daintily, for transmission by telegraph.</p>
+
+<p>At the office of the telegraph, I meet the American
+consul's secretary. Now, as I know that that gentleman is
+connected with the <i>Central Press of Havana</i>, I conclude
+that he is upon the same errand as myself. In the interests
+of the <i>New York Trigger</i>, it is therefore my duty now
+to forestall the secretary, by forwarding my news before he
+has had time to dispatch his.</p>
+
+<p>The secretary is at the telegraph table scribbling at a
+rapid rate, and you may be sure he does not slacken his
+speed when he becomes conscious of the presence of the
+formidable agent of the <i>New York Trigger</i>! Only one
+instrument is used for telegraphic purposes, so he whose
+telegram is first handed to the clerk is first to be served by
+that functionary.</p>
+
+<p>The system of telegraphy&mdash;like every other system
+in Cuba&mdash;is supervised by the Spanish administration.
+Every telegram must be submitted to the authorities before
+it is dispatched, in case anything treasonable or offensive
+to the government should enter into its composition. The
+dispatch being approved of, it is returned to the telegraph
+office and transmitted in the usual manner. The sender is,
+however, obliged to pay for his message in paper stamps,
+and these must be affixed to the document; but under no
+circumstances is he permitted to make his payments in
+Spanish coin.</p>
+
+<p>This paper money&mdash;which in form resembles postage-stamps&mdash;cannot
+be obtained at the telegraph office, but
+must be purchased at the 'Colecturía,' a certain government
+establishment in another part of the town. Thus,
+the unfortunate individual who happens to be unprovided
+with sufficient stamps, is often at a standstill.</p>
+
+<p>By a miracle, my important news from Porto Rico is
+ready for transmission as soon as that of my rival, the
+American secretary; but, unfortunately, that gentleman is
+before me in presenting his document to the telegraph
+clerk. The latter examines the message carefully to see
+that nothing is wanting, when, to my great joy, he returns
+it with the remark, that the indispensable stamps have not
+been affixed!</p>
+
+<p>My rival is aghast, and offers to pay in golden doubloons;
+but the official is not to be bribed&mdash;especially before a
+witness&mdash;so the American secretary, who is unprovided
+with stamps, has no other alternative but to go in quest of
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile I, whose pocket-book is full of the precious
+paper-money, hand in my message, which the clerk accepts,
+and in my presence ticks off to Havana. From thence
+it will proceed by submarine cable to the coast of Florida,
+where, after being duly translated into English, it will be
+transmitted to New York, and to-morrow, if all goes well, it
+will appear in the columns of the <i>New York Trigger</i>.</p>
+
+<p>On my way to a neighbouring café for refreshment after
+my labours, I gather from a printed placard on a wall of
+the governor's palace, some further particulars concerning
+the rebellion:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'The Spanish troops have had an encounter with the
+insurgents, and utterly routed them, with a loss, on the
+Spanish side, of one man killed and three slightly wounded.
+The enemy's losses are incalculable!'</p>
+
+<p>This piece of intelligence, of course, proceeds from
+government sources, and is therefore doubtful; but all is
+fish that comes to my journalistic net, so I return to the
+telegraph office, and give the <i>Trigger</i> the benefit of the
+doubt.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of the day, I obtain the rebel version of the
+fight:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'A great battle has been fought between the <i>Patriots</i>
+and the Spaniards, in which the latter were forced to retreat
+with considerable losses.'</p>
+
+<p>Twenty-three words more for the <i>Trigger</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The revolution spreads; the news circulates, and every
+mail steamer from Porto Rico brings correspondence for
+me from the agent in that island. Day by day the <i>New
+York Trigger</i> is filled with telegrams and editorial paragraphs
+about the revolution in the Spanish colony; and
+that widely circulating newspaper is often in advance, and
+never behind, its contemporaries with 'latest intelligence
+from the seat of war.'</p>
+
+<p>At length a fatal piece of news reaches us.</p>
+
+<p>Afraid lest the revolutionary mania should infect our
+town, the Spanish authorities have subjected the mail bags
+from Porto Rico to an epistolary quarantine; in other
+words, all our correspondence is overhauled at the post-office,
+and any document bearing upon the revolution is
+confiscated.</p>
+
+<p>The central agent in Havana of the <i>New York Trigger</i>
+is beside himself when he finds that no more telegrams
+and news-letters are forthcoming, and reminds me,
+per wire, of my duties. It is in vain to assure him of the
+true state of affairs, and of my inability to supply him with
+the dearly coveted 'intelligence.' He will not believe that
+my resources for information are as limited as I represent
+them to be. One day I receive a mighty telegram from
+him, acquainting me with the fact that a contemporary of
+the <i>Trigger</i> has actually published some 'startling' news
+from the seat of war!</p>
+
+<p>This fearful announcement is shortly followed by another
+dispatch to the following effect:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'If you cannot obtain the news required by remaining in
+Santiago, leave immediately for Principe (our alias for
+Porto Rico). If no steamer is ready, charter a sailing
+vessel. Collect all the information you can in detail, and
+return without loss of time. N.B. Spare no expense.
+The "Gatillo" (Spanish for "Trigger") thirsts for particulars.'</p>
+
+<p>As no steamer is announced to sail before another week,
+I take the other alternative, and charter a small sailing
+vessel.</p>
+
+<p>I land in due time at Porto Rico. I seek our agent,
+Don Felipe, and after some trouble, I find him&mdash;in jail!
+He is a native of the village near the scene of the outbreak,
+and for some mysterious reason has been arrested
+'on suspicion.'</p>
+
+<p>Assisted by the English and American consuls, to whom
+I have letters of introduction, and using the <i>Trigger's</i>
+dollars for the pockets of the officials, I ultimately succeed
+in procuring the agent's release. Don Felipe then produces
+press copies of certain communications which he had
+dispatched by the last mail steamers, but which had been
+intercepted at the Cuban post-office, and, after inviting me
+to lunch at one of the finest cafés I have ever had the
+pleasure of entering, he accompanies me over the town,
+where we collect the latest particulars respecting the insurrection.</p>
+
+<p>San Juan de Puerto Rico is a fine city. The houses
+are three and four stories high, and are constructed after
+the American fashion. The streets are wide and symmetrically
+arranged. The roads are all paved and hilly. Every
+street leads to a fort, a gun and a sentry; and, in some
+cases, to high cliffs with an extensive view of the open sea.
+In short, San Juan is a strongly-fortified place. Everything
+is very clean, very new, and very modern looking.
+The cathedral is a noble edifice, and the theatre is in
+every way equal to the best buildings of the kind in Europe.</p>
+
+<p>Crossing an open square, in which appear a number of
+bronze statues, Don Felipe conducts me back to the café,
+where we partake of refreshment, and arrange the various
+items of news which we have collected during our afternoon's
+ramble over the town.</p>
+
+<p>Don Felipe advises me to dispatch the frail bark which
+had brought me from Cuba, and return by the mail
+steamer which has just arrived from St. Thomas, and is
+announced to sail for Cuba early next morning. As this
+is by far the speediest way of getting home, I follow my
+friend's advice, and accept his invitation to repose for the
+night at his humble dwelling.</p>
+
+<p>The rest of the day and evening is passed very agreeably.</p>
+
+<p>The British consul&mdash;a fine military-looking old fellow&mdash;invites
+me to dine with him and his charming family. It
+is pleasant to speak and hear spoken one's native tongue
+again, after being comparatively deaf and dumb in that
+language for nearly five years. It is still more delightful
+to feel at home with one's countrymen and countrywomen
+in a strange land, and thus, when I take leave of my
+hospitable English host and his family, I sincerely regret,
+with them, the brevity of my visit.</p>
+
+<p>I rise at a very early hour next morning, and, accompanied
+by Don Felipe, I take my passage on board the
+'Pájaro del Oceano,' that being the name of the steamer
+which is to convey me to Cuba.</p>
+
+<p>The naval agent of the English mail company, who is a
+young Cuban named Fernandez, salutes me as I embark,
+for we had been slightly acquainted with one another in
+Santiago. Before taking leave of Don Felipe, I introduce
+him to the mail agent, for by the latter's means I hope
+for the future to ensure the safe delivery of my dispatches
+from Porto Rico and other islands. Don Fernandez
+touches at the port of Santiago at least once a month, and
+if he can be pressed into the <i>Trigger's</i> service, he will be
+invaluable to that newspaper.</p>
+
+<p>The mail agent has a compartment on board all to
+himself, and invites me to occupy one of the comfortable
+berths which it contains. He is in other ways so civil and
+obliging, that his company is altogether most congenial
+during the voyage, and before our arrival in Cuba, we
+have become the closest of friends.</p>
+
+<p>I am alarmed to find that our steamer will touch at
+other ports before reaching its destination; but Fernandez
+assures me that the voyage will occupy much less time
+than it would if it were made in a sailing vessel, especially
+in the present somewhat stormy weather. In short, if all
+goes well, we shall sight the Morro Castle in less than five
+days.</p>
+
+<p>In sorting his correspondence, the mail agent discovers
+some important missives addressed to me. These, which
+he kindly hands to me, I find come from the <i>Trigger's</i>
+agents in St. Thomas, Jamaica, and other islands; and
+contain some interesting intelligence respecting the projected
+purchase by the United States of the Bay of Samana,
+together with the particulars of an earthquake near Callao,
+a scheme for a floating dock at Kingston, Jamaica, and
+other topics equally interesting to Americans. These
+matters, together with my Porto Rico news, I proceed to
+arrange in concise form, for immediate dispatch by telegraph,
+on my arrival at Santiago.</p>
+
+<p>Friend Fernandez very much excites my curiosity by
+exhibiting the mail bags from Southampton. One of these
+bags is labelled 'Havana,' the other 'Santiago de Cuba,'
+and as they contain the correspondence from Europe,
+doubtless letters and newspapers addressed to me and
+Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú are among the number. But
+the mouths of both sacks&mdash;which make <i>my</i> mouth 'water'&mdash;are
+securely tied and sealed, and the mail agent dares
+not venture to open them, until they have been deposited
+at the Cuban post-office.</p>
+
+<p>On the evening of the following day we land in a boat
+at Aguadilla&mdash;a small watering-place on the coast of Porto
+Rico. The village is represented by a row of tumble-down
+houses and a scattering of picturesque negro huts.
+While my companion confers with the postal agent of
+Aguadilla, I occupy the time by a saunter through the
+quiet, primitive streets, picking up here and there from a
+communicative native scraps of news concerning the insurrection,
+which I learn is now very much on the wane.</p>
+
+<p>The business of the mail agent being over, we return
+to our steamer, where, after partaking of a hearty meal&mdash;in
+spite of wind and weather&mdash;we turn into our snug
+berths and chat and smoke our cigarettes till sleep overtakes
+us.</p>
+
+<p>We awake early next morning to find that we have
+already anchored off Mayagüez.</p>
+
+<p>Mayagüez is an important sea-side town on the Porto
+Rico coast, and is surrounded by the loveliest tropical
+scenery that I have yet beheld in the West Indies. One
+long, broad and perfectly level street runs in a direct line
+from the quay to the confines of the town. Branching off
+from this formidable thoroughfare are a few narrow streets
+which terminate in small rivers and streams, across which
+innumerable little bridges are thrown.</p>
+
+<p>As we are destined to halt at this delightful spot for
+several hours, we make the most of our time. After calling
+upon our vice-consul&mdash;who is also the English postal agent,
+and has an office in one of the numerous warehouses which
+face the quay&mdash;and after having partaken of some refreshment
+at a café, my companion and I hail a quaint dilapidated
+vehicle of the fly species and drive through <i>the</i>
+street of the town. This street beginning with shops,
+continues with tall private dwellings, which, in turn, are
+succeeded by pretty villas, till the open country suddenly
+appears.</p>
+
+<p>I am amazed to find that for our drive through the town,
+half a mile beyond it and back again, we are charged the
+astonishingly modest fare of two-pence half-penny!</p>
+
+<p>We have embarked again and are off to Santo Domingo,
+where we land on the following day.</p>
+
+<p>Santo Domingo&mdash;the capital of the island of that name&mdash;is
+an antiquated city, with brown, sombre-looking stone
+houses intermingled with quaint towers and gateways,
+tropical trees, shrubbery and ruins. We reach the city in a
+small boat, passing up a long river called the Ozana, and
+after Don Fernandez has deposited his mail bags at the
+post-office, we wander over the town. My companion
+knows every part of it well, having, as he tells me, visited
+it at least twice a month for the past three years. Acting,
+therefore, as a cicerone, he conducts me through the Calle
+del Comercio, which is the principal street in the city, but
+which has a very dismal and deserted aspect. The
+cathedral is an ancient building, and has resisted wind,
+weather, earthquake, and revolution for upwards of three
+hundred years. The interior is full of interest for the
+artist and the antiquarian, containing, among other objects,
+the first mausoleum of Christopher Columbus. Don
+Fernandez tells me that the remains of the great discoverer
+were originally brought from Spain and deposited here, and
+that they were afterwards transferred to the cathedral of
+Havana, where they at present repose.</p>
+
+<p>On our way from the cathedral we meet a number of
+coloured officials belonging to the republic; and for the first
+time in my experience, I behold a negro policeman! We
+pause before an old picturesque archway where a sentry is
+on guard. The sentry is a black youth of not more than
+eighteen Dominican summers. His uniform consists of a
+ragged shirt, brown holland trousers, and a broad Panama
+hat. He has apparently an easy life of it, for his musket
+reposes in a corner of the gateway, while he himself is
+seated, half dozing, on a big stone!</p>
+
+<p>After inspecting the quaint old market-place, together
+with an ancient Franciscan monastery called La Forsza, the
+'Well of Columbus,' and other interesting 'sights,' Don
+Fernandez warns me that the hour for our departure is
+near. I accordingly accompany him to the office of the
+English consul, where he has to receive the mail bags of
+Santo Domingo. We have to wait some time at the consul's
+office, for important dispatches from President Baez. I
+devote the time which elapses before these dispatches
+appear, to a little business on behalf of the <i>New York
+Trigger</i>. There is, however, scarcely any news of importance
+to be obtained. Since the war of Santo Domingo, the
+inhabitants have enjoyed an uninterrupted peace, and with
+the exception of a few petty squabbles with their neighbours,
+the Haytiens, and the projected purchase of the Bay of
+Samana, nothing eventful has transpired in the island.</p>
+
+<p>The President's dispatches having arrived, we take leave
+of the consul and the company assembled, and, under the
+escort of a torn and tattered negro porter bearing the mail
+bags, reach the quay. Passing through the custom-house,
+which is represented by a roof and eight posts, we embark
+in our little canoe, and gliding over the waters of the river
+Ozana, which skirts the town, reach our steamer.</p>
+
+<p>In rather more than forty-eight hours the Morro Castle
+is sighted, and in due course I land once again at the Pearl
+of the Antilles.</p>
+
+<p>The various items of information collected during my
+cruise being already carefully prepared for telegraphic
+purposes, I repair without loss of time to the telegraph
+office.</p>
+
+<p>Behold me safely seated in the scribbling department of
+that establishment, rejoicing in the fact that I am the sole
+occupant of the apartment. From the perfect quiet which
+reigns in the operating room, I conclude that the clerks
+are not very busy, and that they are prepared to 'wire'
+any number of words which I may present to them. I
+have no dread of competition, at least for the present; for
+even if my rival correspondents should have received news
+by the same steamer which brought me, I know from
+experience, that some hours must necessarily elapse before
+it can be in a condition for telegraphing.</p>
+
+<p>With a triumphant smile, I seize a quire of printed
+telegraph forms, and proceed to copy in 'a clear, bold hand'
+from my notes.</p>
+
+<p>Now to astonish the <i>Trigger</i>, and all whom my abundant
+information may concern!</p>
+
+<p>I have scarcely finished my first instalment of news,
+when a telegraph messenger taps me on the shoulder and
+staggers me with the information, that in consequence of
+a serious interruption in the line of communication with
+Havana, the operations of the telegraph are for the present
+suspended!</p>
+
+<p>Then I learn for the first time that a great revolution has
+broken out in Spain, and that, despite the precautions of the
+governor of our town, the revolutionary mania has seized
+the natives of Cuba, many of whom have already risen in
+arms not many leagues from Santiago! Among other
+achievements, the rebellious party have cut the telegraph
+wires and intercepted the land mails.</p>
+
+<p>There are no railways in direct communication with
+Havana, and the postal service is effected by means of
+mounted carriers. Thus the speediest ways for conveying
+news to Havana are cut off, and there is no other resource
+but the tardy steamer. I accordingly return without delay
+to the 'Pájaro del Oceano,' which is to sail for Havana in
+three hours' time, and finding my good friend Don Fernandez
+on board, I secretly hand him my big budget of news,
+begging him by all the saints in the calendar to deliver the
+same into the hands of the Havana agent.</p>
+
+<p>I am afraid to think what effect this further delay will
+have upon the <i>New York Trigger</i>! Still it may be some
+consolation for the enterprising proprietor of that newspaper
+if he find that his contemporaries are suffering from the
+same complaint.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">A STATE OF SIEGE IN CUBA.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">A Cuban Newspaper Office&mdash;Local Intelligence&mdash;The Cuban Revolution&mdash;Spanish
+Volunteers&mdash;A Recruit&mdash;With Bimba&mdash;- 'Los Insurrectos'&mdash;At a
+Fire&mdash;Cuban Firemen.</p>
+
+
+<p>'We are in a state of siege!' says my friend, Don Javier,
+editor of a Cuban periodical called <i>El Sufragio Universâl</i>.</p>
+
+<p>'Y bien, amigo mio; how does the situation affect
+you?'</p>
+
+<p>'Malisísimamente!' returns Don Javier, offering me a
+seat at his editorial table. 'The maldito censor,' he
+whispers, 'has suppressed four columns of to-day's paper;
+and there remains little in the way of information, besides
+the feuilleton, some advertisements, and a long sonnet
+addressed to 'Lola' on the occasion of her saint's day, by
+an amorous Pollo-poet.</p>
+
+<p>The weather is sultry and oppressive. The huge doors
+and windows of <i>El Sufragio Universâl</i> office are thrown
+wide open. Everybody is dressed in a coat of white drill,
+a pair of white trousers, is without waistcoat, cravat, or
+shirt-collar, wears a broad-brimmed Panama, and smokes a
+long damp cigar.</p>
+
+<p>The sub-editor&mdash;a lean, coffee-coloured person, with inky
+sleeves&mdash;is seated at a separate table making up columns for
+to-morrow's 'tirada,' or impression. Before him is a pile of
+important news from Puerto Rico and San Domingo,
+besides a voluminous budget from that indefatigable correspondent,
+Mr. Archibald Cannie, of Jamaica. More than
+half of this interesting news has been already marked out
+by the censor's red pencil, and the bewildered sub looks
+high and low for material wherewith to replenish the
+censorial gaps. Small, half-naked negroes, begrimed with
+ink&mdash;veritable printer's devils&mdash;appear and crave for 'copy,'
+but in vain.</p>
+
+<p>'Give out the foreign blocks,' says the editor, in the tone
+of a commander.</p>
+
+<p>The foreign blocks are stereotyped columns, supplied by
+American quacks and other advertisers to every newspaper
+proprietor throughout the West Indies. On account of
+their extreme length and picturesque embellishments, these
+advertisements are used only in cases of emergency.</p>
+
+<p>While the foreign blocks are being dispensed, the
+'localista,' or general reporter, enters in breathless haste.
+He has brought several fragments of local information.
+Four runaway negroes have been captured by the police.
+Two English sailors have died of yellow fever in the Casa
+de Salud. A coolie has stabbed another coolie at the
+copper mines, and has escaped justice by leaping into an
+adjacent pit. A gigantic cayman, or shark, has been
+caught in the harbour. The localista has also some items
+of news about the Cuban insurrection. The rebels have increased
+in numbers. They have occupied all the districts
+which surround our town, destroyed the aqueduct, cut the
+telegraph wire, and intercepted the land mails to Havana.
+There is now no communication with the capital, save by
+sea. Troops have again been dispatched to the interior,
+but their efforts have proved ineffectual. Upon their
+appearance, the rebels vanish into the woods and thickets,
+and there exhaust the patience and the energy of the
+military.</p>
+
+<p>The sub-editor notes everything down, taking care to
+eschew that which is likely to prove offensive to the
+sensitive ears of the authorities. The material is then given
+out for printing purposes; for his worship the censor will
+read nothing until it has been previously set up in type.
+As many hours will elapse before the proof sheets are
+returned with censorial corrections, Don Javier proposes a
+saunter through the town.</p>
+
+<p>On the way, Don Javier entertains me with an account
+of the revolution.</p>
+
+<p>'The first grito de independencia,' says he, 'took place
+on October the tenth (1868), at La Demajagua&mdash;an ingenio,
+or sugar estate, belonging to Don Carlos Manuel Cespedes,
+a wealthy Cuban planter and a distinguished advocate. One
+hundred and forty-seven men, armed with forty-five fowling-pieces,
+four rifles and a few pistols and machetes, constituted
+the rebellious band which, under Señor Cespedes' leadership,
+had ventured to raise the standard of independence. Two
+days after, their numbers were increased to 4,000.</p>
+
+<p>'When our governor was first told that a party of Cubans
+had risen in open revolt, not many leagues from our town,
+he publicly proclaimed that the rebellious band consisted
+of a small crowd of "descamisados," or ragged vagrants, and
+runaway negroes, whom a dozen policemen could easily
+disperse. In spite of this pretended indifference, he nevertheless
+thought fit to communicate with the Captain-General
+of Havana. That mighty functionary thought
+more seriously of the outbreak; he was perfectly aware of
+the heavy taxes which had been imposed upon the inhabitants
+of our island; of the state of ruin into which many of
+our leading planters had been thrown by these taxes; and
+conscious also of the oppression and despotism which had
+been exercised over our colony during the reign of the
+lately dethroned Queen of Spain, he doubtless calculated
+that the revolutionary mania inaugurated in the Mother
+Country would naturally be imitated in the Loyal and Ever-faithful
+Isle. But whatever may have been his speculations,
+certain it is that as soon as he heard of the rebellious
+movement, he telegraphed to our governor, commanding
+him to dispatch to the scene of the outbreak as many
+troops as could be safely spared from the garrison at
+Santiago. Meanwhile, he himself dispatched a battalion
+of tried warriors from the capital.</p>
+
+<p>'Before our apathetic governor had had time to obey
+the orders of his chief, an encounter had already taken place
+at Yara, in the district of Manzanillo, between some of
+the rebels and a column of the Crown regiment who were
+quartered at the town of Bayamo.</p>
+
+<p>'Our governor was now alive to the gravity of the situation,
+and in due course began to take what he called "active
+measures." Following the example set by the governor of
+Manzanillo, he declared our town in a state of siege; and
+you will now have an opportunity of judging for yourself
+what a siege in Cuba is like.'</p>
+
+<p>The usual military precautions against assault on an
+unfortified place have been taken. The entrances to the
+streets have been barricaded with huge hogsheads containing
+sand and stones; small cannon stand in the plaza and
+principal thoroughfares. At every corner that we turn, we
+are accosted by a sentry, who challenges us three times
+over: 'Who goes there?' 'Spain.' 'What kind of
+people?' 'Inoffensive.' And so forth. The theatre, the
+bull-ring, the promenade, are all closed for the season. The
+masquerading and carnival amusements are at an end.
+Payments have been suspended, and provisions have become
+scarce and dear. The people whom we meet have
+grown low-spirited, and the sunny streets look gloomy
+and deserted. We glance in at the warehouses and manufactories,
+and find everybody within attired in military
+costume; for many of the inhabitants have enrolled themselves
+as volunteers for the pleasure of wearing a uniform
+at their own expense, and of sporting a rifle provided by the
+government. The names of those who object to play at
+soldiers have been noted down, and their proceedings are
+narrowly watched.</p>
+
+<p>The Plaza de Armas is crowded with volunteers; their
+uniform consists of a blue and white striped blouse, white
+drill trousers, and a Panama hat, to the band of which is
+attached a vermilion-coloured cockade embellished with
+silver lace. The majority of these amateur warriors are
+Catalan shopkeepers, and clerks from Spanish warehouses.</p>
+
+<p>Don Javier tells me that these gentlemen, together with
+the Havana volunteers, represent a very formidable army;
+and that in the event of affairs taking a more serious turn,
+the volunteers would take an active part in the hostilities.</p>
+
+<p>'The Catalan shopkeepers,' says Don Javier, 'are even
+more interested than Spain in preserving our colony under
+its present administration.'</p>
+
+<p>'Under a more just and humane government, together
+with the abolition of slavery, these traders would be considerable
+losers; for most of them are large slave-owners,
+and enjoy certain mercantile privileges, which would be
+denied them under a new policy.'</p>
+
+<p>I remind Don Javier that these said Catalans are after
+all Spaniards born, and that, whatever their private object
+may be, for patriotic reasons it seems only natural that
+they should desire to maintain order in the Spanish colony.</p>
+
+<p>'No muy! not a bit of it,' says my friend; 'they are not
+prompted by any feeling of patriotism. They have been
+too long estranged from their home at Barcelona, and love
+Cuba and her rich resources too much, to make that a consideration.
+I have heard them say that they would take
+up arms against their own government, rather than that
+Cuba should enjoy the privileges to which I have alluded.'</p>
+
+<p>While we are conversing, a couple of volunteers approach
+and salute us.</p>
+
+<p>One of them is my friend Bimba, who tells me that he
+has enlisted, partly for the 'fun' of wearing a uniform, and
+partly to ensure himself against arrest.</p>
+
+<p>'Well, Don Javier,' says he,'are you not one of us yet?
+And you too, Don Gualterio, surely you will help to protect
+our town?'</p>
+
+<p>I plead, as an excuse, my nationality.</p>
+
+<p>'Que caramba!' exclaims Bimba; 'why, your countryman,
+the clerk in B&mdash;&mdash; 's warehouse, is a volunteer; and so
+are the S&mdash;&mdash; 's from the German house in the Calle de la
+Marina.'</p>
+
+<p>Don Javier observes that our numerous duties prevent
+us from joining the corps.</p>
+
+<p>'Car! Que duties y duties?' says Bimba; 'business is
+slack with all of us now. You, Don Javier, will have an
+easy time of it, notwithstanding your trade of news-disseminator;
+for you know, only "official" accounts of the war
+are fit for publication in your paper! As for you, amigo
+Gualterio, there will be no more triumphal arches wanted
+for the present; and no more "monos" (portraits) of defunct
+people, till the revolution is over, and then I have no doubt
+there will be more than enough to occupy you and your
+partner Nicasio! The theatre, too, is closed until further
+notice, so there will be no more theatricals.'</p>
+
+<p>Leaving Don Javier to chat with the other volunteer, I
+withdraw with Bimba to a quiet corner of the square and
+converse with him in private.</p>
+
+<p>Bimba is one of the favoured few who is aware of my
+connection with an American newspaper, because, for
+obvious reasons, I have always been careful to preserve my
+incognito. Now, more than ever, it behoves me to adopt
+this precaution.</p>
+
+<p>As a blind to the authorities and in order to facilitate my
+journalistic operations, Bimba suggests that I should join
+the volunteers. He tells me that our governor has signified
+his intention to make another sally with the troops, and
+that he has invited some of the volunteers to accompany
+the expedition. Enrolled as a volunteer, my friend says
+that it will not be difficult to obtain permission to follow
+with others in the rear of the Spanish regulars, and that by
+so doing I shall be able to 'report progress.'</p>
+
+<p>Our mutual friend Tunicú has not yet enlisted, I find.</p>
+
+<p>'That gentleman is otherwise engaged,' says Bimba;
+'his leisure moments are occupied at the house of his uncle
+Don Benigno, in the enjoyment of the society of his little
+mulatto-lady, who is, as you know, Don Benigno's adopted
+daughter.'</p>
+
+<p>'What! the pretty Ermiña?' I exclaim; 'why, she is a
+mere child!'</p>
+
+<p>'She was a child five years ago, when you and your
+partner were the Don's guests,' says Bimba. 'Now Ermiña
+is a grown woman of fifteen tropical summers.'</p>
+
+<p>'There is some mystery connected with that young lady,'
+I observe; 'and I have never yet been able to fathom it.
+Can you enlighten me?'</p>
+
+<p>'Not much,' returns Bimba; 'I strongly suspect&mdash;but let
+us not talk scandal in these warlike times. I only know
+that Ermiña is a remarkably white mulatto of the octoroon
+class; that she has been educated like a lady; and that she
+is the bosom companion of Don Benigno's daughters.'</p>
+
+<p>My curiosity being aroused, I resolve to probe Tunicú
+on the subject of his affaire de c&oelig;ur, at our next meeting.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile I adopt friend Bimba's suggestion and enroll
+myself in his corps, and, with others, obtain permission to
+accompany the troops on their expedition.</p>
+
+<p>Some days, however, elapse before our feeble-minded
+governor can make up his mind to the sally. A couple of
+Spanish frigates lie at anchor in the harbour, in readiness to
+bombard the town if the rebels should effect an entrance
+and stir up the inhabitants, their countrymen, to revolt.
+The garrison has been considerably augmented by the
+arrival of fresh troops from Puerto Rico and Spain, who
+are quartered indiscriminately in the jail, the hospitals, and
+churches, to expire there by the score of yellow fever,
+vómito negro, and dysentery. Meanwhile the besiegers
+make no attempt at assault, but occasionally challenge the
+troops to sally from their stronghold by firing their sporting
+rifles within earshot of the town.</p>
+
+<p>Several foreign vessels of war are stationed in the bay
+ready, if necessary, to assist the foreign residents of the
+town. Among these vessels are the American war steamer
+'Penobscot' and H.B.M.'s steam-ship the 'Eclipse;' the latter
+having been summoned from Port Royal, Jamaica, by the
+English vice-consul of Santiago.</p>
+
+<p>One day a great panic is raised, with cries of' Los insurrectos!
+Los insurrectos!' followed by a charge of mounted
+military through the streets. It is reported that the insurgents
+are coming; so everybody hastens home, and much
+slamming of doors and barring of windows is heard. But
+the alarm proves a false one; and, with the exception of a
+few arrests made by the police, just to keep up appearances,
+no further damage results.</p>
+
+<p>One memorable night, shortly after the inhabitants have
+retired, the terrible cry of 'fire!' is heard throughout the
+town, and a report spreads that the insurgents have at last
+effected an entrance, and set fire to several houses.</p>
+
+<p>Sure enough, from the roof of our studio, Nicasio and I
+witness what, at our distance, seems to be the burning of
+Santiago de Cuba! The sky is black with smoke, and
+from the centre of the town broad flames mount high into
+the air. Verily, part of Santiago is in flames, but the cause
+of the conflagration is&mdash;as we afterwards find&mdash;in no way
+connected with the insurrection.</p>
+
+<p>A 'panaderia' (baker's shop) and a linen-draper's warehouse,
+called 'El Globo,' owned by Catalans, have both
+caught fire by accident. Under ordinary circumstances, the
+disaster would not have created any other alarm than that
+which usually accompanies such a rare event as a fire in
+Cuba. But having connected its origin with the pending
+revolution, the town is thrown into a state of extreme panic,
+and until the truth is made manifest, the greatest confusion
+prevails. Mounted guards and policemen&mdash;armed to the
+teeth&mdash;charge through the streets in all directions, and the
+volunteers turn out en masse and congregate in large numbers
+before the scene of the conflagration in the Plaza de
+Dolores.</p>
+
+<p>Even the foreign consuls share for the moment in the
+popular apprehension. Their national flags are seen to
+flutter over their respective consulates, and a few well-armed
+marines from the 'Penobscot' and 'Eclipse' war-steamers
+are despatched by the captains of these vessels for the protection
+of the American and English residents. Passing
+the British consulate on our way to the Plaza de Dolores,
+we observed a couple of British tars&mdash;their cutlasses
+shouldered and with revolvers in their belts&mdash;on guard at
+the open doors.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the black 'bomberos,' or firemen of the town,
+are at their work. But they are ill-provided with the
+machinery for extinguishing a great fire. Only one
+engine is available, and their water is supplied in buckets
+and by means of a long hose which communicates with the
+court-yard of an opposite house.</p>
+
+<p>The gallant captain of the British war-steamer offers to
+provide the firemen with an engine and men from his vessel;
+but the bomberos are able to dispense with this assistance,
+as their plan of operations consists chiefly in cutting off all
+communication with the fire, by destroying the surrounding
+houses.</p>
+
+<p>If any proof were wanting to show that the despised, but
+free and well-paid negro, is not devoid of ability and
+energy, these black and brown bomberos would surely
+provide ample testimony. A better conducted, better
+disciplined body of men than the coloured firemen of Cuba
+it has never been my fortune to meet anywhere. Steady,
+earnest of purpose, and perfectly free from excitement, they
+work like veritable negroes, and they prove as serviceable
+as the whitest of their bombero brethren.</p>
+
+<p>In less than four hours the safety of the surrounding
+habitations is ensured, and the fire, being now confined to
+the doomed buildings, is left to burn itself out.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">CUBAN WARFARE.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">Spanish Soldiers&mdash;A Sally&mdash;Prisoners of War&mdash;'Los Voluntarios'&mdash;A triumphant
+Return&mdash;Danger!&mdash;Cuban Emigrants.</p>
+
+
+<p>Our vacillating governor having at last consented to
+another chase after the rebels, under the leadership of a
+certain Spanish colonel, a body of volunteers&mdash;myself
+among the number&mdash;join the troops on the appointed day
+and march with them from town.</p>
+
+<p>The Spanish troops muster some five hundred strong.
+Their hand weapons are of the old-fashioned calibre, and
+they carry small field guns on the backs of mules. Every
+man is smoking either a cigarette or a cigar as he tramps
+along. His uniform is of dark blue cotton, or other light
+material suitable to the tropical heat. He carries little else
+besides his gun, his tobacco, and a tin-pot for making
+coffee; for the country through which he is passing abounds
+naturally in nearly every kind of provender.</p>
+
+<p>The besiegers have altogether disappeared from the
+neighbouring country, and for the first few miles our march
+is easy and uninterrupted. But soon the passes grow
+narrower, until our progress is effected in single file.
+Occasionally we halt to refresh ourselves, for the weather
+is intensely hot, and the sun blazes upon our backs. To
+ensure ourselves against brain fever, we gather a few cool
+plantain leaves and place them in layers in the crowns of
+our Panamas. Our way is incessantly intercepted by
+fallen trees and brushwood; but we can see nothing of the
+enemy, and hear little besides the singing of birds and the
+ripple of hidden water. Many of our party would gladly
+abandon the quest after human game, and make use of
+their weapons in a hunt after wild pig, or small deer, which
+animals abound in this part of the country.</p>
+
+<p>'Alto!' We have waded at last through the intricate
+forest, and halt in an open plain. It is evening, and as we
+are weary with our wanderings, we encamp here all night.
+A moon is shining bright enough for us to read the smallest
+print; but we are disinclined to be studious, and smoke
+our cigarettes and sip our hot coffee. Men are dispatched
+to a neighbouring plantation in quest of bananas, pumpkins,
+Indian corn, sugar-cane, pine-apples, pomegranates, cocoa-nuts,
+and mangoes, and with this princely fare we take our
+suppers. Then sleep overtakes us.</p>
+
+<p>Early next morning we are called to arms by the sound
+of firing, which seems to reach us from a hill in the distance.
+The noise is as if a thousand sportsmen were out
+for a battue. Our commander assures us that the enemy
+is near at hand, and soon crowds of mounted men appear
+on the hill before us. With the aid of our field-glasses, we
+watch their movements, and can distinguish their dresses
+of white canvas, their sporting guns, and primitive spears.
+A body of them surrounds a thatched hut, over the roof of
+which droops a white banner with a strange device, consisting
+of a silver star on a square of republican red. The
+enemy appears to be very numerous, and as he marches
+along the ridge of the hill, his line seems interminable. All
+our opponents are mounted on horses, or mules with strange
+saddles and equipments.</p>
+
+<p>'Adelante!' We advance to meet the foe. Some hours
+elapse before we can reach the thatched hut, as our course
+is exceedingly circuitous. We find the hut occupied by a
+decrepit, half-naked negro, but our birds have flown. The
+negro, who tells us he is a hermit, and that his name is San
+Benito, can give us no information as to the whereabouts
+of the enemy, so we make him a prisoner of war. The
+opposing forces have left nothing but their patriotic banner
+behind them. This trophy our commander possesses himself
+of, and bears off in triumph. Then we scour the
+country in companies of fifty; but we meet with nothing
+more formidable, than a barricade of felled trees and piled
+stones. Once we capture a strange weapon, made out of
+the trunk of a very hard tree, scooped and trimmed into
+the form of a cannon, and bound with strong iron hoops.
+Upon another occasion we discharge our rifles into a thicket
+whence sounds of firing proceed, and we make two more
+prisoners of war, in the shape of a couple of runaway
+negroes.</p>
+
+<p>Though we have had no encounter with the enemy, our
+'losses' are not inconsiderable; many of the soldiers having
+been attacked by those terrible and invincible foes&mdash;fever
+and dysentery. In this manner at least two-thirds of our
+force is put <i>hors de combat</i>. Our colonel is in despair.
+As for the volunteers, their disappointment at the unsuccessful
+issue is very great.</p>
+
+<p>At length our colonel, disgusted with the result of the
+campaign, orders a retreat. The troops willingly obey,
+and are preparing for their march back, when twenty of the
+volunteers come to the front and propose making one effort
+to storm the enemy's impregnable fortress. Finding our
+colonel opposed to such a wild enterprise, these gentlemen,
+reckless of the consequences, plunge headlong into an adjacent
+thicket, and thence presently the sound of fire-arms proceeds.
+For upwards of an hour we await the return of these mad
+adventurers, and during the interval the firing is incessant.
+Finally the 'besiegers' are seen to emerge from a distant
+part of the thicket. When we join them, we find that more
+than half their number are wounded, and the rest bear
+between them no less than three prisoners of war! For the
+first time I have the pleasure of standing before veritable
+rebels! Two of the prisoners are whites and are seriously
+maimed; the third is a mulatto youth of not more than
+sixteen years. They are all attired in brown holland
+blouses, white trousers, buff-coloured shoes and straw hats.
+The white men have been disarmed, but the mulatto lad
+has still a revolver and machete-sword in his belt.</p>
+
+<p>The volunteers are elated beyond measure by their
+formidable(?) captures, and endeavour to persuade their
+chief to make another attempt with the troops. But the
+colonel will not hear of it, and commands the men instantly
+to retreat. The volunteers obey this time, in spite of their
+protestations, but before doing so, a horrible scene is enacted.</p>
+
+<p>The mulatto lad, who is only slightly wounded, is bound
+hand and foot with strong cords, and consigned to the care
+of the soldiers, but the other two unfortunates, who lie
+groaning in agony on the ground, are brutally seized by
+some of the volunteers, who, after maltreating them in a
+shocking manner, stab them to death with the points of
+their bayonets!</p>
+
+<p>Sickening at the fearful spectacle, I gladly follow the
+colonel and his men, who are unanimous in their indignation
+at the outrage.</p>
+
+<p>A two days' march brings us to the confines of the town
+again; but before we proceed to enter, the governor, accompanied
+by a staff of officers and a band of music, comes
+out to meet us. A cart, driven by oxen, is procured, and
+upon it are placed the captured cannon and rebel banner,
+the former of which is as much as possible concealed by
+Spanish flags and flowers. A procession is then formed,
+and in this way we pass through the streets, followed by the
+military band, which plays a hymn of victory in commemoration
+of our triumphant return. The houses become
+suddenly decorated with banners, blankets, and pieces of
+drugget suspended from the windows, and the inhabitants
+welcome us with loud cheers and 'vivas.'</p>
+
+<p>Immediately upon quitting the ranks, I repair to the
+office of <i>El Sufragio Universál</i>, for the purpose of reporting
+to Don Javier the result of our expedition. Strange to
+relate, that gentleman has already perused a glowing account
+of our glorious campaign in <i>El Redactor</i>, the government
+organ in Cuba. The editor hands me a copy of that
+periodical, and there, sure enough, is a thrilling description
+of what we might have achieved, if we had had the good
+fortune to encounter the enemy in the open field!</p>
+
+<p>But the editor has some strange news for my private ear.
+He tells me that a fillibustering expedition from the United
+States has landed with arms, ammunition, and a thousand
+American fillibusters, in the Bay of Nipe, not many leagues
+from our town. With this reinforcement it is confidently
+expected that the rebels will make an attempt to attack
+the Spanish troops in their stronghold. Don Javier, who is
+a Cuban to the bone, is sanguine of his countrymen's success.
+With a few more such expeditions, he is sure that the
+colony will soon be rid of its Spanish rulers. Then the
+editor gives me some extraordinary information about
+myself. It appears that during my absence, <i>El Redactor</i>
+has made the wonderful discovery that I am one of the
+agents of an American newspaper; has referred in its leading
+articles to the 'scandalous and untruthful reports' published
+by its American contemporary, and has insinuated
+that henceforth the climate of Cuba will be found by many
+degrees too warm for me.</p>
+
+<p>But this is not the worst news which the Cuban editor
+has to impart. The cholera, he says, has been raging in
+many parts of the town, and innumerable families have in
+consequence of this disaster and the continued arrests, fled
+from Santiago. The majority of them had embarked in the
+first steamer announced to leave the island, which happened
+to be the 'Caravelle,' bound for Jamaica; others had taken
+refuge at their estates in the country, while numbers of
+young Cubans, who had been threatened with arrest, had
+made their escape and joined the insurgent army.</p>
+
+<p>On my way from Don Javier's office, I meet Bimba, and
+from him I learn further particulars respecting this wholesale
+flight of Cubans. He tells me that, among the departures
+are Don Benigno and his family, who fled to his
+country estate. That Don Severiano and <i>his</i> family have
+set sail for Europe, taking with them my creole lady-love,
+who had been for this purpose released from the convent.
+My friend says that their destination is Paris. So au
+revoir, Cachita mia; we may meet again! Quien sabe?</p>
+
+<p>Bimba then discloses the wonderful intelligence, that
+among the passengers by the French steamer bound for
+Jamaica was my companion Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldú;
+and he hands me a letter which my partner had entrusted
+to his care. The contents of this document only confirms
+what I have already heard. The cholera, the recent arrests,
+the fact that Nicasio is the close friend of the formidable
+agent of the <i>New York Trigger</i>, have combined to induce
+him to abandon the island before my return. He urges
+me to follow his example without delay and embark in the
+first steamer which leaves the island. He himself will remain
+in Jamaica till he hears from me, and if I am unable to join
+him there, we shall&mdash;si Dios quiere&mdash;meet again in that part
+of Europe where for many years we have dwelt together
+and practised, under more favourable auspices, 'the divine
+art of Apelles.'</p>
+
+<p>The first steamer announced to leave Santiago is the
+'Pelayo,' and as this vessel will sail for Havana in four hours'
+time, I prepare for my journey to the Cuban capital. Bimba
+and those of my friends who still remain in this disturbed
+part of the Ever-faithful Isle, accompany me on board.
+Foremost is the editor of <i>El Sufragio Universál</i>, who, after
+wishing me a 'bon voyage' and a hearty 'vaya usted con
+Dios,' secretly hands me a bundle of papers, containing,
+among other matters, the 'leavings' of the censor for the
+past fortnight, which Don Javier hopes will be acceptable to
+the proprietors of the <i>New York Trigger</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I had almost forgotten Tunicú! 'What has become of
+him?' I ask.</p>
+
+<p>Bimba tells me that Tunicú has disappeared no one
+knows whither.</p>
+
+<p>'Eloped with his mulatto lady?' I suggest.</p>
+
+<p>'No muy!' says Bimba; 'la Ermiña accompanied Don
+Benigno to his estate. You will probably hear of them
+again.'</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">HAVANA CIGARETTES.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">Cigars&mdash;The Etiquette of Smoking&mdash;A Cigarette Manufactory&mdash;The Courteous
+Proprietor&mdash;The Visitors' Book&mdash;Cigarette Rolling.</p>
+
+
+<p>That the characteristics of Cuba, and the ways of the
+people, are better observed in the Santiago end of the island
+than they are in Havana, is apparent to me after my
+arrival in the latter city. Here I am reminded in many
+respects of a fashionable European town&mdash;indeed, by reason
+of its modern innovations, the Cuban capital has been
+styled the 'Paris of the tropics.' Compared with Santiago,
+Havana offers few attractions to the traveller in quest of
+'Cosas de Cuba,' besides its tobacco; and to this subject I
+accordingly devote my attention.</p>
+
+<p>I am in the Louvre. Not the French palace of that name,
+but a fashionable café in the heart of Havana. The
+interior of the Café del Louvre is tastefully decorated; the
+walls are concealed behind huge mirrors, the floor is of
+marble, and countless tables crowded with Habaneros and
+foreigners from all parts of Las Americas, are distributed
+about the saloon. At one end is a long 'mostrador' or
+counter, where fancy chocolate, confectionary, and tobacco in
+all its branches are sold. Here you have your pick of
+brands, from the gigantic and costly Ramas cigar to
+the 'tamaño pequeño' cigarette. But do not suppose
+that because you are at the birthplace of your choice
+Havanas, you will get those articles at a cost comparatively
+next to nothing. I, who from infancy upwards
+have cherished this fiction, am lamentably disappointed
+when I discover what exorbitant prices are demanded for
+the best brands. The cedar boxes, with their precious
+contents, set like gems in the midst of tinfoil and fancy-cut
+paper, look inviting; but I seek in vain for a cigar at
+the ridiculously cheap rate I have prepared myself to pay.
+I try Brevas, and ask for a penn'orth of the best, but am
+horrified when I am told that a single specimen of that
+brand costs five-pence! The Intimidads alarm me; the
+Bravas unman me; and as for the Cabañas, the Partagas,
+the Henry Clays, and the Upmanns, I am filled with awe
+at the bare mention of their value per pound. A real
+Ramas, I am informed, is worth eighteen-pence English,
+while superior Upmanns are not to be had under ten
+sovereigns a hundred. In despair of finding anything
+within my means at the Louvre counter, I purchase a
+'medio's' worth of cigarettes&mdash;a medio, or two-pence half-penny
+being the smallest coin current in Cuba&mdash;order
+a cup of café noir, and sally forth in quest of cheaper
+smokeables.</p>
+
+<p>Crossing the square where the Tacon theatre and circus
+stand, I wander through the narrow, ill-paved streets of
+the Cuban capital. At the corner of every hotel, under
+archways and arcades, I meet with tables laid out like fruit-stalls,
+bearing bundles of cigars and cigarettes. Here, at
+least, I expect to find something to smoke at a fabulously
+low rate. Yes; here are cigars at two, three, and five for a
+silver two-pence; but those I invest in do not satisfy me;
+they are damp, new, badly rolled, won't draw, and have all
+kinds of odd shapes. Some are curved like Turkish
+scimetars, others are square and flat, as if they had been
+mangled or sat upon, while a few are undecided in form
+like horse-radish. The vendor assures me that all his cigars
+are born of 'tabaco legitimo,' of 'calidad superior,' grown on
+the low sandy soil of the famous Vuelta Abajo district; but I
+know what a very small area that tract of land comprises,
+and I will no more believe in the abundance of its resources
+than I will in those of Champagne and Oporto.</p>
+
+<p>In my peregrinations, I gaze fondly into the interior of
+wholesale cigar warehouses, but dare not enter and demand
+the price of half of one of those countless cedar-boxes, which
+I see piled up to the very ceiling in walls fifty boxes thick.
+At last I founder on the Plaza de Santa Isabel, a spacious
+square, laid out with pretty gardens and tropical trees.
+Here is the grand hotel where the Special Correspondent
+to the <i>New York Trigger</i> wields his mighty pen. To
+him and to other acquaintances I apply for information on
+the subject of tobacco. My foreign friends assure me you
+cannot get a good cigar in Havana at any price, as all the
+best are exported to Europe and the United States; unless
+you prefer German tobacco, of which great quantities are
+imported into Havana. The natives have quite a different
+account to give. They declare that the best cigars never
+leave the country but are easily obtained if you know where
+to seek them; and they refer me to the warehouses. Every
+one whom I consult graciously offers me a few specimens
+from his own particular cigar-case; and as in Cuba it is
+considered an offence to refuse a man's tobacco, I am soon
+in possession of a goodly stock, which I calculate will last
+me for the next eight and forty hours at least.</p>
+
+<p>A singular etiquette is observed all over Cuba with
+respect to smoking, which a rough Britisher does not
+always appreciate. An utter stranger is at liberty to stop
+you in the middle of the street to beg the favour of your
+'candela,' or light from your cigar. If you are polite, you
+will immediately hand him your weed, with the ashes
+carefully shaken off, and the lighted end conveniently
+pointed in his direction. Part of your fire having been
+successfully transferred to his cigar, the stranger is bound
+to return your property, presenting it, by a dexterous turn
+of the wrist, with the mouth end towards you; an operation
+which requires no little practice, as it is accompanied
+with a downward jerk to express deep obligation. If, after
+this, you are inclined to abandon your cigar for a fresh one,
+you may not do so in the stranger's presence, but wait till
+he has disappeared. There is a sort of smoking freemasonry,
+too, between Cubans all over the world. A
+Cuban recognises a compatriot anywhere, by the manner
+in which he screws up his cigarette, holds it, and offers or
+accepts a light.</p>
+
+<p>Advised by a friend who is a great smoker, I give up
+my cigar investigations, and devote my attention to the
+humbler cigarette. With this object in view, I ramble
+down the narrow 'calles' or streets of St. Ignacio, del
+Obispo, and de Cuba. At every twelfth house which I
+pass is a small shop where only the article I seek is sold.
+In the first-mentioned calle is the 'deposito' of the far-famed
+Cabañas cigarette; in the second, the Gallito and
+Honradez stores. I visit the latter, which holds the highest
+reputation, and take an inventory of the stock. I am
+shown an endless variety of cigarettes at comparatively
+insignificant prices; a packet of twenty-six of those mostly
+in vogue costing only a silver medio, or two-pence half-penny
+English. There are innumerable sizes, from the
+smallest named Acacias, to the biggest, or tamaño mayor,
+called Grandifloras. The floor of the shop is sanded with
+burnt cigarette ends, looking like exhausted cartridges,
+and the pavement without is peppered with their fragments.
+Every man or responsible child whom I pass
+has a little tube of smoking paper between his lips, and
+glancing in at an open restaurant, I observe a group of
+feeders, each of whom has a cigarette stuck behind his ear
+like a pen.</p>
+
+<p>At last I pause before the imposing factory of Louis
+Susini and Son, situated in a little plaza in the Calle de
+Cuba. It is here that the best cigarettes, popularly known
+as Honradez, are manufactured. The exterior of the
+building, with its marble columns reminding one of a
+Genoese palace, is worthy of attention. Above the grand
+entrance is the Honradez figure of Justice, bearing the
+famous motto: 'Los hechos me justificarán' (my deeds
+will justify me). But there is much to be seen within; and
+as a party of half a dozen ladies and gentlemen are about
+to enter, I join them and unite with them in begging permission
+of the proprietor to inspect the works. One of
+the firm soon appears, and after a polite greeting, kindly
+appoints an assistant to show us over the manufactory.
+We are told that everything in connection with cigarette
+making, except the actual growing of the tobacco, takes
+place within these extensive premises, and are forewarned
+that a long afternoon is necessary to see everything to our
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>Before we begin, we are politely requested to affix our
+signatures in a ledger provided for visitors to the establishment;
+and having obeyed, copies of our autographs are
+made on slips of paper, and, by a mechanical contrivance
+in the wall, these are dispatched for some mysterious
+purpose to the regions above. At the suggestion of the
+cicerone, we follow our names; not by the same means,
+however, but by winding staircases and intricate passages.
+Before starting, we peep into the engine-room to glance at
+the steam power which works the machinery required in
+the different departments. The first ascent brings us to
+spacious store-rooms, where loose cigarettes, and those
+already packed in bundles, are kept. The walls are
+literally papered with cigarettes in wheels, which look like
+complicated fireworks. As we move from one wheel to
+another, we are invited to help ourselves to, and test, the
+different qualities, which some of us accordingly do in
+wine-tasting fashion; taking a couple of whiffs from each
+sample and flinging the rest in the dust. Further on, we
+come to a small apartment where the operation of sorting
+the labels for enveloping each packet of twenty cigarettes,
+takes place. The labels are fresh from the printers; a
+workman is standing before a round movable table, and as
+this revolves, he drops them into little boxes belonging to
+their respective patterns. Each label is stamped with the
+Honradez figure of Justice, accompanied either by a
+charade, a comic verse, a piece of dance music on a small
+scale, an illuminated coat of arms, or a monogram pattern
+for Berlin wool-work. Some are adorned with artistic
+designs of a superior order, such as coloured landscapes,
+groups of figures, or photographs of eminent persons.</p>
+
+<p>Another ascent, and we are in the stationery department.
+It seems odd to examine large sheets and thick reams of
+paper, which we have been accustomed to see only in the
+form of cigarette books or tubes of small dimensions. A
+wonderful variety of rice and other paper is before us.
+There are two or three qualities of white, and endless
+shades of brown and yellow. Some are lightly tinted as
+the complexion of a half-caste; others are quadroon-hued,
+or of a yellow-brown mulatto-colour. We are shown
+medicated and scented papers. The first of these, called
+pectoral paper, is recommended by the faculty to persons
+with weak chests; the last, when ignited, gives out an
+agreeable perfume.</p>
+
+<p>Yet another floor, and we are introduced into a long
+chamber with rows of long tables, at which a hundred
+Chinese workmen are engaged in counting the already
+twisted cigarettes into bundles of twenty-six, and enveloping
+them in their ornamental labels or covers. To
+accomplish this operation with necessary speed, much
+practice and dexterity in the handling is required.
+The coolies&mdash;a thousand of whom are employed on the
+establishment&mdash;are, however, great adepts at the art,
+and patient and plodding as beasts of burthen. But
+among the celestials there is one master-hand who distinguishes
+himself above all the others by his superior skill.
+Piles of loose cigarettes and gummed labels are before
+him. Into the former he digs his dexterous fingers, and
+he knows by the feel alone whether he has the prescribed
+twenty-six within his grasp. By a peculiar shake he
+humours the handful into its tubular form, and with
+another movement wraps it lightly in a paper cover, which
+he leaves open at one end and neatly tucks in at the other.
+He is so rapid in his work, that we can scarcely follow him
+with our eyes, and the whole performance, from beginning
+to end, looks to us like a conjuring trick. Our guide tells
+us how many thousands of packets per day are in this way
+completed by these useful coolies.</p>
+
+<p>'Arriba!' Another flight leads to the 'picadura' department,
+where tobacco leaves are prepared for cigarette
+making. The aspect on all sides reminds us of a room in a
+Manchester factory. We wade carefully through a maze of
+busy machinery. There are huge contrivances for pressing
+tobacco into solid cakes hard as brickbats; ingenious
+apparatus for chopping these cakes into various sized grains
+of 'picadura' or tobacco cuttings; horizontal and vertical
+tramways for forwarding the latter to their respective compartments.
+Near us is a winnowing chamber for separating
+particles of dust from the newly cut picadura. We
+enter by a spring door which closes after us with a bang,
+and everybody is immediately seized with a violent fit of
+sneezing. Particles of escaping tobacco dust float in the
+air and tickle our olfactories. We are actually standing
+within a huge snuff-box! After inhaling a wholesale
+pinch of this powder, which leaves us sneezing for the next
+quarter of an hour, we clamber to the heights of the
+establishment, and find ourselves in the printing and paper
+cutting departments. Here artists are engaged in preparing
+lithographic stones and wood blocks with various
+picturesque designs for cigarette labels. Gilders are
+illuminating labels, and cutters are shaping paper into
+their cigarette and label sizes. Further on are printing
+offices, where all the letterpress and lithography required in
+the establishment is accomplished. This is far from an
+insignificant item in the manufactory, for, besides the
+pictorial and letterpress covers, there are the Honradez
+advertisements to print; circulars, pamphlets, together
+with dedicatory dance music, and an occasional local
+newspaper. We linger lovingly about this interesting
+department, and, before we leave, the foreman of the
+printing office presents each lady member of our party with
+a piece of Cuban dance music, upon the cover of which is
+printed a few words of dedication, accompanied by the
+lady's own name in full. Whilst wondering at the magic
+by which this mark of attention has been quietly accomplished,
+we descend to the ground floor, and are again met
+by the courteous proprietor, who presents each gentleman
+visitor with a newly-made packet of cigarettes upon which,
+lo! and behold! are our names. It is pleasing to see one's
+name in print, and when it is witnessed on an ordinary
+Havana cigarette packet, the charm is greatly augmented.</p>
+
+<p>Before taking leave of our civil host, we are invited to
+comment upon what we have seen, in the visitors' book, and
+you may be sure that our observations are not unfavourable
+to the courteous proprietor and his interesting exhibition.
+Susini &amp; Son have published a thick pamphlet containing
+a list of names and remarks of distinguished visitors to his
+establishment. It is a curious work in its way, for the
+epigrammatic effusions are varied, amusing, and composed
+in at least half a dozen languages. Some of the authors
+have chosen a poetic style of commentary, while others
+content themselves with matter-of-fact prose. A well-known
+signature is here and there recognisable among
+these cosmopolitan productions. A famous Italian opera
+star has rhymed in her native lingo; a popular French
+acrobat&mdash;possibly one of a company of strolling equestrians&mdash;has
+immortalised himself in Parisian heroics. M. Pianatowsky,
+the Polish fiddler, has scrawled something incomprehensible
+in Russian or Arabic&mdash;no matter which; while
+Mein Herr Van Trinkenfeld comes out strong in double
+Dutch. Need I add that the immortal Smith of London
+is in great force in the book, or that his Queen's English is
+worthy of his world-wide reputation?</p>
+
+<p>We are in the act of quitting the Honradez establishment,
+when it suddenly occurs to one of us that, after all
+that has been said and seen, we have failed to watch a
+cigarette in actual process of manufacture. What! have we
+presided at a performance of 'Hamlet' with the hero
+omitted; or are the component parts of cigarettes planted
+in the ground to sprout out ready-made like radishes?</p>
+
+<p>I return and ask for information on this subject.</p>
+
+<p>'Perdonen, ustedes,' says our hospitable friend, 'I had
+forgotten to tell you that our cigarrillos are rolled by the
+presidiarios.'</p>
+
+<p>What's a 'presidiario'? A 'presidiario' is a convict, and
+convicts in Cuba are sentenced to eternal cigarette-making
+in lieu of oakum-picking. The government contract with
+the manufacturers for this purpose, and&mdash;voilà tout!</p>
+
+<p>Anxious to 'sit out' the whole cigarette performance to
+the very last act, I ask and obtain permission to visit the
+town jail. In one of the stone apartments of this well-regulated
+building are groups of convicts dressed in white
+blouses and loose trousers of coarse canvas. Amongst
+them are Africans, Congos, mulattoes of many shades,
+Chinese&mdash;Chow-chows as they are called&mdash;and sun-burnt
+whites, who are principally insubordinate Spanish soldiers
+and sailors. Each has a heavy chain dangling from his
+waist and attached to his ankle, wears a broad-brimmed
+straw hat of his own manufacture, and incessantly smokes.
+Before him is a wooden box filled with picadura and small
+squares of tissue paper. Great nicety is required to roll
+a cigarette after the approved fashion; the strength or
+mildness of the tobacco being in a great measure influenced
+by the way the grains are more or less compressed. A
+smoker of course finds a tightly-twisted cigarette more
+difficult to draw than a loosely twisted one.</p>
+
+<p>The presidiario does not seem to object to his hard
+labour, but doubtless prefers it to other kinds of perpetual
+rolling on a wheel. He employs no sticky element to
+secure the edges of his cigarette, but tucks the ends neatly
+in, by means of a pointed thimble which he wears on his
+forefinger.</p>
+
+<p>Ponder well over this, ye Havana cigarette smokers! and
+when next you indulge in a whiff from your favourite
+luxury, remember that a pickpocket has had his hand on
+your picadura!</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">A MULATTO GIRL.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">An Obscure Birth&mdash;Bondage&mdash;A Bad Master&mdash;A Good God-Father&mdash;A
+Cuban Christening&mdash;Anomaly of Slavery&mdash;A White Lover&mdash;Rivals&mdash;An
+Important Event.</p>
+
+
+<p>My contemplated departure for New York is for many
+days postponed by the unexpected meeting with Don
+Benigno's family, who, under extraordinary circumstances
+presently to be related, have recently arrived in the
+Havana.</p>
+
+<p>My old friends are also bound for the great American
+city; but at present they are full of preparations for
+the approaching marriage between Don Benigno's eldest
+daughter, Paquita and the young Spanish officer, Don
+Manuel. The latter has lately received a military appointment
+in the Cuban capital, and as he contemplates residing
+there with his future bride, Don Benigno is anxious that
+the wedding shall take place with as little delay as possible.</p>
+
+<p>Before that event, and before Don Benigno and the
+rest of his family leave with me for New York, I am
+made acquainted with the fact, that another marriage will
+be shortly celebrated in the Don's family, and that the
+betrothed lady is no other than Don Benigno's adopted
+daughter, the fair Ermiña!</p>
+
+<p>Don Benigno tells me that for certain reasons this
+wedding will not take place in the Ever-faithful Isle.
+What those reasons are, and how my curiosity respecting
+the past of the pretty mulatto girl is at last gratified,
+will appear in the following brief narrative, which, as the
+matter contained in it was chiefly derived from the young
+lady herself, I propose to repeat as nearly as possible in her
+own words.</p>
+
+
+<p class="top5">I was bought and paid for before I was born.</p>
+
+<p>My own mother bargained for, and finally secured me,
+for the sum of twenty-five dollars. A kind of speculative
+interest was attached to my nativity. Had my sale not
+been effected previous to my appearance in the world, I
+should have become the property of my mother's master,
+who, in accordance with the laws of serfdom, might then
+dispose of me, if he pleased, at a rate far exceeding my
+mother's slender savings; and, if nature had destined me
+for a healthy boy instead of a girl, my value would have
+been still greater.</p>
+
+<p>My mother was a slave belonging to a wealthy coffee-planter.
+Of my father I know little, save that he was
+a white man, and that being a professed gambler and
+deeply in debt, he disappeared from Cuba shortly before
+I was ushered into the world. His flight concerned
+no one more than my mother, for he had promised to
+purchase her liberty for a thousand dollars, which was the
+price demanded by her owner.</p>
+
+<p>There was no world to censure my parent for the trouble
+she had brought upon herself, because, in a slave-country,
+little importance is attached to such a common occurrence
+as the birth of a mulatto. My mother's master would have
+exhibited a similar indifference, if, indeed, he would not
+have rejoiced at the event&mdash;for it added a few dollars to
+his exchequer&mdash;were it not for the fact that Don Vicente
+had a secret motive for great displeasure. His slave was
+a mulatto, belonging to the fair class known as quadroons.
+My mother was a comely specimen of her race, and Don
+Vicente, being well aware of this, had his own reasons for
+qualifying her conduct as an act of disobedience. This
+act he determined should receive punishment, and accordingly,
+when his human property was convalescent, she was
+removed, with her infant, to one of Don Vicente's estates,
+and there cruelly flogged!</p>
+
+<p>You may be sure that this severe treatment did not
+increase my mother's affection for Don Vicente, and, in
+spite of his dreadful threat to employ his slave as a common
+coffee-picker&mdash;which, for a mulatto, accustomed to the
+luxuries of town life, is worse than sending her to the
+galleys&mdash;my mother remained true to herself.</p>
+
+<p>Finding menaces of no avail, and afraid of disturbing his
+domestic tranquillity, Don Vicente abandoned his purpose
+and advertised his human property for hire at so much per
+month. In its way, this was a sore trial for my dear
+parent, for although she heartily loathed her master, she
+was greatly attached to his family, at whose hands she
+had known only kindness and humanity. Her new master
+might prove to be as bad as, or even worse than, her
+owner, and such a prospect was far from pleasant. She
+was, however, agreeably disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>Don Benigno responded to the advertisement, and would
+have purchased my mother outright, but the times were
+critical, and the worthy gentleman could not afford the
+exorbitant price demanded for her. He, however, agreed
+to hire my parent, who was forthwith removed, with her
+free-born child, to her new habitation.</p>
+
+<p>Don Benigno was of course the kindest of masters; in
+proof of which, his first act, after procuring my mother's
+temporary release, was to interest himself in her child's
+baptism. For this purpose, he ordered that every formality
+connected with this ceremony should be rigidly
+observed. He himself officiated as godfather, and, in
+accordance with custom, invited my mother's relatives and
+friends to be present at the festivities, which were to be
+held at a small farm on one of his estates. As is usual
+on such occasions, my generous godfather sent a 'baptismal
+token' to every guest. The nearest relatives received
+an 'escudo de oro,' or two-dollar piece. The next of kin
+were presented with pesetas, while the friends were
+favoured with silver medios. Each token was pierced
+with a 'lucky' hole, to which was attached a piece of
+coloured ribbon, with my name and the date of my birth
+printed in gold letters on either side. The ceremony of
+christening being over, Don Benigno gave a grand banquet
+and a ball, at his farm-house, to which all the farmers and
+white country people in the neighbourhood were invited.</p>
+
+<p>My kind godfather was in the habit of investing a
+'doblón' of four dollars every month in the Havana lottery;
+and he promised that if he should succeed in drawing a
+prize, he would devote part of the amount to the purchase
+of my mother. But no such good fortune ever happened
+to the worthy gentleman, although, upon more than one
+occasion, he expended a whole 'onza' in tickets.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing worthy of note transpired during the early
+years of my childhood. My health was all that could be
+desired after my teething&mdash;an operation whose successful
+issue, it was confidently believed, was due to the bone necklace
+which I wore from my birth, and which the good
+people of my country consider acts as a charm against the
+evils imminent to infancy.</p>
+
+<p>Don Benigno's children&mdash;who were somewhat older than
+myself&mdash;were my closest companions. We were, indeed,
+more like sisters together, than young mistresses and maid.
+As for my dear godfather and Doña Mercedes&mdash;they
+treated me as a pet child.</p>
+
+<p>Before I had turned fourteen, I was already a grown
+woman, and, as far as outward appearance, as white as it is
+possible for my caste to be. With the exception of my
+lips, which are, as you observe, somewhat <i>prononcé</i>, and
+the whites of my eyes, which are slightly tinged with yellow,
+there is no perceptible difference between me and those
+creoles whose origin is less doubtful than my own.</p>
+
+<p>Despite, however, my personal attractions, I was fully
+conscious of the nice distinction between white and white
+about which the people of my country are so jealously exacting;
+and my dark origin always formed a barrier between
+me and my thoroughbred sisters. Whenever Don Benigno,
+or his family, addressed me as 'Mulatica,' 'Chinita,' or
+'Negrita,' I sometimes thought of the literal meaning of
+those endearing epithets!</p>
+
+<p>Tunicú, as you know, was always a frequent visitor at
+Don Benigno's tertulia, but at the period to which I now
+refer, he used to pass some hours with us during the daytime.
+I think Tunicú always admired me more than he
+did Don Benigno's daughters, and now that I was a grown
+woman, he often gave expression to his sentiments. I was
+by no means insensible to Tunicú's attentions, for he was a
+handsome young gentleman, with a dark brown moustache
+and imperial to match. His complexion, too, was several
+shades darker than my own, though this, of course, did not
+detract from the purity of his descent, which was apparent
+in the clear white of his eyeballs, the transparent pink of
+his finger nails, and other signs peculiar to offspring of white
+parents.</p>
+
+<p>Our admiration for one another gradually developed
+itself into something more serious, until one day Tunicú
+gave me to understand that he loved me truly. I think he
+was sincere, at least I chose to believe so, and, besides, he
+gave daily proof of his preference for me to the whitest
+ladies of his acquaintance.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding this, the wide gulf of origin which
+existed between Tunicú and me could not be concealed,
+and was continually made manifest. My white lover was
+passionately fond of dancing, and frequently attended at
+the balls given at the Philharmonic, where I dared not be
+seen, save in the capacity of spectator. Crowds of coloured
+people were permitted, like myself, to watch the dancing
+from a distance, but none were allowed to trespass upon
+the hallowed threshold. The same stern rule separated
+me and my lover at the Retreta in the public square. I
+might stand, with others of my class, on the broad terrace
+of the cathedral and watch the promenaders, or listen to the
+military band; but I dared not be seen with the unsullied
+gentlefolks below. Occasionally, Tunicú would desert his
+white companions, and ascending the broad steps of the
+cathedral, pass the rest of the evening in my society. On
+these occasions I should have felt supremely happy, but
+for the painful thought that Tunicú was sacrificing his position
+for my sake. The white ladies, who visited at Don
+Benigno's, though sometimes deigning to notice me, out of
+compliment to their host, secretly hated and despised me;
+and if they did not actually scandalise me behind my back,
+they never forgot to remind those around them of my
+parentage, and of the unquestionable difference which existed
+between us.</p>
+
+<p>Then there was my mother, whose cruel fate was ever
+a dark cloud in my happiest moments with my lover.
+Thanks to her, I was a free-born woman, while she, alas! still
+endured a state of bondage. I often wished that I might be
+enabled to turn to profitable account the education which
+I had received through Don Benigno's bounty, and in this
+manner earn enough to pay for my parent's liberty; but,
+unfortunately, there are no governesses in Cuba, and what
+white lady of respectability would care to send her child to
+my school, supposing that I had been able to set up such
+an establishment?</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes I indulged in the wild hope that Tunicú
+might one day take me to a foreign country, where my past
+would be ignored, and where we might be married without
+regard to the opinion of the world. But my lover, though
+always full of projects and promises, had never once alluded
+to the subject of matrimony. People broadly hinted that
+my Tunicú was a libertine, like some of his companions
+and that he had no intention of making me his wife; but
+we were both favoured with rivals whose interest it was
+to speak in these terms. My rivals were the white ladies,
+who were jealous of Tunicú's attentions to me, and who
+never forgot to openly express their indignation at the
+relationship which they knew to exist between me and my
+lover. Tunicú's rivals were even more numerous; some
+of them would show their regard for me by serenading
+under my window with a band of music, upon such occasions
+as my saint's day, or during the fiestas. I dared not
+exhibit an indifference to these attentions, without transgressing
+certain social laws of the country; besides, I found
+that Tunicú himself did not disapprove of them&mdash;he never
+explained why, but I suppose he considered these little
+attentions as a sort of acknowledgment of his good taste,
+or, perhaps, they afforded a proof to him of my constancy.</p>
+
+<p>The boldest of my admirers was a young half-caste
+called Frasquito, whose mulatto-father was a wealthy
+tobacco trader and held a high position among the Cuban
+merchants.</p>
+
+<p>Frasquito was an occasional visitor at Don Benigno's,
+for, being an accomplished musician, he was a great acquisition
+when a dance was given at our residence. Once he
+composed a Cuban danza, and dedicated it to me, calling
+it after my name: 'La Bella Ermiña.'</p>
+
+<p>Frasquito was perfectly aware of my relations with
+Tunicú, but he must have regarded them with the same
+levity as others did; for, one day, happening to be alone
+with my admirer, he, to my great confusion and surprise,
+made me an offer of marriage; assuring me that his father
+had already approved of his choice, and promising that if
+I would accept him for a husband, he would, previous to
+the marriage ceremony, procure my beloved mother's
+liberty.</p>
+
+<p>I fear that my reply was unsatisfactory to both of us. I
+could not tell him with truth that I was betrothed to
+another, because, though that other had long appropriated
+my heart, he had never openly asked my hand.
+It was equally difficult to show why I did not avail myself of
+this opportunity for effecting my mother's emancipation;
+and Frasquito knew too well that I would make any
+personal sacrifice to release my beloved parent from
+bondage.</p>
+
+<p>I, however, told Frasquito that his offer had so taken me
+by surprise, that he must give me time to consider of it, and
+that in the meanwhile he must never allude to the subject.</p>
+
+<p>Tunicú, to whom alone I confided what had passed
+between me and my admirer, scouted the notion of my
+alliance with the 'son of a nigger,' as he expressed it; but
+strange to tell, he did not seem angry at the fact of matrimony
+having been proposed by another.</p>
+
+<p>'You are too fair and too refined,' said he, 'for the son
+of a black man. When you marry, you must be wedded
+to somebody having better antecedents than that, Ermiña
+mia.'</p>
+
+<p>I felt the truth of his remark, and now began to consider
+my late offer in the light of an insult. The mulatto's pretensions
+to my hand must surely, I thought, have been
+induced by his knowledge of my birth, for he would not
+have ventured to make such a proposal to a white woman;
+and perfectly aware of my secret attachment, he seemed to
+have implied that I was incapable of commanding the true
+love of a white man. Impressed with these reflections, I
+resolved to test the truth of the mulatto's inuendos, and, for
+the first time, I broached to Tunicú the subject nearest my
+heart.</p>
+
+<p>'Do you think, mi amor,' said I to my lover, 'that I
+shall ever marry as well as you could desire?'</p>
+
+<p>Tunicú paused, before replying to my question, and then
+observed&mdash;turning his gaze from me as he spoke:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Why should not mi Ermiña marry well? She is young,
+beautiful, accomplished&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>&mdash;'and the daughter of a slave!' I added; my eyes
+moistening as I uttered the terrible words.</p>
+
+<p>For a few moments my lover remained silent and pensive
+Then recovering himself, he began to converse in his old,
+confident, assuring manner, gratifying my imagination with
+pictures of events which were never to happen, and promising
+things impossible to be realised. At least nothing
+ever did happen as Tunicú had predicted, while one event
+shortly transpired which in his wildest dreams had never
+occurred to him.</p>
+
+<p>That event was the Cuban insurrection, which, as you
+know, has already affected the lives of hundreds of my
+unhappy countrymen and countrywomen; but in what
+manner it would concern our future destinies, neither
+Tunicú nor I could possibly foretell.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">A MULATTO GIRL (<i>continued</i>).</p>
+
+<p class="heading">The Slave Trade&mdash;Ermiña and her Lover&mdash;Panics&mdash;'Los Insurrectos' v.
+'Los Voluntaries'&mdash;A Wounded Patriot&mdash;Spanish Law and Cuban Law&mdash;The
+'Mambís'&mdash;A Promise&mdash;An Alarm&mdash;All's Well that Ends Well.</p>
+
+
+<p>You already know how, during the early stages of the Cuban
+revolution, the inhabitants of Santiago were called upon to
+enroll themselves as volunteers; that those who evaded
+the order were regarded with suspicion, in many cases
+arrested, and occasionally shot after a mock trial; that
+others who preferred to abandon the town, were punished
+for their want of loyalty to their rulers, who confiscated
+their property. My good benefactor, Don Benigno, was
+too old to enlist and even more disinclined to fight against
+his countrymen, the rebels; so when the cholera broke out,
+he made this a pretext for escaping the vigilance of the
+authorities, and fled with his family and belongings to a
+farm on his sugar estate. My mother would have accompanied
+us, but for a circumstance which obliged her to
+remain in the town. Her rightful owner, Don Vicente, had
+in one day lost half his fortune; the rebels having encamped
+at his principal estate and utterly despoiled it. Four
+hundred negroes employed on this estate had joined the
+revolutionists, and as each slave was valued, on the average,
+at five hundred dollars, the loss which Don Vicente sustained
+may be easily estimated. To provide against fresh losses,
+Don Vicente determined to sell all that still remained to
+him, and embark with his family for a more peaceful country.
+He hoped to realise a large amount from the sale of his
+town slaves, and as my mother represented no insignificant
+item in this valuable property, she was, of course, included
+in the list of vendibles. I was in despair!</p>
+
+<p>'Tunicú, del alma!' said I to my lover, 'if you are as
+devoted to me as you profess to be, buy&mdash;borrow&mdash;beg my
+beloved parent; but don't let her fall into strange hands!'
+My dread lest she should become the property of an utter
+stranger, drove me to this appeal.</p>
+
+<p>Tunicú was equal to the occasion, as he always was;
+whether with the same disappointing result in view, I could
+not tell.</p>
+
+<p>'Ermiña de mi corazon!' he replied, 'I am not in a
+position to buy your mother. Don Benigno has already
+borrowed her and must now return her. To beg her is out
+of the question. But I think I have a more practical plan.
+It may not agree with the laws of this country, and it must
+be attended with great personal risk; but I will try it.'</p>
+
+<p>I looked inquiringly.</p>
+
+<p>'I am aware, 'continued Tunicú, with one of his pleasant
+smiles, 'that in the course of true love it rarely happens
+that in order to prove his affection for his mistress, the
+lover must first elope with his lady-love's mother; but
+circumstances create strange situations, and under the
+present circumstances, I see no other alternative than to
+run away with your parent.'</p>
+
+<p>Conscious of the great risk attending such an enterprise,
+and of the terrible consequences which would inevitably
+result from an untimely discovery, I begged that Tunicú
+would reveal to me his plan of operations. But to this he
+objected.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' said he, 'I have found of late that my outspoken
+projects have exhausted themselves in words, so you must
+allow me, for this once, to keep my own counsel.'</p>
+
+<p>My lover's unusual reply somehow inspired me with
+greater confidence than anything he had ever uttered: so,
+woman though I was, I determined to restrain my curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>'Whatever your plan may be, dearest Tunicú,' said I,
+'I agree to it blindly.'</p>
+
+<p>'Then,' said he, 'you will also agree to our temporary
+separation. You will accompany my uncle to the farm?'</p>
+
+<p>To this I also, though reluctantly, acceded.</p>
+
+<p>So my mother was returned to Don Vicente, with whose
+family she was to reside until a purchaser was found.
+Tunicú remained in town; while I and Don Benigno's
+family were conveyed in a covered cart drawn by oxen to
+the farm-house.</p>
+
+<p>We arrived opportunely. The town which we had left
+was, as you know, already in a state of siege, and shortly
+after our departure, Count Valmaseda's dreadful manifesto,
+announcing that every man, woman, and child who should
+be discovered in certain districts of the country were to be
+shot like dogs, was published. We dared not now venture
+beyond the limits of the farm-grounds, for the report of
+fire-arms was continually heard in the neighbouring woods.
+Don Benigno was in daily fear lest the volunteers should
+visit our retreat, for he was well acquainted with the details
+of their past iniquities.</p>
+
+<p>Early one morning we were awakened by a negro, who
+hastened to the farm-house, shouting as he came: 'Los
+Insurrectos! Los Insurrectos!'</p>
+
+<p>'The insurgents are coming!' was the signal of alarm
+usually adopted by non-combatants, because the insurgents,
+and not the volunteers, were said to be the scarecrows of our
+island.</p>
+
+<p>It was, however, 'Los Voluntaries' and not 'Los Insurrectos'
+this time, for a party of volunteers were visible on
+a distant eminence.</p>
+
+<p>Our black sentinel, however, still persisted in shouting,
+'Los Insurrectos!' The same cry was echoed by other
+negroes, who, with their faces tinged with the pale green of a
+black's fear, came running towards us with the information
+that three insurgents were riding within a mile of our
+habitation. The statement proved correct, for presently
+three horsemen arrived at the farm. All three were armed
+with revolvers, and short swords called 'machetes,' and they
+were attired in brown holland blouses, buff-coloured shoes,
+and Panama hats.</p>
+
+<p>One of these men appeared to be suffering great bodily
+pain, but his face was so besmeared with dirt and blood,
+that we could scarcely tell whether he was a mulatto or a
+white man. The poor fellow had been seriously wounded,
+and groaned in agony as Don Benigno's slaves assisted him
+to dismount.</p>
+
+<p>After he had been placed upon a catre in one of our
+apartments and revived with a draught of aguardiente, the
+invalid smiled mournfully around him, and then, to our unspeakable
+astonishment, inquired whether we did not recognise
+in him Don Benigno's nephew!</p>
+
+<p>I will not describe the scene which followed this disclosure,
+but I will endeavour to repeat to you what Tunicú
+had now to reveal. His first words caused me great happiness;
+though the strange tone in which they were uttered
+seemed scarcely to correspond with the good news conveyed
+in them.</p>
+
+<p>'Your mother,' said he, glancing in my direction, 'is
+free!'</p>
+
+<p>He now told us how, in spite of his efforts to steal my
+dear parent, Don Vicente had succeeded in selling her to a
+brutal slave-trader, who contemplated employing her as a
+common labourer at a coffee plantation, and how, being
+aware of this, my lover determined to save her from such a
+terrible fate.</p>
+
+<p>Parties of young Cubans were then secretly planning
+expeditions into the heart of the country, where their compatriots
+in arms were concealed, and this being known to
+my lover, he lost no time in enrolling himself among them.
+A party of these young men were on the eve of departing
+on their rebellious or patriotic mission, and as my mother's
+new master had already started for his plantation with his
+recent purchases and half-a-dozen armed negroes, Tunicú
+persuaded his companions to help him to rescue my parent.
+Well armed, well acquainted with the roads of their intricate
+country, and mounted on fast trotting horses, the little
+band of warriors followed in the track of the slave-owner,
+and, after some hours of hard riding, they succeeded in overtaking
+him. They then demanded, in the name of 'Cuban
+justice,' every slave in his possession, declaring, that now
+the Cuban people had risen in defence of their rights and
+for the abolition of slavery, they were no longer amenable
+to Spanish law.</p>
+
+<p>'We are all Cubans,' said they, 'and well armed, as you
+see; and we intend to fight for both causes whenever an
+opportunity presents itself.'</p>
+
+<p>Hostile measures were, however, quite unnecessary in this
+instance. The eloquence of my brave countrymen sufficed
+to create a mutiny among the trader's black body-guard,
+who with one accord came over to the enemy. In
+short, the slaves were all released, and their late owner, after
+vowing to be avenged, rode off to the nearest garrison for
+the purpose of reporting to the authorities what had
+happened, and, if possible, obtain redress for the wrongs he
+had sustained. In the meantime the victorious party
+hastened to join their brethren in arms, some of whom were
+encamped in one of the strong fortifications which nature so
+generously provides in our well-wooded mountains. But
+they had scarcely reached this part of the country, when
+a battalion of volunteers, guided by the slave-trader, went in
+pursuit of them.</p>
+
+<p>Tunicú then described an encounter which afterwards
+took place between the latter and the patriots. He said
+that for upwards of an hour shots were exchanged, but with
+no advantage to either side; till the slave-trader (doubtless
+acquainted with the roads of this intricate country) suddenly
+discovered an opening in the forest. Through this opening
+he, followed by a number of the volunteers, entered, and,
+sheltered by the surrounding foliage and trees, took deadly
+aim at those of their enemies who were exposed to their
+view. Many of my countrymen fell in this cruel slaughter,
+and amongst them were two of the recently captured
+slaves. Horrible to relate, one of these slaves was my
+mother. Seeing her fall, Tunicú boldly advanced towards
+the spot whence the firing proceeded, and there beheld the
+slave-trader who, he had no doubt, was my parent's assassin.
+Without a moment's hesitation, Tunicú shot this man dead
+with his revolver. A dozen rifles were levelled at the daring
+fellow as he hastened to return to his companions, and
+unfortunately a bullet lodged in his side.</p>
+
+<p>My warlike countrymen now retreated to a safe part of
+the forest, and here they remained, till the patience and
+the ammunition of their assailants were exhausted.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as my lover was sufficiently recovered from his
+wound, he was escorted by two of his companions to Don
+Benigno's farm, where they duly arrived.</p>
+
+<p>How shall I describe the agony which Tunicú's narrative
+caused me! My mother was indeed free, and by the hand
+of her own master; but alas! how dearly was her liberty
+purchased! I consoled myself with the reflection that my
+dear parent had been saved from a fate such as was in store
+for her had she been recaptured by her owner. Our anxiety
+was now devoted to my lover, who had suffered considerably
+from his long ride to the farm. We were able to attend the
+invalid unmolested; though news reached us that the
+insurrection was spreading in all directions, and we were in
+constant fear that it would reach too near our retreat.</p>
+
+<p>I was happier with my lover during his recovery, than I
+had ever been. The perils which he had undergone for my
+sake seemed to have toned down his volatile nature, and
+although his habit of promising had not wholly deserted
+him, I had reason to be grateful for at least one sweet
+promise which he made me!</p>
+
+<p>'Ermiña de mi alma!' said he, one evening that we were
+alone together, 'my uncle contemplates leaving with you all
+for North America, there to remain till the revolution is
+over. I cannot accompany you, but we shall meet there,
+and if, after your intercourse with the white society of that
+country&mdash;where you will be treated as an equal&mdash;your
+feelings with regard to me are unchanged, we will be
+married, and I will endeavour to make your life happier
+than it has hitherto been.'</p>
+
+<p>'Not happier than it is now,' said I.</p>
+
+<p class="dots">. . . . . . .
+. . . .</p>
+
+<p>'Los Insurrectos!&mdash;Los Insurrectos!'</p>
+
+<p>The insurgents again? No; our swarthy sentinels were
+wrong this time, for presently a dozen Spanish troopers, all
+armed to the teeth, galloped into our court-yard. We were, of
+course, greatly alarmed at their appearance; for we had no
+doubt that they had come to apprehend my lover. We
+were, however, soon agreeably relieved from our anxiety on
+this account, by a letter which the officer in command had
+brought for Don Benigno. This letter came from his
+future son-in-law, Don Manuel, who, since the commencement
+of the revolution, had been quartered with his
+regiment at Manzanillo, not many leagues from our farm.
+Aware that we had left town for Don Benigno's plantation,
+and conscious of the danger which was now threatening
+every district in the eastern extremity of the island, Don
+Manuel proposed that we should join him without delay at
+Manzanillo, and thence proceed to Havana, to which the
+young officer was shortly to be transferred. As yet perfect
+tranquillity reigned at the Cuban capital; and 'here,'
+suggested Don Manuel, 'we might remain,' under his official
+protection, 'until the rebellion was suppressed.'</p>
+
+<p>'The rest of her story,' says Don Benigno, breaking in at
+this point of it, 'is soon told. The soldiers remained with
+us for two or three days while we prepared for our departure,
+and in the meantime they discussed the merits of
+our fried bananas with boiled rice, our bacalao and casabe,
+our tasajo, our chimbombó, our ajiaco and our Catalan
+wine. Then, consigning my plantation to the care of my
+trusty major-domo, we all left for Manzanillo, under our
+military escort. Shortly after our arrival, Tunicú set sail
+for North America; for Don Manuel was of opinion that
+unless my nephew joined the Mambís (nickname for the
+rebellious party), it would not be safe for him to remain in
+any part of the Ever-faithful Isle. But we hope to meet
+him there, and, meanwhile we intend to practise those virtues
+of patience and amiability which have hitherto served us so
+well&mdash;eh, mi Ermiña? My daughter's marriage will soon
+be celebrated, and after the nuptials some of us will, I hope&mdash;si
+Dios quiere&mdash;depart for the great city of New York.'</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">A CUBAN WEDDING.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">Open Engagements&mdash;A Marriage Ceremony&mdash;A Wedding Breakfast&mdash;The
+Newly-Married Couple.</p>
+
+
+<p>A number of Don Benigno's relatives and friends have,
+like ourselves, taken refuge in the peaceful city of Havana.
+Some of them purpose remaining here till affairs at Santiago
+are more settled, while others, like Don Benigno, intend to
+make New York their temporary abode.</p>
+
+<p>Surrounded by his friends, the Don begins to feel at
+home again. Every evening he holds a tertulia at his
+temporary residence, as of old, and upon these occasions I
+recognise many familiar faces. Señor Esteban, the lawyer,
+Don Magin, the merchant, and Don Felipe, the sugar planter,
+are the Don's guests again. Doctor Francisco and his
+family have also arrived in Havana, en route for Europe:
+for even our medical friend has been in danger of arrest for
+having administered to some wounded 'patriots' at a village
+near Santiago.</p>
+
+<p>Don Manuel is of course a constant visitor at Don
+Benigno's, but I do not envy him the term of courtship
+which precedes the marriage, nor is the ceremony itself
+very inviting.</p>
+
+<p>In his capacity of lover, Don Manuel is bound to submit
+to many hardships. He may not meet his fiancée alone
+under any circumstances; her society must be enjoyed
+only in the presence of the numerous friends and relatives
+who visit her at all hours of the day and evening. Then,
+he is expected to return some of these visits, in company
+with his future bride, her mother and sister. He must also
+submit to certain formalities required of him by the priest
+who is to unite the 'promessi sposi,' and the most irksome
+of these is that of confession. Paquita confesses, and that
+is nothing new to her, but it is otherwise with the young
+officer. In short, until Don Manuel is actually a happy
+husband, his position is by no means enviable, and for my
+own part, I would gladly relinquish two years of married life
+in Cuba for half an hour's secret love-making at a certain
+grated window!</p>
+
+<p>The wearisome ordeal at length comes to an end&mdash;the
+nuptial day arrives. The ceremony, such as it is, takes
+place very late in the night; indeed, it is early morning
+before Don Manuel and his male friends reach the cathedral,
+where the event is to be celebrated. A single bell tolls
+like a funeral knell as we enter a small chapel connected
+with the sacred edifice. It is a dreary apartment, dismally
+lighted with two long wax candles. Nobody is present,
+save Don Manuel, the male friends already mentioned, and
+the sacristan, who enlivens us by trying (and failing) to
+beautify, with false flowers and false candles, a miserable
+altar-piece at one extremity of the chapel. The young
+officer's importance as a bridegroom is not at present
+appreciated, either by himself or by his friends, with whom
+he converses upon indifferent subjects, and who, like myself,
+are attired in ordinary walking costume.</p>
+
+<p>Presently a Quitrin, drawn by a couple of mules, with
+a black postilion in jack-boots, halts without. The bride,
+accompanied by her mother and a friend, alight, and,
+without taking notice of anybody in particular, pass
+silently into the chapel. The importance of Don Manuel's
+position does not reveal itself by this act, nor is it considerably
+improved, when the ecclesiastic, who is to
+marry the happy pair, emerges from a dark corner,
+smiles artificially around him, and exhausts the rest of his
+amiability with the ladies. But the priest is not so unconscious
+of Don Manuel as that gentleman supposes. Soon
+he singles the officer out from the group of males, and bids
+him follow the bride, and his future mother-in-law, into an
+adjacent chamber. But little is required of the bridegroom
+besides his signature to a paper, which he does not read;
+and when the holy man has addressed something or other
+to him in the Latin language, he is politely requested
+to withdraw. Shortly after Don Manuel's retirement, the
+bride and her escort issue from the mysterious chamber,
+and, after saluting us all round, take their departure and
+drive away. Don Manuel's distinguished position seems to
+be scarcely increased by these proceedings; but when his
+friends congratulate him, the lights of the chapel are extinguished,
+and the decorations on the miserable altar-piece
+are stowed away, he endeavours to realise the feelings of a
+married man. Don Manuel follows his friends as they lead
+the way to the bride's parental roof, consoling himself with
+newly-rolled cigarettes as he walks along.</p>
+
+<p>It is nearly two <span class="smcap">A.M.</span> before we reach the scene of the
+festivities, where most of the guests are already assembled.
+A long table has been tastefully arranged with sweetmeats,
+cakes, fruit, wine, and other luxuries, and some of the
+guests, whose appetites could not be restrained, have
+already inaugurated the festivities. Much confusion, uproar,
+and struggling after dainties peculiar to a Cuban
+banquet, prevail, and it is not without an effort that the
+young officer contrives at last to find a place near his bride.
+Healths are drunk and responded to incessantly, and often
+simultaneously; rather, as it would seem, for the excuse of
+drinking champagne and English bottled ale, than from
+motives of sentiment.</p>
+
+<p>When enough cigarettes have been smoked, and enough
+wine and beer have been disposed of, all the company rises
+with one accord. The ladies throw light veils across their
+shoulders, the gentlemen don their panamas; and the bride
+and her mother, together with the bridegroom and all the
+guests, followed by an army of black domestics, leave Don
+Benigno's habitation, and marching in noisy procession along
+the narrow streets, arrive at the bride's future home. It is
+a one-storied dwelling with marble floors and white-washed
+walls, and is furnished with bran-new cane-bottomed chairs
+and other adornments belonging to a Cuban residence. The
+huge doors and windows of every apartment are thrown
+open to their widest and the interior being brilliantly
+lighted with gas, the view from the street is almost as complete
+as within the premises. Everybody crowds into the
+latter, and examines the arrangements of each chamber
+with as deep an interest as if they were wandering through
+an old baronial mansion with cards of invitation from its
+absent owner. The reception-room, the comedor or dining-room,
+the out-houses round the patio or court-yard, are
+carefully inspected by the throng, who are irrepressible even
+in respect to the dormitory assigned for the use of the bridegroom,
+and that allotted to the bride, and situated in quite
+a different quarter.</p>
+
+<p>Everybody's curiosity being satisfied, everybody, save the
+newly-married pair and a few black domestics, is wished a
+'muy buenas noches,' or, more correctly speaking (for the
+hour is 4 <span class="smcap">A.M.</span>), a very good morning.</p>
+
+
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h3>
+
+<p class="head">CUBANS IN NEW YORK.</p>
+
+<p class="heading">The Morro Castle again&mdash;Summer and Winter&mdash;Cuban Refugees&mdash;Filibusters&mdash;'Los
+Laborantes' of New York and their Work&mdash;American
+Sympathisers.</p>
+
+
+<p>I am a prisoner in the Morro Castle again, and this time
+my fellow captives are more numerous. We occupy separate
+apartments. The chamber which has been allotted to
+me is considerably smaller than that of the fortress at Santiago.
+So small that the floor measures barely four feet in
+width, and seated in my narrow cot, my head approaches
+within a few inches of the ceiling. Don Benigno, his wife,
+his unmarried daughter, and the pretty Ermiña, together
+with a score of Cuban families, are all imprisoned in the
+same stronghold, whence there is no escape. For we are
+encompassed on every side by a moat so deep and so
+wide that no engineering skill would avail to connect us
+with terra firma.</p>
+
+<p>This is, however, not the Havana Morro, nor is it the
+fortress at Santiago de Cuba; but an American steamer
+called the 'Morro Castle' and bound for New York, where&mdash;wind
+and weather permitting&mdash;we shall all arrive, in little
+more than four days!</p>
+
+<p>Although the month is January, the atmosphere is still
+sultry and oppressive; so much so that most of the passengers
+prefer to sleep on deck. But on the morning of
+the third day of our voyage, there is a perceptible change in
+the temperature. The passengers are seen to shiver and to
+huddle together in warm corners of the cabin. Everybody
+has exchanged his or her summer clothing for warmer vestments.
+The ladies appear no more in light muslin dresses,
+and without any head covering. The gentlemen have
+eschewed their suits of white drill and Panama hats, and
+have assumed heavy over-coats and flannel under-clothing.
+It is a 'nipping and an eager air,' closely resembling winter,
+and reminding everybody of the fact, that in one short hour
+we have tripped lightly from the perpetual summer of the
+tropics into the coldest season of the north. Some sea
+water which had been hauled up in a bucket half an hour ago
+was perfectly tepid, and now when the bucket is lowered and
+raised we are amazed to find that the contents are icy cold!</p>
+
+<p>Next day the liquid in our water jugs is discovered to
+be in a freezing condition, and fires have been lighted in
+all the stoves. But our chilly Creoles derive little or no
+warmth from these artificial means, although they are
+swathed in garments ten inches deep.</p>
+
+<p>Great is the joy when the 'Morro Castle' at last sails
+into the wide and picturesque harbour of the great
+American city, and when we have safely landed, satisfied
+the Custom-house officers, and are finally lodged in a
+comfortable hotel in Broadway, our happiness is complete.</p>
+
+<p>Numbers of Cuban families are already encamped in the
+hotel which Don Benigno has selected for himself, family
+and friend, and at the table d'hôte where we take our first
+American meal, the conversation is held exclusively in
+the Spanish language. Don Benigno is delighted to find
+himself among his countrymen again, and as the city is
+over-run with Cuban refugees, he soon meets many of his
+old friends. Some of them tell him that, having had their
+property confiscated, and being too old to take part in
+the revolution, they intend to remain in America, where
+they hope to improve their fortunes; while the more able-bodied
+are recruiting with a view to certain secret expeditions
+to Cuba.</p>
+
+<p>Tunicú, who joins us shortly after our arrival, is of course
+overjoyed at our appearance, and welcomes some of us literally
+with 'open arms!' Having passed some weeks in New
+York, he is of course already acquainted with everybody of
+note in the city, and is familiar with American ways. He
+tells us all about the Cuban 'Laborantes' of New York, and
+how they are labouring in behalf of their bellicose countrymen.
+How juntas are held, and how the Cuban ladies take
+a prominent part in these meetings, and provide funds for
+the relief of their sick and wounded compatriots in arms.
+Tunicú informs us that a grand bazaar, with this object in
+view, is now being promoted by these energetic señoras, and
+when Doña Mercedes hears of this, she and her daughters
+are soon busy at their favourite occupation. Tunicú says
+that the proceeds of the bazaar will not be wholly devoted
+to the purpose for which it is publicly announced, but that
+a large amount will be set apart for the purchase of arms
+and accoutrements; it being whispered that another fillibustering
+expedition is contemplated, and that great hopes
+are entertained of its safe departure from America. He
+says that an important landing has been lately effected at
+Guanaja&mdash;a small town on the Cuban coast&mdash;where Manuel
+Quesada, the newly-appointed general of the Cuban army,
+has arrived with eighty well-drilled men, 2,700 muskets and
+necessary ammunition.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the bazaar money, large amounts are raised by
+giving public concerts and by an occasional dramatic performance
+at one of the Bowery theatres, at which a stirring
+drama founded on the Cuban revolution is presented.</p>
+
+<p>The concerts, however, prove more attractive and remunerative;
+especially if it is announced that a young
+and lovely Creole, attired as 'Liberty' and holding a Cuban
+flag in her hand, will sing a patriotic ballad. Equally
+effective are recitals from the famous Cuban poets&mdash;Heredia
+and Placida. When the 'Himno del Desterrado,'
+by the first-named author, is given, it is always received with
+great applause by the Cuban members of the audience and
+by those who understand the beautiful language in which
+this favourite poem is written. But nothing pleases the
+mixed audience of Cubans and Americans half so well as
+when a renowned pianist favours them with a performance
+on the piano of a 'Danza Criolla.' At the first strains of
+their patriotic melody, the Creoles present become wild with
+enthusiasm. The Cuban ladies wave their handkerchiefs
+with delight, while their brother-patriots stand on their seats,
+and for the moment drown their favourite music with loud
+and prolonged cheering, accompanied by shouts of 'Viva
+Cuba libre!' (Long live free Cuba!) 'Muerte á España!'
+(Death to Spain!) and other patriotic sentiments.</p>
+
+<p>The American people are unanimous in their sympathy
+for the Cuban cause, and the sentiment is popular even with
+the New York shopkeepers, who already offer for sale
+'Cravats à la Cespedes,' 'Insurrectionary Inkstands,' and
+'Patriot Pockethandkerchiefs.'</p>
+
+<p>Important meetings, too, are held at Cooper's Institute,
+Steinway Hall, and other public places, at each of which a
+great concourse of American sympathisers gathers. Many
+eminent orators preside at these meetings, and endeavour
+with all their eloquence to urge upon the Congress at
+Washington the necessity for immediate recognition of the
+rights of the Cuban belligerents. Annexation is, of course,
+suggested, and slavery loudly denounced.</p>
+
+<p>One eloquent speaker is of opinion that the present
+struggle of the Cubans for independence and self-government
+belongs to the same category as the American
+Revolution in 1776; that it should excite the sympathy
+of all friends of popular progress, and that it deserves every
+kind of assistance that other nations may be able to
+render.</p>
+
+<p>Another well-known orator, connected with the church,
+declares that 'the Cuban cause is just, and that the wrongs
+against which the Cubans have revolted are such as should
+arouse the indignation of mankind, inasmuch as these
+wrongs include taxation without representation, the forced
+maintenance of slavery, the exclusion of all natives of the
+island from public service, the denial of the right to bear
+arms and of all the sacred privileges of citizenship and
+nationality.'</p>
+
+<p>A third speaker avers, among other sentiments, that, in
+proclaiming the abolition of slavery, the patriots of Cuba
+have given conclusive evidence that they share the most
+substantial ideas of modern democracy, and that their
+political principles are in unison with those which inspire
+and govern the profoundest thinkers and statesmen of the
+age. That while men of free minds in all countries must
+view with interest and hope the uprising in Cuba, 'we, as
+citizens of the Republic of North America, and near
+neighbours of the beautiful and productive island, recognise
+a special obligation towards those patriots who are toiling
+and fighting for its emancipation from Spanish tyranny.'</p>
+
+<p>'It is the duty of our Government,' concludes another
+speaker, amidst loud and prolonged applause, 'to recognise
+the belligerent rights of the Cubans at the earliest practicable
+moment, and thus to show the world, that the
+American nation is always on the side of those who contend
+against despotism and oppression; and we earnestly
+entreat the Executive at Washington that there may be no
+unnecessary delay in dealing with this important subject.'</p>
+
+<p>But in spite of these demonstrations of public sympathy,
+the mighty House of Representatives cannot be induced to
+join in the popular sentiment. Memorials are addressed to
+the American President, and persons of influence labour in
+behalf of the Cuban cause. Upon one occasion a party of
+Cuba's fairest daughters 'interview' the President's wife
+and secretary, but nothing comes of it except more sympathy
+and more able editorials in the New York papers,
+in which it is again suggested that a bold and decisive
+policy should be commenced with regard to Cuba and to
+American interests there, and that the shortest way to settle
+now and for ever all difficulty relative to that island, is to
+send out a powerful fleet and to recognise the independence
+of the people of the Pearl of the Antilles.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p class="c"><i>Spottiswoode &amp; Co., Printers, New-street Square, London</i>.</p>
+
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+
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+former years, Mr. Vambéry gave ample proofs of his powers as an observant,
+easy, and vivid writer. In the present work his moderation, scholarship,
+insight, and occasionally very impressive style, have raised him to the
+dignity of an historian.'&nbsp;&mdash;&mdash;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Saturday Review</span>.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="c smcap">Henry S. King &amp; Co.</p>
+
+<p class="c">5 Cornhill and 12 Paternoster Row, London.</p>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+
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+
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+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pearl of the Antilles, or An
+Artist in Cuba, by Walter Goodman
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pearl of the Antilles, or An Artist in
+Cuba, by Walter Goodman
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Pearl of the Antilles, or An Artist in Cuba
+
+Author: Walter Goodman
+
+Release Date: August 1, 2009 [EBook #29564]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PEARL OF THE ANTILLES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was
+produced from scanned images of public domain material
+from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Aside from obvious typographical errors, the spelling of the original
+book has been preserved. The spelling and accentuation of Spanish and
+French words have not been modernized or corrected.
+(note of transcriber)]
+
+
+
+
+THE PEARL OF THE
+
+ANTILLES
+
+OR
+
+_AN ARTIST IN CUBA_
+
+BY
+
+WALTER GOODMAN
+
+HENRY S. KING & CO. 65 CORNHILL & 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON 1873
+
+(_All rights reserved_)
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+MY TRAVELLING-COMPANION AND BROTHER-ARTIST
+
+SENOR DON JOAQUIN CUADRAS
+
+OF CUBA
+
+_THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED_
+
+IN REMEMBRANCE OF OUR LONG AND UNINTERRUPTED FRIENDSHIP
+
+AT HOME AND ABROAD
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Cuba having lately become a prominent object of attention, both to
+Europe and America, I venture to think that any trustworthy information
+that can be given respecting it, may prove acceptable to the reader. I
+approach my task with no great pretensions, but yet with an experience
+acquired by many years' residence in the Island, and an intimate
+intercourse with its inhabitants. I arrived there in 1864, when Cuba was
+enjoying uninterrupted peace and prosperity, and my departure took place
+in the first year of her adversity. Having thus viewed society in the
+Island under the most opposite conditions, I have had various and ample
+opportunities of studying its institutions, its races and its
+government; and in availing myself of these opportunities I have
+endeavoured, as far as possible, to avoid those matters which are alike
+common to life in Spain and in Cuba.
+
+As I write, Cuba is passing through a great crisis in her history. For
+this reason my experiences may prove more interesting than they might
+otherwise have done; nor do I think that they will be found less
+attractive, because it has been my choice to deal with the subject
+before me from the point of view rather of an artist than of a traveller
+or a statistician.
+
+Perhaps I may be allowed to add, that the matter contained in these
+pages will be almost entirely fresh to the reader; for, although I have
+included a few papers which I have from time to time contributed to _All
+the Year Round_, _Cassell's Magazine_, and _London Society_, I have
+taken care to introduce them in such a manner as not to break the
+continuity with which I have endeavoured to connect the various parts of
+my subject.
+
+In explanation of the title chosen for this volume, I may remark that
+'the Pearl of the Antilles' is one of the prettiest in that long series
+of eulogistic and endearing titles conferred by poets and others on the
+Island of Cuba, which includes 'the Queen of the Antilles,' 'the Jewel
+in the Spanish Crown,' 'the Promised Land,' 'the Summer Isle of Eden,'
+'the Garden of the West,' and 'the Loyal and Ever-faithful Isle.'
+
+WALTER GOODMAN.
+
+22 LANCASTER ROAD,
+WESTBOURNE PARK,
+LONDON: 1873.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A CUBAN WELCOME.
+
+PAGE
+
+Our Reception at Santiago de Cuba--Spanish Law--A Commemorative
+Feast--Cuban Courtesy--Coffee House Politeness
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+DAILY LIFE IN CUBA.
+
+A Cuban Home--My Bed-Room--A Creole Breakfast--Don Benigno
+and his Family--A Cuban Matron--Church-going in connection with
+Shopping--An Evening Tertulia--A Tropical Moon
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+ART-PATRONAGE IN CUBA.
+
+Our Studio--Our Critics--Our Patrons--Still-Life
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A CUBAN 'VELORIO.'
+
+More Still-Life--A Night-Wake--Mourners--Dona Dolores--A Funeral
+Procession--A Burial
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+CUBAN MODELS.
+
+Tropical Birds--The Coco's--La Grulla--Vultures--Street Criers--Water
+Carriers
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+CUBAN BEGGARS.
+
+Carrapatam Bunga--The Havana Lottery--A Lady Beggar--A Beggar's
+Opera--Popular Characters--Charity--A Public Raffle--The 'King of
+the Universe'
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE BLACK ART IN CUBA.
+
+A Model Mulatto--A Bewitched Watchman--Cuban Sorcery--An Enchanted
+Painter
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A TASTE OF CUBAN PRISON-LIFE.
+
+Two Views of the Morro Castle--The Commandant--The Town Jail--Cuban
+Policemen--Prisoners--A Captive Indian--Prison Fare--A
+Court of Justice--A Trial--A Verdict
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+A WEST INDIAN EPIDEMIC.
+
+A Cuban Physician and his Patient--A Nightmare--A Mystery--A
+Cure--By the Sad Sea Waves--A Cuban Watering-place--Lobster-hunting--Another
+View of the Morro Castle--What 'Dios sabe'
+means
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+GENERAL TACON'S JUDGMENT.
+
+Pleasant Company--The Cigar Girl of Havana--A Tobacconist Shop in
+Cuba--A Romance of Real Life--Spanish Justice abroad
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+(VERY) HIGH ART IN CUBA.
+
+On the Ceiling--'Pintar-monos'--A Chemist's Shop a la Polychrome--Sculpture
+under Difficulties--'Nothing like Leather'--A Triumph in
+Triumphal Arches--Cuban Carpenters--The Captain-General of
+Havana
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+A CORRESPONDENT IN THE WEST INDIES.
+
+American News-agents and their Work--Local Information--The
+'Glorious Campaign' of Santo Domingo--'El Canon de Montecristo'
+Wounded Soldiers--Still-Life again--A Visit from the Spanish Fleet--Escape
+from Jail
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+CUBAN MUSIC.
+
+A Soiree at Don Laureano's--An eminent Violinist and Composer--Cuban
+Pianos--_Real_ Negro Minstrels--Carnival Songs--Coloured
+Improvisatores
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+MASQUERADING IN CUBA.
+
+Deserted--'Los Mamarrachos'--A French-Creole Ball--Street Masquers--Negro
+Amateurs--Masks and Dominoes--The Plaza de Armas--Victims
+of the Carnival--A Cuban Cafe in Holiday Time--'Comparsas'--White
+and Black Balls--A Moral
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+AN EVENING AT THE RETRETA.
+
+A Musical Promenade--My Friend Tunicu--Cuban Beauties--Dark
+Divinities--A Cuban Cafe--A Popular 'Pollo'--Settling the Bill!
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+AT A CUBAN BALL.
+
+The Philharmonic and its Members--A Street Audience--The Guests--Engaging
+Partners--'La Carabina'--'La Danza Criolla'--Dance
+Music--Refreshments--A Pretty Partner--A Night with Cuban
+Gamblers--Spanish Cards--An Old Hand--'Temblores'
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+CUBAN THEATRICALS.
+
+The Stage-Door Keeper--A Rehearsal--The Spanish Censor--A Cuban
+Audience--Dramatic Performances--Between Acts--Behind the
+Scenes--A Denouement in Real Life
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+MY DEBUT ON A CUBAN STAGE.
+
+An Engagement--A Foreign 'Star'--A Benefit Night--A Local Play--First
+Appearance--A serious 'Hitch'--Re-engagement
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+COFFEE GROUNDS OF CUBA.
+
+Going out of Town--On the Road--A wayside Inn--A Cane Field--West
+Indian Fruit Trees--The Arrival--A Dinner in the Country--The
+Evening Blessing--Tropical Reptiles--A Farm Yard--Slave
+Flogging--Coffee--Tropical Scenery--A Siesta
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+COUNTRY-LIFE AT A SUGAR ESTATE.
+
+An Artist's Tent--Early Sport--An 'Ingenio'--Sugar and Rum--Afternoon
+Sport--A Ride through the Country--Negro Dancing--An
+Evening in the Country--'La Loteria'
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+LOVE-MAKING IN THE TROPICS.
+
+My Inamorata--Clandestine Courtship--A Love Scene--'Il Baccio' in
+Cuba--The Course of True Love--A Stern Parent
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+A CUBAN CONVENT.
+
+Without the Walls--'El Torno'--A Convent Letter--Accomplices--A
+Powder Plot--With the Nuns--Don Francisco the Dentist
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+A CRUISE IN THE WEST INDIES.
+
+Cuban Telegraphy--The 'New York Trigger'--News from Porto Rico--A
+Day in Porto Rico--Don Felipe--A Mail Agent--Coasting--Aguadilla--Mayagueez--Santo
+Domingo--Sight-seeing--Telegraphic News
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+A STATE OF SIEGE IN CUBA.
+
+A Cuban Newspaper Office--Local Intelligence--The Cuban Revolution--Spanish
+Volunteers--A Recruit--With Bimba--'Los Insurrectos'--At
+a Fire--Cuban Firemen
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+CUBAN WARFARE.
+
+Spanish Soldiers--A Sally--Prisoners of War--'Los Voluntarios'--A
+Triumphant Return--Danger!--Cuban Emigrants
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+HAVANA CIGARETTES.
+
+PAGE
+
+Cigars--The Etiquette of Smoking--A Cigarette Manufactory--The
+Courteous Proprietor--The Visitors' Book--Cigarette Rolling
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+A MULATTO GIRL.
+
+An Obscure Birth--Bondage--A Bad Master--A Good Godfather--A
+Cuban Christening--Anomaly of Slavery--A White Lover--Rivals--An
+Important Event
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+A MULATTO GIRL (_continued_).
+
+The Slave Trade--Ermina and her Lover--Panics--'Los Insurrectos'
+v. 'Los Voluntarios'--A Wounded Patriot--Spanish Law and Cuban
+Law--The 'Mambi's'--A Promise--An Alarm--All's Well that
+ends Well
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+A CUBAN WEDDING.
+
+Open Engagements--A Marriage Ceremony--A Wedding Breakfast--The
+Newly Married Couple
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+CUBANS IN NEW YORK.
+
+The Morro Castle again--Summer and Winter--Cuban Refugees--Filibusters--'Los
+Laborantes' of New York and their Work--American
+Sympathisers
+
+
+
+
+THE
+
+PEARL OF THE ANTILLES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A CUBAN WELCOME.
+
+     Our Reception at Santiago de Cuba--Spanish Law--A Commemorative
+     Feast--Cuban Courtesy--Coffee-House Politeness.
+
+
+My companion and brother-artist, Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldu, is a native
+of Cuba, and as he has signified his intention to visit his birthplace
+in the West Indies, we bid 'addio' to fair Florence, where for three
+years we have dwelt together and followed our profession, and, embarking
+in a French steamer at St. Nazaire, we set sail for the Pearl of the
+Antilles.
+
+Our official reception at Santiago de Cuba is far from cordial. Before
+we land, the Spanish authorities meet us on board, and, after a careful
+inspection of our passports, present each of us with what they call a
+'permit of disembarcation,' for which we have to pay sixteen reales
+'fuertes.' Having, so to speak, purchased 'tickets of admission' to the
+Spanish colony, and having also deposited our luggage in the
+'cloak-room' of the establishment--which in this instance is represented
+by a custom-house--we naturally expect to be favoured with a 'bill' of
+tropical performances. No such bill is, however, presented to us; but as
+a substitute, we obtain full particulars by application, within a month
+after our arrival, to the chief of police. From this functionary we
+learn that our 'tickets of admission' are available only for one
+quarter's sojourn in the island, and that if we desire to remain for a
+longer period, an official 'season-ticket' must be procured. The
+authorised programme of the 'Loyal and Ever-faithful Isle' is divided
+into a great many Acts. One of these acts announces that 'no foreigner
+is allowed to reside more than three months in the island without
+procuring first a carta de domicilio (habitation license), which he may
+obtain by a petition supported by the consul of his nation.' The carta
+de domicilio will enable the foreigner in question to dwell unmolested
+in this strangely governed country for a period not exceeding five
+years; but he may not leave the island, neither may he remove to another
+town, without a pass from a Capitan de Partido, a Celador, or some such
+official.
+
+The chief of police moreover tells us that, conformably with another act
+or article in his code, the 'applicant' must represent himself as a
+Catholic; that he must take the oaths of fidelity and vassalage before
+the governor, and that within the prescribed five years 'a foreigner
+must be either naturalised, or he must leave the country.'
+
+Yet another act proclaims that during the first five years of his
+residence, 'the said foreigner may not carry on nor may he possess a
+shop, a warehouse, or become a captain of a vessel. He may, however,
+have a share in a company or firm of Spaniards.'
+
+But the strangest mandate of all is that which denies to 'any inhabitant
+whatsoever' the privilege of moving from one house to another 'without
+giving notice of such removal to the chief of police!'
+
+Thus much for our welcome by the authorities of Cuba!
+
+The Cubans themselves are, however, more obsequious. Long before we have
+anchored in the Cuban bay, the news of our arrival has reached the ears
+of my companion's friends, who hasten to greet us from little canoes
+with white awnings to ward off the rays of the scorching sun. Having
+landed, and satisfied the authorities, we are escorted by a number of
+these friends to our future residence, which we had decided should be an
+hotel. But my partner's friends will not hear of our lodging at a
+strange place, and one of their number, who claims close relationship
+with Nicasio, succeeds in persuading us both to become his guests. He
+accordingly hails his two-wheeled quitrin, and drives us to his
+dwelling. The rest of our friends follow on foot, and are invited by our
+host, Don Benigno, to partake of the sumptuous banquet which has been
+prepared in honour of Nicasio's return to his native country. Several
+ladies are present, and with these in light muslin dresses--the
+gentlemen in their suits of white drill--the long table with its white
+covering--the spacious dining-hall with its white-washed walls--and the
+glare of the sun which pours in from numerous windows and open
+doors--the scene is enlivening, to say the least of it; while a singular
+contrast is supplied by the sombre appearance of the slaves who serve
+round the condiments.
+
+Of course my companion is lionised and made much of on this occasion,
+and his friend--whom everybody addresses, on account of his nationality,
+as 'el Caballero Ingles,' is treated with every show of attention. Being
+fresh from Europe we are both examined and cross-examined upon the
+questions of news, and to satisfy all demands requires no inconsiderable
+amount of oratory. Healths are drunk and responded to by some of the
+company, and Don Benigno's nephew, Tunicu, delivers some appropriate
+verses of his own composition, which he has dedicated to his kinsman
+Nicasio.
+
+It is not the custom in this country for the ladies to retire after a
+meal, and leave their lords to their cups and conversation, but
+everybody remains seated until black coffee and big Havana cigars are
+handed, the cloth has been removed, and our host's baby--a girl ten
+months old attired in nature's vestments--has been placed for general
+inspection and approval in the centre of the festive board.
+
+When everybody has sufficiently devoured with his or her eyes this kind
+of human dessert, Don Benigno's lady--Dona Mercedes--proposes to adjourn
+for music and dancing to the reception-room--an apartment which is
+little better than a continuation of the dining-hall; the boundary line
+between the two chambers being defined by a narrow slip of wall.
+
+The musical entertainments begin with a performance on the piano by a
+sun-burnt young lady attired in a low-necked, short-sleeved dress, who
+accompanies another young lady who essays a patriotic song commencing:
+
+    Cuba, Cuba! mi patria querida,
+
+in which she assures her audience, in Spanish verse, that there is no
+place like Cuba, and no country more fertile and picturesque than the
+Pearl of the Antilles. This favourite ditty is called a Melopea, or
+words without a melody--the words being simply 'spoken,' and closely
+followed on the piano by lively music.
+
+This song and another having been disposed of, partners are selected and
+the Danza Criolla--a popular Cuban valse--is for the rest of the
+afternoon (for it is still broad daylight) performed. The guests then
+depart; and after a little conversation with Don Benigno and his family,
+Nicasio and I are conducted by a black domestic to our dormitories. Here
+we indulge in a siesta, and otherwise refresh ourselves till the hour of
+dinner.
+
+Those of Nicasio's friends who have been foiled in their attempt to
+secure us for their guests, console themselves by exhibiting their
+hospitality in other ways. We are overwhelmed with invitations to pass
+the temporada, or season, at their estates in the country, and so
+numerous are these invitations that, were we to accept them all, two
+years would scarcely suffice for the fulfilment of our engagements.
+
+During the first weeks of our residence in Santiago, the hospitality
+which we receive in various ways is sometimes overpowering. Wherever we
+may wander some unknown friend has anticipated our arrival, and secretly
+provided for our wants. We turn into a cafe for refreshments, and when
+we offer to pay for what we have ordered, the waiter refuses to take our
+coin, while he assures us that our repast has already been paid for!
+Subsequently we discover that the proprietors of all the restaurants and
+cafes in the town have been instructed by some mysterious person or
+persons not to accept payment from 'Don Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldu and
+his English companion,' but to 'put it down to the account.' Whenever we
+visit the theatre, the same pecuniary objections are raised; and upon
+one occasion, the haberdasher to whom we apply for a dozen shirts a la
+creole actually refuses to favour us with a bill!
+
+These attentions are, however, short-lived, for my partner, after
+permitting them to exist for a reasonable length of time, publicly gives
+out that unless this overpowering hospitality altogether ceases, he and
+el Caballero Ingles will remove to a less demonstrative town. This
+warning takes effect, but still the tendency to 'stand treat'--which is
+a special weakness in Cuba--manifests itself in other ways.
+
+I go into a cafe where some creoles--utter strangers to me--are grouped
+around one of the marble tables. If I happen to be accompanied by a
+lady, every man rises and salutes us. If alone, I am offered a seat and
+refreshments; for under no circumstances, and in no locality, does a
+Cuban eat and drink without first inviting his neighbours to partake of
+his fare. 'Usted gusta?' (Will you partake of this?) or 'Gusta usted
+tomar algo?' (Won't you take something?) is a Cuban's grace before meat.
+
+These, attentions are not, however, confined to feeding. They are
+adapted to everything that a Cuban possesses. If I admire any article or
+individual belonging to a Cuban--no matter whether the object of my
+admiration be a watch-guard--a handsome cane--a horse--a gun--a slave,
+or a pretty child--I am invariably assured that it is mine (Es para
+usted), or that it is my servant (Un servidor de usted). When I ask a
+Cuban where he lives, he promptly replies: 'At your house,' in
+such-and-such a street, number so-and-so; and whenever such an
+individual favours me with a letter, I always find the document
+addressed: 'From your house' (Su casa).
+
+In short, I never know what politeness means, nor what extensive West
+Indian possessions are at my disposal, till I live amidst the luxuries
+of the Pearl of the Antilles!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+DAILY LIFE IN CUBA.
+
+     A Cuban Home--My Bed-Room--A Creole Breakfast--Don Benigno and his
+     Family--A Cuban Matron--Church-going in connection with
+     Shopping--An Evening Tertulia--A Tropical Moon.
+
+
+Like most of his neighbours, Don Benigno keeps 'open house' in more than
+one way. The huge street-door of his habitation remains unclosed at all
+hours of the day and evening, and anyone who pleases may walk in and
+partake of the Don's hospitality.
+
+Don Benigno's house is constructed after the pattern of the good,
+old-fashioned Cuban dwellings, with an eye to earthquake, heavy rains,
+and excessive heat. So careful is a creole to provide against these
+casualties, that his residence serves less as an abode for comfort than
+as a place of shelter. It has a single storey, and is roofed with Roman
+tiles. The walls are of lath and plaster, or mamposteria, as it is
+called, and the beams which support the roof are visible from the
+interior as they are in a barn. Some of the apartments are paved with
+marble, while others are paved with brick. In the centre of the spacious
+reception-room, or sala, is laid a small square of carpet, like a
+misplaced hearth-rug, on which stand twelve rocking-chairs, arranged
+face to face like seats in a railway carriage. They are accompanied by
+a few footstools and some spittoons. The rooms are not overcrowded with
+furniture and ornaments, and these scarce commodities stand out in bold
+relief against the white-washed walls and bare flooring. The chairs and
+sofas are all cane-backed and cane-bottomed. Tables are not plentiful,
+and curtains are employed as adornments for some of the doors instead of
+the windows, which are also devoid of glass. An elegant gas chandelier
+is suspended from one of the cross-beams of the sloping roof, and a
+couple of unserviceable console tables, with their corresponding
+pier-glasses, complete the decorations of the sala.
+
+No fire-stoves are required in any chamber except the kitchen, and the
+latter being situated in the patio, or court-yard, at the back of the
+premises, the residents in a Cuban house are never troubled with any
+other smoke than that which is generated by tobacco.
+
+As for the dormitories--the one which I occupy might belong to a holy
+friar. There is an aspect of cell and sanctity about everything in it.
+The furniture is nothing to speak of, and the bed, which is called a
+catre, closely resembles a tressled apple-stall with a canvas tray. When
+not in use, the catre is shut up and whisked away into an obscure
+corner. When required for sleeping purposes, it is opened, and the bed
+having been 'made' with a couple of sheets and a pillow, it is planted
+in a cool place, which often happens to be the centre of the apartment.
+
+The monotonous appearance of the white-washed walls is relieved by
+coloured lithograph drawings of saints and virgins, and against one of
+the walls is placed a table decorated like a small altar with a white
+lace-trimmed cloth upon which stand some gilded candlesticks, vases
+containing artificial flowers, and a large wooden statuette, gorgeously
+painted and embellished. This image represents the patron saint,
+Santiago, beneath whose feet burns night and day a small oil lamp. The
+object for which this luminary is intended is ignored by me for many
+days, and meanwhile I use it, when nobody is looking, for the lighting
+of my cigarettes. My authority for this sacrilegious act is derived from
+my companion, Nicasio, who is a liberal-minded Catholic, and as I find
+he also performs the same ceremony in his own dormitory, my conscience
+is relieved. Equally mysterious are a couple of dry fonts which have in
+all respects the appearances of china watch-pockets. I make use of one
+for the accommodation of my time-piece, until I am informed that only
+holy water is allowed to repose within its sacred embraces.
+
+In fine weather my slumbers at night are uninterrupted, but when it
+rains--and in Cuba it never rains but it pours in bucketfuls--my rest is
+at intervals sorely disturbed. I dream that a thousand belligerent cats
+are at civil war on the Roman-tiled roof above me, and that for some
+unknown reason I alone expiate their bloodthirsty crimes, by enduring a
+horrible penance, which consists in the historical torture of a slow and
+perpetual stream of liquid which dribbles upon my bare cranium. I awake
+suddenly to find that my nightmare has not been unfounded. Something
+damp, proceeding from the sloping roof, drops at regular intervals upon
+my forehead. By the light of the patron saint who watches over me I
+perceive that the rain has found an inlet through a gotera in the roof.
+A gotera is a hole in the tiles, formed during the day by the action of
+the baking sun upon the mortar, which yields to its cracking influence
+and leaves an aperture. Rising hurriedly in the dead of night, I remove
+my catre to a dry corner, and at the same time place a basin beneath the
+spot from whence the drops of rain issue. Once more I awake under the
+same moistening influence. A fresh gotera has arisen over my dry place
+of repose. Again I shift my ground, and use an empty pail for the
+accommodation of the intrusive element; but fresh goteras appear
+wherever I pitch my catre, until, having circumnavigated all the safe
+coasts of my tempestuous apartment and exhausted every receptacle for
+water, I take up my bed and deposit it in an adjoining chamber, which
+happening to be unoccupied and free from goteras, allows my slumbers to
+remain undisturbed till morning.
+
+Don Benigno's family take what we should call breakfast, but which they
+term 'tienta pie,' in their respective sleeping chambers. At six A.M. a
+dark domestic enters my dormitory with a cup of black coffee and a
+cigarette. Later, this is followed by a larger cup of milk qualified
+with coffee, or, if I prefer chocolate, the latter in an extraordinary
+thick form is brought. The beverage is accompanied by a Cuban bun or a
+milk roll with foreign butter: for as the native cow does not supply the
+material for that luxury, the butter used in Cuba is all imported in
+bottles like preserves.
+
+Eleven o'clock is the hour appointed for breakfast. This is a
+substantial meal and appears to be breakfast, dinner, and supper rolled
+into one. Every item of food is served as a separate course, of which
+there are more than fourteen different 'fuentes,' or dishes, on the
+table. A plate of eggs and sliced bananas fried in butter constitutes
+the first course. A second course is represented by a dish containing a
+combination of boiled rice and dried cod-fish, or 'bacalao,' with tomato
+sauce. 'Serence,' with 'congri,' is a Creole dish composed of Indian
+corn, rice, and red beans, and forms course number three. Sambumbia,
+anis, and chimbombo, are native vegetables prepared in a variety of
+palatable ways. An olla podrida of sweet yams, pumpkins, white beans,
+bacon, sausage, and cabbage is another favourite dish; and, lastly,
+fish, flesh, and fowl in a dozen different guises complete the bill of
+fare. This sumptuous repast having been washed down with Catalan claret,
+some West Indian fruits and solid-looking preserves are partaken of, and
+the indispensable cigar or cigarette and wholesome cafe noir are handed
+round.
+
+Breakfast over, the Don's family disperse, each to his or her
+occupation. The children retire to their schoolroom, where the different
+masters (for in Cuba there are no 'out-door' governesses) engaged for
+their instruction arrive at their prescribed hours, give their lessons,
+and depart. A master is provided for every branch of learning and for
+teaching every art except that of dancing, this accomplishment being
+naturally and easily acquired by the graceful little ladies and
+gentlemen themselves.
+
+Don Benigno retreats, after breakfast, to his office, where he transacts
+his business affairs, which seem to consist chiefly in lolling in an
+easy chair with a long cigar between his lips, while he watches his
+escribano, or clerk, as that functionary makes up accounts and writes
+letters.
+
+As for the Don's lady, Dona Mercedes, she may be described broadly as a
+sleeping partner, her department in the firm being literally the
+sleeping department. After disposing of her housekeeping duties, which
+are briefly accomplished by handing the black cook a certain sum daily
+for marketing purposes, the worthy lady passes the rest of the day with
+a fan in a rocking chair, in which she sways and fans herself cool. Dona
+Mercedes has a youthful appearance from her neck upwards, but being
+somewhat corpulent, her figure scarcely corresponds with the attractions
+of her face. Being, however, attired in a loose linen gown which falls
+like a sack, ungirdled and uninterrupted, from her fair shoulders to her
+remarkably small shoes, the protuberances of her person escape notice,
+and, with her jet-black hair neatly and tastefully arranged, she may be
+said to represent an agreeable type of the Cuban matron.
+
+It is often a matter for wonder with me, how Senora Mercedes and her
+friends contrive to keep their hair in such perfect order. Cuban ladies
+being gifted by nature with a wealth of hair require no artificial aid;
+but I am told that their heads being once 'dressed' for the day remain
+intact till night, a fact which I can easily credit, seeing that no
+ceole lady assumes either bonnet, hat, or other covering for the head,
+when she takes her walks abroad.
+
+But Dona Mercedes is not always such a helpless member of society as I
+have represented her. She is possessed of a warm, generous nature, and
+this quality often prompts the good lady to perform many useful acts of
+kindness and charity to those who are in need of her benevolence.
+
+Between one and three in the afternoon, Don Benigno and his family
+indulge in the wholesome luxury of a warm bath; for, despite the
+climate, a creole, when in town, rarely immerses his or her body in
+perfectly cold water. The water intended for bathing purposes is
+sometimes placed in the centre of the patio, or court-yard, where, under
+the powerful influence of the sun, it is soon warmed to any reasonable
+degree of temperature.
+
+Ablutions over, the indispensable siesta is enjoyed by everybody, on
+catres or in hammocks; for the heat of mid-day is insupportable, and
+repose after a bath is considered salutary.
+
+After the siesta, Dona Mercedes and her young daughters, accompanied by
+her adopted child--a girl of ten--do what the ladies of many other
+countries do late in the afternoon. They attire themselves fashionably
+and take a stroll in the Plaza or a drive in the Alameda, which is the
+Rotten Row of a Cuban town.
+
+Whatever shopping Dona Mercedes contemplates is effected in the cool of
+the early morning after her devotions at the church, whither she repairs
+at the hour of six A.M. Church-going is a serious undertaking with the
+good lady. Firstly, she and her daughters must be becomingly attired,
+and on this occasion black lace veils are included in their toilettes.
+Besides prayer-books, rosaries, and fans, the devotees must be provided
+with small squares of carpet and toy-like chairs of papier mache inlaid
+with gold and pearl ornaments. These articles of furniture are conveyed
+to the sacred edifice by some young negress servants, for with the
+exception of a few wooden benches, a Cuban church offers no relief to
+the weary flesh.
+
+Having entered the church, Dona Mercedes proceeds to moisten the tips
+of her ungloved fingers in some holy water from a font, and after duly
+crossing herself, extends her hand to her daughters, who touch it and
+thus partake of the blessed liquid. The black attendants then spread the
+fragments of carpet, place the chairs, and retire to a dark corner of
+the building. The ceremonies begin. Dona Mercedes and her daughters
+follow the ecclesiastic in their miniature prayer-books, and alternately
+kneel and cross themselves when required to do so; gaze with a devout
+expression at their favourite saint, and tell their beads; take a mental
+note of their neighbours' dresses, fan themselves, and exchange nods of
+recognition with acquaintances--till a little bell from one of the
+side-chapels tinkles for the final ceremony of elevating the host.
+
+Matins over, the ladies betake themselves to the principal
+thoroughfares, where the best shops are to be found, and when their
+purchases have been made they return home, calling on the way at the
+houses of their friends.
+
+When there is no performance at the theatre or the promenade in the
+military square, Don Benigno holds a tertulia in his balcony.
+
+A tertulia is a reception, or social gathering, and may be held at any
+hour of the day; but the best time for a tertulia is the cool of the
+evening.
+
+The five o'clock dinner being over and digested, Don Benigno sallies
+forth--cigar in mouth--upon his covered balcony, or coridor, as it is
+called, which in length and breadth strikingly resembles the platform of
+a small railway station.
+
+'Traigan las balanzas!' drawls the Don, and in answer to his summons a
+couple of negroes appear with a number of rocking-chairs, which they
+place--when the moon is at its brightest--in a shady corner of the
+verandah. Here we all seat ourselves, and await the arrival of any guest
+who may 'drop in' for a sociable chat and a cigar.
+
+Don Francisco--the chief doctor of the town--is usually the first to
+appear. He is followed by Senor Esteban, the lawyer, Don Magin, the
+merchant, Don Felipe, the sugar-planter, and one or two young creoles
+whose avocations are doubtful. As each guest appears, everybody rises
+and salutes him elaborately. The visitors are all attired for the
+evening in black alpaca coats, white drill trousers, and waistcoats,
+patent leather thin-soled boots, and bran new 'bombas'--a bomba being
+the slang term for a tall beaver hat.
+
+For some moments the company assembled remain speechless, and no sounds
+are heard in the silent evening but the swaying of the rocking-chairs
+and the creaking of the gentlemen's stiffly-starched trousers. Presently
+someone produces a neat home-made cigarette case, and before selecting a
+cigar or a cigarette for his own consumption offers it to all the males
+present, who accept of his generosity. The conversation, in which those
+who are not already asleep join, now becomes general. The weather, and
+the state of the coffee and cane crops, are all duly discussed, together
+with the theatre and the last ball at the Philharmonic. Politics are
+lightly touched upon, for two of the gentlemen present are Spaniards,
+and for obvious reasons a Cuban usually avoids all topics which concern
+the government of his country. Occasionally someone who is well-read in
+the day's newspaper, essays a mild discussion with somebody else who has
+not seen the paper for a week; but as Cuban periodicals are under
+official control, they are not remarkable for their political veracity,
+and the well-read member of the company usually gets the worst of the
+argument.
+
+Learning that my companion and I contemplate establishing a studio for
+the practice of our profession in the town, everybody offers us his
+advice, and recommends to our notice certain houses suitable for art
+purposes. Don Esteban, the lawyer, favours us with his legal opinion,
+reminding us of the law which prohibits a foreigner from setting up in
+business on his own account; but we assure him of our intention to 'go
+into partnership,' and that as one of us is a Cuban born, we have no
+uneasiness.
+
+It is considered fatal to sit under the rays of a Cuban moon, so when
+that luminary is visible to any occupant of the balcony, his
+rocking-chair is immediately shifted into a shadier part. But, in doing
+so, extreme care is taken lest the occupant should reseat himself with
+his back inclined in the least manner towards his neighbour, as a Cuban
+would rather suffer any personal inconvenience than be discovered in
+this impolite posture.
+
+No refreshment of any kind is offered by our host during the tertulia,
+but if one of the company feels thirsty he calls for a glass of iced
+water, which is accordingly brought to him by a slave, who, if
+necessary, qualifies the harmless beverage with 'panales,' which is a
+kind of cake prepared with white sugar.
+
+Other tertulias are being held at neighbouring houses. Those who have no
+balconies to boast of, place their rocking-chairs in the passage or hall
+of their dwelling, while others, who have neither the one accommodation
+nor the other, deposit their receptacles for the weary on the pavement
+in the street. The black domestics form a tertulia on the door-steps or
+squat together in dark unoccupied parts of the corridors. Their jabber
+is incessant and occasionally requires a gentle reminder. Sometimes one
+of their company essays a wild melody, accompanying his song on a
+primitive instrument of his own manufacture.
+
+Throughout the evening the streets are utterly deserted, and as,
+moreover, they are badly illuminated with gas, the aspect on a dark
+night is not cheerful. But on a bright, moonlit night, such as that to
+which I have referred, artificial lighting is altogether dispensed with.
+The moon in the tropics is, for astronomical reasons, brighter than it
+is elsewhere; but as regards Cuba, another reason might be derived from
+the fact that, metaphorically speaking, a slave country and a badly
+governed one into the bargain, is about the darkest spot in the
+habitable globe. At least, in Cuba the lamp of Heaven shines with
+increased brilliancy, illuminating alike Spaniard, Cuban, freedman, and
+bondsman!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+ART-PATRONAGE IN CUBA.
+
+     Our Studio--Our Critics--Our Patrons--Still-Life.
+
+
+Assisted by Don Benigno's nephew Tunicu, Nicasio and I in time meet with
+a residence suitable for art purposes.
+
+Our habitation consists of six rooms on a single floor, with a wide
+balcony in front, and a spacious patio, or court-yard, at the back. We
+have no furniture worth mentioning; furniture in Cuba being represented
+by a few cane or leather-bottomed chairs, some spittoons, and a small
+square of carpet. But our walls are well hung with works of art in
+various stages of progress, which, in a great measure, compensate for
+the otherwise barren appearance of our apartments. Our studio is a
+spacious chamber on a level with the street which it overlooks. The
+windows occupy more than half of the wall space, are guiltless of glass,
+and are protected by iron bars. The accessories of our strange calling
+lend an interest to our domestic arrangements, and form a kind of free
+entertainment for the vulgar. To insure privacy, we have sometimes
+curtained the lower half of our enormous windows; but this contrivance
+has always proved ineffectual, for in the midst of our labour, the
+space above the curtains has been gradually eclipsed by the appearance
+of certain playful blacks who have clambered to the heights by means of
+the accommodating rails. Gentlemen of colour have little respect for the
+polite arts; they look upon our sanctum as a sort of permanent
+peep-show, and upon us as a superior order of photographers. Primed with
+these delusions our Spanish Sambo comes for his carte-de-visite at all
+hours of the sunny day, persuaded that we undertake black physiognomies
+at four dollars a dozen; and when we assure him that ours is the
+legitimate colouring business, and that we have no connexion with Senor
+Collodion up the street, our swarthy patron produces a ready-made black
+and white miniature of himself, and commissions us to colour it in our
+best manner.
+
+The press of Santiago dubs us 'followers of the divine art of Apelles,'
+and an inspection of our works of art is thus described in one of the
+local papers:
+
+'We have lately visited those industrious gentlemen Don Nicasio
+Rodriguez y Boldu and El Caballero Ingles Don Gualterio who, as the
+public are aware, have established a studio in Cuba for the practice of
+the divine art of Raphael and Michael Angelo. It is the duty of every
+art-loving person to inspect all temples of the beautiful whether they
+be represented by the luxurious palaces of the great or the humblest
+cottages on earth. Knowledge reveals itself in the dullest as well as
+the brightest localities, for true genius can abide anywhere.
+
+'He who, like ourselves, has frequently traversed the Calle de Santa
+Rosa, must have observed that in that street stands a priceless casket,
+which being open leads to the studio of the two distinguished followers
+of the divine art of Apelles to whom we have referred.'
+
+After continuing to indulge in this poetical strain for another
+paragraph or two, the enthusiastic writer is recalled to his duties of
+art-showman, and proceeds to describe in glowing colours all that is
+contained in the 'priceless casket,' open for his inspection. He lingers
+lovingly over a large copy of Titian's 'Venus' which, together with
+other pictures and unfinished sketches, we had brought with us from
+Italy. He is perfectly enraptured with the charms of the painted
+goddess, from whom he can scarcely tear himself away even on paper, and
+he concludes with the remark that, 'after contemplating this life-like
+representation of nature, the spectator is disposed to touch the canvas
+to convince himself that what he beholds is merely a painted shadow of
+the reality!'
+
+Sketches and portraits next occupy his attention; 'and if,' he adds,
+'the visitor's curiosity is not satisfied with the representations of
+men and women, he can relieve his vision by regarding beasts and birds,
+which, although only depicted upon canvas, appear to be endowed with
+animation!'
+
+In spite, however, of these and other published tributes to our genius,
+we find that high art, at least, does not pay in our part of the
+tropics. Regardless of posterity, therefore, we abandon the sublime, and
+offer our art services for anything that may present itself. A bona fide
+painter is a rarity in the town I am describing, so Nicasio and I are
+comparatively alone in the fine art field. Our patrons are numerous, but
+we are expected by them to be as versatile as the 'general utility' of
+theatrical life.
+
+Nicasio finds a lucrative post vacant at the public 'Academy of
+Arts'--an institution supported by the municipality of the town. There
+is a great dearth of 'professors of drawing,' owing to the sudden
+resignation of a gentleman who previous to our arrival had been the sole
+representative of 'the divine art of Apelles.' The academy is a dreary
+apology for a school of art. The accommodation is scanty, and the
+'models' provided for the scholars or 'discipulos,' as they are grandly
+styled, consist wholly of bad lithographic drawings. The post of
+professor, however, yields a fair monthly stipend, and it being offered
+to and accepted by my companion, contributes no inconsiderable item
+towards our united income.
+
+We are overwhelmed with portrait work, but most of it is connected with
+defunct people, for we cannot induce our patrons to believe that a
+living person is a fit subject for our brush. And so it often happens
+that we are summoned from our homes, doctor-like, at all hours of the
+night, to hasten to the house of a moribund, for the purpose of making
+such notes as shall afterwards serve as guides for a replica of the late
+lamented in his habit as he lived.
+
+One of our first applicants for this kind of patronage is Don Magin, the
+merchant, whose acquaintance we have made at Don Benigno's tertulia. The
+Don stops me in the street one day, and with a disturbed countenance
+tells me that his only child--a girl of three--has been lately buried.
+Will I, or my partner, be so good as to restore her to life on canvas? I
+agree to undertake the work if Don Magin will provide me with a guide in
+the shape of a photograph.
+
+'I am sorry to inform you,' says the Don, 'that my poor child never sat
+for her photograph.'
+
+'Then,' I remark, 'I will be satisfied with a slight but faithful
+sketch, or even a coloured miniature.'
+
+'I regret that I cannot supply you with any representation of my
+departed daughter,' replies Don Magin.
+
+'How then can you expect to possess a portrait of her?' I enquire.
+
+'Easily enough,' he answers. 'It is true that I have no actual likeness
+of the child; but equally good guides are at your disposal. I can
+provide you with the little dress, the little hat, the little shoes and
+socks which she was accustomed to wear. I have also taken the measure of
+her height, and the size round her pretty waist. I can furnish you with
+minute particulars respecting the colour of her complexion, hair and
+eyes, and I will show you a lovely child who resembles my own in many
+ways. Besides this, my Engracia was considered to bear a strong likeness
+to her father. Make her appear so also in the painting; introduce the
+accessories which I have mentioned; take a notion or two from the girl
+that I will send, and I am convinced that the result will be
+satisfactory to both of us.'
+
+In vain do I endeavour to show the impossibility of such an achievement;
+the merchant will not hear of refusal, and as an inducement for me to
+make only a trial, he offers me a large price, promising to double the
+amount if I succeed to his liking.
+
+It is a source of infinite consolation to the distressed old
+gentleman--who by the way is very grey and wrinkled--when I finally
+agree to make a trial; but I warn him that his anticipations about the
+result will never be realised.
+
+Sanguine and happy, my strange patron departs, and in due course I
+receive the various articles he had specified. The pretty child serves
+well enough as a model for the proportions of the figure, and attired in
+the garb of her late lamented playmate, she enables me to devote every
+attention to the detail. I am also able to crown the little pink dress
+with an infantile face, whose hair, eyes, and complexion I colour
+according to instructions; and with the introduction of a landscape
+background and with a stray flower or two arranged in the foreground,
+the sum total is a pretty picture which, on that account, leaves at
+least a 'balance in my favour!'
+
+The portrait (?) having been placed in its gilded frame, my patron is
+invited to inspect it.
+
+For many long moments Don Magin contemplates the work without uttering a
+word. His countenance, which I watch with an anxious eye--as yet
+expresses neither approval nor the reverse.
+
+Does this portrait on my easel remind the bereaved parent of his lost
+offspring?
+
+It does! yes; there faithfully depicted are the very dress, the very
+little hat, and the still smaller shoes which she was wont to wear in
+life! The figure, complexion, colour of eyes and hair, are all hers to a
+shade. In short, a resemblance to his child gradually developes itself
+before the old gentleman's vision, till at last clasping both my hands,
+and with tears in his eyes, he declares that I have succeeded far beyond
+his best expectations.
+
+In this instance everything terminates like the last scene in the
+drama, where the aged father recognises his long lost child. But work of
+this nature does not always end so satisfactorily.
+
+Happily, portraiture is not our only resource. We hold important
+professorships in colleges, schools, and ladies' academies, where we
+impart every accomplishment in which drawing-paper and pencils are used,
+including the art of caligraphy, missal-painting, and designing for
+fancy needlework.
+
+Whenever a strolling company of Spanish players encamp for the season at
+the theatre, our services are required as the company's special scenic
+artists. The demand for scenery at the Teatro Real Cuba is, however,
+small; a divergence from its standard repertoire being considered as
+next to an infringement on public rights; so our labours rarely extend
+beyond an occasional property, or 'set' in the shape of a painted
+'ancestor,' a practicable piece of furniture, or a bit of bank for
+introduction into the elegant saloon, the cottage interior, or the wood
+scene. Once only are our scenic services in special request for a fairy
+piece, which the manager has announced with 'entirely new decorations.'
+Though the public believe that four months have been employed in the
+preparations, we have barely as many days for the purpose, and during
+this short space we produce that gorgeous temple which is destined to
+form a conspicuous feature in the well-worn wood scene, and we add to
+the native charm of the elegant saloon and the cottage interior with
+suitable embellishments. Dutch metal and coloured foils, lavishly
+administered, cover a multitude of imperfections, and we have still the
+red fire and an indulgent public to fall back upon. Our efforts are
+rewarded by thunders of applause on the part of the audience, and
+eulogistic paragraphs in the local papers.
+
+To oblige our worthy friend Don Benigno we are, upon another occasion,
+induced to paint and embellish his quitrin--a two-wheeled carriage of
+the gig class, the component parts of which bear one to the other
+something of the proportions of a spider and his web; the body of the
+conveyance being extremely small, the shafts inconceivably long, and the
+wheels of a gigantic circumference. The street-doors of most Cuban
+houses are constructed with a view to the admittance of such a vehicle,
+which when not in use is carefully enveloped in brown holland, like a
+harp or a chandelier during the out-of-town season, and is deposited in
+the hall or passage of the threshold, and in some cases in a corner of
+the marble-paved reception room. The presence in our studio of Don
+Benigno's quitrin is therefore not very remarkable. Many weeks, however,
+elapse before we can get rid of this unsightly piece of furniture.
+Several coats of paint and varnish have to be applied, and innumerable
+coloured lines introduced, before it is ready to receive the more
+artistic touches. All devices connected with painting are by our Cuban
+patrons generalised under the head of 'paisaje' or landscape, and in the
+present instance the landscapes include two views of Don Benigno's crest
+together with his elaborate monogram.
+
+A couple of mulatto art-aspirants whom we graciously receive as
+disciples for one hour daily, help considerably in this undertaking, and
+take such an especial delight in it that it is a sorrowful day for them
+when Saturnine--Don Benigno's black postilion--comes to wheel away their
+handiwork.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A CUBAN 'VELORIO.'
+
+     More Still-Life--A Night Wake--Mourners--Dona Dolores--A Funeral
+     Procession--A Burial.
+
+
+To be summoned from his couch at all hours of the night is not an
+uncommon occurrence with a medical man, but for a follower of 'the
+divine art of Apelles' to be thus disturbed in his slumbers is, to say
+the least of it, an unreasonable proceeding.
+
+Nevertheless one of us must rise and don his clothes at three A.M.; for
+a black varlet has come to inform us that his 'amo,' Don Pancho Agueerro
+y Matos, has just died, and that his bereaved family are desirous of
+preserving his image on canvas. Nicasio and I, as usual, draw lots for
+the questionable privilege of immortalising the late lamented, and as
+this time I am the unfortunate winner, it behoves me to gather together
+the implements of our craft, attire myself in my darkest garments, and
+follow the sombre messenger of death to the house of mourning.
+
+Here a 'velorio,' or night-wake, for the departed is being held. The
+reception room is already crowded with the defunct's relatives and
+dearest friends, who are seated on chairs and low stools against the
+walls. As soon as I appear everybody rises in accordance with the
+polite custom of the country, and the chief mourners crowd around me and
+give expression to their grief in a variety of ways. Some clasp my neck
+and waist; others cling to my legs, and pointing to an adjoining
+chamber, they beseech me to restore the late lamented to life--on
+canvas.
+
+Encompassed as I am, it is no easy matter to reach the apartment where
+the deceased, surrounded by long wax candles and tall silver
+candlesticks, lies in state.
+
+Though my duties are confined to the portrayal of the inanimate face
+before me, I often pause to take mental as well as pictorial notes of
+the surroundings. I observe that the defunct is attired in a suit of
+black, which has doubtless been provided by the undertakers; for the
+clothes are much too wide for his wasted anatomy, and give him the
+appearance of a misfitted dissenting minister. I remark that the dead
+man's relatives and friends bear their loss bravely; for some are
+endeavouring to drown their sorrows in the cup that cheers, and in
+lively conversation. I am reminded of the popular theory that tobacco is
+a disinfectant, from the fact that most of the company, including the
+elderly ladies, are indulging in that luxury. Occasionally a tray of
+cigars is handed round together with coffee, chocolate, sweetmeats, and
+biscuits. I note that these convivialities are only interrupted when a
+visitor is announced. That upon these occasions the mourners are
+inspired to give loud expression to their grief. That the women shriek,
+rave, and occasionally vary their proceedings by swooning and going into
+hysterics. I observe that the new arrival is seized and surrounded as I
+had been and conducted into the chamber of death, where some of the
+mourners give vent to their sorrow by clasping the clerical-looking
+clothes or embracing the borrowed boots. I find that among the lady
+mourners the most demonstrative is Dona Dolores, who is said to be the
+nearest surviving relative of the departed; though from the language
+which she occasionally utters it is not clear to me what kind of
+relationship she claims.
+
+Whenever a new mourner appears, Dona Dolores, who has been hitherto
+silently seated behind me, springs to her feet and in the following
+terms apostrophises the dead:
+
+'Oh! Pancho. My little dear! (the defunct was a middle-aged gentleman).
+Answer me, my love. Where are you, my brother? Ah! it's all over with
+you now, Panchito. To-morrow you will be quite alone, with nobody to
+speak to you. Oh! my Panchito--my love--my life--my entranos! Pancho of
+my heart; of my soul! My brother--my son--my love--my father; for thou
+hast been more than father, lover, son, and brother to me!'
+
+After a short pause the lady breaks out afresh:
+
+'Virgen Santisima! Virgen de la Caridad! Where is my poor Panchito? What
+have you done with him? Where are you, Pancho? Answer me, my love! Maria
+Santisima; look at my poor brother all alone without the power to speak
+or rise! Make him answer me! Oh! my dear companion--my cousin--my
+godfather--mi compadre--my parent--my friend; speak! Tell me where you
+are! Come to me, my Pancho; my Panchito. Oh! Pancho--Pan-cho!
+Pa-n-n-cho!!'
+
+Once, in the middle of the lady's eloquence, the late Don Pancho
+startles everybody (myself included) by opening his mouth and drooping
+his head!
+
+In order to facilitate my operations, the body had been propped up in a
+sitting posture, but by some mishap the props had given way. Until the
+real cause of the displacement is made manifest, Dona Dolores is beside
+herself with joy. Her Pancho has been restored to life! Her beloved
+'stepfather, spouse, and compatriot' will drive with her to the Alameda
+to-morrow! He shall have a cigar and a cup of coffee now, and his
+portrait shall not be painted!
+
+'Go,' says the Senora to me in a tone of authority; 'we don't want you
+any more. Panchito will accompany me to the photographer's, and save you
+the trouble!'
+
+Fortunately the lady's friends intercede at this moment; for finding
+that I do not obey her commands, the exasperated Senora makes a wild
+dash at my sketch-book; over-turning in her movements my box of colours
+and one of the long candlesticks! Convinced, however, of the truth, the
+poor lady is pacified, and resumes her place behind me.
+
+On the morning of the second day of the velorio, as I am putting the
+finishing touches to my sketch, certain strange ceremonies are observed.
+
+An undertaker's man is announced, and, apparently with no other object
+in view than to provide becoming robes of sable for the bereaved,
+proceeds to take the general dimensions of everybody present. But I
+observe that a separate length of white tape is employed in each case,
+and that when a sufficient number have been thus collected, the measures
+are consigned to the dead man's pockets, together with the mourners'
+white cambric handkerchiefs.
+
+When these and other curious ceremonials--the precise object of which I
+cannot for the life of me penetrate--have been enacted, more
+undertakers arrive and proceed to prepare the body for decent burial.
+There is much lamentation when the coffin is finally borne from the
+house. The women shriek and swoon, grovel on the ground, and tear their
+hair. As for Dona Dolores--she is inconsolable, and continues to
+harangue the remains until her speech is inarticulate and she is carried
+away in a fainting condition to her chamber.
+
+A procession, consisting of upwards of seventy mourners, follows on foot
+the richly-gilded and ornamented hearse. Everybody is attired in the
+deepest mourning, which, as fashions in Cuba go, includes a tall beaver
+hat adorned with broad crape, a black cloth coat and white trousers. The
+hired mutes, however, present a more sombre appearance, for not only are
+their habiliments black, but also their faces and bare hands; mutes in
+Cuba being represented by negroes of the darkest shade.
+
+The funeral procession now leads on in the direction of the cathedral,
+where mass for the dead is to be performed. Those who do not care to
+enter the sacred edifice will light their cigars and cigarettes, and
+will employ the interval which elapses before the burial service is
+over, by strolling about the neighbourhood, and chatting with
+acquaintances at their grated windows.
+
+Service being over, the funeral will proceed to the cemetery at St.
+Ana's. Arrived at the gates of the burial ground, everybody will return
+home without waiting for the interment, which in Cuba is performed by a
+couple of black sextons who, unattended by either priest, mourner, or
+any other person, lower the remains into the hole which has been dug for
+it!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+CUBAN MODELS.
+
+     Tropical Birds--The Cocos--La Grulla--Vultures--Street
+     Criers--Water Carriers.
+
+
+My companion has a weakness for bird-painting, and it pleases him to
+have the living originals on the premises. Therefore does our spacious
+court-yard contain a goodly collection of the feathered tribe, with one
+or two animals without feathers. A large wirework aviary is filled with
+fifty specimens of tropical birds with pretty plumage and names hard to
+pronounce. A couple of cocos--a species of stork, with clipped
+wings--run freely about the yard, in company with a wild owl and a
+grulla, a tall crane-like bird five feet high. In a tank of water are a
+pair of young caymanes, or crocodiles. These interesting creatures are
+still in their infancy, and at present measure only four feet six inches
+from the tips of their hard noses to the points of their flexible tails.
+We have done our best to tame them; but they have not yet fallen into
+our domestic ways. Nor does time improve their vicious natures, for at
+the tender age of six months they have already shown signs of
+insubordination. If they persist in their evil courses we must needs
+make a premature end of them, which is no easy matter, for their scaly
+hides are already tough as leather, and the only indefensible parts
+about them are their small eyes and open mouths.
+
+The Cocos, male and female, are meagre-bodied birds, with slender legs,
+and beaks twelve inches long. They are an inseparable couple, and wander
+about our patio and rooms in a restless nervous fashion, rattling their
+chop-stick noses into everything. Now they are diving into the mould of
+flower-pots for live food, which they will never swallow till it has
+been previously slain. One of them has espied a cockroach in a corner,
+and in darting towards the prey a scorpion crosses its path. The
+venomous reptile hugs the belligerent beak in the hope of conveying to
+it some of its deadly sting; but the tip of Coco's horny appendage is a
+long way from his tender points, and Scorpio must travel many an inch
+before he can make the desired impression. Meanwhile the stork has
+teased Scorpio's life out, and jerked his remains into that bourn whence
+no defunct reptile returns. Our Coco's chief delight is to play with our
+painting materials, where much amusement may be derived by upsetting a
+bottle of varnish, or by distributing our long brushes in various parts
+of the room.
+
+A fund of entertainment is found in the displacement of every object not
+too weighty for Coco to convey. Thus, when a wineglass or a small coffee
+cup is missing, it will be discovered in the most unlikely spot, such as
+the balcony, on the roof, or maybe in our neighbour's dusthole. By
+Coco's sleight of _beak_, slippers part company and invite us to hunt
+for them, as if we were playing a certain old-fashioned game. As for the
+spoons, knives, and forks--they are disseminated everywhere like seeds
+in a ploughed field.
+
+Has anyone seen my inkstand?
+
+Yes; it has caught Coco's eye, and it has consequently been caught up by
+his chop-stick beak. With the agility of a sprite, he had hopped upon my
+open writing-desk, and having duly overhauled the contents and carefully
+transplanted each particular sheet of paper, envelope, pen and pencil,
+he devotes his attention to the ink; half of which he must surely have
+imbibed, for his beak remains parti-coloured for many days, and the
+inkstand, which I discover on the first fine 'retreta,' reposing within
+my best beaver hat, is perfectly empty!
+
+To their credit, be it said, the two Cocos--male and female--never for
+an instant part company. Where one trips, there trips the other. If
+Senor Coco starts off on any important enterprise, his Senora gives a
+croak expressive of her readiness to follow, and is after him like his
+own shadow. Similarly, when la Senora Coco dives into the depths of an
+old boot in quest of emptiness, her lord assists at the investigation.
+
+Once only, my Lady Coco is missing; having wandered from the house, and
+lost herself in an adjacent field. Until her reappearance, Lord Coco is
+inconsolable. The pastimes of the studio and the patio have no
+attractions for the bereaved bird. He fasts during the day, and croaks
+dismally at night. But when the prodigal at last returns, Lord Coco is
+quite another bird, and in a moment of rapture he secretes our last tube
+of flake white in the water-jug!
+
+The majestic Grulla is a better behaved bird. There is a dignity about
+her walk, and a formality about her ways, which are examples to her
+feathered companions. At night she is as serviceable as the best
+watch-dog, warning all trespassers by her piercing shriek, and by a
+furious dash at them with her strong neck and sharp-pointed beak. Grulla
+abominates all new-comers, and it was long before she was reconciled to
+the presence of her crocodile companions. When first their objectionable
+society was thrust upon the huge bird, she became nearly beside herself
+with vexation, and made savage onslaughts on the invaders' impenetrable
+hides. Once Grulla was in imminent danger of losing her neck whilst
+taking a blind header at the enemy's beady eye; for in a moment the
+reptile opened his yard of jaw for the easy accommodation of the bird's
+three feet of throat. My lady's behaviour at table leaves nothing to be
+desired. At the dinner hour she strides into our apartment without
+bidding, and takes her allotted place. The bird's two feet six inches of
+legs serve her instead of a chair, and her swan-like neck enables her to
+take a bird's-eye view of the most distant dish. But she never ventures
+to help herself to anything till the meal is actually placed on the
+plate before her; nor does she bolt her food like a beast, but disposes
+of it gracefully, like the best educated biped. Jerking the article for
+consumption neatly into her beak, and raising her head high in the air,
+she waits till the comestible has gravitated naturally down her throat.
+The Grulla's favourite dishes are sweet bananas, boiled pumpkin, and the
+crumb of new bread; but she is also partial to fresh raw beefsteak
+whenever she can get it.
+
+Everybody has his likes and his dislikes. Some people cannot abide a
+pig, and Grulla's antipathy is a big Aura.
+
+An Aura is a vulture which sails gracefully over every Cuban town in
+quest of prey. The Aura is an invaluable bird in the tropics; the dead
+carcases of animals being by its means cleared away in a few hours. Its
+services are, in this respect, rated at so high a value that it is
+considered an illicit act to slay one of these useful scavengers of the
+air, and a heavy fine is imposed on the slayer.
+
+Grulla, however, does not appreciate Aura's virtues; but whenever one of
+these vultures is visible from the patio, she shrieks like a maniac,
+flaps her large wings angrily, and turns wild pirouettes in the yard.
+
+Besides our bird-models, the street criers, who pass our doors at all
+hours, are occasionally induced to lend their services to the cause of
+art.
+
+Early in the morning la Lechera goes her rounds, with a large can of
+milk miraculously poised upon her head. The black milkmaid is attired in
+a single garment of cotton or coarse canvas; her feet and ankles are
+exposed, and her head is bound with a coloured handkerchief like a
+turban. We purchase daily of the Lechera a medio's worth of milk, but
+she grins incredulously, when one day we invite her to enter our studio.
+She is a slave belonging to the proprietor of a neighbouring farm, and
+what would 'mi-amo,' her master, say, or more probably 'do,' if he heard
+that his serf employed her time by sitting for her 'paisaje?'
+
+The Almidonero next favours us with a 'call.' This gentleman traffics in
+starch, an article in great demand, being employed for stiffening a
+Cuban's white drill clothes. The vendor of starch is a Chinese by
+birth, and, like other Celestials residing in Cuba, answers to the
+nickname of Chow-chow, from a popular theory that the word (which in the
+Chinese language stands for 'provisions') expresses everything in a
+Chinaman's vocabulary.
+
+Chow-chow carries upon his head a wooden tray, containing a number of
+circular pats of starch, of the consistency and appearance of unbaked
+loaves.
+
+The Panadero, or baker's man, visits us twice a day. In the cool of the
+early morning the little man--an Indian by birth--is extraordinarily
+active and full of his business, but during the heat of mid-day, when
+his visit is repeated, time to him seems of no importance. Our Indian
+baker is usually discovered sleeping a siesta on our broad balcony, and
+by his side lies a flat circular bread-basket as large as the wheel of a
+quitrin. Despite the scorching sun, he remains in this position hatless
+and bare-footed.
+
+La Cascarillera frequently passes our door with her double cry of 'Las
+Cosi-tas!'--'La Cascar-il-la!' The negress offers for sale a kind of
+chalk with which the ladies of Cuba are in the habit of powdering their
+faces and necks. She also sells what she calls 'cositas francesas,'
+which consist of cakes and tarts prepared by the French creoles of Cuba.
+Many of the less opulent Madamas of the town employ their time by making
+French pastry, which their slaves afterwards dispose of in the public
+streets.
+
+The Dulcera deals in 'dulces,' and her cry of 'Dulce de guayaba! Dulce
+de almiba!' proclaims that her tray contains various kinds of West
+Indian preserves. The Dulcera is also a slave, and consequently derives
+no pecuniary benefit from the sale of her sweets, unless, by
+pre-arrangement with her owner, a share in the profits has been
+allowed.
+
+El Malojero is a dark young gentleman who perambulates the town on the
+back of a mule--or more correctly on the summit of a small mountain of
+long, freshly-gathered grass. This grass, or 'maloja' as it is called,
+together with maize, constitute a Creole horse's fodder, and being
+packed in bundles on all sides of the beast of burthen, only the head
+and hoofs of the animal are visible; while el Malojero, perched several
+feet above its back, completes the moving picture.
+
+La Aguadora is perhaps the most attractive of all peripatetics of the
+pavement. It is she who provides the inhabitants with the indispensable
+fluid--water. The water supply of Cuba is derived from wells attached to
+certain houses; but those who, like ourselves, have not this convenience
+on the premises, have water brought to them from the nearest pump or
+spring. More than one Aguadora is employed to replenish our empty
+vessels, and, like all popular characters in Cuba, each is favoured with
+a distinguishing nickname. One of our water-carriers answers to the
+pseudonym Cachon, another is called Tatagueita, a third Mapi, while a
+fourth is dubbed with the imposing title of Regina. In turn, these
+mulatto wenches arrive from the public font with small barrels and
+strangely-fashioned water-jars, and deposit their contents in our
+reservoir and in our 'tina.'
+
+A tina is a filter on a gigantic scale. The exterior resembles a sentry
+box, and is furnished on all sides with ventilating apertures through
+which a current of air passes. At the top of the box or cupboard is
+fixed a huge basin made of a porous stone, through which the water
+slowly drips, and is received thus filtered in an enormous earthen jar.
+A tin pot with a very long handle serves to ladle out the filtered
+liquid, and the rim of this vessel is fringed with sharp projections
+like a chevaux de frise, as a caution to the thirsty not to apply their
+lips to the ladle!
+
+Our nymphs of the pump are more serviceable as models than any of their
+sister itinerants. They have symmetrical forms, which are partially
+revealed through the scantiness of their clothing. Their coffee-coloured
+features are, besides, regular and not devoid of expression.
+
+My companion becomes artistically captivated with Regina, who serves as
+a model for an important picture, which Nicasio paints, but
+unfortunately does not sell, in Cuba!
+
+Mapi, a mulatto girl of tender years, is equally serviceable, and plays
+many parts on canvas; while Cachon and Tatagueita, who are older and less
+comely, impersonate characters becoming their condition.
+
+But alas for art patronage in Cuba! these and other fanciful productions
+do not meet with a purchaser in the Pearl of the Antilles.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+CUBAN BEGGARS.
+
+     Carrapatam Bunga--The Havana Lottery--A Lady Beggar--A Beggar's
+     Opera--Popular Characters--Charity--A Public Raffle--The 'King of
+     the Universe.'
+
+
+Despite the dearth of patrons for the 'legitimate' in art, my companion
+and I continue to occupy our leisure moments in collecting such material
+as may prove attractive in a more art-loving country. Suggestions for
+pictures and sketches are not, however, wholly derived from the street
+vendors I have described. The beggars of Cuba are equally worthy of
+places in our sketch-books.
+
+Spain's romantic 'Beggar on horseback,' in some respects meets with a
+prototype in her colony.
+
+That apparently hapless mendicant shuffling along the white, heated road
+of a narrow street, is a blind negro, with the imposing nickname of
+Carrapatam Bunga. He is attired in a clean suit of brown holland, and he
+wears a broad-brimmed panama. His flat, splay feet are bare, showing
+where one of his toes has been consumed by a nigua, a troublesome insect
+which introduces itself into the foot, and, if not eradicated in time,
+remains there to vegetate. Across his shoulders is slung a huge canvas
+bag for depositing comestible alms, and in his hand is a long rustic
+staff. Charity with a Cuban is a leading principle of his religion, and
+to relieve the indigent--no matter whether the object for relief be
+worthy or not--is next in importance to disburdening the mind to a
+father confessor. Mindful of the native weakness in this respect,
+Carrapatam Bunga bears his sorrows from door to door, confident that his
+affliction and his damaged foot will command pity wheresoever he
+wanders. But he is impudent, and a boisterous, swaggering fellow. Hear
+him as he demands compassion, with his swarthy, fat face upturned to the
+blazing sun, and with a long cigar between his bulging lips.
+
+'Ave Maria! here's the poor blind man; poor fellow! Give him a medio (a
+threepenny-piece) somebody. Does nobody hear him, el pobrecito? Come,
+make haste! Don't keep the poor fellow waiting. Poor Carrapatam Bunga!
+He is stone blind, poor fellow, and his feet are blistered and sore.
+Misericordia, senores. Barajo! why don't somebody answer? Which is mi
+s'nora Mercedes' house? Will somebody lead me to it? Mi s'nora
+Mercedes!'
+
+Bunga knows most of his patrons by name. Dona Mercedes appears at her
+iron-grated window, through the bars of which the benevolent lady offers
+a silver coin and a small loaf.
+
+'Gracias, mi s'nora; Dios se la pague su merced! (May Heaven reward your
+worship.) Who's got a light for the poor ciego?'
+
+Somebody favours the ciego with a light, and Carrapatam Bunga goes on
+his way smoking and humming a tune, and presently harangues in another
+street.
+
+Will it be believed that this wanderer has a farm in the country, with
+slaves in his employ, and hundreds of dollars in his exchequer? When not
+on beggar-beat, Bunga retires to his possessions, where he lives
+luxuriously.
+
+Like some of his begging fraternity, the negro occasionally varies his
+mendicant trade by offering for sale lottery tickets bearing what he
+calls 'lucky numbers.' The Havana lottery is a great institution in
+Cuba, and has an extraordinary fascination for rich as well as poor.
+Each ticket costs seventeen dollars, and is printed in such a form as to
+be susceptible of division into seventeen parts, so as to suit all
+pockets. The prizes vary from 100 to 100,000 dollars, and there are two
+'sorteos,' or draws, monthly. On each occasion 35,000 tickets are
+offered for sale, and out of this number 600 are prizes. He whose number
+happens to approach within ten paces of the 100,000 dollar, or 50,000
+dollar prize, receives a gratuity of 200 dollars as a reward for being
+'near the mark.'
+
+This lottery is a source of revenue to the Spanish state in Cuba, which
+claims a fourth share of the products yielded by the sale of tickets. As
+an instance of the enormous capital sometimes derived from this source,
+it is said that in a certain prosperous year, 546,000 tickets brought to
+the Havana treasury no less than 8,736,000 dollars!
+
+Our friend Carrapatam Bunga often invests in fragments of unsold
+tickets, and on one occasion he drew a prize to the value of 700
+dollars, which good luck, together with his beggar savings, enabled him
+to purchase a farm and to hire a few labourers to work it with. Whether
+from habit or from love of gain, Bunga never forsook his favourite
+vocation, but continued to bear his sorrows from door to door, as if
+they still belonged to him.
+
+In Cuba, at least, beggars may be said to be choosers. Saturday is the
+day which they prefer for transacting their business, because it
+precedes Sunday, when the faithful attend high mass in the church, and
+go to confession. Except on Saturday, and on some festive occasions, it
+is a rare event for a beggar to be seen asking alms in the public
+streets.
+
+Every Saturday morning I pay my respects to Don Benigno and his amiable
+senora, Dona Mercedes, who, as I have already explained, keep open house
+in more than one way; the huge doors of their habitation being ajar at
+all hours. As I sit chatting with my worthy hostess, the street
+door--which has direct communication with the reception room--is boldly
+thrown open, and a white lady, attired in well-starched muslin, and
+adorned with jewels, enters. I rise, in accordance with the polite
+custom of the country, while Don Benigno offers the visitor a
+rocking-chair. The conversation proceeds on subjects of general
+interest, in which the visitor joins. Curiously, I am never introduced
+to the lady in muslin; but the unusual behaviour of my host is soon
+accounted for. After a few minutes the stranger senora rises, and
+approaching Dona Mercedes, offers her hand. Dona Mercedes does not take
+the proffered palm, but simply places upon it a piece of silver coin of
+the value of a franc.
+
+'May Heaven reward you,' says the lady-beggar, and takes her gift and
+her leave without another word.
+
+Something like a Beggars' Opera may be realised whilst sitting before
+Don Benigno's huge window on Saturday morning, and watching the
+thriftless performers as they pass. The entertainment 'opens' at the
+early hour of six A.M.; from that time till the Cuban breakfast-hour of
+eleven, we are treated with begging solos only: mendicants who stand and
+deliver monologues like Carrapatam Bunga or Munekon--an equally popular
+beggar. Sometimes the applicant for charity announces himself with a
+bold bang on the door, followed by the pious ejaculation, 'Ave Maria!'
+The lame, or otherwise afflicted, are content with simply directing
+attention to their misfortunes, while the less 'favoured' attract public
+regard by humming a wild air, to which a gibberish libretto is attached,
+or by descanting upon social and political matters. The ill-paved
+condition of the Cuban streets, the inefficient supply of water, the bad
+lighting of the town at night, the total absence of anything like proper
+drainage, are favourite topics with these open-air orators.
+
+Like other Cuban celebrities, a characteristic _nom de guerre_ is
+invented for every beggar.
+
+That brown complexioned lady with a man's straw hat on her head, and a
+faded cotton gown clinging to her shrunken form, is called Madama
+Chaleco, from a popular tradition that the old lady formerly donned a
+man's waistcoat or chaleco. From this cause she has become the butt of
+every street boy, who irritates the poor mulatto woman into frenzy by
+shouting her nickname in a derisive tone. The Madama has resided only a
+few years in Cuba; her birthplace being some neighbouring island where
+English and French are spoken: these languages being perfectly familiar
+to the old lady.
+
+Madama Pescuezo is another foreign importation, and her alias is
+founded on a long sinewy throat or pescuezo which the dame possesses.
+
+Isabel Huesito is famous for her leanness, and hence the appellation:
+huesito, or skinny.
+
+Madama Maja is said to have magic dealings with snakes or majas.
+
+Gallito Pigmeo is noted for his shortness of stature and his attributes
+of a chicken.
+
+Barrigilla is pot-bellied, and El Nato has a flatter nose than his black
+brethren.
+
+Carfardote, Taita Tomas, Macundu, Cotuntum, Carabela Zuzunda, Na
+Soledad, and Raton Cojonudo, are each named after some personal
+peculiarity.
+
+Sometimes whole sentences stand as nicknames for these popular
+characters.
+
+Amarrame-ese-perro is applied to a beggar who, like most negroes, has a
+dread of dogs, and his repeated, and often causeless, cry of 'Chain me
+up that dog!' earns for him this imposing title.
+
+Another equally nervous negro fears horse-flesh, and his constant
+ejaculation of 'Pull up! you horse-faced animal,' gains him the nickname
+of Jala-pa-lante-cara-de-caballo!
+
+Our Beggars' Opera concludes with a brilliant chorus of mendicants, who,
+at twelve o'clock, visit their patrons in large companies. At that hour,
+one of Don Benigno's slaves enters with a large flat basket containing a
+quantity of small two-penny loaves, which the negro places upon the
+marble floor in front of the open door. Soon a crowd of beggars of all
+shades and castes, who during the last half-hour have been squatting in
+a row under the broad shade of the opposite houses, approach, and,
+without bidding, help to empty the capacious bread-basket. Further up
+the street they go, picking up more crumbs at rich mansions, whose
+owners occasionally vary their entertainment by providing for their
+vagrant visitors a little 'ajiaco,' or native soup.
+
+Cuban people are not fond of bestowing their charity through the medium
+of a public institution. The only place of the kind in that part of Cuba
+which I am describing is called the Beneficencia, or almshouse, which is
+under the superintendence of the Sisters of Charity. Wealthy ladies
+contribute largely towards the support of this establishment, but, in
+order to provide funds, public raffles are indispensable. Nothing
+succeeds in Cuba so well as something in which chance or luck, combined
+with amusement, is the inducement of the venture, and a raffle in aid of
+funds for the famished is always popular.
+
+Dona Mercedes, the most benevolent of ladies, tells me that she and the
+prosperous Senoras already referred to have in project a grand bazaar
+for the benefit of the poor, to which everybody is expected to
+contribute. The articles received for the purposes of the bazaar are to
+be exhibited in one of the big saloons of the Governor's house, which
+overlooks the Plaza de Armas, and they will be raffled for during three
+special evenings. For weeks Dona Mercedes and her charitable sisters are
+busy collecting and numbering the contributions as they arrive, or
+twisting the paper chances into the form of cigar lights.
+
+The military square presents an animated scene on the evenings of the
+raffle. Twelve tables, bearing rich cloths and silver candelabra, are
+distributed about the broad promenade of the plaza. Around each table
+are seated a score of the fairest of Cuba's daughters, elegantly
+attired in evening costume, without any head-covering, and with only a
+scarf or shawl lightly protecting their fair shoulders. Dona Mercedes
+looks charming in a pink grenadine dress, and with her luxuriant black
+hair tastefully arranged, as a Cuban Senora alone knows how. Each lady
+adopts her most insinuating manner in order to dispose of her twisted
+tickets, the greater portion of which contain, of course, blanks, or a
+consolatory couplet, like a motto in a cracker, for the gratification of
+the unsuccessful purchaser. There is loud cheering when a prize is
+drawn, especially if it happen to be of importance, like the 'grand
+prize,' which consists of a prettily worked purse containing six golden
+onzas (twenty pounds sterling).
+
+Crowds of beggars are assembled within range of the plaza, and some of
+them occasionally invest in a medio or peseta's worth of tickets, but as
+coloured people are never permitted to mix with white folk in public,
+their tickets are handed to them by officials appointed for that
+purpose. Some of these blacks are 'retired' slaves: in other words,
+negroes who have become free, either by devoting the savings of many
+years to the purchase of their liberty, or by having their freedom left
+them as a legacy by an indulgent master. Those who have ability and
+industry make the most of their precious gifts by devoting their
+energies to trade or to music, for which accomplishment negroes have
+often a natural inclination; but the infirm or the inactive--and of
+these there is always a majority--are reduced to penury, in which
+condition they fall naturally into begging ways, and prosper
+accordingly.
+
+That intelligent-looking black who craves of me a peseta in order to buy
+a small bundle of tickets for the raffle, is a well-known beggar. His
+name is Roblejo, and he owes his freedom to the publication of a book of
+poems written by himself. Assisted by a benevolent _litterateur_,
+Roblejo was enabled to put his poetic lucubrations into readable form,
+and the novelty taking the public fancy, subscribers were found
+sufficient for the purpose of printing the book, and effecting the
+author's emancipation.
+
+'Hola, Don Pancho! How goes it with thee?' The individual whom I address
+is probably the most popular beggar in the town. His real name is Pancho
+Villergas, but he is commonly known as El Rey del Orbe (the King of the
+Universe). I have often endeavoured to secure a faithful likeness of
+this illustrious gentleman, but Pancho cannot be prevailed upon to sit
+either to an artist or to a photographer. Whenever the subject is
+broached by me, El Rey del Orbe grins, shakes his head knowingly, and
+observes, in the only English with which he is conversant:
+
+'Oh, ye--s; vary vel, no good, good mornin'.'
+
+Pancho is a genuine white man, but age and exposure to the sun and wind
+have bronzed him to a mulatto colour. He has a picturesque Saint Francis
+beard, and a benign, strongly marked countenance. He wears a coat
+purposely patched with many shaded cloths; each shade being considered
+by him to represent one of his numerous dominions. Being buttoned up to
+his neck, the coat gives him a military appearance, while it economises
+his linen. Upon his head is a tall beaver hat, which has seen better
+days, but which the Universe-King is careful to keep well brushed.
+Pancho is slightly crazed, and his monomania consists in the belief that
+he is not a beggar, but a benefactor to his country. With this notion,
+no persuasion will induce him to accept a donation in the shape of
+coin. Those who are acquainted with Pancho's weakness, and desire to
+relieve his wants, must do so through the medium of stratagem. If they
+succeed in imposing upon El Rey del Orbe by prevailing upon him to
+'borrow' food or raiment, they consider themselves amply rewarded for
+their act of charity. The only article which the King of the Universe
+will deign to accept is foolscap writing-paper, because he believes that
+the use to which he applies it will be beneficial to mankind in general,
+and to Cuba in particular. He fills his foolscap with correspondence,
+which he addresses to the highest authorities; the favoured recipients
+being His Excellency the Governor, the alcalde mayor, and members of the
+town council. Whenever any political or social question is raised, the
+King of the Universe is sure to despatch an important document bearing
+his opinion and advice. His majesty is usually his own letter-carrier,
+unless he can meet with a trustworthy messenger in the shape of a
+priest, an officer, or a policeman. The matter contained in these
+momentous memorials occupies from eighteen to twenty closely-written
+sheets, and is always prefaced with the imposing heading: 'Yo, el Rey'
+(I, the King).
+
+Pancho's indigence and infatuation have a romantic origin. This old,
+shabby-looking object before me was at one time a well-to-do planter,
+and held a high position among merchants. One fatal day he became
+enamoured of a creole coquette, who cruelly jilted him. The
+disappointment turned his brain. People attributed his harmless insanity
+to eccentricity, and merchants transacted business with him as of old,
+till one heartless scoundrel, taking advantage of his misfortune,
+swindled him out of a large sum of money, and this deed eventually led
+to Pancho's insolvency and utter ruin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE BLACK ART IN CUBA.
+
+     A Model Mulatto--A Bewitched Watchman--Cuban Sorcery--An Enchanted
+     Painter.
+
+
+It is not always easy to secure the services of a better class of model
+than our peripatetic of the pavement. Before we can induce such a person
+to walk into our studio, many arts, unconnected with our calling, must
+be employed, especially if the object of our solicitation happen to be
+young and fair. Having directed our professional gaze upon such a
+Senorita, it behoves us first to visit her family, and make friends with
+her parents, brothers or sisters, in order that their consent may be
+easily and naturally obtained. Thus, when I cast my artistic eye upon
+the pretty Perpetua, I have to proceed with extreme caution, lest her
+parents should misinterpret the nature of my demand. For Perpetua
+belongs to the octoroon 'species' of mulatto. Her father is a white man,
+and her mother is a free-born quadroon-woman, and they reside with their
+daughter in an humble dwelling near our studio. Don Ramon being a small
+tobacconist, and his wife, Dona Choncha, a laundress, we have sometimes
+patronised the little family, and in this manner I make the acquaintance
+of my future model. It is, however, far from easy to persuade the old
+lady that my admiration for her daughter is wholly confined to the
+picturesque; for when I broach the model-subject, Dona Choncha smiles
+incredulously, and says she will consult her friends. While she is doing
+so, an extraordinary revelation respecting the brown old dame is made to
+me by Mateo, the 'sereno' or watchman of our district.
+
+Armed with a pike, lantern, revolver, and coil of rope for pinioning
+purposes, the watchman wanders about our neighbourhood, halting every
+quarter of an hour to blow a shrill whistle to inform the inhabitants of
+the time of night, and whether it is 'sereno' (fine) or 'nublado'
+(cloudy).
+
+One dark night the sereno pauses before our balcony, and after assuring
+the somnolent, in recitative, that it is 'three-quarters past eleven and
+nu-bla-do!' approaches me, and in a mysterious whisper enquires whether
+I carry 'contradanos,' or charms against evil, about my person. Finding
+that I do not possess such articles, the watchman recommends me to apply
+without delay for a talisman or two. Raw mustard, powdered glass, and
+sulphur, he says, are highly effectual as charms. At that very moment
+Mateo's pockets are full of these safeguards, and when threatened with
+any danger, he has only to sprinkle around him some of the antidote
+against evil.
+
+The watchman then tells me that Dona Choncha is in league with 'brujas'
+(witches), and that if I continue to visit at her house I shall do well
+to take the precautions he has suggested.
+
+Mateo is himself a firm believer in the Black Art, and gives me some
+interesting particulars respecting a secret society of sorcerers, who
+hold certain midnight revels in an empty saloon of a house somewhere in
+the town. There is a kind of freemason mystery attached to their
+proceedings, and none but members are in the secret. It appears,
+however, that their dark deeds consist chiefly in a dead-of-night dance
+around a defunct 'maja' or enchanted snake, by a number of people, most
+of whom are attired in nature's vestments.
+
+The watchman likewise tells me that the practice of witchcraft in Cuba
+is sometimes attended with serious and fatal consequences, and that
+crimes of the worst description are frequently the result of it. An
+individual unwittingly takes his neighbour's life in obedience to
+commands from a sanguinary sorcerer, who requires a certain weight of
+human blood to complete the ingredients of an enchanted preparation.
+'Bring me a couple of handfuls of hair, and four ounces of blood from
+Fulano,' says the weird, who has been applied to for spiritual
+absolution, 'and I will prepare you a contradano--a charm--that shall
+rid you of your evil genius, and help you out of your present
+difficulty.' Fulano objects to part with his 'personal' property, when
+the request is made to him in a friendly way; so he gets a hard knock on
+the head one day, when he least expects it, and if he escapes with his
+life he is lucky.
+
+Such instances of witchcraft as these, the sereno says, are found only
+among the coloured population of Cuba, and when discovered the
+perpetrators of the nefarious acts are brought to justice and severely
+punished; but belief in necromancy exists even among the more
+enlightened inhabitants of Cuba, and it is far from uncommon to hear of
+highly respectable whites taking part in the practice of it.
+
+Mateo then gives me his own personal experiences of the Black Art as a
+warning against the danger which, he says, will surely threaten me if I
+continue to visit the tobacconist family.
+
+The watchman assures me that for many long weeks he had laboured under
+the depressing influence of a spell. The unfortunate occurrence began
+with an anonymous letter conveying the unwelcome information that a
+certain enemy of Mateo's was engaged in brewing some dreadful mischief
+for his especial benefit. In his professional capacity, the watchman has
+more than one foe in the town, and it is therefore difficult to 'spot,'
+and afterwards capture, the actual offender. The warning letter,
+however, admonishes him that so long as he does not walk in a certain
+locality, no harm to him can possibly accrue. It is not easy for Mateo
+to avoid the indicated thoroughfare, as it happens to come exactly
+within our watchman's beat at night; but he surmounts the obstacle at
+the risk of incurring his employers' displeasure, by exchanging beats
+with a brother watchman. The irregular act is, however, made known to
+the authorities, and Mateo is threatened with instant dismissal if he
+persists in avoiding the street in question. Fortunately, the sereno
+receives a second missive from the anonymous correspondent, containing
+the assurance that there is still hope for immediate and radical
+disenchantment if Mateo will only follow the writer's advice. This
+consists, first of all, in depositing a piece of coin under the door of
+his correspondent's habitation. At an early hour, the money will
+disappear through some unseen agency, and will afterwards be consigned
+to a disenchanting locality in the Cuban bay. The sereno is next
+enjoined to examine the lining of his bran-new panama, which he has
+lately purchased to wear only on festive occasions. If all goes well, he
+will assuredly discover certain black pins and human hairs crossed,
+entwined and affixed in a peculiar fashion to the crown of his hat. The
+same evil omens will likewise appear at the ferule end of his
+gold-knobbed walking-stick. Satisfied that there is 'no deception,' the
+proprietor of the enchanted hat and cane wraps up those articles
+carefully in several folds of paper, according to instructions, and
+early one Sunday morning deposits the parcel in a certain hole in an
+undesirable field on the confines of the town.
+
+'When I had done so,' concludes the watchman, pausing to inform the
+inhabitants that it is three-quarters past midnight and
+nu-bla-do!--'when I had done so, I walked without fear along the
+forbidden street, and I have walked there in safety ever since!'
+
+The watchman enjoins me to be warned by his story, and once more advises
+me to provide myself with a few contradanos.
+
+'Had I taken the same precautions,' observes Mateo, 'I should have
+escaped all my troubles.'
+
+'And preserved your panama and gold-headed cane!' I add.
+
+'Past one o'clock and seren-o!' sings the watchman as he takes his leave
+of me.
+
+My interest in the tobacconist's family is considerably increased by
+what I have heard, and my visits are none the less frequent because of
+the friendly admonitions which I have received. I do not provide myself
+with the talismans which the sereno has recommended; but I watch the
+old lady's ways more narrowly than I have before done, till I begin at
+last to detect something like a malignant expression in her shrunken,
+yellow-brown countenance.
+
+I observe no change in her pretty daughter, though I must confess that
+in one way, at least, La Perpetua is more 'charming' than ever. The
+young girl is full of her approaching 'fiesta,' or saint's day, which
+annual event is to be celebrated by an afternoon ball and early supper
+at her humble home. The presents she expects to receive in the shape of
+trays of dulces and confectionary will, she assures me, exceed those of
+the past fiesta. Perpetua is the acknowledged belle of the 'barrio,' or
+district, where she resides, and she has many admirers. But
+unfortunately the young creole is not so white as her fair complexion
+would lead one to suppose. Don Ramon is undoubtedly a white man, but his
+wife belongs to the mulatto tribe, and Perpetua's origin is
+unquestionably obscure. Still Dona Choncha has great hopes that her
+pretty daughter will command a white alliance among her husband's
+friends in spite of this drawback, and it is whispered that the
+ambitious old dame has her eye upon more than one eligible suitor for
+her child's whitey-brown hand. Mateo, the watchman--ever hard on Dona
+Choncha--declares that it is her 'evil eye' that is being exercised in
+Perpetua's behalf; but I heed him not, though I am now more than ever
+cautious in my behaviour at the tobacconist's.
+
+Whatever truth there may be in the watchman's assertion that I am the
+object of enchantment, at present I have received no practical evidence
+of it. When I probe Perpetua privately on the subject, I find that she
+has little to tell, except that her mother is in the habit of visiting
+a locality in the town unknown to Perpetua and Don Ramon, and that, upon
+one occasion, she administered a harmless drug to her daughter, assuring
+her that it was a protection against cholera.
+
+As for Don Ramon--that good-natured gentleman is altogether a
+disbeliever in witchcraft, and though he admits that the art is popular
+among a certain class in Cuba, he is of opinion that the Cuban bruja, or
+witch, is simply a high order of gipsy, whose chief object is pecuniary
+gain. The government of the country, with its accustomed inertness, has
+not yet established a law for the suppression of this evil; 'and so,'
+says the tobacconist, 'sorcery flourishes, and the brujas prosper.'
+
+I am beginning to abandon all hope of obtaining La Perpetua for a model,
+when one day I receive an anonymous letter, the handwriting and diction
+of which seem to be the production of an uninstructed Ethiop. The writer
+assures me that somebody or other is at present engaged in the useful
+occupation of working for my complete overthrow and subjugation, and
+that if I require further particulars on the subject I may easily obtain
+them for the small consideration of a 'punctured peseta' (a coin with a
+'lucky' hole in it).
+
+When I exhibit the mysterious document to the watchman, that individual
+is of course highly pleased to find that I have, at last, received some
+evidence of the existence of such mighty people as brujas, and his
+advice resolves itself, as usual, into sulphur and powdered mustard. He
+has now not the least doubt that Dona Choncha has made application to
+the brujas for a spell, and he recommends me to pay the peseta asked of
+me by my anonymous correspondent.
+
+A communication from a live witch is worth all the money demanded for
+it, and I accordingly place the coin, as directed, in a crevice under my
+door. Sure enough, it disappears before daylight, and in return I obtain
+a second sheet of magic manuscript, which, like its predecessor, is
+unpleasantly greasy to the touch and offensive to the nose; but it is
+full of information, and concludes with an offer to effect my permanent
+disenchantment if I will but follow the writer's instructions. If I am
+disposed to do so, I must first meet the writer, or his deputy, alone in
+a certain unfrequented locality of the town at a late hour; arming
+myself with a contradano in the shape of a media onza. Thirty-four
+shillings may appear a high rate for disenchantment, but the watchman
+assures me that the operation often costs four times that amount, and
+that if the unknown bruja fulfils his promise I shall have made a great
+bargain. As I do not value my malignant spirit at any price, I decline
+for the present to avail myself of this opportunity to be relieved of
+it.
+
+My occupations prevent me from paying my accustomed visits at the
+tobacconist's for some days, but one sunny morning I venture to look in
+at the little establishment.
+
+Don Ramon, I am told, is passing some weeks at his 'vega,' or tobacco
+farm; but his black assistants are at their wooden benches as usual,
+rolling tobacco leaves into cigars. I pass through the section of a shop
+(which has neither wall nor window in front of it) into the inner
+apartment, usually occupied by Dona Choncha and her daughter, and find
+the former engaged in sorting tobacco leaves on the brick-floor, and
+the latter in swaying and fanning herself in a cane rocking-chair. Both
+ladies salute me respectfully, and make kind enquiries after my health.
+These formalities over, Dona Choncha collects together her tobacco
+leaves, and, without a word of explanation, adjourns to the 'patio.' For
+the first time, since my acquaintance with the tobacconist's family, I
+am left alone with the pretty Perpetua!
+
+All is not well with her weird-looking mother, as I very shortly have
+reason to find. I have been scarcely ten minutes in Perpetua's agreeable
+society, when she is summoned by her mother to the court-yard. Upon her
+return I am offered some 'refresco,' made from the juicy fruit of the
+guanabana.
+
+'Who mixed this drink?' I enquire, after taking a sip of it.
+
+'La mama mixed it,' replies Perpetua.
+
+Has the old hag added some infernal drug to the refreshment? I wonder;
+for there is something besides guanabana in the libation!
+
+While I am speculating about this, lo! a strange odour is wafted into
+the little chamber, and presently some smoke is seen to issue from an
+aperture in the door.
+
+Is the house on fire? Perpetua is again summoned by Dona Choncha; but
+before leaving the apartment she begs me not to be alarmed, as it is
+only her mother at her duties. I would willingly believe what she says,
+but being sufficiently familiar with the process of drying tobacco
+leaves, I am convinced that sulphur, hair, mustard, and heaven knows
+what besides, are not employed in it. The fumes of these burning
+substances are, however, entering the apartment, and the atmosphere is
+most oppressive--so much so, that my pulse beats high, and my head
+begins to swim.
+
+Without waiting another moment, I seize my walking-stick and panama hat,
+and escape from the enchanted chamber into the street. The hot air does
+not dispel the giddy feeling which had come over me, and not until I
+have reached my well-ventilated abode, changed my damp linen, and
+sponged my fevered body with 'aguardiente' and water, do I feel myself
+again. I am better still after having taken a refreshing siesta in my
+swinging hammock, in which condition I dream of black pins, burnt hair,
+raw mustard, and sulphur. When I awake, I examine carefully the lining
+of my panama, and the ferule end of my walking-stick, to satisfy myself
+that no burglarious bruja has taken advantage of my repose to tamper
+with my property. But whether it is that my stick and hat are of no
+great value, or that the defences of our studio are impregnable, no
+bruja has offered to take 'charge' of these things by labelling them
+with their infernal tickets.
+
+My partner, to whom I record the events of the day, is of opinion that
+if all models are as difficult to secure as La Perpetua, we had better
+abandon our researches in this direction, and abide by our street criers
+and mendicants. He also suggests a little landscape-painting by way of
+variety, and, with this object in view, we plan certain walking
+expeditions into the surrounding country. What subjects for landscape
+pictures we meet with, and whether or not we are more successful in our
+quest after inanimate nature, will be told in another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A TASTE OF CUBAN PRISON-LIFE.
+
+     Two Views of the Morro Castle--The Commandant--The Town Jail--Cuban
+     Policemen--Prisoners--A Captive Indian--Prison Fare--A Court of
+     Justice--A Trial--A Verdict.
+
+
+I dream that I am Silvio Pellico, that the prisoner of St. Helena is my
+fellow-captive, and that an apartment belonging to the Spanish
+Inquisition is our dormitory. Clasps of iron eat their way into our
+ankles and wrists; gigantic rats share our food; our favourite exercise
+is swinging head downwards in the air, and our chief recreation is to
+watch the proceedings of tame spiders.
+
+I awake and find my bed unusually hard. My bed-clothes have vanished,
+and in their stead are a couple of hard benches, with my wearing apparel
+rolled up for a pillow. By a dim light I observe that my apartment is
+remarkably small, bare, damp, and dome-shaped. The window is a barred
+aperture in the door; is only a foot square, and looks on to the patio,
+or narrow passage, where unlimited wall stares me in the face. Do I
+still dream, or is this actually one of 'le mie prigioni'? I rub my eyes
+for a third time, and look about the semi-darkened vault. Somebody is
+snoring. I gaze in the direction whence the sound proceeds, and observe
+indistinctly an object huddled together in a corner. So, this is no
+dream, after all; and that heap of sleeping humanity is not Napoleon,
+but my companion, Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldu.
+
+We are both shut up in one of the subterranean dungeons of the Morro
+Castle; not the Havana Morro, but the fortress at Santiago de Cuba,
+alluded to by Tom Cringle.
+
+Why are we here?
+
+What were we doing yesterday afternoon?
+
+Well; we were taking a seven miles walk to the Morro Castle, the
+picturesque neighbourhood of which we had not yet visited, and as the
+grounds attached to the fortress are always open to the public, we
+proposed a quiet evening saunter over them.
+
+We had a negro with us, an old and faithful vassal, who at the present
+moment is enjoying solitary confinement in another part of the fortress.
+We reached the castle grounds, where a group of Spanish 'militares' were
+seated. We gave them the 'Buenas tardes:' they returned our salute, and
+their chief, who was no less a personage than the commandant of the
+Morro, offered us refreshment, and permitted us to wander about the
+grounds. In our ramble we paused here and there to admire the
+picturesque 'bits' of scenery which, at every turn of a winding road,
+broke upon our view. By a narrow path cut in the grey rock we descended
+to the sea-shore, and stood before the entrance of the Cuban harbour. We
+watched the French packet as she steamed into port on her way to the
+town, and saw the gun fired which announced her arrival. The steamer was
+so near, that we could scan the faces of everybody on board, and hear
+enthusiastic congratulations on their safe arrival after their tedious
+voyage. The skipper conferred with the Morro guard. What was the ship's
+name? Where did she hail from? Who was her captain? Where was she bound
+for? A needless demand, I thought, seeing that there is no water
+navigable beyond the town; but it was in strict conformity with Spanish
+regulations.
+
+As evening advanced, we prepared to return to our temporary home, where
+a good dinner doubtless awaited us, with a cup of cafe noir to follow,
+and correspondence--ah! my friends never missed a mail--to open and to
+devour.
+
+'Alto alla!' The ominous command to halt where we stood, still rings in
+my ear. A party of soldiers, with pointed muskets and fixed bayonets,
+ran with all speed in our direction.
+
+'Car-amba!' Were we the object of their precipitation? We were!
+
+They conducted us to an eminence, where stood a podgy, high-shouldered,
+short-necked man with a squeaky interrogative voice and gold spectacles.
+This was the commandant. Without explanation, that officer, in brief
+words, ordered us to be arrested.
+
+The soldiers obeyed. They bandaged our eyes with handkerchiefs. They led
+us along hollow-sounding alleys; beneath echoing archways; down scores
+of stone steps; through mouldy passages. Lower yet, where a strong
+flavour of cooking assailed our sense of smell. A couple more downward
+flights, and then we paused--heard a jingling of big keys--an opening of
+ponderous doors--and here we were.
+
+Here, in a subterranean vault, I know not how many feet below sunlight.
+The air is close and vaporous; the domed chamber is damp and musty. They
+have divested us of all our portable property save a few cigarettes
+which we have secreted in a dark corner, and there is nothing to be had
+in the way of refreshment for love or money.
+
+Yes, for money. I have bribed the sentinel, who occasionally eclipses
+our square of window, with all my ready cash, and he has brought us
+contraband cups of weak coffee. Will he treat our dark domestic as well?
+We try him, and find that he won't.
+
+What's o'clock? We have no means of ascertaining this, as Phoebus, who
+might have suggested the time of day, is a long way out of sight. Our
+sentinel says it is early morning.
+
+Hark! A sound of many footsteps; a rattling of arms and keys. Enter our
+military jailer with a dozen soldiers to release us from our present
+quarters. Our eyes are bandaged as before, and after passing up several
+flights of steps in another direction, our sight is restored: the scene
+changes, and we are discovered, like the Prince of Denmark, upon another
+part of the platform. Our faithful vassal is with us, looking as much
+like a ghost as it is possible for a negro to appear. They have tied his
+arms behind him with cords, and serve us in the same manner; while eight
+soldiers encircle us at respectful distances, and deliberately proceed
+to load their weapons. The negro trembles with affright, and falls on
+his knees. Misericordia! they are going to shoot us, he thinks; for he
+is ignorant of the Spanish custom of loading in the presence of the
+prisoner before escorting him from one jail to another.
+
+To another? Santo Dios! Then we are prisoners still? I think of the
+victim of Santa Margherita and his many prisons, and begin to wonder how
+many years of incarceration we shall experience.
+
+'En marcha!' Eight 'militares' and a sergeant place us in their midst,
+and in this way we march to town, a distance of seven miles. Our
+sergeant proves to be more humane than his superior, and on the uneven
+road pauses to screw up cigarettes for us, and, in consideration of our
+helpless condition, even places them in our mouths.
+
+It is Sunday morning, and when we reach the town all good Catholics have
+been to high mass, and are parading the narrow thoroughfare dressed in
+fashionable attire. Crowds gather around us and speculate as to the
+particular crime we are guilty of; and, to tell the truth, our
+appearance is by no means respectable. Have we shot the commandant?
+Undermined the Morro? Poisoned the garrison? Have we headed a negro
+conspiracy, or joined a gang of pirates? Friends whom we recognise on
+our way endeavour to interrogate us, but are interrupted by the
+sergeant. We halt before the governor's house; but his excellency is not
+yet out of bed, and may not be disturbed. So we proceed to the town
+jail, where everybody is stirring and where they are happy to see us,
+and receive us with open doors. A dozen policemen, dressed in
+brown-holland coats, trimmed with yellow braid and silver buttons, with
+panama hats, revolvers, and short Roman swords, are seated on benches at
+the prison entrance. Passing them, we are hurried into a white-washed
+chamber, where a frowning functionary, in brown-holland and silver lace,
+with a panama on his head, and a long cigar in his mouth, sits at a desk
+scribbling something on stamped paper. He pauses to examine and peruse
+a large letter which our sergeant hands him, and which contains a
+statement of our arrest, with full particulars of our misdeeds. The
+document is folded in official fashion, is written, regardless of
+economy, with any quantity of margin, and is terminated by a tremendous
+signature, accompanied by an elaborate flourish, which occupies exactly
+half a page. The gentleman in brown-holland casts a look of suspicion at
+us, and directs a couple of policemen to search us, 'registrar' us, as
+he calls it, which they accordingly do; but nothing that we could
+dispense with is found on our persons, except the grime upon our hands
+and faces, and a pearl button, which has strayed during the journey, and
+somehow found its way into my boot.
+
+Nothing further being required of us for the present, we are conducted
+into the centre of the jail to an extensive court-yard, where a crowd of
+prisoners of all shades and castes lie basking in the sun. We are led to
+one of the galleries which surround the patio, our arms are untied, and
+we are introduced into three different chambers.
+
+The apartment alloted to me is spacious and airy enough, and has a huge
+barred window that overlooks the main thoroughfare. In these respects,
+at least, my quarters resemble an ordinary Cuban parlour in a private
+house. But the only articles of furniture are a couple of hard benches
+and a straw mattress; and although a Cuban parlour has a barred window,
+a brick floor, and white-washed walls, it has also a few cane-bottomed
+chairs, an elegant mirror, and a gas chandelier.
+
+The prison in which I am confined was originally a convent, and now it
+is not only devoted to the use of malefactors, but also accommodates
+mad people, whose shrieks and wild laughter I occasionally hear.
+
+From my window I can see into the private houses opposite, where ladies
+are swaying and fanning themselves in 'butacas,' or rocking-chairs,
+while half a dozen naked white and black children play in an adjacent
+room. Friends passing along the street recognise me; but I may not
+converse with them, or the sentry below will inform, and I shall be
+removed to a more secluded part of the stronghold.
+
+I am not alone. My chamber is occupied by a native Indian, whose origin
+is distinguishable by his lank, jet-black hair, his gipsy-like
+complexion, and finely-cut nostrils. He is neither tattooed, nor does he
+wear feathers, beads or animals' hides; but with the exception of his
+face and hands (which are very dirty) he has all the appearance of a
+civilized being.
+
+The Indian has been himself arrested on suspicion, but his trial has
+been postponed for many weary months, and he is at present quite
+ignorant of the charge on which he may stand accused. Having no friends
+to intercede for him, or golden doubloons wherewith to convince the
+authorities of his innocence, the poor fellow is afraid things will go
+hard with him.
+
+The Indian is eloquent on the subjects of slavery and Spanish rule, both
+of which he warmly denounces. He is careful to remind me, that although
+he speaks the Spanish language, and is governed by Spanish laws, he is
+no more a Spaniard than is an American an Englishman. There is something
+in common between these nationalities, he says, whereas between a Cuban
+and a Spaniard there is a very wide gulf!
+
+My patriotic friend gets so excited over these and other favourite
+topics that, afraid of the consequences of his conversation, I propose a
+smoke.
+
+'What!' he exclaims, approaching me in what seems a threatening
+attitude. 'Is it possible that you have any tobacco, and that you are
+going to smoke some here?'
+
+Lest the Indian should be no smoker himself and dislike the odour of
+tobacco, I tell him that if he objects, I will postpone my harmless
+whiff until after captivity.
+
+He does object; but after contemplating my scanty supply of cigarettes
+as I restore them to my pocket, he observes with a sigh:
+
+'I was once an inveterate smoker!'
+
+'Till you very wisely gave up the vice,' I add.
+
+'No!' says he, 'I did not give it up. It was my accursed captors who
+withheld it from me. I have not smoked for many long months, and I would
+often give ten years of my life for one little cigarette!'
+
+'Try one of mine,' I suggest, extracting the packet again which alas!
+contains my last four.
+
+'Gracias; no,' he replies, 'I shall be depriving you, and you will find
+cigarettes scarce in these quarters!'
+
+'If you are a true Cuban,' I observe, 'you will remember that it is next
+to an insult to refuse a man's tobacco. Besides, if you object to my
+indulging in the luxury upon the plea that the delicious perfume is
+unendurable in another, both of us will be deprived of the pleasure!'
+
+'You are right,' says the Indian, 'then I will take just one.'
+
+So saying, he accepts the little paper squib which I offer, and
+carefully divides the contents into two equal parts; explaining, as he
+does so, how he intends to reserve one half of the tobacco for another
+occasion.
+
+While thus engaged I am reminded of the awful fact that I have no means
+of igniting our cigarettes. When I mention this unfortunate circumstance
+to my companion, he smiles triumphantly, and after placing his ear to
+the door in melodramatic fashion, proceeds to raise a particular brick
+in the floor of our apartment under which at least half a dozen matches
+are concealed.
+
+'These matches,' he remarks, 'have been treasured in that hole ever
+since I came to lodge in this jail.'
+
+'Have you resided here long?' I inquire.
+
+'It has appeared long to me,' he answers, 'eighteen months, more or
+less; but I have no record of the date.'
+
+'You must have found the hours hang heavily on you,' I remark, 'or,
+maybe, you have a hobby like the political prisoners one reads of. You
+have a favorite flower somewhere? Or, perhaps, you are partial to
+spiders?'
+
+'There are plenty of gigantic spiders here,' he replies, 'together with
+centipedes and scorpions; but whenever one of those reptiles crosses my
+path--I kill it!'
+
+When my fellow-captive learns my nationality, his surprise and pleasure
+are very great.
+
+'I like the English and Americans,' says he, 'and I would become one or
+the other to-morrow, if it were possible.'
+
+'You are very kind to express so much esteem for my countrymen,' I say.
+
+'It is not so much your countrymen,' he says, 'as your free country with
+its just and humane laws, which every Cuban admires and covets.'
+
+I remind him that, under existing circumstances, I am no better off
+than he is, though to be sure as a British subject, my consul, who
+resides in Santiago, will doubtless see me righted.
+
+The Indian is, however, of a different opinion. He assures me that my
+nationality will avail me nothing if I have no interest with some of the
+Spanish officials. He gives me instances to prove how it is often out of
+the power of a consul to assist a compatriot in difficulties.
+
+'Not long since,' says my friend, 'a marine from your country, being
+intoxicated, and getting mixed up in a street brawl, was arrested and
+locked up with a crowd of insubordinate coolies and Spanish deserters.
+His trial was, as usual, postponed. In the meanwhile, the jail had
+become overcrowded by the arrival of some wounded soldiers from San
+Domingo, and your countryman was shipped off with others to another
+prison at Manzanillo, where he was entered on the list of convicts, and
+has never been heard of since.'
+
+'In this very jail,' continues the Indian, 'are a couple of American
+engineers, both of whom stand accused of being concerned in a negro
+conspiracy, and who have been locked up here for the last six months.
+They are ignorant of the Spanish language, have mislaid their passports,
+and have been denied a conference with their consul, who is, of course,
+unaware of their incarceration.'
+
+I make a mental note of this last case, with a view to submit it to the
+proper authority as soon as I shall be able to do so.
+
+My attention is presently arrested by a sound which reminds me of
+washing, for in Cuba this operation is usually performed by placing the
+wet linen on a flat board, and belabouring it with a smooth stone or a
+heavy roller. My companion smiles when I give him my impression of the
+familiar sounds, and he tells me that white linen is not the object of
+the beating, but black limbs! An unruly slave receives his castigation
+at the jail when it is found inconvenient to perform the operation under
+his master's roof. No inquiry into the offence is made by the officers
+of justice; the miscreant is simply ordered twenty-five or fifty lashes,
+as the case may be, by his accuser, who acts also as his jury, judge,
+and occasionally--executioner!
+
+Whilst listening to the unfortunate's groans and appeals for mercy, I
+watch the proceedings of a chain-gang of labourers, some twenty of whom
+have left the jail for the purpose of repairing a road in an adjacent
+street. They are dressed in canvas suits, numbered and lettered on the
+back, and wear broad-brimmed straw-hats. Each man smokes, and makes a
+great rattling of his chains as he assists in drawing along the heavy
+trucks and implements for work. A couple of armed soldiers and three or
+four prison-warders accompany the gang; the former to keep guard, the
+latter to superintend the labour. Some of the prisoners sell hats, fans,
+toys, and other articles of their own manufacture as they go along. One
+of these industrious gentlemen has entered, chains and all, into a
+private house opposite, and while he stands bargaining with a highly
+respectable white, his keeper sits, like Patience, on the doorstep
+smoking a cigar.
+
+I withdraw from the window to meet my jailer, who has brought--not my
+freedom? no; my food. It is the first meal I have tasted for many long
+hours, and I am prepared to relish it though it be but a banana and
+Catalan wine.
+
+These are, however, the least items in the princely fare which the
+jailer has brought. The whitest of tablecloths is removed from the
+showiest of trays, and discloses a number of small tureens, in which
+fish, flesh, and fowl have been prepared in a variety of appetising
+ways. Besides these are a square cedar-box of guava preserves, a pot of
+boiling black coffee, a bundle of the best Ti Arriba cigars, and a
+packet of Astrea cigarettes; all served on the choicest china. This
+goodly repast cometh from La Senora Mercedes, under whose hospitable
+roof I have lodged and fed for many months. Dona Mercedes has heard of
+our captivity, and, without making any enquiry into the nature of our
+misdemeanour, has instantly despatched one of her black domestics with
+the best breakfast she can prepare.
+
+The Indian assures me that the admittance into jail of such a collation
+augurs well. I have doubtless friends who are using their influence with
+the officials in my behalf, and, in short, he considers my speedy
+release a certainty.
+
+'Usted gusta?' I invite my companion to share the good things, but he
+excuses himself by saying that, with his present prospects, he would
+rather not recall the feeling of a good meal. He, however, partakes of
+some of my coffee, the odour of which is far too savoury for his
+self-denial, and helps me with the tobacco.
+
+Breakfast over, I take a siesta on half the furniture, and after a few
+hours' delicious oblivion am awakened by the jailer, who comes with the
+welcome news that the court is sitting, and that my presence is
+required.
+
+'Imprisoned and tried on the same day!' exclaims my Indian friend.
+'Then,' says he, 'I may well wish you adieu for ever!'
+
+A Cuban court of justice, broadly described, consists of two old men, a
+deal table, a bottle of ink, and a boy. One of the elders is the alcalde
+mayor, an awful being, invested with every kind of administrative power;
+the other functionary is his escribano, or legal man-of-all-work, who
+dispenses Spanish law upon the principle of 'French without a master.'
+He professes to teach prisoners their fate in one easy lesson, without
+the interposition of either counsel or jury. None but those immediately
+concerned in the case are admitted into the tribune; so that the
+prisoner, who is frequently the only party interested, has the court, so
+to speak, all to himself!
+
+The chamber into which I am ushered on the present occasion has very
+much the appearance of a schoolroom during the holidays. The walls are
+white-washed, and half a dozen short forms lie in disorder about the
+brick floor. At one end of the apartment is a yellow map of the
+Antilles; at the other is hung a badly painted oil portrait of her
+Catholic Majesty Isabella, with a soiled coat-of-arms of Castile above
+her, and a faded Spanish banner half concealing her royal countenance.
+Beneath this trophy, on a raised platform, is seated the prison
+magistrate, or fiscal, as he is called. Before him is a cedar-wood
+table, with a bottle of ink, a glass of blotting sand and a quire of
+stamped paper. On his right is an escribano and a couple of
+interpreters, whose knowledge of the English language I afterwards find
+to be extremely limited. On his left is seated my captive companion
+Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldu. Everybody present, including a couple of
+brown-holland policemen at the door, is smoking, which has a sociable
+air, and inspires me with confidence. Upon my appearance in court
+everybody rises; the fiscal politely offers me a cigar and a seat on the
+bench.
+
+As a matter of form--for my Spanish is by no means unintelligible--I am
+examined through the medium of an interpreter, who makes a terrible hash
+of my replies. He talks of the 'foots of my friend's negro,' and the
+'commandant's, officers', sergeant's relations,' by which I infer that
+the learned linguist has never overcome the fifth lesson of his
+Ollendorff. It is accordingly found necessary to conduct the rest of the
+inquiry in good Castilian.
+
+A great case has been made out against us by the commandant, who
+represents us in his despatch as spies in league with any quantity of
+confederates. A pocket-book full of nefarious notes and significant
+scratches has been found upon me: together with a four-bladed penknife,
+a metallic corkscrew, a very black lead-pencil, and an ink-eraser! In
+the commandant's opinion the said notes are, without doubt, private
+observations on the mysteries of the Morro, and the scratches are
+nothing more nor less than topographical plans of the fortifications.
+
+Absurd and improbable as the commandant's story may appear, it would
+have had great weight against us with the fiscal, and considerably
+protracted the period of our release, were it not for the fact that the
+fiscal is on intimate terms with my companion's family. This fortunate
+circumstance, aided by the laudable efforts of my consul, who works
+wonders with his excellency the governor, enables us to be set at
+liberty without further delay. There is, however, some difficulty in the
+case of our black attendant, whom the authorities would still keep in
+bondage, out of compliment to stern justice; but we intercede for him,
+and he accompanies us from jail.
+
+Crowds of people await outside and escort us to our studio, where dear
+old Don Benigno, his amiable senora and family, welcome us with joy.
+Wherever we go, we are lionised and loaded with congratulations and
+condolence. A kind of patriotic sentiment is mixed up with the public
+sympathy; Spanish rule being extremely distasteful to a Cuban, and any
+opportunity for expressing his disgust of an incompetent ruler being
+hailed by him with delight. All our Cuban friends--and, to say the
+truth, many of the Spaniards themselves--are unanimous in their
+disapproval of the commandant's conduct.
+
+But I have not yet done with the commandant, as will be seen in another
+chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+A WEST INDIAN EPIDEMIC.
+
+     A Cuban Physician and his Patient--A Nightmare--A Mystery--A
+     Cure--By the Sad Sea Waves--A Cuban
+     Watering-place--Lobster-hunting--Another View of the Morro
+     Castle--What 'Dios sabe' means.
+
+
+Not many days after the events recorded in the last chapter, I am on a
+sick couch.
+
+What is the nature of my infirmity? Neither I nor my companion can tell.
+Don Benigno, who comes to offer me his condolences, attributes the cause
+of my complaint to confinement in the close, vaporous dungeon of the
+Morro Castle, and his medical adviser, Don Francisco, who is summoned to
+my bed-side, confirms Don Benigno's opinion, adding, that the sudden
+transition from a damp atmosphere to the heat of a tropical sun may have
+contributed to produce my disorder.
+
+After examining me in the usual way, the physician inquires whether my
+head throbs without aching; whether I am troubled with certain pains in
+my joints and across my loins, and whether I feel altogether as if I had
+been confined several weeks to my bed.
+
+Marvelling much at the doctor's penetration, I reply that the symptoms
+he described exactly correspond with those which I experience. In short;
+Don Francisco is perfectly acquainted with the nature of my malady.
+Strange to say, however, he does not venture to give it a name, and
+stranger still, he leads my partner into our studio, where with closed
+doors both converse like a couple of assassins conspiring against my
+life. What passes between them is not revealed to me, but after the
+doctor's departure, my companion assures me I have only caught a severe
+cold, and that if I remain 'under cover,' I shall be perfectly well in
+six days.
+
+Why in six days? While pondering much over this, a strange heat
+oppresses me; my head throbs more than ever; my pains increase, and to
+add to my discomfiture, Nicasio, together with Don Benigno and our black
+attendant, suddenly begin to dance furiously around my 'catre,'
+terminating their wild gyrations by vanishing between the bars of the
+grated window!
+
+My friends were doubtless afraid of the commandant of the Morro and her
+Majesty's British consul; for these gentlemen have entered the apartment
+and established themselves on either side of my catre. The commandant,
+claiming me for his prisoner, again attempts to carry me off to the
+Morro Castle, but my consul envelopes me in an enormous Union Jack, and
+declaring that I am a British subject, dares the Spanish officer to lay
+a finger on me. The commandant now draws his sword--a weapon of such
+monstrous length that it cannot be conveniently unsheathed without
+detaching the scabbard from the belt from which it depends. The consul
+in turn exhibits a mighty scroll of parchment, which takes as long to
+unroll as the officer's sabre takes to unsheath. Meanwhile I watch the
+combatants in agonising suspense, till the chamber becomes suddenly
+dark. But, after a painful pause, daylight appears, and to my
+unspeakable relief I find that my formidable visitors have vanished, and
+that I am alone with Nicasio.
+
+My companion smiles and tells me that I have been talking in my sleep.
+In other words, that I have been delirious.
+
+Now that we are alone, I press my partner to reveal to me the true cause
+of my complaint; for, in spite of his previous assertion, I am more than
+ever convinced that the truth is being concealed from me. But Nicasio
+cannot be persuaded, neither does he explain why he mentioned six days
+as the period for my convalescence.
+
+On the fifth day, I am considerably worse than I was before. A feeling
+of utter prostration accompanied by an inordinate thirst comes over me.
+This is followed by a sensation as of sea-sickness and overpowering
+lassitude. I am parched with thirst, but I have neither strength to
+express my want in words nor to indicate it by suitable gestures. Some
+refreshing draught is, however, placed to my lips, which I swallow
+greedily; at the same time my head is relieved by the application of
+'vejicatorios,' or blisters, to the soles of my feet. More than half my
+medical advisers prescribe bleeding, but Don Francisco will not hear of
+it, and from first to last this expedient is never adopted.
+
+My deplorable condition is not improved by a thought which suggests
+itself from the hue of my hands, which I perceive for the first time are
+saffron-coloured.
+
+Santo Dios! Can this be the yellow fever?
+
+The yellow fever it is; though for some mysterious reason the secret is
+carefully kept from me to the last.
+
+Yes: I have the 'fiebre amarilla:' but, thank God, not the 'vomito
+negro,' or black vomit, which is the worst form of the yellow fever, and
+in nine cases out of ten proves fatal. To-morrow my troubles will be
+over, provided that the night is passed tranquilly; but should there be
+the least indication of a relapse before daylight--well; the fact would
+not be recorded by me!
+
+To say that my beloved companion never for an instant leaves my bed-side
+until the critical moment has passed; or that good old Don Benigno
+provides for my wants, and consults at least six different doctors, who
+come at prescribed hours to tap me on the chest, probe me in the ribs,
+and press my pulse; to say that Dona Mercedes proves the best and
+kindest of nurses and most sympathetic of friends; and that even the
+loquacious Tunicu, together with a host of acquaintances, makes kind
+enquiries after my daily progress, and offers to provide a shopful of
+dainties--is to say that the attentions which I receive from strangers
+in a foreign country are all that my dearest relatives at home could
+desire.
+
+Having passed the night of the fifth day tranquilly, I awake on the
+morning of the memorable sixth, in a perfect state of health. All my
+pains have disappeared as if by magic: my head ceases to throb; my body
+is delightfully cool, and I am otherwise so convalescent that were it
+not for my doctor's strict injunctions, I should arise, dress, and
+betake myself to the nearest restaurant. But my West Indian physician
+administers to my wants in easy stages. I am allowed to sit in a rocking
+chair near the window with closed shutters, but I may not wash, neither
+may I brush my hair, nor breathe a new atmosphere for several days to
+come. From the mildest nourishment in the way of sugar panales and
+water, I am gradually introduced to more solid food, and at least a week
+elapses before Don Francisco approves of Don Benigno's proposal to
+recruit his patient's health at the sea-side.
+
+Now that the crisis is over, I learn that the greatest fears had been
+entertained for my recovery; that six out of the seven doctors, who had
+considered my case, had pronounced it hopeless. I was an Englishman,
+they said, and my countrymen had the reputation for indulging rather
+freely in stimulants--above all in malt liquors, and these stimulants
+were fatal to a constitution when attacked by yellow fever. But Don
+Francisco, who had carefully interrogated me on my past, which he found
+greatly belied his brother practitioners' conjectures, was more sanguine
+of the cure, and now that I am free from danger, he pronounces me
+'acclimatised,' and as unlikely to experience another attack of the same
+epidemic as the natives of Cuba themselves. He, however, warns me of
+'tercianas' or intermittent fevers which occasionally succeed yellow
+fever, and which are consequent on intemperate habits and undue exposure
+to the sun.
+
+Accepting Don Benigno's generous invitation to pass a few weeks with
+him, his family and a few friends at a watering place, I take leave of
+Nicasio for the first time, and become Don Benigno's guest once more.
+Our destination is La Socapa, a small fishing village three miles
+distant from town. The only way to reach La Socapa (which is situated at
+the narrow entrance of the Cuban Bay, and faces the Morro Castle which
+stands on the opposite bank) is by water. We therefore hire a heavy
+boat, and after an hour's sail along the sinuous harbour, we are landed
+at La Socapa.
+
+There are no 'apartments to let' at this favourite watering-place. When
+a Cuban gentleman proposes to rusticate with his family at this
+locality, he hires an empty house and fits it up with some furniture
+brought by his slaves from his residence in town. Not more than a dozen
+cottages are available as lodging-houses at La Socapa; the village being
+occupied by fishermen and their families. Don Benigno's temporary abode
+is isolated from the village and stands on an eminence looking seawards.
+It is a single-storied habitation and provides the usual accommodations
+of a Cuban country-house.
+
+There are no bathing machines at La Socapa. Those who are inclined for a
+dip in the sea betake themselves to secluded spots on the coast, and
+disrobe themselves behind rocks and bushes. 'Tiburones,' or sharks,
+occasionally visit this neighbourhood, and as these voracious creatures
+have a strange partiality for human limbs, the bathers are careful not
+to venture beyond certain stones which have been placed for the purpose
+of keeping out the greedy invaders.
+
+Sometimes we indulge in a little fishing off the banks of the harbour,
+or the gentlemen of our party take their sporting guns to an adjacent
+wood where wild pigeons, partridges, quails and guinea-fowl abound. This
+sport may be varied by a hunt after wild deer, small specimens of which
+are to be obtained in these parts. Our favourite evening amusement is
+lobster-hunting. For this sport, a big barge is procured, and, after
+having been furnished with carpets and rugs for the ladies'
+accommodation, we proceed to navigate the shores and creeks of the
+harbour. Three or four black fishermen accompany us and bear long
+torches of wood, by the light of which the ground beneath the shallow
+water is visible. Our prey is secured by throwing a net, in the meshes
+of which the lobster becomes entangled; but should this prove
+ineffectual, a long pole forked at one end is thrust over the creature's
+hard back, and as he struggles to free himself from the pronged embrace,
+a nimble negro dives into the water and captures him alive. Great
+excitement prevails when a lobster comes on board, and bounds among our
+crew and passengers. Having brought provisions with us, we 'make a
+night' of this molluscular expedition, and keep up the convivialities
+till two or three o'clock, A.M.
+
+One of the liveliest of our party is a young Spanish officer, whom
+everybody addresses as Manuel. Manuel is engaged to Don Benigno's eldest
+daughter, Paquita, a young lady of fourteen tropical summers, who,
+however, has the appearance of a senorita of sweet seventeen. I am on
+terms of the closest friendship with the young officer, for it was
+partly through his intercession with the authorities that Nicasio and I
+obtained our release from captivity.
+
+One day, after attiring himself in his regimentals, Don Manuel proposes
+a visit to the Morro Castle, and invites me to accompany him, assuring
+me that under his trusty escort there will be no danger of arrest. We
+accordingly hire a small canoe, and after rowing across the narrow
+harbour, land at one of the forts of the formidable fortress.
+
+The officer's uniform is an all-powerful pass wherever we go. It enables
+us to land, to pass the various sentries, who touch their caps
+respectfully as we approach, and finally to reach the commandant's
+private dwelling in the very heart of the stronghold.
+
+El senor comandante is at home, and invites us in. He is delighted to
+see his young friend the captain, and charmed to form the acquaintance
+of the captain's companion. He does not recognise me in the least, and
+satisfied of that fact, I accept his pressing invitation to lunch with
+himself and officers.
+
+After coffee and cigars, our host offers to show us the secrets of his
+prison-house. This time my eyes are not bandaged, and I follow the
+commandant without military assistance.
+
+We are shown all over the fortifications. We inspect minutely the
+old-fashioned twenty-four pounders; rest on the six bronze French guns
+(which, we are told, are quite new, and the only serviceable weapons in
+the fortress), and make other observations, which, if we were enemies
+with an inclination to storm the place from the sea, would greatly
+assist us in our operations. Now we are in the sleeping caves, where the
+hundred men who compose the garrison are lodged. Now we are descending
+flights of stone steps. We pass along hollow-sounding alleys and under
+echoing archways. Presently we arrive at the cooking department, where
+the atmosphere feels oppressive, and is black with innumerable flies. We
+come at last to the deepest part of the fortress, where 'criminals of
+the worst description' (so the commandant informs me) are lodged.
+Narrow, intricate passages lead to the different cells. Our guide points
+out some of the prisoners, and invites us to look in at them through
+their little square windows. Strange to say, he does not seem to be at
+all conversant with the nature of their offences. 'Dios sabe!'
+accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders, is invariably the commandant's
+reply to any query respecting a particular prisoner. 'Dios sabe' may,
+however, signify a great deal more than 'Heaven knows;' and, perhaps,
+the commandant chooses not to explain himself.
+
+We pause before a dungeon where it is said a Chinaman committed suicide
+after six days' incarceration: self-slaughter among Celestials being
+their favourite mode of killing care. An equally suicidal Chow-chow is
+confined there now; but they have bound him hand and foot, and he lies
+muttering in falsetto like a maniac. He would doubtless give something
+for a little soothing opium!
+
+My friend the commandant assures me that the vault I am now surveying
+with such interest is unoccupied, and persuades me to pass on. But I
+linger lovingly at the little square window, and take a fond look at the
+interior. The theatre of my woe has changed in appearance, the company
+having gone. But there still remain the empty benches!
+
+'Whom have you had within the past twelve months?' I ask.
+
+'Dios sabe!'
+
+It is not the commandant's business to know where his prisoners are
+quartered, or what becomes of them.
+
+I apply afterwards for the same information to the captain of the
+garrison.
+
+'Dios sabe!'
+
+The staff of officers engaged in the Morro service is relieved once a
+month, and the captain I address has only lately taken the command.
+
+'Dios sabe!' In the majority of cases, it is, indeed, Heaven alone who
+knows what becomes of unfortunates in a country where law is directed
+through the agency of military despotism, and where the disposal of a
+man's life and liberty is entrusted to the mercy of a vain and
+capricious commandant.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+GENERAL TACON'S JUDGMENT.
+
+     Pleasant Company--The Cigar Girl of Havana--A Tobacconist's Shop in
+     Cuba--A Romance of Real Life--Spanish Justice abroad.
+
+
+My health being now perfectly established, I signify my intention of
+returning to my companion and duties in town. As my military friend, Don
+Manuel, must also depart--his leave of absence having expired--I accept
+his invitation to share the boat which is to convey him to Santiago, and
+bid adieu to Don Benigno and his family, who contemplate remaining at
+the sea-side for some days longer.
+
+Don Manuel is excellent company, and, although an officer in the Spanish
+service, his views of politics are exceedingly liberal. During the
+homeward passage, the officer entertains me with various stories
+illustrative of Cuban administration. He tells me that since the Pearl
+of the Antilles has adorned the Spanish crown, the island of Cuba has
+always been governed by a captain-general, a mighty personage, invested
+with much the same power and authority as that of a monarch in some
+countries, and, like a king, could not possibly do anything that was
+wrong.
+
+'The Cubans,' says he, 'have seldom had reason to be grateful to Spain
+for the rulers she has appointed over them, because these have been
+usually selected rather on the score of influence than capacity or
+merit. There is, however, on record at least one captain-general whose
+name is held in esteem by the Cuban people, on account of the good he
+effected during his short reign in Havana. Captain-General Tacon
+established some degree of safety for the inhabitants by introducing new
+laws, and by severely punishing certain social offences which his
+predecessors had rather overlooked, if they did not themselves set the
+example. It is said of Tacon that, like Alfred the Great, he promised
+the Cubans that they should be able to cast their purses upon the public
+pavement, and yet find them there again after many days. Stories are
+current in Cuba of the general's singular mode of administering justice,
+which in many cases partook of an originality somewhat whimsical of its
+kind.'
+
+Don Manuel gives me the most popular story of this sort--that of the
+cigar girl of Havana, which I will now repeat to the reader in the
+following form:
+
+Miralda Estalez was remarkable alike for the beauty of her person and
+the excellence of her tobacco. She kept a cigar-shop in Havana, in the
+Calle del Comercio; a narrow street, with a footpath scarcely wider than
+an ordinary kerbstone. It was the veriest section of a shop, without a
+front of any kind; presenting, from the street side, much the same
+appearance as a burnt-out dwelling would exhibit, or a theatrical scene
+viewed by an audience. During the hot hours of the day a curtain was
+suspended before the shop to ward off the powerful rays of the sun,
+under whose influence the delicate goods within might otherwise be
+prematurely dried, while the effect would be equally detrimental to
+their fair vendor. The easy mode of access, assisted by the narrow
+kerbstone, together with many attractions within the shop, tempted many
+passers to drop in for a chat and a cigar. There was a little counter,
+with little pyramidal heaps of cigarette packets and cigars, of the
+genuine Havana brand, distributed upon it. Affixed to a wall at the back
+was a glass show-case, fitted with shelves like a book-case, and laden
+with bundles of the precious leaves, placed like volumes side by side,
+and bound in bright yellow ribbon. Although Miralda was visited from
+morning till night by every kind of male, black and brown, as well as
+white, nothing was ever said against the virtue of the young
+tobacconist.
+
+Like the cigars she sold, Miralda was of 'calidad superior;' and, in the
+same manner, age had rather improved her quality than otherwise, for it
+had ripened her into a charming full-grown woman of sixteen tropical
+summers. Some merit was due to Miralda for the respectable life she led;
+for, besides the temptations to which she was daily and hourly
+subjected, she was quite alone in the world, her parents, brothers, and
+sisters being dead. Miralda naturally found many admirers among her
+numerous customers; she, however, made no distinction with them, but had
+a bright smile and a kind word for all who favoured her with their
+praises and their patronage. One alone, perhaps, held a place nearer her
+heart than all others. This was Don Pedro Mantanez, a young boatman
+employed in the harbour near the Morro Castle. Pedro was of good white
+parentage, though one would not have judged so from the colour of his
+skin, which, from long exposure to the sun and the weather, had turned
+a pale coffee colour. Pedro loved Miralda fondly, and she was by no
+means indifferent to the handsome Creole. But the pretty tobacconist was
+in no hurry to wear the matrimonial chains. The business, like herself,
+was far from old-established, and she thought in her capacity of a
+married woman the attractions of her shop would diminish by at least
+one-half, while her patrons would disappear in the same ratio. Miralda
+once made her lover a promise that she would marry him as soon as he
+should have won a prize in the lottery; for, with his savings, this
+would enable Pedro to have a share in her business as well as in her
+happiness. So, once a month, Pedro invested a doubloon in
+lottery-tickets; but, as he never succeeded in winning a prize, he
+failed to wed the pretty tobacconist. Still, the young boatman continued
+to drop anchor at the cigar-shop as often as his spare time would allow;
+and as the fond couple always conducted themselves with the strictest
+propriety, their engagement remained a secret.
+
+Now Pedro Mantanez had a rival, and, to a certain extent, a formidable
+one. The Count Almante was a noble of Spanish birth, and an officer by
+profession. He was one of those fortunate gentlemen who, from no
+inherent talent or acquired ability, had been sent from the
+mother-country to enrich himself in her prosperous colony. Besides his
+wealth, which report described as ill-gotten, he gloried in the
+reputation of being a gay cavalier in Havana, and a great favourite with
+the Creole ladies. It was his boast that no girl beneath him in station
+had been yet known to reject any offer he might propose; and he would
+sometimes lay wagers with his associates that the lady whom he had
+newly honoured with his admiration would, at a given time, stand entered
+in his book of amours as a fresh conquest. To achieve a particular
+object, the count would never allow anything, human or otherwise, to
+stand in his path; and by reason of his wealth, his nobility, and his
+influence with the authorities, his crimes were numerous and his
+punishments few, if any.
+
+It happened that the last senorita who had taken Count Almante's fancy
+was Miralda Estalez. The count spent many hours and many pesetas at the
+pretty tobacconist's counter, where, we may be sure, he used his most
+persuasive language to attain his very improper purpose. Accustomed to
+have pretty things poured into her ears by a variety of admirers,
+Miralda regarded the count's addresses with indifference; and, while
+behaving with her wonted amiability of manner, gave him neither
+encouragement nor motive for pressing his suit. One evening the count
+lingered at the cigar-shop longer than custom allows, and, under the
+pretence of purchasing and smoking more cigars, remained until the
+neighbouring shops were closed and the streets were deserted. Alone with
+the girl, and insured against intruders, Count Almante ventured to
+disclose his unworthy passion. Amongst other things, he said:
+
+'If you will love me and live with me, I will give you as many golden
+onzas as you require, and I will place at your disposal another and a
+better shop in the suburbs of the Cerro, where you can carry on your
+business as before.'
+
+The Cerro was situated near the count's palace. Miralda said nothing in
+reply; but, looking the count steadily in the face, gave him the name of
+another shop where, she informed him, he would obtain better cigars
+than those she sold.
+
+Heedless of the significance of her remark, which he attributed to
+shyness, Almante rose from where he had been seated, and, approaching
+the girl, endeavoured to place his arm round her waist. Ever guarded
+against the casualties of insult, Miralda retreated a step, and at the
+same moment drawing a small dagger from the folds of her dress, warned
+the count not to touch her. Baulked in his design, Almante withdrew,
+assuring the girl with a smile that he did but jest; but as he left the
+shop he bit his lip and clenched his fist with evident disappointment.
+
+When Pedro heard of what had happened, his indignation was great, and he
+resolved to take summary vengeance; but Miralda begged him not to be
+precipitate, as she had now no fear of further molestation from the
+count; and as days elapsed, and Almante had not resumed his visits, it
+seemed apparent that he had taken Miralda's advice, and transferred his
+custom elsewhere.
+
+One evening, as Miralda was about to close her shop for the night, a
+party of soldiers halted before her door. The commanding officer
+entered, and, without a word, presented to the astonished tobacconist a
+warrant for her arrest. Knowing that it was useless to disobey any
+officer in the employ of the captain-general, Miralda signified her
+readiness to accompany the military escort, who, accordingly, placed her
+in their midst, and conducted her through the streets in the direction
+of the prison. But instead of halting here, the party continued their
+march until they had reached the confines of the city. Miralda's
+courage now deserted her, and, with tears in her eyes, she appealed to
+the officer in command.
+
+'Por la Virgen Santisima!' she exclaimed, 'let me know where I am being
+taken to.'
+
+'You will learn when you get there. Our orders strictly forbid us to
+make any explanation,' was the only reply she obtained.
+
+Miralda was not long in learning the worst. Very shortly, her escort
+halted before Count Almante's castle in the neighbourhood of the Cerro,
+and, having entered the court-yard of that building, the fair captive
+was conducted tremblingly into a chamber elegantly fitted up for her
+reception. After waiting here a few minutes in painful suspense, an
+inner door was thrown open, and Count Almante stood before her. The
+scene which then followed may be better imagined than described. We may
+be sure that the count used every effort in order to prevail upon his
+prisoner, but without success. Miralda's invariable response was a gleam
+of her dagger, which never left her hand from the first moment of
+entering the odious building. Finding that mild measures would not win
+the pretty tobacconist, the count, as is usual under such circumstances
+with persons of his nature, threatened her with violence; and he would,
+doubtless, have carried out his threat, if Miralda had not anticipated
+him by promising to relent and to become his if her persecutor would
+allow her one short week to reconsider her determination. Deceived by
+the girl's assumed manner, Almante acceded to her desire and agreed to
+wait. Miralda, however, felt assured that before long her lover would
+discover her whereabouts, and by some means effect her release. She was
+not disappointed. Miralda's sudden disappearance was soon made known to
+Pedro Mantanez, who, confident that his beloved had fallen into the
+count's clutches, determined to obtain access to Almante's palace. For
+this purpose he assumed the dress of a monk; and, his face being unknown
+at the castle, he easily obtained an entry, and afterwards an interview
+with Miralda herself. The girl's surprise and joy at beholding her lover
+were unbounded. In his strong embrace, she became oblivious of her
+sorrows, confident that the young boatman would now conduct her speedily
+into a harbour of refuge. She was not mistaken. Pedro sought and
+obtained an audience with General Tacon. The general was, as usual,
+immersed in public affairs; but, being gifted with the enviable faculty
+of hearing, talking, and writing at the same moment, merely glanced at
+his applicant, and desired him to tell his story. Pedro did as he was
+desired, and when he had concluded, Tacon, without raising his eyes from
+the papers with which he appeared intently engaged, made the following
+inquiry:
+
+'Is Miralda Estalez your sister?'
+
+'No, su excelencia, she is not,' replied Pedro.
+
+'Your wife, perhaps?' suggested the general.
+
+'She is my betrothed!'
+
+General Tacon motioned the young man to approach, and then directing a
+look to him which seemed to read him through, held up a crucifix, and
+bade him swear to the truth of all that he had stated. Pedro knelt, and
+taking the cross in both hands, kissed it, and made the oath required of
+him. When he had done so, the general pointed to an apartment, where he
+desired Pedro to wait until he was summoned. Aware of the brief and
+severe manner in which General Tacon dealt with all social questions,
+Pedro Mantanez left the august presence in doubt whether his judge would
+decide for or against his case. His suspense was not of long duration.
+In an hour or so, one of the governor's guards entered, ushering in
+Count Almante and his captive lady. The general received the new-comers
+in the same manner as he had received the young boatman. In a tone of
+apparent indifference, he addressed the count as follows:
+
+'If I am not mistaken, you have abused your authority by effecting the
+abduction of this girl?'
+
+'I confess I have done so,' replied the count, in a tone intended to
+match that of his superior; 'but,' he continued, with a conciliatory
+smile, 'I think that the affair is of such a nature that it need not
+occupy the attention of your excellency.'
+
+'Well, perhaps not,' said his judge, still busy over the documents
+before him.
+
+'I simply wish to learn from you, upon your word of honour, whether any
+violence has been used towards the girl.'
+
+'None whatever, upon my honour,' replied Almante, 'and I am happy in
+believing that none will be required!'
+
+'Is the girl already yours, then?'
+
+'Not at present,' said the count, with a supercilious smirk, 'but she
+has promised to become mine very shortly.'
+
+'Is this true?' inquired the captain-general, for the first time raising
+his eyes, and turning to Miralda, who replied:
+
+'My promise was made only with a view to save myself from threatened
+violence.'
+
+'Do you say this upon your oath?'
+
+'Upon my oath I do!'
+
+The general now ordered Pedro Mantanez to appear, and then carefully
+interrogated the lovers upon their engagement. Whilst doing so he wrote
+a dispatch and handed it to one of his guards. When the latter had
+departed, Tacon sent a messenger in quest of a priest and a lawyer. When
+these arrived, the general commanded the priest to perform the ceremony
+of marriage between Miralda Estalez and Count Almante and bade the
+lawyer prepare the necessary documents for the same purpose.
+
+The count, who had already expressed his vexation at what promised to be
+an attempt to deprive him of his new favorite by allying her with the
+boatman, was horrified when he heard what the governor's mandate really
+was. His indignation was extreme, and he endeavoured to show how
+preposterous such an alliance would be, by reminding the general of his
+noble birth and honorable calling. Pedro was equally disappointed at
+being thus dispossessed of his betrothed and appealed to Tacon's
+generosity and sense of right. Miralda remained speechless with
+astonishment, but with the most perfect reliance in the wisdom of her
+judge. Meanwhile, in spite of all remonstrances, the marriage was
+formally solemnised, and Miralda Estalez and Count Almante were man and
+wife. The unhappy bridegroom was then requested to return to his palace
+in the Cerro, while his bride and her late lover were desired to remain.
+
+Upwards of an hour had passed since the count's departure, and nothing
+further transpired. The governor had resumed his business affairs, and
+appeared, as before, utterly unconscious of all present. He was however
+shortly interrupted by the appearance of the guard whom he had
+despatched with his missive.
+
+'Is my order executed?' inquired the general, looking up for a moment
+only.
+
+'Si, mi general, it is,' replied the guard. 'Nine bullets were fired at
+the count as he rode round the corner of the street mentioned in your
+dispatch.'
+
+Tacon then ordered that the marriage and death of Count Almante should
+receive all publicity, and that legal steps should be taken for the
+purpose of showing that the property and name of the defunct were
+inherited by his disconsolate widow. When the general's commands had
+been fulfilled, and a decent period after the count's demise had
+transpired, it need scarcely be added that Pedro Mantanez married the
+countess, with whom he lived happily ever after.
+
+'Rather a barbarous way of administering justice,' I remark, at the
+conclusion of Don Manuel's story. 'In my country,' I add, 'such an act
+as that which General Tacon committed would be called murder.'
+
+'It is not looked upon in that light here,' says the officer. 'You must
+remember that the count had been already guilty of many crimes worthy
+the punishment of death, and as there had been no means of bringing him
+to justice, justice improved the occasion which his last offence
+presented, and, as it were, came to him!'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+(VERY) HIGH ART IN CUBA.
+
+     On the Ceiling--'Pintar-monos'--A Chemist's Shop _a la
+     Polychrome_--Sculpture under Difficulties--'Nothing like
+     Leather'--A Triumph in Triumphal Arches--Cuban Carpenters--The
+     Captain-General of Havana.
+
+
+Our incarceration proves of professional service to us. It spreads our
+renown and procures us more congenial patronage than we have hitherto
+received. While I have been rusticating at La Socapa, my brother limner
+has been busily employed on work in which he takes especial delight.
+
+A rich marquis having just returned from a visit to Europe, is inspired
+with the desire to decorate his new mansion, which has lately been
+purchased by him, in what he calls a 'tasteful' fashion. For this
+purpose all the decorative talent of the town is engaged. Nicasio is
+also applied to, and undertakes to adorn the ceiling of the long
+reception-room with four large oil paintings representing the seasons.
+The marquis has not perfected his taste for the fine arts by his visit
+to Europe, for he still persists in applying the vulgar term 'mono,' or
+monkey, to all paintings in which figures form the leading features, and
+of classifying everything else under the general denomination of
+'paisaje.' All artists are to him 'pintar-monos,' or painters of
+monkeys, and when he summons my partner to arrange about the pictures
+which he desires to have affixed to his ceiling, he points to the
+octagonal spaces which these productions are destined to fill, and
+observes:
+
+'Quiero cuatro monos para tapar estos hoyos,' which is equivalent to
+saying: I want four daubs (monkeys) to cover over those holes with.
+
+Nicasio accordingly makes sundry small designs for the four 'monos,' in
+which certain allegorical figures of ladies in scanty robes, and Cupids
+without any apparel, are introduced. My partner's favourite
+water-carriers, Regina and Mapi, together with Dona Mercedes'
+well-formed baby Isabelica, serve as models for Spring, Summer and
+Winter which when finished, are affixed to their respective 'hoyos' or
+holes in the ceiling. The picture of Autumn, however, remains
+uncompleted. The rich marquis discovers that the quality of the work far
+exceeds his expectations and finding also that its value has increased
+in proportion, he considers that this season, which happens to be the
+last executed, should be 'thrown in,' or in other words included in the
+price charged for the other three. In short, he declares that unless the
+'pintar-monos' agrees to this arrangement, that he (the marquis) will
+get another pintar-monos to complete the series. As Nicasio objects to
+work gratis, our patron, true to his word, commissions a house decorator
+to supply the missing season, and the result may be easily imagined!
+
+The Cuban critics are, however, sufficiently intelligent to distinguish
+between the good and the very bad; and thus while the local papers are
+unanimous in their praises of Spring, Summer and Winter, they do not
+hesitate to pronounce Autumn a failure and an 'unseasonable'
+production.
+
+The success which attends my companion's efforts, induces others to
+embark in decorative enterprises, and among our patrons for this new
+kind of work, is a 'botecario,' or chemist, who offers us a large amount
+to paint and otherwise adorn his new shop in what he calls the
+polychrome style.
+
+We have the vaguest notions on that subject, but so have also the
+chemist and the Cuban critics. We accordingly undertake the work, and
+manufacture something in which the Pompeian, the Rafaelesque, the
+Arabesque, and the French wall-paper equally participate. In the centre
+of the ceiling is to be placed a large allegorical oil-painting,
+representing a female figure of France in the act of crowning the bust
+of the famous chemist Orfila. In the four angles of the ceiling are to
+be painted portraits of the Spanish physician the Marquis of Joca, the
+English chemist Faraday, the Italian anatomist Paganucci, and the French
+chemist Velpeau. It takes exactly seven months to carry out our design,
+in the execution whereof we are assisted by the native talent already
+alluded to. Among our staff of operators are a couple of black
+white-washers for the broad work, a master carpenter with his apprentice
+for the carvings, and an indefatigable Chow-chow, or Chinaman, whom we
+employ extensively for the elaborate pattern work. Our mulatto pupils
+also help us in many ways.
+
+The chief objects of attraction in this great undertaking are without a
+doubt a pair of life-sized figures of two celebrated French chemists,
+named Parmentier and Vauquelin, destined to stand in a conspicuous part
+of the shop. As there are no sculptors in our town, it devolves as
+usual upon the 'followers of the divine art of Apelles' to try their
+hands at the art of Phidias. Confident of success, the chemist provides
+us with a couple of plaster busts representing the French celebrities in
+question, and bids us do our best. The fragments of drapery exhibited on
+these gentlemen enable us to decide on the kind of costume which our
+figures should wear; the one being indicative of a robe somewhat
+clerical, and the other evincing without a doubt that the original
+belonged to a period when knee-breeches and top-boots were much in
+vogue. The resources of Cuba for the making of statues are limited, so
+the material we employ is slight. We construct our figures upon the
+principle on which paper masks are made, and by painting them afterwards
+in imitation of marble, a very solid appearance may be obtained. I will
+not describe the many difficulties which we encounter at every stage of
+this process; but when the hollow effigies are complete and we have
+fixed them to their painted wooden plinths, we are vain enough to
+believe that we have produced as goodly a pair of sham statues as you
+would see if you travelled from one extremity of Cuba to the other.
+
+It is the night which precedes the opening of the chemist's shop, and we
+have retired to our dormitories after having given a final coat of
+marble colour to our pasteboard productions. I am about to tumble into
+my hammock, when my progress is arrested by a strange sound which seems
+to emanate from an adjoining chamber. I re-ignite my extinguished lamp,
+and take a peep into the studio. Something is certainly moving in that
+apartment. I summon my companion, who joins me, and we enter our
+sanctum.
+
+'Misericordia! One of the statues is alive,' I exclaim, horrified at
+what appears to me a second edition of Frankenstein.
+
+'Eppur si muove!' ejaculates Nicasio, quoting from another authority.
+
+Monsieur Parmentier--he of the periwig and top-boots--is sinking
+perceptibly, though gradually. We advance to save him, but alas! too
+late; the illustrious Frenchman is already on his bended boots. The
+wooden props which supported his hollow legs have given way, and his top
+boots are now a shapeless mass. We pause for a moment to contemplate the
+wreck before us, and immediately set about repairing the damage.
+
+But how? A brilliant idea suggests itself.
+
+In a corner of the studio stand the leather originals which have served
+us as models for the extremities of the injured statue. These same boots
+belong to an obliging shoemaker who has only lent them to us. But what
+of that? The case is urgent, and this is no time to run after our friend
+and bargain with him for his property.
+
+To fill the boots with plaster of Paris; to humour them, while the
+plaster is yet moist, into something which resembles the human leg
+divine, is the work of a few moments. To fix them firmly to the wooden
+plinth, and prop over them the incomplete torso by means of laths
+cunningly concealed, occupies little more than an hour and a half. A
+coat of thick white paint administered below, completes the operation,
+and Parmentier is erect again, and apparently none the worse for his
+disaster. One more layer of paint early next morning, and the statue is
+faultless, and ready for being borne triumphantly from our studio to
+its destination. There it is placed in its niche, and no one suspects
+the mishap. Evening approaches, and with it come crowds of Cuban
+dilettanti and others who have been invited. The ceremony of blessing
+the new undertaking is solemnised according to custom by a priest, and
+an assistant who sprinkles holy-water from a small hand-broom upon
+everything and everybody, while a short prayer in Latin is chanted. Then
+the guests proceed to examine the various embellishments of this
+singular shop, pausing to refresh themselves from the sumptuous repast
+which the chemist has provided for his guests and patrons in an
+adjoining chamber.
+
+The statues form a subject for wonder with everybody, and no one will
+believe that they are constructed of other than solid material. Even the
+credulous, who are permitted to tap one of Parmentier's boots as a
+convincing test, cannot help sharing the popular delusion.
+
+But our friend the shoemaker is not so easily deceived. From certain
+signs, known only to himself, he recognises in the statue's painted
+extremities his own appropriated goods. We swear him to secrecy, and
+offer to pay him liberally for the loss he has sustained; and it pleases
+him to discover that in the pursuit of the fine arts--and as regards
+statue-making in the West Indies we echo the sentiment--there is nothing
+like leather!
+
+The chemist's shop is scarcely disposed of, when application is again
+made to us for another important undertaking.
+
+The Captain-General of Havana has signified his intention to honour our
+town with a visit, and preparations for his reception must accordingly
+be made. The good people of Cuba have not a superabundance of affection
+for their distinguished chief: possibly because captains-general are not
+as a rule all that their subjects might desire. But a visit from his
+excellency is such an unusual event (for our captain-general is rarely
+absent from his comfortable palace in the Havana) that the inhabitants
+of Santiago determine to make at least holiday--if not to profit--out of
+the occasion. The merchants and shopkeepers are especially interested in
+exhibiting their loyalty; for in this manner they hope to obtain many
+mercantile concessions. Certain little nefarious transactions connected
+with the custom-house may through the captain-general's benevolence be
+forgiven or ignored, while other matters, connected with the landing of
+negroes, may also pass censorship. A number of petitions for various
+local favours have been also prepared, and in short the inhabitants hope
+to derive many advantages from the visit of their colonial King.
+
+The merchants' contribution towards the festivities will be a public
+ball in the theatre, and a grand triumphal arch, which they propose to
+erect in the principal thoroughfare. But a triumphal arch, such as these
+gentlemen contemplate, is not so easily obtained in Cuba. Los Senores
+Bosch Brothers--who are appointed to direct this work--have, however, no
+difficulty in providing architects qualified to undertake the
+fabrication required. The followers of the divine art of Apelles no
+doubt 'deal' in triumphal arches, and the 'job' is accordingly offered
+to them.
+
+Our experience in the manufacture of triumphal arches is not wide, but
+our patrons are so very pressing, and their terms are, moreover, so
+very liberal, that we are finally induced to embark in the enterprise.
+
+A plan of the proposed structure having been drawn and submitted for
+approval to Don Elijio, who is the head of the firm of Bosch Brothers,
+our operations begin. The order of architecture which we adopt partakes
+of the Norman and the early Gothic, with a 'dash,' so to speak, of the
+Byzantine, to give it a cheerful aspect. It might remind the learned in
+these matters of York Minster, Temple Bar, or a court in the Crystal
+Palace; but the Senores Bosch Brothers--whose acquaintance with
+architectural master-pieces is confined to the governor's palace of lath
+and plaster, and the white-washed cathedral--are easily satisfied.
+
+Our labours are conducted in the extensive store-room of Messrs. Bosch
+Brothers, which, in order to facilitate our operations, is cleared of
+its cumbersome contents. The arch is destined to stand in that part of
+the street which divides the warehouse from the market-place. The latter
+stands at an elevation of more than forty feet above the pavement, and
+is reached by a wide flight of stone steps. It forms part of our plan to
+connect our frail edifice with the market wall, and match its local
+stone colour.
+
+We have exactly a month for the completion of our task, and we make the
+most of our time. Cart-loads of white wood, in planks and logs, arrive
+at all hours of the day, together with yards upon yards of coarse
+canvas, pounds of nails, colours in powder, huge earthenware pots and
+size. In short, our requirements are akin to those of a scene painter.
+
+Thrifty Don Elijio has periodical moments of panic; for it seems to him
+that our demands for wood, paint, canvas and nails, are exorbitant, and
+more than once he predicts the ruin of his speculation. The merchant
+begins to regret that he did not persuade us to 'contract' for the whole
+expense, instead of receiving a separate remuneration for our time and
+labour. Sometimes he will endeavour to show that there is something
+defective in our agreement.
+
+'Look here!' says he. 'You are artists, and if I come to you to have my
+portrait painted, I suppose you will not expect me to pay for your
+colours and canvas?'
+
+We have neither time nor ability to argue the point; but the man of many
+bargains is easily convinced, when we hint about relinquishing our
+labours!
+
+Foiled in his effort to reduce expenses, the merchant tries to economise
+in another way, by questioning the propriety of adopting certain little
+contrivances which he cannot for the life of him follow in the original
+plan.
+
+'What are those hugh firework sort of wheels for?' he asks one day. 'I
+don't see them in the drawing, and therefore consider them unnecessary.'
+
+'Those wheels,' we explain, 'which you are pleased to compare with
+fireworks, constitute the skeleton, or framework, of four turrets,
+which, after having been concealed behind canvas, painted stone-colour,
+and relieved with imitation port-holes, will be suspended from the
+uppermost angles of the arch.'
+
+'And where is that broad octagonal chimney to be placed?' inquires the
+merchant.
+
+'That "chimney,"' we reply, 'represents a Gothic temple, and is
+destined to stand over the centre of the arch upon a graduated
+pedestal.'
+
+The wood-work of our fabric is put together by a number of black and
+brown carpenters; but we have to superintend every part, as these
+gentlemen have no notion whatever of architectural devices, and our
+eloquence fails to convey to their intelligence our multifarious needs.
+
+The readiest of our assistants is a young mulatto, nicknamed El Tuerto
+by reason of a strong cast in his left eye. He is far more industrious
+than his fellow-workmen, most of whom have a weakness for aguardiente,
+and are consequently often in what my medical friend Doctor Acero terms,
+'a state of vulgar excitement.' El Tuerto easily grasps at an idea, and
+sometimes offers a useful suggestion or two. It is he who recommends to
+our notice a friend of his who, he thinks, might be serviceable in the
+painting department. The friend in question is a feeble old negro,
+occasionally afflicted with delirium tremens. We try him with the 'line'
+work, which consists in squaring off the imitation stones of the painted
+masonry: but, his hand being too unsteady for this, we employ him for
+the graining, which accords better with his peculiar 'touch,' as the
+process requires certain nervous jerks of the wrist.
+
+At length the day arrives when the stones of the street must be
+uprooted, the tall scaffolding planted, and the innumerable pieces of
+painted canvas which form the external covering of the arch, united and
+raised to their respective places. When the fabric is complete, the
+local papers, which have already noticed its progress from time to time,
+thus describe its beauties:
+
+'The triumphal arch erected in the Calle de la Marina by the merchants
+and planters of Santiago, is the combined work of those illustrious
+followers of the divine art of Apelles, Don Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldu
+and El Caballero Ingles Don Gualterio. This imposing structure measures
+forty-five feet in height, thirty feet in breadth, and nine feet in
+depth. It is supposed to represent part of an old feudal castle with its
+turrets, port-holes and belfry, and is painted in imitation of granite
+stone, which forms a striking contrast with the intense blue of our
+tropical sky, against which the arch stands in bold relief.
+
+'On either side of the facade are painted colossal figures representing
+Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Justice. Above these allegories are
+placed the escutcheons of our illustrious Captain-General, together with
+the coats-of-arms belonging to Spain and to Santiago de Cuba. Near the
+centre of the arch are recorded in bold and fanciful letters the various
+triumphs of our distinguished general; such as the blockade of Zaragoza
+in 1843, the glorious campaign in Portugal, 1847, the Italian
+expedition, etc.
+
+'Upon each of the four turrets are planted tall flag-staffs, from which
+coloured streamers gracefully depend, and over the centre of the arch,
+upon the summit of the pretty campanilla, waves majestically in the
+breeze the imposing banner of Spanish commerce.
+
+'From the palms of the arch is suspended a garland of natural
+evergreens, in which is artistically entwined a broad red and
+orange-coloured ribbon bearing the following inscription:
+
+'"To His Excellency the Captain-General: from the Merchants and Planters
+of Santiago de Cuba."'
+
+His excellency arrives in due course, and is so thoroughly gratified
+with his reception in Santiago, that upon his return to Havana he
+reports favourably to his government upon the progress and prosperity of
+our part of the 'Ever-faithful Isle.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+A CORRESPONDENT IN THE WEST INDIES.
+
+     American News-agents and their Work--Local Information--The
+     'Glorious Campaign' of Santo Domingo--'El Canon de
+     Montecristo'--Wounded Soldiers--Still Life again!--A Visit from the
+     Spanish Fleet--Escape from Jail.
+
+
+'Here is something in your line,' remarks Nicasio one day, handing me a
+letter which has just been brought to our studio by a black messenger.
+
+The letter is from Don Elijio, of the firm of Bosch Brothers, and states
+that the Havana agent of the _New York Trigger_ has commissioned the
+merchants to find him a person who is both qualified and willing to
+undertake the post of newspaper correspondent. The individual must have
+a thorough knowledge of the Spanish and English languages; he must be
+conversant with the ways of Cuba and be in a position to collect facts
+connected with the social and political life of the town in which he
+resides. His duties will also be to receive communications from the
+agents of the American newspaper in question, who are dispersed all over
+the West Indies, and after selecting the chief points of interest
+contained in these communications, he must dispatch them, in the form of
+telegrams and news-letters, to head-quarters in Havana. For these
+services a liberal monthly salary is offered, and Don Elijio presuming
+that journalism is in some way related to 'the divine art of Apelles,'
+and having moreover every confidence in our versatile powers, offers us
+the engagement.
+
+All is fish that comes to our net in Cuban waters, so as art 'trade' is
+looking rather 'dull,' owing to recent monetary panics in the town,
+Nicasio advises me to give the correspondent business a trial. I
+accordingly accept the proffered post, and after some preliminary
+arrangements with Messrs Bosch Brothers, commence operations.
+
+In my capacity of correspondent to the _New York Trigger_, I am required
+to follow certain directions with which the central agent in Havana
+supplies me. First, a telegram, containing the pith of the news I have
+to impart, must be dispatched with all speed to head-quarters in Havana,
+where it will be again transmitted to New York by means of the submarine
+cable between Havana and Florida. The telegram must be shortly followed
+by a carefully composed news-letter, of which press-copies must be taken
+and dispatched by two or three different routes. I am enjoined to
+remember that 'the first thing correspondents should acquire is news,
+and the second is how to give it; not forgetting that they are writing
+for a newspaper and not for a magazine.'
+
+'The correspondence,' says the directions, 'should embrace all that
+bears upon the political, administrative, agricultural, mining,
+commercial and other topics of the day, including new enterprises, new
+railroads and telegraphs. It is important to obtain the particulars of
+any measure contemplated by the Spanish Government, but these must be
+obtained from _reliable_ sources and _before_ they have been made
+public. Local subjects should be eschewed, except they bear on politics,
+or on anything transcendental and of a "sensational" character likely to
+interest the American public.'
+
+The shipping list, containing the names of vessels and their dates of
+arrival and departure to and from any port, together with a brief
+account of any disaster at sea, forms an important item in the agent's
+duties. But above all promptness in the dispatch of news 'bearing a
+sensational character,' is strongly recommended.
+
+To be _in advance_ of its contemporaries--or at least never behind
+them--is the end and aim of the American paper which I serve, and to
+attain these desirable objects, every artifice must be employed and 'no
+expense spared.'
+
+The agents established in the neighbouring islands and in South America
+are mostly natives of the towns where they reside and, like myself, have
+other occupations besides those which concern a newspaper. Senor Pillo,
+who supplies most of my South American news, is a clerk in a sugar
+warehouse. Mons. Blague of Hayti is a cigar manufacturer in that colony,
+while Meinheer Vandercram is a sorter in the Post-office at St Thomas.
+Then there is Mr. Archibald Cannie, in the adjacent island of Jamaica,
+who furnishes me with abundant news from Colon, Panama, St. Domingo,
+Barbadoes, Trinidad and a family of sister isles. These persons
+sometimes give me a world of trouble with their conflicting statements
+and confused information, and their sins are invariably visited upon my
+shoulders. Mr. Cannie of Jamaica is, however, the best of my
+correspondents, though he is occasionally afflicted with what my
+employer in Havana styles 'Magazine on the brain;' which means that Mr.
+Cannie is too prolific, and adopts a diffuse, rambling mode of imparting
+facts in preference to those much desired virtues brevity and
+conciseness.
+
+My residence--on an elevated part of the town commanding a view of the
+Cuban Bay--enables me to sight vessels before they have anchored in the
+harbour.
+
+Every ship is announced to the authorities by means of signals. A signal
+post is planted on the Morro Castle overlooking the sea. Another is
+situated inland between the fortress and the town, while a third stands
+within telescope range of the Custom-house. It is this last which, on
+certain days, engrosses my attention; for by it I am made aware of the
+approach of vessels long before they are visible in the bay. The signal
+post is shaped like a cross, to the points of which are hoisted black
+and white balls and coloured banners, by means of which the description
+of the craft, together with her name and country, is made known.
+
+In my employ is a young negro who, whenever a vessel is expected, squats
+in the shade of our broad balcony, and with a telescope placed to his
+left eye takes observation of the signal post. As soon as anything is
+hoisted, the black sentinel reports the same to me after the following
+fashion:
+
+'Miamo, alerte! The signal is speaking.'
+
+'What does it say, negrito?' I inquire from within.
+
+'White ball in the centre, miamo.'
+
+By this I know that a steamer is in sight. After a pause my negrito
+informs me that the signal has added something to its last observation.
+
+'What does it say?'
+
+'Blue streamer to windward under white ball.'
+
+From these appearances I gather where the steamer hails from and what
+is her nationality. In the same manner I derive other information
+respecting the coming craft, all of which I hasten to note down.
+
+The sound of a gun warns me that the vessel has already entered the
+harbour, six miles distant. Anon she appears cautiously steering through
+the narrow winding bay; gradually disclosing first her rig, then her
+colours, and lastly her name. Long before the ship has dropped anchor, I
+have reached the quay, where I embark in a small canoe to meet the
+moving steamer. Arrived within hailing distance of the vessel, I shout
+to the purser, the supercargo, or to anybody else who may have brought
+news or correspondence for me. If I succeeded in obtaining some, I land
+again, and before the anchorage gun is fired, I am on my way to the
+telegraph office. Here--with my dispatches before me--I compose and
+forward a brief summary of news from the port whence the steamer hails,
+and if there is nothing to interrupt the line of communication with
+America, the _New York Trigger_ will contain my telegrams in its second
+edition of the following day.
+
+I have many difficulties to contend with in my quest of local matter in
+Santiago. Some of my Cuban friends help me in my researches, and I also
+pick up fragments of 'intelligence' in the cafes, the public promenade,
+the warehouses, and the newspaper offices. Occasionally I hold secret
+audience with an intelligent native, who volunteers some extraordinary
+information on a local subject which is of no interest whatever to
+anybody except my informant. Sometimes the applicant is persuaded that I
+have indirect influence with the American Congress, and presses me to
+communicate his grievance to the authorities in Washington. I dare not
+close my ear against such applicants, for in the mass of valueless dross
+which I receive, I sometimes discover a rough diamond which, after due
+cutting and polishing, I dispose of to the _New York Trigger_.
+
+For instance: an aged negro of my acquaintance comes to me one day, with
+the astounding information that he, and a number of equally decrepit and
+unserviceable slaves, have been killed and buried by his master. In
+other words, the owners of these useless helots have hoodwinked the
+slave emancipators by representing their decrepit human property as
+defunct, while they substitute fresh importations in their places.
+Subsequently I learn that a landing of blacks has been lately effected
+near Guantanamo, and, upon a closer investigation, I gather the curious
+particulars, which are these:--
+
+The Capitan de Partido, or Major of the district, where the nefarious
+transaction took place, was naively requested by the parties interested
+in the landing to absent himself from the locality during a certain
+week; for which simple act he would receive four or five thousand
+dollars. During his absence, the landing of slaves is of course
+effected; and when the authorities hear of the transaction, and
+reprimand el Capitan de Partido for his want of vigilance, the latter
+exonerates himself by explaining how he was unfortunately absent from
+his post within the very date of the embarkation.
+
+This is a topic of passing interest to the American people, while it
+affords the _Trigger_ a text for a number of 'telling' articles relative
+to slave-emancipation, in which an appeal is made to the American
+Congress on the expediency of taking the colony in hand.
+
+Many other important events transpire while I am fulfilling my duties of
+correspondent to the _New York Trigger_.
+
+Prominent among these, is the return from Santo Domingo of the Spanish
+army after another unsuccessful attempt to establish a footing in that
+island. In order to assure the people of Cuba that the campaign has been
+attended with 'glorious' results, a public fiesta in honour of the
+return of General Gandarias and his followers is celebrated in our town.
+The streets are gaily decorated, and a certain cannon, which had been
+captured in Montecristo by the Spaniards, is wheeled on a cart through
+the streets, followed by a procession of soldiers and a band of music.
+This cannon--which is a heavy-looking, unserviceable weapon of the
+old-fashioned calibre--is made much of by everybody, and finally a niche
+is built in a wall of the cathedral, and the 'canon de Montecristo,' as
+it is henceforth derisively termed by the Cubans, is deposited in this
+niche with a railing before it, and an inscription above, in which the
+people of Cuba are reminded of the 'glorious campaign of Santo Domingo.'
+
+Shortly after the appearance of the canon de Montecristo, some vessels
+of war from the seat of hostilities arrive with a vast cargo of sick and
+wounded Spaniards. 'The Loyal and Ever-faithful' inhabitants of Santiago
+meet them on board, and some volunteer to convey the infirm soldiers to
+the hospitals in town. Nicasio and I are pressed into this service by
+our good friend Doctor Francisco, who is the head medical officer of the
+garrison. Each soldier, as he is landed, is placed on a canvas
+stretcher, provided with a couple of stout poles, and in this manner he
+is borne on the shoulders of four volunteers. When all have safely
+disembarked, a procession is formed, and headed by a band of music, we
+march slowly through the streets in the direction of Santa Ana, where
+the military hospital is situated. The distance is about two miles, and
+we have to move with extreme care so as to aggravate as little as
+possible the sufferings of the wounded men.
+
+The individual whom Nicasio and I, assisted by a couple of friends, have
+volunteered to convey, is the young Spanish officer Don Manuel, the
+betrothed of Don Benigno's daughter. He does not appear to be seriously
+wounded, for he chats pleasantly with us on the way and gives us a vivid
+description of his late experiences.
+
+Arrived at the hospital, we deposit our burthens on their respective
+couches, where the poor fellows are, in due time, left to the tender
+care of Doctor Francisco and his assistant surgeons.
+
+Don Manuel is one of the first whom the doctor visits. A ball has lodged
+in the young fellow's hip, but he endures his painful operation bravely.
+While the ball is being extracted, Don Manuel smokes cigarettes, and
+converses with those around him.
+
+I gather from the communicative young officer much information
+respecting the late war. He tells me that the Spanish soldiers acted
+with their accustomed valour, and did their best to vanquish their black
+opponents; but that in spite of their efforts, the enemy proved more
+than a match for them. The guerilla mode of warfare adopted by the
+swarthy warriors, assisted by the bad roads and impenetrable country,
+together with the fatal effects of the climate, combined to defeat the
+assailants, and, after many fruitless attempts, attended with
+considerable losses to the Spanish army, the troops were ordered to
+withdraw from the scene of hostilities.
+
+Always with an 'eye to business,' my partner and I improve the occasion
+by obtaining sundry commissions for portraits of some of the
+distinguished officers who had fallen in the late campaign. One of the
+more important works of this kind is a large historical picture, in
+which the illustrious commander of the expedition and his staff of
+officers are introduced. In order to ensure correct likenesses of the
+individuals who are to figure in our painted production, photographs,
+and military uniforms are supplied for our use. Many weary weeks are
+devoted to this _capo d'opera,_ and when the picture is completed, it is
+handsomely framed and exhibited to an admiring crowd in one of the
+saloons of the governor's palace.
+
+The war of Santo Domingo being over and forgotten, the town is again
+enlivened by the arrival of the Spanish fleet fresh from Peru after the
+unsatisfactory bombardment of Callao. The vessels are anchored in the
+Cuban harbour and include the iron-clad steamer 'Numancia,' commanded by
+Admiral Mendez Nunez; the 'Villa de Madrid' with Captain Topete on
+board; the 'Resolucion' and the 'Almanza.' Our illustrious visitors are
+lionised for nearly a week at the public expense. Banquets, balls and
+other entertainments are given in their honour; and in acknowledgment of
+these attentions, the officers of the 'Numancia,' before the fleet takes
+its departure, give a grand ball on board their vessel, to which the
+leading families of Santiago are invited. The upper deck of the
+iron-clad is covered with a gigantic awning, and is so disguised with
+flowers, tropical plants, and other adornments, that the guests can
+scarcely realise the fact that they are actually on board a man-of-war.
+A long supper table is laid between decks, and here the visitors are
+invited to inspect the gunnery arrangements and a certain part of the
+vessel which had sustained some damage during the late expedition.
+
+From some of the officers and crew of this vessel I obtain a few
+particulars relative to the bombardment of Callao, and these I hasten to
+use for the benefit of the American newspaper which I serve.
+
+Another interesting event is the attempted escape from the town jail of
+upwards of two hundred prisoners. The whole town is for many days thrown
+into a state of alarm, for eleven out of the number succeed in effecting
+their escape. These are, however, eventually captured by the police, and
+after being tried in the usual way by court-martial, are sentenced to be
+shot in public. Upon the morning of the execution, there is great
+excitement in town. The execution is a fearful spectacle, for the firing
+has to be repeated more than once before the unfortunates are pronounced
+dead. One of the victims is my former fellow-prisoner, the communicative
+Indian, who, after the first shots had been fired by the soldiers,
+offered to confess his sins, which he had hitherto refused to do upon
+the plea that the instrument of confession was 'only a piece of crossed
+wood.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+CUBAN MUSIC.
+
+     A Soiree at Don Laureano's--An eminent Violinist and
+     Composer--Cuban Pianos--Real Negro Minstrels--Carnival
+     Songs--Coloured Improvisatores.
+
+
+All work and no play makes even a 'follower of the divine art of
+Apelles' a dull caballero; so when the day's toils are over, my
+companion and I amuse ourselves in various ways. The theatre, the
+Retreta, or promenade, a ball at the Philharmonic, and masquerading
+during the carnival season, are among our favourite diversions.
+Sometimes I enjoy these amusements in company with my partner; but when
+his society is denied me, I avail myself of the companionship of my
+friend Tunicu, who is a great authority in all matters appertaining to
+the 'gay and festive.'
+
+Being fond of music, Tunicu introduces me to his friend Laureano, who is
+a favourite musical composer and an accomplished violinist. In
+appearance, Don Laureano strongly resembles the renowned Paganini, and
+it is for this reason, together with his marvellous performances on the
+violin, that his admirers sometimes advise him to visit Europe and
+America.
+
+Don Laureano is chiefly employed as leader of the theatrical band and as
+conductor of the orchestra which performs on fiestas at the cathedral.
+He also gives lessons in pianoforte and violin playing, and composes
+songs and 'zarzuelas.' Once this accomplished gentleman wrote an entire
+oratorio of some five hundred pages, which after being printed and
+gorgeously bound, was presented to Her Catholic Majesty the Queen of
+Spain.
+
+Laureano gives musical matinees and soirees at his private dwelling.
+Everybody in the town being personally acquainted with him, no special
+invitations are issued, but those who are inclined to enjoy a little
+music, have only to enter the Don's open door, which has direct
+communication with his reception room. Those who can obtain neither
+seats nor standing-room, remain in the street, where, the huge windows
+of the musician's house being devoid of glass, the performances are
+perfectly audible. Negroes and mulattoes of all shades are among the
+spectators of the pavement; but with the exception of a few coloured
+musicians, only white people are admitted within the building.
+
+The programme of entertainments includes popular melodies, selections
+from oratorios, zarzuelas and Cuban dances. Laureano is assisted by his
+son, Laureanito, who, notwithstanding his tender years, is a proficient
+on the piano. This youthful prodigy usually accompanies his parent when
+the latter enraptures his audience with a brilliant solo performance on
+his favourite instrument.
+
+Don Laureano is fond of comparing 'musical notes' with foreigners, and
+finding that I sing comic songs and strum a little on the piano, he
+occasionally prevails upon me to oblige the company with some of my
+reminiscences of popular European airs.
+
+The productions of such foreigners as have been inspired to compose
+pieces founded on Cuban music, are also included in Don Laureano's
+repertory. Ravina's far-famed 'Habaneros,' Gottschalk's 'Ojos Criollos'
+and Salaman's 'Spanish Caprice,' are favourites with a Cuban audience.
+But, like all Cuban and Spanish music, they require to be played with a
+certain local sentiment, and it is for this reason that the most
+accomplished European performers often fail to satisfy the Cuban musical
+appetite. Under the practised hands of a Cuban player, however, every
+justice is done to the compositions I have quoted.
+
+Don Laureano's piano does not differ from any other piano, save that its
+mechanism is in some way adapted to suit the requirements of a tropical
+climate. Pianos of American manufacture are popular in Cuba; but
+Pleyel's instruments are preferred by some, on account of their soft
+tone and durability. A piano is an expensive luxury in the West Indies;
+its intrinsic value being comparatively small when the cost of its
+transfer from Europe or America, and the duty charged thereon, are
+considered. Pianos, moreover, do not last as long in the tropics as they
+do in colder climates, and great care is accordingly taken of their
+delicate machinery. To ensure against any moisture which may ascend from
+the marble or brick floor of the chamber in which the instrument is
+lodged, small glass cups are placed as insulators under the castors. It
+is considered highly detrimental to the tone of a piano to use it during
+damp or wet weather; so, on a rainy day, the instrument is locked up and
+the key carefully concealed by its owner.
+
+Among the coloured community are many accomplished performers on every
+instrument except the piano; for, somehow, the dark digits of these
+gentlemen do not adapt themselves to the white and black ivories.
+
+Veritable 'negro minstrels' are, in Cuba, as plentiful as blackberries;
+but, as they 'never perform out of' the island, their renown is purely
+local. The mulatto, Urriola, is famous for his performances on the
+cornet-a-piston and the double-bass, and his young son is a favourite
+flute-player. Lino Boza is the name of a distinguished negro performer
+on the clarionet. He is also a popular composer of Cuban dance music.
+These musical geniuses are all free, and reside in La Calle del Rey
+Pelayo--a quarter of the town much frequented by the emancipated tribes.
+
+Urriola and his son, together with Lino Boza and other black and brown
+gentlemen, are great acquisitions in the orchestras of the theatre, the
+cathedral, and the public balls; but their services are mostly in
+request during the carnival season, and on certain fiestas. They are,
+indeed, in such demand for the latter occasions, that engagements with
+them are entered into days before these festivities take place, and not
+unfrequently the same band is required to play at a dozen different
+localities in one day.
+
+The 'Danza Criolla' is the patriotic music of Cuba, and every fresh
+carnival gives birth to a new set of these 'danzas.' When the air
+happens to be unusually 'pegajoza,' or catching, a brief song is
+improvised, and the words of this song chime so well with the music
+which suggests them, as to form a sort of verbal counterpart of the
+melody.
+
+The merits of these songs are not, however, confined to a judicious
+selection of words to suit the air. There is often a quaint local humour
+conveyed in the doggerel verses; the charm being greatly enhanced by the
+introduction of creole slang and mispronounced Spanish. Fragments of
+these effusions occasionally degenerate into street sayings, which are
+in everybody's mouth till the next carnival. One of the most popular
+during a certain year was 'Tocolo mejor que tu!' which means Tocolo is a
+better fellow than you. Other equally choice refrains--though not to be
+rendered into corresponding English--are 'Amarillo! suenemelo
+pinton,'and 'Calabazon, tu estas pinton.'
+
+The following ditty, attached to a favourite Cuban danza, called 'La
+Chupadera,' meets with many admirers. In the original it begins:--
+
+    iAy! si lo se, que yo estoy diciendo,
+    Que la chupadera a real esta vendiendose,
+    Cuando chupamos, cuando llueve, todo mojamos, &c.
+
+which emphatically affirms that at a certain period of the (carnival)
+day one may become comfortably tipsy for the small sum of five-pence,
+and it further demonstrates how rain and rum can alike moisten the human
+body.
+
+Here is some wholesome advice for procrastinating people:--
+
+    iAy! Policarpio; toma la sopa,
+    Mientras que esta caliente;
+    Tomela, chino, que te se enfria!
+
+in which Policarpio is recommended to drink his soup while it is hot,
+and not to wait until the nourishment is cold and unpalatable.
+
+    iArrempuja! que por el hoyo se engarta la aguja.
+
+is equally sententious. Forward! for remember that the needle can only
+be threaded through its eye.
+
+The following brief song speaks in praise of the neighbours at Santo
+Domingo:--
+
+    Por un Espanol doy medio;
+    Por un Cubano--un doblon;
+    Y por un Dominicano
+    iDoy vida y corazon!
+
+in which a Spaniard is estimated at two-pence, a Cuban at a doubloon,
+and a Dominican at nothing less than 'life and soul.'
+
+Here is some sage advice for a young lady seeking a husband:--
+
+    Chiquilla, si te casaras,
+    Casate con un 'scribano;
+    Qu' aunque no tenga dinero,
+    Siempre con la pluma en mano--
+
+recommending to her notice a hard-working clerk, who, although possibly
+deficient in fortune, has the power of earning one with his pen.
+
+A baker is (in song) also considered an eligible match in preference to
+a tobacconist, for whereas the latter cannot always provide the
+necessaries of life, the former is at least sure of bread, chocolate
+(which every Cuban baker manufactures and sells), and a few 'reales,' at
+a very early hour of the day; as the original words clearly
+demonstrate:--
+
+    La mujer del tabaquero
+    No tiene nada seguro.
+    La mujer del panadero
+    Todo lo tiene seguro;
+    Que a las cinco de la manana
+    Tiene el pan y el chocolate,
+    Y los tres reales, seguros.
+
+The following is a specimen of a serenade, which is more remarkable for
+its local associations than for its originality:--
+
+    No te causas espanto, ne admiracion,
+    Que los que te cantan, tus amigos son.
+    Y abrime la puerta, que estoy en la calle;
+    Que diran la gente?--Que es un desaire!
+    Cuatro rosas traigo, en cada mano dos,
+    No te canto mas, porque ya nos vamos.
+
+Fear not, nor marvel greatly; for those who sing at your window are your
+truest friends. So, open wide your doors to me, for behold me in the
+street. And what will people say, then? Why sure, that you are slighting
+me! I bring with me four roses fresh--two in every hand; but I'll sing
+to you no more, because--we all must go elsewhere.
+
+Songs similar to those quoted are usually delivered by negroes and
+mulattoes at their tertulias or evening gatherings, where, seated on
+leather-bottomed chairs, or squatting at the portals of their doors,
+they entertain their black and brown divinities. One of the party
+accompanies himself upon a guitar, or a primitive instrument formed out
+of a square box upon which are arranged slips of flexible iron of
+different lengths and tones. Another has a strangely-fashioned harp,
+made from a bent bamboo, to which a solitary string is attached. The
+guitar player is, however, in greater demand than the rest, and is
+perhaps asked to favour the company with a sentimental song, such, for
+example, as the popular ditty called La Bayamesa, which commences:--
+
+    ?No te acuerdes, gentil Bayamesa,
+    Que tu fuistes el amor de Fulgencio,
+    Cuando alegre en tu candida frente,
+    Beso ardiente imprimi, con pasion?--
+
+that is, a certain 'gentle Bayamese' is reminded that she was the loved
+one of Fulgencio, who, invited by the lady's _open_ countenance
+impressed upon it a passionate kiss.
+
+This being unanimously approved of by the company, the dark-complexioned
+troubadour will probably be called upon for another song, and the
+following mournful ballad will perhaps be chanted:--
+
+    Yo naci solo para padecer;
+    iNo te acuerdes mas de mi!
+    No tengo ningun placer,
+    Desgraciada y sin salud;
+    Yo naci solo para padecer.
+    Mira, iay! la virtud
+    No se consigue asi, &c.
+
+    I was born a child of tears!
+    Think thou then no more of me.
+    Life brings only grief and fears
+    To one worn and pale with care.
+    I was born a child of tears!
+    Ah! can virtue linger where
+    Dwelleth only misery?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+MASQUERADING IN CUBA.
+
+     Deserted!--'Los Mamarrachos'--A French-Creole Ball--Street
+     Masquers--Negro Amateurs--Masks and Dominoes--The Plaza de
+     Armas--Victims of the Carnival--A Cuban Cafe in Holiday
+     Time--'Comparsas'--White and Black Balls--A Moral.
+
+
+It is the twenty-eighth of December, and the thermometer stands at
+eighty-five in the shade. I rise with the 'ganza grulla'--our bird
+chronometer--that wonderful creature of the crane species, with a yard
+of neck, and two-feet-six of legs. Every morning at six of the clock
+precisely, our grulla awakens us by half-a-dozen gurgling and metallic
+shrieks, in a tone loud enough to be heard by his Excellency the
+Governor, who is a sound sleeper, and lives in a big palace half a
+league from our studio. I descend from my Indian grass hammock, and don
+a suit of the flimsiest cashmere, in compliment to the winter month, and
+because there is still a taste of night air in the early morning. I have
+to manufacture my own cafe noir to-day, for my companion is absent, and
+our servants--a stalwart Ethiop and a youthful mulatto--are both abroad,
+and will not return for the next three days. It is a fiesta and Friday.
+To-morrow is 'la napa,' or day of grace, 'thrown in' to the
+holiday-makers, to enable them to recruit their exhausted frames, which
+they do by repeating the pleasurable excitement of the previous day.
+Then comes Sunday, another fiesta, which, in most foreign climes, is
+another word for day, not of rest, but of restlessness.
+
+The leading characteristics of a Cuban carnival are the street
+'comparsas,' or companies of masqueraders--'mamarrachos' as they are
+called in the creole vernacular--and the masked balls. Here you have a
+comparsa comprised of pure Africans; though you wouldn't believe it, for
+their flat-nosed faces are illumined by a coat of light flesh-colour,
+and their woolly heads are dyed a blazing crimson. The males have also
+assumed female attire, though their better halves have not returned the
+compliment. Here is another and a better comparsa, of mulattoes, with
+cheeks of flaming vermilion, wigs of yellow tow, and false beards. Their
+everyday apparel is worn reversed, and the visible lining is embellished
+with tinsel, paint, and ribbons. They are preceded by a band of music: a
+big drum, hand tambours, basket rattles, conch shells, and a
+nutmeg-grater. The members of this goodly company dance and sing as they
+pass rapidly along the streets, occasionally halting in their career to
+serenade a friend. Now, they pause before a cottage, at the door of
+which is a group of 'mulaticas francesas,' or French mulatto girls. The
+maskers salute them in falsetto voices, and address them by their
+Christian names as a guarantee of their acquaintanceship. The girls try
+hard to recognise the disfigured faces of their visitors. At last:--
+
+'Hola! Musyer Fransoir, je vous conose!' cries a yellow divinity in
+creole French.
+
+'Venici! Monte!' calls another; at which invitation, Musyer Fransoir,
+who has stood confessed, ascends the narrow side steps which give
+entrance to the cottage, and vanishes through a diminutive door. He
+appears again hatless, and beckons his companions, who follow his lead
+with alacrity. Soon, a hollow drumming, rattling, and grating, is heard,
+varied by the occasional twang of an exceedingly light guitar making
+vain efforts to promote harmony. A shuffling of slippered feet, and
+voices singing, signify that a dance is pending. Everybody--meaning
+myself and my neighbours--moves towards the scene. Everybody passes up
+the perilous steps, and endeavours to squeeze into the spare apartment.
+A few succeed in establishing a permanent footing in the room, and the
+rest stand at the doorway and window, or burst through the chamber by a
+back door into an open yard. In carnival time, everybody's house is
+everybody else's castle.
+
+There is a perfect Babel at the French criolla's. Some are endeavouring
+to dance with little more terra firma to gyrate upon than 'La Nena' had
+on her foot square of table. Others are beating time on tables, trays,
+and tin pots. Somebody has brought a dismal accordion, but he is so
+jammed up in a corner by the dancers, that more wind is jerked out of
+him than he can possibly jerk out of his instrument. The man with the
+faint guitar is no better off. Every now and then a verse of dreary song
+is pronounced by one of the dancers.
+
+Here is a specimen:--
+
+    iAy! Caridad; iay! Caridad; iay! Caridad,
+    Cuidao' con la luna si te da.
+        iCa-la-ba-zon! tu estas pinton.
+
+    (Oh! Charity, Charity, foolish Charity.
+    Beware of the moon, and avoid her _clarity_!)
+
+There is a pause--an interval of ten minutes or so for refreshments.
+English bottled ale, at two shillings the bottle, is dispensed, together
+with intensely black coffee, which leaves a gold-brown stain on the cup
+in proof of its genuineness; and this is followed by the indispensable
+nip of the native brandy, called aguardiente. Stumps of damp cigars are
+abandoned for fresh ones, and the air is redolent of smoke, beer, and
+brown perspiration. If you remain long in this atmosphere, which reminds
+you of a combination of a London cook-shop and a museum of stuffed birds
+and mummies, you will become impregnated by it, and then not all the
+perfumes of Araby will eradicate it from your system.
+
+I need not go far to witness the street sights in carnival time. Many of
+them I can enjoy from my position on my balcony. 'Enter' the shade of an
+Othello in false whiskers. He is attired in a red shirt, top boots, and
+a glazed cap. In his mouth is a clay pipe; in his hand a black bottle:
+both products of Great Britain. He is followed by a brother black, in
+the disguise of a gentleman, with enormous shirt collars and heavy
+spectacles. In his arms rests a colossal volume, upon which his
+attention is riveted, and against the brim of his napless hat is stuck a
+lighted taper. He stumbles along with uneven step, and occasionally
+pauses for the purpose of giving tongue to his profound cogitations. The
+crowd jeer him as he passes, but he is unmoved, and the expression of
+his copper-coloured countenance is ever grave and unchangeable. His
+eyes--or more correctly speaking, his spectacles--never wander from the
+mystic page, save when he trims his taper of brown wax, or exchanges it
+for another and a longer. One cannot help remarking how on all
+occasions the 'oppressed' negro preserves his natural gravity. Whether
+it be his pleasure or his pain, he takes it stoically, without any
+observable alteration in his sombre physiognomy.
+
+How do you reconcile the singular anomaly of a nigger with his face
+painted black? Here is one, whose face and bare arms are besmeared with
+soot and ink. His thick lips start out in bright scarlet relief, his
+eyebrows are painted white, and his spare garments (quite filthy enough
+before) are bedaubed with tar and treacle. This piece of grimy humanity
+is worthy of note as showing that the despised nigger is really not so
+black as he is painted; if the truth were known, perhaps, the man
+himself has adopted this disguise with a view to prove to the meditative
+world that there may yet be another, and a blacker, population!
+
+It is not wise to be too contemplative, and to stay at home, on a
+carnival day in Cuba. All the world recognises you in the character of a
+moralising recluse, and all the carnival world will surely make you its
+victim. As I sit, despising these frivolities, as I call them, a great
+'comparsa' of whites--the genuine article--comes rushing along in my
+direction. Out of the carnival season, the dramatis personae of this
+comparsa are respectable members of society, in white drill suits and
+Spanish leather boots. To-day they are disreputable-looking and
+unrecognisable. Their faces are painted black, red, and mulatto-colour.
+Their disguise is of the simplest, and withal most conspicuous nature,
+consisting of a man's hat and a woman's chemise--low-necked,
+short-sleeved, and reaching to the ground. They dance, they sing, and
+jingle rattles and other toys, and are followed by a band of music of
+the legitimate kind. In it are violins, a double-bass, a clarionet, a
+French horn, a bassoon, a brace of tambours, and the indispensable
+nutmeg-grater, performed upon with a piece of wire exactly as the actual
+grater is by the nutmeg. The musicians, who are all respectably dressed
+blacks, hired for the occasion, play the everlasting 'Danza Cubana.'
+This is Cuba's national dance, impossible to be described as it is
+impossible to be correctly played by those who have never heard it as
+executed by the native. In a country where carnivals are objected to by
+the police, I have heard but one pianoforte player who, in his very
+excellent imitation of the quaint music of 'La Danza,' has in the least
+reminded me of the original, with its peculiar hopping staccato bass and
+running and waltzing treble; but he had long been a resident in the
+Pearl of the Antilles.
+
+The comparsa just described has halted before my balcony, as I guessed
+it would from the fact that its members were white people, and possibly
+friends. Oh, why did I not follow Nicasio's example and accept Jose
+Joaquin's invitation last evening to make one of a comparsa of wax
+giantesses! But I preferred seclusion to-day, and must take the
+consequences! Here they come straight into my very balcony with their
+'Hola! Don Gualterio. No me conoces?' in falsetto voices. Do I know you?
+How should I in that ungentlemanly make-up? Let me see. Yes, Frasquito
+it is, by all that's grimy! What! and Tunicu, too, and Bimba? I feel
+like Bottom the weaver when he summoned his sprites. Que hay, amigos? By
+this time my amigos have taken unlawful possession of my innermost
+apartments. It's of no use to expostulate. I must bottle up my
+indignation, and uncork my pale ale. I do the latter by producing all
+my English supply of that beverage; but it proves insufficient. The
+thirst of my burglarious intruders is not easily sated. The cry is
+still: 'Cerveza!' Convinced that I have exhausted all my beer, they are
+content to fall back upon aguardiente; which very plebeian liquor, to
+judge from their alcoholic breath, my guests have been falling back upon
+ever since the morning.
+
+'Musica! Vamos a bailar!' The chemised cavaliers propose a dance.
+Musica! The musica strikes up with a deafening echo under my spacious
+roof. At the inspiring tones of 'La Danza,' a dozen spectators from the
+pavement, consisting chiefly of mulatto girls and white neighbours,
+invite themselves in. Here's a pretty thing! An extemporised public
+masked ball in my private dwelling in the middle of the day! If this
+were Cornwall-road, Bayswater, I would have every one of them prosecuted
+for trespass. Music--a! Aguardiente! They combine singing with dancing,
+and mix these with cigar smoking and aguardiente drinking. To save my
+credit, the genuine white brandy I provide is diluted to ten degrees of
+strength, and costs only two dollars and a quarter the garafon! I find
+myself suddenly whirled round by one of my uninvited visitors. I would
+not have selected such a partner, but I have no choice. Smoke is said to
+be a disinfectant; so I smoke as I dance. For the closeness of the
+atmosphere, and the muskiness of mulatto girls, are not congenial to
+one's olfactory and respiratory organs. At last the final drop of
+aguardiente is drained, the music ceases, and my friends, and my
+friends' friends, and the strangers that were without my gate, take
+their not unwelcome departure.
+
+This has been a warning, which, as I live, I'll profit by. I
+extemporise and assume a home-made disguise. A strange sensation of
+guilt, of going to do something wrong, comes over me and makes me quake
+from the top of my extemporised turban to the sole of my sandal
+slippers. Whither shall I wander, forlorn pantomimist that I am? I
+loiter about the least frequented neighbourhoods, until the shades of
+eve--which in this climate come with a rush--have fallen, and then I mix
+fearlessly with the throng, among whom I am but as a drop in a Black
+Sea. In my peregrinations I meet a company of negro masqueraders, who,
+without the least ceremony, are entering the private dwelling of an
+opulent Don. The illustrious family are tranquilly seated in the elegant
+sala; but what care their visitors? It is carnival time and they, serfs
+of that same house, are licensed to bring themselves and their friends.
+They bear between them a painted screen, which they unfold and plant in
+the middle of the saloon. It forms a theatrical proscenium on a small
+scale. An orchestra of tambours, tin-trays, and nutmeg-grating gueiros
+opens the performances, and then the actors proceed to saw the air. They
+perform this operation in turn, by reason of the limited proportions of
+their stage; and one very tall negro, who appears to have been
+altogether omitted in the carpenter's calculations, has to speak his
+speech behind the top drop. He speaks it trippingly too; for in the
+middle of a most exciting monologue, he upsets the whole paraphernalia
+and himself into the bargain. The entertainment, including refreshments,
+has lasted some fifteen minutes, when the itinerant troupe (who derive
+no benefit from their labours save what honour and self-enjoyment yield)
+pick up their portable proscenium and walk away.
+
+By far the gayest region of the city during a carnival is the spacious
+square called the Plaza de Armas. Here are the governor's house, the
+residences of Cuban Belgravia, the cafes, and the cathedral. Myriads of
+masqueraders, in every variety of motley and domino, congregate in the
+plaza after their day's perambulations, and dance, sing, or bewitch each
+other with their disguises. There is a party of masqued and dominoed
+ladies: genuine whites all--you can tell it by the shape of their
+gloveless hands and the transparent pink of their
+finger-nails--endeavouring to hoax a couple of swains in false noses and
+green spectacles, both of whom have been already recognised. The
+perplexed youths try their hardest to discover their fair interlocutors
+by peeping at their profiles through their wire masks, but in vain. At
+the next quiet tertulia these same ladies will have rare fun with their
+puzzled victims of the night of the masquerade. Within earshot of where
+I am standing are a small crew of ancient mariners, Britons every one of
+them; unless they happen to be Americans from Boston: it does not matter
+which to a Cuban. They belong to the good ship _Mary Barker_, lately
+arrived from Halifax, in quest of Cuban copper. Jack has come ashore
+to-night to see the sights and collect material for a new yarn, which he
+will deliver at his native fireside one of these odd days. Some masker
+has approached the group, and has brought them the astounding
+information that he--the unknown--belongs to the _Mary Barker_. Jack
+turns to his messmates with a bewildered air. Then, addressing the
+masker, 'What, Joe?' says he at a venture.
+
+'No, not Joe,' says the man behind the mask. 'Try again.'
+
+'Shiver my timbers!' exclaims Jack, 'I give it up. Here, Tom,' says he
+to a shipmate of that name, 'you're good at conhumdrums; just step
+for'ard and tell this here lubber who he his.'
+
+Tom tries and fails, but arrives at the possible conclusion that it is
+'some o' them 'ere Cubeyans a-making game on us.'
+
+Refreshment stalls stand at intervals along the pavement of the plaza.
+Each table has a white tablecloth, and is dimly illumined by candles
+sheltered from the wind by enormous stand shades of glass, or lamps of
+portable gas. Leather-bottomed chairs are placed invitingly around, and
+charcoal braziers for warming drinks keep their respectful distances.
+Egg-flip, bottled ale, cafe noir, and a kind of soupe a la Julienne,
+called by the natives 'aijaco,' are dispensed by negress vendors, who
+charge double for everything, and drive a roaring trade. Approaching one
+of the tables, I call for a plate of aijaco, and am perfectly understood
+by the dark divinity, who places before me a pot-pourri of yams, green
+bananas, cut pumpkins, 'aguacates,' chicken, and broth of the same. I do
+full justice to this rich and substantial repast, and, by way of
+dessert, conclude with a very small cup of properly made cafe noir and a
+genuine Yara. I then betake myself to the nearest coffee-house. After
+black coffee cometh what is popularly termed 'plus-cafe,' and this being
+an unlicensed spirit, cannot be had in the street. The coffee-saloon is
+well patronised, and the air of carnival is here very strong. Everybody
+and everything seem to follow the masquerade lead, the very furniture
+forming no exception to the rule: for the gas chandeliers are encased in
+fancy papers, the walls and pictures are adorned by tropical leaves and
+evergreens, the chairs are transformed into shapes of seated humanity,
+the marble slabs of the little round tables are partially disguised in
+robes of glass and crystal. As for the white-jacketed proprietor and his
+myrmidons, including Rubio, the mixer of liquors, behind the counter,
+they all wear smiles or holiday faces, while they carefully conceal
+their natural sleepiness.
+
+'Mozo! garcon! Una copita con cognac!' The waiter hears, but does not
+obey, having already too many copitas on his mind. 'Alla voy, senor!'
+he, however, says; and as it is some consolation to know that he will
+come eventually, I forgive his procrastination, and bide my time.
+Meanwhile, I watch a group of maskers who surround a guitar-playing
+improvisatore, who assures his audience in song that he is expiring
+because of the faithlessness of his mulatto, who has rejected his
+advances with ridicule.
+
+    iAy, ay, ay! que me estoy muriendo, si.
+    iAy, ay, ay! por una mulata;
+    Y ella esta reyendose,
+    Que es cosa que me mata!
+
+In an opposite corner are a pair of moralising Davids gravely descanting
+upon the frailty of woman to the accompaniment of a windy accordion and
+a gueiro nutmeg-grater, something after this fashion:--
+
+    Women there are in this world, we see,
+    Whose tongues are long enough for three;
+    They bear their neighbours' skins about,
+    And twist and turn them inside out.
+          Pellejo ajeno! lo viran al reves.
+
+This is the whole song, and nothing but the song: for negro melodies,
+of which the above is a specimen, are essentially epigrammatic.
+
+A rush is made to the big barred windows and open doors of the cafe. An
+important comparsa of Congo negroes of both sexes is passing in
+procession along the street. They have just been paying their respects
+to no less a personage than his Excellency the Governor of Santiago, in
+the long reception-room of whose palace, and in whose august presence
+they have dared to dance! The troupe is headed by a brace of blacks, who
+carry banners with passing strange devices, and a dancing mace-bearer.
+These are followed by a battalion of colonels, generals, and
+field-marshals, in gold-braided coats and gilded cocked-hats. Each wears
+a broad sash of coloured silk, a sword and enormous spurs. These are not
+ordinary, masqueraders be it known, but grave subjects of his sombre
+majesty King Congo, the oldest and blackest of all the blacks: the
+lawfully appointed sovereign of the coloured community. It seems to form
+part of the drilling of his majesty's military to march with a
+tumble-down, pick-me-up step, for as each member of the corps moves, he
+is for ever losing his balance and finding his equilibrium; but whether
+on the present occasion this remarkable step proceeds from loyalty or
+liquor, I cannot say. In the rear of his Congo Majesty's officers are a
+crowd of copper-coloured amazons, in pink muslins trimmed with flowers
+and tinsel, who march trippingly in files of four, at well-measured
+distances, and form a connecting link with each other by means of their
+pocket-handkerchiefs held by the extreme corners. Each damsel carries a
+lighted taper of brown wax, and a tin rattle, which she jingles as she
+moves. The whole procession terminates in a military band, composed of
+musicians whose hard work and little pay are exhibited in their
+uniforms, which are limited to buttonless shirts and brief
+unmentionables. Their instruments are a big drum, hand tambours, huge
+cone-shaped basket rattles, a bent bamboo harp with a solitary string,
+and the indispensable gueiro or nutmeg-grater. There is harmony in this
+outline of an orchestra, let him laugh who may. No actual tune is there,
+but you have all the lights and shadows--the skeleton, so to speak--of a
+tune, and if your imagination be musical, that will suffice to supply
+the melody. The peculiar measure adopted in the negro drum-music, and
+imitated in 'La Danza' and in church-bell chiming, has an origin which
+those who have a taste for natural history will do well to make a note
+of. There is an insect--I forget the name, but you may hear it any fine
+night in the wilds of a tropical country--that gives out a continuous
+croak, which exactly corresponds with this measure.
+
+'Al fin y al cabo,' I have taken my plus-cafe; and now that it is very
+early morning, I take the nearest way to my virtuous home. On my way
+thither, I pause before the saloons of the Philharmonic, where a grand
+bal masque of genuine, and doubtful, whites is being held. From my
+position on the pavement I can see perfectly well into the salon de bal,
+so I will not evade the door-keeper, as others do, by introducing myself
+in disguise as somebody else. I observe that the proceedings within have
+already begun to grow warm. There is no lack of partners in carnival
+time, as everybody, save the black musicians, is dancing the everlasting
+contra-danza. Some of the excited toe-trippers have abandoned their
+masks. One of these, an olive-complexioned senorita, wears a tell-tale
+patch of blue paint on her left cheek; condemning testimony that at some
+period of the evening she danced with that 'mamarracho' whose face is
+painted like an Indian chief! In a dark corner of the billiard-room,
+where two gentlemen attired in the garb of Philip the Second are playing
+carambola against a couple of travestied Charles the Fifths, are seated
+a snug couple--lover and mistress to all appearance. The dominoed lady
+is extremely bashful, her replies are brief and all but inaudible. The
+fond youth has proposed a saunter into the refreshing night air, where a
+moon, bright enough to read the smallest print by, is shining. His
+proposal is acceded to. His heart is glad now: but what will his
+feelings be when he discovers that the beloved object is a bearded brute
+like himself! The orchestra is playing one of Lino Boza's last danzas.
+Lino Boza is, as I have already stated, a negro composer and clarionet
+player of great renown in Cuba, and this particular danza is one of the
+'pegajosa' or 'irresistible' kind. You have heard it played all over the
+town to-day, and to-morrow you will hear it sung with a couple of
+doggerel rhymes in creole Spanish, which fit into the music so well as
+to 'appear to be the echoes of the _melody_.' The way in which Lino
+helps the dancers in their favourite gyrations by his inimitable and
+ever-varied performance on the clarionet, should be a warning to
+protecting mammas! The step of 'La Danza' is difficult for an amateur to
+acquire, but when once it is achieved, and you are fortunate enough to
+secure a graceful partner, the result is highly satisfactory. I am
+almost tempted to trespass upon the early hours of the morning, for the
+sake of the music of 'La Danza' and those open-air refreshment stalls
+where everything looks hot and inviting. The night breeze is, moreover,
+cool and exhilarating, and, after all, it is not later than nine
+P.M.--in Europe. I lead on, nevertheless, in the direction of the
+heights of El Tivoli, where I reside; stopping not in my upward career,
+save to pay a flying visit at a ball of mulattoes. A crowd of uninvited
+are gazing, like myself, between the bars of the huge windows; for the
+ball is conducted upon exclusive principles, and is accessible only with
+tickets of admission. Two 'policias,' armed with revolvers and short
+Roman Swords, are stationed at the entrance-door, and this looks very
+much like the precursor of a row. Mulatto balls generally do end in some
+unlooked-for 'compromisa,' and it would not surprise me if this
+particular ball were to terminate in something sensational.
+
+I am home, and am myself again, ruminating upon the events of the day
+and night, and I arrive at the conclusion that the despised and
+oppressed negro is not so ill off as he is made out to be, especially in
+carnival time. As I enter, our grulla thinks it must be six o'clock, and
+essays to shriek that hour, as is her custom; but I startle her in the
+middle of her fourth chime, and she stops at half-past three. Then I
+climb into my aerial couch, in whose embrace I presently invoke that of
+the grim masker, Morpheus!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+AN EVENING AT THE RETRETA.
+
+     A Musical Promenade--My Friend Tunicu--Cuban Beauties--Dark
+     Divinities--A Cuban Cafe--A Popular 'Pollo'--Settling the Bill.
+
+
+The Retreta is a musical promenade, or 'retreat,' held upon the evenings
+of every Sunday and Thursday, between the hours of eight and ten, in the
+Plaza de Armas. Here all the fashionables of Santiago congregate, to
+converse and to listen to the military band. Those who reside in the
+square itself, or in the adjacent streets, have a few ordinary chairs
+conveyed from their houses and planted in a convenient situation near
+the music. The promenade is a broad gravel walk, in the centre of a
+railed square, and is bounded by little garden plots, fountains, and
+huge overhanging tropical trees. Those who have not brought with them
+any domestic furniture, occupy, when weary with walking, the stone
+benches at the outskirts of the square and in the line of march. The
+promenaders form a kind of animated oval as they parade the boundaries
+of the gravel walk, and they consist chiefly of ladies attired in pretty
+muslin dresses, but divested of all head covering save that which nature
+lavishly supplies. The interior of the moving oval thus formed is
+exclusively occupied by gentlemen, dressed either in suits of white
+drill, Panama hats, and shoes of Spanish leather, or in black coats and
+tall beaver 'bombas.' These fashionables wander about their allotted
+ground, occasionally halting to contemplate the moving panorama of
+divinities, by which they are encircled. There is much to admire in the
+plainest of Creoles, whether the point of attraction be her graceful
+manner of walking--and in this no other lady can equal her--the taste
+exhibited in her dress, or in the arrangement of her luxuriant hair.
+
+My friend Tunicu is a great authority upon the subject of Cuban beauty,
+and appears to be a favourite with everybody. Like most young Creoles of
+his kind, Tunicu prides himself upon his intimacy with everybody of
+importance in the town. From his point of view, the inhabitants of
+Santiago belong to one gigantic family, the different members of which
+are all, more or less, related to one another, and to him. Tunicu has
+this family, so to speak, at his fingers' ends, and is full of
+information respecting their antecedents and their private concerns. He
+points out for me some of the leading families who are present at the
+promenade. He shows me which are the Palacios, the Castillos, the
+Torres, the Brooks, and the Puentes. Those cane chairs are occupied by
+the Agramontes, the Duanys, the Vinents, and the Quintanas. Upon the
+stone benches are seated the Bravos, the Valientes, and the Villalons.
+Those ladies who have just joined the promenaders belong to the
+distinguished families of the Ferrers, the Fajados, the Fuentes, the
+Castros, and the Colases. He offers to present me to any of the company
+whom I may care to become acquainted with; and in proof of his intimacy
+with everybody who passes us, he salutes many of the ladies, and
+addresses them, whether they be married or single, by their Christian
+names.
+
+'Adios, Carmecita!' he remarks, as a young lady of that name sails by
+us.
+
+'Au revoir, Manuelica!' he says to a dark beauty with remarkably large
+eyes and exaggerated eyelashes.
+
+'A tus pies, lovely Teresita!' says he to another olive-complexioned
+damsel, whose chief attractions are a very perfect profile and an
+intelligent brow.
+
+'Till we meet again, Marianita!' he observes, when Marianita, who has a
+pretty figure and small hands, passes our way.
+
+'How bewitching you look to-night, my pretty Panchita!' he murmurs, as a
+charming young girl, with fair hair and a pink and white complexion,
+blushes and hurries on.
+
+'Farewell, my fascinating Frasquita!' he ejaculates to an equally blonde
+Creole.
+
+Tunicu's fair hearers apparently do not disapprove of these al fresco
+compliments, but occasionally acknowledge them by bestowing upon him a
+momentary smile or a graceful inclination of the head, as they do with
+scores of admirers, who, like Tunicu, venture to give voice to their
+sentiments.
+
+Whenever I question my loquacious friend about anybody in whom I may
+feel interested, he positively overwhelms me with the most minute
+particulars respecting his or her antecedents.
+
+For example: Fulana de Tal is a visitor at Don Benigno's, and for some
+mysterious reason Dona Mercedes has, on more than one occasion, offered
+her pecuniary assistance.
+
+'Do you know that lady?' I inquire, as Fulana de Tal seats herself
+beside Dona Mercedes.
+
+'Fulana de Tal!' exclaims Tunicu with a contemptuous chuckle; 'I should
+rather think I do! Fulana de Tal, widow of the late Timothy de Tallo y
+Gallo, the large importer of soap and composites, in Candela Street
+number sixty-eight, corner of Vela Lane, opposite Snufa's the
+ironmonger. Old Timothy de Tallo failed for forty thousand dollars four
+years and ten months ago; ran away from his creditors and embarked for
+France, where he died fourteen months after his arrival in Paris. His
+widow, related to my uncle Benigno, was left destitute with three
+children--two boys, and one girl named Fefita. But nobody starves in my
+country! Fefita is engaged to Nicolas, son of Nicolas Neira, director of
+the St. Michael copper mines. They say young Nicolas will have thirty
+thousand dollars if he marries, and when his governor dies will be a
+millionaire. Old Nicolas is awfully lucky--won a hundred thousand
+dollars in the Havana lottery upon one occasion, and twenty thousand on
+another. He has three coffee plantations and two sugar estates. One of
+them is worked by no less than four hundred and fifty slaves. Car-amba!
+you should see the procession of mules that arrives in town every day
+from the Camino del Cobre: each beast laden with sacks weighing nearly
+two hundredweight. When Fefita marries, her mother will be well off
+again; meanwhile Don Benigno supports her, though nobody is supposed to
+know it.'
+
+'Who is that charming girl with the neat little figure and the dark
+frizzled hair?' I inquire, as the object of my admiration, accompanied
+by an elderly lady, passes close to where I am standing.
+
+'Oh! that is Cachita,' says Tunicu; 'Cachita Perales, with her mother
+Dona Belen--amiable but weak old lady; very much directed by her husband
+Don Severiano, who is an old brute--plenty of "paja" (tin) though, but
+close-fisted.'
+
+'I fancy I have met the younger lady at the theatre, and at other places
+of amusement,' I observe.
+
+'Very likely,' says Tunicu. 'Cachita is fond of amusement. You see, she
+has no lover yet to fall back upon, as it were. Lots of admirers,
+though; but the old man wants to wed her to young Amador, son of old
+Catasus, the rich planter; and the sensible young lady dislikes Amador
+because he is a Spaniard, and a coxcomb into the bargain.'
+
+'Are you very intimate with the Perales?' I ask.
+
+'Intimate!' repeats my friend with a scornful smirk. 'Well, I look in at
+their tertulia at least twice a week. But you seem interested in the
+family--sweet upon the senorita, eh! Admire your taste--acknowledged
+beauty, you know.'
+
+'Can you introduce me to the young lady and her mama?' I ask.
+
+Can he? of course he can! He has been waiting till now to do so.
+
+I am accordingly presented to the ladies as 'El Caballero Ingles, Don
+Gualterio, bosom companion of Don Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldu,' whom
+everybody has heard of. Then all four stroll round the promenade; Tunicu
+artfully engaging the old lady, and leaving me to do the amiable with
+the pretty creole.
+
+As we walk and converse, the military band continues to play operatic
+selections, zarzuela medleys, pots-pourris of favourite airs and Cuban
+dances. At ten o'clock precisely the music ceases, and the band removes
+to the governor's house which faces the square. At a given signal, a
+quick march is played, and before the music is half over, the
+instrumentalists depart in procession through the streets leading to
+their barracks.
+
+We now take leave of our lady friends, who intimate their intention of
+being present at the Philharmonic rooms, where a grand ball has been
+advertised for to-night. Many of the invited remain in the Plaza till
+the opening of this ball, which is announced by a band of negro
+minstrels who come to escort the dancers to the scene of festivities.
+During the promenade, partners have been already engaged, and as Tunicu
+is a member of the Philharmonic, and has offered to procure me an
+admission, I engage myself to the charming Cachita for the first three
+dances.
+
+Tunicu and I occupy the interval which precedes the opening of the ball
+in various ways. The terrace of the cathedral, which overlooks the
+square, is thronged with coloured people, who, not being allowed to join
+in the promenade below, watch their white brethren from a distance.
+There is, however, among this assembly, a sprinkling of whites, some of
+whom are in a state of mourning, and consider it indecorous to show
+themselves in public; while others, like Tunicu and myself, visit the
+occupants of the terrace to exchange greetings with some of the dark
+divinities there. Tunicu is a great admirer of whitey-brown beauty,
+especially that which birth and the faintest coffee-colour alone
+distinguish from the pure and undefiled. He is also an advocate of
+equality of races, and like many other liberal Cubans, sighs for the
+day when slavery shall be abolished. Some of the brown ladies whom he
+addresses belong to respectable families of wealth and importance in the
+town; and were it not for certain rules which society prescribes, Tunicu
+says they would contract the whitest of alliances.
+
+Descending the broad flight of steps of the cathedral, Tunicu invites me
+to partake of some refreshment at a neighbouring cafe. The round marble
+tables of the cafe are crowded with fashionables fresh from the Retreta.
+Some of Tunicu's companions are sipping and smoking at one of these
+tables. The moment we appear, his friends rise, salute us elaborately,
+and offer us places at their festive board.
+
+What will we take in the way of refreshment?
+
+This requires reflection, and meanwhile we gather a suggestion or two
+from the libations already before us. There are sugar and water panales,
+cream-ices, cold fruit drinks, bottles of English ale, and 'sangria' or
+rum punch, to choose from.
+
+'When you are in doubt, order cafe noir and a petit verre,' is Tunicu's
+maxim, which we both adopt on this occasion. Cups of coffee and cognac
+are accordingly brought, cigarettes are handed round, and the
+convivialities of the cafe proceed. The company at the Retreta is
+discussed, and the brown beauties of the cathedral terrace are descanted
+upon. One of our party, whom everybody addresses by his nickname of
+'Bimba,' is more loquacious than the rest, not excepting the garrulous
+Tunicu.
+
+Bimba is a popular character in Cuba, and in some respects represents a
+type of the Creole 'pollo,' or man-about-town. He is short of stature,
+lean and bony. He has a long thin face, with a very sun-burnt
+complexion, a prominent proboscis, and his hair, eyes and eyebrows are
+remarkably black and lustrous. The pollo's weakness is over-confidence
+in himself and in the ways of the world. To him everything appears
+bright and sunny. Nothing in his estimation seems impossible of
+realisation. If you are in a difficulty, Bimba is the man to help you
+through, or at least to _offer_ to do so! Bimba takes especial care to
+let everybody know that he is a 'travelled man' and a linguist; which
+literally translated means, that he has spent a few weeks in Havana and
+a few months in New York; in which places he has acquired a smattering
+of two or three different languages.
+
+Learning that I am an Englishman, Bimba improves the occasion to air all
+the Anglo-Saxon in his vocabulary for the edification of his friends,
+who marvel much at Bimba's fluency in a foreign tongue. But whether it
+is that my residence among Spanish-speaking people has demoralised my
+native lingo, or whether it is that Bimba's English has grown rusty--it
+is evident that at least three-fourths of his rapidly spoken words are
+as incomprehensible to me as they are to the rest of our party.
+
+Bimba's knowledge is not however, confined to languages and to mundane
+matters. As a 'man of business' no one can surpass him; though it is
+never clear to anybody what kind of occupation he follows. He is,
+besides, conversant with most of the arts and sciences. As for
+painting--well; he says that he has 'dabbled' in the art for years; and
+though he confesses he has not practised it of late, he knows well
+enough what materials are used for the construction of a picture. In
+proof of this knowledge, he offers to introduce me to a number of
+highly 'picturesque' models, and mentions a locality which, he declares,
+abounds with subjects worthy of an artist's attention. This locality is
+called La Calle del Gallo, and is a street which, I am afterwards told,
+is inhabited by certain coloured ladies of doubtful repute.
+
+Being the hour of departure for the Philharmonic ball, the conversation
+ceases and the important operation of paying for what has been consumed
+must be undertaken. When a party of Cubans meet at a public
+refreshment-room, settling the bill is a serious matter. Everybody
+aspires to the privilege, and everybody presents his coin to the waiter.
+
+'Here, garcon! Take for all,' says one of the company, offering a golden
+doubloon to the attendant.
+
+'Excuse me, I spoke first,' observes another, exhibiting a gold coin of
+about the size of a five-shilling piece.
+
+'No, no; it was I,' protests a third; while others, with fingers in
+fobs, wink and shake their heads at the bewildered waiter as if to imply
+that one of them will settle with the 'mozo' in secret.
+
+The mozo will not, however, accept payment from anybody.
+
+'Esta pago ya' (it is already paid for), he observes, and walks away.
+
+The company are amazed. Who could have been guilty of the treacherous
+act? and how and when was it performed?
+
+Presently one of the party rises and feigns impatience for his
+departure. He smiles, and all declare that he was the culprit.
+Subsequently, this individual leads the waiter into a dark corner of the
+cafe, where accounts are squared; by which we know that before the
+refreshments were ordered he had arranged with the garden about payment.
+
+'Nada, chicos!' observes the successful payee, as we quit the cafe,
+'otra dia tocara a ustedes.' (Never mind, my boys! it will be your turn
+another day.)
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+AT A CUBAN BALL.
+
+     The Philharmonic and its Members--A Street Audience--The
+     Guests--Engaging Partners--'La Carabina'--'La Danza Criolla'--Dance
+     Music--Refreshments--A Pretty Partner--A Night with Cuban
+     Gamblers--Spanish Cards--An Old Hand--'Temblores!'
+
+
+The saloons of the Philharmonic are well suited for dancing as well as
+for other purposes. The spacious apartments are entered by enormous
+doors, and those which are set apart for the use of the dancers are
+separated one from the other by narrow slips of wall. The heat,
+generated by the gas, finds an easy egress through the open doors and
+unglazed windows, and by these means the ventilation within is only
+surpassed by the open air. A balcony--resembling part of a ship's
+upper-deck--occupies the entire breadth of the building, and it affords
+an excellent promenade and lounge in the intervals of dancing. The
+street is crowded with a mixed audience, composed of coloured people and
+of whites in mourning, for whose accommodation chairs of all kinds are
+brought from their houses in the neighbourhood. The interior of the
+Philharmonic is perfectly visible to these spectators of the pavement,
+who, consequently, watch the proceedings within, as they would watch an
+entertainment at the theatre.
+
+The ladies of the ball are attired in simple muslin dresses of the
+grenadine, the tarlatan, or the tulle kind; but no rule is observed with
+regard to the cut or shape of their costume. She whom nature has endowed
+with a comely figure, adopts the 'decolado,' or low-necked,
+short-sleeved fashion, while her less favoured sisters prefer to conceal
+their charms behind spotted lace or tulle. In short, the frequenters of
+such a ball as that to which I refer are licensed to dress as becomingly
+as they please, and only on rare occasions, such as a ball at the
+theatre, at the governor's house, or at the mansion of some equally
+distinguished person, are the strict rules of French etiquette observed.
+
+The senoritas and their escorts are received in an ante-chamber by nine
+of the oldest members of the society, who conduct the ladies to the
+dressing-room of the establishment, where a few mulatto girls are in
+attendance. Their toilettes being complete, it is considered 'the
+correct thing' for one of these nine deputies of the Philharmonic to
+offer to escort the lady dancers to the 'salon de bal;' and afterwards
+to conduct the non-dancers to a locality set apart for the 'old people,'
+for people in a state of mourning, and for those ladies whose lovers do
+not approve of their dancing.
+
+The male dancers--the majority of whom are pale-faced gentlemen with
+black mustachios, imperials, and cropped hair--appear in ordinary
+walking costume, consisting of black frock coats, black or white vests,
+and white trousers, and neither they nor their fair partners include
+gloves in their toilettes. Fans are used irrespective of sex, as a
+creole gentleman considers that such commodities are as indispensable to
+him as they are to his lady.
+
+As most of the guests have already secured partners at the Retreta and
+elsewhere, and as at all respectable gatherings in Cuba everybody is
+supposed to know everybody else, the irksome formalities of introduction
+are altogether dispensed with.
+
+'Me hara usted el obsequio de cederme esta danza?' is in Spanish the
+politest form for asking a lady 'if you may have the pleasure of dancing
+with her.' But should you be on intimate terms with her, you may inform
+yourself whether she is willing to 'take a little turn with you,' by
+making the inquiry:--
+
+'Quiere usted que demos una vueltecita?'
+
+If the lady is 'sorry to say that she is engaged,' her answer will be,
+'Lo siento; estoy comprometida.' If, on the contrary, she 'will have
+much pleasure,' she replies, 'Con mucho gusto.'
+
+It is not unusual for a gentleman who is not dancing to _borrow_ another
+gentleman's partner for a 'carabina,' or round or two; for which purpose
+the aspirant for that privilege has only to approach the dancing couple,
+and in his politest tone say--addressing his remarks indirectly to
+both:--
+
+'Will the senorita be good enough to consent, with you, to my taking a
+turn with her?' or, as it is better expressed in Spanish, 'La senorita
+sera bastante amable para que con usted consiente el darme una
+carabina?'
+
+Sometimes when the aspirant is very intimate with the couple, he
+observes simply: 'Chico; una carabina?' (A turn, old fellow?) and
+without waiting for a reply, seizes his friend's partner round the waist
+and waltzes her away.
+
+Occasionally the carabina is taken without asking; but this is done only
+by certain pollos who are vain enough to believe that they confer an
+honour upon the ladies of their preference by confining their evening's
+gyrations to carabinas. These attentions, however, sometimes involve the
+pollo in a quarrel with the lady's partner, as happened once with a
+certain Acha--a Spanish officer from Guantanamo--who fought a duel for
+the sake of a carabina which he had danced illicitly with a famous
+creole beauty called La Nena.
+
+It frequently happens that the much-desired carabina is graciously
+conceded to an unfortunate pollito, or very young gentleman, who has
+been unable to secure a partner. Tunicu often avails himself of a
+pollito when he happens to be afflicted with an uncongenial partner, or
+one whose manner of dancing does not satisfy him!
+
+The famous 'danza criolla' is the favourite dance of the evening:
+indeed, with the exception of a vagrant polka and a mazurka or two, this
+dance occupies the entire programme.
+
+The danza criolla requires great practice before it can be successfully
+accomplished; but no amount of private tuition will help the novice to
+acquire the approved step. The best school for the study and pursuit of
+the art is a mulatto ball, or such a ball as the Philharmonic society
+gives on every Palm Sunday at seven in the morning. There is a very
+mixed attendance at the last-mentioned ball, as the members usually
+invite their 'guariminicas,' or companions of the carnival. A Cuban
+pollo has generally three ladies to whom he is devoted. The first of
+these is represented by the senorita whom he is destined to marry one of
+these days, but with whom he may not be seen alone. The second lady of
+his choice is the afore-mentioned 'guariminica querida,' who accompanies
+him about town when any fiesta is held; and the third is the mulatto
+beauty, whom he serenades and presents with various gifts in token of
+his admiration for her charms.
+
+The step of la danza is distantly related to a slow valse; but being
+accompanied by certain graceful movements of the limbs--vulgarly termed,
+in creole vernacular, 'la sopimpa'--the excitement is far greater than
+it is with the fastest 'trois temps' on record. So great indeed, that
+after every other 'round' the couples pause and perform a kind of
+lady's-chain in quadrille groups of six or eight. Each dancer gives his
+or her favourite version of this remarkable step. Some appear to glide
+around as if propelled on wheels; while others define the step by hops,
+backward skips and short turns, now to the right, now the left; but all
+preserve the same graceful movements of the body.
+
+The pleasures of the dance are greatly enhanced by the quality of the
+music, which is more or less inspiriting according to the air selected.
+Among the best Cuban dance music are the Cocuye, the Chupadera, the
+Calabazon, the Sopimpa, the Mulata, the Pollita Americana, Merenguito,
+Lunarcitos, Al Mediodia, and 'a las Bellas Cubanas.' The clarionet takes
+the lead in the band of black musicians, and the gueiro and tambours
+serve to mark the peculiar chopping compass which is the leading feature
+of the creole dance. The gueiro proper is an instrument made from the
+hard fruit whence it derives its name. The gueiro of society is, however,
+manufactured out of tin, and shaped like a broad tube rounded at one end
+to a fine point To one side is attached a handle; the other side is
+furnished with notches or transverse ridges, which being rapidly scraped
+by a piece of thick wire, a hollow, grating sound is produced. The
+monotony of this sound is varied on the tambours, and neither of those
+instruments is used when the dancers pause for the lady's-chain.
+
+It is not unusual for an enthusiastic dancer to present the leader of
+the band with a piece of money, as an inducement for the latter to
+prolong the dance, and as a graceful tribute to his partner's dancing.
+But this proceeding not being always approved of by the rest of the
+dancers, a master of the ceremonies--called 'el bastonero'--is sometimes
+appointed for the purpose of regulating the duration of the dances; but
+as el bastonero is himself a dancer, he takes care to time the dances
+according to his own requirements.
+
+At an ordinary Philharmonic ball, such as that which I am describing,
+the frequenters of the 'ambigu,' or refreshment room, must pay for what
+they consume. This is a serious consideration with the pollo, for he is
+expected to invite not only his partner, but also his partner's parents,
+brothers, or chaperones, and sometimes a friend or two of the family!
+The ambigu refreshment stall provides chiefly hams, lobsters, turkeys,
+chickens, fried fish, escabeche (another variety of fish), tongue, and
+other substantial viands; all of which are done full justice to by the
+senorita's relatives and friends! The appetite of the young lady herself
+is, however, more easily satisfied. A cup of thick chocolate with
+'panatela' or pound cake, and an 'helado,' or ice is all that she
+requires in the way of refreshment; unless, later in the evening, she
+prefer a 'jigote,' which is a kind of thick soup made from boiled
+chicken, minced fine, and flavoured with herbs.
+
+Adjoining the ambigu is a small apartment, where gentlemen--and some of
+the older ladies too--may enjoy a smoke while they sip their cafe and
+cognac.
+
+Of course Tunicu has a variety of partners, but Bimba being partial to
+billiards, divides his time between the ballroom and the billiard-table.
+
+Cachita--with whom I dance more than three times in the course of the
+evening--makes a delightful partner, and when, after sundry experiments,
+we are agreed upon the matter of step, I feel in the seventh heaven!
+
+Cachita's manners and conversation are as agreeable as her dancing is,
+and combine to impress me with the fancy that our acquaintance dates
+from a more remote period than the present evening. Upon the strength of
+my being an artist, she examines me on the subject of Cuban beauty, and
+my replies are not unfavourable to Cachita and her countrywomen. In
+turn, I interrogate her on the popular impression of foreigners, and
+from her responses I gather that the people of nearly every country,
+except Spain, hold a distinguished place in a Cuban's esteem. The palm
+is, however, given to the Americans and English. Cachita has been early
+taught to regard these nations with favour, and that to possess the
+political and social advantages which English and Americans enjoy, is
+the ambition of every right-minded Cuban.
+
+But politics is dangerous ground to tread, especially when you are
+discussing them with a beautiful young lady, who expresses so much
+enthusiasm for your 'patria,' and who, moreover, tells you to your face
+that your countrymen are 'simpaticos.' There is no telling what
+conversation such topics might lead to, if Cachita's mamma, Dona Belen,
+did not interrupt our tete-a-tete by coming to inform her daughter that
+the ball is nearly over, and that it is time to depart.
+
+No ball at the Philharmonic is said to have terminated until the members
+of the society and their male friends have indulged in a little
+gambling. So when the ladies and their escorts have departed, and the
+gas in the ball rooms has been extinguished, old as well as young pollos
+betake themselves to an apartment, where they pass the small hours of
+the night in card-playing.
+
+Curious to learn the mysteries of Cuban gambling, I accept Tunicu's
+invitation to watch the proceedings, one night after such a ball as that
+which I have described.
+
+The chamber into which I am conducted is illumined in one part only,
+where a group of gentlemen are seated or standing around a square table.
+Having decided whether the game of the evening shall be 'monte,'
+'tresillo,' or 'burro,' the dealer proceeds to shuffle the cards, which
+he does in an elaborate manner, and afterwards grasps the pack firmly in
+his left hand, taking care to conceal the bottom card. The dealer has a
+partner who is seated on the opposite side of the table with a pile of
+golden 'onzas' before him. These onzas, which represent the 'bank,' look
+like medals about to be awarded as prizes for merit, for each coin is of
+the size of a five-shilling piece, and is equal in value to seventeen
+dollars, or three pounds eight shillings sterling.
+
+Carefully extracting four cards from the top and bottom of the pack, and
+after placing them, faces upwards, on the table, the dealer invites the
+company to stake their money. Gold in onzas, half-onzas, four-dollar
+pieces, and 'escudos,' or two dollars, is produced; but he who is
+indisposed to risk more than a fractional part of his money at one time,
+expresses his desire by concealing a portion of his coin beneath the
+card of his selection. Thus an onza placed half-way under a card
+signifies that the owner wishes to stake only half that coin, or eight
+dollars and fifty cents. Similarly a fourth of the money being
+exhibited, represents four dollars and twenty-five cents.
+
+'Al juego, caballeros!' cries the dealer, and everybody accordingly
+stakes his money. Satisfied that the four cards are not equalised, the
+dealer, by a dexterous turn of the wrist, reverses the pack, by which
+means the bottom card is exposed. If this card does not pair with one of
+those on the table, other cards are slowly revealed, till one of the
+four on the table has been 'casado' or paired. The nine of spades being
+drawn, pairs with the nine of clubs on the table. The banker
+consequently pays on this card, and receives on that which lies by its
+side. The other two cards are similarly disposed of, and this, with a
+few variations, constitutes the game.
+
+With the exception of 'el rey' (the king) and 'la zota' (the knave), a
+Spanish pack of cards differs considerably from the French or English
+pack. There are no tens, to begin with, consequently the total number of
+cards is forty-eight. The queen is also absent. Her majesty is,
+however, represented by 'el caballo,' a figure of a knight on horseback.
+Clubs (called 'bastos') are veritable clubs of the Hercules pattern; and
+a spade is not a spade in this instance, but it is an 'espada,' or sword
+of the approved shape. Each player has a favourite card, upon which he
+invariably stakes his money whenever it is turned up in the course of
+the game. Tunicu's 'winning' colour is 'el caballo' (horse and rider).
+Bimba swears by the king, while his neighbour, Don Vicente, has a
+partiality for the royal fives of every suit. These gentlemen are fond
+of apostrophising the cards of their selection, as if to encourage the
+pasteboard to win. Thus, Tunicu not unfrequently addresses his caballo
+as a 'noble animal' or a 'trusty steed,' while Bimba speaks of 'el rey'
+as a 'right royal gentleman' and a 'just sovereign.' But when, as it too
+often happens, 'el caballo' proves faithless, and 'el rey' unprofitable,
+their praises are no longer sung, but certain disrespectful adjectives
+are applied to them. The Spanish language is rich in oaths, the mildest
+of which are some of those expressions which begin with the syllable
+'Car,' such, for example, as 'Caramba!' 'Carambola!' (the billiard
+cannon), 'Caracoles!' (shells), and 'Caracolito!' (a small shell).
+
+One of the greatest gamblers at the Philharmonic is Don Vicente. Tunicu
+tells me, _sotto voce_, that the old gentleman has had a run of ill-luck
+for the past fortnight, and that, having exhausted all his ready cash,
+he is about to wager his 'quitrin' and horses. If the five of swords on
+the table is not paired in the next draw, Don Vicente will lose his
+equipage. The next 'turn up' being a king, and a king being opposed to
+the five of swords, Don Vicente loses.
+
+'Watch the old man now,' whispers Tunicu. I glance in the direction
+indicated by my companion, and observe that the gambler's right hand,
+which for some minutes past had been concealed beneath his shirt-front,
+is drawn with violence across his breast.
+
+'A habit of his when he loses an important amount,' remarks Tunicu under
+his breath; 'the old fellow has torn his bare flesh.'
+
+Except ourselves, no one present has paid the least regard to the
+unfortunate gamester, for until the past fortnight Don Vicente had been
+usually lucky.
+
+While the dealer is in the act of shuffling a bran-new pack as a
+preliminary to the fiftieth game to-night, the cards suddenly fall from
+his fingers, and he, his partner, together with the rest of the company,
+turn deadly pale and rush wildly to the broad balcony.
+
+I follow them; though for the moment I am unable to account for this
+strange diversion in the proceedings. In another instant, however, the
+truth flashes across me. The apartment which we have deserted had, for a
+few seconds only, oscillated as if a thousand ghosts were dancing in the
+empty saloons adjoining, or as if a train were passing beneath the
+floor.
+
+From the balcony I observe that the dark streets are already crowded
+with people, most of whom are scantily clothed in night attire. Some are
+kneeling and praying aloud for Misericordia! others are shrieking and
+invoking a variety of saints, and the greatest confusion prevails.
+
+It was only a 'temblor,' or shock of earthquake, in its mildest form,
+but it may be the precursor of a more serious disaster.
+
+'Such a calamity,' says Tunicu, 'has happened ten years ago, when the
+earth opened, and many buildings, including the cathedral, fell like
+packs of cards to the ground. The inhabitants fled in terror from the
+town and encamped for many days and nights in the neighbouring country,
+where one is comparatively out of danger.'
+
+Before daylight, another 'temblor,' or trembling of the earth, is felt,
+but, like its predecessor, it is unattended with disastrous
+consequences.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+CUBAN THEATRICALS.
+
+     The Stage Door-Keeper--A Rehearsal--The Spanish Censor--A Cuban
+     Audience--Dramatic Performances--Between Acts--Behind the Scenes--A
+     Denouement in Real Life.
+
+
+A Call for seven A.M. would hardly meet with a punctual response were
+such an announcement posted behind the stage-door of a London theatre;
+but in Cuba the more important business of the day is transacted during
+the cool hours of the morning, and it does not surprise Roscius of the
+West Indies when he finds himself summoned to a theatrical rehearsal
+some three or four hours before breakfast. After that meal, Roscius
+makes up for lost sleeping-time by taking a long siesta till the hour of
+dinner.
+
+During rehearsal, in the theatre I am describing, the doors are open to
+the public, and, there being nothing to pay for admission, the stalls
+and private boxes are always well filled by a not very select audience.
+Gentlemen of colour are not inadmissible on these occasions; hats may be
+worn at pleasure, and smoking is so far from being strictly prohibited,
+that manager and actors themselves set the example. I am tempted to
+stroll into the theatre during rehearsal, because it is a refreshing
+lounge after toiling up the stony, hilly, Cuban streets, and because I
+may gather a new fact or two connected with life behind the Cuban
+curtain, from my friend who is popularly known as El Marquesito del
+Queso. El Marquesito is a great authority in matters theatrical. He
+resides permanently in the building itself, and is paid for taking care
+of it by night and by day. He is, besides, property-man, costumier, and
+a good mimic, often obliging the manager by imitating the bark of a dog,
+the crow of a cock, or the bray of a donkey behind the wings. At the end
+of the season he is allowed half a benefit, on which occasion only he
+delights his numerous patrons by enacting the fore-paws in a dancing
+donkey, to the tune of the Zapateo, a popular negro double-shuffle. In
+carnival time, El Marquesito lets out dominoes and masks of his own
+manufacture, or faded theatrical costumes and properties; and whenever
+the Captain-General honours the town with his august presence, it
+devolves upon my friend to superintend the decorations of the houses and
+those of the theatre, where a grand ball to celebrate the event is held.
+
+His imposing nickname of El Marquesito del Queso, is derived from the
+fact that the property-man is in the habit of supping on 'queso' or
+cheese, and of afterwards making believe that he has feasted like a
+young Marquis.
+
+The curtain being raised for rehearsal, discloses the whole strength of
+a very fair company of Spanish actors. None of them bear the
+conventional air of strolling players; the men are moustached, and
+fashionably attired, and the women, from leading lady to insignificant
+super, are elegantly dressed. Apropos of supers, El Marquesito assures
+me it is no easy matter to secure the invaluable services of a genuine
+white for these purposes. A white lady is not to be had for love or
+money; and when fairies are required for a burlesque, the children of
+respectable families are sometimes prevailed upon to appear. Male supers
+are not so scarce; Spanish soldiers may occasionally be hired; and when
+these are otherwise engaged, a dozen stage-struck youths of good family
+volunteer their services as chorus, crowd, or army. The important roles
+of quadruped and agitated water are filled by negroes, who, in Cuba,
+are, of course, plentiful as blackberries; but when a real black face is
+required to figure in the performance, it is represented by a painted
+mulatto, for Spanish law in Cuba is strict, and prohibits the genuine
+article from appearing on the stage. The theatre opens four times a
+week, including Sunday, and the entertainment is varied every night.
+To-day the company rehearse a local drama, a zarzuela, and a farce
+called 'Un Cuarto con dos Camas' being a version of Morton's
+'Double-bedded Room.' A famous actor from Spain is the star of the
+present season. At rehearsal he is a fallen star, being extremely old
+and shaky, but at night his make-up is wonderful, and he draws large
+audiences, who witness his great scene of a detected thief in
+convulsions. The prompter is seated under a cupola in the centre of the
+stage near the footlights, as at the opera, and his duties are arduous.
+It devolves upon him to read over the part of each performer in a
+suppressed tone, and to direct their manner of exit and their position
+on the stage. He is unseen by the audience, but often heard by them, for
+the actors have only a faint notion of their parts, and cannot repeat a
+line at night without having it first hissed at them by their friend at
+the footlights.
+
+El Marquesito del Queso has much to say upon the subject of censorship
+of plays in Cuba. A play, he tells me, cannot be acted before it has
+been first submitted to the censor, who, empowered by government, is at
+liberty to place his red mark of disapproval over any word, line, or
+passage which he may deem offensive to Spanish morality or to Spanish
+politics. There is no rule attached to this dramatic censorship, and
+each censor, in every town throughout the island, has his own way of
+passing judgment; thus, what would suit the politics and morality of
+Havana, might be considered treasonable and profane at Santiago, and
+_vice versa_. A capital comedy is often so mutilated by the Cuban censor
+as to be rendered dramatically unfit for representation.
+
+All Cuban buildings are constructed with a provident eye to earthquake
+and tropical heat, and the theatre is no exception to the rule. The
+means of egress are ample and facile, so that in case of emergency the
+audience may, comparatively speaking, step from their places into the
+street. On every side are huge open windows and doors, by means of which
+perfect ventilation is ensured. Fire is also carefully provided against,
+and there is always a small regiment of black 'bomberos,' or firemen,
+stationed in readiness within the theatre. There are two tiers of
+private boxes, and a gallery. The first tier is but slightly elevated
+above the pit, enabling the occupants to converse, as is the fashion,
+with friends in the stalls. Both tiers have the appearance of an
+ordinary dress circle, with a low partition to distinguish one box from
+another. There are wide lobbies at the back, and an ornamental iron
+grating in front. Like most houses in Cuba, the theatre is without
+drapery, the stall-seats and box-chairs, which are cane-bottomed, not
+excepted. The interior of a Cuban theatre is barren as a bull-ring.
+
+Despite my intimacy with El Marquesito del Queso, I pay my money at the
+doors, before I enter the theatre at night, like everybody else; for in
+this proud country it is considered humiliating in a respectable person
+to beg an order or a pass. I accordingly purchase two separate tickets;
+one for my admission into the theatre, and one for my seat in it;
+otherwise, I should have to stand, like the indigent few, at the back of
+the boxes. Tunicu sometimes accompanies me on these occasions, and gives
+me the names and occupation of most of the audience, whom he seems to
+know personally. For the matter of that, everybody in a Cuban theatre is
+on intimate terms with everybody else, and there is much conversation
+between the occupants of the boxes, who are, with few exceptions,
+ladies, and those of the pit, who are exclusively gentlemen. The
+senoritas, in low-necked muslin dresses, with a wealth of genuine hair,
+and with their inevitable fans, form a pleasing frame of fair humanity
+around the picture of dark coats and white drill trousers in the pit.
+Their hands are gloveless, and their diminutive fingers are loaded with
+rings of great value: for Cuban ladies are fond of jewellery, and make a
+great display of it upon all public occasions. Some of the senoras have
+brought slave attendants, who crouch in waiting on the ground behind
+them. Tunicu points me out the doctor's box, and when that eminent
+gentleman appears late in the evening, I recognise him as the man who
+saved me from the yellow fever. The doctor, I learn, is strong on that
+disorder, but weak on the subject of earthquake, against which, no West
+Indian physician has succeeded in finding a remedy. His box is nearest
+the principal entrance door, for he is nervous about earthquake, and is
+ever on the alert when he visits a theatre. Tunicu informs me that an
+earthquake in a theatre is worse than a fire, and gives me the
+interesting particulars of such a catastrophe as it happened in the
+doctor's own experience. It was a slight affair, he says, a mere
+'temblorcito', as he calls it; one wall was seen to crack from top to
+bottom, some plaster from an opposite wall peeled off, a globe from one
+of the gas lamps fell among the audience, and that was all; but the
+panic was terrible for all that, and many were crushed to death in their
+attempt to escape.
+
+The stout gentleman who occupies that big box all to himself in the
+centre of the theatre, is his excellency the president. No Spanish
+entertainment is complete without its president. The curtain may not
+rise till his excellency has taken his seat; the actors may not respond
+to a call or an encore if the president is not agreeable, and does not
+flutter the big play-bill before him, in token of his acquiescence. The
+box to the right is the lawful property of the censor, who, like most
+Spanish authorities in Cuba, rarely pays for his pleasure. He is
+extremely affable and condescending with everybody before the curtain,
+though so stern and unyielding behind the scenes. His daughters,
+charming young ladies, are with him, and flirt freely with the numerous
+Pollos, who come to pay their homage. That stall in the centre of the
+pit is occupied by the editor of the _Diario_, a Cuban daily paper,
+whose politics and local information are strongly diluted by censorial
+ink, and which is, therefore, unintelligible and devoid of interest. The
+editor of the _Diario_ is extremely lenient in his reports of
+theatrical entertainments, and on him the manager, at least, may always
+rely. His contemporary and rival, the editor of the _Redactor_,
+government organ, is seated in a stall near his excellency the
+governor-general, who is enthroned in a wide stage-box, and is dressed
+in full uniform, covered with orders. His excellency is accompanied by
+an aide-de-camp and half a dozen bronze-faced, heavily moustached
+officers, all of whom are more or less adorned with orders, crosses, and
+other military decorations. In the bend of the theatre are the boxes of
+the English and American consuls; and within earshot of where Tunicu and
+I are seated, is the box occupied by Cachita, her parents and sister,
+whom we visit between the acts.
+
+But what are those mysterious enclosures with trellis-work before them
+on either side of the proscenium? Those are special private boxes for
+the use of persons or families who are still in a state of
+half-mourning, and may not yet expose themselves to public scrutiny. But
+these boxes are not always occupied by mourners, whispers Tunicu, in
+great confidence. There are a certain class, he tells me, who wear a
+kind of half-mourning, which never becomes out of fashion; these are the
+half-castes or quadroons, who dare not be seen in public with
+acknowledged white people. The gallery is as usual devoted to soldiers,
+sailors, and persons of slender means; and in the extreme background are
+a few benches set apart for the exclusive accommodation of mulatto girls
+and negroes of both sexes, most of whom are elegantly attired; for
+coloured people are scrupulous in their dress on all public occasions.
+
+After the overture--a medley of Cuban dance music and Spanish fandango,
+played upon ordinary instruments by black musicians--a big bell, to
+summon all stragglers to their places, is heard, the curtain is raised,
+and the performance begins. There is nothing peculiar in a Cuban drama
+except that no allusion to political matters is made, and that the
+profane and immoral are somewhat freely indulged in. The comic players
+perplex the prompter with inordinate gagging, and delight in
+personalities with occupants of the orchestra and pit. There is much
+applause when the comic man shuffles through the charinga--a popular
+negro dance, difficult of performance, and shouts of laughter are
+produced in the scene between a Yankee, who speaks very broken Spanish,
+and a lady who speaks Spanish with the approved Cuban accent. It is an
+enthusiastic and excitable audience.
+
+The entirely new drama is a complete success, owing to the realistic
+performance of the famous star from old Spain. That gentleman is on the
+point of breaking a blood-vessel in his effort to impersonate the
+convulsive thief; but he is saved by the doctor in the private box, who
+is suddenly summoned to the actor's dressing-room. This interesting
+incident makes a deep impression upon the sympathising public, and
+greatly increases the interest of the drama. Then the curtain is lowered
+amidst rapturous applause, and calls for the infirm player, who is
+presently led on the stage, supported by one of the company and by the
+doctor. In the following act, the star astonishes his audience by a
+vivid representation of a detected thief gone mad, and his private
+convulsions being still fresh in their memories, many are seen to direct
+their gaze towards the doctor's box, in doubt whether that gentleman
+will not be required to administer also to a mind diseased. But all
+conjecture on this point is presently set at rest by the acting madman
+himself, who is duly restored to his senses at the conclusion of the
+play.
+
+An interval of from twenty to thirty minutes elapses between each act,
+during which the whole audience rise from their places and promenade
+around and about the theatre. The ladies betake themselves to the
+lobbies to flirt, fan, and refresh themselves with ice 'sorbetes.' The
+gentlemen from the pit are everywhere. Some are conferring with friends
+in the 'grilles,' or mourning-boxes; some are smoking cigarettes in
+spacious saloons provided for smokers; others are in the street drinking
+'orchata' or 'bul,' a compound of English beer with iced water and
+syrup. The stage itself is, however, their favourite resort. Open doors
+give access to that mysterious ground from the front of the theatre, and
+the pit public is thus enabled to wander into every nook and corner,
+from the traps below to the flies above. The players do not shun their
+visitors, but rather court their society, for a friend in front is
+considered a desirable acquisition, and half-way towards a reputation as
+'favourite;' to say nothing of benefit nights at the end of a season. A
+small crowd of Pollos waylay the 'first lady' as she leaves her
+dressing-room. As many as conveniently can, enter the leading actor's
+room to congratulate him on his success and his speedy recovery from the
+sensational scene. Another party of Pollos chokes the narrow passage
+leading to the premiere danseuse's boudoir, and great is their joy when
+they catch a glimpse of the gauze goddess as she flutters hurriedly past
+on her way to the green-room. The stage is thronged with these walking
+gentlemen, who require no rehearsal or prompter, and whose most
+attractive performance consists in unbounded cigarette smoking, and in
+getting in everybody's way. It is a miracle how, in the midst of this
+dire confusion, carpenters, scene-shifters, and managers contrive to set
+the stage for another act; and what a scene would be disclosed if the
+drop were to rise prematurely! Presently a voice is heard to cry,
+'Fuera!' this being Spanish for 'Clear the stage;' the big bell tolls,
+and the audience in due course return to their places in front. The
+curtain having been drawn up after the drama, a man comes round, like a
+ticket-collector on a railway, to demand the cards of reserved seats
+from their holders, and to distribute programmes for to-morrow's
+performances. Everybody is in turn disturbed and annoyed, for at that
+moment the low-comedy man is singing a comic parody, in a farce called
+'The Sexton and the Widow.'
+
+But there is a graver interruption than that caused by the
+ticket-collector--an interruption which affects actors as well as
+audience, rendering everybody within the theatre walls motionless and
+speechless. Some ladies are seen to cross themselves devoutly, and are
+heard to utter ejaculations about 'Misericordia' and 'Maria Santisima.'
+Every door in the theatre is thrown wide open, and the servants of the
+establishment stand before them with lighted candles. What is amiss? I
+look for El Marquesito del Queso, but he has disappeared. Fire? The
+black bombero firemen are in their accustomed places, and exhibit no
+sign that such a catastrophe has occurred. Rebellious outbreak of
+runaway niggers? I glance at the military-box, and find the occupants
+peacefully inclined. Earthquake? I look towards the doctor's box, and
+observe that nervous gentleman perfectly tranquil and unmoved. Hark! a
+tinkling bell is ringing somewhere outside the theatre. From my
+position in the stalls I can see into the open street beyond, and anon I
+descry a procession of church dignitaries in full canonicals, the first
+of whom bears the tinkling bell, while the rest carry long wax candles,
+the Host, and the sacred umbrella. Their mission at this hour of the
+evening is that of administering the holy sacrament to a dying man, and
+as they pass along the streets, it behoves all occupants of houses
+within the route devoutly to acknowledge the procession as it passes.
+The audience and actors accordingly kneel and cross themselves while the
+holy functionaries and their sacrament are in view. One of the
+ecclesiastical party enters the theatre and glances hurriedly within, to
+see that all are in the approved attitude. I am thankful to find myself
+doing as the good Catholics are doing, for I know that our visitor has
+no respect of persons or creeds, and would call me to order without the
+least hesitation, were I inclined to rebel. When the religious
+'function' in the street (all public shows, from a bull-fight to high
+mass, are called 'functions' in the Spanish language) is out of sight
+and hearing, and the candles at the door are extinguished, the
+spectators resume their seats, and the farce 'function' on the stage
+proceeds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+MY DEBUT ON A CUBAN STAGE.
+
+     An Engagement--A Foreign 'Star'--A Benefit Night--A Local
+     Play--First Appearance--A Serious 'Hitch'--Re-engagement.
+
+
+I have already noted how Nicasio and I have lent our art services at the
+theatre whenever scenic decorations were required. Our colour boxes have
+also been in demand on certain occasions when the leading performers
+were particular respecting the correct pencilling of their eyebrows, the
+effective corking of their cheeks, and other attributes of an actor's
+'make-up.' Whenever an English play is wanted for adaptation to the
+Spanish stage, the manager--very naturally--'falls back upon' the
+Anglo-Saxon follower of the divine art of Apelles. Upon one occasion I
+am required to translate the famous farce of 'Box and Cox'--a farce
+entirely new to a Cuban audience and, consequently, a great success when
+interpreted for them into choice Castilian.
+
+One day, application is made to me by Senor Don Baltazar Telon y
+Escotillon, impresario and first low comedian of the Teatro Real de
+Cuba, who begs me, as a personal favour, to undertake an important role
+in a new farce which he proposes to present to the Cuban public on the
+occasion of his annual benefit.
+
+The farce is from the pen of a popular Cuban author, and is called 'Los
+Mocitos del Dia' (Fops of the Period). The subject of the play is of
+local interest, with a moral exposing in farcical colours the foibles of
+the Cuban 'Pollo,' or dandy, whose taste for pleasure and idleness is
+only exceeded by his aversion for manual labour and for early matrimony.
+The characters are as follows:--
+
+Teresita, a beautiful young Creole.
+
+Dona Lola, her aunt.
+
+Juana, a mulatto slave.
+
+Ramon, a 'mocito' in love with Teresita.
+
+Don Gabriel, a fruiterer.
+
+Mister Charles, a Yankee engineer from a sugar plantation.
+
+To lend a realistic tone to the last-mentioned personage, the manager
+has 'secured the services of a live Yankee from the United States'--at
+least, such is his announcement; but, in reality, the gentleman who has
+offered to fill the part is an Englishman, and one of 'the famous
+followers of the divine art of Apelles.'
+
+'Posters,' bearing my Anglo-Saxon name--which to a Cuban ear has an
+imposing sound--are affixed to the corners of every street, and bills of
+the play are distributed gratis throughout the town. In accordance with
+custom, the beneficee has addressed envelopes, enclosing a programme of
+the entertainments, together with a photograph of himself and a 'luneta'
+or reserved-seat ticket, to all the known frequenters of the theatre.
+Those who appreciate the compliment implied by the talented comedian,
+will assuredly lend their patronage on his benefit night, and perhaps
+forward twice or thrice the value of the ticket of admission. The
+manager is confident of a 'bumper,' and bids me do my best.
+
+To acquit myself with credit is not so easy as Don Baltazar supposes.
+First, it is necessary to eschew my irreproachable Spanish, and to
+assume that language as it is spoken by an American of the lower orders,
+residing in Cuba. During my visits to sugar plantations, I have
+sometimes made the acquaintance of certain engineers from Philadelphia,
+who, while the cane harvest lasts, are employed to work the machinery
+used in sugar making. With these gentlemen before me for models, and
+with Nicasio at hand, I study my part.
+
+Contrary to the system adopted by my brother-players, I carefully commit
+the whole of my part to memory, noting the grammatical errors, which are
+numerous, and the fragments of English which occasionally appear. I am
+punctual in my attendance at the rehearsals, which is more than some of
+my fellow-comedians can say. When an actor of the Teatro Real de Cuba is
+absent from rehearsal, a super or a scene-shifter is called to read over
+his part until he arrives.
+
+I have considerable difficulty in following the prompter, whose duty it
+is to dictate to the performer the words which the latter afterwards
+repeats. Seated in a stage trap before the leader of the orchestra, he
+is conveniently within hearing of the actors, who upon the evening of
+representation never desert him if they can possibly help it. But I, who
+have studied my part after the manner of English actors, could easily
+dispense with the Cuban prompter's services. His prompting is
+perplexing, and fills me with prospective terrors of a 'break-down.'
+Often while I am in the middle of a speech, my officious friend at the
+footlights has already whispered the remainder, besides uttering the
+words which belong to the next speaker. If I pause for purposes of
+'by-play,' the gentleman in the trap is convinced that I have forgotten
+my role, and insists upon repeating the missing line, though I
+expostulate in a low voice, and beg him, by all the saints in the
+calendar, to hold his peace.
+
+A copy of the new farce is dispatched, previous to its representation,
+to the Spanish Censor, who, after a careful perusal, returns it with the
+following foot-note:--
+
+'Having examined this comedy, I find in it nothing which should prevent
+its representation from being authorised. Signed: The Censor of
+Theatres--Antonio de los Sandos y Ribaldos.'
+
+In spite of this formal declaration, one passage in the farce is found
+to bear a condemnatory red mark. The objectionable phrase belongs to
+Mister Charles, the Yankee engineer, who, in the course of the play's
+action, is made to observe: 'These poor Spanish brutes want civilising
+badly!'
+
+Don Baltazar is puzzled, and consults his company upon the
+propriety--not to say safety--of using the questionable words. All agree
+that the point is a telling one, and would gratify an audience composed
+principally of Cubans, who have no affection for Spaniards; and they are
+of opinion that as no written exception to the play has, as is usual in
+such cases, been made by the censor, the text may safely be followed.
+
+From the broad balcony of my private dwelling, I watch with eager
+interest the Spanish orange and red banner, which, on a certain day,
+waves over the Teatro Real de Cuba, in token of an evening's
+performance. If the weather prove unfavourable, this fluttering emblem
+of fine weather will fall like a barometer; the doors of the theatre
+will close, and a notice, postponing the entertainments for another
+evening, will be affixed over the entrance. Such an event is, however,
+not in store; and at seven o'clock precisely the huge doors of the
+Teatro Real de Cuba are thrown open.
+
+The performances begin with a stirring drama in a prologue and three
+acts, entitled 'Flor de un Dia.' The tone of this very favourite piece
+would, without doubt, be questioned by a Lord Chamberlain, but as it
+contains no political offence, it meets with the unqualified approval of
+his Excellency the Spanish Censor.
+
+Before the curtain rises, the manager peeps through a small glazed hole,
+in the centre of the act-drop, and surveys the audience. The house is
+full, 'de bote en bote,' as the newspapers afterwards express it. His
+Excellency the Governor, attended by his staff of officers, occupies the
+big stage box on the left of the proscenium, and there is a goodly
+sprinkling of Spaniards in every part of the theatre.
+
+Of course I have many friendly 'hands' in the house. The English and
+American consuls are in their respective palcos. Nicasio is seated in
+the third row of the stalls, together with Tunicu, Bimba, and a host of
+their Pollo companions. Don Benigno, Dona Mercedes and their daughters
+and friends, are also present; and Cachita and her parents occupy their
+favourite private box.
+
+Most foreign plays are divided into 'escenas,' and the farce of 'Los
+Mocitos del Dia' contains no less than twenty-four. My 'call' is for
+scene nine, so after the second act of the drama, I go to my
+dressing-room and arrange my 'make-up' for the Cubanised Yankee.
+Agreeably to the Cuban notion of American costume, I don a suit of
+dark-coloured winter clothing, together with a red flannel shirt, heavy
+hob-nailed boots, and an engineer's broad-peaked cap. Similarly, I apply
+cosmetic to my hair, which I comb flat and lank; I rouge my cheeks and
+nose plentifully with crimson colour, attach a thick tuft of hair to my
+chin, and with the aid of burnt cork give to my naturally round face a
+lantern-jawed, cadaverous appearance.
+
+When the curtain has fallen upon the three-act drama, my dressing-room
+is besieged by a host of Cuban friends, who have come to wish me success
+and to inspect my make-up behind the scenes. All congratulate me on my
+effective disguise, and promise to assist towards giving me a warm
+reception.
+
+Nicasio remains with me till the last moment, to run over my part again,
+put the finishing touches to my toilette and inspire me with confidence.
+
+But now the big bell, summoning all stragglers to their places, is
+heard, the audience resume their seats, and the curtain rises for 'Los
+Mocitos del Dia.'
+
+The scene of the farce is laid in the interior of a 'ventorillo,' or
+fruiterer's shop, in Cuba, with real bananas, plantains, sugar-cane,
+cocoa-nuts, mangoes, Panama hats, and limp hand-baskets distributed
+about the stage. Juana, the mulatto girl--attired in a low-necked,
+short-sleeved cotton gown and a coloured turban--is discovered smoking
+an enormous cigar, and washing clothes in a kind of flat tub, called in
+Creole vernacular a 'batea.' She soliloquises in the drawling nasal tone
+peculiar to her race, and adopts a Spanish _patois_ which abounds in
+abbreviated words, suppressed s's, unlisped z's, and s-sounding c's.
+After singing the 'Candelita,' a favourite Cuban ditty, Juana discourses
+upon her master Don Gabriel's objections to 'lo mocito,' as she calls
+them, and describes their rakish habits.
+
+Enter Teresita's lover, Ramon.
+
+The 'mocito' desires an uninterrupted interview with his mistress, and
+offers to bribe the mulatto with silver 'medios' if she will warn the
+lovers of the 'enemy's' approach by singing the 'Candelita' outside.
+Juana accepts the bribe, which she places carefully within the folds of
+her turban after the fashion of her tribe, and vanishes in quest of her
+young mistress.
+
+Enter Teresita.--'Valgame Dios! Ramon?'
+
+Ramon.--'Teresita de mi vida!' (Love-scene.)
+
+Teresita refers to her father's dislike to 'los mocitos,' whom Don
+Gabriel declares to have no occupations save those of gambling and
+dancing, and who go about 'perfumed with eau-de-Cologne and violet
+powder.' Her papa's notion of a model son-in-law is an individual who
+savours of the workshop. Such a man Don Gabriel has discovered in the
+person of Mister Charles (pronounced Charleys), the engineer of Don
+Hermenejildo Sanchez' sugar estate.
+
+Ramon is disgusted with this information.
+
+'What!' he exclaims, 'you married to a "fogonero"--a stoker! I will
+never consent to such a union--first because of my deeply-rooted love
+for you, and secondly because of my patriotic feeling on the subject.
+This is a question of race, Teresita mia. It is war between coal and
+cafe-a fight between brandy and bananas. Yes; rosbif _versus_ fufu.
+Mister Charleys is a bisteque (beefsteak), and I am your tasajito con
+platanito verde machucado!' (a favourite Creole dish).
+
+The infatuated fruiterer is, nevertheless, resolved to make up a match
+between his daughter and the industrious mechanic, and, accordingly,
+brings Mister Charleys home with him.
+
+Mister Charleys, who has fortified himself with a strong stimulant, is
+waiting at the wing for his cue, in company with the 'call-boy' (an old
+man in this instance), who holds a copy of cues in one hand and a
+lighted candle in the other. The call-boy whispers 'Fuera!' as a signal
+for me to disappear from the wing, gives me an encouraging push, and the
+gloom behind the scenes is suddenly exchanged for a blaze of gas, and a
+theatre full of enthusiastic spectators.
+
+Following Don Gabriel, who leads the way, I am greeted with a round of
+hearty applause in acknowledgement of my effective make-up, and when I
+give utterance to the opening words, in which reference is made to the
+heat of the weather, and to the difficulties Mister Charleys has
+encountered in his quest after refreshment, the house is convulsed.
+
+Some time, however, elapses before I can thoroughly appreciate my
+situation, and realise the fact that all this applause and laughter is
+due to my appearance on the stage. I easily overcome the temporary
+agitation induced by the glare of the lamps and the gaze of the hundreds
+of upturned faces before me; but I cannot withstand the behaviour of the
+gentleman in the domed trap. His perpetual prompting, combined with his
+perceptible enjoyment of the new piece, is, to say the least of it,
+confusing, and fills me with misgivings of a premature 'hitch.'
+
+The play proceeds. I am formally introduced to the ladies, whose hands I
+squeeze awkwardly and savagely, while Don Gabriel--whom I address as Don
+Guebriel--sings the praises of Mister Charleys.
+
+Enter my rival Ramon, disguised as a Catalan shopkeeper, in false
+whiskers, and a tall white hat with a black band. Shopkeepers in Cuba
+are usually natives of Barcelona, and the object of Ramon's disguise, is
+to persuade Don Gabriel that he is one of that money-making community.
+He talks Spanish with the approved Catalonian accent; introduces himself
+as 'Dun Panchu Defulou, Cutulan y cumerciante,' and offers to traffic
+with his host. The imposture is, however, short-lived. In a hard squeeze
+of the hand which I give the sham Catalan at parting, he inadvertently
+roars out in a good Creole accent:--
+
+'Ay! ay! ay! caramba, suelte usted.' (Oh! for goodness' sake, let go!)
+
+The old gentleman suspects his maiden sister of aiding and abetting the
+dangerous 'mocito,' and there is every reason for his suspicion; Dona
+Lola having persuaded herself that it is she, and not her young niece,
+who is the object of the 'mocito's' solicitations. Deluded with this
+notion, the elderly spinster facilitates Ramon's visit to the house, and
+there is a scene in which she helps to conceal him in a huge barrel used
+for storing charcoal. One of the chief 'situations' in the farce occurs
+when Don Gabriel, at the instigation of Mister Charleys (whom Ramon
+nicknames Mister Estornudo, or Sneezer, from the resemblance of his name
+to a sneeze as expressed in Spanish), fires a loaded pistol at the
+barrel and its human contents.
+
+It is during the action of this scene that the questionable phrase,
+already referred to, should be delivered by the Yankee engineer.
+
+The cue being given, I am in the act of repeating the lines, when the
+voice of Don Baltazar, the manager, to whom is apportioned the role of
+Ramon, is heard imploring me, from the barrel, to omit the words.
+Conscious of the presence of his Excellency the Governor, the manager is
+suddenly seized with misgivings as to the manner in which the expression
+will be received, and will not risk his Excellency's displeasure. My
+fellow-comedians, who are all Cubans, urge me to proceed. The prompter
+thinks I have forgotten my part, and repeats the text--so often, indeed,
+that the spectators in the third row of the stalls at last overhear him,
+and call unanimously for the correct version of the play.
+
+'These poor Span---- ' I begin. The barrel trembles visibly.
+
+'Por Dios,' hisses the manager, bobbing up from the barrel like an
+undecided Jack-in-the-box--'for Heaven's sake, don't compromise me!'
+
+The audience begin to show signs of impatience. Again the prompter
+maddens me by giving the text.
+
+Myself (_aside to prompter_): 'Bar--ajo! sir, I know my part.'
+
+Mister Charleys (_very loud to audience_): 'These poor Spanish brutes
+want civilising badly!'
+
+'Bravo! Muy bien!' from the Cuban party.
+
+Groans and loud whistling from the Spaniards.
+
+'That was well said!' observes a voice.
+
+'Fuera!' (Turn him out!) observes another.
+
+'It was a good home-thrust!' cries the first.
+
+'Fuera ese hombre!' (Turn out that man!) shrieks voice number two.
+
+'Polizia!' The theatrical president rises angrily from his box and
+summons the police.
+
+The male spectators who occupy the pit-stalls begin to be as unruly as
+they are at a bull-fight. The ladies move from their boxes to the
+lobbies.
+
+The censor is sent for by the president. The manager is charged to
+appear by the censor; and anon Ramon, _alias_ Don Baltazar Telon y
+Escotillon, his face and dress besmeared with charcoal, steps into the
+president's 'palco.'
+
+'Bravo! Bien!' from the audience, whose good-humour is at once restored
+by this new and unexpected diversion.
+
+A mighty conference is held in the president's box, and the matter of
+dispute is warmly discussed with suitable gesticulations. The question
+is, however, finally decided in favour of the manager.
+
+Order being now established, the president's box is cleared, the actors
+resume their positions on the stage, and the farce, which proves a great
+success, terminates happily.
+
+When the performances are over, and I have attired myself in the costume
+of the country, I join my friends in the front of the house.
+
+Don Benigno and his family congratulate me on my successful debut and
+express a hope that it will not be my last appearance on the Cuban
+stage.
+
+Tunicu, Bimba and others of my Pollo friends overwhelm me with
+compliments, and as soon as I am at liberty, they hurry me and Nicasio
+off to the nearest cafe, where a substantial supper is soon provided.
+
+Cachita and her relations are equally warm in their praises, and
+Cachita's father, Don Severiano--to whom I am for the first time
+introduced--very much rewards my efforts, by inviting me to pass a few
+days, during the approaching summer, at his coffee estate, whither he
+and his family are bound.
+
+As for Don Baltazar, the manager--he is so rejoiced at the success of
+his plan of presenting the public not only with a 'real Yankee from the
+United States,' but with one of the 'original' followers of the divine
+art of Apelles, that he induces me to repeat the performance; and 'Los
+Mocitos del Dia' is forthwith announced for another evening.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+COFFEE GROUNDS OF CUBA.
+
+     Going out of Town--On the Road--A Wayside Inn--A Cane
+     Field--West-Indian Fruit Trees--The Arrival--A Dinner in the
+     Country--The Evening Blessing--Tropical Reptiles--A
+     Farm-Yard--Slave Flogging--Coffee--Tropical Scenery--A Siesta.
+
+
+My experience of the Spanish West Indies warrants me in the assertion
+that a tropical climate has but one season throughout the year, and that
+season is summer. The months of August and September, however, are
+favoured with a special season of their own; but the prevailing
+temperature can scarcely be defined by mounting mercury, neither can it
+be adequately described. It is during these blazing hot months that the
+ever-azure firmament seems to blink with blue: that the roads and
+pavement blister the soles of your feet; and that the gay-coloured
+house-fronts scorch your clothes of white drill and tan your Anglo-Saxon
+complexion. The Cubans have a mania for painting the fronts of their
+town residences a celestial blue, a blinding white, or a feverish yellow
+ochre: colours singularly trying to the eyes, and figurative eyesores to
+artists in search of the harmonious. It is at this oppressive season of
+the year that I would relieve my exhausted vision with the grateful
+greens of the dusky olive, the pale pea, and the lively emerald. I pant
+for a plantation which shall shelter and not suffocate.
+
+The realisation of my desire is kindly brought about by Cachita's
+father, Don Severiano, who hospitably places at my disposal his hacienda
+in the country. Thither he himself is bound, with Dona Belen his wife,
+his children, certain friends and domestics. So I make one of his party.
+Don Severiano is a wealthy planter, with I know not how many acres of
+rich soil, where the coffee-plant grows, yielding a couple of crops or
+so per annum to the labour of a small battalion of blacks.
+
+On the morning of our departure for Don Severiano's coffee estate, Don
+Severiano himself is in the patio, presiding over the saddling and
+harnessing department; for some of us are to bestride horses. The ladies
+and children are to drive; and mules, and carts drawn by oxen, are
+reserved for the conveyance of the luggage and the domestics. By way of
+dispelling our lingering somnolence, and fortifying us for the heavy
+journey before us, cups of strong coffee are handed round; and, with a
+view to getting over as much ground as possible before blinding daylight
+shall appear, we start at three o'clock to the minute.
+
+The quitrins--light gig vehicles on wheels six yards in circumference,
+with shafts sixteen feet long, and drawn by mules bearing negro
+postilions in jack-boots--lead the way. The equestrians follow at a
+jog-trot; the extreme tips of their buff-coloured shoes lightly touching
+the stirrups; their knees firmly pressed against the saddles; their
+figures bolt upright and immovable. Then come the carts with shady
+awnings of palm leaves, drawn by oxen with yokes fastened to the points
+of their horns. The drivers probe them with long iron-tipped lances, and
+further goad them by shouting their names and adjective titles. But they
+move slowly, and are soon left miles behind. In their rear are about a
+dozen mules with well-filled panniers, linked together in line by their
+tails and rope reins, and led by a mounted driver with a long whip, who
+grasps the end of the cord by which they are united, and shouts
+ferocious menaces as he goes.
+
+It is still dark. The dew lies thick on everything; myriads of frogs and
+night insects yet hold their croaking concert; and the fire-fly cucullo,
+with its phosphorescent lantern, darts about here and there, like
+falling stars and fireworks. A stony stream has now to be forded. Into
+it splash the gigs; our horses following willingly, for they are
+thirsty, poor beasts, and the cool spring water is inviting. The roads
+are, so far, favourable to our march; but we have arrived at a piece of
+ground where muddy puddles lie horse-leg deep. A bridle road invites,
+but the thoroughfare being intercepted by brushwood and overhanging
+branches, it is not easy to effect a passage. Our leader, Don Severiano,
+accordingly unsheathes the long machete, which he wears like a sword,
+and hacks him an avenue for self and followers. The thicket is even
+darker than the high-road we have deserted, and our leader curbs his
+horse with caution while he lights a taper of brown wax; for the ground
+is slippery, and abounds in deep holes and unexpected crevices. From my
+position in the rear, the effect produced by the rays of the solitary
+illumination is agreeable to the sight. The dark outlines of the riders
+who precede me, appear like black silhouettes against a background of
+green and brown, and nature by candle-light looks like stage scenery.
+
+We emerge again upon the main road, and at full speed gallop after our
+friends. We fall in with them at a tienda, or wayside inn, at which they
+have halted. Dismounting from our horses, we assist the ladies to alight
+from their carriages. Of course I attend upon the fair Cachita, whose
+agreeable society I enjoy till our departure from the tienda. The tienda
+is a queer combination of tavern, coffee-house, chandler's shop, and
+marine-store dealer's. The walls and ceiling are completely concealed by
+miscellaneous wares. Spurs and sardine boxes; candles, calico, and
+crockery; knives and nutmeg-graters; toys, tubs, and timepieces; rows of
+sweet hams, sheathed machetes, pulleys, coils of rope and farming
+implements; Panama hats, buff-coloured country shoes; tin spoons,
+preserves, and French brandy. The innkeeper or shopkeeper of this
+out-of-the-world store is a native of Barcelona--by name Boy--who
+pronounces Spanish with a very broad Catalan accent. We travellers are
+his sole customers at present, and as we require only hot coffee at a
+medio the cup, aguardiente brandy at a creole penny the nip, a handful
+of cigars, and a packet of paper cigarettes, the profits derived from
+our patronage cannot be very great.
+
+We are off once more, not to halt again until a cane field stops the
+way. The growing cane, with its bamboo-shaped fruit, and waving leaf of
+long grass, crops up to the right and left of us for miles, and
+terminates in the 'ingenio' or sugar-works. The entrance to the
+proprietor's grounds is by a five-barred gate and a wigwam, both of
+which have been designed and constructed by an aged and decrepit
+African who occupies the latter. He crawls out of his domicile as we
+approach, and his meagre form is barely covered by a grimy blanket
+fastened to his girdle by means of a strip of dried palm bark. To all
+our questions his solitary response is 'Si, snor, miamo,' being exactly
+the creole Spanish for the creole English 'Yes, massa.' Having by this
+means satisfied ourselves that 'miamo,' his massa, is at home and
+willing to receive us, we proceed until we hear the clicking of a whip,
+and observe indistinctly a row of naked blacks, who are engaged in some
+earthy occupation. A big bronze-faced man, in a white canvas suit and a
+pancake Panama hat, stands behind them and holds a long knotted whip,
+which he occasionally applies to their backs as a gentle reminder that
+time represents so many Spanish doubloons. This is the 'mayoral,' or
+overseer. He seems to pride himself upon his masterly touch with the
+thong, for when no black skin forms an excuse for the practice of his
+skill, he flicks at nothing, to keep his hand in. The sorrow of this
+sight is greatly augmented by the dead silence; for whenever the
+chastising weapon descends, the sufferer is mute.
+
+The lawful owner of these lashed shoulders and of a couple of hundred
+more, has turned out to greet us. His unshaved countenance wears a
+sleepy expression, but the stump of a lighted cigar is already in his
+mouth. At a given signal, a couple of small slaves appear, with cups of
+hot coffee and a tray of long home-made cigars. 'Candela!' Mine host
+invokes fire, and a little mulatto girl, upon whom it devolves to
+provide it, presents each smoker with a lump of red-hot charcoal in the
+clutches of a lengthy pair of tongs. Daylight is appearing, and warns
+us that we must be on the move again.
+
+'Adelante, caballeros!' Leaving the level cane district, for the next
+few hours we are winding up mountains. At every turn of the road, the
+ingenio we have quitted grows smaller and smaller, till the planter's
+residence, the big engine-shed, and the negro cottages, become mere toys
+under our gaze. Now we are descending. Our sure-footed animals
+understand the kind of travelling perfectly, and, placing their
+fore-paws together, like horses trained for a circus, slide down with
+the greatest ease.
+
+Somebody ahead has exclaimed, 'Miren!' We look, and behold a distant
+view of Don Severiano's 'cafetal.' The path has become narrower, and we
+are encompassed by short thick hedges, dotted with red and black berries
+of a form not unlike diminutive olives. I pick and open one of these
+berries, and somebody observing, 'Que cafe tan abundante!' I discover
+that what I have plucked is coffee in a raw state.
+
+'Que admirable es la naturaleza!' sings a Spanish dramatist. Nature is,
+indeed, much to be admired, especially when you are viewing her in
+orange groves, where oranges, for the trouble of picking them, hang
+invitingly over your very mouth, seeming to say, 'Eat me, stranger.'
+Some are small and green as gooseberries; others are big as your head,
+and of the bright hue to which they give a name. Next on the carte of
+nature's dessert are the heart-shaped, smooth-skinned mangoes, with
+their massive and symmetrical tree. They are followed by a procession of
+lime-trees, citrons, nisperos, granadas, maranones, anones, zapotes,
+mamoncillos, and a host of other fruits with strange shapes and equally
+odd Hispano-Indian appellations. I grieve to relate that the king of
+fruits--the princely pine-apple--is far from being the exalted personage
+you would have expected him to be. Like a bachelor cabbage, he grovels
+in solitary state under our feet! We play at marbles with pomegranates,
+and practise tilting at the ring with citrons. Throw into the scene a
+few parasite and plantain trees with slender trunks and colossal leaves;
+fill in the foreground with gigantic ferns, aloes, and palmettoes, and
+the background with spotless blue; select for yourself from the nearest
+hot-house where specimens of exotic plants are nursed, and you are with
+us, dear--and none the less dear for being imaginative--reader!
+
+Distant barking denotes that we are within earshot of our destination;
+and anon a couple of Don Severiano's faithful dogs come bounding along
+the road towards us.
+
+'Hey, Esperules, old girl! What, and Tocolo too?' Don Severiano caresses
+them in turn as each leaps to his saddle. A dozen more lie in ambush at
+the gate which leads to the coffee grounds, and through which we are now
+passing. The mayoral, with his wife and children, turn out to meet and
+welcome us. Crowds of Africans pay us homage and grin with delight. We
+halt in the patio, and a score of half-naked grooms assist us in
+alighting, and watch and help us at our lightest movement. As it is
+evening dusk when we arrive, and as we are exhausted with our day's
+pilgrimage, we betake ourselves to our dormitories without a word. Here
+we are served by stalwart domestics, who bathe our burning feet in
+luke-warm water, and sponge our irritated bodies with diluted
+aguardiente. A clean shirt of fine linen; a fresh suit of whity-brown
+drill; a toy cup of black coffee; and we are refreshed and ready to do
+justice to dinner; to the 'aijaco' of chicken and native vegetables; to
+the 'bacalao' or stock-fish, with tomato sauce; to the boiled meat,
+cabbage, 'chocho,' bacon, and 'garbanzos'; to the stewed goat, with
+accompaniment of yams, baked bananas, pumpkin and Indian corn; to the
+guava jellies and guanavana preserves mashed up with insipid creole
+cheese; to the juicy mangoes cut up in slices in the midst of Catalan
+wine and sugar; to the excellent black coffee, and home-made cigars.
+These we discuss in the broad balcony without, where, seated on
+leather-bottomed chairs, we pass the rest of the evening.
+
+The second overseer, with his staff of field slaves, fills the yard
+which faces us. The faithful vassals have ended their day's toil, and
+are come to beg the evening blessing of their lord and master. Blacks of
+both sexes and all ages, stand before us in a row; some with machete
+reaping-knives under their arms, or bundles of maloja-fodder for the
+stable supply; others with the empty baskets into which they have been
+plucking the ripe coffee berry. Their evening costume consists of a
+loose garment of coarse canvas. The women wear head-dresses of
+gaily-coloured handkerchiefs twisted and tied in a peculiar fashion; the
+men have broad-brimmed straw hats and imitation panamas. The second
+overseer, with his inseparable whip, leans against our balcony with the
+air of a showman, as each black approaches with crossed arms to crave
+his or her master's blessing.
+
+'La ben'dicion, miamo.'
+
+'It is given,' says Miamo Don Severiano with the supremest indifference.
+
+Being in the country, and moreover tired, we retire for the night at a
+reasonable hour. We have to make the best of our extemporised couches,
+for our luggage and furniture are yet on their way, and probably will
+not put in an appearance before morning. Some of the guests, therefore,
+betake themselves to swinging hammocks, while others occupy the mayoral
+Don Jose's catres--a species of folding bedstead not unlike an open
+apple-stall with a canvas tray.
+
+Not until we have fairly taken possession of our temporary couches, do
+we fully appreciate Dona Belen's fore-thought in providing many yards of
+mosquito netting. I have always dreaded a country life, no matter in
+what part of the world, on account of strange vermin. A shudder runs
+through me at the mention of earwigs and caterpillars; but give me a
+hatful of those interesting creatures for bedfellows in preference to a
+cot in Cuba without a mosquito net!
+
+What is that sweet creature crawling cautiously towards me along the
+brick floor, looking like a black star-fish with a round body?
+
+'Oh, it is nothing, massa,' says my black valet 'I kill him in a minute,
+massa.' Which he does with his naked heel. Only an 'arana peluda;' in
+plain English, a spider of gigantic proportions, whose lightest touch
+will draw you like a poultice. I let the 'cucurrachos' pass, for I
+recognise in them my old familiar friend the cockroach, whose worst
+crime is to leave an offensive smell on every object he touches. Neither
+do I object to the 'grillo,' a green thing which hops all over the
+room; for I know it to be but a specimen of magnified grasshopper, who
+will surely cease its evening gambols as soon as the light is
+extinguished. But oh, by Santiago or any other saint you please, I would
+have you crush, mangle, kill, and utterly exterminate that dark brown
+long-tailed brute, from whose body branch all kinds of horrible limbs,
+the most conspicuous of which are a pair of claws that resemble the
+handles of a jeweller's nippers. Only an 'alacran,' is it? Son of the
+tropics, it may sound mildly to thee in thy romantic dialect, but in the
+language of Miamo Darwin, let me tell you, it is nothing more nor less
+than a scurrilous scorpion, whose gentlest sting is worse than the
+stings of twenty wasps. If the brother of that now squashed brute should
+drop upon me, during my repose, from that roof (which I perceive is of
+'guano' leaf, and admirably adapted for scorpion gymnastics), my
+appearance at the breakfast-table to-morrow, and for days after, will be
+hideous; to say nothing of personal discomfort and fever. Now, a
+mosquito net stretched over you on its frame, effectually insures you
+against such midnight visitors; and, if well secured on every side, will
+even serve to ward off the yard and a half of 'culebra' or snake, which
+at certain seasons is wont to invade your bedroom floor at night.
+
+I am awakened at an early hour by Don Severiano's live stock, who hold
+their musical matinee in the big yard exactly under my open window. The
+bloated and presumptuous turkey-cock, 'guanajo,' is leading tenor in the
+poultry programme. First fiddle is the 'gallo Ingles,' or English
+rooster. Then come the double-bass pigs, who have free access to the
+balcony and parlour. A chorus of hens, chickens, and guinea-fowls,
+varies the entertainment; while the majestic 'perjuil,' or peacock,
+perched on his regal box, the guano roof, applauds the performance below
+in plaintive and heart-rending tones. Before I am up and stirring, a
+dark domestic brings me a tiny cup of boiling coffee and a paper
+cigarette, and waits for further orders. Don Severiano proposes a stroll
+(he tells me) through his grounds. Our horses are soon led out, and we
+bestride them, with an empty sack for a saddle and a bit of rope for a
+bridle. Better riders than the Cubans I never saw in an equestrian
+circus, and steadier and easier-going animals than Cuban horses I have
+never ridden on a 'roundabout' at a country fair.
+
+We come upon a sorry sight at one of the 'secaderos,' or coffee-drying
+platforms. A young mulatto woman is undergoing 'veinte cinco' on a short
+ladder: in other words, is being flogged. They have tied her, face
+downwards, by her wrists and ankles, to a slanting ladder, while an
+overseer and a muscular assistant in turn administer two dozen lashes
+with a knotted thong. She receives her punishment with low groans; when
+she catches a glimpse of the spectators, she craves our intercession.
+
+'Perdona, miamo!'
+
+The overseer laughs, and, turning to his visitors, offers his weapon
+with a polite invitation that one of us will try our skill. We all
+appeal to Don Severiano, and, at our earnest request, that humane
+gentleman orders his mayoral to let the culprit off. Smarting salt and
+aguardiente are then rubbed in for healing purposes, and the wretched
+girl is conducted to a dark chamber, where her baby, five months old, is
+shortly afterwards brought her for solace and aliment. I venture to
+inquire the nature of her crime, and am assured that it is ungovernable
+temper and general insubordination of more than a month's standing.
+
+Our horses are halting on one of the four secaderos, or
+'barbacues'--smooth platforms on which the ripe coffee-berry is laid and
+raked out to be blackened and baked by the sun. Near the secaderos is a
+circle of ground, hedged in like a bull-ring and containing a horizontal
+fluted roller, turned by a crank. This roller, or pulping-mill, is made
+to gyrate by a mule, crushing in its perpetual journey the already baked
+coffee-berry, until the crisp husk peels off and exposes a couple of
+whity-brown, hard, oval seeds, upon which are inscribed two straight
+furrows. There are winnowing-machines, for separating the chaff from the
+already milled grain. In that outhouse a group of dark divinities are
+engaged in the difficult process of sieving and sorting. See with what
+exceeding dexterity Alicia, Ernestina, and Constancia--the black workers
+have the whitest of Christian names--handle their big sieves. Alicia,
+cigar in mouth, takes an armful of the winnowed seed from the sack at
+her side, and transfers it to her sieve, which she shakes until the dust
+and remaining particles of husk fall like floating feathers to the
+ground. Then, by an expert turn of the wrist, she separates the smaller
+and better quality of seed from the larger and coarser; and by another
+remarkable sleight of hand, tilts the former into its corresponding heap
+on the ground, and pours the latter into a sack. Constancia is scarcely
+as expert as Alicia though. The sieve's perforations are wide enough to
+admit the small seed of the 'caracol,' and she separates the two
+qualities by the ordinary process of sieving the small and retaining the
+great.
+
+Well seated on his chesnut charger, Don Severiano conducts us by a
+circuitous path up an exceedingly steep hill. The trees are tall and
+ponderous; the leaves are, for the most part, gigantic and easy to
+count; the fruits are of the biggest; the mountain tops are
+inaccessible; and the rivers contain fish for Titans. Surely giants must
+have peopled Cuba, long before Columbus found out the colony! Don
+Severiano takes little or no interest in the landscape, his attention
+being wholly absorbed by the small round berries, which may before long
+be converted into grains of gold, if the coffee crop yield as it
+promises.
+
+The pickers are at their work. A score of them are close at hand, with
+their baskets already filled. Observe how they choose the dark red, and
+eschew the unripe green, or the black and overdone berry. The second
+overseer, whip in hand, is ever behind, to see that the pickers do not
+flag. He is a genuine white; but his complexion is so bronzed, that you
+would scarcely distinguish him from a mulatto, save for his lank hair
+and thin lips. He volunteers explanation. He points to the big fruit of
+the cacao, or cocoa plant, and shows which are the bread, the milk and
+the cotton trees. Learning that I am a foreigner and an Englishman, he
+offers some useful information respecting certain trees and plants which
+yield invaluable products, such as might be turned to good account by an
+enterprising European, but which are unnoticed and neglected by the
+wealthy independent native. At our request, he unsheathes his machete
+and cuts us a few odd-shaped twigs from a coffee bush, with which we may
+manufacture walking-sticks. He exhibits one of his own handiwork. It is
+engraved all over, polished and stained in imitation of a snake; and,
+as it rests in the green grass, it looks the very counterpart of such a
+reptile, with beady eyes and scaly back. On closer acquaintanceship, I
+find the second overseer to be a great connoisseur in canes.
+
+It is our breakfast hour, and Dona Belen and the other ladies will not
+like to be kept waiting. So we return to the barbacue, where the
+powerful odour of roasting coffee is wafted towards us. The black cook
+is roasting a quantity of the drab seed, in a flat pipkin over a slow
+fire. She is careful to keep the seed in motion with a stick, lest it
+burn; and when it has attained the approved rich brown hue, she
+sprinkles a spoonful of sugar over it to bring out its flavour, and then
+leaves it to cool on the ground. Near her are a wooden pestle and mortar
+for reducing the crisp toasted seed to powder; and a small framework of
+wood in which rests a flannel bag for straining the rich brown decoction
+after it has been mixed and boiled.
+
+Substantial breakfast over, some of us carry our hammocks and betake
+ourselves to the adjacent stream. Here, beneath the shade of lofty
+bamboos, within hearing of the musical mocking-bird, the wild pigeon and
+the humming-bird, in the midst of sweet-smelling odours, we lotus-eaters
+encamp, affixing each a hammock between a couple of trunks of trees.
+Here, we see nature under her brightest and sunniest aspect, and,
+divesting our imagination of oil and canvas landscape, arrive at the
+conclusion that trees and plants are very green indeed, and of an
+endless variety of shade; that stones do not glitter, save where water
+damps them; and that a Cuban sky is far bluer than the most expensive
+ultramarine on a painter's palette.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+COUNTRY LIFE AT A SUGAR ESTATE.
+
+     An Artist's Tent--Early Sport--An 'Ingenio'--Sugar and
+     Rum--Afternoon Sport--A Ride through the Country--Negro Dancing--An
+     Evening in the Country--'La Loteria.'
+
+
+With my companion Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldu, behold me passing the
+sultry months of August and September at the plantation of our worthy
+friend Don Benigno, who, with his wife and family, have encamped for the
+summer season at a farm-house on his sugar estate.
+
+Our host's party is somewhat larger than usual, consisting of, besides
+his wife and family, his eldest daughter's intended, Don Manuel, and
+_his_ family. After our arrival, it is found that Don Benigno's premises
+cannot accommodate us; we therefore obligingly seek a lodging elsewhere,
+and as in the tropics any place of shelter serves for a habitation, we
+do not greatly sacrifice our comfort.
+
+Assisted by a stalwart negro, Nicasio and I improvise a lodging on the
+banks of the river which flows near Don Benigno's country house. Our
+rustic bower consists of a framework of roughly cut branches, and has an
+outer covering formed of the dried papyrus-like bark of palms. The
+interior is not spacious, but it meets all our requirements. In it we
+can swing our hammocks at night, and assume a sitting posture without
+inconvenience during the day. Our implements for sketching, together
+with a couple of double-barrelled guns and some fishing-tackle,
+distributed about the apartment, form agreeable objects for our gaze,
+while, at the same time, they are within our easiest grasp. Plenty of
+good fishing may be obtained in the deep, wide river which flows at our
+feet, and our guns may be equally well employed with sport in the
+opposite direction. As for our more peaceful instruments of art, there
+is abundant scope for them on every side; and thus we can shoot, angle,
+or sketch, as we may feel inclined, without moving from our shady
+retreat, which, during the sunnier hours of the day, we dare not desert.
+
+We rise at a very early hour; indeed, it is not yet daylight when our
+dark domestic brings us our early cup of cafe noir and cigarettes. After
+refreshing our bodies in the natural gigantic bath which flows before
+our domicile, we dress: an operation which does not occupy much time, as
+our wardrobe consists simply of coloured flannel shirts, brown holland
+trousers, Panama hats, and buff-coloured shoes. Thus attired, with
+ammunition affixed to our girdles, and guns shouldered, we plunge into
+an adjacent thicket in quest of game; the objects of our sport being
+chiefly wild guinea-fowl, quails, partridges, and wild pigeons. No game
+license is required of us in these parts, and the sporting competition
+is very small, if indeed it exists at all, within earshot of us; at
+least, at this hour of the morning we have the field to ourselves. We
+hear nothing as yet but the rustling of gigantic ferns, bamboos, and
+plantain leaves, together with the occasional song of the winged tribe,
+whose united harmony it is our purpose soon to interrupt. The silence
+of the grey dawn is eminently favourable to our sport, and the low
+bushes which intercept our path screen us from the penetrating gaze of
+our prey. The guinea-fowl, or 'gallos de Guinea' as they are styled,
+occupy our first attention. At this hour they emerge from their
+hiding-places by the score to feed among the dewy heather. We have to
+move with extreme caution, for the colour of their soft feathers is
+scarcely distinguishable from the ground which they have selected as a
+table for their morning meal. Nicasio is in advance of me, tracking a
+company of guinea-fowls, whose melodious chirp has caught his accustomed
+ear. They are not yet visible, but my sporting friend has halted behind
+a bush, and thrown away his white tell-tale panama. This means mischief.
+The dark-grey clothes and sun-burnt face of my companion blend naturally
+with the surroundings, and, as he crouches motionless on the ground, he,
+like the birds just described, is barely discernible. I watch him with
+interest and some impatience, for a covey of large pigeons challenge my
+weapon close at hand. Their cooing seems to proceed from a great
+distance, but, conscious of the enemy's ventriloquial power, his muffled
+music does not deceive me. My companion has now levelled his gun, and,
+taking steady aim, presently fires. At the sound of fire-arms my pigeons
+take flight, and as they rise I fire into their midst. My companion now
+discharges his second barrel into a covey of quails, which had been
+feeding unobserved within a few paces of him. I take a shot at one of
+these birds as it flutters incautiously over my head, and it falls with
+a heavy thud at my feet. The firing has reached the quick ears of Don
+Benigno's watch-dogs, and anon our favourite animals, Arrempuja and
+No-se-puede, come bounding towards us. The sagacious brutes help to
+bring in our wounded, which we are gratified to find are more numerous
+than we contemplated. Gathering together our spoil, we remove to another
+spot, where our performances are repeated, though scarcely with the same
+success. The sun has already begun to cast broad shadows along the soil,
+and warns us that the hour for our 'tienta pie,' or early meal,
+approaches; so we return to our hut, change our damp linen for dry, and
+join the company, who are already seated on the broad balcony of Don
+Benigno's house, watching the interesting process of milking cows. Bowls
+of warm milk are presently handed round by negroes, who bring also new
+milk rolls which have just arrived from the village ten miles distant.
+
+'What luck have you had?' inquires our host of his sporting friends.
+
+We exhibit the result of our morning's sport, which gains us much
+applause and approving cries of 'Ay! que bonito. Ay! que bueno.' The
+black cook to whom we consign our game, promises to do culinary justice
+to them at breakfast.
+
+We employ the interval which precedes that late meal in a saunter
+through Don Benigno's sugar works, where some of us are initiated into
+the mysteries of sugar making and rum distilling. The operations are
+conducted under a spacious shed in the piazza which faces the Don's
+dwelling-house, and here the whole process, from the crushing of the
+newly-gathered cane to the distilling of the aguardiente, or white
+brandy, is explained to us by our host, who apologises because he cannot
+show everything in working condition at this time of the year. He,
+however, enlightens us as to the uses of all we behold, and leaves the
+rest to our imagination.
+
+Here is the store-house where the freshly-gathered cane is kept ready
+for the crushing process. Under that spacious shed is the engine-room in
+connexion with the rollers that crush the cane. Near us are the tanks or
+boilers for the reception of the 'jugo' or cane-juice. We are shown the
+clarifying pans and the coolers in which the boiled liquid, after being
+skimmed, is transformed into sugar grains or crystals. One of the most
+interesting sights is the process of separating the molasses, or
+treacle, from the crystalline portion of the sugar, which is done by the
+action of centrifugal force. The sugar, still in a liquid condition, is
+poured into a deep circular pan, which contains a movable drum-shaped
+cylinder of wire gauze. The latter is whirled rapidly round by means of
+machinery, and in doing so drives the liquid against the sides of the
+gauze drum, through the meshes of which the molasses escapes, leaving
+the dry white sugar clinging in hard cakes to the sides. Don Benigno
+gives us interesting statistics on his favourite subject, informing us
+how twelve or fourteen tons of ripe cane may be converted into one
+thousand five hundred hogsheads of sugar.
+
+The machinery and engine are at present taking their periodical doze
+like a great boa constrictor. The engineer--a native of
+Philadelphia--has gone home for the holidays, and will not return till
+October or November, when the cane harvest begins and his indispensable
+services will be required. He has unscrewed all the brass fittings,
+taken out the slender and highly polished steel work, and stowed them
+away with fatherly care, while he has greased whatever is immovable,
+and then wrapped it up tenderly in machinery swaddling clothes.
+
+Being an Englishman, I am looked upon by the company as an authority in
+matters mechanical, and my opinion touching the merits of the
+engineering works is consulted. I accordingly peer into everything with
+the air of a connoisseur, and happening to catch a glimpse of the
+maker's name and address on one of the shafts, observe grandly:--
+
+'Ah, Fletcher and Company, I have heard of the firm.'
+
+We have yet to visit Don Benigno's distillery, where the molasses or
+refuse of the sugar is converted into white brandy or rum. This is a
+simple process. The raw liquid is first boiled, and the steam which
+generates passes through a complication of sinuous tubing until it
+reaches a single tap, where it spirts out in fits and starts into the
+cold colourless spirit called 'aguardiente.' A glass valve is connected
+with the tap, and by means of this the degrees of strength formed by the
+spirit are gauged. The distillers are already at work, as the operations
+in this department are best accomplished out of harvest time. One of
+them invites us to test the strength of the precious spirit, which the
+gentlemen of our party do with their mouths, while the ladies are
+content to bathe their hands and temples in the icy-cold liquid.
+
+Everybody takes a deep interest in all that is shown by our amicable
+cicerone, save, perhaps, Don Manuel and his inamorata, who occasionally
+loiter behind congenial cogwheels, huge coolers, clarifying pans, and
+other objects used in the process of sugar-making. The attachment which
+the lovers conceive for this particular portion of Don Benigno's
+possessions is so great, that it is with difficulty that they are
+induced to abandon it. Their repeated visits to the same secluded spot
+upon subsequent occasions, only confirms our host's theory, that
+machinery has a strange fascination for persons of all ages and sexes!
+
+Our morning's perambulations terminate with a visit to the infirmary
+where the sick people, employed on the estate, are tended, and a stroll
+through the black barracks, which consists of rows of neatly built
+cottages, occupied by the Don's slaves and their families.
+
+After a substantial breakfast, which resembles dinner in the variety of
+dishes provided, some of our party betake themselves to their
+dormitories with a siesta in view, being incapable of any more active
+service till the hot hours have passed. Nicasio and I, however, prefer
+to improve the sunny moments under the grateful shade of our improvised
+wigwam, in which position we may sketch, fish, or shoot without much
+exertion: but despite our laudable efforts to do something useful, our
+pencils drop from our hands, our angling is neglected, and we surrender
+to the overpowering heat.
+
+I am awakened by my companion, who enjoins me, perhaps because I am
+indulging too loudly in somnolence, to be silent.
+
+'What is it? Fish or feather?' I ask.
+
+'Both,' he replies, under his breath. 'Hush! it's a river bird.'
+
+'What is its shape?'
+
+'I haven't seen it yet; but it has been chirping among the reeds and
+long grasses there, for the last half-hour.'
+
+My friend's gun is half cocked in readiness, and presented through an
+aperture in our hut. After a long pause the bird emerges from its
+hiding-place, and with astonishing velocity half flies, half skims
+across the river, and vanishes between the reeds on the opposite bank.
+
+Bang! bang! go both barrels of Nicasio's 'escopeta,' and both have
+missed their mark. My sporting friend is, however, determined to secure
+his game, which is an odd-looking creature, with a long neck and longer
+legs, similar to a crane. He accordingly fords the river at a shallow
+point, and in spite of my remonstrances (for a river bird is not easy to
+bag) goes in quest of his prey. At the expiration of a couple of hours,
+Nicasio, who has followed the bird two or three miles up and down the
+river, returns with it triumphantly, but he is himself very wet,
+footsore, and exhausted.
+
+Our fishing is not so successful as our shooting to-day, and we have
+soon to abandon both amusements, together with our sketching, for the
+day is on the wane, and the ladies have come down to the river to take
+their afternoon's bath before dinner. So we modestly withdraw, and
+betake ourselves to a neighbouring 'cocoral,' where we refresh ourselves
+with the cool drink furnished by the cocoa-nut.
+
+Towards nightfall, when dinner, with its indispensable accompaniments of
+cafe and cigars, is over, our host invites the gentlemen to accompany
+him to the plantations of a few friendly neighbours. Horses are
+accordingly saddled, spurs are affixed to our boots, and away we gallop.
+
+Our first halt is made at a grazing-farm belonging to Don Benigno, and
+kept by his mayoral, or overseer, a stout, bronze-faced man, who, we are
+told, rarely moves during the day from a leather-bottomed chair, which
+he places slopingly against a post of the verandah. After inspecting
+Don Benigno's cattle, which consist chiefly of oxen, cows, and goats, we
+ride over to some coffee estates and tobacco farms, whose owners, or
+representatives, give us a hearty welcome, and are lavish of their
+hospitality, offering for our acceptance everything they possess except
+their wives and families, whom they, however, present to us as our
+'servants.'
+
+Our time being limited, we cannot partake of their bounty to-night, but
+promise to return another day. On the road homewards, we dismount at a
+coffee estate belonging to Don Benigno's kinsman, Don Felipe, where we
+remain for an hour or so, and watch the performances of a crowd of black
+labourers, who are keeping holiday in honour of some favoured saint.
+Dancing, with 'tumba' or drum accompaniments, forms the leading feature
+in the entertainments. The negroes, in turn, take part in the drumming,
+which is performed by bestriding barrel-shaped tambours, and beating the
+parchment side rapidly with their hands. The strange measure of the
+dance is so varied and well sustained, that the outline of an air may be
+easily distinguished. This primitive music is accompanied by a
+performance on rattles, by singing, and by scraping the gueiro. This
+instrument is, in the country, roughly made from a dry calabash, notched
+in such a manner that a hollow grating sound is produced by scraping the
+rough surface with a fragment of bone. The dancers warm to their work in
+every sense. Only two couples volunteer at one time, and when they are
+utterly exhausted, others take their place. The partners dance
+independently of one another, and only join hands occasionally. The
+women, attired in long cotton gowns and coloured turbans, assume a
+short, shuffling kind of step, which gives them the appearance of
+gliding on wheels, while the upper parts of their persons oscillate, or
+sway to and fro in a manner peculiar to their tribe. The men, whose
+evening costume consists of buttonless shirts and short canvas trousers,
+are more demonstrative than their partners. Sometimes they throw up
+their arms in wild ecstacy, or leap madly into the air; varying these
+gymnastic performances by squatting, frog-fashion, near the ground, or
+turning pirouettes. They get so excited and warm over their gyrations,
+that their Panama hats, which have been doffed and donned fifty times,
+are thrown away, their buff-coloured shoes are kicked off, and finally
+their shirts are disposed of in a similar manner.
+
+Nicasio and I contemplate the animated scene with painters' eyes, and
+during the pauses of the dance, we mix and fraternise with the swarthy
+company.
+
+Having expressed a wish to immortalise on canvas a couple of brown
+divinities, picturesquely attired, our hospitable host, Don Felipe, who
+has already offered us his country residence, together with the
+surroundings, including horses, cattle, tobacco, coffee, and all that is
+his, does not hesitate to add to his list of gifts, the model-ladies
+that have attracted our observation; so, after his accustomed
+declaration, 'They are at your disposal,' he promises to have them
+'forwarded' to Don Benigno's hacienda without much delay.
+
+The lateness of the hour warns us that we must be moving, so after a
+parting cup with our host and his family, we remount our steeds, and
+turn homewards.
+
+During our absence, the ladies and children have been playing the
+old-fashioned round game of loto, over which they are intently occupied
+when we join them.
+
+Dona Mercedes is calling the numbers from a bag, but not in the orthodox
+way. In order to increase the excitement and confusion of the game, the
+playful lady invents noms de guerre for some of the numbers. Number one
+is by her transformed into 'el unico' (the only one); number two, when
+drawn, is termed 'el par dichoso' (the happy pair); and number three,
+'las Gracias' (the Graces). Similarly, number fifteen becomes 'la nina
+bonita' (the pretty girl); number thirty-two, 'la edad de Cristo,' and
+so on up to number sixty-nine, which she describes as 'el arriba para
+abajo' (the upside down number). All the tens she gives in their
+numerical form, coupled with the creolised adjective 'pelao,' or shaven,
+because the ciphers in these numbers are thought to resemble a bald
+head.
+
+When 'Loteria!' has been at last shouted by a successful winner, loto is
+abandoned, and cards, in which the gentlemen take the lead, are
+substituted. Don Benigno proposes the exciting and speculative game of
+monte, and all the ready cash of the company is forthwith exhibited on
+the table. Long after the children and ladies have retired, the males of
+our party continue to gamble over this fascinating game.
+
+While we are finishing our last round but six, a slave enters the broad
+airy balcony where we are assembled, and approaching our host, whispers
+mysteriously in his ear. Don Benigno directs a look at my companion and
+me, and observes, with a smile, 'Senores artistas, your models have
+arrived.'
+
+True to his word, Don Felipe has dispatched our swarthy models that same
+evening, so as to be in readiness for to-morrow's pictorial operations,
+and the good-natured coffee-planter begs as a personal favour to
+himself, that we will return his property not later than the day after
+to-morrow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+LOVE-MAKING IN THE TROPICS.
+
+     My Inamorata--Clandestine Courtship--A Love Scene--'Il Bacio' in
+     Cuba--The Course of True Love--A Stern Parent.
+
+
+I am in love. The object of my affection is, I need scarcely explain,
+the fair Cachita, who lives in the heart of sunny Santiago. She has the
+blackest of bright eyes, a profusion of dark, frizzled hair, with
+eyebrows and lashes to match. It is universally admitted that the
+complexion of my inamorata is fair for a daughter of the tropics, but
+truth compels me to state that in one sense Cachita is not so white as
+she is painted. During the day she plasters her delicate skin with
+'cascarilla:' a chalky composition of powdered egg-shell and rum. This
+she applies without the least regard for effect, after the manner of
+other Cuban ladies, who have a theory that whitewash is a protection
+against the sun, and a check to unbecoming perspiration. Towards the
+cool of the evening, however, my Cachita divests herself of her
+calcareous mask, and appears in all her native bloom.
+
+Since my return from Don Severiano's plantation, I have been a constant
+visitor at the parental residence in town, and here, in due course, the
+tender passion gradually developes itself.
+
+For reasons presently to be explained, we occasionally meet at the
+window of Cachita's boudoir, which is admirably adapted for purposes of
+wooing, being wide, lofty, and within easy reach from the street. Like
+other Cuban windows, it is guiltless of glass, but anything like
+elopement from within, or burglary from without, is effectually provided
+against by means of strong iron bars, placed wide enough apart, however,
+to admit the arm and shoulder of a Pyramus on the pavement, or the
+yielding face of a Thisbe on the other side. An open engagement in Cuba
+has many disadvantages which an open-air engagement has not. Seated in
+an uncongenial arm-chair, the conventional lover may enjoy the society
+of his betrothed any hour of the day or evening, but he may not meet her
+by gaslight alone, nor may he exhibit his passion in a demonstrative
+manner, save in the presence of others. Warned by these objections,
+Cachita and I have agreed to keep our own counsel, and court in this al
+fresco way. Besides, it is the Cuban custom for a lady to sit before her
+window, in the cool of the evening, and converse with a passing
+acquaintance, without infringing the rules of propriety.
+
+Cachita's parents are in the 'comedor' taking their early supper of
+thick chocolate and new milk rolls. Dona Belen is a corpulent lady, with
+a couple of last century side-curls, and a round, good-natured face. Don
+Severiano is a short, shrivelled old gentleman, with a sallow
+countenance, closely shaved like a priest's, and a collar and cravat of
+the latest fashion. These worthy people are at present ignorant of their
+daughter's attachment, and we have agreed not to enlighten them, because
+their opinions respecting matrimony differ. Dona Belen is easily won if
+a suitor to her daughter's hand can prove his genuine white origin,
+while Don Severiano has an extreme partiality for gentlemen with coffee
+plantations, sugar estates, or tobacco farms.
+
+The Spanish language is an agreeable medium for expressing the tender
+passion; creole Spanish is even more suited to such a purpose, being
+full of endearing epithets and affectionate diminutives. I am not
+obliged to address my lady-love by her simple name of Caridad; I may
+call her Caridadcita, Cachita, Chuchu, Concha, Cachona, Conchita, or
+Cachumbita, and be perfectly grammatical, and at the same time fond. The
+same romantic language enables me to use such pretty epithets as 'Mi
+mulatica' (my little mulatto girl), 'Mi Chinita' (my little Chinawoman),
+'Mi negrita' (my pretty negress).
+
+And if these endearing epithets are found insufficient to express my
+affectionate regard, I have the option of addressing my beloved in such
+terms as:
+
+  Prenda de mi alma!     My soul's jewel!
+
+  Botoncito de rosa!     Little rose-bud!
+
+  Lucero de la manana!   Dawn of the day!
+
+  Luz de mi vida!        Light of my life!
+
+  Ojitos de cocuyo!      Little fire-fly eyes!
+
+  Consuelo mio!          My own joy!
+
+  Mi merenguito!         My little merengue!
+
+  Ojitos de pega-pega!   Eyes that rivet!
+
+  Mi monona!             My lovely one!
+
+  Mi tormento!           My little torment!
+
+  Mi consolacion!        My consolation!
+
+  Hija de mi alma!       Child of my soul!
+
+and a number of expressions as choice as those quoted above.
+
+Our conversation is carried on in epigrammatic phrases. I need not waste
+words by making the long-winded inquiry, 'Do you love me?' It is
+sufficient to ask simply, 'Me quieres?' And when Cachita tells me, in
+reply, that her love for me may be compared to her fondness for her
+mother's precious bones ('Te quiero mas que a los huesitos de mi mama'),
+and when, following suit, I assure my beloved that I value her as I do
+the apple of mine eye ('como la nina de mis ojos'), I know well enough
+that these are only figures of speech adopted by lovers in the Spanish
+tropics.
+
+'Mi corazoncito,' says Cachita, fondly, 'I fear that your visits here
+must be suspended for the present.'
+
+'Why so, mi vida?'
+
+'Papacito (Don Severiano) suspects something. His friend, Senor Catasus,
+who passes here every evening, has seen us converse at the window more
+frequently than custom allows, and he has mentioned it to papacito.'
+
+Old Catasus has a son whom Don Severiano employs, and I fancy that his
+interest in Cachita's welfare is not purely disinterested.
+
+'Young Amador is a frequent visitor at your father's house?'
+
+'He comes with others in the evening sometimes.'
+
+'He danced three times with you at the Pinata ball, and he walks with
+you on Sunday evenings in the Plaza de Armas, when the military band
+plays.'
+
+'You are not jealous?'
+
+'N--no; I am only afraid lest young Amador admires you too much.'
+
+'What of that?'
+
+'Don Catasus has a large coffee plantation, and you know what a
+partiality your father has for sons of wealthy planters.'
+
+'Are you angry?'
+
+'No, I am not angry, mi tojosita.'
+
+'Me quieres mucho?'
+
+'Muchisimo, pichona mia. Deme un beso.'
+
+'Before giving you one, you must promise two things.'
+
+'What are they?'
+
+'That you will not be jealous, and that you will go no more to the
+Pica-pica balls.'
+
+'I have been only once this season, mi vidita.'
+
+'My black maid Gumersinda was there, and she says that you danced all
+night with the mulattoes.'
+
+'I was practising the difficult step of La Danza Criolla.'
+
+'It is danced very improperly by the coloured people at the Pica-pica.'
+
+'Many of my white acquaintances go to these balls, and I am only
+following their custom and that of the country.'
+
+'Promise not to go again this season.'
+
+'I promise; so, deme un beso.'
+
+Cachita inserts her soft face between the obliging bars of the huge
+window, and as nobody is passing at that moment, I take an affectionate
+leave of my 'Piedra.'
+
+My interviews with Cachita at her window become rare on account of Don
+Severiano's suspicions, and as Cuban ladies of all ages never leave
+their homes to visit their next-door neighbour without a trusty escort,
+I have no other opportunity for an uninterrupted tete-a-tete.
+Occasionally I meet my fair one at early mass in one of the churches, or
+at the musical promenade in the public square, but on these occasions
+she is always accompanied by a friend or a relative, and a couple of
+black attendants.
+
+On the approach of Cachita's saint's day, Santa Caridad, I favour my
+divinity with a little midnight music. Those of my friends whose
+sweethearts are called Caridad, join me in hiring a few musicians and a
+couple of vocalists. When our minstrels have performed their first
+melody, the Sereno, or night-watchman, appears, and demands to see our
+serenade licence, because, out of the carnival season, no serenading is
+allowed without a special permit from the authorities. After duly
+exhibiting our licence, the music proceeds, and when a song, composed
+expressly for the lady we are serenading, has been sung, and a few more
+danzas have been played, a shutter of the grated window is seen to open,
+a white hand with a white handkerchief flutters approvingly between the
+iron bars, and a significant flower is offered for the acceptance of him
+whom it may most concern.
+
+Tunicu takes a friendly interest in my affaire d'amour, and gives me the
+benefit of his experience in such matters.
+
+In the carnival season, and on certain fiestas, I visit my Caridad, in
+company with a dozen Pollo friends, amongst whom are Tunicu and Bimba,
+and we bring with us a full band of black musicians, bearing ordinary
+stringed instruments. Our visit is paid in broad daylight, but we are
+masked, and so disguised that paterfamilias cannot recognise his guests;
+he is, however, satisfied as regards our respectability, when my good
+friend Tunicu privately reveals his name. At the inspiring tones of La
+Danza some lady neighbours flock to the scene, and follow us and our
+swarthy instrumentalists into our host's reception-room, which is
+entered direct from the street by a huge door. Then a dance is
+extemporised. The fascinating step of La Danza Criolla lends itself to a
+little secret love-making, and with a partner like the graceful Cachita
+(to whom alone I disclose myself when my turn comes to visit her house),
+I feel in the seventh heaven! But dancing at twelve o'clock in the day,
+with a tropical sun blazing in at the windows and open doors, and a room
+full of excited dancers, merits some more substantial reward, and in the
+pauses of the danza, our hospitable host invites us into his spacious
+comedor, where refreshments in the shape of champagne, English bottled
+ale, cafe noir, and dulces, are lavishly dispensed.
+
+Report, which in Cuba travels like a tornado, and distorts like a convex
+mirror, poisons the mind of Cachita's parent, Don Severiano, and one
+sultry afternoon, Cachita's black maid, Gumersinda, brings me a
+billet-doux from her young mistress, which fills me with alarm. Don
+Severiano knows all--more than all--and has resolved to separate us by
+removing Cachita to one of his sugar estates, eight leagues from town.
+For some weeks I hear nothing of her whereabouts, but at last one of Don
+Severiano's black mule-drivers halts before my door. He tells me that
+Cachita and her family are staying at La Intimidad, a sugar estate; and
+after searching among his mule's complicated trappings, he produces a
+missive from his young mistress. Absence has affected Cachita, as it
+affects other ladies in love, and my fair creole expresses a desire to
+see me. Don Severiano will be leaving the estate for town on a certain
+day, and, if I am willing, a meeting may easily be effected. Saturnino,
+the mule-driver, who is in the secret, undertakes to guide me to the
+trysting-place. I accordingly obtain a fast-trotting steed, and follow
+him through the intricate country, which, after many hours' riding,
+brings us to the neighbourhood of La Intimidad. There my guide conducts
+me to a tumble-down negro hut kept by a decrepit negress, and situated
+in the midst of a very paradise of banana-trees, plantains, palms, and
+gigantic ferns. The fare which my hostess provides consists of native
+fruits and vegetables, cooked in a variety of ways, together with
+'bacalao' (dried cod-fish), and 'tasajito,' or salted meat, dried in the
+sun. After my fatiguing pilgrimage, I refresh myself with a cigarette
+and a cup of well-made 'cafe negro;' I bathe in spring water diluted
+with aguardiente rum, and exchange my soiled clothes of white drill for
+a fresh suit of the same material. Towards the cool of the evening, as I
+sit smoking a long damp cigar before the door of my rustic habitation,
+the flapping of huge plantain-leaves, and the clatter of horses' hoofs,
+announce the approach of my charmer, who, escorted by the faithful
+Gumersinda, has come to visit me in my homely retreat. I assist Cachita
+in alighting from her steed, and in due course we are seated beneath the
+shade of an overhanging mango-tree, whose symmetrical leaves reach to
+the ground, and completely conceal us. We are disturbed by no other
+sound than the singing of birds, the creaking of hollow bamboos, and the
+rippling of water. Under these pleasant circumstances, we converse and
+make love to our hearts' content. The cautious Gumersinda warns us when
+the hour for separation arrives, and then we reluctantly part. Our
+agreeable tete-a-tete is repeated on the following day, but as Don
+Severiano is expected to return the day after, this is our last
+interview.
+
+On my road back to town, whom should I meet, at a wayside tienda, but
+Cachita's formidable parent, together with his friend Senor Catasus,
+and my rival, the young Amador! Don Severiano is furious. High words
+pass between us, there is a scene, and I leave the cane-field proprietor
+swearing to punish everybody concerned in his daughter's secret
+engagement.
+
+Some days after my return to town, I learn that the black maid
+Gumersinda, and the mule-driver Saturnino, have suffered the penalty of
+slave law at the hands of their owner, who has sentenced them both to a
+severe flogging. Through the medium of a friend, I receive a note from
+Cachita, to inform me that her father is determined to break off my
+engagement with his daughter by a more effectual separation than that
+which has been already attempted. 'If you love me,' the note concludes,
+'have me deposited without delay.'
+
+To 'deposit' a young lady in Cuba, is to have her legally transferred to
+the house of a trustworthy relative, or a respectable family. A legal
+document for her arrest is presented at the parental house, and if the
+young lady be of age, and willing to sign her assent, no opposition on
+the part of her parents will avail. If, at the expiration of the
+prescribed period, no reason is shown why the deposited damsel should
+not follow her inclinations, the lover may release his precious pledge
+by marrying her at once.
+
+In accordance with Cachita's desire, I consult the nearest lawyer, from
+whom I obtain a formal document, empowering me to deposit Cachita as
+soon as she shall have arrived at her town residence. I await this event
+with impatience, but days elapse, and the shutters of Don Severiano's
+habitation remain closed. I am soon relieved from my anxiety, but am
+horrified to learn that Cachita has been removed from the sugar estate,
+and consigned to the tender care of nuns in the town convent. As my
+legal powers cannot penetrate that sanctum, I am compelled to await the
+natural course of events. Cachita is destined to pass six long months
+within the convent walls, during which time Don Severiano confidently
+hopes that solitary confinement and holy teaching will have a beneficial
+effect upon Cachita's mind. Should this prove otherwise, the period for
+her incarceration will be prolonged, until the fire of her young
+affections shall have been completely quenched.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+A CUBAN CONVENT.
+
+     Without the Walls--'El Torno'--A Convent Letter--Accomplices--A
+     Powder Plot--With the Nuns--Don Francisco the Dentist.
+
+
+My creole inamorata has been already immured five long weeks in the
+nunnery, expiating there her 'sin' of secret love-making. Nearly five
+months must yet elapse before she will be released and restored to her
+stern parent Don Severiano: that is, if the nuns' report of her be
+favourable; but should the efforts of those estimable ladies prove
+unsuccessful, and Cachita persist in following the inclinations of her
+heart, the term of her incarceration will be protracted another six
+months, when, in accordance with conventual discipline, she will be
+required to commence her duties as a novice.
+
+Desirous of ascertaining how far monastic confinement has affected my
+Cachita's sentiments, I propose to sound her on the subject by private
+communication. Tunicu, whom I consult, tells me that this is not easily
+accomplished, and I soon find that his statement is correct. The convent
+is a strong building. At fixed hours the outer doors are thrown open,
+and disclose a small stone ante-chamber, furnished with wooden benches
+like a prison. Here may a pilgrim enter, but no further. There is
+another and a stronger door, communicating with the interior, and
+accessible only to a favoured few. Near it is a panelled or blind
+window, forming part of a 'torno' or turnstile--a mechanical contrivance
+by means of which articles for the convent use are secretly admitted.
+
+On more than one occasion have I visited the torno, in the vain hope of
+persuading the invisible door-keeper behind to receive some love-tokens
+for my captive mistress. Tapping three times on the hollow window, I
+pause until a voice murmurs 'Ave Maria!' to which I respond, being well
+versed in conventual watchwords, 'Por mis pecados!' The voice inquires
+my pleasure. If it be my pleasure to have a missive conveyed to an
+immured 'sister,' and I can satisfy my unseen interlocutor by
+representing myself as a relative of the captive lady in whom I am
+interested, the turnstile rotates with magic velocity, the flat panel
+vanishes, and, behold, a species of cupboard with many shelves, upon
+which anything of a moderate size may be placed. Having deposited my
+letter on one of the shelves, it disappears, with the cupboard, like a
+pantomime trick, and the panelled window resumes its original dull
+aspect. But whether my document will reach the rightful owner, I can
+never ascertain, for days elapse, and no reply is forthcoming. Varying
+my proceedings at the torno, I sometimes express a desire to exchange a
+few greetings with my cloistered love, by meeting her in a certain
+chamber appointed for such a purpose, and conversing with her through a
+double grating. But the door-keeper informs me that such a privilege is
+accorded to parents only of the immured, who can prove their identity;
+so my effort in that direction is a failure.
+
+At Tunicu's suggestion, every Sunday morning I visit the convent chapel
+which is attached to the building itself, and is open to the public at
+prescribed hours. The chapel is a bare-looking sanctuary of small
+dimensions, and easily crowded by a score or two of ladies with white
+veils, who come to pay their devotions from the neighbouring houses. At
+one extremity of the white-washed chamber is an altar-piece, before
+which a priest, assisted by a boy, officiates, and to the left is a
+strongly-barred window connected with the interior of the convent.
+Behind this window, which is heavily curtained as well as railed, stand
+the nuns and other inmates of the cloister, who have come to take part
+in the ceremonies. The responses are chanted by this invisible
+congregation in a subdued tone. During a certain portion of the
+ceremonies, the curtain is partially drawn, and the outline of a thickly
+veiled devotee is discerned as she bends forward to kiss the priest's
+hand and to receive his blessing. I envy the ecclesiastic, and gaze with
+eager interest, as figure after figure approaches in turn; but my sight
+cannot penetrate the dark recesses of the curtain, and the lady whom I
+seek comes and disappears unrecognised.
+
+I am aroused early one morning by a black messenger, who delivers me a
+thick letter, which I open nervously, for I find it comes from the
+'Convento de la Ensenanza.' The writing, though the contents savour
+strongly of monastic diction, is certainly in Cachita's hand, and is
+signed by herself.
+
+'My dream of happiness,' the letter begins, 'can no longer be realised.
+My conscience, my teachers, and my father-confessor, all persuade me
+that I have sinned in the outer world, and that if I desire to be
+absolved, I must repent without delay. Exhorted by the worthy nuns, I
+am daily becoming more alive to a sense of my unworthiness, and
+convinced of the urgent necessity for beginning a new life of holiness
+and virtue. Guided to this blessed convent by the finger of Providence,
+I have been enabled, with the assistance of the best of counsel, to
+reflect seriously over what has happened, and I have now taken a vow
+never again to act from the impulse of my young and inexperienced
+heart.'
+
+After dwelling upon the enormity of the offence of making love without
+the approval of a parent, the writer exhorts me, by my 'mother,' and by
+other people whom I 'hold dear,' to return her letters, and all other
+evidence of the past, with the assurance that by so doing I shall
+accomplish one important step towards the 'termination of the sad story
+of this ill-begotten wooing' (para completar la triste historia de ese
+amor desgraciado).
+
+The letter concludes as follows:--
+
+'Perhaps you will receive a parting word from me' (the present document
+occupies exactly eight pages of closely written convent paper), 'which
+will put an end to this unfortunate story. You must, then, forget me
+entirely. Look upon the past as a dream, an illusion, a flash of
+happiness which is no more. Never must the name of Cachita escape your
+lips. I shall remember you only in my prayers' (the word 'only' is
+erased with pencil). 'Fail not to send the letters. And adios! till we
+meet in heaven.--CARIDAD.'
+
+The bearer of this letter is Guadalupe, a slave of Cachita's father, Don
+Severiano, and she is intrusted with messages to and from the convent.
+Twice a week she visits the torno cupboard, charged with changes of
+linen and other articles for her young mistress's use. Everything is
+carefully examined by a nun, before being consigned to its owner; so
+Tunicu's ingenious notion of conveying by this opportunity something
+contraband to the fair prisoner cannot be entertained.
+
+Having bribed Guadalupe with a bundle of cigars and a coloured
+handkerchief for a turban, I obtain from her, in return, some
+intelligence of her young mistress.
+
+'Have you heard how la Nina Cachita fares?' I inquire.
+
+'Badly,' says the negress. 'The monastic life does not agree with her
+lively disposition, and she yearns for freedom again, la pobre!'
+
+'Then the nuns have not succeeded in converting her?'
+
+'I think not, miamo. In a letter to her mother, Dona Belen, who has
+still a good opinion of your worship, mi amita Cachita ridicules the
+Monjas (nuns), and describes their strange ways.'
+
+'Has Don Severiano expressed his intention to release la Nina at the
+expiration of her allotted six months?'
+
+'I believe so; but even then, it will be nearly five long months before
+she can be with us again!'
+
+The most important information which I draw from the communicative black
+is, that my medical friend, Don Francisco, who is a dentist as well as a
+doctor, is attending my beloved for professional purposes. I resolved to
+call upon Don Francisco, and when Guadalupe has taken her departure with
+a packet containing a selection from Cachita's letters, and one of my
+own, which I have carefully worded, in case it should fall into wrong
+hands, I repair at once to the house of my medical friend.
+
+Don Francisco sympathises with me, and promises to aid me in a plan
+which I have conceived for communicating by letter with my absent
+mistress; but he warns me that there are many difficulties in the way of
+doing so.
+
+'The nuns,' he says, 'who accompany my patient, stand like a couple of
+sentinels on each side of her, and no word or gesture escapes their
+attentive ears and watchful gaze. He must have more than a conjuror's
+hand who can perform any epistolary feat and escape their keen
+observation.'
+
+The allusion to conjuring reminds me of my scheme.
+
+Will Don Francisco recommend to his patient a box of his registered
+tooth-powder?
+
+He will be delighted to have that opportunity.
+
+'One of my assistants who accompanies me in my convent rounds shall
+include such a box in my dentist's bag.'
+
+Don Francisco sees through my 'little powder plot,' as he calls it, and
+hands me a box of his patented tooth-powder, beneath which I afterwards
+carefully deposit a billet-doux.
+
+But Don Francisco can improve upon my scheme, and staggers me with his
+new idea.
+
+'You shall deliver the box yourself!' says he.
+
+The convent rules, he explains, allow him to introduce an assistant, or
+'practicante,' as he is called. The same practicante does not always
+accompany him in his semi-weekly visits to the convent.
+
+'As I am about to visit La Cachita for dental purposes only,' says the
+considerate gentleman, 'you shall on this occasion act as my
+practicante.'
+
+Early next morning we are on the threshold of the sacred ground. Don
+Francisco boldly enters the stone ante-chamber, which I have so often
+timidly approached, and taps with a firm knuckle on the torno.
+
+'Ave Maria Purisima!' murmurs the door-keeper from behind.
+
+'Pecador de mi!' (sinner as I am) replies the practised Don.
+
+'Que se ofrece usted?' (what is your pleasure?) inquires the voice. And
+when the dentist has satisfied the door-keeper's numerous demands, a
+spring door flies open, and we step into a narrow passage. Here we
+remain for some moments, while our persons are carefully identified
+through a perforated disc. Then another door opens, the mysterious
+door-keeper appears and conducts us into the very core of the convent.
+As we look over the convent garden, which is tastefully laid out with
+tropical plants and kitchen stuff, a thickly veiled nun approaches us.
+The lady seems to be on familiar terms with the dentist, whom she
+addresses in a mild, soothing tone, as if she were administering words
+of comfort to a sick person. We follow her through a narrow corridor,
+where I observe numerous doors, which I am told give access to the
+apartments or cells occupied by the convent inmates. We pass a chamber
+where children's voices are heard. There is a school attached to the
+convent, for the benefit of those who desire their offspring to receive
+religious instruction from the nuns. Music and fancy needlework are also
+taught, and some of the distressed damsels, who, like Cachita, are
+undergoing a term of conventual imprisonment for similar offences,
+impose upon themselves a mild form of hard labour by assisting to
+improve the infant mind. Cachita, who is a good musician, takes an
+active part in this branch of education.
+
+At last we are ushered into a gloomy, white-washed apartment
+(everything in the convent appears to be of wood and whitewash), where
+our guide takes leave of us.
+
+While the dentist, assisted by his practicante, is arranging his
+implements for tooth-stopping on a deal table, which, together with a
+couple of wooden chairs, constitute the furniture of this cheerless
+chamber, an inner door is thrown open, and a couple of nuns, attired in
+sombre black, enter with Don Francisco's fair patient. Cachita is
+dressed in spotless white, a knotted rope suspended from her girdle, and
+a yellowish veil affixed in such a manner to her brow as to completely
+conceal her hair, which, simple practicante though I be, I know is dark,
+soft, and frizzled at the top. Her pretty face is pale, and already
+wears (or seems to wear) the approved expression of monastic
+resignation.
+
+At Don Francisco's suggestion, I carefully conceal my face while Cachita
+seats herself between the sentinel nuns.
+
+The dentist, with a presence of mind which I emulate but little,
+commences his business of tooth-stopping, pausing in his work to
+exchange a few friendly words with his patient and the amicable nuns.
+Hitherto my services have not been in requisition; but anon the subject
+of the tooth-powder is introduced.
+
+Will La Cachita allow the dentist to recommend her a tooth-powder of his
+own preparation?
+
+Cachita is in no immediate need of such an article, but the dentist is
+persuasive, and the young lady is prevailed upon to give the powder a
+trial.
+
+'You will derive much benefit from its use,' observes Don Francisco. 'My
+assistant' (and here the cunning tooth-stopper, being close to his
+patient's ear, whispers my name) 'will bring it you presently.'
+
+'What ails la Nina?' inquires one of the nuns, bending forward; for
+Cachita has uttered a cry, and swooned away.
+
+'Nothing, senora,' says Don Francisco with the same sang-froid already
+noted. 'Only a nerve which I have accidentally excited in my operation.
+She will be better presently.'
+
+The dentist desires me to bring him a certain bottle, and with the
+contents of this, his patient is soon restored to consciousness.
+
+'Keep her head firm,' says my artful friend, addressing me with a faint
+smile on his countenance, 'while I put the finishing touches to my
+work.'
+
+I obey; and though my hands are far from being as steady as an
+assistant's should be, I acquit myself creditably.
+
+Cachita's mouth is again open to facilitate the dentist's operations,
+but also, as it seems to me, in token of surprise at the apparition now
+bending over her.
+
+'You will find much relief in the use of this tooth-powder,' continues
+my friend, in a careless tone, as though nothing had happened. 'Very
+strengthening to the gums. When you have got to the bottom of the
+box--just open your mouth a little wider--when you have got to the
+bottom of the box--where' (he whispers) 'you will find a note--I will
+send you another.'
+
+Cachita, by this time accustomed to my presence, can now look me
+fearlessly in the face with those expressive eyes of hers, which I can
+read so well, and before the dentist's operations are over, we have
+contrived, unobserved, to squeeze hands on three distinct occasions.
+
+Assured by this means of my lover's constancy, I now take my leave of
+her, and, advised by my friends, patiently await the term of her convent
+captivity, which expires, as I have already stated, in four months and
+three weeks.
+
+Upwards of three of these months elapse and I hear nothing more of the
+fair recluse, and during that long interval many strange and unexpected
+events transpire as to the 'Ever-faithful Isle.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+A CRUISE IN THE WEST INDIES.
+
+     Cuban Telegraphy--The _New York Trigger_--News from Porto Rico--A
+     day in Porto Rico--Don Felipe--A Mail
+     Agent--Coasting--Aguadilla--Mayagueez--Santo
+     Domingo--Sight-seeing--Telegraphic News.
+
+
+There has been a sad dearth of news in the tropics for many long months.
+The war of Santo Domingo is at an end. The great hurricane at St. Thomas
+has passed into oblivion. The rising of negroes in Jamaica is forgotten.
+The civil war in Hayti is suspended for the nineteenth time. Not so much
+as a shipwreck is afloat; even the yellow fever is on the wane, and not
+a single case of cholera has been quoted. The people of the tropics are
+enjoying a delightful and uninterrupted repose, and the elements and
+climate are perfectly inoffensive. It seems as if our part of the world
+had sunk into a delicious paradise, and that my services on behalf of
+the _New York Trigger_ would be for the future dispensed with.
+
+I am, shortly, recalled to my journalistic duties by the arrival of some
+'startling' news from Porto Rico. An insurrection has broken out in the
+interior of that island, where the inhabitants have planted what they
+call their 'flag of freedom,' intimating their intention to rebel
+against their Spanish rulers.
+
+This is food for the _Trigger_, and I hasten to prepare it daintily, for
+transmission by telegraph.
+
+At the office of the telegraph, I meet the American consul's secretary.
+Now, as I know that that gentleman is connected with the _Central Press
+of Havana_, I conclude that he is upon the same errand as myself. In the
+interests of the _New York Trigger_, it is therefore my duty now to
+forestall the secretary, by forwarding my news before he has had time to
+dispatch his.
+
+The secretary is at the telegraph table scribbling at a rapid rate, and
+you may be sure he does not slacken his speed when he becomes conscious
+of the presence of the formidable agent of the _New York Trigger_! Only
+one instrument is used for telegraphic purposes, so he whose telegram is
+first handed to the clerk is first to be served by that functionary.
+
+The system of telegraphy--like every other system in Cuba--is supervised
+by the Spanish administration. Every telegram must be submitted to the
+authorities before it is dispatched, in case anything treasonable or
+offensive to the government should enter into its composition. The
+dispatch being approved of, it is returned to the telegraph office and
+transmitted in the usual manner. The sender is, however, obliged to pay
+for his message in paper stamps, and these must be affixed to the
+document; but under no circumstances is he permitted to make his
+payments in Spanish coin.
+
+This paper money--which in form resembles postage-stamps--cannot be
+obtained at the telegraph office, but must be purchased at the
+'Colecturia,' a certain government establishment in another part of the
+town. Thus, the unfortunate individual who happens to be unprovided
+with sufficient stamps, is often at a standstill.
+
+By a miracle, my important news from Porto Rico is ready for
+transmission as soon as that of my rival, the American secretary; but,
+unfortunately, that gentleman is before me in presenting his document to
+the telegraph clerk. The latter examines the message carefully to see
+that nothing is wanting, when, to my great joy, he returns it with the
+remark, that the indispensable stamps have not been affixed!
+
+My rival is aghast, and offers to pay in golden doubloons; but the
+official is not to be bribed--especially before a witness--so the
+American secretary, who is unprovided with stamps, has no other
+alternative but to go in quest of them.
+
+Meanwhile I, whose pocket-book is full of the precious paper-money, hand
+in my message, which the clerk accepts, and in my presence ticks off to
+Havana. From thence it will proceed by submarine cable to the coast of
+Florida, where, after being duly translated into English, it will be
+transmitted to New York, and to-morrow, if all goes well, it will appear
+in the columns of the _New York Trigger_.
+
+On my way to a neighbouring cafe for refreshment after my labours, I
+gather from a printed placard on a wall of the governor's palace, some
+further particulars concerning the rebellion:--
+
+'The Spanish troops have had an encounter with the insurgents, and
+utterly routed them, with a loss, on the Spanish side, of one man killed
+and three slightly wounded. The enemy's losses are incalculable!'
+
+This piece of intelligence, of course, proceeds from government
+sources, and is therefore doubtful; but all is fish that comes to my
+journalistic net, so I return to the telegraph office, and give the
+_Trigger_ the benefit of the doubt.
+
+In the course of the day, I obtain the rebel version of the fight:--
+
+'A great battle has been fought between the _Patriots_ and the
+Spaniards, in which the latter were forced to retreat with considerable
+losses.'
+
+Twenty-three words more for the _Trigger_.
+
+The revolution spreads; the news circulates, and every mail steamer from
+Porto Rico brings correspondence for me from the agent in that island.
+Day by day the _New York Trigger_ is filled with telegrams and editorial
+paragraphs about the revolution in the Spanish colony; and that widely
+circulating newspaper is often in advance, and never behind, its
+contemporaries with 'latest intelligence from the seat of war.'
+
+At length a fatal piece of news reaches us.
+
+Afraid lest the revolutionary mania should infect our town, the Spanish
+authorities have subjected the mail bags from Porto Rico to an
+epistolary quarantine; in other words, all our correspondence is
+overhauled at the post-office, and any document bearing upon the
+revolution is confiscated.
+
+The central agent in Havana of the _New York Trigger_ is beside himself
+when he finds that no more telegrams and news-letters are forthcoming,
+and reminds me, per wire, of my duties. It is in vain to assure him of
+the true state of affairs, and of my inability to supply him with the
+dearly coveted 'intelligence.' He will not believe that my resources
+for information are as limited as I represent them to be. One day I
+receive a mighty telegram from him, acquainting me with the fact that a
+contemporary of the _Trigger_ has actually published some 'startling'
+news from the seat of war!
+
+This fearful announcement is shortly followed by another dispatch to the
+following effect:--
+
+'If you cannot obtain the news required by remaining in Santiago, leave
+immediately for Principe (our alias for Porto Rico). If no steamer is
+ready, charter a sailing vessel. Collect all the information you can in
+detail, and return without loss of time. N.B. Spare no expense. The
+"Gatillo" (Spanish for "Trigger") thirsts for particulars.'
+
+As no steamer is announced to sail before another week, I take the other
+alternative, and charter a small sailing vessel.
+
+I land in due time at Porto Rico. I seek our agent, Don Felipe, and
+after some trouble, I find him--in jail! He is a native of the village
+near the scene of the outbreak, and for some mysterious reason has been
+arrested 'on suspicion.'
+
+Assisted by the English and American consuls, to whom I have letters of
+introduction, and using the _Trigger's_ dollars for the pockets of the
+officials, I ultimately succeed in procuring the agent's release. Don
+Felipe then produces press copies of certain communications which he had
+dispatched by the last mail steamers, but which had been intercepted at
+the Cuban post-office, and, after inviting me to lunch at one of the
+finest cafes I have ever had the pleasure of entering, he accompanies me
+over the town, where we collect the latest particulars respecting the
+insurrection.
+
+San Juan de Puerto Rico is a fine city. The houses are three and four
+stories high, and are constructed after the American fashion. The
+streets are wide and symmetrically arranged. The roads are all paved and
+hilly. Every street leads to a fort, a gun and a sentry; and, in some
+cases, to high cliffs with an extensive view of the open sea. In short,
+San Juan is a strongly-fortified place. Everything is very clean, very
+new, and very modern looking. The cathedral is a noble edifice, and the
+theatre is in every way equal to the best buildings of the kind in
+Europe.
+
+Crossing an open square, in which appear a number of bronze statues, Don
+Felipe conducts me back to the cafe, where we partake of refreshment,
+and arrange the various items of news which we have collected during our
+afternoon's ramble over the town.
+
+Don Felipe advises me to dispatch the frail bark which had brought me
+from Cuba, and return by the mail steamer which has just arrived from
+St. Thomas, and is announced to sail for Cuba early next morning. As
+this is by far the speediest way of getting home, I follow my friend's
+advice, and accept his invitation to repose for the night at his humble
+dwelling.
+
+The rest of the day and evening is passed very agreeably.
+
+The British consul--a fine military-looking old fellow--invites me to
+dine with him and his charming family. It is pleasant to speak and hear
+spoken one's native tongue again, after being comparatively deaf and
+dumb in that language for nearly five years. It is still more
+delightful to feel at home with one's countrymen and countrywomen in a
+strange land, and thus, when I take leave of my hospitable English host
+and his family, I sincerely regret, with them, the brevity of my visit.
+
+I rise at a very early hour next morning, and, accompanied by Don
+Felipe, I take my passage on board the 'Pajaro del Oceano,' that being
+the name of the steamer which is to convey me to Cuba.
+
+The naval agent of the English mail company, who is a young Cuban named
+Fernandez, salutes me as I embark, for we had been slightly acquainted
+with one another in Santiago. Before taking leave of Don Felipe, I
+introduce him to the mail agent, for by the latter's means I hope for
+the future to ensure the safe delivery of my dispatches from Porto Rico
+and other islands. Don Fernandez touches at the port of Santiago at
+least once a month, and if he can be pressed into the _Trigger's_
+service, he will be invaluable to that newspaper.
+
+The mail agent has a compartment on board all to himself, and invites me
+to occupy one of the comfortable berths which it contains. He is in
+other ways so civil and obliging, that his company is altogether most
+congenial during the voyage, and before our arrival in Cuba, we have
+become the closest of friends.
+
+I am alarmed to find that our steamer will touch at other ports before
+reaching its destination; but Fernandez assures me that the voyage will
+occupy much less time than it would if it were made in a sailing vessel,
+especially in the present somewhat stormy weather. In short, if all goes
+well, we shall sight the Morro Castle in less than five days.
+
+In sorting his correspondence, the mail agent discovers some important
+missives addressed to me. These, which he kindly hands to me, I find
+come from the _Trigger's_ agents in St. Thomas, Jamaica, and other
+islands; and contain some interesting intelligence respecting the
+projected purchase by the United States of the Bay of Samana, together
+with the particulars of an earthquake near Callao, a scheme for a
+floating dock at Kingston, Jamaica, and other topics equally interesting
+to Americans. These matters, together with my Porto Rico news, I proceed
+to arrange in concise form, for immediate dispatch by telegraph, on my
+arrival at Santiago.
+
+Friend Fernandez very much excites my curiosity by exhibiting the mail
+bags from Southampton. One of these bags is labelled 'Havana,' the other
+'Santiago de Cuba,' and as they contain the correspondence from Europe,
+doubtless letters and newspapers addressed to me and Nicasio Rodriguez y
+Boldu are among the number. But the mouths of both sacks--which make
+_my_ mouth 'water'--are securely tied and sealed, and the mail agent
+dares not venture to open them, until they have been deposited at the
+Cuban post-office.
+
+On the evening of the following day we land in a boat at Aguadilla--a
+small watering-place on the coast of Porto Rico. The village is
+represented by a row of tumble-down houses and a scattering of
+picturesque negro huts. While my companion confers with the postal agent
+of Aguadilla, I occupy the time by a saunter through the quiet,
+primitive streets, picking up here and there from a communicative native
+scraps of news concerning the insurrection, which I learn is now very
+much on the wane.
+
+The business of the mail agent being over, we return to our steamer,
+where, after partaking of a hearty meal--in spite of wind and
+weather--we turn into our snug berths and chat and smoke our cigarettes
+till sleep overtakes us.
+
+We awake early next morning to find that we have already anchored off
+Mayagueez.
+
+Mayagueez is an important sea-side town on the Porto Rico coast, and is
+surrounded by the loveliest tropical scenery that I have yet beheld in
+the West Indies. One long, broad and perfectly level street runs in a
+direct line from the quay to the confines of the town. Branching off
+from this formidable thoroughfare are a few narrow streets which
+terminate in small rivers and streams, across which innumerable little
+bridges are thrown.
+
+As we are destined to halt at this delightful spot for several hours, we
+make the most of our time. After calling upon our vice-consul--who is
+also the English postal agent, and has an office in one of the numerous
+warehouses which face the quay--and after having partaken of some
+refreshment at a cafe, my companion and I hail a quaint dilapidated
+vehicle of the fly species and drive through _the_ street of the town.
+This street beginning with shops, continues with tall private dwellings,
+which, in turn, are succeeded by pretty villas, till the open country
+suddenly appears.
+
+I am amazed to find that for our drive through the town, half a mile
+beyond it and back again, we are charged the astonishingly modest fare
+of two-pence half-penny!
+
+We have embarked again and are off to Santo Domingo, where we land on
+the following day.
+
+Santo Domingo--the capital of the island of that name--is an antiquated
+city, with brown, sombre-looking stone houses intermingled with quaint
+towers and gateways, tropical trees, shrubbery and ruins. We reach the
+city in a small boat, passing up a long river called the Ozana, and
+after Don Fernandez has deposited his mail bags at the post-office, we
+wander over the town. My companion knows every part of it well, having,
+as he tells me, visited it at least twice a month for the past three
+years. Acting, therefore, as a cicerone, he conducts me through the
+Calle del Comercio, which is the principal street in the city, but which
+has a very dismal and deserted aspect. The cathedral is an ancient
+building, and has resisted wind, weather, earthquake, and revolution for
+upwards of three hundred years. The interior is full of interest for the
+artist and the antiquarian, containing, among other objects, the first
+mausoleum of Christopher Columbus. Don Fernandez tells me that the
+remains of the great discoverer were originally brought from Spain and
+deposited here, and that they were afterwards transferred to the
+cathedral of Havana, where they at present repose.
+
+On our way from the cathedral we meet a number of coloured officials
+belonging to the republic; and for the first time in my experience, I
+behold a negro policeman! We pause before an old picturesque archway
+where a sentry is on guard. The sentry is a black youth of not more than
+eighteen Dominican summers. His uniform consists of a ragged shirt,
+brown holland trousers, and a broad Panama hat. He has apparently an
+easy life of it, for his musket reposes in a corner of the gateway,
+while he himself is seated, half dozing, on a big stone!
+
+After inspecting the quaint old market-place, together with an ancient
+Franciscan monastery called La Forsza, the 'Well of Columbus,' and other
+interesting 'sights,' Don Fernandez warns me that the hour for our
+departure is near. I accordingly accompany him to the office of the
+English consul, where he has to receive the mail bags of Santo Domingo.
+We have to wait some time at the consul's office, for important
+dispatches from President Baez. I devote the time which elapses before
+these dispatches appear, to a little business on behalf of the _New York
+Trigger_. There is, however, scarcely any news of importance to be
+obtained. Since the war of Santo Domingo, the inhabitants have enjoyed
+an uninterrupted peace, and with the exception of a few petty squabbles
+with their neighbours, the Haytiens, and the projected purchase of the
+Bay of Samana, nothing eventful has transpired in the island.
+
+The President's dispatches having arrived, we take leave of the consul
+and the company assembled, and, under the escort of a torn and tattered
+negro porter bearing the mail bags, reach the quay. Passing through the
+custom-house, which is represented by a roof and eight posts, we embark
+in our little canoe, and gliding over the waters of the river Ozana,
+which skirts the town, reach our steamer.
+
+In rather more than forty-eight hours the Morro Castle is sighted, and
+in due course I land once again at the Pearl of the Antilles.
+
+The various items of information collected during my cruise being
+already carefully prepared for telegraphic purposes, I repair without
+loss of time to the telegraph office.
+
+Behold me safely seated in the scribbling department of that
+establishment, rejoicing in the fact that I am the sole occupant of the
+apartment. From the perfect quiet which reigns in the operating room, I
+conclude that the clerks are not very busy, and that they are prepared
+to 'wire' any number of words which I may present to them. I have no
+dread of competition, at least for the present; for even if my rival
+correspondents should have received news by the same steamer which
+brought me, I know from experience, that some hours must necessarily
+elapse before it can be in a condition for telegraphing.
+
+With a triumphant smile, I seize a quire of printed telegraph forms, and
+proceed to copy in 'a clear, bold hand' from my notes.
+
+Now to astonish the _Trigger_, and all whom my abundant information may
+concern!
+
+I have scarcely finished my first instalment of news, when a telegraph
+messenger taps me on the shoulder and staggers me with the information,
+that in consequence of a serious interruption in the line of
+communication with Havana, the operations of the telegraph are for the
+present suspended!
+
+Then I learn for the first time that a great revolution has broken out
+in Spain, and that, despite the precautions of the governor of our town,
+the revolutionary mania has seized the natives of Cuba, many of whom
+have already risen in arms not many leagues from Santiago! Among other
+achievements, the rebellious party have cut the telegraph wires and
+intercepted the land mails.
+
+There are no railways in direct communication with Havana, and the
+postal service is effected by means of mounted carriers. Thus the
+speediest ways for conveying news to Havana are cut off, and there is
+no other resource but the tardy steamer. I accordingly return without
+delay to the 'Pajaro del Oceano,' which is to sail for Havana in three
+hours' time, and finding my good friend Don Fernandez on board, I
+secretly hand him my big budget of news, begging him by all the saints
+in the calendar to deliver the same into the hands of the Havana agent.
+
+I am afraid to think what effect this further delay will have upon the
+_New York Trigger_! Still it may be some consolation for the
+enterprising proprietor of that newspaper if he find that his
+contemporaries are suffering from the same complaint.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+A STATE OF SIEGE IN CUBA.
+
+     A Cuban Newspaper Office--Local Intelligence--The Cuban
+     Revolution--Spanish Volunteers--A Recruit--With Bimba--- 'Los
+     Insurrectos'--At a Fire--Cuban Firemen.
+
+
+'We are in a state of siege!' says my friend, Don Javier, editor of a
+Cuban periodical called _El Sufragio Universal_.
+
+'Y bien, amigo mio; how does the situation affect you?'
+
+'Malisisimamente!' returns Don Javier, offering me a seat at his
+editorial table. 'The maldito censor,' he whispers, 'has suppressed four
+columns of to-day's paper; and there remains little in the way of
+information, besides the feuilleton, some advertisements, and a long
+sonnet addressed to 'Lola' on the occasion of her saint's day, by an
+amorous Pollo-poet.
+
+The weather is sultry and oppressive. The huge doors and windows of _El
+Sufragio Universal_ office are thrown wide open. Everybody is dressed in
+a coat of white drill, a pair of white trousers, is without waistcoat,
+cravat, or shirt-collar, wears a broad-brimmed Panama, and smokes a long
+damp cigar.
+
+The sub-editor--a lean, coffee-coloured person, with inky sleeves--is
+seated at a separate table making up columns for to-morrow's 'tirada,'
+or impression. Before him is a pile of important news from Puerto Rico
+and San Domingo, besides a voluminous budget from that indefatigable
+correspondent, Mr. Archibald Cannie, of Jamaica. More than half of this
+interesting news has been already marked out by the censor's red pencil,
+and the bewildered sub looks high and low for material wherewith to
+replenish the censorial gaps. Small, half-naked negroes, begrimed with
+ink--veritable printer's devils--appear and crave for 'copy,' but in
+vain.
+
+'Give out the foreign blocks,' says the editor, in the tone of a
+commander.
+
+The foreign blocks are stereotyped columns, supplied by American quacks
+and other advertisers to every newspaper proprietor throughout the West
+Indies. On account of their extreme length and picturesque
+embellishments, these advertisements are used only in cases of
+emergency.
+
+While the foreign blocks are being dispensed, the 'localista,' or
+general reporter, enters in breathless haste. He has brought several
+fragments of local information. Four runaway negroes have been captured
+by the police. Two English sailors have died of yellow fever in the Casa
+de Salud. A coolie has stabbed another coolie at the copper mines, and
+has escaped justice by leaping into an adjacent pit. A gigantic cayman,
+or shark, has been caught in the harbour. The localista has also some
+items of news about the Cuban insurrection. The rebels have increased in
+numbers. They have occupied all the districts which surround our town,
+destroyed the aqueduct, cut the telegraph wire, and intercepted the land
+mails to Havana. There is now no communication with the capital, save
+by sea. Troops have again been dispatched to the interior, but their
+efforts have proved ineffectual. Upon their appearance, the rebels
+vanish into the woods and thickets, and there exhaust the patience and
+the energy of the military.
+
+The sub-editor notes everything down, taking care to eschew that which
+is likely to prove offensive to the sensitive ears of the authorities.
+The material is then given out for printing purposes; for his worship
+the censor will read nothing until it has been previously set up in
+type. As many hours will elapse before the proof sheets are returned
+with censorial corrections, Don Javier proposes a saunter through the
+town.
+
+On the way, Don Javier entertains me with an account of the revolution.
+
+'The first grito de independencia,' says he, 'took place on October the
+tenth (1868), at La Demajagua--an ingenio, or sugar estate, belonging to
+Don Carlos Manuel Cespedes, a wealthy Cuban planter and a distinguished
+advocate. One hundred and forty-seven men, armed with forty-five
+fowling-pieces, four rifles and a few pistols and machetes, constituted
+the rebellious band which, under Senor Cespedes' leadership, had
+ventured to raise the standard of independence. Two days after, their
+numbers were increased to 4,000.
+
+'When our governor was first told that a party of Cubans had risen in
+open revolt, not many leagues from our town, he publicly proclaimed that
+the rebellious band consisted of a small crowd of "descamisados," or
+ragged vagrants, and runaway negroes, whom a dozen policemen could
+easily disperse. In spite of this pretended indifference, he
+nevertheless thought fit to communicate with the Captain-General of
+Havana. That mighty functionary thought more seriously of the outbreak;
+he was perfectly aware of the heavy taxes which had been imposed upon
+the inhabitants of our island; of the state of ruin into which many of
+our leading planters had been thrown by these taxes; and conscious also
+of the oppression and despotism which had been exercised over our colony
+during the reign of the lately dethroned Queen of Spain, he doubtless
+calculated that the revolutionary mania inaugurated in the Mother
+Country would naturally be imitated in the Loyal and Ever-faithful Isle.
+But whatever may have been his speculations, certain it is that as soon
+as he heard of the rebellious movement, he telegraphed to our governor,
+commanding him to dispatch to the scene of the outbreak as many troops
+as could be safely spared from the garrison at Santiago. Meanwhile, he
+himself dispatched a battalion of tried warriors from the capital.
+
+'Before our apathetic governor had had time to obey the orders of his
+chief, an encounter had already taken place at Yara, in the district of
+Manzanillo, between some of the rebels and a column of the Crown
+regiment who were quartered at the town of Bayamo.
+
+'Our governor was now alive to the gravity of the situation, and in due
+course began to take what he called "active measures." Following the
+example set by the governor of Manzanillo, he declared our town in a
+state of siege; and you will now have an opportunity of judging for
+yourself what a siege in Cuba is like.'
+
+The usual military precautions against assault on an unfortified place
+have been taken. The entrances to the streets have been barricaded with
+huge hogsheads containing sand and stones; small cannon stand in the
+plaza and principal thoroughfares. At every corner that we turn, we are
+accosted by a sentry, who challenges us three times over: 'Who goes
+there?' 'Spain.' 'What kind of people?' 'Inoffensive.' And so forth. The
+theatre, the bull-ring, the promenade, are all closed for the season.
+The masquerading and carnival amusements are at an end. Payments have
+been suspended, and provisions have become scarce and dear. The people
+whom we meet have grown low-spirited, and the sunny streets look gloomy
+and deserted. We glance in at the warehouses and manufactories, and find
+everybody within attired in military costume; for many of the
+inhabitants have enrolled themselves as volunteers for the pleasure of
+wearing a uniform at their own expense, and of sporting a rifle provided
+by the government. The names of those who object to play at soldiers
+have been noted down, and their proceedings are narrowly watched.
+
+The Plaza de Armas is crowded with volunteers; their uniform consists of
+a blue and white striped blouse, white drill trousers, and a Panama hat,
+to the band of which is attached a vermilion-coloured cockade
+embellished with silver lace. The majority of these amateur warriors are
+Catalan shopkeepers, and clerks from Spanish warehouses.
+
+Don Javier tells me that these gentlemen, together with the Havana
+volunteers, represent a very formidable army; and that in the event of
+affairs taking a more serious turn, the volunteers would take an active
+part in the hostilities.
+
+'The Catalan shopkeepers,' says Don Javier, 'are even more interested
+than Spain in preserving our colony under its present administration.'
+
+'Under a more just and humane government, together with the abolition of
+slavery, these traders would be considerable losers; for most of them
+are large slave-owners, and enjoy certain mercantile privileges, which
+would be denied them under a new policy.'
+
+I remind Don Javier that these said Catalans are after all Spaniards
+born, and that, whatever their private object may be, for patriotic
+reasons it seems only natural that they should desire to maintain order
+in the Spanish colony.
+
+'No muy! not a bit of it,' says my friend; 'they are not prompted by any
+feeling of patriotism. They have been too long estranged from their home
+at Barcelona, and love Cuba and her rich resources too much, to make
+that a consideration. I have heard them say that they would take up arms
+against their own government, rather than that Cuba should enjoy the
+privileges to which I have alluded.'
+
+While we are conversing, a couple of volunteers approach and salute us.
+
+One of them is my friend Bimba, who tells me that he has enlisted,
+partly for the 'fun' of wearing a uniform, and partly to ensure himself
+against arrest.
+
+'Well, Don Javier,' says he,'are you not one of us yet? And you too, Don
+Gualterio, surely you will help to protect our town?'
+
+I plead, as an excuse, my nationality.
+
+'Que caramba!' exclaims Bimba; 'why, your countryman, the clerk in B----
+'s warehouse, is a volunteer; and so are the S---- 's from the German
+house in the Calle de la Marina.'
+
+Don Javier observes that our numerous duties prevent us from joining the
+corps.
+
+'Car! Que duties y duties?' says Bimba; 'business is slack with all of
+us now. You, Don Javier, will have an easy time of it, notwithstanding
+your trade of news-disseminator; for you know, only "official" accounts
+of the war are fit for publication in your paper! As for you, amigo
+Gualterio, there will be no more triumphal arches wanted for the
+present; and no more "monos" (portraits) of defunct people, till the
+revolution is over, and then I have no doubt there will be more than
+enough to occupy you and your partner Nicasio! The theatre, too, is
+closed until further notice, so there will be no more theatricals.'
+
+Leaving Don Javier to chat with the other volunteer, I withdraw with
+Bimba to a quiet corner of the square and converse with him in private.
+
+Bimba is one of the favoured few who is aware of my connection with an
+American newspaper, because, for obvious reasons, I have always been
+careful to preserve my incognito. Now, more than ever, it behoves me to
+adopt this precaution.
+
+As a blind to the authorities and in order to facilitate my journalistic
+operations, Bimba suggests that I should join the volunteers. He tells
+me that our governor has signified his intention to make another sally
+with the troops, and that he has invited some of the volunteers to
+accompany the expedition. Enrolled as a volunteer, my friend says that
+it will not be difficult to obtain permission to follow with others in
+the rear of the Spanish regulars, and that by so doing I shall be able
+to 'report progress.'
+
+Our mutual friend Tunicu has not yet enlisted, I find.
+
+'That gentleman is otherwise engaged,' says Bimba; 'his leisure moments
+are occupied at the house of his uncle Don Benigno, in the enjoyment of
+the society of his little mulatto-lady, who is, as you know, Don
+Benigno's adopted daughter.'
+
+'What! the pretty Ermina?' I exclaim; 'why, she is a mere child!'
+
+'She was a child five years ago, when you and your partner were the
+Don's guests,' says Bimba. 'Now Ermina is a grown woman of fifteen
+tropical summers.'
+
+'There is some mystery connected with that young lady,' I observe; 'and
+I have never yet been able to fathom it. Can you enlighten me?'
+
+'Not much,' returns Bimba; 'I strongly suspect--but let us not talk
+scandal in these warlike times. I only know that Ermina is a remarkably
+white mulatto of the octoroon class; that she has been educated like a
+lady; and that she is the bosom companion of Don Benigno's daughters.'
+
+My curiosity being aroused, I resolve to probe Tunicu on the subject of
+his affaire de coeur, at our next meeting.
+
+Meanwhile I adopt friend Bimba's suggestion and enroll myself in his
+corps, and, with others, obtain permission to accompany the troops on
+their expedition.
+
+Some days, however, elapse before our feeble-minded governor can make up
+his mind to the sally. A couple of Spanish frigates lie at anchor in the
+harbour, in readiness to bombard the town if the rebels should effect an
+entrance and stir up the inhabitants, their countrymen, to revolt. The
+garrison has been considerably augmented by the arrival of fresh troops
+from Puerto Rico and Spain, who are quartered indiscriminately in the
+jail, the hospitals, and churches, to expire there by the score of
+yellow fever, vomito negro, and dysentery. Meanwhile the besiegers make
+no attempt at assault, but occasionally challenge the troops to sally
+from their stronghold by firing their sporting rifles within earshot of
+the town.
+
+Several foreign vessels of war are stationed in the bay ready, if
+necessary, to assist the foreign residents of the town. Among these
+vessels are the American war steamer 'Penobscot' and H.B.M.'s steam-ship
+the 'Eclipse;' the latter having been summoned from Port Royal, Jamaica,
+by the English vice-consul of Santiago.
+
+One day a great panic is raised, with cries of' Los insurrectos! Los
+insurrectos!' followed by a charge of mounted military through the
+streets. It is reported that the insurgents are coming; so everybody
+hastens home, and much slamming of doors and barring of windows is
+heard. But the alarm proves a false one; and, with the exception of a
+few arrests made by the police, just to keep up appearances, no further
+damage results.
+
+One memorable night, shortly after the inhabitants have retired, the
+terrible cry of 'fire!' is heard throughout the town, and a report
+spreads that the insurgents have at last effected an entrance, and set
+fire to several houses.
+
+Sure enough, from the roof of our studio, Nicasio and I witness what, at
+our distance, seems to be the burning of Santiago de Cuba! The sky is
+black with smoke, and from the centre of the town broad flames mount
+high into the air. Verily, part of Santiago is in flames, but the cause
+of the conflagration is--as we afterwards find--in no way connected with
+the insurrection.
+
+A 'panaderia' (baker's shop) and a linen-draper's warehouse, called 'El
+Globo,' owned by Catalans, have both caught fire by accident. Under
+ordinary circumstances, the disaster would not have created any other
+alarm than that which usually accompanies such a rare event as a fire in
+Cuba. But having connected its origin with the pending revolution, the
+town is thrown into a state of extreme panic, and until the truth is
+made manifest, the greatest confusion prevails. Mounted guards and
+policemen--armed to the teeth--charge through the streets in all
+directions, and the volunteers turn out en masse and congregate in large
+numbers before the scene of the conflagration in the Plaza de Dolores.
+
+Even the foreign consuls share for the moment in the popular
+apprehension. Their national flags are seen to flutter over their
+respective consulates, and a few well-armed marines from the 'Penobscot'
+and 'Eclipse' war-steamers are despatched by the captains of these
+vessels for the protection of the American and English residents.
+Passing the British consulate on our way to the Plaza de Dolores, we
+observed a couple of British tars--their cutlasses shouldered and with
+revolvers in their belts--on guard at the open doors.
+
+Meanwhile the black 'bomberos,' or firemen of the town, are at their
+work. But they are ill-provided with the machinery for extinguishing a
+great fire. Only one engine is available, and their water is supplied in
+buckets and by means of a long hose which communicates with the
+court-yard of an opposite house.
+
+The gallant captain of the British war-steamer offers to provide the
+firemen with an engine and men from his vessel; but the bomberos are
+able to dispense with this assistance, as their plan of operations
+consists chiefly in cutting off all communication with the fire, by
+destroying the surrounding houses.
+
+If any proof were wanting to show that the despised, but free and
+well-paid negro, is not devoid of ability and energy, these black and
+brown bomberos would surely provide ample testimony. A better conducted,
+better disciplined body of men than the coloured firemen of Cuba it has
+never been my fortune to meet anywhere. Steady, earnest of purpose, and
+perfectly free from excitement, they work like veritable negroes, and
+they prove as serviceable as the whitest of their bombero brethren.
+
+In less than four hours the safety of the surrounding habitations is
+ensured, and the fire, being now confined to the doomed buildings, is
+left to burn itself out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+CUBAN WARFARE.
+
+     Spanish Soldiers--A Sally--Prisoners of War--'Los Voluntarios'--A
+     triumphant Return--Danger!--Cuban Emigrants.
+
+
+Our vacillating governor having at last consented to another chase after
+the rebels, under the leadership of a certain Spanish colonel, a body of
+volunteers--myself among the number--join the troops on the appointed
+day and march with them from town.
+
+The Spanish troops muster some five hundred strong. Their hand weapons
+are of the old-fashioned calibre, and they carry small field guns on the
+backs of mules. Every man is smoking either a cigarette or a cigar as he
+tramps along. His uniform is of dark blue cotton, or other light
+material suitable to the tropical heat. He carries little else besides
+his gun, his tobacco, and a tin-pot for making coffee; for the country
+through which he is passing abounds naturally in nearly every kind of
+provender.
+
+The besiegers have altogether disappeared from the neighbouring country,
+and for the first few miles our march is easy and uninterrupted. But
+soon the passes grow narrower, until our progress is effected in single
+file. Occasionally we halt to refresh ourselves, for the weather is
+intensely hot, and the sun blazes upon our backs. To ensure ourselves
+against brain fever, we gather a few cool plantain leaves and place them
+in layers in the crowns of our Panamas. Our way is incessantly
+intercepted by fallen trees and brushwood; but we can see nothing of the
+enemy, and hear little besides the singing of birds and the ripple of
+hidden water. Many of our party would gladly abandon the quest after
+human game, and make use of their weapons in a hunt after wild pig, or
+small deer, which animals abound in this part of the country.
+
+'Alto!' We have waded at last through the intricate forest, and halt in
+an open plain. It is evening, and as we are weary with our wanderings,
+we encamp here all night. A moon is shining bright enough for us to read
+the smallest print; but we are disinclined to be studious, and smoke our
+cigarettes and sip our hot coffee. Men are dispatched to a neighbouring
+plantation in quest of bananas, pumpkins, Indian corn, sugar-cane,
+pine-apples, pomegranates, cocoa-nuts, and mangoes, and with this
+princely fare we take our suppers. Then sleep overtakes us.
+
+Early next morning we are called to arms by the sound of firing, which
+seems to reach us from a hill in the distance. The noise is as if a
+thousand sportsmen were out for a battue. Our commander assures us that
+the enemy is near at hand, and soon crowds of mounted men appear on the
+hill before us. With the aid of our field-glasses, we watch their
+movements, and can distinguish their dresses of white canvas, their
+sporting guns, and primitive spears. A body of them surrounds a thatched
+hut, over the roof of which droops a white banner with a strange device,
+consisting of a silver star on a square of republican red. The enemy
+appears to be very numerous, and as he marches along the ridge of the
+hill, his line seems interminable. All our opponents are mounted on
+horses, or mules with strange saddles and equipments.
+
+'Adelante!' We advance to meet the foe. Some hours elapse before we can
+reach the thatched hut, as our course is exceedingly circuitous. We find
+the hut occupied by a decrepit, half-naked negro, but our birds have
+flown. The negro, who tells us he is a hermit, and that his name is San
+Benito, can give us no information as to the whereabouts of the enemy,
+so we make him a prisoner of war. The opposing forces have left nothing
+but their patriotic banner behind them. This trophy our commander
+possesses himself of, and bears off in triumph. Then we scour the
+country in companies of fifty; but we meet with nothing more formidable,
+than a barricade of felled trees and piled stones. Once we capture a
+strange weapon, made out of the trunk of a very hard tree, scooped and
+trimmed into the form of a cannon, and bound with strong iron hoops.
+Upon another occasion we discharge our rifles into a thicket whence
+sounds of firing proceed, and we make two more prisoners of war, in the
+shape of a couple of runaway negroes.
+
+Though we have had no encounter with the enemy, our 'losses' are not
+inconsiderable; many of the soldiers having been attacked by those
+terrible and invincible foes--fever and dysentery. In this manner at
+least two-thirds of our force is put _hors de combat_. Our colonel is in
+despair. As for the volunteers, their disappointment at the unsuccessful
+issue is very great.
+
+At length our colonel, disgusted with the result of the campaign, orders
+a retreat. The troops willingly obey, and are preparing for their march
+back, when twenty of the volunteers come to the front and propose making
+one effort to storm the enemy's impregnable fortress. Finding our
+colonel opposed to such a wild enterprise, these gentlemen, reckless of
+the consequences, plunge headlong into an adjacent thicket, and thence
+presently the sound of fire-arms proceeds. For upwards of an hour we
+await the return of these mad adventurers, and during the interval the
+firing is incessant. Finally the 'besiegers' are seen to emerge from a
+distant part of the thicket. When we join them, we find that more than
+half their number are wounded, and the rest bear between them no less
+than three prisoners of war! For the first time I have the pleasure of
+standing before veritable rebels! Two of the prisoners are whites and
+are seriously maimed; the third is a mulatto youth of not more than
+sixteen years. They are all attired in brown holland blouses, white
+trousers, buff-coloured shoes and straw hats. The white men have been
+disarmed, but the mulatto lad has still a revolver and machete-sword in
+his belt.
+
+The volunteers are elated beyond measure by their formidable(?)
+captures, and endeavour to persuade their chief to make another attempt
+with the troops. But the colonel will not hear of it, and commands the
+men instantly to retreat. The volunteers obey this time, in spite of
+their protestations, but before doing so, a horrible scene is enacted.
+
+The mulatto lad, who is only slightly wounded, is bound hand and foot
+with strong cords, and consigned to the care of the soldiers, but the
+other two unfortunates, who lie groaning in agony on the ground, are
+brutally seized by some of the volunteers, who, after maltreating them
+in a shocking manner, stab them to death with the points of their
+bayonets!
+
+Sickening at the fearful spectacle, I gladly follow the colonel and his
+men, who are unanimous in their indignation at the outrage.
+
+A two days' march brings us to the confines of the town again; but
+before we proceed to enter, the governor, accompanied by a staff of
+officers and a band of music, comes out to meet us. A cart, driven by
+oxen, is procured, and upon it are placed the captured cannon and rebel
+banner, the former of which is as much as possible concealed by Spanish
+flags and flowers. A procession is then formed, and in this way we pass
+through the streets, followed by the military band, which plays a hymn
+of victory in commemoration of our triumphant return. The houses become
+suddenly decorated with banners, blankets, and pieces of drugget
+suspended from the windows, and the inhabitants welcome us with loud
+cheers and 'vivas.'
+
+Immediately upon quitting the ranks, I repair to the office of _El
+Sufragio Universal_, for the purpose of reporting to Don Javier the
+result of our expedition. Strange to relate, that gentleman has already
+perused a glowing account of our glorious campaign in _El Redactor_, the
+government organ in Cuba. The editor hands me a copy of that periodical,
+and there, sure enough, is a thrilling description of what we might have
+achieved, if we had had the good fortune to encounter the enemy in the
+open field!
+
+But the editor has some strange news for my private ear. He tells me
+that a fillibustering expedition from the United States has landed with
+arms, ammunition, and a thousand American fillibusters, in the Bay of
+Nipe, not many leagues from our town. With this reinforcement it is
+confidently expected that the rebels will make an attempt to attack the
+Spanish troops in their stronghold. Don Javier, who is a Cuban to the
+bone, is sanguine of his countrymen's success. With a few more such
+expeditions, he is sure that the colony will soon be rid of its Spanish
+rulers. Then the editor gives me some extraordinary information about
+myself. It appears that during my absence, _El Redactor_ has made the
+wonderful discovery that I am one of the agents of an American
+newspaper; has referred in its leading articles to the 'scandalous and
+untruthful reports' published by its American contemporary, and has
+insinuated that henceforth the climate of Cuba will be found by many
+degrees too warm for me.
+
+But this is not the worst news which the Cuban editor has to impart. The
+cholera, he says, has been raging in many parts of the town, and
+innumerable families have in consequence of this disaster and the
+continued arrests, fled from Santiago. The majority of them had embarked
+in the first steamer announced to leave the island, which happened to be
+the 'Caravelle,' bound for Jamaica; others had taken refuge at their
+estates in the country, while numbers of young Cubans, who had been
+threatened with arrest, had made their escape and joined the insurgent
+army.
+
+On my way from Don Javier's office, I meet Bimba, and from him I learn
+further particulars respecting this wholesale flight of Cubans. He tells
+me that, among the departures are Don Benigno and his family, who fled
+to his country estate. That Don Severiano and _his_ family have set sail
+for Europe, taking with them my creole lady-love, who had been for this
+purpose released from the convent. My friend says that their
+destination is Paris. So au revoir, Cachita mia; we may meet again!
+Quien sabe?
+
+Bimba then discloses the wonderful intelligence, that among the
+passengers by the French steamer bound for Jamaica was my companion
+Nicasio Rodriguez y Boldu; and he hands me a letter which my partner had
+entrusted to his care. The contents of this document only confirms what
+I have already heard. The cholera, the recent arrests, the fact that
+Nicasio is the close friend of the formidable agent of the _New York
+Trigger_, have combined to induce him to abandon the island before my
+return. He urges me to follow his example without delay and embark in
+the first steamer which leaves the island. He himself will remain in
+Jamaica till he hears from me, and if I am unable to join him there, we
+shall--si Dios quiere--meet again in that part of Europe where for many
+years we have dwelt together and practised, under more favourable
+auspices, 'the divine art of Apelles.'
+
+The first steamer announced to leave Santiago is the 'Pelayo,' and as
+this vessel will sail for Havana in four hours' time, I prepare for my
+journey to the Cuban capital. Bimba and those of my friends who still
+remain in this disturbed part of the Ever-faithful Isle, accompany me on
+board. Foremost is the editor of _El Sufragio Universal_, who, after
+wishing me a 'bon voyage' and a hearty 'vaya usted con Dios,' secretly
+hands me a bundle of papers, containing, among other matters, the
+'leavings' of the censor for the past fortnight, which Don Javier hopes
+will be acceptable to the proprietors of the _New York Trigger_.
+
+I had almost forgotten Tunicu! 'What has become of him?' I ask.
+
+Bimba tells me that Tunicu has disappeared no one knows whither.
+
+'Eloped with his mulatto lady?' I suggest.
+
+'No muy!' says Bimba; 'la Ermina accompanied Don Benigno to his estate.
+You will probably hear of them again.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+HAVANA CIGARETTES.
+
+     Cigars--The Etiquette of Smoking--A Cigarette Manufactory--The
+     Courteous Proprietor--The Visitors' Book--Cigarette Rolling.
+
+
+That the characteristics of Cuba, and the ways of the people, are better
+observed in the Santiago end of the island than they are in Havana, is
+apparent to me after my arrival in the latter city. Here I am reminded
+in many respects of a fashionable European town--indeed, by reason of
+its modern innovations, the Cuban capital has been styled the 'Paris of
+the tropics.' Compared with Santiago, Havana offers few attractions to
+the traveller in quest of 'Cosas de Cuba,' besides its tobacco; and to
+this subject I accordingly devote my attention.
+
+I am in the Louvre. Not the French palace of that name, but a
+fashionable cafe in the heart of Havana. The interior of the Cafe del
+Louvre is tastefully decorated; the walls are concealed behind huge
+mirrors, the floor is of marble, and countless tables crowded with
+Habaneros and foreigners from all parts of Las Americas, are distributed
+about the saloon. At one end is a long 'mostrador' or counter, where
+fancy chocolate, confectionary, and tobacco in all its branches are
+sold. Here you have your pick of brands, from the gigantic and costly
+Ramas cigar to the 'tamano pequeno' cigarette. But do not suppose that
+because you are at the birthplace of your choice Havanas, you will get
+those articles at a cost comparatively next to nothing. I, who from
+infancy upwards have cherished this fiction, am lamentably disappointed
+when I discover what exorbitant prices are demanded for the best brands.
+The cedar boxes, with their precious contents, set like gems in the
+midst of tinfoil and fancy-cut paper, look inviting; but I seek in vain
+for a cigar at the ridiculously cheap rate I have prepared myself to
+pay. I try Brevas, and ask for a penn'orth of the best, but am horrified
+when I am told that a single specimen of that brand costs five-pence!
+The Intimidads alarm me; the Bravas unman me; and as for the Cabanas,
+the Partagas, the Henry Clays, and the Upmanns, I am filled with awe at
+the bare mention of their value per pound. A real Ramas, I am informed,
+is worth eighteen-pence English, while superior Upmanns are not to be
+had under ten sovereigns a hundred. In despair of finding anything
+within my means at the Louvre counter, I purchase a 'medio's' worth of
+cigarettes--a medio, or two-pence half-penny being the smallest coin
+current in Cuba--order a cup of cafe noir, and sally forth in quest of
+cheaper smokeables.
+
+Crossing the square where the Tacon theatre and circus stand, I wander
+through the narrow, ill-paved streets of the Cuban capital. At the
+corner of every hotel, under archways and arcades, I meet with tables
+laid out like fruit-stalls, bearing bundles of cigars and cigarettes.
+Here, at least, I expect to find something to smoke at a fabulously low
+rate. Yes; here are cigars at two, three, and five for a silver
+two-pence; but those I invest in do not satisfy me; they are damp, new,
+badly rolled, won't draw, and have all kinds of odd shapes. Some are
+curved like Turkish scimetars, others are square and flat, as if they
+had been mangled or sat upon, while a few are undecided in form like
+horse-radish. The vendor assures me that all his cigars are born of
+'tabaco legitimo,' of 'calidad superior,' grown on the low sandy soil of
+the famous Vuelta Abajo district; but I know what a very small area that
+tract of land comprises, and I will no more believe in the abundance of
+its resources than I will in those of Champagne and Oporto.
+
+In my peregrinations, I gaze fondly into the interior of wholesale cigar
+warehouses, but dare not enter and demand the price of half of one of
+those countless cedar-boxes, which I see piled up to the very ceiling in
+walls fifty boxes thick. At last I founder on the Plaza de Santa Isabel,
+a spacious square, laid out with pretty gardens and tropical trees. Here
+is the grand hotel where the Special Correspondent to the _New York
+Trigger_ wields his mighty pen. To him and to other acquaintances I
+apply for information on the subject of tobacco. My foreign friends
+assure me you cannot get a good cigar in Havana at any price, as all the
+best are exported to Europe and the United States; unless you prefer
+German tobacco, of which great quantities are imported into Havana. The
+natives have quite a different account to give. They declare that the
+best cigars never leave the country but are easily obtained if you know
+where to seek them; and they refer me to the warehouses. Every one whom
+I consult graciously offers me a few specimens from his own particular
+cigar-case; and as in Cuba it is considered an offence to refuse a man's
+tobacco, I am soon in possession of a goodly stock, which I calculate
+will last me for the next eight and forty hours at least.
+
+A singular etiquette is observed all over Cuba with respect to smoking,
+which a rough Britisher does not always appreciate. An utter stranger is
+at liberty to stop you in the middle of the street to beg the favour of
+your 'candela,' or light from your cigar. If you are polite, you will
+immediately hand him your weed, with the ashes carefully shaken off, and
+the lighted end conveniently pointed in his direction. Part of your fire
+having been successfully transferred to his cigar, the stranger is bound
+to return your property, presenting it, by a dexterous turn of the
+wrist, with the mouth end towards you; an operation which requires no
+little practice, as it is accompanied with a downward jerk to express
+deep obligation. If, after this, you are inclined to abandon your cigar
+for a fresh one, you may not do so in the stranger's presence, but wait
+till he has disappeared. There is a sort of smoking freemasonry, too,
+between Cubans all over the world. A Cuban recognises a compatriot
+anywhere, by the manner in which he screws up his cigarette, holds it,
+and offers or accepts a light.
+
+Advised by a friend who is a great smoker, I give up my cigar
+investigations, and devote my attention to the humbler cigarette. With
+this object in view, I ramble down the narrow 'calles' or streets of St.
+Ignacio, del Obispo, and de Cuba. At every twelfth house which I pass is
+a small shop where only the article I seek is sold. In the
+first-mentioned calle is the 'deposito' of the far-famed Cabanas
+cigarette; in the second, the Gallito and Honradez stores. I visit the
+latter, which holds the highest reputation, and take an inventory of
+the stock. I am shown an endless variety of cigarettes at comparatively
+insignificant prices; a packet of twenty-six of those mostly in vogue
+costing only a silver medio, or two-pence half-penny English. There are
+innumerable sizes, from the smallest named Acacias, to the biggest, or
+tamano mayor, called Grandifloras. The floor of the shop is sanded with
+burnt cigarette ends, looking like exhausted cartridges, and the
+pavement without is peppered with their fragments. Every man or
+responsible child whom I pass has a little tube of smoking paper between
+his lips, and glancing in at an open restaurant, I observe a group of
+feeders, each of whom has a cigarette stuck behind his ear like a pen.
+
+At last I pause before the imposing factory of Louis Susini and Son,
+situated in a little plaza in the Calle de Cuba. It is here that the
+best cigarettes, popularly known as Honradez, are manufactured. The
+exterior of the building, with its marble columns reminding one of a
+Genoese palace, is worthy of attention. Above the grand entrance is the
+Honradez figure of Justice, bearing the famous motto: 'Los hechos me
+justificaran' (my deeds will justify me). But there is much to be seen
+within; and as a party of half a dozen ladies and gentlemen are about to
+enter, I join them and unite with them in begging permission of the
+proprietor to inspect the works. One of the firm soon appears, and after
+a polite greeting, kindly appoints an assistant to show us over the
+manufactory. We are told that everything in connection with cigarette
+making, except the actual growing of the tobacco, takes place within
+these extensive premises, and are forewarned that a long afternoon is
+necessary to see everything to our satisfaction.
+
+Before we begin, we are politely requested to affix our signatures in a
+ledger provided for visitors to the establishment; and having obeyed,
+copies of our autographs are made on slips of paper, and, by a
+mechanical contrivance in the wall, these are dispatched for some
+mysterious purpose to the regions above. At the suggestion of the
+cicerone, we follow our names; not by the same means, however, but by
+winding staircases and intricate passages. Before starting, we peep into
+the engine-room to glance at the steam power which works the machinery
+required in the different departments. The first ascent brings us to
+spacious store-rooms, where loose cigarettes, and those already packed
+in bundles, are kept. The walls are literally papered with cigarettes in
+wheels, which look like complicated fireworks. As we move from one wheel
+to another, we are invited to help ourselves to, and test, the different
+qualities, which some of us accordingly do in wine-tasting fashion;
+taking a couple of whiffs from each sample and flinging the rest in the
+dust. Further on, we come to a small apartment where the operation of
+sorting the labels for enveloping each packet of twenty cigarettes,
+takes place. The labels are fresh from the printers; a workman is
+standing before a round movable table, and as this revolves, he drops
+them into little boxes belonging to their respective patterns. Each
+label is stamped with the Honradez figure of Justice, accompanied either
+by a charade, a comic verse, a piece of dance music on a small scale, an
+illuminated coat of arms, or a monogram pattern for Berlin wool-work.
+Some are adorned with artistic designs of a superior order, such as
+coloured landscapes, groups of figures, or photographs of eminent
+persons.
+
+Another ascent, and we are in the stationery department. It seems odd to
+examine large sheets and thick reams of paper, which we have been
+accustomed to see only in the form of cigarette books or tubes of small
+dimensions. A wonderful variety of rice and other paper is before us.
+There are two or three qualities of white, and endless shades of brown
+and yellow. Some are lightly tinted as the complexion of a half-caste;
+others are quadroon-hued, or of a yellow-brown mulatto-colour. We are
+shown medicated and scented papers. The first of these, called pectoral
+paper, is recommended by the faculty to persons with weak chests; the
+last, when ignited, gives out an agreeable perfume.
+
+Yet another floor, and we are introduced into a long chamber with rows
+of long tables, at which a hundred Chinese workmen are engaged in
+counting the already twisted cigarettes into bundles of twenty-six, and
+enveloping them in their ornamental labels or covers. To accomplish this
+operation with necessary speed, much practice and dexterity in the
+handling is required. The coolies--a thousand of whom are employed on
+the establishment--are, however, great adepts at the art, and patient
+and plodding as beasts of burthen. But among the celestials there is one
+master-hand who distinguishes himself above all the others by his
+superior skill. Piles of loose cigarettes and gummed labels are before
+him. Into the former he digs his dexterous fingers, and he knows by the
+feel alone whether he has the prescribed twenty-six within his grasp. By
+a peculiar shake he humours the handful into its tubular form, and with
+another movement wraps it lightly in a paper cover, which he leaves open
+at one end and neatly tucks in at the other. He is so rapid in his work,
+that we can scarcely follow him with our eyes, and the whole
+performance, from beginning to end, looks to us like a conjuring trick.
+Our guide tells us how many thousands of packets per day are in this way
+completed by these useful coolies.
+
+'Arriba!' Another flight leads to the 'picadura' department, where
+tobacco leaves are prepared for cigarette making. The aspect on all
+sides reminds us of a room in a Manchester factory. We wade carefully
+through a maze of busy machinery. There are huge contrivances for
+pressing tobacco into solid cakes hard as brickbats; ingenious apparatus
+for chopping these cakes into various sized grains of 'picadura' or
+tobacco cuttings; horizontal and vertical tramways for forwarding the
+latter to their respective compartments. Near us is a winnowing chamber
+for separating particles of dust from the newly cut picadura. We enter
+by a spring door which closes after us with a bang, and everybody is
+immediately seized with a violent fit of sneezing. Particles of escaping
+tobacco dust float in the air and tickle our olfactories. We are
+actually standing within a huge snuff-box! After inhaling a wholesale
+pinch of this powder, which leaves us sneezing for the next quarter of
+an hour, we clamber to the heights of the establishment, and find
+ourselves in the printing and paper cutting departments. Here artists
+are engaged in preparing lithographic stones and wood blocks with
+various picturesque designs for cigarette labels. Gilders are
+illuminating labels, and cutters are shaping paper into their cigarette
+and label sizes. Further on are printing offices, where all the
+letterpress and lithography required in the establishment is
+accomplished. This is far from an insignificant item in the manufactory,
+for, besides the pictorial and letterpress covers, there are the
+Honradez advertisements to print; circulars, pamphlets, together with
+dedicatory dance music, and an occasional local newspaper. We linger
+lovingly about this interesting department, and, before we leave, the
+foreman of the printing office presents each lady member of our party
+with a piece of Cuban dance music, upon the cover of which is printed a
+few words of dedication, accompanied by the lady's own name in full.
+Whilst wondering at the magic by which this mark of attention has been
+quietly accomplished, we descend to the ground floor, and are again met
+by the courteous proprietor, who presents each gentleman visitor with a
+newly-made packet of cigarettes upon which, lo! and behold! are our
+names. It is pleasing to see one's name in print, and when it is
+witnessed on an ordinary Havana cigarette packet, the charm is greatly
+augmented.
+
+Before taking leave of our civil host, we are invited to comment upon
+what we have seen, in the visitors' book, and you may be sure that our
+observations are not unfavourable to the courteous proprietor and his
+interesting exhibition. Susini & Son have published a thick pamphlet
+containing a list of names and remarks of distinguished visitors to his
+establishment. It is a curious work in its way, for the epigrammatic
+effusions are varied, amusing, and composed in at least half a dozen
+languages. Some of the authors have chosen a poetic style of commentary,
+while others content themselves with matter-of-fact prose. A well-known
+signature is here and there recognisable among these cosmopolitan
+productions. A famous Italian opera star has rhymed in her native lingo;
+a popular French acrobat--possibly one of a company of strolling
+equestrians--has immortalised himself in Parisian heroics. M.
+Pianatowsky, the Polish fiddler, has scrawled something incomprehensible
+in Russian or Arabic--no matter which; while Mein Herr Van Trinkenfeld
+comes out strong in double Dutch. Need I add that the immortal Smith of
+London is in great force in the book, or that his Queen's English is
+worthy of his world-wide reputation?
+
+We are in the act of quitting the Honradez establishment, when it
+suddenly occurs to one of us that, after all that has been said and
+seen, we have failed to watch a cigarette in actual process of
+manufacture. What! have we presided at a performance of 'Hamlet' with
+the hero omitted; or are the component parts of cigarettes planted in
+the ground to sprout out ready-made like radishes?
+
+I return and ask for information on this subject.
+
+'Perdonen, ustedes,' says our hospitable friend, 'I had forgotten to
+tell you that our cigarrillos are rolled by the presidiarios.'
+
+What's a 'presidiario'? A 'presidiario' is a convict, and convicts in
+Cuba are sentenced to eternal cigarette-making in lieu of oakum-picking.
+The government contract with the manufacturers for this purpose,
+and--voila tout!
+
+Anxious to 'sit out' the whole cigarette performance to the very last
+act, I ask and obtain permission to visit the town jail. In one of the
+stone apartments of this well-regulated building are groups of convicts
+dressed in white blouses and loose trousers of coarse canvas. Amongst
+them are Africans, Congos, mulattoes of many shades, Chinese--Chow-chows
+as they are called--and sun-burnt whites, who are principally
+insubordinate Spanish soldiers and sailors. Each has a heavy chain
+dangling from his waist and attached to his ankle, wears a broad-brimmed
+straw hat of his own manufacture, and incessantly smokes. Before him is
+a wooden box filled with picadura and small squares of tissue paper.
+Great nicety is required to roll a cigarette after the approved fashion;
+the strength or mildness of the tobacco being in a great measure
+influenced by the way the grains are more or less compressed. A smoker
+of course finds a tightly-twisted cigarette more difficult to draw than
+a loosely twisted one.
+
+The presidiario does not seem to object to his hard labour, but
+doubtless prefers it to other kinds of perpetual rolling on a wheel. He
+employs no sticky element to secure the edges of his cigarette, but
+tucks the ends neatly in, by means of a pointed thimble which he wears
+on his forefinger.
+
+Ponder well over this, ye Havana cigarette smokers! and when next you
+indulge in a whiff from your favourite luxury, remember that a
+pickpocket has had his hand on your picadura!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+A MULATTO GIRL.
+
+     An Obscure Birth--Bondage--A Bad Master--A Good God-Father--A Cuban
+     Christening--Anomaly of Slavery--A White Lover--Rivals--An
+     Important Event.
+
+
+My contemplated departure for New York is for many days postponed by the
+unexpected meeting with Don Benigno's family, who, under extraordinary
+circumstances presently to be related, have recently arrived in the
+Havana.
+
+My old friends are also bound for the great American city; but at
+present they are full of preparations for the approaching marriage
+between Don Benigno's eldest daughter, Paquita and the young Spanish
+officer, Don Manuel. The latter has lately received a military
+appointment in the Cuban capital, and as he contemplates residing there
+with his future bride, Don Benigno is anxious that the wedding shall
+take place with as little delay as possible.
+
+Before that event, and before Don Benigno and the rest of his family
+leave with me for New York, I am made acquainted with the fact, that
+another marriage will be shortly celebrated in the Don's family, and
+that the betrothed lady is no other than Don Benigno's adopted
+daughter, the fair Ermina!
+
+Don Benigno tells me that for certain reasons this wedding will not take
+place in the Ever-faithful Isle. What those reasons are, and how my
+curiosity respecting the past of the pretty mulatto girl is at last
+gratified, will appear in the following brief narrative, which, as the
+matter contained in it was chiefly derived from the young lady herself,
+I propose to repeat as nearly as possible in her own words.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I was bought and paid for before I was born.
+
+My own mother bargained for, and finally secured me, for the sum of
+twenty-five dollars. A kind of speculative interest was attached to my
+nativity. Had my sale not been effected previous to my appearance in the
+world, I should have become the property of my mother's master, who, in
+accordance with the laws of serfdom, might then dispose of me, if he
+pleased, at a rate far exceeding my mother's slender savings; and, if
+nature had destined me for a healthy boy instead of a girl, my value
+would have been still greater.
+
+My mother was a slave belonging to a wealthy coffee-planter. Of my
+father I know little, save that he was a white man, and that being a
+professed gambler and deeply in debt, he disappeared from Cuba shortly
+before I was ushered into the world. His flight concerned no one more
+than my mother, for he had promised to purchase her liberty for a
+thousand dollars, which was the price demanded by her owner.
+
+There was no world to censure my parent for the trouble she had brought
+upon herself, because, in a slave-country, little importance is attached
+to such a common occurrence as the birth of a mulatto. My mother's
+master would have exhibited a similar indifference, if, indeed, he would
+not have rejoiced at the event--for it added a few dollars to his
+exchequer--were it not for the fact that Don Vicente had a secret motive
+for great displeasure. His slave was a mulatto, belonging to the fair
+class known as quadroons. My mother was a comely specimen of her race,
+and Don Vicente, being well aware of this, had his own reasons for
+qualifying her conduct as an act of disobedience. This act he determined
+should receive punishment, and accordingly, when his human property was
+convalescent, she was removed, with her infant, to one of Don Vicente's
+estates, and there cruelly flogged!
+
+You may be sure that this severe treatment did not increase my mother's
+affection for Don Vicente, and, in spite of his dreadful threat to
+employ his slave as a common coffee-picker--which, for a mulatto,
+accustomed to the luxuries of town life, is worse than sending her to
+the galleys--my mother remained true to herself.
+
+Finding menaces of no avail, and afraid of disturbing his domestic
+tranquillity, Don Vicente abandoned his purpose and advertised his human
+property for hire at so much per month. In its way, this was a sore
+trial for my dear parent, for although she heartily loathed her master,
+she was greatly attached to his family, at whose hands she had known
+only kindness and humanity. Her new master might prove to be as bad as,
+or even worse than, her owner, and such a prospect was far from
+pleasant. She was, however, agreeably disappointed.
+
+Don Benigno responded to the advertisement, and would have purchased my
+mother outright, but the times were critical, and the worthy gentleman
+could not afford the exorbitant price demanded for her. He, however,
+agreed to hire my parent, who was forthwith removed, with her free-born
+child, to her new habitation.
+
+Don Benigno was of course the kindest of masters; in proof of which, his
+first act, after procuring my mother's temporary release, was to
+interest himself in her child's baptism. For this purpose, he ordered
+that every formality connected with this ceremony should be rigidly
+observed. He himself officiated as godfather, and, in accordance with
+custom, invited my mother's relatives and friends to be present at the
+festivities, which were to be held at a small farm on one of his
+estates. As is usual on such occasions, my generous godfather sent a
+'baptismal token' to every guest. The nearest relatives received an
+'escudo de oro,' or two-dollar piece. The next of kin were presented
+with pesetas, while the friends were favoured with silver medios. Each
+token was pierced with a 'lucky' hole, to which was attached a piece of
+coloured ribbon, with my name and the date of my birth printed in gold
+letters on either side. The ceremony of christening being over, Don
+Benigno gave a grand banquet and a ball, at his farm-house, to which all
+the farmers and white country people in the neighbourhood were invited.
+
+My kind godfather was in the habit of investing a 'doblon' of four
+dollars every month in the Havana lottery; and he promised that if he
+should succeed in drawing a prize, he would devote part of the amount to
+the purchase of my mother. But no such good fortune ever happened to
+the worthy gentleman, although, upon more than one occasion, he expended
+a whole 'onza' in tickets.
+
+Nothing worthy of note transpired during the early years of my
+childhood. My health was all that could be desired after my teething--an
+operation whose successful issue, it was confidently believed, was due
+to the bone necklace which I wore from my birth, and which the good
+people of my country consider acts as a charm against the evils imminent
+to infancy.
+
+Don Benigno's children--who were somewhat older than myself--were my
+closest companions. We were, indeed, more like sisters together, than
+young mistresses and maid. As for my dear godfather and Dona
+Mercedes--they treated me as a pet child.
+
+Before I had turned fourteen, I was already a grown woman, and, as far
+as outward appearance, as white as it is possible for my caste to be.
+With the exception of my lips, which are, as you observe, somewhat
+_prononce_, and the whites of my eyes, which are slightly tinged with
+yellow, there is no perceptible difference between me and those creoles
+whose origin is less doubtful than my own.
+
+Despite, however, my personal attractions, I was fully conscious of the
+nice distinction between white and white about which the people of my
+country are so jealously exacting; and my dark origin always formed a
+barrier between me and my thoroughbred sisters. Whenever Don Benigno, or
+his family, addressed me as 'Mulatica,' 'Chinita,' or 'Negrita,' I
+sometimes thought of the literal meaning of those endearing epithets!
+
+Tunicu, as you know, was always a frequent visitor at Don Benigno's
+tertulia, but at the period to which I now refer, he used to pass some
+hours with us during the daytime. I think Tunicu always admired me more
+than he did Don Benigno's daughters, and now that I was a grown woman,
+he often gave expression to his sentiments. I was by no means insensible
+to Tunicu's attentions, for he was a handsome young gentleman, with a
+dark brown moustache and imperial to match. His complexion, too, was
+several shades darker than my own, though this, of course, did not
+detract from the purity of his descent, which was apparent in the clear
+white of his eyeballs, the transparent pink of his finger nails, and
+other signs peculiar to offspring of white parents.
+
+Our admiration for one another gradually developed itself into something
+more serious, until one day Tunicu gave me to understand that he loved
+me truly. I think he was sincere, at least I chose to believe so, and,
+besides, he gave daily proof of his preference for me to the whitest
+ladies of his acquaintance.
+
+Notwithstanding this, the wide gulf of origin which existed between
+Tunicu and me could not be concealed, and was continually made manifest.
+My white lover was passionately fond of dancing, and frequently attended
+at the balls given at the Philharmonic, where I dared not be seen, save
+in the capacity of spectator. Crowds of coloured people were permitted,
+like myself, to watch the dancing from a distance, but none were allowed
+to trespass upon the hallowed threshold. The same stern rule separated
+me and my lover at the Retreta in the public square. I might stand, with
+others of my class, on the broad terrace of the cathedral and watch the
+promenaders, or listen to the military band; but I dared not be seen
+with the unsullied gentlefolks below. Occasionally, Tunicu would desert
+his white companions, and ascending the broad steps of the cathedral,
+pass the rest of the evening in my society. On these occasions I should
+have felt supremely happy, but for the painful thought that Tunicu was
+sacrificing his position for my sake. The white ladies, who visited at
+Don Benigno's, though sometimes deigning to notice me, out of compliment
+to their host, secretly hated and despised me; and if they did not
+actually scandalise me behind my back, they never forgot to remind those
+around them of my parentage, and of the unquestionable difference which
+existed between us.
+
+Then there was my mother, whose cruel fate was ever a dark cloud in my
+happiest moments with my lover. Thanks to her, I was a free-born woman,
+while she, alas! still endured a state of bondage. I often wished that I
+might be enabled to turn to profitable account the education which I had
+received through Don Benigno's bounty, and in this manner earn enough to
+pay for my parent's liberty; but, unfortunately, there are no
+governesses in Cuba, and what white lady of respectability would care to
+send her child to my school, supposing that I had been able to set up
+such an establishment?
+
+Sometimes I indulged in the wild hope that Tunicu might one day take me
+to a foreign country, where my past would be ignored, and where we might
+be married without regard to the opinion of the world. But my lover,
+though always full of projects and promises, had never once alluded to
+the subject of matrimony. People broadly hinted that my Tunicu was a
+libertine, like some of his companions and that he had no intention of
+making me his wife; but we were both favoured with rivals whose
+interest it was to speak in these terms. My rivals were the white
+ladies, who were jealous of Tunicu's attentions to me, and who never
+forgot to openly express their indignation at the relationship which
+they knew to exist between me and my lover. Tunicu's rivals were even
+more numerous; some of them would show their regard for me by serenading
+under my window with a band of music, upon such occasions as my saint's
+day, or during the fiestas. I dared not exhibit an indifference to these
+attentions, without transgressing certain social laws of the country;
+besides, I found that Tunicu himself did not disapprove of them--he
+never explained why, but I suppose he considered these little attentions
+as a sort of acknowledgment of his good taste, or, perhaps, they
+afforded a proof to him of my constancy.
+
+The boldest of my admirers was a young half-caste called Frasquito,
+whose mulatto-father was a wealthy tobacco trader and held a high
+position among the Cuban merchants.
+
+Frasquito was an occasional visitor at Don Benigno's, for, being an
+accomplished musician, he was a great acquisition when a dance was given
+at our residence. Once he composed a Cuban danza, and dedicated it to
+me, calling it after my name: 'La Bella Ermina.'
+
+Frasquito was perfectly aware of my relations with Tunicu, but he must
+have regarded them with the same levity as others did; for, one day,
+happening to be alone with my admirer, he, to my great confusion and
+surprise, made me an offer of marriage; assuring me that his father had
+already approved of his choice, and promising that if I would accept him
+for a husband, he would, previous to the marriage ceremony, procure my
+beloved mother's liberty.
+
+I fear that my reply was unsatisfactory to both of us. I could not tell
+him with truth that I was betrothed to another, because, though that
+other had long appropriated my heart, he had never openly asked my hand.
+It was equally difficult to show why I did not avail myself of this
+opportunity for effecting my mother's emancipation; and Frasquito knew
+too well that I would make any personal sacrifice to release my beloved
+parent from bondage.
+
+I, however, told Frasquito that his offer had so taken me by surprise,
+that he must give me time to consider of it, and that in the meanwhile
+he must never allude to the subject.
+
+Tunicu, to whom alone I confided what had passed between me and my
+admirer, scouted the notion of my alliance with the 'son of a nigger,'
+as he expressed it; but strange to tell, he did not seem angry at the
+fact of matrimony having been proposed by another.
+
+'You are too fair and too refined,' said he, 'for the son of a black
+man. When you marry, you must be wedded to somebody having better
+antecedents than that, Ermina mia.'
+
+I felt the truth of his remark, and now began to consider my late offer
+in the light of an insult. The mulatto's pretensions to my hand must
+surely, I thought, have been induced by his knowledge of my birth, for
+he would not have ventured to make such a proposal to a white woman; and
+perfectly aware of my secret attachment, he seemed to have implied that
+I was incapable of commanding the true love of a white man. Impressed
+with these reflections, I resolved to test the truth of the mulatto's
+inuendos, and, for the first time, I broached to Tunicu the subject
+nearest my heart.
+
+'Do you think, mi amor,' said I to my lover, 'that I shall ever marry as
+well as you could desire?'
+
+Tunicu paused, before replying to my question, and then
+observed--turning his gaze from me as he spoke:--
+
+'Why should not mi Ermina marry well? She is young, beautiful,
+accomplished--'
+
+--'and the daughter of a slave!' I added; my eyes moistening as I
+uttered the terrible words.
+
+For a few moments my lover remained silent and pensive Then recovering
+himself, he began to converse in his old, confident, assuring manner,
+gratifying my imagination with pictures of events which were never to
+happen, and promising things impossible to be realised. At least nothing
+ever did happen as Tunicu had predicted, while one event shortly
+transpired which in his wildest dreams had never occurred to him.
+
+That event was the Cuban insurrection, which, as you know, has already
+affected the lives of hundreds of my unhappy countrymen and
+countrywomen; but in what manner it would concern our future destinies,
+neither Tunicu nor I could possibly foretell.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+A MULATTO GIRL (_continued_).
+
+     The Slave Trade--Ermina and her Lover--Panics--'Los Insurrectos' v.
+     'Los Voluntaries'--A Wounded Patriot--Spanish Law and Cuban
+     Law--The 'Mambis'--A Promise--An Alarm--All's Well that Ends Well.
+
+
+You already know how, during the early stages of the Cuban revolution,
+the inhabitants of Santiago were called upon to enroll themselves as
+volunteers; that those who evaded the order were regarded with
+suspicion, in many cases arrested, and occasionally shot after a mock
+trial; that others who preferred to abandon the town, were punished for
+their want of loyalty to their rulers, who confiscated their property.
+My good benefactor, Don Benigno, was too old to enlist and even more
+disinclined to fight against his countrymen, the rebels; so when the
+cholera broke out, he made this a pretext for escaping the vigilance of
+the authorities, and fled with his family and belongings to a farm on
+his sugar estate. My mother would have accompanied us, but for a
+circumstance which obliged her to remain in the town. Her rightful
+owner, Don Vicente, had in one day lost half his fortune; the rebels
+having encamped at his principal estate and utterly despoiled it. Four
+hundred negroes employed on this estate had joined the revolutionists,
+and as each slave was valued, on the average, at five hundred dollars,
+the loss which Don Vicente sustained may be easily estimated. To provide
+against fresh losses, Don Vicente determined to sell all that still
+remained to him, and embark with his family for a more peaceful country.
+He hoped to realise a large amount from the sale of his town slaves, and
+as my mother represented no insignificant item in this valuable
+property, she was, of course, included in the list of vendibles. I was
+in despair!
+
+'Tunicu, del alma!' said I to my lover, 'if you are as devoted to me as
+you profess to be, buy--borrow--beg my beloved parent; but don't let her
+fall into strange hands!' My dread lest she should become the property
+of an utter stranger, drove me to this appeal.
+
+Tunicu was equal to the occasion, as he always was; whether with the
+same disappointing result in view, I could not tell.
+
+'Ermina de mi corazon!' he replied, 'I am not in a position to buy your
+mother. Don Benigno has already borrowed her and must now return her. To
+beg her is out of the question. But I think I have a more practical
+plan. It may not agree with the laws of this country, and it must be
+attended with great personal risk; but I will try it.'
+
+I looked inquiringly.
+
+'I am aware, 'continued Tunicu, with one of his pleasant smiles, 'that
+in the course of true love it rarely happens that in order to prove his
+affection for his mistress, the lover must first elope with his
+lady-love's mother; but circumstances create strange situations, and
+under the present circumstances, I see no other alternative than to run
+away with your parent.'
+
+Conscious of the great risk attending such an enterprise, and of the
+terrible consequences which would inevitably result from an untimely
+discovery, I begged that Tunicu would reveal to me his plan of
+operations. But to this he objected.
+
+'No,' said he, 'I have found of late that my outspoken projects have
+exhausted themselves in words, so you must allow me, for this once, to
+keep my own counsel.'
+
+My lover's unusual reply somehow inspired me with greater confidence
+than anything he had ever uttered: so, woman though I was, I determined
+to restrain my curiosity.
+
+'Whatever your plan may be, dearest Tunicu,' said I, 'I agree to it
+blindly.'
+
+'Then,' said he, 'you will also agree to our temporary separation. You
+will accompany my uncle to the farm?'
+
+To this I also, though reluctantly, acceded.
+
+So my mother was returned to Don Vicente, with whose family she was to
+reside until a purchaser was found. Tunicu remained in town; while I and
+Don Benigno's family were conveyed in a covered cart drawn by oxen to
+the farm-house.
+
+We arrived opportunely. The town which we had left was, as you know,
+already in a state of siege, and shortly after our departure, Count
+Valmaseda's dreadful manifesto, announcing that every man, woman, and
+child who should be discovered in certain districts of the country were
+to be shot like dogs, was published. We dared not now venture beyond the
+limits of the farm-grounds, for the report of fire-arms was continually
+heard in the neighbouring woods. Don Benigno was in daily fear lest the
+volunteers should visit our retreat, for he was well acquainted with the
+details of their past iniquities.
+
+Early one morning we were awakened by a negro, who hastened to the
+farm-house, shouting as he came: 'Los Insurrectos! Los Insurrectos!'
+
+'The insurgents are coming!' was the signal of alarm usually adopted by
+non-combatants, because the insurgents, and not the volunteers, were
+said to be the scarecrows of our island.
+
+It was, however, 'Los Voluntaries' and not 'Los Insurrectos' this time,
+for a party of volunteers were visible on a distant eminence.
+
+Our black sentinel, however, still persisted in shouting, 'Los
+Insurrectos!' The same cry was echoed by other negroes, who, with their
+faces tinged with the pale green of a black's fear, came running towards
+us with the information that three insurgents were riding within a mile
+of our habitation. The statement proved correct, for presently three
+horsemen arrived at the farm. All three were armed with revolvers, and
+short swords called 'machetes,' and they were attired in brown holland
+blouses, buff-coloured shoes, and Panama hats.
+
+One of these men appeared to be suffering great bodily pain, but his
+face was so besmeared with dirt and blood, that we could scarcely tell
+whether he was a mulatto or a white man. The poor fellow had been
+seriously wounded, and groaned in agony as Don Benigno's slaves assisted
+him to dismount.
+
+After he had been placed upon a catre in one of our apartments and
+revived with a draught of aguardiente, the invalid smiled mournfully
+around him, and then, to our unspeakable astonishment, inquired whether
+we did not recognise in him Don Benigno's nephew!
+
+I will not describe the scene which followed this disclosure, but I will
+endeavour to repeat to you what Tunicu had now to reveal. His first
+words caused me great happiness; though the strange tone in which they
+were uttered seemed scarcely to correspond with the good news conveyed
+in them.
+
+'Your mother,' said he, glancing in my direction, 'is free!'
+
+He now told us how, in spite of his efforts to steal my dear parent, Don
+Vicente had succeeded in selling her to a brutal slave-trader, who
+contemplated employing her as a common labourer at a coffee plantation,
+and how, being aware of this, my lover determined to save her from such
+a terrible fate.
+
+Parties of young Cubans were then secretly planning expeditions into the
+heart of the country, where their compatriots in arms were concealed,
+and this being known to my lover, he lost no time in enrolling himself
+among them. A party of these young men were on the eve of departing on
+their rebellious or patriotic mission, and as my mother's new master had
+already started for his plantation with his recent purchases and
+half-a-dozen armed negroes, Tunicu persuaded his companions to help him
+to rescue my parent. Well armed, well acquainted with the roads of their
+intricate country, and mounted on fast trotting horses, the little band
+of warriors followed in the track of the slave-owner, and, after some
+hours of hard riding, they succeeded in overtaking him. They then
+demanded, in the name of 'Cuban justice,' every slave in his possession,
+declaring, that now the Cuban people had risen in defence of their
+rights and for the abolition of slavery, they were no longer amenable
+to Spanish law.
+
+'We are all Cubans,' said they, 'and well armed, as you see; and we
+intend to fight for both causes whenever an opportunity presents
+itself.'
+
+Hostile measures were, however, quite unnecessary in this instance. The
+eloquence of my brave countrymen sufficed to create a mutiny among the
+trader's black body-guard, who with one accord came over to the enemy.
+In short, the slaves were all released, and their late owner, after
+vowing to be avenged, rode off to the nearest garrison for the purpose
+of reporting to the authorities what had happened, and, if possible,
+obtain redress for the wrongs he had sustained. In the meantime the
+victorious party hastened to join their brethren in arms, some of whom
+were encamped in one of the strong fortifications which nature so
+generously provides in our well-wooded mountains. But they had scarcely
+reached this part of the country, when a battalion of volunteers, guided
+by the slave-trader, went in pursuit of them.
+
+Tunicu then described an encounter which afterwards took place between
+the latter and the patriots. He said that for upwards of an hour shots
+were exchanged, but with no advantage to either side; till the
+slave-trader (doubtless acquainted with the roads of this intricate
+country) suddenly discovered an opening in the forest. Through this
+opening he, followed by a number of the volunteers, entered, and,
+sheltered by the surrounding foliage and trees, took deadly aim at those
+of their enemies who were exposed to their view. Many of my countrymen
+fell in this cruel slaughter, and amongst them were two of the recently
+captured slaves. Horrible to relate, one of these slaves was my mother.
+Seeing her fall, Tunicu boldly advanced towards the spot whence the
+firing proceeded, and there beheld the slave-trader who, he had no
+doubt, was my parent's assassin. Without a moment's hesitation, Tunicu
+shot this man dead with his revolver. A dozen rifles were levelled at
+the daring fellow as he hastened to return to his companions, and
+unfortunately a bullet lodged in his side.
+
+My warlike countrymen now retreated to a safe part of the forest, and
+here they remained, till the patience and the ammunition of their
+assailants were exhausted.
+
+As soon as my lover was sufficiently recovered from his wound, he was
+escorted by two of his companions to Don Benigno's farm, where they duly
+arrived.
+
+How shall I describe the agony which Tunicu's narrative caused me! My
+mother was indeed free, and by the hand of her own master; but alas! how
+dearly was her liberty purchased! I consoled myself with the reflection
+that my dear parent had been saved from a fate such as was in store for
+her had she been recaptured by her owner. Our anxiety was now devoted to
+my lover, who had suffered considerably from his long ride to the farm.
+We were able to attend the invalid unmolested; though news reached us
+that the insurrection was spreading in all directions, and we were in
+constant fear that it would reach too near our retreat.
+
+I was happier with my lover during his recovery, than I had ever been.
+The perils which he had undergone for my sake seemed to have toned down
+his volatile nature, and although his habit of promising had not wholly
+deserted him, I had reason to be grateful for at least one sweet promise
+which he made me!
+
+'Ermina de mi alma!' said he, one evening that we were alone together,
+'my uncle contemplates leaving with you all for North America, there to
+remain till the revolution is over. I cannot accompany you, but we shall
+meet there, and if, after your intercourse with the white society of
+that country--where you will be treated as an equal--your feelings with
+regard to me are unchanged, we will be married, and I will endeavour to
+make your life happier than it has hitherto been.'
+
+'Not happier than it is now,' said I.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+'Los Insurrectos!--Los Insurrectos!'
+
+The insurgents again? No; our swarthy sentinels were wrong this time,
+for presently a dozen Spanish troopers, all armed to the teeth, galloped
+into our court-yard. We were, of course, greatly alarmed at their
+appearance; for we had no doubt that they had come to apprehend my
+lover. We were, however, soon agreeably relieved from our anxiety on
+this account, by a letter which the officer in command had brought for
+Don Benigno. This letter came from his future son-in-law, Don Manuel,
+who, since the commencement of the revolution, had been quartered with
+his regiment at Manzanillo, not many leagues from our farm. Aware that
+we had left town for Don Benigno's plantation, and conscious of the
+danger which was now threatening every district in the eastern extremity
+of the island, Don Manuel proposed that we should join him without delay
+at Manzanillo, and thence proceed to Havana, to which the young officer
+was shortly to be transferred. As yet perfect tranquillity reigned at
+the Cuban capital; and 'here,' suggested Don Manuel, 'we might remain,'
+under his official protection, 'until the rebellion was suppressed.'
+
+'The rest of her story,' says Don Benigno, breaking in at this point of
+it, 'is soon told. The soldiers remained with us for two or three days
+while we prepared for our departure, and in the meantime they discussed
+the merits of our fried bananas with boiled rice, our bacalao and
+casabe, our tasajo, our chimbombo, our ajiaco and our Catalan wine.
+Then, consigning my plantation to the care of my trusty major-domo, we
+all left for Manzanillo, under our military escort. Shortly after our
+arrival, Tunicu set sail for North America; for Don Manuel was of
+opinion that unless my nephew joined the Mambis (nickname for the
+rebellious party), it would not be safe for him to remain in any part of
+the Ever-faithful Isle. But we hope to meet him there, and, meanwhile we
+intend to practise those virtues of patience and amiability which have
+hitherto served us so well--eh, mi Ermina? My daughter's marriage will
+soon be celebrated, and after the nuptials some of us will, I hope--si
+Dios quiere--depart for the great city of New York.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+A CUBAN WEDDING.
+
+     Open Engagements--A Marriage Ceremony--A Wedding Breakfast--The
+     Newly-Married Couple.
+
+
+A number of Don Benigno's relatives and friends have, like ourselves,
+taken refuge in the peaceful city of Havana. Some of them purpose
+remaining here till affairs at Santiago are more settled, while others,
+like Don Benigno, intend to make New York their temporary abode.
+
+Surrounded by his friends, the Don begins to feel at home again. Every
+evening he holds a tertulia at his temporary residence, as of old, and
+upon these occasions I recognise many familiar faces. Senor Esteban, the
+lawyer, Don Magin, the merchant, and Don Felipe, the sugar planter, are
+the Don's guests again. Doctor Francisco and his family have also
+arrived in Havana, en route for Europe: for even our medical friend has
+been in danger of arrest for having administered to some wounded
+'patriots' at a village near Santiago.
+
+Don Manuel is of course a constant visitor at Don Benigno's, but I do
+not envy him the term of courtship which precedes the marriage, nor is
+the ceremony itself very inviting.
+
+In his capacity of lover, Don Manuel is bound to submit to many
+hardships. He may not meet his fiancee alone under any circumstances;
+her society must be enjoyed only in the presence of the numerous friends
+and relatives who visit her at all hours of the day and evening. Then,
+he is expected to return some of these visits, in company with his
+future bride, her mother and sister. He must also submit to certain
+formalities required of him by the priest who is to unite the 'promessi
+sposi,' and the most irksome of these is that of confession. Paquita
+confesses, and that is nothing new to her, but it is otherwise with the
+young officer. In short, until Don Manuel is actually a happy husband,
+his position is by no means enviable, and for my own part, I would
+gladly relinquish two years of married life in Cuba for half an hour's
+secret love-making at a certain grated window!
+
+The wearisome ordeal at length comes to an end--the nuptial day arrives.
+The ceremony, such as it is, takes place very late in the night; indeed,
+it is early morning before Don Manuel and his male friends reach the
+cathedral, where the event is to be celebrated. A single bell tolls like
+a funeral knell as we enter a small chapel connected with the sacred
+edifice. It is a dreary apartment, dismally lighted with two long wax
+candles. Nobody is present, save Don Manuel, the male friends already
+mentioned, and the sacristan, who enlivens us by trying (and failing) to
+beautify, with false flowers and false candles, a miserable altar-piece
+at one extremity of the chapel. The young officer's importance as a
+bridegroom is not at present appreciated, either by himself or by his
+friends, with whom he converses upon indifferent subjects, and who, like
+myself, are attired in ordinary walking costume.
+
+Presently a Quitrin, drawn by a couple of mules, with a black postilion
+in jack-boots, halts without. The bride, accompanied by her mother and a
+friend, alight, and, without taking notice of anybody in particular,
+pass silently into the chapel. The importance of Don Manuel's position
+does not reveal itself by this act, nor is it considerably improved,
+when the ecclesiastic, who is to marry the happy pair, emerges from a
+dark corner, smiles artificially around him, and exhausts the rest of
+his amiability with the ladies. But the priest is not so unconscious of
+Don Manuel as that gentleman supposes. Soon he singles the officer out
+from the group of males, and bids him follow the bride, and his future
+mother-in-law, into an adjacent chamber. But little is required of the
+bridegroom besides his signature to a paper, which he does not read; and
+when the holy man has addressed something or other to him in the Latin
+language, he is politely requested to withdraw. Shortly after Don
+Manuel's retirement, the bride and her escort issue from the mysterious
+chamber, and, after saluting us all round, take their departure and
+drive away. Don Manuel's distinguished position seems to be scarcely
+increased by these proceedings; but when his friends congratulate him,
+the lights of the chapel are extinguished, and the decorations on the
+miserable altar-piece are stowed away, he endeavours to realise the
+feelings of a married man. Don Manuel follows his friends as they lead
+the way to the bride's parental roof, consoling himself with
+newly-rolled cigarettes as he walks along.
+
+It is nearly two A.M. before we reach the scene of the festivities,
+where most of the guests are already assembled. A long table has been
+tastefully arranged with sweetmeats, cakes, fruit, wine, and other
+luxuries, and some of the guests, whose appetites could not be
+restrained, have already inaugurated the festivities. Much confusion,
+uproar, and struggling after dainties peculiar to a Cuban banquet,
+prevail, and it is not without an effort that the young officer
+contrives at last to find a place near his bride. Healths are drunk and
+responded to incessantly, and often simultaneously; rather, as it would
+seem, for the excuse of drinking champagne and English bottled ale, than
+from motives of sentiment.
+
+When enough cigarettes have been smoked, and enough wine and beer have
+been disposed of, all the company rises with one accord. The ladies
+throw light veils across their shoulders, the gentlemen don their
+panamas; and the bride and her mother, together with the bridegroom and
+all the guests, followed by an army of black domestics, leave Don
+Benigno's habitation, and marching in noisy procession along the narrow
+streets, arrive at the bride's future home. It is a one-storied dwelling
+with marble floors and white-washed walls, and is furnished with
+bran-new cane-bottomed chairs and other adornments belonging to a Cuban
+residence. The huge doors and windows of every apartment are thrown open
+to their widest and the interior being brilliantly lighted with gas, the
+view from the street is almost as complete as within the premises.
+Everybody crowds into the latter, and examines the arrangements of each
+chamber with as deep an interest as if they were wandering through an
+old baronial mansion with cards of invitation from its absent owner. The
+reception-room, the comedor or dining-room, the out-houses round the
+patio or court-yard, are carefully inspected by the throng, who are
+irrepressible even in respect to the dormitory assigned for the use of
+the bridegroom, and that allotted to the bride, and situated in quite a
+different quarter.
+
+Everybody's curiosity being satisfied, everybody, save the newly-married
+pair and a few black domestics, is wished a 'muy buenas noches,' or,
+more correctly speaking (for the hour is 4 A.M.), a very good morning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+CUBANS IN NEW YORK.
+
+     The Morro Castle again--Summer and Winter--Cuban
+     Refugees--Filibusters--'Los Laborantes' of New York and their
+     Work--American Sympathisers.
+
+
+I am a prisoner in the Morro Castle again, and this time my fellow
+captives are more numerous. We occupy separate apartments. The chamber
+which has been allotted to me is considerably smaller than that of the
+fortress at Santiago. So small that the floor measures barely four feet
+in width, and seated in my narrow cot, my head approaches within a few
+inches of the ceiling. Don Benigno, his wife, his unmarried daughter,
+and the pretty Ermina, together with a score of Cuban families, are all
+imprisoned in the same stronghold, whence there is no escape. For we are
+encompassed on every side by a moat so deep and so wide that no
+engineering skill would avail to connect us with terra firma.
+
+This is, however, not the Havana Morro, nor is it the fortress at
+Santiago de Cuba; but an American steamer called the 'Morro Castle' and
+bound for New York, where--wind and weather permitting--we shall all
+arrive, in little more than four days!
+
+Although the month is January, the atmosphere is still sultry and
+oppressive; so much so that most of the passengers prefer to sleep on
+deck. But on the morning of the third day of our voyage, there is a
+perceptible change in the temperature. The passengers are seen to shiver
+and to huddle together in warm corners of the cabin. Everybody has
+exchanged his or her summer clothing for warmer vestments. The ladies
+appear no more in light muslin dresses, and without any head covering.
+The gentlemen have eschewed their suits of white drill and Panama hats,
+and have assumed heavy over-coats and flannel under-clothing. It is a
+'nipping and an eager air,' closely resembling winter, and reminding
+everybody of the fact, that in one short hour we have tripped lightly
+from the perpetual summer of the tropics into the coldest season of the
+north. Some sea water which had been hauled up in a bucket half an hour
+ago was perfectly tepid, and now when the bucket is lowered and raised
+we are amazed to find that the contents are icy cold!
+
+Next day the liquid in our water jugs is discovered to be in a freezing
+condition, and fires have been lighted in all the stoves. But our chilly
+Creoles derive little or no warmth from these artificial means, although
+they are swathed in garments ten inches deep.
+
+Great is the joy when the 'Morro Castle' at last sails into the wide and
+picturesque harbour of the great American city, and when we have safely
+landed, satisfied the Custom-house officers, and are finally lodged in a
+comfortable hotel in Broadway, our happiness is complete.
+
+Numbers of Cuban families are already encamped in the hotel which Don
+Benigno has selected for himself, family and friend, and at the table
+d'hote where we take our first American meal, the conversation is held
+exclusively in the Spanish language. Don Benigno is delighted to find
+himself among his countrymen again, and as the city is over-run with
+Cuban refugees, he soon meets many of his old friends. Some of them tell
+him that, having had their property confiscated, and being too old to
+take part in the revolution, they intend to remain in America, where
+they hope to improve their fortunes; while the more able-bodied are
+recruiting with a view to certain secret expeditions to Cuba.
+
+Tunicu, who joins us shortly after our arrival, is of course overjoyed
+at our appearance, and welcomes some of us literally with 'open arms!'
+Having passed some weeks in New York, he is of course already acquainted
+with everybody of note in the city, and is familiar with American ways.
+He tells us all about the Cuban 'Laborantes' of New York, and how they
+are labouring in behalf of their bellicose countrymen. How juntas are
+held, and how the Cuban ladies take a prominent part in these meetings,
+and provide funds for the relief of their sick and wounded compatriots
+in arms. Tunicu informs us that a grand bazaar, with this object in
+view, is now being promoted by these energetic senoras, and when Dona
+Mercedes hears of this, she and her daughters are soon busy at their
+favourite occupation. Tunicu says that the proceeds of the bazaar will
+not be wholly devoted to the purpose for which it is publicly announced,
+but that a large amount will be set apart for the purchase of arms and
+accoutrements; it being whispered that another fillibustering expedition
+is contemplated, and that great hopes are entertained of its safe
+departure from America. He says that an important landing has been
+lately effected at Guanaja--a small town on the Cuban coast--where
+Manuel Quesada, the newly-appointed general of the Cuban army, has
+arrived with eighty well-drilled men, 2,700 muskets and necessary
+ammunition.
+
+Besides the bazaar money, large amounts are raised by giving public
+concerts and by an occasional dramatic performance at one of the Bowery
+theatres, at which a stirring drama founded on the Cuban revolution is
+presented.
+
+The concerts, however, prove more attractive and remunerative;
+especially if it is announced that a young and lovely Creole, attired as
+'Liberty' and holding a Cuban flag in her hand, will sing a patriotic
+ballad. Equally effective are recitals from the famous Cuban
+poets--Heredia and Placida. When the 'Himno del Desterrado,' by the
+first-named author, is given, it is always received with great applause
+by the Cuban members of the audience and by those who understand the
+beautiful language in which this favourite poem is written. But nothing
+pleases the mixed audience of Cubans and Americans half so well as when
+a renowned pianist favours them with a performance on the piano of a
+'Danza Criolla.' At the first strains of their patriotic melody, the
+Creoles present become wild with enthusiasm. The Cuban ladies wave their
+handkerchiefs with delight, while their brother-patriots stand on their
+seats, and for the moment drown their favourite music with loud and
+prolonged cheering, accompanied by shouts of 'Viva Cuba libre!' (Long
+live free Cuba!) 'Muerte a Espana!' (Death to Spain!) and other
+patriotic sentiments.
+
+The American people are unanimous in their sympathy for the Cuban cause,
+and the sentiment is popular even with the New York shopkeepers, who
+already offer for sale 'Cravats a la Cespedes,' 'Insurrectionary
+Inkstands,' and 'Patriot Pockethandkerchiefs.'
+
+Important meetings, too, are held at Cooper's Institute, Steinway Hall,
+and other public places, at each of which a great concourse of American
+sympathisers gathers. Many eminent orators preside at these meetings,
+and endeavour with all their eloquence to urge upon the Congress at
+Washington the necessity for immediate recognition of the rights of the
+Cuban belligerents. Annexation is, of course, suggested, and slavery
+loudly denounced.
+
+One eloquent speaker is of opinion that the present struggle of the
+Cubans for independence and self-government belongs to the same category
+as the American Revolution in 1776; that it should excite the sympathy
+of all friends of popular progress, and that it deserves every kind of
+assistance that other nations may be able to render.
+
+Another well-known orator, connected with the church, declares that 'the
+Cuban cause is just, and that the wrongs against which the Cubans have
+revolted are such as should arouse the indignation of mankind, inasmuch
+as these wrongs include taxation without representation, the forced
+maintenance of slavery, the exclusion of all natives of the island from
+public service, the denial of the right to bear arms and of all the
+sacred privileges of citizenship and nationality.'
+
+A third speaker avers, among other sentiments, that, in proclaiming the
+abolition of slavery, the patriots of Cuba have given conclusive
+evidence that they share the most substantial ideas of modern democracy,
+and that their political principles are in unison with those which
+inspire and govern the profoundest thinkers and statesmen of the age.
+That while men of free minds in all countries must view with interest
+and hope the uprising in Cuba, 'we, as citizens of the Republic of North
+America, and near neighbours of the beautiful and productive island,
+recognise a special obligation towards those patriots who are toiling
+and fighting for its emancipation from Spanish tyranny.'
+
+'It is the duty of our Government,' concludes another speaker, amidst
+loud and prolonged applause, 'to recognise the belligerent rights of the
+Cubans at the earliest practicable moment, and thus to show the world,
+that the American nation is always on the side of those who contend
+against despotism and oppression; and we earnestly entreat the Executive
+at Washington that there may be no unnecessary delay in dealing with
+this important subject.'
+
+But in spite of these demonstrations of public sympathy, the mighty
+House of Representatives cannot be induced to join in the popular
+sentiment. Memorials are addressed to the American President, and
+persons of influence labour in behalf of the Cuban cause. Upon one
+occasion a party of Cuba's fairest daughters 'interview' the President's
+wife and secretary, but nothing comes of it except more sympathy and
+more able editorials in the New York papers, in which it is again
+suggested that a bold and decisive policy should be commenced with
+regard to Cuba and to American interests there, and that the shortest
+way to settle now and for ever all difficulty relative to that island,
+is to send out a powerful fleet and to recognise the independence of the
+people of the Pearl of the Antilles.
+
+
+_Spottiswoode & Co., Printers, New-street Square, London_.
+
+
+
+
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+=The Fayoum; or, Artists In Egypt.=
+
+A Tour with M. Gerome and others. By J. LENOIR. Illustrated. Crown 8vo.
+cloth, 7_s._ 6_d._
+
+
+=Tent Life with English Gipsies in Norway.=
+
+By HUBERT SMITH. 5 full-page Engravings, and 31 smaller Illustrations,
+with Map of the Country showing Routes. In 8vo. cloth, price 21_s._
+
+
+=A Winter in Morocco.=
+
+By AMELIA PERRIER. Illustrated. Large crown 8vo. price 10_s._ 6_d._
+
+
+=Ireland in 1872.=
+
+A Tour of Observation, with Remarks on Irish Public Questions. By Dr.
+JAMES MACAULAY. Crown 8vo. 7_s._ 6_d._
+
+
+=Field and Forest Rambles of a Naturalist in New Brunswick.=
+
+With Notes and Observations on the Natural History of Eastern Canada. By
+A. LEITH ADAMS, M.A. &c., Author of 'Wanderings of a Naturalist in
+India,' &c. &c. Illustrated. In 8vo. cloth, 14_s._
+
+
+=Bokhara: its History and Conquest.=
+
+By Professor ARMINIUS VAMBERY, of the University of Pesth, Author of
+'Travels in Central Asia,' &c. Demy 8vo. 18_s._
+
+'We conclude with a cordial recommendation of this valuable book. In
+former years, Mr. Vambery gave ample proofs of his powers as an
+observant, easy, and vivid writer. In the present work his moderation,
+scholarship, insight, and occasionally very impressive style, have
+raised him to the dignity of an historian.' SATURDAY REVIEW.
+
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+Artist in Cuba, by Walter Goodman
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #29564 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29564)