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diff --git a/29564-h/29564-h.htm b/29564-h/29564-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..868f1cb --- /dev/null +++ b/29564-h/29564-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10925 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> + <head> + <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> + <style type="text/css"> + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + text-indent: 2%; + } + .c {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0%; + } + .dots {text-align: center;font-weight:800; + text-indent: 0%;letter-spacing:20px; + } + .head {text-align: center;font-size:95%; + font-weight:800;text-indent:0%} + .heading{margin:3% auto 3% auto;font-weight:800; + font-size:90%;text-align:center; + } + .non {text-indent:0%;} + .nonp {text-indent:0%;margin-left:5%;} + .nonpp {text-indent:0%;margin-left:2.5%;} + .r {text-align: right; + margin-right:25%; + } + h1,h2 {text-align: center; + clear: both; + } + h3 {margin-top:15%; + text-align: center; + clear: both; + } + .top5 {margin-top: 5%;} + .top15 {margin-top: 15%;} + .top20 {margin-top: 20%;} + hr { width: 40%; + margin: 2em auto 2em auto; + clear: both; + color:black; + } + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 5%; + margin-bottom: 5%; + border: solid black; + height: 5px; } + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;border:none;} + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + background:#fdfdfd; + color:black; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + font-size: medium; + } + a:link {background-color: #ffffff; color: blue; text-decoration: none; } + link {background-color: #ffffff; color: blue; text-decoration: none; } + a:visited {background-color: #ffffff; color: blue; text-decoration: none; } + a:hover {background-color: #ffffff; color: #FF0000; text-decoration:underline; } + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + font-size: 95%; + } + .smcap1 {font-variant: small-caps; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + font-size: 65%; + } + .poem {margin-left:25%; + white-space:nowrap; + text-indent: 0%; + } + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<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 & Co.</span> +<span class="smcap">65 Cornhill & 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—Spanish Law—A Commemorative +Feast—Cuban Courtesy—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—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.</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—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.</p> + +<p>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.</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—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.</p> + +<p>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.</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—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—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.</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'—which +is a special weakness in Cuba—manifests itself in +other ways.</p> + +<p>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.</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—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).</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—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.</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—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—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.</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—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.</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—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—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.</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—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.</p> + +<p>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.</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—Our Critics—Our Patrons—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'—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—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.</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—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.</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—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—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—Don +Benigno's black postilion—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—A Night Wake—Mourners—Doña Dolores—A Funeral +Procession—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—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—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!'</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—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!!'</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—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.</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—The Cocos—La Grulla—Vultures—Street Criers—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—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.</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—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—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.</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—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.</p> + +<p>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.</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—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—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—The Havana Lottery—A Lady Beggar—A Beggar's +Opera—Popular Characters—Charity—A Public Raffle—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—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.</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—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.</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—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—and +of these there is always a majority—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—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—A Bewitched Watchman—Cuban Sorcery—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—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.</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!—'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—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.</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—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—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—The Commandant—The Town Jail—Cuban +Policemen—Prisoners—A Captive Indian—Prison Fare—A Court +of Justice—A Trial—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—ah! +my friends never missed a mail—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—heard a +jingling of big keys—an opening of ponderous doors—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 Phœbus, 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—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—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—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—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.</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—and, to say the truth, many of the +Spaniards themselves—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—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.</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—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—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—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—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—The Cigar Girl of Havana—A Tobacconist's Shop in Cuba—A +Romance of Real Life—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—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.</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—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—'Pintar-monos'—A Chemist's Shop <i>à la Polychrome</i>—Sculpture +under Difficulties—'Nothing like Leather'—A Triumph in Triumphal +Arches—Cuban Carpenters—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—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.</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—and as +regards statue-making in the West Indies we echo the +sentiment—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—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.</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—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.</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—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.</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—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.</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—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.'</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—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.</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—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 <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:—</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—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.'</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—An eminent Violinist and Composer—Cuban +Pianos—Real Negro Minstrels—Carnival Songs—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—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—though +not to be rendered into corresponding English—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:—</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, &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:—</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:—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Por un Español doy medio;<br /> +Por un Cubano—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:—</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—<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:—</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:—</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?—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—two in every hand; but +I'll sing to you no more, because—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:—</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?—<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:—</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, &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!—'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.</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'—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.</p> + +<p>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:—</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—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.</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:—</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—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—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.</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—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.</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—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—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.</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—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 <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—the unknown—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:—</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—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.</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—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>—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—My Friend Tunicú—Cuban Beauties—Dark Divinities—A +Cuban Café—A Popular 'Pollo'—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—and +in this no other lady can equal her—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—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.'</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—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.'</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—sweet upon the +señorita, eh! Admire your taste—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—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—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—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!'</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—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.</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—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.</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:—</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—addressing his remarks indirectly to +both:—</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—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.</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—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.</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—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.</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—and some of the older ladies too—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—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!</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—A Rehearsal—The Spanish Censor—A Cuban +Audience—Dramatic Performances—Between Acts—Behind the Scenes—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—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.</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—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—A Foreign 'Star'—A Benefit Night—A Local Play—First +Appearance—A Serious 'Hitch'—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—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.</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:—</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'—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—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.</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:—</p> + +<p>'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.'</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—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.</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—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 <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.—'Válgame Dios! Ramon?'</p> + +<p>Ramon.—'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"—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 +<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—whom I address as Don Guebriel—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:—</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—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—— ' 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—'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—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—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.</p> + +<p>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.</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—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.</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—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.</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—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.</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—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!</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—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'—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.</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—Early Sport—An 'Ingenio'—Sugar and Rum—Afternoon +Sport—A Ride through the Country—Negro Dancing—An Evening in +the Country—'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—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.</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:—</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—Clandestine Courtship—A Love Scene—'Il Bacio' in Cuba—The +Course of True Love—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> </td><td>My soul's jewel!</td></tr> +<tr valign="top"><td>Botoncito de rosa!</td><td> </td><td> Little rose-bud!</td></tr> +<tr valign="top"><td>Lucero de la mañana!</td><td> </td><td> Dawn of the day!</td></tr> +<tr valign="top"><td>Luz de mi vida!</td><td> </td><td> Light of my life!</td></tr> +<tr valign="top"><td>Ojitos de cocuyo!</td><td> </td><td> Little fire-fly eyes!</td></tr> +<tr valign="top"><td>Consuelo mio! </td><td> </td><td> My own joy!</td></tr> +<tr valign="top"><td>Mi merenguito!</td><td> </td><td> My little merengue!</td></tr> +<tr valign="top"><td>Ojitos de pega-pega!</td><td> </td><td> Eyes that rivet!</td></tr> +<tr valign="top"><td>Mi monona! </td><td> </td><td> My lovely one!</td></tr> +<tr valign="top"><td>Mi tormento! </td><td> </td><td> My little torment!</td></tr> +<tr valign="top"><td>Mi consolacion!</td><td> </td><td> My consolation!</td></tr> +<tr valign="top"><td>Hija de mi alma!</td><td> </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—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—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.</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—'El Torno'—A Convent Letter—Accomplices—A +Powder Plot—With the Nuns—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—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:—</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.—<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—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.'</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—The <i>New York Trigger</i>—News from Porto Rico—A day +in Porto Rico—Don Felipe—A Mail Agent—Coasting—Aguadilla—Mayagüez—Santo +Domingo—Sight-seeing—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—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.</p> + +<p>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.</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—especially before a +witness—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:—</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:—</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:—</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—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—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.</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—which make <i>my</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</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—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 <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—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.</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—Local Intelligence—The Cuban Revolution—Spanish +Volunteers—A Recruit—With Bimba—- 'Los Insurrectos'—At a +Fire—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—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.</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—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—— 's warehouse, is a volunteer; and so +are the S—— '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—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 cœur, 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—as we afterwards find—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—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.</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—their cutlasses +shouldered and with revolvers in their belts—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—A Sally—Prisoners of War—'Los Voluntarios'—A triumphant +Return—Danger!—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—myself +among the number—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—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—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.'</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—The Etiquette of Smoking—A Cigarette Manufactory—The Courteous +Proprietor—The Visitors' Book—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—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—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.</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—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.</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 & 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?</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—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—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.</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—Bondage—A Bad Master—A Good God-Father—A +Cuban Christening—Anomaly of Slavery—A White Lover—Rivals—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—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!</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—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.</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—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—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.</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—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—turning his gaze from me as he spoke:—</p> + +<p>'Why should not mi Ermiña marry well? She is young, +beautiful, accomplished—'</p> + +<p>—'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—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.</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—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.</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—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.'</p> + +<p>'Not happier than it is now,' said I.</p> + +<p class="dots">. . . . . . . +. . . .</p> + +<p>'Los Insurrectos!—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—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.'</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—A Marriage Ceremony—A Wedding Breakfast—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—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—Summer and Winter—Cuban Refugees—Filibusters—'Los +Laborantes' of New York and their Work—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—wind +and weather permitting—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—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.</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—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 & Co., Printers, New-street Square, London</i>.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h3>NEW BOOKS OF TRAVEL.</h3> + + +<p><b>The Fayoum; or, Artists In Egypt.</b></p> + +<p class="nonp">A Tour with M. Gérôme and others. By J. <span class="smcap">Lenoir</span>. 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In 8vo. cloth, 14<i>s.</i></p> + + +<p><b>Bokhara: its History and Conquest.</b></p> + +<p class="nonp">By Professor <span class="smcap">Arminius Vambéry</span>, of the University of Pesth, +Author of 'Travels in Central Asia,' &c. Demy 8vo. 18<i>s.</i></p> + +<p>'We conclude with a cordial recommendation of this valuable book. In +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.' —— <span class="smcap">Saturday Review</span>.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="c smcap">Henry S. 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