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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/38203-8.txt b/38203-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a4043b8 --- /dev/null +++ b/38203-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4675 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Trip to Cuba, by Julia Ward Howe + +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: A Trip to Cuba + +Author: Julia Ward Howe + +Release Date: December 3, 2011 [EBook #38203 +[Last updated: March 11, 2013] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TRIP TO CUBA *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images available at The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + +A TRIP TO CUBA. + +BY + +MRS. JULIA WARD HOWE. + +BOSTON. + +TICKNOR AND FIELDS. + +M DCCC LX. + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by + +TICKNOR AND FIELDS, + +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of +the District of Massachusetts. + +RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: + +STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY + +H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAP. PAGE + +I. THE DEPARTURE 1 + +II. NASSAU 10 + +III. FROM NASSAU TO CUBA 20 + +IV. THE HARBOR OF HAVANA 30 + +V. HAVANA--THE HOTELS 40 + +VI. HAVANA--YOUR BANKER--OUR CONSUL--THE FRIENDLY CUP OF TEA 48 + +VII. HAVANA--THE JESUIT COLLEGE 57 + +VIII. SAN ANTONIO DE LOS BAÑOS 66 + +IX. THE MORRO FORTRESS--THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA--THE BENEFICENZA 79 + +X. CAN GRANDE'S DEPARTURE--THE DOMINICA--LOTTERY-TICKETS 94 + +XI. COMPANY AT THE HOTEL--SERVANTS--OUR DRIVE--DON PEPE 111 + +XII. MATANZAS 132 + +XIII. THE PASEO--THE PLAZA--DINING OUT 145 + +XIV. GAME-CHICKENS--DON RODRIGUEZ--DAY ON THE PLANTATION--DEPARTURE 157 + +XV. RETURN TO HAVANA--SAN ANTONIO AGAIN 177 + +XVI. SAN ANTONIO--CHURCH ON SUNDAY--THE NORTHER--THE S. FAMILY 190 + +XVII. EDUCATION--LAST NIGHT IN SAN ANTONIO--FAREWELL 202 + +XVIII. SLAVERY--CUBAN SLAVE LAWS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 212 + +XIX. FAREWELL! 238 + + + + +A TRIP TO CUBA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE DEPARTURE. + + +Why one leaves home at all is a question that travellers are sure, +sooner or later, to ask themselves,--I mean, pleasure-travellers. Home, +where one has the "Transcript" every night, and the "Autocrat" every +month, opera, theatre, circus, and good society, in constant +rotation,--home, where everybody knows us, and the little good there is +to know about us,--finally, home, as seen regretfully for the last time, +with the gushing of long frozen friendships, the priceless kisses of +children, and the last sad look at dear baby's pale face through the +window-pane,--well, all this is left behind, and we review it as a +dream, while the railroad-train hurries us along to the spot where we +are to leave, not only this, but Winter, rude tyrant, with all our +precious hostages in his grasp. Soon the swift motion lulls our brains +into the accustomed muddle. We seem to be dragged along like a miserable +thread pulled through the eye of an everlasting needle,--through and +through, and never through,--while here and there, like painful knots, +the _dépôts_ stop us, the poor thread is arrested for a minute, and then +the pulling begins again. Or, in another dream, we are like fugitives +threading the gauntlet of the grim forests, while the ice-bound trees +essay a charge of bayonets on either side; but, under the guidance of +our fiery Mercury, we pass them as safely as ancient Priam passed the +outposts of the Greeks,--and New York, hospitable as Achilles, receives +us in its mighty tent. Here we await the "Karnak," the British Mail +Company's new screw-steamer, bound for Havana, _viâ_ Nassau. At length +comes the welcome order to "be on board." We betake ourselves +thither,--the anchor is weighed, the gun fired, and we take leave of our +native land with a patriotic pang, which soon gives place to severer +spasms. + +I do not know why all celebrated people who write books of travels begin +by describing their days of sea-sickness. Dickens, George Combe, Fanny +Kemble, Mrs. Stowe, Miss Bremer, and many others, have opened in like +manner their valuable remarks on foreign countries. While intending to +avail myself of their privilege and example, I would nevertheless +suggest, for those who may come after me, that the subject of +sea-sickness should be embalmed in science, and enshrined in the crypt +of some modern encyclopædia, so that future writers should refer to it +only as the Pang Unspeakable, for which _vide_ Ripley and Dana, vol., +page. But, as I have already said, I shall speak of sea-sickness in a +hurried and picturesque manner, as follows:-- + +Who are these that sit by the long dinner-table in the forward cabin, +with a most unusual lack of interest in the bill of fare? Their eyes are +closed, mostly, their cheeks are pale, their lips are quite bloodless, +and to every offer of good cheer, their "No, thank you," is as faintly +uttered as are marriage-vows by maiden lips. Can they be the same that, +an hour ago, were so composed, so jovial, so full of dangerous defiance +to the old man of the sea? The officer who carves the roast-beef offers +at the same time a slice of fat;--this is too much; a panic runs through +the ranks, and the rout is instantaneous and complete. The ghost of what +each man was disappears through the trap-door of his state-room, and the +hell which the theatre faintly pictures behind the scenes begins in good +earnest. + +For to what but to Dante's "Inferno" can we liken this steamboat-cabin, +with its double row of pits, and its dismal captives? What are these +sighs, groans, and despairing noises, but the _alti guai_ rehearsed by +the poet? Its fiends are the stewards who rouse us from our perpetual +torpor with offers of food and praises of shadowy banquets,--"Nice +mutton-chop, Sir? roast-turkey? plate of soup?" Cries of "No, no!" +resound, and the wretched turn again, and groan. The Philanthropist has +lost the movement of the age,--keeled up in an upper berth, convulsively +embracing a blanket, what conservative more immovable than he? The Great +Man of the party refrains from his large theories, which, like the +circles made by the stone thrown into the water, begin somewhere and end +nowhere. As we have said, he expounds himself no more, the significant +forefinger is down, the eye no longer imprisons yours. But if you ask +him how he does, he shakes himself as if, like Farinata,-- + + "avesse l'inferno in gran dispetto,"-- + + "he had a very contemptible opinion of hell." + +Let me not forget to add, that it rains every day, that it blows every +night, and that it rolls through the twenty-four hours till the whole +world seems as if turned bottom upwards, clinging with its nails to +chaos, and fearing to launch away. The Captain comes and says,--"It is +true you have a nasty, short, chopping sea hereabouts; but you see, she +is spinning away down South jolly!" And this is the Gulf-Stream! + +But all things have an end, and most things have two. After the third +day, a new development manifests itself. Various shapeless masses are +carried up-stairs and suffered to fall like snow-flakes on the deck, and +to lie there in shivering heaps. From these larvæ gradually emerge +features and voices,--the luncheon-bell at last stirs them with the +thrill of returning life. They look up, they lean up, they exchange +pensive smiles of recognition,--the Steward comes, no fiend this time, +but a ministering angel; and lo! the strong man eats broth, and the weak +woman clamors for pickled oysters. And so ends my description of our +sea-sickness. + +For, as for betraying the confidences of those sad days, as for telling +how wofully untrue Professors of Temperance were to their principles, +how the Apostle of Total Abstinence developed a brandy-flask, not +altogether new, what unsuccessful tipplings were attempted in the +desperation of nausea, and for what lady that stunning brandy-smasher +was mixed,--as for such tales out of school, I would have you know that +I am not the man to tell them. + +Yet a portrait or so lingers in my mental repository;--let me throw them +in, to close off the lot. + +No. 1. A sober Bostonian in the next state-room, whose assiduity with +his sea-sick wife reminds one of Cock-Robin, in the days when he sent +Jenny Wren sops and wine. This person was last seen in a dressing-gown, +square-cut night-cap, and odd slippers, dancing up and down the +state-room floor with a cup of gruel, making wild passes with a spoon at +an individual in a berth, who never got any of the contents. Item, the +gruel, in a moment of excitement, finally ran in a stream upon the +floor, and was wiped up by the Steward. Result not known, but +disappointment is presumable. + +No. 2. A stout lady, imprisoned by a board on a sofa nine inches wide, +called by a facetious friend "The Coffin." She complains that her sides +are tolerably battered in;--we hold our tongues, and think that the +board, too, has had a hard time of it. Yet she is a jolly soul, laughing +at her misfortunes, and chirruping to her baby. Her spirits keep up, +even when her dinner won't keep down. Her favorite expressions are "Good +George!" and "Oh, jolly!" She does not intend, she says, to lay in any +dry goods in Cuba, but means to eat up all the good victuals she comes +across. Though seen at present under unfavorable circumstances, she +inspires confidence as to her final accomplishment of this result. + +No. 3. A woman, said to be of a literary turn of mind, in the +miserablest condition imaginable. Her clothes, flung at her by the +Stewardess seem to have hit in some places, and missed in others. Her +listless hands occasionally make an attempt to keep her draperies +together, and to pull her hat on her head; but though the intention is +evident, she accomplishes little by her motion. She is perpetually being +lugged about by a stout steward, who knocks her head against both sides +of the vessel, folds her up in the gangway, spreads her out on the deck, +and takes her up-stairs, down-stairs, and in my lady's chamber, where, +report says, he feeds her with a spoon, and comforts her with such +philosophy as he is master of. N.B. This woman, upon the first change of +weather, rose like a cork, dressed like a Christian, and toddled about +the deck in the easiest manner, sipping her grog, and cutting sly jokes +upon her late companions in misery,--is supposed by some to have been +an impostor, and, when ill-treated, announced intentions of writing a +book. + +No. 4, my last, is only a sketch;--circumstances allowed no more. Can +Grande, the great dog, has been got up out of the pit, where he worried +the Stewardess and snapped at the friend who tried to pat him on the +head. Everybody asks where he is. "Don't you see that heap of shawls +yonder, lying in the sun, and heated up to about 212° Fahrenheit? That +slouched hat on top marks the spot where his head should lie,--by +treading cautiously in the opposite direction you may discover his feet. +All between is perfectly passive and harmless. His chief food is +pickles,--his only desire is rest. After all these years of controversy, +after all these battles, bravely fought and nobly won, you might write +with truth upon this moveless mound of woollens the pathetic words from +Père la Chaise:--_Implora Pace_." + +But no more at present, for land is in sight, and in my next you shall +hear how we found it, and what we saw at Nassau. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +NASSAU. + + +Nassau looked very green and pleasant to us after our voyage;--the eyes +enjoy a little fresh provision after so long a course of salt food. The +first view of land is little more than "the feeling of the thing,"--it +is matter of faith, rather than of sight. You are shown a dark and +distant line, near the horizon, without color or features. They say it +is land, and you believe, it. But you come nearer and nearer,--you see +first the green of vegetation, then the form of the trees,--the harbor +at last opens its welcome arms,--the anchor is dropped,--the gun +fired,--the steam snuffed out. Led by a thread of sunshine, you have +walked the labyrinth of the waters, and all their gigantic dangers lie +behind you. + +We made Nassau at twelve o'clock, on the sixth day from our departure, +counting the first as one. The earliest feature discernible was a group +of tall cocoa-nut trees, with which the island is bounteously +feathered;--the second was a group of negroes in a small boat, steering +towards us with open-mouthed and white-toothed wonder. Nothing makes its +simple impression upon the mind sophisticated by education. The negroes, +as they came nearer, suggested only Christy's Minstrels, of whom they +were a tolerably faithful imitation,--while the cocoa-nut trees +transported us to the Boston in Ravel-time, and we strained our eyes to +see the wonderful ape, Jocko, whose pathetic death, nightly repeated, +used to cheat the credulous Bostonians of time, tears, and treasure. +Despite the clumsiest management, the boat soon effected a junction with +our gangway, allowing some nameless official to come on board, and to go +through I know not what mysterious and indispensable formality. Other +boats then came, like a shoal of little fishes around the carcass of a +giant whale. There were many negroes, together with whites of every +grade; and some of our number, leaning over the side, saw for the first +time the raw material out of which Northern Humanitarians have spun so +fine a skein of compassion and sympathy. + +Now we who write, and they for whom we write, are all orthodox upon this +mighty question. We have all made our confession of faith in private and +in public; we all, on suitable occasions, walk up and apply the match to +the keg of gunpowder which is to blow up the Union, but which, somehow, +at the critical moment, fails to ignite. But you must allow us one +heretical whisper,--very small and low. The negro of the North is an +ideal negro; it is the negro refined by white culture, elevated by white +blood, instructed even by white iniquity;--the negro among negroes is a +coarse, grinning, flat-footed, thick-skulled creature, ugly as Caliban, +lazy as the laziest of brutes, chiefly ambitious to be of no use to any +in the world. View him as you will, his stock in trade is small;--he has +but the tangible instincts of all creatures,--love of life, of ease, and +of offspring. For all else, he must go to school to the white race, and +his discipline must be long and laborious. Nassau, and all that we saw +of it, suggested to us the unwelcome question whether compulsory labor +be not better than none. But as a question I gladly leave it, and return +to the simple narration of what befell. + +There was a sort of eddy at the gangway of our steamer, made by the +conflicting tides of those who wanted to come on board and of those who +wanted to go on shore. We were among the number of the latter, but were +stopped and held by the button by one of the former, while those more +impatient or less sympathizing made their way to the small boats which +waited below. The individual in question had come alongside in a +handsome barge, rowed by a dozen stout blacks, in the undress uniform of +the Zouaves. These men, well drilled and disciplined, seemed of a +different sort from the sprawling, screaming creatures in the other +boats, and their bright red caps and white tunics became them well. But +he who now claimed my attention was of British birth and military +profession. His face was ardent, his pantaloons were of white flannel, +his expression of countenance was that of habitual discontent, but with +a twinkle of geniality in the eye which redeemed the Grumbler from the +usual tedium of his tribe. He accosted us as follows:-- + +"Go ashore? What for? To see something, eh? There's nothing to see; the +island, isn't bigger than a nut-shell, and doesn't contain a single +prospect.--Go ashore and get some dinner? There isn't anything to eat +there.--Fruit? None to speak of; sour oranges and green bananas.--I went +to market last Saturday, and bought one cabbage, one banana, and half a +pig's head;--there's a market for you!--Fish? Oh, yes, if you like +it.--Turtle? Yes, you can get the Gallipagos turtle; it makes tolerable +soup, but has not the green fat, which, in _my_ opinion, is the most +important feature in turtle-soup.--Shops? You can't buy a pair of +scissors on the island, nor a baby's bottle;--broke mine the other day, +and tried to replace it; couldn't.--Society? There are lots of people to +call upon you, and bore you to death with returning their visits." + +At last the Major went below, and we broke away, and were duly conveyed +to _terra firma_. It was Sunday, and late in the afternoon. The first +glimpse certainly seemed to confirm the Major's disparaging statements. +The town is small; the houses dingy and out of repair; the legend, that +paint costs nothing, is not received here; and whatever may have been +the original colors of the buildings, the climate has had its own way +with them for many a day. The barracks are superior in finish to +anything else we see. Government-House is a melancholy-looking +_caserne_, surrounded by a piazza, the grounds being adorned with a most +chunky and inhuman statue of Columbus. All the houses are surrounded by +verandas, from which pale children and languid women in muslins look +out, and incline us to ask what epidemic has visited the island and +swept the rose from every cheek. They are a pallid race, the Nassauese, +and retain little of the vigor of their English ancestry. One English +trait they exhibit,--the hospitality which has passed into a proverb; +another, perhaps,--the stanch adherence to the forms and doctrines of +Episcopacy. We enter the principal church;--they are just lighting it +for evening service; it is hung with candles, each burning in a clear +glass shade. The walls and ceiling are white-washed, and contrast +prettily with the dark timbering of the roof. We would gladly have staid +to give thanks for our safe and prosperous voyage, but a black +rain-cloud warns us homeward,--not, however, until we have received a +kind invitation from one of the hospitable Islanders to return the next +morning for a drive and breakfast. + +Returning soon after sunrise to fulfil this promise, we encounter the +barracks, and are tempted to look in and see the Sons of Darkness +performing their evolutions. The morning drill is about half over. We +peep in,--the Colonel, a lean Don Quixote on a leaner Rosinante, dashes +up to us with a weak attempt at a canter; he courteously invites us to +come in and see all that is to be seen, and lo! our friend the Major, +quite gallant in his sword and scarlet jacket, is detailed for our +service. The soldiers are black, and very black,--none of your dubious +American shades, ranging from clear salmon to _café au lait_ or even to +_café noir_. These are your good, satisfactory, African sables, +warranted not to change in the washing. Their Zouave costume is very +becoming, with the Oriental turban, caftan, and loose trousers; and the +Philosopher of our party remarks that the African requires costume, +implying that the New Englander can stand alone, as can his clothes, in +their black rigidity. The officers are white, and the Major very polite; +he shows us the men, the arms, the kits, the quarters, and, having done +all that he can do for us, relinquishes us with a gallant bow to our +Host of the drive and breakfast. + +The drive does something to retrieve the character of the island. The +road is hard and even, overhung with glossy branches of strange trees +bearing unknown fruits, and studded on each side with pleasant villas +and with negro huts. There are lovely flowers everywhere, among which +the Hibiscus, called South-Sea Rose, and the Oleander, are most +frequent, and most brilliant. We see many tall groves of cocoa-nut, and +cast longing glances towards the fruit, which little negroes, with +surprising activity, attain and shake down. A sudden turn in the road +discloses a lovely view of the bay, with its wonderful green waters, +clear and bright as emerald;--there is a little beach, and boats lie +about, and groups of negroes are laughing and chattering,--quoting +stocks from the last fish-market, very likely. We purchase for half a +dollar a bunch of bananas, for which Ford or Palmer would ask us ten +dollars at least, and go rejoicing to our breakfast. + +Our Host is a physician of the island, English by birth, and retaining +his robust form and color in spite of a twenty-years' residence in the +warm climate. He has a pleasant family of sons and daughters, all in +health, but without a shade of pink in lips or cheeks. The breakfast +consists of excellent fried fish, fine Southern hominy,--not the pebbly +broken corn which our dealers impose under that name,--various hot +cakes, tea and coffee, bananas, sapodillas, and if there be anything +else not included in the present statement, let haste and want of time +excuse the omission. The conversation runs a good deal on the hopes of +increasing prosperity which the new mail-steamer opens to the eyes of +the Nassauese. Invalids, they say, will do better there than in +Cuba,--it is quieter, much cheaper, and the climate is milder. There +will be a hotel very soon, where no attention will be spared, etc., etc. +The Government will afford every facility, etc., etc. It seemed indeed a +friendly little place, with delicious air and sky, and a good, +reasonable, decent, English tone about it. Expenses moderate, ye fathers +of encroaching families. Negroes abundant and natural, ye students of +ethnological possibilities. Officers in red jackets, you young +ladies,--young ones, some of them. Why wouldn't you all try it, +especially as the Captain of the "Karnak" is an excellent sailor, and +the kindest and manliest of conductors? + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +FROM NASSAU TO CUBA. + + +The breakfast being over, we recall the Captain's parting admonition to +be on board by ten o'clock, with the significant gesture and roll of the +eye which clearly express that England expects every passenger to do his +duty. Now we know very well that the "Karnak" is not likely to weigh +anchor before twelve, at the soonest, but we dare not for our lives +disobey the Captain. So, passing by yards filled with the huge Bahama +sponges, piles of wreck-timber, fishing-boats with strange fishes, red, +yellow, blue, and white, and tubs of aldermanic turtle, we attain the +shore, and presently, the steamer. Here we find a large deputation of +the towns-people taking passage with us for a pleasure excursion to +Havana. The greater number are ladies and children. They come fluttering +on board, poor things, like butterflies, in gauzy dresses, hats, and +feathers, according to the custom of their country; one gentleman takes +four little daughters with him for a holiday. We ask ourselves whether +they know what an ugly beast the Gulf-Stream is, that they affront him +in such light armor. "Good heavens! how sick they will be!" we exclaim; +while they eye us askance, in our winter trim, and pronounce us slow, +and old fogies. With all the rashness of youth, they attack the +luncheon-table. So boisterous a popping of corks was never heard in all +our boisterous passage;--there is a chorus, too, of merry tongues and +shrill laughter. But we get fairly out to sea, where the wind, an +adverse one, is waiting for us, and at that gay table there is silence, +followed by a rush and disappearance. The worst cases are hurried out of +sight, and going above, we find the disabled lying in groups about the +deck, the feather-hats discarded, the muslins crumpled, and we, the old +fogies, going to cover the fallen with shawls and blankets, to speak +words of consolation, and to implore the sufferers not to cure +themselves with brandy, soda-water, claret, and wine-bitters, in quick +succession,--which they, nevertheless, do, and consequently are no +better that day, nor the next. + +But I am forgetting to chronicle a touching parting interview with the +Major, the last thing remembered in Nassau, and of course the last to be +forgotten anywhere. Our concluding words might best be recorded in the +form of a catechism of short questions and answers, to wit:-- + +"How long did the Major expect to stay in Nassau?" + +"About six months." + +"How long would he stay, if he had his own way?" + +"Not one!" + +"What did he come for, then?" + +"Oh, you buy into a nigger regiment for promotion." + +These were the most important facts elicited by cross-examination. At +last we shook hands warmly, promising to meet again somewhere, and the +crimson-lined barge with the black Zouaves carried him away. In humbler +equipages depart the many black women who have visited the steamer, some +for amusement, some to sell the beautiful shell-work made on the island. +These may be termed, in general, as ugly a set of wenches as one could +wish not to see. They all wear palm-leaf hats stuck on their heads +without strings or ribbons, and their clothes are so ill-made that you +cannot help thinking that each has borrowed somebody else's dress, until +you see that the ill-fitting garments are the rule, not the exception. + +But neither youth nor sea-sickness lasts forever. The forces of nature +rally on the second day, and the few who have taken no remedies recover +the use of their tongues and some of their faculties. From these I +gather what I shall here impart as + + +SERIOUS VIEWS OF THE BAHAMAS. + +The principal exports of these favored islands are fruits, sponges, +molasses, and sugar. Their imports include most of the necessaries of +life, which come to them oftenest in the form of wrecks, by which they +obtain them at a small fraction of the original cost and value. For this +resource they are indebted to the famous Bahama Banks, which to their +way of thinking are institutions as important as the Bank of England +itself. These banks stand them in a handsome annual income, and +facilitate large discounts and transfers of property not contemplated by +the original possessors. One supposes that somebody must suffer by these +forced sales of large cargoes at prices ruinous to commerce,--but _who_ +suffers is a point not easy to ascertain. There seems to be a good, +comfortable understanding all round. The Owners say, "Go ahead, and +don't bother yourself,--she's insured." The Captain has got his ship +aground in shoal water where she can't sink, and no harm done. The +friendly wreckers are close at hand to haul the cargo ashore. The +Underwriter of the insurance company has shut his eyes and opened his +mouth to receive a plum, which, being a good large one, will not let him +speak. And so the matter providentially comes to pass, and "enterprises +of great pith and moment" oftenest get no further than the Bahamas. + +Nassau produces neither hay nor corn,--these, together with butter, +flour, and tea, being brought chiefly from the United States. Politics, +of course, it has none. As to laws, the colonial system certainly needs +propping up,--for under its action a man may lead so shameless a life of +immorality as to compel his wife to leave him, and yet not be held +responsible for her support and that of the children she has borne him. +The principal points of interest are, first, the garrison,--secondly, +Government-House, with an occasional ball there,--and, third, one's +next-door neighbor, and his or her doings. The principal event in the +memory of the citizens seems to be a certain most desirable wreck, in +consequence of which, a diamond card-case, worth fifteen hundred +dollars, was sold for an eighth part of that sum, and laces, whose +current price ranges from thirty to forty dollars a yard, were purchased +at will for seventy-five cents. That was a wreck worth having! say the +Nassauese. The price of milk ranges from eighteen to twenty-five cents +a quart;--think of that, ye New England housekeepers! That precious +article, the pudding, is nearly unknown in the Nassauese economy; nor is +pie-crust so short as it might be, owing to the enormous price of +butter, which has been known to attain the sum of one dollar per pound. +Eggs are quoted at prices not commendable for large families with small +means. On the other hand, fruits, vegetables, and sugar-cane are +abundant. + +The Nassauese, on the whole, seem to be a kind-hearted and friendly set +of people, partly English, partly Southern in character, but with rather +a predominance of the latter ingredient in their composition. Their +women resemble the women of our own Southern States, but seem simpler +and more domestic in their habits,--while the men would make tolerable +Yankees, but would scarcely support President Buchanan, the Kansas +question, or the Filibustero movement. Physically, the race suffers and +degenerates under the influence of the warm climate. Cases of pulmonary +disease, asthma, and neuralgia are of frequent occurrence, and cold is +considered as curative to them as heat is to us. The diet, too, is not +that "giant ox-beef" which the Saxon race requires. Meat is rare and +tough, unless brought from the States at high cost. We were forced to +the conclusion that no genuine English life can be supported upon a +_régime_ of fish and fruit,--or, in other words, no beef, no Bull, but a +very different sort of John, lantern-jawed, leather-skinned, and of a +thirsty complexion. It occurred to us, furthermore, that it is a +dolorous thing to live on a lonely little island, tied up like a wart on +the face of civilization,--no healthful stream of life coming and going +from the great body of the main land,--the same moral air to be breathed +over and over again, without renewal,--the same social elements turned +and returned in one tiresome kaleidoscope. Wherefore rejoice, ye +Continentals, and be thankful, and visit the Nassauese, bringing beef, +butter, and beauty,--bringing a few French muslins, to replace the +coarse English fabrics, and buxom Irish girls to outwork the idle negro +women,--bringing new books, newspapers, and periodicals,--bringing the +Yankee lecturer, all expenses paid, and his drink found him. All these +good things, and more, the States have for the Nassauese, of whom we +must now take leave, for all hands have been piped on deck. + +We have jolted for three weary days over the roughest of ocean-highways, +and Cuba, nay, Havana, is in sight. The worst cases are up, and begin to +talk about their sea-legs, now that the occasion for them is at an end. +Sobrina, the chief wit of our party, who would eat sour-sop, sapodilla, +orange, banana, cocoa-nut, and sugar-cane at Nassau, and who has lived +upon toddy of twenty-cocktail power ever since,--even she is seen, +clothed and in her right mind, sitting at the feet of the Prophet she +loves, and going through the shawl-and-umbrella exercise. And here is +the Morro Castle, which guards the entrance of the harbor,--here go the +signals, answering to our own. Here comes the man with the +speaking-trumpet, who, understanding no English, yells out to our +captain, who understands no Spanish. The following is a free rendering +of their conversation:-- + +"Any Americans on board?" + +"Yes, thank Heaven, plenty." + +"How many are Filibusteros?" + +"All of them." + +"Bad luck to them, then!" + +"The same to you!" + +"_Caramba_," says the Spaniard. + +"---- ----," says the Englishman. + +And so the forms of diplomacy are fulfilled; and of Havana, more in my +next. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE HARBOR OF HAVANA. + + +As we have said, there were some official mysteries connected with the +arrival of our steamer in Nassau; but these did not compare with the +visitations experienced in Havana. As soon as we had dropped anchor, a +swarm of dark creatures came on board, with gloomy brows, mulish noses, +and suspicious eyes. This application of Spanish flies proves irritating +to the good-natured Captain, and uncomfortable to all of us. All +possible documents are produced for their satisfaction,--bill of lading, +bill of health, and so on. Still they persevere in tormenting the whole +ship's crew, and regard us, when we pass, with all the hatred of race in +their rayless eyes. "Is it a crime," we are disposed to ask, "to have a +fair Saxon skin, blue eyes, and red blood?" Truly, one would seem to +think so; and the first glance at this historical race makes clear to +us the Inquisition, the Conquest of Granada, and the ancient butcheries +of Alva and Pizarro. + +As Havana is an unco uncertain place for accommodations, we do not go on +shore, the first night, but, standing close beside the bulwarks, feel a +benevolent pleasure in seeing our late companions swallowed and carried +off like tidbits by the voracious boatmen below, who squabble first for +them and then with them, and so gradually disappear in the darkness. On +board the "Karnak" harmony reigns serene. The custom-house wretches are +gone, and we are, on the whole, glad we did not murder them. Our little +party enjoys tea and bread-and-butter together for the last time. After +so many mutual experiences of good and evil, the catguts about our tough +old hearts are loosened, and discourse the pleasant music of Friendship. +An hour later, I creep up to the higher deck, to have a look-out +forward, where the sailors are playing leap-frog and dancing +fore-and-afters. I have a genuine love of such common sights, and am +quite absorbed by the good fun before me, when a solemn voice sounds at +my left, and looking round, I perceive Can Grande, who has come up to +explain to me the philosophy of the sailor's dances, and to unfold his +theory of amusements, as far as the narrow area of one little brain +(mine, not his) will permit. His monologue, and its interruptions, ran +very much as follows:-- + +I.--This is a pleasant sight, isn't it? + +_Can Grande._--It has a certain interest, as exhibiting the inborn ideal +tendency of the human race;--no tribe of people so wretched, so poor, or +so infamous as to dispense with amusement, in some form or other. + +_Voice from below._--Play up, Cook! That's but a slow jig ye're fluting +away at. + +_Can Grande._--I went once to the Five Points of New York, with a +police-officer and two philanthropists;--our object was to investigate +that lowest phase of social existence.---- + +Bang, whang, go the wrestlers below, with loud shouts and laughter. I +give them one eye and ear,--Can Grande has me by the other. + +_Can Grande._--I went into one of their miserable dance-saloons. I saw +there the vilest of men and the vilest of women, meeting with the worst +intentions; but even for this they had the fiddle, music and dancing. +Without this little crowning of something higher, their degradation +would have been intolerable to themselves and to each other.---- + +Here the man who gave the back in leap-frog suddenly went down in the +middle of the leap, bringing with him the other who, rolling on the +deck, caught the traitor by the hair, and pommeled him to his heart's +content. I ventured to laugh, and exclaim, "Did you see that?" + +_Can Grande._--Yes; that is very common.--At that dance of death, every +wretched woman had such poor adornment as her circumstances allowed,--a +collar, a tawdry ribbon, a glaring false jewel, her very rags disposed +with the greater decency of the finer sex,--a little effort at beauty, a +sense of it. The good God puts it there;--He does not allow the poorest, +the lowest of his human children the thoughtless indifference of +brutes.---- + +And there was the beautiful tropical sky above, starry, soft, and +velvet-deep,--the placid waters all around, and at my side the Man who +is to speak no more in public, but whose words in private have still the +old thrill, the old power to shake the heart and bring the good thoughts +uppermost. I put my hand in his, and we descended the companion-way +together, and left the foolish sailors to their play. + +But now, on the after-deck, the Captain, entreated and in nowise +unwilling, takes down his violin, and with pleasant touch gives us the +dear old airs, "Home, Sweet Home," "Annie Laurie," and so on, and we +accompany him with voices toned down by the quiet of the scene around. +He plays too, with a musing look, the merry tune to which his little +daughter dances, in the English dancing-school, hundreds of leagues +away. Good-night, at last, and make the most of it. Coolness and quiet +on the water to-night, and heat and mosquitoes, howling of dogs and +chattering of negroes to-morrow night, in Havana. + +The next morning allowed us to accomplish our transit to the desired +land of Havana. We pass the Custom-house, where an official in a cage, +with eyes of most oily sweetness, and tongue, no doubt, to match, +pockets our gold, and imparts in return a governmental permission to +inhabit the island of Cuba for the space of one calendar month. We go +trailing through the market, where we buy peeled oranges, and through +the streets, where we eat them, seen and recognized afar as Yankees by +our hats, bonnets, and other features. We stop at the Café Dominica, and +refresh with coffee and buttered rolls, for we have still a drive of +three miles to accomplish before breakfast. All the hotels in Havana are +full, and more than full. Woolcut, of the Cerro, three miles from the +gates, is the only landlord who will take us in; so he seizes us fairly +by the neck, bundles us into an omnibus, swears that his hotel is but +two miles distant, smiles archly when we find the two miles long, brings +us where he wants to have us, the Spaniards in the omnibus puffing and +staring at the ladies all the way. Finally, we arrive at his hotel, glad +to be somewhere, but hot, tired, hungry, and not in raptures with our +first experience of tropical life. + +It must be confessed that our long-tried energies fall somewhat flat on +the quiet of Woolcut's. We look round, and behold one long room with +marble floor, with two large doors, not windows, opening in front upon +the piazza and the street, and other openings into a large court behind, +surrounded by small, dark bedrooms. The large room is furnished with two +dilapidated cane sofas, a few chairs, a small table, and three or four +indifferent prints, which we have ample time to study. For company, we +see a stray New York or Philadelphia family, a superannuated Mexican who +smiles and bows to everybody, and some dozen of those undistinguishable +individuals whom we class together as Yankees, and who, taking the map +from Maine to Georgia, might as well come from one place as another, the +Southerner being as like the Northerner as a dried pea is to a green +pea. The ladies begin to hang their heads, and question a +little:--"What are we to do here? and where is the perfectly delightful +Havana you told us of?" Answer:--"There is nothing whatever to do here, +at this hour of the day, but to undress and go to sleep;--the heat will +not let you stir, the glare will not let you write or read. Go to bed; +dinner is at four; and after that, we will make an effort to find the +Havana of the poetical and Gan Eden people, praying Heaven it may not +have its only existence in their brains." + +Still, the pretty ones do not brighten. They walk up and down, eyeing +askance the quiet boarders who look so contented over their children and +worsted-work, and wondering in what part of the world they have taken +the precaution to leave their souls. Unpacking is then begun, with +rather a flinging of the things about, interspersed with little peppery +hints as to discomfort and dulness, and dejected stage-sighs, intended +for hearing. But this cannot go on,--the thermometer is at 78° in the +shade,--an intense and contagious stillness reigns through the +house,--some good genius waves a bunch of poppies near those little +fretful faces, for which a frown is rather heavy artillery. The balmy +breath of sleep blows off the lightly-traced furrows, and after a dreamy +hour or two all is bright, smooth, and freshly dressed, as a husband +could wish it. The dinner proves not intolerable, and after it we sit on +the piazza. A refreshing breeze springs up, and presently the tide of +the afternoon drive sets in from the city. The _volantes_ dash by, with +silver-studded harnesses, and postilions black and booted; within sit +the pretty Señoritas, in twos and threes. They are attired mostly in +muslins, with bare necks and arms; bonnets they know not,--their heads +are dressed with flowers, or with jewelled pins. Their faces are +whitened, we know, with powder, but in the distance the effect is +pleasing. Their dark eyes are vigilant; they know a lover when they see +him. But there is no twilight in these parts, and the curtain of the +dark falls upon the scene as suddenly as the screen of the theatre upon +the _dénouement_ of the tragedy. Then comes a cup of truly infernal +tea, the mastication of a stale roll, with butter, also stale,--then, +more sitting on the piazza,--then, retirement, and a wild hunt after +mosquitoes,--and so ends the first day at Woolcut's, on the Cerro. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +HAVANA. THE HOTELS. + + +"Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn?" Yes, truly, if you can get it, +Jack Falstaff; but it is one thing to pay for comfort, and another thing +to have it. You certainly pay for it, in Havana; for the $3 or $3.50 +_per diem_, which is your simplest hotel-charge there, should, in any +civilized part of the world, give you a creditable apartment, clean +linen, and all reasonable diet. What it does give, the travelling public +may like to learn. + +Can Grande has left Woolcut's. The first dinner did not please him,--the +cup of tea, with only bread, exasperated,--and the second breakfast, +greasy, peppery, and incongruous, finished his disgust; so he asked for +his bill, packed his trunk, called the hotel detestable, and went. + +Now he was right enough in this; the house is detestable;--but as all +houses of entertainment throughout the country are about equally so, it +is scarcely fair to complain of one. I shall not fear to be more +inclusive in my statement, and to affirm that in no part of the world +does one get so little comfort for so much money as on the Island of +Cuba. To wit: an early cup of black coffee, oftenest very bad; bread not +to be had without an extra sputtering of Spanish, and darkening of the +countenance;--to wit, a breakfast between nine and ten, invariably +consisting of fish, rice, beefsteak, fried plantains, salt cod with +tomatoes, stewed tripe and onions, indifferent claret, and an after-cup +of coffee or green tea;--to wit, a dinner at three or four, of which the +inventory varieth not,--to wit, a plate of soup, roast beef, tough +turkeys and chickens, tolerable ham, nameless stews, cayota, plantains, +salad, sweet potatoes; and for dessert, a spoonful each of West India +preserve,--invariably the kind you do not like,--oranges, bananas, and +another cup of coffee;--to wit, tea of the sort already described;--to +wit, attendance and non-attendance of negro and half-breed waiters, who +mostly speak no English, and neither know nor care what you want;--to +wit, a room whose windows, reaching from floor to ceiling, inclose no +glass, and are defended from the public by iron rails, and from the +outer air, at desire, by clumsy wooden shutters, which are closed only +when it rains;--to wit, a bed with a mosquito-netting;--to wit, a towel +and a pint of water, for all ablutions. This is the sum of your comforts +as to quantity; but as to their quality, experience alone can enlighten +you. + +Taking pity on my exile at the Cerro, Can Grande and his party invite me +to come and spend a day at their hotel, of higher reputation, and +situated in the centre of things. I go;--the breakfast, to my surprise, +is just like Woolcut's; the dinner _idem_, but rather harder to get; +preserves for tea, and two towels daily, instead of one, seem to +constitute the chief advantages of this establishment. Domestic linens, +too, are fairer than elsewhere; but when you have got your ideas of +cleanliness down to the Cuban standard, a shade or two either way makes +no material difference. + +Can Grande comes and goes; for stay in the hotel, behind those +prison-gratings, he cannot. He goes to the market and comes back, goes +to the Jesuit College and comes back, goes to the Banker's and gets +money. In his encounters with the sun he is like a prize-fighter coming +up to time. Every round finds him weaker and weaker, still his pluck is +first-rate, and he goes at it again. It is not until three, P. M., that +he wrings out his dripping pocket-handkerchief, slouches his hat over +his brows, and gives in as dead-beat. + +They of the lovely sex meanwhile undergo, with what patience they may, +an Oriental imprisonment. In the public street they must on no account +set foot. The Creole and Spanish women are born and bred to this, and +the hardiest American or English woman will scarcely venture out a +second time without the severe escort of husband or brother. These +relatives are, accordingly, in great demand. In the thrifty North, Man +is considered an incumbrance from breakfast to dinner,--and the sooner +he is fed and got out of the way in the morning, the better the work of +the household goes on. If the master of the house return at an +unseasonable hour, he is held to an excuse, and must prove a headache, +or other suitable indisposition. In Havana, on the contrary, the +American woman suddenly becomes very fond of her husband:--"he must not +leave her at home alone; where does he go? she will go with him; when +will he come back? Remember, now, she will expect him." The secret of +all this is that she cannot go out without him. The other Angel of +deliverance is the _volante_, with its tireless horses and _calesero_, +who seems fitted and screwed to the saddle, which he never leaves. He +does not even turn his head for orders. His senses are in the back of +his head, or wherever his Mistress pleases. "_José, Calle de la Muralla, +esquina á los oficios_,"--and the black machine moves on, without look, +word, or sign of intelligence. In New York, your Irish coachman grins +approval of your order; and even an English flunkey may touch his hat +and say, "Yes, Mum." But in the Cuban negro of service, dumbness is the +complement of darkness. You speak, and the patient right hand pulls the +strap that leads the off horse, while the other gathers up the reins of +the nigh, and the horses, their tails tightly braided and deprived of +all movement, seem as mechanical as the driver. Happy are the ladies at +the hotel who have a perpetual _volante_ at their service! for they +dress in their best clothes three times a day, and do not soil them by +contact with the dusty street. They drive before breakfast, and shop +before dinner, and after dinner go to flirt their fans and refresh their +robes on the Paseo, where the fashions drive. At twilight, they stop at +friendly doors and pay visits, or at the entrance of the _café_, where +ices are brought out to them. At eight o'clock they go to the Plaza, and +hear the band play, sitting in the _volante_; and at ten they come home +without fatigue, having all day taken excellent care of Number One, +beyond which their arithmetic does not extend. "I and my _volante_" is +like Cardinal Wolsey's "_Ego et Rex meus_." + +As for those who have no _volantes_, modesty becomes them, and +quietness of dress and demeanor. They get a little walk before +breakfast, and stay at home all day, or ride in an omnibus, which is +perhaps worse;--they pay a visit now and then in a hired carriage, the +bargain being made with difficulty;--they look a good deal through the +bars of the windows, and remember the free North, and would, perhaps, +envy the _volante_-commanding women, did not dreadful Moses forbid. + +One alleviation of the tedium of hotel-life in the city is the almost +daily visit of the young man from the dry-goods' shop, who brings +samples of lawns, linen dresses, piña handkerchiefs, and fans of all +prices, from two to seventy-five dollars. The ladies cluster like bees +around these flowery goods, and, after some hours of bargaining, +disputing, and purchasing, the vendor pockets the golden honey, and +marches off. As dressmakers in Havana are scarce, dear, and bad, our +fair friends at the hotel make up these dresses mostly themselves, and +astonish their little world every day by appearing in new attire. "How +extravagant!" you say. They reply, "Oh! it cost nothing for the making; +I made it myself." But we remember to have heard somewhere that "Time is +Money." At four in the afternoon, a negress visits in turn every +bedroom, sweeps out the mosquitoes from the curtains with a +feather-brush, and lets down the mosquito-net, which she tucks in around +the bed. After this, do not meddle with your bed until it is time to get +into it; then put the light away, open the net cautiously, enter with a +dexterous swing, and close up immediately, leaving no smallest opening +to help them after. In this mosquito-net you live, move, and have your +being until morning; and should you venture to pull it aside, even for +an hour, you will appall your friends, next day, with a face which +suggests the early stages of small-pox, or the spotted fever. + +The valuable information I have now communicated is the sum of what I +learned in that one day at Mrs. Almy's; and though our party speedily +removed thither, I doubt whether I shall be able to add to it anything +of importance. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +HAVANA. YOUR BANKER. OUR CONSUL. THE FRIENDLY CUP OF TEA. + + +One is apt to arrive in Havana with a heart elated by the prospect of +such kindnesses and hospitalities as are poetically supposed to be the +perquisite of travellers. You count over your letters as so many +treasures; you regard the unknown houses you pass as places of deposit +for the new acquaintances and delightful friendships which await you. In +England, say you, each of these letters would represent a pleasant +family-mansion thrown open to your view,--a social breakfast,--a dinner +of London wits,--a box at the opera,--or the visit of a Lord, whose +perfect carriage and livery astonish the quiet street in which you +lodge, and whose good taste and good manners should, one thinks, prove +contagious, at once soothing and shaming the fretful Yankee conceit. +But your Cuban letters, like fairy money, soon turn to withered leaves +in your possession, and, having delivered two or three of them, you +employ the others more advantageously, as shaving-paper, or for the +lighting of cigars, or any other useful purpose. + +Your Banker, of course, stands first upon the list,--and to him +accordingly, with a beaming countenance, you present yourself. For him +you have a special letter of recommendation, and however others may +fail, you consider him as sure as the trump of the deal at whist. But +why, alas, should people, who have gone through the necessary +disappointments of life, prepare for themselves others, which may be +avoided? Listen and learn. At the first visit, your Banker is tolerably +glad to see you,--he discounts your modest letter of credit, and pockets +his two and a half _per cent_, with the best grace imaginable. If he +wishes to be very civil, he offers you a seat, offers you a cigar, and +mumbles in an indistinct tone that he will be happy to serve you in any +way. You call again and again, keeping yourself before his favorable +remembrance,--always the same seat, the same cigar, the same desire to +serve you, carefully repressed, and prevented from breaking out into any +overt demonstration of good-will. At last, emboldened by the brilliant +accounts of former tourists and the successes of your friends, you +suggest that you would like to see a plantation,--you only ask for +one,--would he give you a letter, etc., etc.? He assumes an abstracted +air, wonders if he knows anybody who has a plantation,--the fact being +that he scarcely knows anybody who has not one. Finally, he will +try,--call again, and he will let you know. You call again,--"Next +week," he says. You call after that interval,--"Next week," again, is +all you get. Now, if you are a thorough-bred man, you can afford to +quarrel with your Banker; so you say, "Next week,--why not next +year?"--make a very decided snatch at your hat, and wish him a very long +"good-morning." But if you are a Snob and afraid, you take his neglect +quietly enough, and will boast, when you go home, of his polite +attentions to yourself and family, when on the Island of Cuba. + +_Our Consul_ is the next post in the weary journey of your hopes, and to +him, with such assurance as you have left, you now betake yourself. +Touching him personally I have nothing to say. I will only remark, in +general, that the traveller who can find, in any part of the world, an +American Consul not disabled from all service by ill-health, want of +means, ignorance of foreign languages, or unpleasant relations with the +representatives of foreign powers,--that traveller, we say, should go in +search of the sea-serpent, and the passage of the North Pole, for he has +proved himself able to find what, to every one but him, is +undiscoverable. + +But who, setting these aside, is to show you any attention? Who will +lift you from the wayside, and set you upon his own horse, or in his own +_volante_, pouring oil and wine upon your wounded feelings? Ah! the +breed of the good Samaritan is never allowed to become extinct in this +world, where so much is left for it to do. + +A kind and hospitable American family, long resident in Havana, takes us +up at last. They call upon us, and we lift up our heads; they take us +out in their carriage, and we step in with a little familiar flounce, +intended to show that we are used to such things; finally, they invite +us to a friendly cup of tea,--all the hotel knows it,--we have tarried +at home in the shade long enough. Now, people have begun to find us +out,--_we are going out to tea_! + +How pleasant the tea-table was, how good the tea, how more than good the +bread-and-butter and plum-cake, how quaint the house of Spanish +construction, all open to the air, adorned with flowers like a temple, +fresh and fragrant, and with no weary upholstery to sit heavy on the +sight, how genial and prolonged the talk, how reluctant the +separation,--imagine it, ye who sing the songs of home in a strange +land. And ye who cannot imagine, forgo the pleasure, for I shall tell +you no more about it. I will not, I, give names, to make good-natured +people regret the hospitality they have afforded. If they have +entertained unawares angels and correspondents of the press, (I use the +two terms as synonymous,) they shall not be made aware of it by the +sacrifice of their domestic privacy. All celebrated people do this, and +that we do it not answers for our obscurity. + +The cup of tea proves the precursor of many kind services and pleasant +hours. Our new friends assist us to a deal of sight-seeing, and +introduce us to cathedral, college, and garden. We walk out with them at +sunrise and at sunset, and sit under the stately trees, and think it +almost strange to be at home with people of our own race and our own way +of thinking, so far from the home-surroundings. For the gardens, they +may chiefly be described as triumphs of Nature over Art,--our New +England horticulture being, on the contrary, the triumph of Art over +Nature, after a hard-fought battle. Here, the avenues of palm and cocoa +are magnificent, and the flowers new to us, and very brilliant. But +pruning and weeding out are hard tasks for Creole natures, with only +negroes to help them. There is for the most part a great overgrowth and +overrunning of the least desirable elements, a general air of +slovenliness and unthrift. In all artificial arrangements decay seems +imminent, and the want of idea in the laying out of grounds is a +striking feature. In Italian villas, the feeling of the Beautiful, which +has produced a race of artists, is everywhere manifest,--everywhere are +beautiful forms and picturesque effects. Even the ruins of Rome seem to +be held together by this fine bond. No stone dares to drop, no arch to +moulder, but with an exquisite and touching grace. And the weeds, oh! +the weeds that hang their little pennon on the Coliseum, how graciously +do they float, as if they said,--"Breathe softly, lest this crumbling +vision of the Past go down before the rude touch of the modern world!" +And so one treads lightly, and speaks in hushed accents; lest, in the +brilliant Southern noon, one should wake the sleeping heart of Rome to +the agony of her slow extinction. + +But what is all this? We are dreaming of Rome,--and this is Cuba, where +the spirit of Art has never been, and where it could not pass without +sweeping out from houses, churches, gardens, and brains, such trash as +has rarely been seen and endured elsewhere. They show us, for example, +some mutilated statues in the ruins of what is called the Bishop's +Garden. Why, the elements did a righteous work, when they effaced the +outlines of these coarse and trivial shapes, unworthy even the poor +marble on which they were imposed. Turning from these, however, we find +lovely things enough to rebuke this savage mood of criticism. The +palm-trees are unapproachable in beauty,--they stand in rows like Ionic +columns, straight, strong, and regular, with their plumed capitals. They +talk solemnly of the Pyramids and the Desert, whose legends have been +whispered to them by the winds that cross the ocean, freighted with the +thoughts of God. Then, these huge white lilies, deep as goblets, from +which one drinks fragrance, and never exhausts,--these thousand unknown +jewels of the tropics. Here is a large tank, whose waters are covered +with the leaves and flowers of beautiful aquatic plants, whose Latin +names are of no possible consequence to anybody. Here, in the very heart +of the garden, is a rustic lodge, curtained with trailing vines. Birds +in cages are hung about it, and a sweet voice, singing within, tells us +that the lodge is the cage of a yet more costly bird. We stop to listen, +and the branches of the trees seem to droop more closely about us, the +twilight lays its cool, soft touch upon our heated foreheads, and we +whisper,--"Peace to his soul!" as we leave the precincts of the Bishop's +Garden. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +HAVANA--THE JESUIT COLLEGE. + + +The gentlemen of our party go one day to visit the Jesuit College in +Havana, yclept "_Universidad de Belen_." The ladies, weary of dry goods, +manifest some disposition to accompany them. This is at once frowned +down by the unfairer sex, and Can Grande, appealed to by the other side, +shakes his shoulders, and replies, "No, you are only miserable women, +and cannot be admitted into any Jesuit establishment whatever." And so +the male deputation departs with elation, and returns with airs of +superior opportunity, and is more insufferable than ever at dinner, and +thereafter. + +They of the feminine faction, on the other hand, consult with more +direct authorities, and discover that the doors of Belen are in nowise +closed to them, and that everything within those doors is quite at +their disposition, saving and excepting the sleeping-apartments of the +Jesuit fathers,--to which, even in thought, they would on no account +draw near. And so they went and saw Belen, whereof one of them relates +as follows. + +The building is spacious, inclosing a hollow square, and with numerous +galleries, like European cloisters, where the youth walk, study, and +play. We were shown up-stairs, into a pleasant reception-room, where two +priests soon waited on us. One of these, Padre Doyaguez, seemed to be +the decoy-duck of the establishment, and soon fastened upon one of our +party, whose Protestant tone of countenance had probably caught his +attention. Was she a Protestant? Oh, no!--not with that intelligent +physiognomy!--not with that talent! What was her name? Julia (pronounced +_H_ulia). Hulia was a Roman name, a Catholic name; he had never heard of +a Hulia who was a Protestant;--very strange, it seemed to him, that a +Hulia could hold to such unreasonable ideas. The other priest, Padre +Lluc, meanwhile followed with sweet, quiet eyes, whose silent looks had +more persuasion in them than all the innocent cajoleries of the elder +man. Padre Doyaguez was a man eminently qualified to deal with the sex +in general,--a coaxing voice, a pair of vivacious eyes whose cunning was +not unpleasing, tireless good-humor and perseverance, and a savor of +sincerity. Padre Lluc was the sort of man that one recalls in quiet +moments with a throb of sympathy,--the earnest eyes, the clear brow, the +sonorous voice. One thinks of him, and hopes that he is satisfied,--that +cruel longing and more cruel doubt shall never spring up in that +capacious heart, divorcing his affections and convictions from the +system to which his life is irrevocably wedded. No, keep still, Padre +Lluc! think ever as you think now, lest the faith that seems a fortress +should prove a prison, the mother a step-dame,--lest the high, +chivalrous spirit, incapable of a safe desertion, should immolate truth +or itself on the altar of consistency. + +Between those two advocates of Catholicity, Hulia Protestante walks +slowly through the halls of the University. She sees first a Cabinet of +Natural History, including minerals, shells, fossils, and insects, all +well-arranged, and constituting a very respectable beginning. Padre Lluc +says some good words on the importance of scientific education. Padre +Doyaguez laughs at the ladies' hoops, which he calls Malakoffs, as they +crowd through the doorways and among the glass cases; he repeats +occasionally, "_Hulia Protestante?_" in a tone of mock astonishment, and +receives for answer, "_Si, Hulia Protestante_." Then comes a very +creditable array of scientific apparatus,--not of the order employed by +the judges of Galileo,--electric and galvanic batteries, an orrery, and +many things beside. The Library interests us more, with some luxurious +Classics, a superb Dante, and a prison-cage of forbidden works, of which +Padre Lluc certainly has the key. Among these were fine editions of +Rousseau and Voltaire, which appeared to be intended for use; and we +could imagine a solitary student, dark-eyed and pale, exploring their +depths at midnight with a stolen candle, and endeavoring, with +self-torment, to reconcile the intolerance of his doctrine with the +charities of his heart. We imagine such an one lost in the philosophy +and sentiment of the "Nouvelle Héloise," and suddenly summoned by the +convent-bell to the droning of the Mass, the mockery of Holy Water, the +fable of the Real Presence. Such contrasts might be strange and +dangerous. No, no, Padre Lluc! keep these unknown spells from your +heart,--let the forbidden books alone. Instead of the Confessions of +Jean Jacques, read the Confessions of St. Augustine,--read the new book, +in three volumes, on the Immaculate Conception, which you show me with +such ardor, telling me that Can Grande has spoken of it with respect. +Beyond the Fathers you must not get, for you have vowed to be a child +all your life. Those clear eyes of yours are never to look up into the +face of the Eternal Father; the show-box of the Church must content +them, with Mary and the saints seen through its dusty glass,--the august +figure of the Son, who sometimes reproved his Mother, crowded quite out +of sight behind the woman, whom it is so much easier to dress up and +exhibit. What is this other book which Parker has read? Padre Doyaguez +says, "Hulia, if you read this, you must become a Catholic." Padre Lluc +says, "If Parker has read this book, I cannot conceive that he is not a +Catholic." The quick Doyaguez then remarks, "Parker is going to Rome to +join the Romish Church." Padre Lluc rejoins, "They say so." Hulia +Protestante is inclined to cry out, "The day that Parker becomes a +Catholic, I too will become one"; but, remembering the rashness of vows +and the fallibility of men, she does not adopt that form of expressing +_Never_. Parker might, if it pleased God, become a Catholic, and then +the world would have two Popes instead of one. + +We leave at last the disputed ground of the Library and ascend to the +Observatory, which commands a fine view of the city, and a good sweep of +the heavens for the telescope, in which Padre Lluc seemed especially to +delight. The Observatory is commodious, and is chiefly directed by an +attenuated young priest, with a keen eye and hectic cheek; another is +occupied in working out mathematical tables;--for these Fathers observe +the stars, and are in scientific correspondence with Astronomers in +Europe. This circumstance gave us real pleasure on their account,--for +science, in all its degrees, is a positive good, and a mental tonic of +the first importance. Earnestly did we, in thought, commend it to those +wearied minds which have undergone the dialectic dislocations, the +denaturalizations of truth and of thought, which enable rational men to +become first Catholics, and then Jesuits. For let there be no illusions +about strength of mind and so on,--this is effected by means of a vast +machinery. As, in the old story, the calves were put in at one end of +the cylinder and taken out leather breeches at the other, or as glass is +cut and wood carved, so does the raw human material, put into the +machine of the Catholic Church, become fashioned according to the will +of those who guide it. Hulia Protestante! you have a free step and a +clear head; but once go into the machine, and you will come out carved +and embossed according to the old traditional pattern,--you as well as +another. Where the material is hard, they put on more power,--where it +is soft, more care; wherefore I caution you here, as I would in a mill +at Lowell or Lawrence,--Don't meddle with the shafts,--don't go too near +the wheel,--in short, keep clear of the machinery. And Hulia does so; +for, at the last attack of Padre Doyaguez, she suddenly turns upon him +and says, "Sir, you are a Doctrinary and a Propagandist." And the good +Father suffers her to depart in peace. But first there is the chapel to +be seen, with its tawdry and poor ornamentation,--and the dormitories of +the scholars, with long double rows of beds and mosquito-nettings. There +are two of these, and each of them has at one end a raised platform, +with curtains and a bed, where rests and watches the shepherd of the +little sheep. Lastly, we have a view of the whole flock, assembled in +their play-ground, and one of them, looking up, sees his mother, who has +kindly accompanied our visit to the institution. Across the distance +that separates us, we see his blue eyes brighten, and, as soon as +permission is given, he bounds like a young roe to her arms, shy and +tender, his English blood showing through his Spanish skin,--for he is a +child of mixed race. We are all pleased and touched, and Padre Lluc +presently brings us a daguerreotype, and says, "It is my mother." To us +it is an indifferent portrait of an elderly Spanish woman,--but to him, +how much! With kindest mutual regard we take leave,--a little surprised, +perhaps, to see that Jesuit priests have mothers, and remember them. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +SAN ANTONIO DE LOS BAÑOS. + + "Far from my thoughts, vain world, begone!" + + +However enchanting Havana may prove when seen through the moonlight of +memory, it seems as good a place to go away from as any other, after a +stifling night in a net, the wooden shutters left open in the remote +hope of air, and admitting the music of a whole opera-troupe of dogs, +including Bass, Tenor, Soprano, and Chorus. Instead of bouquets, you +throw stones, if you are so fortunate as to have them,--if not, +boot-jacks, oranges, your only umbrella. You are last seen thrusting +frantic hands and feet through the iron bars, your wife holding you back +by the flannel night-gown which you will persist in wearing in this +doubtful climate. At last it is over,--the fifth act ends with a howl +which makes you hope that some one of the performers has come to grief. +But, alas! it is only a stage _dénouement_, whose hero will die again +every night while the season lasts. You fall asleep, but the welcome +cordial has scarcely been tasted when you are aroused by a knock at the +door. It is the night-porter, who wakes you at five by appointment, that +you may enjoy your early coffee, tumble into a hired _volante_, and +reach, half dead with sleep, the station in time for the train that goes +to San Antonio. + +Now, whether you are a partisan of early rising or not, you must allow +that sunrise and the hour after is the golden time of the day in Cuba. +So this hour of starting,--six o'clock,--so distasteful in our +latitudes, is a matter of course in tropical climates. Arriving at the +station, you encounter new tribulations in the registering and payment +of luggage, the transportation of which is not included in the charge +for your ticket. Your trunks are recorded in a book, and, having paid a +_real_ apiece for them, you receive a paper which entitles you to demand +them again at your journey's end. The Cuban railways are good, but +dear,--the charge being ten cents a mile; whereas in our more favored +land one goes for three cents, and has the chance of a collision and +surgeon's services without any extra payment. The cars have windows +which are always open, and blinds which are always closed, or nearly so. +The seats and backs of seats are of cane, for coolness,--hardness being +secured at the same time. One reaches San Antonio in an hour and a half, +and finds a pleasant village, with a river running through it, several +streets of good houses, several more of bad ones, a cathedral, a +cockpit, a _volante_, four soldiers on horseback, two on foot, a market, +dogs, a bad smell, and lastly, the American Hotel,--a house built in a +hollow square, as usual,--kept by a strong-minded woman from the States, +whose Yankee thrift is unmistakable, though she has been long absent +from the great centres of domestic economy. + +Mrs. L----, always on the watch for arrivals, comes out to receive us. +We are very welcome, she hints, as far as we go; but why are there not +more of us? The smallest favors should be thankfully received, but she +hears that Havana is full of strangers, and she wonders, for her part, +why people will stay in that hot place, and roast, and stew, and have +the yellow fever, when she could make them so comfortable in San +Antonio. This want of custom she continues, during our whole visit, to +complain of. Would it be uncharitable for us to aver that we found other +wants in her establishment which caused us more astonishment, and which +went some way towards accounting for the deficiency complained of? wants +of breakfast, wants of dinner, wants of something good for tea, wants of +towels, wants of candles, wants of ice, or at least of the cooling jars +used in the country. Charges exorbitant,--the same as in Havana, where +rents are an ounce a week, and upwards; _volantes_ difficult,--Mrs. L. +having made an agreement with the one livery-stable that they shall +always be furnished at most unreasonable prices, of which she, +supposably, pockets half. On the other hand, the village is really cool, +healthy, and pretty; there are pleasant drives over dreadful roads, if +one makes up one's mind to the _volante_, and delightful river-baths, +shaded by roofs of palm-tree thatch. One of the best of these is at the +foot of Mrs. L.'s inclosure, and its use is included in the privileges +of the house. The water is nearly tepid, clear, and green, and the +little fish float hither and thither in it,--though men of active minds +are sometimes reduced to angle for them, with crooked pins, for +amusement. At the hour of one, daily, the ladies of the house betake +themselves to this refreshment; and there is laughing, and splashing, +and holding of hands, and simulation of all the Venuses that ever were, +from the crouching one of the bath, to the triumphant Cytherea, +springing for the first time from the wave. + +Such are the resources of the house. Those of the neighborhood are +various. Foremost among them is the _cafetal_, or coffee-plantation, of +Don Juan Torres, distant a league from the village, over which league of +stone, sand, and rut you rumble in a _volante_ dragged by three horses. +You know that the _volante_ cannot upset; nevertheless you experience +some anxious moments when it leans at an obtuse angle, one wheel in +air, one sticking in a hole, the horses balking and kicking, and the +postilion swearing his best. But it is written, the _volante_ shall not +upset,--and so it does not. Long before you see the entrance to the +plantation, you watch the tall palms, planted in a line, that shield its +borders. An avenue of like growth leads you to the house, where barking +dogs announce you, and Don Juan, an elderly gentleman in slippers and a +Panama hat, his hair, face, and eyes all faded to one hue of grayness, +comes out to accost us. Here, again, Hulia Protestante becomes the +subject of a series of attacks, in a new kind. Don Juan first exhausts +his flower-garden upon her, and explains all that is new to her. Then +she must see his blind Chino, a sightless Samson of a Cooly, who is +working resolutely in a mill. "_Canta!_" says the master, and the poor +slave gives tongue like a hound on the scent. "_Baila!_" and, a stick +being handed him, he performs the gymnastics of his country, a sort of +war-dance without accompaniment. "_El can!_" and, giving him a broom, +they loose the dog upon him. A curious tussle then ensues,--the dog +attacking furiously, and the blind man, guided by his barking, defending +himself lustily. The Chino laughs, the master laughs, but the visitor +feels more inclined to cry, having been bred in those Northern habits +which respect infirmity. A _real_ dismisses the poor soul with a smile, +and then begins the journey round the _cafetal_. The coffee-blossom is +just in its perfection, and whole acres in sight are white with its +flower, which nearly resembles that of the small white jasmine. Its +fragrance is said to be delicious after a rain; but, the season being +dry, it is scarcely discernible. As shade is a great object in growing +coffee, the grounds are laid out in lines of fruit-trees, and these are +the ministers of Hulia's tribulation; for Don Juan, whether in kindness +or in mischief, insists that she shall taste every unknown fruit,--and +as he cuts them and hands them to her, she is forced to obey. First, a +little negro shins up a cocoa-nut tree, and flings down the nut, whose +water she must drink. One cocoa-nut she endures,--two,--but three? no, +she must rebel, and cry out, "_No mi gusta!_" Then she must try a +bitter orange, then a sour bitter one, then a sweet lemon, then a huge +fruit of triple verjuice flavor. "What is it good for?" she asks, after +a shuddering plunge into its acrid depths. "Oh," says the Don, "they eat +it in the castors instead of vinegar." Then come _sapotas_, _mamey_, +Otaheite gooseberries. "Does she like bananas?" he cuts a tree down with +his own hand, and sends the bunch of fruit to her _volante_;--"Sugar-cane?" +he bestows a huge bundle of sticks for her leisurely rodentation;--he +fills her pocket with coral beans for her children. Having, at last, +exhausted every polite attention, and vainly offered gin, rum, and +coffee, as a parting demonstration, Hulia and her partner escape, +bearing with them many strange flavors, and an agonizing headache, the +combined result of sun and acids. Really, if there exist anywhere on +earth a Society for the promotion and encouragement of good manners, it +should send a diploma to Don Juan, admonishing him only to omit the +vinegar-fruit in his further walks of hospitality. + +We take the Sunday to visit the nearest Sugar-plantation, belonging to +Don Jacinto Gonzales. Sun, not shade, being the desideratum in +sugar-planting, there are few trees or shrubs bordering the +sugar-fields, which resemble at a distance our own fields of Indian +corn, the green of the leaves being lighter, and a pale blue blossom +appearing here and there. The points of interest here are the machinery, +the negroes, and the work. Entering the sugar-house, we find the +_Maquinista_ (engineer) superintending some repairs in the machinery, +aided by another white man, a Cooly, and an imp of a black boy, who +begged of all the party, and revenged himself with clever impertinence +on those who refused him. The _Maquinista_ was a fine-looking man, from +the Pyrenees, very kind and obliging. He told us that Don Jacinto was +very old, and came rarely to the plantation. We asked him how the +extreme heat of his occupation suited him, and for an answer he opened +the bosom of his shirt, and showed us the marks of innumerable leeches. +The machinery is not very complicated. It consists of a wheel and band, +to throw the canes under the powerful rollers which crush them, and +these rollers, three in number, all moved by the steam-engine. The juice +flows into large copper caldrons, where it is boiled and skimmed. As +they were not at work, we did not see the actual process. Leaving the +sugar-house, we went in pursuit of the _Mayoral_, or Overseer, who +seemed to inhabit comfortable quarters, in a long, low house, shielded +from the sun by a thick screen of matting. We found him a powerful, +thick-set man, of surly and uncivil manners, girded with a sword, and +further armed with a pistol, a dagger, and a stout whip. He was much too +important a person to waste his words upon us, but signified that the +major-domo would wait on us, which he presently did. We now entered the +Negro quarter, a solid range of low buildings, formed around a hollow +square, whose strong entrance is closed at nightfall, and its inmates +kept in strict confinement till the morning hour of work comes round. +Just within the doorway we encountered the trader, who visits the +plantations every Sunday, to tempt the stray cash of the negroes by +various commodities, of which the chief seemed to be white bread, +calicoes, muslins, and bright cotton handkerchiefs. He told us that +their usual weekly expenditure amounted to about twenty-five dollars. +Bargaining with him stood the Negro-Driver, a tattooed African, armed +with a whip. All within the court swarmed the black bees of the +hive,--the men with little clothing, the small children naked, the women +decent. All had their little charcoal fires, with pots boiling over +them; the rooms within looked dismally dark, close, and dirty; there are +no windows, no air and light save through the ever-open door. The beds +are sometimes partitioned off by a screen of dried palm-leaf, but I saw +no better sleeping-privilege than a board with a blanket or coverlet. +From this we turned to the Nursery, where all the children incapable of +work are kept. The babies are quite naked, and sometimes very handsome +in their way, black and shining, with bright eyes and well-formed limbs. +No great provision is made for their amusement, but the little girls +nurse them tenderly enough, and now and then the elders fling them a +bit of orange or _chaimito_, for which they scramble like so many +monkeys. Appeals are constantly made to the pockets of visitors, by open +hands stretched out in all directions. To these "_Nada_"--"Nothing"--is +the safe reply; for, if you give to one, the others close about you with +frantic gesticulation, and you have to break your way through them with +some violence, which hurts your own feelings more than it does theirs. +On _strict_ plantations this is not allowed; but Don Jacinto, like Lord +Ashburton at the time of the Maine treaty, is an old man,--a very old +man; and where discipline cannot be maintained, peace must be secured on +any terms. We visit next the Sugar-house, where we find the desired +condiment in various stages of color and refinement. It is whitened with +clay in large funnel-shaped vessels, open at the bottom, to allow the +molasses to run off. Above are hogsheads of coarse, dark sugar; below is +a huge pit of fermenting molasses, in which rats and small negroes +occasionally commit involuntary suicide, and from which rum is +made.--N. B. Rum is not a wicked word in Cuba; in Boston everybody is +shocked when it is named, and in Cuba nobody is shocked when it is +drunk. + +And here endeth the description of our visit to the sugar-plantation of +Don Jacinto, and in good time, too,--for by this it had grown so hot, +that we made a feeble rush for the _volante_, and lay back in it, +panting for breath. Encountering a negress with a load of oranges on her +head, we bought and ate the fruit with eagerness, though the oranges +were bitter. The jolting over three miles of stone and rut did not +improve the condition of our aching heads. Arriving at San Antonio, we +thankfully went to bed for the rest of the morning, and dreamed, only +dreamed, that the saucy black boy in the boiling-house had run after us, +had lifted the curtain of the _volante_, screeched a last impertinence +after us, and kissed his hand for a good-bye, which, luckily for him, is +likely to prove eternal. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE MORRO FORTRESS--THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA--THE BENEFICENZA. + + +The Spanish government experiences an unwillingness to admit foreigners +into the Morro, their great stronghold, the causes of which may not be +altogether mysterious. Americans have been of late especially excluded +from it, and it was only by a fortunate chance that we were allowed to +visit it. A friend of a friend of ours happened to have a friend in the +garrison, and, after some delays and negotiations, an early morning hour +was fixed upon for the expedition. + +The Fort is finely placed at the entrance of the harbor, and is in +itself a picturesque object. It is built of a light, yellowish stone, +which is seen, as you draw near, in strong contrast with the vivid green +of the tropical waters. We approached it by water, taking a row-boat +from the Alameda. As we passed, we had a good view of a daily Havana +spectacle, the washing of the horses. This being by far the easiest and +most expeditious way of cleaning the animals, they are driven daily to +the sea in great numbers, those of one party being tied together; they +disport themselves in the surge and their wet backs glisten in the sun. +Their drivers, nearly naked, plunge in with them, and bring them safely +back to the shore. + +But for the Morro. We entered without difficulty, and began at once a +somewhat steep ascent, which the heat, even at that early hour, made +laborious. After some climbing, we reached the top of the parapet, and +looked out from the back of the Fortress. On this side, if ever on any, +it will be taken,--for, standing with one's back to the harbor, one +sees, nearly on the right hand, a point where trenches could be opened +with advantage. The Fort is heavily gunned and garrisoned, and seems to +be in fighting order. The outer wall is separated from the inner by a +paved space some forty feet in width. The height of both walls makes +this point a formidable one; but scaling-ladders could be thrown across, +if one had possession of the outer wall. The material is the coralline +rock common in this part of the island. It is a soft stone, and would +prove, it is feared, something like the cotton-bag defence of New +Orleans memory,--as the balls thrown from without would sink in, and not +splinter the stone, which for the murderous work were to be wished. A +little perseverance, with much perspiration, brought us to a high point +called the Lantern, which is merely a small room, where the telescope, +signal-books, and signals are kept. Here we were received by an official +in blue spectacles and with a hole in his boot, but still with that air +of being the chiefest thing on God's earth common to all Spaniards. The +best of all was that we had brought a sack of oranges with us, and that +the time was now come for their employment. With no other artillery than +these did we take the very heart of the Morro citadel,--for on offering +them to the official with the hole, he surrendered at once, smiled, gave +us seats, and sitting down with us, indeed, was soon in the midst of +his half-dozenth orange. Having refreshed ourselves, examined the flags +of all nations, and made all the remarks which our limited Spanish +allowed, we took leave, redescended, and reëmbarked. One of our party, +an old soldier, had meanwhile been busily scanning the points and angles +of the fortress, pacing off distances, etc., etc. The result of his +observations would, no doubt, be valuable to men of military minds. But +the writer of this, to be candid, was especially engaged with the heat, +the prospect, the oranges, and the soldiers' wives and children, who +peeped out from windows here and there. Such trifling creatures do come +into such massive surroundings, and trifle still! + +Our ladies, being still in a furious mood of sight-seeing, desired to +visit the University of Havana, and, having made appointment with an +accomplished Cuban, betook themselves to the College buildings with all +proper escort. Their arrival in the peristyle occasioned some +excitement. One of the students came up, and said in good English, "What +do you want?" Others, not so polite, stared and whispered in corners. A +message to one of the professors was attended with some delay, and our +Cuban friend, having gone to consult with him, returned to say, with +some embarrassment, that the professor would be happy to show the +establishment to the ladies on Sunday, at two P. M., when every male +creature but himself would be out of it; but as for their going through +the rooms while the undergraduates were about, that was not to be +thought of. "Why not?" asked the ladies. "For your own sake," said the +messenger, and proceeded to explain that the appearance of the _skirted_ +in these halls of learning would be followed by such ill-conduct and +indignity of impertinence on the part of the _shirted_ as might be +intolerable to the one and disadvantageous to the other. Now there be +women, we know, whose horrid fronts could have awed these saucy little +Cubans into decency and good behavior, and some that we wot of, whether +possessing that power or not, would have delighted in the fancied +exercise of it. What strong-minded company, under these circumstances, +would have turned back? What bolting, tramping, and rushing would they +not have made through the ranks of the astonished professors and +students? The Anniversary set, for example, who sweep the pews of men, +or, coming upon one forlorn, crush him as a boa does a sheep. Our silly +little flock only laughed, colored, and retreated to the _volantes_, +where they held a council of war, and decided to go visit some +establishment where possibly better manners might prevail. + +Returning on the Sunday at the hour appointed, they walked through the +deserted building, and found spacious rooms, the pulpits of the +professors, the benches of the students, the Queen's portrait, a very +limited library, and for all consolation, some pleasant Latin sentences +over the doors of the various departments, celebrating the solace and +delights of learning. This was seeing the College, literally; but it was +a good deal like seeing the Lion's den, the Lion himself being absent on +leave,--or like visiting the Hippopotamus in Regent's Park on those days +in which he remains steadfastly buried in his tank, and will show only +the tip of a nostril for your entrance-fee. Still, it was a pleasure to +know that learning was so handsomely housed; and as for the little +rabble who could not be trusted in the presence of the sex, we forgave +them heartily, knowing that soberer manners would one day come upon them +as inevitably as baldness and paternity. + +Let me here say that a few days in Havana make clear to one the +seclusion of women in the East, and its causes. Wherever the animal +vigor of men is so large in proportion to their moral power as in those +countries, women must be glad to forego their liberties for the +protection of the strong arm. One master is better for them than many. +Whatever tyranny may grow out of such barbarous manners, the institution +springs from a veritable necessity and an original good intention. The +Christian religion should change this, which is justifiable only in a +Mohammedan country. But where that religion is so loosely administered +as in Cuba, where its teachers themselves frequent the cockpit and the +gaming-table, one must not look for too much of its power in the +manners and morals of men. + +The Beneficenza was our next station. It is, as its name signifies, an +institution with a benevolent purpose, an orphan asylum and foundling +hospital in one. The State here charitably considers that infants who +are abandoned by their parents are as much orphaned as they can become +by the interposition of death,--nay, more. The death of parents oftenest +leaves a child with some friend or relative; but the foundling is cut +off from all human relationship,--he belongs only to the hand that takes +him up, where he has been left to die. Despite the kind cruelty of +modern theories, which will not allow of suitable provision for the +sufferer, for fear of increasing the frequency of the crime by which he +suffers, our hearts revolt at the miserable condition of these little +creatures in our great cities, confounded with hopeless pauperism in its +desolate asylums, or farmed out to starve and die. They belong to the +State, and the State should nobly retrieve the world's offence against +them. Their broken galaxy shows many a bright star here and there. Such +a little wailing creature has been found who has commanded great actions +and done good service among men. Let us then cherish the race of +foundlings, of whom Moses was the first and the greatest. The princess +who reared him saw not the glorious destiny which lay hid, as a +birth-jewel, in his little basket of reeds. She saw only, as some of us +have seen, a helpless, friendless babe. When he dedicated to her his +first edition of the Pentateuch---- But nay, he did not; for neither +gratitude nor dedications were in fashion among the Jews. + +We found the Beneficenza spacious, well-ventilated, and administered +with great order. It stands near the sea, with a fine prospect in view, +and must command a cool breeze, if there be any. The children enjoy +sea-bathing in summer. The Superintendent received us most kindly, and +presented us to the Sisters who have charge of the children, who were +good specimens of their class. We walked with them through the neat +dormitories, and observed that they were much more airy than those of +the Jesuit College, lately described. They all slept on the sackings of +cots, beds being provided only in the infirmary. In the latter place we +found but two inmates,--one suffering from ordinary Cuban fever, the +other from ophthalmia.--N. B. Disease of the eyes does not seem to be +common in Cuba, in spite of the tropical glare of the sun; nor do people +nurse and complain of their eyes there, as with us. We found a separate +small kitchen for the sick, which was neat and convenient. The larger +kitchen too was handsomely endowed with apparatus, and the +Superintendent told us, with a twinkle in his eye, that the children +lived well. Coffee at six, a good breakfast at nine, dinner at the usual +hour, bread and coffee before bed-time;--this seemed very suitable as to +quantity, though differing from our ideas of children's food; but it +must be remembered that the nervous stimulus of coffee is not found to +be excessive in hot climates; it seems to be only what Nature +demands,--no more. The kind Nun who accompanied us now showed us, with +some pride, various large presses set in the wall, and piled to the top +with clean and comfortable children's clothing. We came presently to +where the boys were reciting their catechism. An Ecclesiastic was +hearing them;--they seemed ready enough with their answers, but were +allowed to gabble off the holy words in a manner almost unintelligible, +and quite indecorous. They were bright, healthy-looking little fellows, +ranging apparently from eight to twelve years of age. They had good +play-ground set off for them, and shady galleries to walk up and down +in. Coming from their quarter, the girls' department seemed quiet +enough. Here was going on the eternal task of needle-work, to which the +sex has been condemned ever since Adam's discovery of his want of +wardrobe. Oh, ye wretched, foolish women! why will ye forever sew? "We +must not only sew, but be thankful to sew; _that little needle_ being, +as the sentimental Curtis has said, the only thing between us and the +worst that may befall." + +These incipient women were engaged in various forms of sewing,--the most +skilful in a sort of embroidery, like that which forms the border of +_piña_ handkerchiefs. A few were reading and spelling. One poor blind +girl sat amongst them, with melancholy arms folded, and learned +nothing,--they told us, nothing; for the instruction of the blind is not +thought of in these parts. This seemed piteous to us, and made us +reflect how happy are _our_ Blinds, to say nothing of our Deafs and +Dumbs. Idiocy is not uncommon here, and is the result of continual +intermarriage between near relations; but it will be long before they +will provide it with a separate asylum and suitable instruction. + +But now came the saddest part of the whole exhibition,--a sight common +enough in Europe, but by some accident hitherto unseen by us. Here is a +sort of receptacle, with three or four compartments, which turns on a +pivot. One side of it is open to the street, and in it the wretched +parent lays the more wretched baby,--ringing a small bell at the same +time, for the new admittance. The parent vanishes, the receptacle turns +on its pivot,--the baby is within, and, we are willing to believe, in +merciful hands. + +The sight of this made, for the first time, the crime real to me. I saw +at a flash the whole tragedy of desertion,--the cautious approach, the +frightened countenance, the furtive act, and the great avenging pang of +Nature after its consummation. What was Hester Prynne's pillory, +compared to the heart of any of these mothers? I thought too of +Rousseau, bringing to such a place as this children who had the right to +inherit divine genius, and deserting them for the sordid reason that he +did not choose to earn their bread;--the helpless mother weeping at +home, and begging, through long years, to be allowed to seek and reclaim +them. + +Well, here were the little creatures kindly cared for; yet what a +piteous place was their nursery! Some of the recent arrivals looked as +if ill-usage had been exhausted upon them before they were brought +hither. Blows and drugs and starvation had been tried upon them, but, +with the tenacity of infancy, they clung to life. They would not +die;--well then, they should live to regret it. Some of them lay on the +floor, deformed and helpless; the older ones formed a little class, and +were going through some elementary exercise when we passed. The babies +had a large room allotted to them, and I found the wet-nurses +apportioned one to each child. This appeared a very generous provision, +as in such establishments elsewhere, three and even four children are +given to one nurse. They had comfortable cribs, on each of which was +pinned the name of its little inmate, and the date of its +entrance;--generally, the name and age of the child are found written on +a slip of paper attached to its clothing, when it is left in the +receptacle. I saw on one, "Cecilio, three weeks old." He had been but a +few days in the establishment. + +Of course, I lingered longest in the babies' room, and longest of all +near the crib of the little Cecilio. He was a pretty baby, and seemed to +me the most ill-used of all, because the youngest. "Could they not bear +with you three weeks, little fellow?" I said. "I know those at whose +firesides such as you would have been welcome guests. That New York +woman whom I met lately, young, rich, and childless,--I could commend +you to her in place of the snarling little spaniel fiend who was her +constant care and companion." + +But here the Superintendent made a polite bow, saying,--"And now your +Worships have seen all; for the chapel is undergoing repairs, and cannot +be visited." And so we thanked, and departed. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +CAN GRANDE'S DEPARTURE.--THE DOMINICA.--LOTTERY-TICKETS. + + +I have not told you how Can Grande took leave of the Isle of Rogues, as +one of our party christened the fair Queen of the Antilles. I could not +tell you how he loathed the goings on at Havana, how hateful he found +the Spaniards, and how villanous the American hotel-keepers. His +superlatives of censure were in such constant employment that they began +to have a threadbare sound before he left us; and as he has it in +prospective to run the gauntlet of all the innkeepers on the continent +of Europe, to say nothing of further lands, where innkeepers would be a +relief, there is no knowing what exhaustion his powers in this sort may +undergo before he reaches us again. He may break down into weak, +compliant good-nature, and never be able to abuse anybody again, as +long as he lives. In that case, his past life and his future, taken +together, will make a very respectable average. But the climate really +did not suit him, the company did not satisfy, and there came a moment +when he said, "I can bear it no longer!" and we answered, "Go in peace!" + +It now becomes me to speak of Sobrina, who has long been on a temperance +footing, and who forgets even to blush when the former toddy is +mentioned, though she still shudders at the remembrance of sour-sop. She +is the business-man of the party; and while philosophy and highest +considerations occupy the others, with an occasional squabble over +virtue and the rights of man, she changes lodgings, hires carts, +transports luggage, and, knowing half-a-dozen words of Spanish, makes +herself clearly comprehensible to everybody. "We have found a Spanish +steamer for Can Grande;" but she rows thither in a boat and secures his +passage and state-room. The noontide sun is hot upon the waters, but her +zeal is hotter still. Now she has made a curious bargain with her +boatmen, by which they are to convey the whole party to the steamer on +the fourth day. + +"What did you tell them?" we asked. + +"I said, _tres noches_ (three nights) and _un dia_, (one day,) and then +took out my watch and showed them five o'clock on it, and pointed to the +boat and to myself. They understood perfectly." + +And so, in truth, they did; for, going to the wharf on the day and at +the hour appointed, we found the boatmen in waiting, with eager faces. +But here a new difficulty presented itself;--the runner of our hotel, a +German whose Cuban life has sharpened his wits and blunted his +conscience, insisted that the hiring of boats for the lodgers was one of +his (many) perquisites, and that before his sovereign prerogative all +other agreements were null and void.--N. B. There was always something +experimentative about this man's wickedness. He felt that he did not +know how far men might be gulled, or the point where they would be +likely to resist. This was a fault of youth. With increasing years and +experience he will grow bolder and more skilful, and bids fair, we +should say, to become one of the most dexterous operators known in his +peculiar line. On the present occasion he did not heed the piteous +pleadings of the disappointed boatmen, nor Sobrina's explanations, nor +Can Grande's arguments. But when the whole five of us fixed upon him our +mild and scornful eyes, something within him gave way. He felt a little +bit of the moral pressure of Boston, and feebly broke down, saying, "You +better do as you like, then," and so the point was carried. + +A pleasant row brought us to the side of the steamer. It was dusk +already as we ascended her steep gangway, and from that to darkness +there is, at this season, but the interval of a breath. Dusk too were +our thoughts, at parting from Can Grande, the mighty, the vehement, the +great fighter. How were we to miss his deep music, here and at home! +With his assistance we had made a very respectable band; now we were to +be only a wandering drum and fife,--the fife particularly shrill, and +the drum particularly solemn. Well, we went below, and examined the +little den where Can Grande was to pass the other seven days of his +tropical voyaging. The berths were arranged the wrong way,--across, not +along, the vessel,--and we foresaw that his head would go up and his +feet down, and _vice versâ_, with every movement of the steamer, and our +weak brains reeled at the bare thought of what he was to suffer. He, +good soul, meanwhile was thinking of his supper, and wondering if he +could get tea, coffee, and chocolate, a toasted roll, and the touch of +cold ham which an invalid loves. And we beheld, and they were bringing +up the side of the vessel trays of delicious pastry, and festoons of +fowls, with more literal butcher's meat. And we said, "There will be no +famine on board. Make the most of your supper, Can Grande; for it will +be the last of earth to you, for some time to come." And now came +silence, and tears, and last embraces; we slipped down the gangway into +our little craft, and looking up, saw bending above us, between the +slouched hat and the silver beard, the eyes that we can never forget, +that seemed to drop back in the darkness with the solemnity of a last +farewell. We went home, and the drum hung himself gloomily on his peg, +and the little fife _shut up_ for the remainder of the evening. + +Has Mr. Dana described the Dominica, I wonder? Well, if he has, I cannot +help it. He never can have eaten so many ices there as I have, nor +passed so many patient hours amid the screeching, chattering, and +devouring, which make it most like a cage of strange birds, or the +monkey department in the Jardin des Plantes.--_Mem._ I always observed +that the monkeys just mentioned seemed far more mirthful than their +brethren in the London Zoological Gardens. They form themselves, so to +speak, on a livelier model, and feel themselves more at home with their +hosts. + +But the Dominica. You know, probably, that it is the great _café_ of +Havana. All the day long it is full of people of all nations, sipping +ices, chocolate, and so on; and all night long, also, up to the to me +very questionable hour when its patrons go home and its _garçons_ go to +bed. We often found it a welcome refuge at noon, when the _douche_ of +sunlight on one's _cervix_ bewilders the faculties, and confuses one's +principles of gravitation, toleration, etc., etc. You enter from the +Tophet of the street, and the intolerable glare is at once softened to a +sort of golden shadow. The floor is of stone; in the midst trickles a +tiny fountain with gilded network; all other available space is crowded +with marble tables, square or round; and they in turn are scarcely +visible for the swarm of black-coats that gather round them. The smoke +of innumerable cigars gives a Rembrandtic tinge to the depths of the +picture, and the rows and groups of nodding Panama hats are like very +dull flower-beds. In the company, of course, the Spanish-Cuban element +largely predominates; yet here and there the sharper English breaks upon +the ear. + +"Yes, I went to that plantation; but they have only one thousand boxes +of sugar, and we want three thousand for our operation." + +A Yankee, you say. Yes, certainly; and turning, you see the tall, strong +Philadelphian from our hotel, who calls for everything by its right +name, and always says, "_Mas! mas!_" when the waiter helps him to ice. +Some one near us is speaking a fuller English, with a richer "_r_" and +deeper intonation. See there! that is our own jolly captain, Brownless +of ours, the King of the "Karnak"; and going up to the British lion, we +shake the noble beast heartily by the paw. + +The people about us are imbibing a variety of cooling liquids. Our turn +comes at last. The _garçon_ who says, "I speke Aingliss," brings us each +a delicious orange _granizada_, a sort of half-frozen water-ice, +familiar to Italy, but unknown in America. It is ice in the first +enthusiasm of freezing,--condensed, not hardened. Promoting its +liquefaction with the spoon, you enjoy it through the mediation of a +straw. The unskilful make strange noises and gurglings through this +_tenuis avena_; but to those who have not forgotten the accomplishment +of suction, as acquired at an early period of existence, the _modus in +quo_ is easy and agreeable. + +You will hardly weary of watching the groups that come and go, and sit +and talk in this dreamy place. If you are a lady, every black eye +directs its full, tiresome stare at your face, no matter how plain that +face may be. But you have learned before this to consider those eyes as +so many black dots, so many marks of wonder with no sentence attached; +and so you coolly pursue your philosophizing in your corner, strong in +the support of a companion who, though deeply humanitarian and peaceful, +would not hesitate to punch any number of Spanish heads that should be +necessary for the maintenance of your comfort and his dignity. + +The scene is occasionally varied by the appearance of a beggar-woman, +got up in great decency, and with a wonderful air of pinched and faded +gentility. She wears an old shawl upon her head, but it is as nicely +folded as an aristocratic mantilla; her feet are cased in the linen +slippers worn by the poorer classes, but there are no unsavory rags and +dirt about her. "That good walk of yours, friend," I thought, "does not +look like starvation." Yet, if ever there were a moment when one's heart +should soften towards an imposing fellow-creature, it is when one is in +the midst of the orange _granizada_. The beggar circles slowly and +mournfully round all the marble tables in turn, holding out her hand to +each, as the plate is offered at a church collection. She is not +importunate; but looking in each one's face, seems to divine whether he +will give or no. A Yankee, sitting with a Spaniard, offers her his +cigar. The Spaniard gravely pushes the cigar away, and gives her a +_medio_. + +More pertinacious is the seller of lottery-tickets, male or female, who +has more at stake, and must run the risk of your displeasure for the +chance of your custom. Even in your bed you are hardly safe from the +ticket-vender. You stand at your window, and he, waiting in the street, +perceives you, and with nods, winks, and showing of his wares endeavors +to establish a communication with you. Or you stop and wait somewhere in +your _volante_, and in the twinkling of an eye the wretch is at your +side, to bear you company till you drive off again. At the Dominica he +is especially persevering, and stands and waits with as much zeal as if +he knew the saintly line of Milton. Like the beggar, however, he is +discriminative in the choice of his victims, and persecutes the stony +Yankee less than the oily Spaniard, whose inbred superstitions force him +to believe in luck. + +Very strange stories do they tell about the trade in +lottery-tickets,--strange at least to us, who consider them the folly of +follies. Here, as in Italy, the lotteries are under the care of the +State, and their administration is as careful and important as that of +any other branch of finance. They are a regular and even reputable mode +of investment. The wealthy commercial houses all own tickets, sometimes +keeping the same number for years, but more frequently changing after +each unsuccessful experiment. A French gentleman in Havana assured me +that his tickets had already cost him seven thousand dollars. "And now," +said he, "I cannot withdraw, for I cannot lose what I have already paid. +The number has not been up once in eight years; its turn must come soon. +If I were to sell my ticket, some one would be sure to draw the great +prize with it the week after." This, perhaps, is not very unlike the +calculations of business risks most in vogue in our great cities. A +single ticket costs an ounce (seventeen dollars); but you are constantly +offered fractions, to an eighth or a sixteenth. There are ticket-brokers +who accommodate the poorer classes with interests to the amount of ten +cents, and so on. Thus, for them, the lottery replaces the savings-bank, +with entire uncertainty of any return, and the demoralizing process of +expectation thrown into the bargain. The negroes invest a good deal of +money in this way, and we heard in Matanzas a curious anecdote on this +head. A number of negroes, putting their means together, had +commissioned a ticket-broker to purchase and hold for them a certain +ticket. After long waiting and paying up, news came to Matanzas that the +ticket had drawn the $100,000 prize. The owners of the negroes were in +despair at this intelligence. "Now my cook will buy himself," says one; +"my _calesero_ will be free," says another; and so on. The poor slaves +ran, of course, in great agitation, to get their money. But, lo! the +office was shut up. The rascal broker had absconded. He had never run +the risk of purchasing the ticket; but had coolly appropriated this and +similar investments to his own use, preferring the bird in the hand to +the whole aviary of possibilities. He was never heard of more; but +should he ever turn up anywhere, I commend him as the fittest subject +for Lynch-law on record. + +Well, as I have told you, all these golden chances wait for you at the +Dominica, and many Americans buy, and look very foolish when they +acknowledge it. The Nassauese all bought largely during their short +stay; and even their little children held up with exultation their +fragments of tickets, all good for something, and bad for something, +too. + +If you visit the Dominica in the evening, you find the same crowd, only +with a sprinkling of women, oftenest of your own country, in audacious +bonnets, and with voices and laughter which bring the black eyes upon +them for a time. If it be Sunday evening, you will see here and there +groups of ladies in full ball-dress, fresh from the Paseo, the _volante_ +waiting for them outside. All is then at its gayest and busiest; but +your favorite waiter, with disappointment in his eyes, will tell you +that there is "_no mas_" of your favorite _granizada_, and will persuade +you to take I know not what nauseous substitute in its place; for all +ices are not good at the Dominica, and some are (excuse the word) nasty. +People sit and sip, prolonging their pleasures with dilatory spoon and +indefatigable tongue. Group follows group; but the Spaniards are what I +should call heavy sitters, and tarry long over their ice or chocolate. +The waiter invariably brings to every table a chafing-dish with a +burning coal, which will light a cigar long after its outer glow has +subsided into ashy white. Some humans retain this kindling +power;--_vide_ Ninon and the ancient Goethe;--it is the heart of fire, +not the flame of beauty, that does it. When one goes home, tired, at ten +or eleven, the company shows no sign of thinning, nor does one imagine +how the ground is ever cleared, so as to allow an interval of sleep +between the last ice at night and the first coffee in the morning. It is +the universal _siesta_ which makes the Cubans so bright and fresh in the +evening. With all this, their habits are sober, and the evening +refreshment always light. No suppers are eaten here; and it is even held +dangerous to take fruit as late as eight o'clock, P. M. + +The Dominica has still another aspect to you, when you go there in the +character of a Citizen and Head of family to order West India sweetmeats +for home-consumption. You utter the magic word _dulces_, and are shown +with respect into the establishment across the way, where a neat +steam-engine is in full operation, tended by blacks and whites, stripped +above the waist, and with no superfluous clothing below it. Here they +grind the chocolate, and make the famous preserves, of which a list is +shown you, with prices affixed. As you will probably lose some minutes +in perplexity as to which are best for you to order, let me tell you +that the guava jelly and marmalade are first among them, and there is no +second. You may throw in a little pine-apple, mamey, lime, and +cocoa-plum; but the guava is the thing, and, in case of a long run on +the tea-table, will give the most effectual support. The limes used to +be famous in our youth; but in these days they make them hard and tough. +The marmalade of bitter oranges is one of the most useful of Southern +preserves; but I do not remember it on the list of the Dominica. Having +given your order, let me further advise you to remain, if practicable, +and see it fulfilled; as you will otherwise find divers trifling +discrepancies between the bill and the goods delivered, which, though of +course purely accidental, will all be, somehow, to the Dominica's +advantage, and not to yours. If you are in moderate circumstances, order +eight or ten dollars' worth; if affluent, twenty or thirty dollars' +worth; if rash and extravagant, you may rise even to sixty dollars; but +you will find in such an outlay food for repentance. One word in your +ear: do not buy the syrups, for they are made with very bad sugar, and +have no savor of the fruits they represent. + +And this is all I can tell about the Dominica, which I recommend to all +of you for refreshment and amusement. We have nothing like it in New +York or Boston,--our _salons_ of the same description having in them +much more to eat, and much less to see. As I look back upon it, the +place assumes a deeply Moorish aspect. I see the fountain, the golden +light, the dark faces, and intense black eyes, a little softened by the +comforting distance. Oh! to sit there for one hour, and help the +_garçon's_ bad English, and be pestered by the beggar, and tormented by +the ticket-vender, and support the battery of the wondering looks, which +make it sin for you, a woman, to be abroad by day! Is there any +Purgatory which does not grow lovely as you remember it? Would not a man +be hanged twice, if he could? + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +COMPANY AT THE HOTEL.--SERVANTS.--OUR DRIVE.--DON PEPE. + + +I do not mean to give portraits of the individuals at our hotel. My +chance acquaintance with them confers on me no right to appropriate +their several characteristics for my own convenience and the diversion +of the public. I will give only such general sketches as one may make of +a public body at a respectful distance, marking no features that can fix +or offend. + +Our company is almost entirely composed of two classes,--invalids and +men of business, with or without their families. The former are easily +recognizable by their sad eyes and pallid countenances; even the hectic +of disease does not deceive you,--it has no affinity to the rose of +health. There is the cough, too,--the cruel cough that would not be +left at the North, that breaks out through all the smothering by day, +and shakes the weak frame with uneasy rocking by night. + +The men of business are apt to name their firm, when they introduce +themselves to you. + +"My name is Norval, Sir,--Norval, Grampian, & Company. I suppose you +know the firm." + +"We do not, indeed; but we murmur, in return, that we have an Uncle or a +Cousin in business, who may, very likely, know it. + +"What is your Uncle's firm?" will be the next question. + +"Philpots Brothers." + +"Excellent people,--we have often done business with them. Happy to make +your acquaintance, Sir." + +And so, the first preliminaries being established, and each party +assured of the other's solvency, we glide easily into a relation of chat +and kind little mutualities which causes the periods of contact to pass +smoothly enough. + +We found among these some manly, straightforward fellows, to whom one +would confide one's fortunes, or even one's widow and orphans, with +small fear of any flaw in their trustworthiness. Nor was the more +slippery class, we judged, without its representatives; but of this we +had only hints, not experience. There were various day-boarders, who +frequented our table only, and lodged elsewhere. A few of these were +decorous Spaniards, who did not stare, nor talk, nor gobble their meals +with unbecoming vivacity of appetite. They were obviously staid +business-men, differing widely in character from the street Spaniard, +whom I have already copiously described. Some were Germans, thinned by +the climate, and sharpened up to the true Yankee point of competition; +very little smack of Father-land was left about them,--no song, no +sentimentality, not much quivering of the heart-strings at remembrance +of the old folks at home, whom some of them have not seen in twenty +years, and will never see again. To be sure, in such a hard life as +theirs, with no social surroundings, and grim Death meeting them at +every corner, there is nothing for it but to be as hard and tough as +one's circumstances. But give me rather the German heart in the little +old German village, with the small earnings and spendings, the narrow +sphere of life and experience, and the great vintage of geniality which +is laid up from youth to age, and handed down with the old wine from +father to son. I don't like your cosmopolitan German any better than I +do your Englishman done to death with travel. I prize the home-flavor in +all the races that are capable of home. There are very many Germans +scattered throughout Cuba, in various departments of business. They are +generally successful, and make very good Yankees, in the technical +acceptation of the word. Their original soundness of constitution +enables them to resist the climate better than Americans, and though +they lose flesh and color, they rarely give that evidence of a +disordered liver which foreign residents in tropical countries are so +apt to show. + +The ladies at the hotel were all our own countrywomen, as we see them at +home and abroad. I have already spoken of their diligence in sewing, and +of their enthusiasm in shopping. Their other distinctive features are +too familiar to us to require illustration. Yet upon one trait I will +adventure. A group of them sat peaceably together, one day, when a file +of newspapers arrived, with full details of a horrible Washington +scandal, and the murder consequent upon it. Now I must say that no swarm +of bees ever settled upon a bed of roses more eagerly than our fair +sisters pounced upon the carrion of that foul and dreadful tale. It flew +from hand to hand and from mouth to mouth, as if it had been glad +tidings of great joy,--and the universal judgment upon it caused our +heart to shudder with the remembrance that we had heard some one +somewhere propose that female offenders should be tried by a jury of +their own sex. + +It was a real comfort, a few days later, to hear this sad subject +discussed by a circle of intelligent Englishwomen, with good sense and +good feeling, and with true appreciation of the twofold crime, the +domestic treason and the public assassination. In passing, I must say of +this English circle that it is charming, and that the Britannic Consul +has the key of it in his pocket. Wherefore, if any of you, my friends, +would desire to know four of the most charming women in Havana, he is to +lay hold upon Mr. Consul Crawford, and compel him to become his friend. + +Mr. Dana recounts his shopping in Havana, whereof the beginning and +ending were one dress, white and blue, which he commendably purchased +for his wife. But does Dana know what he had to be thankful for, in +getting off with one dress? Tell him, ye patient husbands, whose pockets +seem to be made like lemons, only to be squeezed! Tell him, ye insatiate +ones, who have new wants and new ideas every day! Dana's dress was, +probably, an _holan batista_, which he calls "_Bolan_";--it was, in +other words, a figured linen cambric. But you have bought those cambrics +by the piece, and also _piñas_, thin, gossamer fabrics, of all degrees +of color and beauty, sometimes with _pattern flounces_,--do you hear? +And you have bought Spanish table-cloths with red or blue edges, with +bull-fights on them, and balloon-ascensions, and platoons of soldiery in +review, and with bull-fighting and ballooning napkins to match. And you +have secured such bales of transparent white muslins, that one would +think you intended to furnish a whole troupe of ballet-girls with saucer +petticoats. Catalan lace you have got, to trim curtains, sheets, +pillow-cases, and kitchen-towels with. And as for your fans, we only +hope that the stories you tell about them are true, and that Kitty, +Julia, and Jemima at home are to divide them with you; for we shrewdly +suspect that you mean, after all, to keep them, and to have a fan for +every day in the year. Let a man reflect upon all this, added to the +inevitable three dollars and fifty cents _per diem_, with the frequent +refreshment of _volantes_ and ices at the Dominica, and then say whether +it pays to take a partner, not of a frugal mind, to Havana for the +season. + +I had intended to give some account of the servants at Mrs. Almy's; but +my gossip runs to such lengths that I must dismiss them with a few +words. Ramon, the porter, never leaves the vestibule; he watches there +all day, takes his meals there, plays cards there in the evening with +his fellow-servants, and at night spreads his cot there, and lies down +to sleep. He is white, as are most of the others. If I have occasion to +go into the kitchen at night, I find a cot there also, with no bed, and +a twisted sheet upon it, which, I am told, is the chrysalis of the cook. +Said cook is a free yellow, from Nassau, who has wrought in this kitchen +for many years past. Heat, hard work, and they say drink, have +altogether brought him to a bad pass. His legs are frightfully swollen, +and in a few days he leaves, unable to continue his function. Somebody +asks after his wife. "She has got a white husband now," he tells us, +with a dejected air. She might have waited a little,--he is to die soon. + +Garcia is the kind waiter with the rather expressive face, who is never +weary of bringing us the rice and fried plantain which form, after all, +the staple of our existence in Cuba. The waiters all do as well as they +can, considering the length of the table, and the extremely short staple +of the boarders' patience. As a general rule, they understand good +English better than bad Spanish; but comparative philology has +obviously been neglected among them. + +Luis is a negro boy of twelve, fearfully black in the face and white in +the eye; his wool cropped to entire bareness. He is chiefly good at +dodging your orders,--disappears when anything is asked for, but does +not return with it. + +Rosalia is the chambermaid, of whom I have already spoken, as dexterous +in sweeping the mosquitos from the nets,--her afternoon service. She +brings, too, the morning cup of coffee, and always says, "Good morning, +Sir; you want coffee?"--the only English she can speak. Her voice and +smile are particularly sweet, her person tall and well-formed, and her +face comely and modest. She is not altogether black,--about mahogany +color. I mention her modesty because, so far as I saw, the good-looking +ones among the black women have an air of assumption, and almost of +impudence,--probably the result of flattery. + +With all this array of very respectable "help," our hostess avers that +she has not a single person about her whom she can trust. Hence the +weary look about her eyes and brow, speaking of a load never laid down. +She attends to every detail of business herself, and is at work over her +books long after her boarders have retired to rest. + +But the one of all the servants who interests us most is Alexander, Mrs. +Almy's own slave. He is, like Rosalia, of mahogany color, with a broad +forehead and intelligent eyes. His proud, impatient nature is little +suited to his position, and every day brings some new account of his +petulant outbreaks. To-day he quarrelled with the new cook, and drew a +knife upon him. Mrs. Almy threatens continually to sell him, and at this +the hearts of some of us grow very sick,--for she always says that his +spirit must be broken, that only the severest punishment will break it, +and that she cannot endure to send him to receive that punishment. What +that mysterious ordeal may be, we dare not question,--we who cannot help +him from it; we can only wish that he might draw that knife across his +own throat before he undergoes it. He is trying to buy his own freedom, +and has something saved towards it. He looks as if he would do good +service, with sufficient training. As it is, he probably knows no law, +save the two conflicting ones, of necessity and his own wild passions. +One of the sad thoughts we shall carry away from here will be that +Alexander is to be sold, and his spirit broken. Good Mrs. Almy, do have +a little patience with him! Enlighten his dark mind; let Christianity be +taught him, which will show him, even in his slave's estate, that he can +conquer his fellow-servant better than by drawing a knife upon him. Set +him free? Ah! that is past praying for; but, as he has the right to buy +himself, give him every chance of doing so, and we, your petitioners, +will pray for him, and for you who need it, with that heavy brow of +care. + +I have called the negroes of Nassau ugly, clumsy, and unserviceable. The +Cuban negroes make, so far, a very different impression upon me. One +sees among them considerable beauty of form, and their faces are more +expressive and better cut than those of the Nassau blacks. The women +are well-made, and particularly well-poised, standing perfectly straight +from top to toe, with no hitch or swing in their gait. Beauty of feature +is not so common among them; still, one meets with it here and there. +There is a massive sweep in the bust and arms of the women which is very +striking. Even in their faces, there is a certain weight of feature and +of darkness, which makes its own impression. The men have less grace of +movement, though powerful and athletic in their make. Those who are +employed at hard work, within-doors, wear very little clothing, being +stripped to the loins. One often has a glimpse of them, in passing the +open smithies and wheelwrights' shops. The greatest defect among the men +is the want of calf. The narrow boots of the postilions make this +particularly discernible. Such a set of spindleshanks I never saw, not +even in Trumbull's famous Declaration of Independence, in which we have +the satisfaction of assuring ourselves that the fathers of our liberty +had two legs apiece, and crossed them in concert with the utmost +regularity. One might think, at first, that these narrow boots were as +uncomfortable to the _calesero_ as the Scottish instrument of torture of +that name; but his little swagger when he is down, and his freedom in +kicking when he is up, show that he has ample room in them. + +Very jolly groups of Spanish artisans does one see in the open shops at +noon, gathered around a table. The board is chiefly adorned with earthen +jars of an ancient pattern filled with oil and wine, platters of bread +and sausage,--and the ever fragrant onion is generally perceptible. The +personal qualities of these men are quite unknown to us; but they have +an air of good-fellowship which gives pleasure. + +We hired a carriage this afternoon,--we and two others from Boston. We +had a four-wheeled barouche, with two horses, which costs two dollars an +hour; whereas a _volante_ can be hired only at eight dollars and a half +per whole afternoon,--no less time, no less money. As it holds but two, +or, at the utmost, three, this is paying rather dear for the glory of +showing one's self on the Paseo. The moment we were in the carriage, +our coachman nodded to us, and saying, "_A la tropa_," galloped off with +us in an unknown direction. We soon fell in with a line of other +carriages, and concluded that there was something to be seen somewhere, +and that we were going to see it. Nor were we mistaken; for in due time, +ascending a steep acclivity, we came upon "_la tropa_," and found some +ten thousand soldiers undergoing review, in their seersucker coats and +Panama hats, which, being very like the costume of an easy Wall-Street +man in August, had a very peaceful appearance on so military an +occasion. The cavalry and infantry had nearly concluded their evolutions +when we arrived. The troops were spread out on a vast plateau. The view +was magnificent. The coachman pointed to one immovable figure on +horseback, and said, "Concha." We found it was indeed the +Captain-General; for as the different bands passed, they all saluted +him, and he returned their courtesy. Unluckily, his back was towards us, +and so remained until he rode off in an opposite direction. He was +mounted on a white horse, and was dressed like the others. He seemed +erect and well-made; but his back, after all, was very like any one +else's back. _Query_,--Did we see Concha, or did we not? When all was +over, the coachman carefully descended the hill. He had come hither in +haste, wishing to witness the sport himself; but now he drove slowly, +and indulged in every sort of roundabout to spin out his time and our +money. We met with a friend who, on our complaint, expostulated with +him, and said,--"Señor, these gentlemen say that you drive them very +slowly (_muy poco á poco_)." To the which he,--"Señor, if gentlemen will +hire a carriage by the hour, and not by the afternoon, they must expect +to get on very softly."--_Mem._ A white driver is always addressed as +_Señor_, and I have occasionally heard such monologues as the +following:--"Señor, why do you drive me this way? Curse you, Señor! You +don't know anything, Señor! You are the greatest ass I ever +encountered." The coachman takes it all coolly enough; the "Señor" +spares his dignity, and he keeps his feelings to himself. + +The writer of this has already spoken of various disappointments, in the +way of seeing things, incidental to the position of the sex in Cuba. She +came abroad prepared for microscopic, telescopic, and stereoscopic +investigation,--but, hedged in on all sides by custom and convenience, +she often observed only four very bare walls and two or three very +stupid people. What could she see? Prisons? No. Men naked and filthy, +lying about, using very unedifying language, and totally unaccustomed to +the presence of Lady-visitors. She invoked the memory of Mrs. Fry and +the example of Miss Dix. "Oh, they were saints, you know." "Only because +they went to prisons, which you won't let me do."--Bull-fight? No. "How +could you go back to Boston after seeing a bull-fight, eh?" "As if +married life were anything else, eh?" And so on.--Negro ball? "Not +exactly the place for a lady." "Miss Bremer went." "Very differently +behaved woman from you." "Yes, virtue with a nose, impregnable." + +But there is something she can go to see,--at least, some one,--the +angelic man, Don Pepe, the wise, the gentle, the fearless, whom all the +good praise. Yes, she shall go to see Don Pepe; and one burning Sunday +noon she makes a pilgrimage through the scorching streets, and comes +where he may be inquired for, and is shown up a pair of stairs, at the +head of which stands the angelic man, mild and bland, with great, dark +eyes, and a gracious countenance. He ushers us into a room furnished +with nothing but books, and finds two chairs for us and one for himself, +not without research. + +Now I will not pretend to say that Don Pepe occupied himself with me +after the first kind greeting, nor that my presence occasioned him +either pleasure or surprise. My companion was a man after his own heart, +and, at first sight, the two mounted their humanitarian hobbies, and +rode them till they were tired. And when this time came, I went away and +said nothing. Yet I knew that I had seen a remarkable man. + +Don Pepe de la Luz is a Cuban by birth, and his age may number some +sixty years. He inherited wealth and its advantages, having received +somewhere a first-rate education, to which he has copiously added in +subsequent years. He is a Liberal in politics and religion, a man of +great reason and of great heart. In affairs of state, however, he +meddles not, but contents himself with making statesmen. Like all wise +Philanthropists, he sees the chief source of good to man in education, +and devotes his life, and in a degree, his fortune, to this object. The +building in which we found him was a large school, or rather college, +founded by himself, and carried on in a great measure through his +efforts. This college is upon the same literary footing as the +University of Havana; and Don Pepe's graduates pass examinations and +receive diplomas in the last-named institution. He himself rarely leaves +its walls; and though he has house and wife elsewhere, and the great +world is everywhere open to him, he leads here a more congenial life of +ascetic seclusion, study, and simplicity. + + "Oh, noble instinct of good men, to stay and do their duty! + This let us celebrate above all daring, wit, and beauty." + +Don Pepe has been abroad as much as it profits a man to be,--but has not +lost his own soul there, as an American is apt to do. He has known the +best men in Europe and America. The best languages, he possesses them; +the best books, here they are, piled all about his room. The floor is +carpeted with them; there are cases all around the walls; and a large +parallelogramic arrangement in the middle of the room, stuck all with +books, as a pincushion with pins. True, there is not in their +arrangement that ornateness of order observable in Northern libraries; +dust even lies and blows about; and though he can find his favorites, +_we_ should be much puzzled to find any volume where it ought to be. But +it looks as if the master were happy and undisturbed here, and as if the +housemaid and her hated broom were as far off as the snow and frost. + +In person, Don Pepe is not above the middle height. He is a fairly +developed man, but looks thin and worn, and his shoulders have the stoop +of age, which scholars mostly anticipate. His face is much corrugated, +but it bears the traces of vivacious thought and emotion, not the +withering print of passion. Of his eyes I have already spoken; they are +wise, kind, and full of Southern fire. + +Don Pepe has had some annoyances from the government,--probably in the +more sanguine period of his life. The experience of years has taught him +the secret of living peaceably with all men. He can be great and good +himself, without perpetually quarrelling with those who can be neither. +He spoke with warm interest of his scholars. "They have much capacity," +he said; "but we want a little more of that _air_ you spoke of just now, +Doctor." That air was Liberty. Reader, have you ever been in a place +where her name was contraband? All such places are alike. Here, as in +Rome, men who have thoughts disguise them; and painful circumlocution +conveys the meaning of friend to friend. For treachery lies hid, like +the scorpion, under your pillow, and your most trusted companion will +betray your head, to save his own. I am told that this sub-treason +reached, in the days of the Lopez invasion, an incredible point. After +every secret meeting of those affected to the invaders, each conspirator +ran to save himself by denouncing all the others. One Cuban, of large +fortune and small reputation, being implicated in these matters, brought +General Concha a list of all his confederates, which Concha burned +before his face, unread. Piteous, laughable spectacle! Better be monkeys +than such men; yet such work does Absolutism in government and religion +make of the noble human creature! God preserve us ever from tyrants, +spies, and Jesuits! + +Don Pepe does not tell us this; but we have much pleasant talk with him +about books, about great men in Europe, and lastly about Prescott, whom +he knew and honored. We took leave of him with regret. He accompanied us +to the head of the stairs, and then said, "Ah! my dear Madam, my liver +will not suffer me to go down." "I am glad it is not your heart," I +rejoined, and we parted,--to meet again, in my thoughts, and perhaps +elsewhere, in the dim vista of the future. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MATANZAS. + + +A hot and dusty journey of some six hours brought us to Matanzas at high +noon. Our companions were Cubans, Spaniards, Americans, and +game-chickens, who travel extensively in these parts, sometimes in +little baskets, with openings for the head and tail, sometimes in the +hands of their owners, secured only by a string fastened to one foot and +passed over the body. They seem to be objects of tender solicitude to +those who carry them; they are nursed and fondled like children, and at +intervals are visited all round by a negro, who fills his mouth with +water, and squirts it into their eyes and under their feathers. They are +curiously plucked on the back and about the tail, where only the long +tail-feathers are allowed to grow. Their tameness in the hands of their +masters is quite remarkable; they suffer themselves to be turned and +held in any direction. But when set down, at any stage of the journey, +they stamp their little feet, stretch their necks, crow, and look about +them for the other cock with most belligerent eyes. As we have said that +the negro of the North is an ideal negro, so we must say that the +game-cock of Cuba is an ideal chicken, a fowl that is too good to be +killed,--clever enough to fight for people who are too indolent and +perhaps too cowardly to fight for themselves,--in short, the Gladiator +of the Tropics. + +Well, as we have said, we and they arrived at our journey's end in the +extreme heat of the day; and having shown our paper and demanded our +trunks, we beat an instantaneous retreat before the victorious Monarch +of the skies, and lo! the Ensor House, dirty, bare, and comfortless, was +to us as a fortress and a rock of defence. + +Here I would gladly pause, and giving vent to my feelings, say how +lovely I found Matanzas. But ever since Byron's time, the author is +always hearing the public say, "Don't be poetical," etc., etc.; and in +these days both writer and reader seem to have discovered that life is +too short for long descriptions,--so that when the pen of a G. P. R. +James, waiting for the inspirations of its master, has amused itself +with sketching a greater or less extent of natural scenery, the rule of +the novel-reader is invariably, "Skip landscape, etc., to event on +thirty-second page." Nevertheless, I will say that Matanzas is +lovely,--with the fair harbor on one hand and the fair hills on the +other, sitting like a mother between two beautiful daughters, who looks +from one to the other and wonders which she loves best. The air from the +water is cool and refreshing, the sky is clear and open, and the country +around seems to beckon one to the green bosom of its shades. "Oh, what a +relief after Havana!" one says, drawing a full breath, and remembering +with a shudder the sickening puffs from its stirring streets, which make +you think that Polonius lies unburied in every house, and that you nose +him as you _knows_ not, as you pass the door and window-gratings. With +this exclamation and remembrance, you lower yourself into one of Mr. +Ensor's rocking-chairs,--twelve of which, with a rickety table and a +piano, four crimson tidies and six white ones, form the furniture of the +Ensor drawing-room,--you lean your head on your hand, close your eyes, +and wish for a comfortable room with a bed in it. A tolerable room you +shall have; but for a bed, only a cot-bedstead with a sacking +bottom,--further, nothing. Now, if you are some folks that I know, you +will be able to establish very comfortable repose on this slender +foundation, Nature having so amply furnished you that you are your own +feather-bed, bolster, sofa-cushion, and easy-chair, a moving mass of +upholstery, wanting only a frame to be set down in and supported. But if +you should be one of Boston's normal skeletons, pinched in every member +with dyspepsia, and with the mark of the beast Neuralgia on your +forehead, then your skin will have a weary time of it, holding your +bones, and you will be fain to entreat with tears the merciful mediation +of a mattress. + +Now I know very well that those of my readers who intend visiting Cuba +will be much more interested in statistics of hotels than in any +speculations, poetical or philosophical, with which I might be glad to +recompense their patience. Let me tell them, therefore, that the Ensor +House is neither better nor worse than other American hotels in Cuba. +The rooms are not very bad, the attendance not intolerable, the table +almost commendable. The tripe, salt-fish, and plantains were, methought, +much as at other places. There were stews of meat, onions, sweet +peppers, and _ochra_, which deserve notice. The early coffee was +punctual; the tea, for a wonder, black and hot. True, it was served on a +bare pine table, with the accompaniment only of a bit of dry bread,--no +butter, cake, nor _dulces_. But Mr. Ensor has heard, no doubt, that +sweet things are unwholesome, and is determined, at whatever cost to his +own feelings, to keep them out of the way of his guests, who are, for +the time, his children. Then there is an excellent English servant +called John, whom, though the fair Ensor did berate him, we must +enumerate among the comforts of the establishment. There is a dark +corner about _volantes_, which they are disposed to order for you at a +very unreasonable profit; but as there are plenty of livery stables at +hand, and street _volantes_ passing all the time, it will be your own +fault if you pay six dollars where you ought to pay three. + +The first thing to be done at Matanzas is to drive out and see the +Cumbre, a hill in the neighborhood, and from it the valley of the +Yumori. The road is an improvement on those already described;--the ruts +being much deeper and the rocks much larger, the jolting is altogether +more complete and effective. Still, you remember the doctrine that the +_volante_ cannot upset, and this blind faith to which you cling carries +you through triumphantly. The Cumbre is lofty, the view extensive, and +the valley lovely, of a soft, light green, like the early leaves and +grass of spring, dotted everywhere with the palms and their dark +clusters. It opens far, far down at your feet, and on your left you see +the harbor quiet and bright in the afternoon sun, with a cheering +display of masts and pennons. You would look and linger long, but that +the light will wane, and you are on your way to Jenks his +sugar-plantation, the only one within convenient distance of the town. +Here the people are obviously accustomed to receive visitors, and are +decently, not superfluously, civil. The _major-domo_ hands you over to a +negro who speaks English, and who salutes you at once with, "Good-bye, +Sir!" The boiling here is conducted in one huge, open vat. A cup and +saucer are brought for you to taste the juice, which is dipped out of +the boiling vat for your service. It is very like balm-tea, unduly +sweetened; and after a hot sip or so you return the cup with thanks. A +loud noise, as of cracking of whips and of hurrahs, guides you to the +sugar-mill, where the crushing of the cane goes on in the jolliest +fashion. The building is octagonal and open. Its chief feature is a very +large horizontal wheel, which turns the smaller ones that grind the +cane. This wheel is turned after the following manner. In the centre of +the building, and as it were in the second story, stands a stout post, +to which are attached, at equal distances, six horizontal bars, which +are dragged round by six horses, vehemently flogged by the like number +of slaves, male and female. This is really a novel and picturesque +sight. Each negro is armed with a short whip, and their attitudes, as +they stand, well-balanced on the revolving wheel, are rather striking. +Liberal as they were of blows and of objurations to the horses, all +their cries and whipping produced scarcely a tenth of the labor so +silently performed by the invisible, noiseless slave that works the +steam-engine. From this we wandered about the avenues, planted with +palms, cocoas, and manifold fruit-trees,--visited the sugar-fields, +where many slaves were cutting the canes and piling them on enormous +ox-carts, and came at last to a great, open field, where many head of +cattle were quietly standing. Our negro guide had not been very lavish +or intelligible in his answers to our numerous questions. We asked him +about these cattle. "Dey cows," he replied. We asked if they gave milk, +and if butter was made on the plantation. He seemed quite puzzled and +confused, and finally exclaimed,--"_Dat cows no got none wife_." Coming +nearer, we found that the cows were draught oxen, employed in dragging +the canes and other produce of the plantation. Jenks his garden we found +in good order, and beautiful with many plants in full blossom; but Jenks +his house seemed dreary and desolate, with no books, a wretched print or +so, dilapitated furniture, and beds that looked like the very essence of +nightmare. Nothing suggested domestic life or social enjoyment, or +anything ----; but as Jenks is perfectly unknown to us, either by +appearance or reputation, we give only a guess in the dark, and would +suggest, in case it may displease him, that he should refurnish and +repaint a little, and diffuse an air of cheerfulness over his solitary +villa, remembering that Americans have imaginations, and that visitors +will be very apt to construct an unknown host from his surroundings. + +The second thing to be done in Matanzas, if you arrive on Saturday, is +to attend military mass at the Cathedral on Sunday morning. This +commences at eight o'clock; but the hour previous may be advantageously +employed in watching the arrival and arrangement of the female +aristocracy of Matanzas. These enter in groups of twos and threes, +carrying their prayer-books, and followed by slaves of either sex, who +bear the prayer-carpet of their mistresses. The ladies are wonderfully +got up, considering the early hour; and their toilettes suggest that +they may not have undressed since the ball of the night before. All that +hoops, powder, and puffery can do for them has been done; they walk in +silk attire, and their hair is what is technically termed dressed. Some +of them bring their children, bedizened like dolls, and mimicking +mamma's gestures and genuflection in a manner more provoking to sadness +than to satire. If the dressing is elaborate, the crossing is also. It +does not consist of one simple cross, "_in nomine Patris_," etc.; they +seem to make three or four crosses from forehead to chin, and conclude +by kissing the thumb-nail, in honor of what or whom we could not +imagine. Entering the middle aisle, which is divided from the rest by a +row of seats on either side, they choose their position, and motion to +the dark attendant to spread the carpet. Some of them evince +considerable strategic skill in the selection of their ground. All being +now in readiness, they drop on their knees, spread their flounces, cross +themselves, open their books, and look about them. Their attendants +retire a little, spread a handkerchief on the ground, and modestly kneel +behind them, obviously expecting to be saved with the family. These are +neatly, sometimes handsomely dressed. In this _status_ things remain +until the music of the regiment is heard. With a martial sound of +trumpets it enters the church, and fills the aisles, the officers taking +place within the chancel, and a guard of honor of eight soldiers ranging +on either side of the officiating priest. And now our devotions begin in +good earnest; for, simultaneously with the regiment, the _jeunessé +dorée_ of Matanzas has made its appearance, and has ranged itself along +the two long lines of demarcation which separate the fair penitents from +the rest of the congregation. The ladies now spread their flounces +again, and their eyes find other occupation than the dreary Latin of +their missals. There is, so to speak, a lively and refreshing time +between the youths of both sexes, while the band plays its utmost, and +_Evangel_, _Kyrie_, and _Credo_ are recited to the music of Trovatore +and Traviata. That child of four years old, dressed in white and gold +flounces, and white satin boots with heels, handles her veil and uses +her eyes like Mamma, eager for notice, and delighted with the gay music +and uniforms. The moment comes to elevate the Host,--thump goes the +drum, the guard presents arms, and the soldiers, instead of kneeling, +bend forward, in a most uncomfortable manner. Another thump, and all +that is over; the swords are returned to their sheaths, and soon, the +loud music coming to an end, the regiment marches out of church, very +much as it marched in, its devotional experiences being known to Heaven +alone. Ladies and lovers look their last, the flounces rise in pyramids, +the prayer-carpets are rolled up, and with a silken sweep and rush, +Youth, Beauty, and Fashion forsake the church, where Piety has hardly +been, and go home to breakfast. To that comfortable meal you also betake +yourself, musing on the small heads and villanous low foreheads of the +Spanish soldiery, and wondering how long it would take a handful of +resolute Yankees to knock them all into---- But you are not a +Filibuster, you know. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE PASEO--THE PLAZA--DINING OUT. + + +"As this Sunday is Carnival, you cannot do better than drive about the +city, and then go to the Plaza to see the masks. My partner's wife, with +whom you have now so comfortably breakfasted, will call for you in her +_volante_ this afternoon, between five and six o'clock. She will show +you the Paseo, and we will go and see the masks afterwards." + +So spoke a banker, who, though not _our_ banker, is our friend, and +whose kind attentions we shall ever recall, when we remember Cuba. So he +spoke, and so it befell. The pretty American lady, Cubanized into +paleness, but not into sallowness, called at the appointed hour, and in +her company we visited the principal streets, and the favorite drive of +the Matanzasts. The Paseo is shorter than that of Havana, but much +prettier. We found it gay with _volantes_, whose fair occupants kept up +an incessant bowing and smiling to their friends in carriages and on +horseback. The Cubans are generally good riders, and their saddle-horses +have the easiest and pleasantest gait imaginable. The heat of the +climate does not allow the severe exercise of trot and gallop, and so +these creatures go along as smoothly and easily as the waves of the sea, +and are much better broken to obedience. The ladies of Matanzas seem to +possess a great deal of beauty, but they abuse the privilege of powder, +and whiten themselves with _cascarilla_ to a degree that is positively +ghastly. This _cascarilla_ is formed by the trituration of egg-shells; +and the oval faces whitened with it resemble a larger egg, with features +drawn on it in black and red. In spite of this, they are handsome; but +one feels a natural desire to rush in amongst them with a feather +duster, and lay about one a little, before giving an available opinion +of their good looks. + +If the Paseo was gay, the streets of the city were gay also; the windows +filled with faces and figures in full dress, with little groups of +children at the feet of the grown people, like the two world-famous +cherubs at the feet of the Madonna di San Sisto. There were crowds of +promenaders too, everywhere, interspersed with parties of maskers, who +went about screaming at the public with high, shrill voices. Leaving the +_volante_, we descend to the Plaza, where is now the height and centre +of movement, we find it flanked on all sides with little movable +kitchens, where good things are cooked, and with tables, where they are +sold and eaten. Fried cakes, fish, and meats seem the predominant bill +of fare, with wine, coffee, and fruits. The masks are circulating with +great animation; men in women's clothes, white people disguised as +negroes, and negroes disguised as whites, prodigious noses, impossible +chins and foreheads; the stream of popular fancy ran chiefly in these +channels. We met processions consisting of a man carrying a rat in a +cage, and shouting out, "Catch this rat!" followed by a perfect stampede +of wild creatures, all yelling, "Catch that rat!" at the top of their +voices. The twanging of the guitar is heard everywhere, accompanied by +the high nasal voices of the natives, in various strains of monotony. In +some spots the music is more lively, accompanied by the shaking of a +gourd filled with dry seeds, which is called _ghirra_, and whose +"chick-a-chick, chick-chick" takes the place of the more poetical +castanets;--here you find one or more couples exhibiting their skill in +Cuban dances, with a great deal of applause and chattering from the +crowd around. Beside those of the populace, many aristocratic groups +parade the Plaza, in full dress, crowned with flowers and jewels;--a +more motley scene can hardly be imagined. Looking up, one sees in +curious contrast the tall palms with which the Plaza is planted, and the +quiet, wondering stars set in the deep tropical heavens. + +But in our evening's programme, tea has been omitted; now, what availeth +a Bostonian without his tea? By eight o'clock, we are pensive, "most +like a tired child at a show,"--by half-past eight, stupid,--by nine, +furious. Two hours of folly, taken on an empty stomach, alarm us for our +constitution. A visit to the _café_ is suggested and adopted. It proves +to be crowded with people in fancy attire, who have laid aside their +masks to indulge in beer, orgeat, and sherbet. While our Cuban friends +regale themselves with sour-sop and _zapote_ ice sweetened with brown +sugar, we call for a cup of delicious Spanish chocolate, which is served +with a buttered toasted roll, worthy of all imitation. Oh, how much +comfort is in a little cup of chocolate! what an underpinning does it +afford our spiritual house, a material basis for our mental operations! +In its support, we go it a little longer on the Plaza, see more masks, +hear more guitars and "catch this rat!" and finally return, in a hired +_volante_, to the Ensor House, where rest and the bedless cots await us. + +But we have friends in Matanzas, real born Cubans, who will not suffer +us to remain forever in the Ensor House. They send their _volante_ for +us, one day, and we visit them. Their house, of the inevitable Cuban +pattern, is richly furnished; the marbles of the floor are pure and +smooth, the rug ample and velvety; the wainscoting of the walls, so to +speak, is in handsome tiling,--not in mean, washy painting; the cane +chairs and sofas are fresh and elegant, and there is a fine Erard piano. +The Master of the house is confined to his room by illness, but will be +happy to see us. His son and daughters speak English with fluency. They +inform us, that the epidemic colds which prevail in Cuban winters are +always called by the name of some recent untoward occurrence, and that +their father, who suffers from severe influenza, has got the President's +Message. We find Don José in a bedroom darkened by the necessary closing +of the shutters, there being no other way of excluding the air. The +bedsteads are of gilded iron, with luxurious bedding and spotless +mosquito-nettings. His head is tied up with a silk handkerchief. He +rises from his rocking-chair, receives us with great urbanity, and +expresses his appreciation of the American nation and their country, +which he himself has visited. After a short interview we leave him, but +not until he has placed his house and all it contains "_á la disposition +de Usted_." We are then shown the pretty bedroom of the young ladies, +whose toilettes are furnished in silver, the bath lined with tiling, the +study, and the dining-room, where luncheon awaits us. We take leave, +with a kind invitation to return and dine the next day, which, upon +mature deliberation, we accept. + +The _volante_ comes for us next day, with Roqué, brightest of all living +_caleseros_, fixed in his boots and saddle. After a pleasant drive we +attain the house, and are received by its hospitable inmates as before. +The interval before dinner, a tolerably long one, is filled up by +pleasant chitchat, chiefly in English. The lady of the house does not, +however, profess our vernacular, and to her understanding we lay siege +in French, Italian, and laughter-provoking Spanish. Before dining we pay +a second visit to the host, who is still busy digesting the President's +Message. Obviously, the longer he has it under consideration, the worse +he finds it. He has nausea from its bragging, his head aches with its +loudness, and its emptiness fills him with wind. We are at our wits' end +to prescribe for him, and take our leave with grave commiseration, +telling him that we too have had it, but that the symptoms it produces +in the North are a reddening in the cheek and a spasmodic contraction of +the right arm. Now comes great dinner on. A slave announces it, and with +as little ceremony as may be we take our places. And here we must +confess that our friend the banker had rendered us an important service. +For he had said,--"Look not upon the soup when it is hot, neither let +any victuals entice thee to more than a slight and temporary +participation; for the dishes at a Cuban dinner be many, and the guest +must taste of all that is presented; wherefore, if he indulge in one +dish to his special delectation, he shall surely die before the end." +And it came to pass that we remembered this, and walked through the +dinner as on egg-shells, gratifying curiosity on the one hand, and +avoiding satiety on the other; with the fear of fulness, as it were, +before our eyes. For oh, my friends! what pang is comparable to too much +dinner, save the distress of being refused by a young woman, or the +comfortless sensation, in times of economy, of having paid away a +five-dollar gold piece in place of a silver quarter of a dollar? + +But you, Reader, would like more circumstantiality in the account of +this dinner, which united many perfections. It was handsome, but not +splendid,--orderly, but not stately,--succulent, but not unctuous. It +kept the word of promise to the smell and did not break it to the taste. +It was a dinner such as we shall wish only to our best friends, not to +those acquaintances who ask how we do when they meet us, and wish we +were dead before we part. As for particulars, we should be glad to +impart much useful information and many choice receipts; but the +transitory nature of such an entertainment does not allow one to improve +it as one could wish. One feature we remember, which is that the whole +dinner was placed on the table at once, and so you had the advantage of +seeing your work cut out before you. None of that hope deferred, when, +after being worried through a dozen stews and _entrées_, you are +rewarded at last with an infinitesimal fragment of the _rôti_. Nor, on +the other hand, the unwelcome surprise of three supplementary courses +and a dessert, when you have already dined to repletion, and feel +yourself at peace with all the world. Here all was fair play; you knew +what to expect and what was expected of you. Soup, of course, came +first,--then fish,--then meat stewed with potatoes and onions,--then +other meat with _ochra_ and tomatoes,--then boiled chicken, which is +eaten with a _pilaff_ of rice colored with saffron,--then delicious +sweet potatoes, yams, plantains, and vegetables of every sort,--then a +kind of pepper brought, we think, from the East Indies, and intensely +tropical in its taste,--then a splendid roast turkey, and ham strewed +with small colored sugar-plums,--then ---- well, is not that enough for +one person to have eaten at a stretch, and that person accustomed to a +Boston diet? Then came such a display of sweetmeats as would exercise +the mind of a New England housekeeper beyond all power of repose,--a +pudding,--a huge tart with very thick crust,--cakes of _yuca_,--a dish +of cocoa-nut, made into a sort of impalpable preserve, with eggs and +sugar,--then a course of fruits,--then coffee, of the finest quality, +from the host's own plantation,--and then we arose and went into the +drawing-room, with a thankful recollection of what we had had, and also +a thankful assurance that we should have no more. + +A drive by moonlight was now proposed, to see the streets and the masks, +it being still Carnival. So the _volante_ was summoned, with its +smiling, silent Roqué, and the pretty daughter of the house took seat +beside us. The streets around the Plaza proved quite impassable from the +crowd, whose wild movements and wilder voices went nigh to scaring the +well-trained horses. The little lady was accustomed, apparently, to +direct every movement of her charioteer, and her orders were uttered in +a voice high and sweet as a bird-call. "_Dobla al derecho, Roqué! +Roqué, dobla al derecho_!" Why did not Roqué go mad, and exclaim,--"Yes, +Señorita, and to heaven itself, if you bid me so prettily!" But Roqué +only doubled as he was bid, and took us hither and thither, and back to +the nest of his lady-bird, where we left her and the others with +grateful regrets, and finally back to the Ensor House, which on this +occasion seemed to us the end of all things. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +GAME-CHICKENS--DON RODRIGUEZ--DAY ON THE PLANTATION--DEPARTURE. + + +As there are prejudices in Cuba and elsewhere, touching the appropriate +sphere of woman, Hulia was not taken to the Cockpit, as she had demanded +and expected,--not to see the chickens fight, but to see the Spaniards +see it. + +Forgive her, ye Woman's-Righters, if on this occasion she was weak and +obedient! You would have gone, no doubt,--those of you who have not +husbands; but such as have must know how much easier it is to deal with +the article man in his theoretical than in his real presence. You may +succeed in showing by every convincement that you are his natural master +and superior, and that there is every reason on earth why you should +command and direct him. "No!----," says the wretch, shaking his fist, +or shrugging his shoulders; and whatever your intimate convictions may +be, the end is, that you do not. + +Propitiated by that ready obedience which is safest, dear Sisters, in +these contingencies, the proprietor of Hulia takes her, one morning, to +see the establishment of a man of fortune in the neighborhood, where one +hundred and forty game-chickens are kept for training and fighting. +These chickens occupy two good-sized rooms, whose walls are entirely +covered with compartments, some two feet square, in each of which +resides a cock, with his little perch and drinking-vessel. They are kept +on allowance of water and of food, lest they should get beyond fighting +weight. Their voices are uplifted all day long, and on all moonlight +nights. An old woman receives us, and conducts us to the training-pit, +pointing out on the way the heroes of various battles, and telling us +that this cock and the other have won _mucho dinero_, "much money." Each +has also its appointed value;--this cock is worth forty dollars, this +four ounces, this one six ounces,--oh, he is a splendid fellow! No +periodal and sporadic hen-fever prevails here, but the _gallo-mania_ is +the chronic madness of the tropics. + +The training-pit is a circular space inclosed with boards, perhaps some +twelve feet in diameter. Here we find the proprietor, Don Manuel +Rodriguez, with a negro assistant, up to the ears in business. Don +Manuel is young, handsome, and vivacious, and with an air of good family +that astonishes us. He receives us with courtesy, finds nothing unusual +in the visit of a lady, but is too much engrossed with his occupation to +accord us more than a passing notice. This is exactly as we could +wish,--it allows us to study the Don, so to speak, _au naturel_. He is +engaged at first in weighing two cocks, with a view to their subsequent +fighting. Having ascertained their precise weight, which he registers in +his pocket-memorandum, he proceeds to bind strips of linen around their +formidable spurs, that in their training they may not injure each other +with them. This being accomplished,--he all the while delivering himself +with great volubility to his black Second,--the two cocks are taken +into the arena; one is let loose there; the negro holds the other, and +knocks the free fowl about the head with it. Sufficient provocation +having been given, they are allowed to go at each other in their own +fashion, and their attacks and breathing-spells are not very unlike a +bout of fencing. They flap, fly at each other, fly over, peck, seize by +the neck, let go, rest a moment, and begin again, getting more and more +excited with each round. The negro separates them, when about to draw +blood. And as for Don Manuel, he goes mad over them, like an Italian +_maestro_ over his favorite pupil. "_Hombre, hombre!_" he cries to the +negro, "what a cock! By Heaven, what a couple! _Ave María santísima!_ +did one ever see such spirit? _Santísima Trinidad!_ is there such +fighting in all Matanzas?" Having got pretty well through with the +calendar of the saints, he takes out his watch;--the fight has lasted +long enough. One of the champions retires to take a little repose; +another is brought in his place; the negro takes him, and boxes him +about the ears of the remaining fowl,--brushing him above his head, and +underneath, and on his back, to accustom him to every method of attack. +Don Manuel informs us that the cock made use of in this way is the +father of the other, and exclaims, with an air of mock compassion, +_Pobre padre!_ "Poor father!" The exercise being concluded, he takes a +small feather, and cleans out therewith the throat of either chicken, +which proves to be full of the sand of the arena, and which he calls +_porquería_, "dirt." + +We leave Don Manuel about to employ himself with other cocks, and, as +before, too much absorbed to give our departure much notice. Strange to +say, Hulia is so well satisfied with this rehearsal, that she expresses +no further desire to witness the performance itself. We learn +subsequently that Don Manuel is a man of excellent family and great +wealth, who has lavished several fortunes on his favorite pursuit, and +is hurrying along on the road to ruin as fast as chickens' wings can +carry him. We were very sorry, but couldn't possibly interfere. +Meantime, he appeared excessively jolly. + +Our kind friends of the dinner were determined to pay us, in their +persons, all the debts of hospitality the island might be supposed to +contract towards strangers and Americans. Arrangements were accordingly +made for us to pass our last day in Matanzas at a coffee-plantation of +theirs, some four miles distant from town. They would send their +travelling _volante_ for us, they said, which was not so handsome as the +city _volante_, but stronger, as it had need to be, for the roads. At +eleven o'clock, on a very warm morning, this vehicle made its appearance +at the door of the Ensor House, with Roqué in the saddle,--Roqué with +that mysterious _calesero_ face of his, knowing everything, but +volunteering nothing until the word of command. Don Antoñico he tells +us, has gone before on horseback;--we mount the _volante_, and follow. +Roqué drives briskly at first, a slight breeze refreshes us, and we +think the road better than is usual. But wait a bit, and we come to what +seems an unworked quarry of coral rock, with no perceptible way over +it, and Roqué still goes on, slowly indeed, but without stop or remark. +The strong horses climb the rough and slippery rocks, dragging the +strong _volante_ after them. The _calesero_ picks his way carefully; the +carriage tips, jolts, and tumbles; the centre of gravity appears to be +nowhere. The breeze dies away; the vertical sun seems to pin us through +the head; we get drowsy, and dream of an uneasy sea of stones, whose +harsh waves induce headache, if not sea-sickness. We wish for a +photograph of the road;--first, to illustrate the inclusive meaning of +the word; second, to serve as a remembrance, to reconcile us to all +future highways. + +Why these people are content to work out their road-tax by such sore +travail of mind and body appeareth to us mysterious. The breaking of +stone in state-prison is not harder work than riding over a Cuban road; +yet this extreme of industry is endured by the Cubans from year to year, +and from one human life to another, without complaint or effort. An hour +or more of these and similar reflections brings us to a bit of smooth +road, and then to the gate of the plantation, where a fine avenue of +palms conducts us to the house. Here resides the relative and partner of +our Matanzas friends, a man of intelligent and humane aspect, who comes +to greet us, with his pleasant wife, and a pretty niece, their constant +guest. The elder lady has made use of her retirement for the +accomplishment of her mind. She has some knowledge of French and +Italian, and, though unwilling to speak English, is able to translate +from that language with entire fluency. The plantation-house is very +pretty, situated just at the end of the palm-avenue, with all the +flowers in sight,--for these are planted between the palms;--it has a +deep piazza in front, and the first door opens into one large room, with +sleeping-apartments on either side. Opposite this door is another, +opening upon the court behind the house, and between the two our chairs +are placed, courting the draught.--_N. B._ In Cuba, no one shuns a +draught; you ride, drive, sit, and sleep in one, and, unless you are a +Cuban, never take cold. The floor of this principal room is merely of +clay rubbed with a red powder, which, mixed with water, hardens into a +firm, polished surface. The house has but one story; the timbers of the +roof, unwhitened, forming the only ceiling. The furniture consists of +cane easy-chairs, a dining-table, and a pretty hammock, swung across one +end of the room. Here we sit and talk long. Our host has many good books +in French and Spanish,--and in English, Walter Scott's Novels, which his +wife fully appreciates. + +A walk is proposed, and we go first to visit _los negros +chiquitos_,--_Anglicè_, "the small niggers," in their nursery. We find +their cage airy enough; it is a house with a large piazza completely +inclosed in coarse lattice-work, so that the _pequeñuelos_ cannot tumble +out, nor the nurses desert their charge. Our lady friend produces a key, +unlocking a small gate which admits us. We found, as usual, the girls of +eight and upwards tending the babies, and one elderly woman +superintending them. On our arrival, African drums, formed of logs +hollowed out, and covered with skin at the end, were produced. Two +little girls proceeded to belabor these primitive instruments, and made +a sort of rhythmic strumming, which kept time to a monotonous chant. Two +other girls executed a dance to this, which, for its slowness, might be +considered an African minuet. The dancing children were bright-looking, +and not ungraceful. Work stops at noon for a recess; and the mothers run +from the field to visit the imprisoned babies, whom they carry to their +own homes and keep till the afternoon-hour for work comes round, which +it does at two, P. M. We went next to the negro-houses, which are built, +as we have described others, contiguous, in one hollow square. On this +plantation the food of the negroes is cooked for them, and in the middle +of the inclosed square stood the cooking-apparatus, with several large +caldrons. Still, we found little fires in most of the houses, and the +inmates employed in concocting some tidbit or other. A hole in the roof +serves for a chimney, where there is one, but they as often have the +fire just before their door. The slaves on this plantation looked in +excellent condition, and had, on the whole, cheerful countenances. The +good proportion of their increase showed that they were well treated, as +on estates where they are overworked they increase scarcely or not at +all. We found some of the men enjoying a nap between a board and a +blanket. Most of the women seemed busy about their household operations. +The time from twelve to two is given to the negroes, besides an hour or +two after work in the evening, before they are locked up for the night. +This time they improve mostly in planting and watering their little +gardens, which are their only source of revenue. The negroes on this +estate had formed a society amongst themselves for the accumulation of +money; and our friend, the Manager of the plantation, told us that they +had on his books two thousand dollars to their credit. One man alone had +amassed six hundred dollars, a very considerable sum, under the +circumstances. We visited also the house of the mayoral, or overseer, +whose good face seemed in keeping with the general humane arrangements +of the place,--as humane, at least, as the system permits. The negroes +all over the island have Sunday for themselves; and on Sunday afternoons +they hold their famous balls, which sometimes last until four o'clock on +Monday morning. Much of the illness among the negroes is owing to their +imprudence on these and like occasions. Pneumonia is the prevalent +disease with them, as with the slaves in our own South; it is often +acute and fatal. Everything in Cuba has such a tendency to go on +horseback, that we could not forbear asking if dead men did, and were +told that it was so,--the dead negroes being temporarily inclosed in a +box, and conveyed to the cemetery on the back of a horse. Our friend, +seeing our astonishment, laughed, and told us that the poor whites were +very glad to borrow the burial-horse and box, to furnish their own +funerals. + +Dinner was served at four o'clock, quite informally, in the one +sitting-room of the house. A black girl brushed off the flies with a +paper fly-brush, and another waited on table. The dinner was excellent; +but I have already given so many bills of fare in these letters, that I +will content myself with mentioning the novelty of a Cuban country-dish, +a sort of stew, composed of ham, beef, mutton, potatoes, sweet potatoes, +_yuca_, and yams. This is called _Ayacco_, and is a characteristic dish, +like eel-soup in Hamburg, or salt codfish in Boston;--as is usual in +such cases, it is more relished by the inhabitants than by their +visitors. On the present occasion, however, it was only one among many +good things, which were made better by pleasant talk, and were succeeded +by delicious fruits and coffee. After dinner we visited the vegetable +garden, and the well, where we found Candido, the rich negro who had +saved six hundred dollars, drawing water with the help of a blind mule. +Now the Philanthrope of our party was also a Phrenologist, and had +conceived a curiosity to inspect the head of the very superior negro who +had made all this money; so at his request Candido was summoned from the +well, and ordered to take off his hat. This being removed disclosed the +covering of a cotton handkerchief, of which he was also obliged to +divest himself. Candido was much too well bred to show any signs of +contumacy; but the expression of his countenance varied, under the +observation of the Phrenologist, from wonder to annoyance, and from that +to the extreme of sullen, silent wrath. The reason was obvious,--he +supposed himself brought up with a view to bargain and sale; and when +informed that he had a good head, he looked much inclined to give +somebody else a bad one. He was presently allowed to go back to his +work; and our sympathies went with him, as it would probably take some +days to efface from his mind the painful impression that he was to be +sold, the last calamity that can happen to a negro who is in kind hands. +We now wandered through the long avenues of palm and fruit trees with +which the estate was planted, and saw the stout black wenches at their +out-door occupations, which at this time consisted chiefly in raking and +cleansing the ground about the roots of the trees and flowers. Their +faces brightened as their employers passed, and the smaller children +kissed hands. Returned to the house, we paused awhile to enjoy the +evening red, for the sun was already below the horizon. Then came the +_volante_, and with heartfelt thanks and regrets we suffered it to take +us away. + +And who had been the real hero of this day? Who but Roqué, fresh from +town, with his experience of Carnival, and his own accounts of the +masked ball, the Paseo, and the Señorita's beaux? All that durst +followed him to the gate, and kissed hands after him. "_Adios, Roqué! +Roqué, adios!_" resounded on all sides; and Roqué, the mysterious one, +actually smiled in conscious superiority, as he nodded farewell, and +galloped off, dragging us after him. + +As we drove back to Matanzas in the moonlight, a sound of horses' feet +made us aware that Don Antoñico, the young friend who had planned and +accompanied our day's excursion, was to be our guard of honor on the +lonely road. A body-servant accompanied him, like-wise mounted. Don +Antoñico rode a milk-white Cuban pony, whose gait was soft, swift, and +stealthy as that of a phantom horse. His master might have carried a +brimming glass in either hand, without spilling a drop, or might have +played chess, or written love-letters on his back, so smoothly did he +tread the rough, stony road. All its pits and crags and jags, the pony +made them all a straight line for his rider, whose unstirred figure and +even speech made this quite discernible. For when a friend talks to you +on the trot, much gulping doth impede his conversation,--and there is +even a good deal of wallop in a young lady's gallop. But our friend's +musical Spanish ran on like a brook with no stones in it, that merely +talks to the moonlight for company. And such moonlight as it was that +rained down upon us, except where the palm-trees spread their inverted +parasols, and wouldn't let it! And such a glorification of all trees and +shrubs, including the palm, which we are almost afraid to call again by +name, lest it should grow "stuck up," and imagine there were no other +trees but itself! And such a combination of tropical silence, warmth, +and odor! Even in the night, we did not forget that the aloe-hedges had +red in them, which made all the ways beautiful by day. Oh! it was what +good Bostonians call "a lovely time"; and it was with a sigh of fulness +that we set down the goblet of enjoyment, drained to the last drop, and +getting, somehow, always sweeter towards the bottom. + +For it was set down at the Ensor House, which we are to leave to-night, +half-regretful at not having seen the scorpion by which we always +expected to be bitten; for we had heard such accounts of it, patrolling +the galleries with its venomous tail above its head, that we had thought +a sight might be worth a bite. It was not to be, however. The luggage is +brought; John is gratified with a _peso_; and we take leave with entire +good-will. + +I mention our departure, only because it was Cuban and characteristic. +Returning by boat to Havana, we were obliged to be on board by ten +o'clock that evening, the boat starting at eleven. Of course, the +steamer was nowhere but a mile out in the stream; and a little +cockle-shell of a row-boat was our only means of attaining her. How +different, ye good New Yorkers and Bostonians, from your afternoon walk +on board the "Bay State," with valise and umbrella in hand, and all the +flesh-pots of Egypt in ----, well, in remembrance! After that degree of +squabbling among the boatmen which serves to relieve the feelings of +that habitually disappointed class of men, we chose our craft, and were +rowed to the steamer, whose sides were steep and high out of water. The +arrangements on board were peculiar. The body of the main deck was +occupied by the _gentlemen's_ cabin, which was large and luxurious. A +tiny after-cabin was fitted up for the ladies. In the region of the +machinery were six horrible staterooms, bare and dirty, the berths being +furnished simply with cane-bottoms, a pillow, and one unclean sheet. +Those who were decoyed into these staterooms endured them with disgust +while the boat was at anchor; but when the paddle-wheels began to +revolve, and dismal din of clang and bang and whirr came down about +their ears, and threatened to unroof the fortress of the brain, why then +they fled madly, precipitately, leaving their clothes mostly behind +them. But I am anticipating. The passengers arrived and kept arriving; +and we watched, leaning over the side, for Don Antoñico, who was to +accompany our voyage. Each boat had its little light; and to see them +dancing and toppling on the water was like a fairy scene. At last came +our friend; and after a little talk and watching of the stars, we betook +ourselves to rest. + +Many of the Dons were by this time undressed, and smoking in their +berths. As there was no access to the ladies' cabin, save through the +larger one, she who went thither awaited a favorable moment and ran, +looking neither to the right hand nor the left. The small cabin was +tolerably filled by Cuban ladies in full dress.--_Mem._ They always +travel in their best clothes.--The first navigation among them was a +real balloon-voyage, with collisions; but they soon collapsed and went +to bed. All is quiet now; and she of whom we write has thrown herself +upon the first vacant bed, spreading first a clean napkin on the +extremely serviceable pillow. Sleep comes; but what is this that murders +sleep? A diminutive male official going to each berth, and arousing its +fair occupant with "Doña Teresita," or whatever the name may be, "favor +me with the amount of your passage-money." No comment is necessary; +here, no tickets,--here, no Stewardess to mediate between the unseen +Captain and the unprotected female! The sanctuary of the sex invaded at +midnight, without apology and without rebuke! Think of that, _those_ +passengers who have not paid their fare, and, when invited to call at +the Captain's office and settle, do so, and be thankful! The male +passengers underwent a similar visitation. It is the Cuban idea of a +compendious and economic arrangement. + +And here ends our account of Matanzas, our journey thither, stay, and +return. Peace rest upon the fair city! May the earthquake and hurricane +spare it! May the hateful Spanish government sit lightly on its strong +shoulders! May the Filibusters attack it with kisses, and conquer it +with loving-kindness! So might it be with the whole Island--_vale_! + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +RETURN TO HAVANA--SAN ANTONIO AGAIN. + + +Not many days did we tarry in Havana, on our return. We found the city +hot, the hotel full, the invalids drooping. The heat and the confined +life (many of them never crossed the threshold) began to tell upon them, +and to undo the good work wrought by the mild winter. They talked of +cooling breezes, and comfortable houses, with windows, carpets, and +padded sofas. Home was become a sort of watchword among them, exchanged +with a certain subdued rapture. One of them was on the brink of a longer +journey. He had been the worst case all winter, and since our arrival, +had rarely left his room. A friend was now come to take him to his +father's house, but he failed so rapidly, that it was feared the slender +thread would be broken before the sailing of the steamer should allow +him to turn his face homewards. The charities of the Cubans, such as +they are, do not extend to the bodies of dead Protestants,--for them is +nothing but the Potter's Field. This gross Priest, that shameless woman +shall lie in consecrated ground, but our poor countryman, pale and pure +as he looked, would defile the sainted inclosure, and must be cast out, +with dogs and heretics. So there was a sort of hush, even in the +heartless hotel-life, and an anxious inquiry every morning,--"Is he yet +alive?" + +"Just alive," and for a moment, people were really interested. But the +day of departure came at last, and he was carried on board in a chair, +his coffin following him. His closed eyes were too weak to open on the +glorious tropical noon, and take a last leave of its beauty, and of the +dry land he was never to see again; for he died, we afterwards learned, +the day before the vessel reached New York, without pain or +consciousness. And many thus depart. In this very hotel died glorious +Dr. Kane, having, like a few other illustrious men, compressed all the +merits of a long life in the short years of youth. When he was carried +from these walls, a great concourse rose up to attend him, and when the +procession passed the Governor's palace, the dark Concha himself, the +centre of power and despotism, stood at the gate, hat in hand, to do +reverence to the noble corpse. A practical word àpropos of these things. +A flight to the tropics is apt to be like a death-bed repentance, +deferred to the last moment, and with no appreciable benefit. Not only +giving,--everything is done twice which is done quickly,--Time and +Disease having between them a ratio too mysterious and rapid for +computation. Ye who must fly, wounded, from the terrible North, fly in +season, before the wound festers and rankles,--otherwise you escape not, +bringing Death with you. Do not rush moreover to a hotel in the heart of +Havana, and falling down there, refuse to be removed. Pulmonary patients +rarely profit in Havana, whose climate is tainted with the sea-board, +and further, with all the abominations of the dirtiest of cities. Santa +Cruz has a better climate than Cuba,--so has Nassau, but in Cuba there +are better places than Havana. San Antonio is better,--Guines, +Guanabacoa, even Matanzas, are all healthier. Best of all is to reside +on a coffee or sugar-plantation in the interior, but to attain this +object, special letters are necessary,--as before observed, neither +_your_ Banker, nor _our_ Consul, will help you to it. + +We find little news in Havana. B. has gone to Trinidad de Cuba,--C. has +gone to New Orleans. The Bachelor who daily treated to oranges is among +the departed, and remembering his benefactions, we wish him a safe +return and continuance of celibacy. Carnival has been gay,--Concha gave +a Ball, and our Consul plucked up heart and went, and introduced eight +of our countrywomen, elegantly dressed, no doubt, and not speaking a +word of Spanish, nor the Consul neither,--one of the requisites of an +American foreign Official being that he shall be capable of no foreign +language. This rule has been rigorously adhered to by the +Administration for twenty years past, and in some instances, a +tolerable ignorance of English has been added, as a merit of +supererogation. However, to return to the Ball, one of the ladies +performed in Boarding-school French, and as far as looks went, they made +a decidedly good impression. The little English Lords are +expected,--Ladies, do not flutter so!--it is not the fascinating English +Lord who has glittered like a diamond for two years past on the finger +of Washington diplomacy. These are Boys, and by all accounts, good ones. + +There is an Englishman at the hotel already, and he quarrels with his +victuals in a manner that is awful, quite reminding one of the stories +of unthankful children, whom the wolves get. And he labors with the +unknown Spanish like a ship at sea, and steers for this dish and that +with undistinguishable orders. Though I know him not, I must help him +when I see him struggling so for his dinner, winking, pointing, and +sputtering to the waiters without result. The wretch has been in Italy, +and would make the softer idiom serve his turn here. "_Riso, eh, riso, +riz, rice_," says he, with extended index. "_Trae el arroz al Señor_" +comes timely to his aid, and with a few more helpings he is fed, though +not satisfied. So irrational, so unappeasable is his appetite, that one +cannot help thinking he has heard the story of the Belly and the Members +in his youth, and has determined to avenge the injured ganglion of its +ancient tormentors. + +But among so many faces, remembered and sketched with little pleasure, +there is one whose traits I must record as a labor of love. It belonged +to one of the recent arrivals at the hotel, and was first seen in strong +contrast with the countenance of the gluttonous Englishman, which it +regarded with grave wonder. Expressive dark eyes, fine brows, heavy +black hair, and a clear skin, subdued by ill-health, were its principal +points of interest, but such enumeration can give you no more idea of +its charm than an auctioneer's catalogue of furniture can suggest the +features of a happy home. I had heard of its owner, but had never seen +her before, yet we met somehow like people who had known each other, +and a few commonplace phrases ended in a dialogue like this: "Are you +A?"--"Yes,--are you B?"--"Yes;" and eternal friendship, though not +sworn, set in immediately, and still perseveres. Modesty forbids us to +praise our friend,--the very epithet "my friend," says the utmost we can +say for any one. So I must not further celebrate my new-found treasure, +who from this moment became the companion of all my steps in Cuba. I +will only say that she was an apple-blossom of our Northern Spring, +grafted upon a noble Southern stock, and turning her face now to the +regions of the sun for healing warmth. Readers! you have all heard of +her,--you would all give your ears to know her name. Keep them, you +shall not. + +In this pleasant company we sought San Antonio again. My friend was not +doing well in Havana, and the graceful head was bowed every day lower by +pain and weakness. But once out of the pent-up city, the head rose like +a lily after rain, and all the little journey was pleasure and +surprise. The tangled thickets, the new trees, the strange flowers, +filled her with admiration. This was Cuba. Havana was, what is +everywhere almost alike, the World. And soon we came to the clear, +low-running river, with its green, bushy banks. And the next whistle of +the steam-engine, like a fairy horn, called up the pretty village, with +its streets and bridges, its one church, and its diminutive Plaza. We +walk along the newly paved street, lined with small dwellings built of +palm and plaster. The naked children are playing at the doors, the +fathers and mothers are making cigars, or smoking them, the soldiers are +walking vacantly about, and the small shopkeepers are looking out from +behind their dull counters, piled with the refuse of the better markets. +Here is the American Hotel, and just opposite, the eternal piano is +playing "Norma," as it always did twelve hours out of twenty-four, and +was a nuisance. But let me not grumble, for at the door of that house +stand Mariquilla and Dolores, to welcome me back, and, hearing their +voices, Norma leaves the instrument of her revenge, and comes out to +embrace me. It is pleasant, is it not, to arrive where some one is glad +to see you? These kind people quite warm my heart with their welcome. +Mrs. L. at the hotel, too, is always glad to see a boarder, especially +if he have with him a trunk that looks like staying. So we are fèted all +around, and have the best rooms given us, and are happy. + +In the evening, I betake myself to the house opposite, which was +familiar to me in my earlier visit, but of which I now speak for the +first time. Its inmates are in comfortable, though moderate +circumstances, and their habits are the type of Cuban village-life. Here +I meet the accustomed circle,--fie! they have no _circle_, but sit in +two long parallel lines, and rock, and smoke at each other. Papa is a +small, slight Spaniard, with good manners and no teeth. Mamma is not +more than forty,--a massive, handsome woman, with that dignity of +expression which is beyond beauty,--she is simple in her dress, and +quiet in all her ways, but her thoughtful eyes make you remember her. +Mariquilla is a buxom girl, some thirty years of age, who uses ten +cosmetics in her bath, and still preserves a tolerably fresh complexion. +Dolores is quiet and gentle, and spends her days in taking care of two +little motherless children, whose father brings them every morning, and +takes them away at night. Maria Luisa, whom I call Norma, is the only +daughter of the family. She is pretty and modest, slight and small, like +her father, but with fine eyes. She is a great Belle, we are told, in +the neighborhood, and her musical accomplishment is considered +prodigious. Besides these we find Dotor Hernandez, the village +Physician, an Aragonese, thick-set and vigorous, with a good honest +face, and Juanito, the Music-Master, a youth of eighteen, from +Barcelona, with straight black hair, a pock-marked countenance, and a +pair of as mischievous black eyes as ever looked demurely into the +mysteries of the divine art. He is just offering cigarettes to all the +family. Mamma has taken one, so have Dolores and Mariquilla,--he hands +me the little packet with: "_Te fuma, Hulita?_" and seems rather +surprised at my refusal, supposing doubtless that women of a certain age +smoke, all over the world. One small lamp dimly illuminates this family +party. When music is proposed, two candles, not of wax, are lighted, and +placed on the piano. I sing a song or two, which they are good enough to +call "_muy bonito_," and then, Maria Luisa, invited in turn, thunders +through "Norma," from Overture to Finale. Oh! I have not described the +piano,--it is a grand one, and bears the name of Stoddard. It should be +about sixty years old, and would seem to have been through three +generations and ten boarding-schools. It is a sort of skeleton piano, +empty of music, and the rattling of its poor old bones makes mine ache. +After the Opera, dancing is proposed. Juanito is disabled with a lame +hand, and Maria Luisa volunteers to play the new _contra-danza_. It is +christened "the Atlantic Telegraph," and is full of jerks and +interruptions, having nothing very definite about it. We have learned +the _contra-danza_ of Dolores, on a former occasion, but now they all +say "Hulita must dance with the Doctor," and to that consummate honor +she resigns herself. That distinguished functionary divests himself of +his cigar, polishes his perspiring forehead with his handkerchief, and +offers himself as a candidate for her hand. "_Vamos_," he says, and they +begin a slow, circling measure, to a music which is nondescript. Quiet +work this, none of your spasmodic Waltzes, kicking Polkas, and teetotum +jigmarigs. This gentle revolution seems imitated from the movement of +the planets, or perhaps the dance of the seasons,--gravity pervades +it,--it is a slow eternity. The rest of the family group has resolved +itself into couples,--we all go round and round, and suddenly confront +each other for a right and left, and look delighted, and then go round +again. This dreamy performance goes on, until we have just sense enough +left to remember that there is such a thing as bed-time. We break off, +inquire the hour, find it late, say that we must go, which occasions no +surprise. The piano ceases,--the candles are put out. There is a +general kissing and "_Buenas noches_, _Hulita_." Dotor Hernandez sees us +home. We pass every evening at the house opposite, and all the evenings +are like this. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +SAN ANTONIO--CHURCH ON SUNDAY--THE NORTHER--THE S. FAMILY. + + +The least shrub has its blossom, if you only know how to find it. The +dullest country town in New England has its days when people hear +speeches and get drunk, the one act illustrating the morals, the other +the manners of the community. In like manner, the smallest village in +Cuba has its Sunday, when the imprisoned women go to church in their +best clothes, the men attend cockfights, and in the evening there is +ball or sermon, according as the Church makes feast or fast. The +population of San Antonio does not seem particularly given to weekday +devotion, nor indeed do you anywhere in Cuba find men and women praying +in the churches, as you do in Rome. There is a degree of sobriety among +the people in all things, partly Spanish, it may be, partly the result +of the extreme climate,--certain it is, that the Cuban Spaniard has not, +either in pleasure or devotion, the extravagance of the French or +Italian. The church at San Antonio was always open, but I always found +it empty, except on the one Sunday morning when I went thither to +observe manners and customs. High mass was at eight o'clock, and was in +all respects a miniature of the same ceremonial as described at +Matanzas, the accompaniment of martial music and the regiment being left +out. The body of the church was covered with prayer-carpets, which were +closely occupied by kneeling figures. The display of good dresses and +good looks was cheerful and invigorating. There was less flouncing and +fanning, methought, than in the larger town; but no doubt the usual +telegraphy was carried on, only in a more covert manner, as became the +severer exigencies of village decorum. The priest went through his +harmless little functions at the altar with what seemed to be a calico +Dalmatique on his back, but we have no doubt that it was a brocade of +creditable thickness. What he said was, of course, inaudible. Juanito +was at the organ, perched sideways in a high gallery, so that his impish +face and dancing eyes formed a part of the picture. Though nearer heaven +in his position, he looked more full of the devil (pardon the +expression) than we had ever seen him. With him were three young +choristers, laboring away at the "Kyrie Eleison,"--he made the fourth in +the Quartette, and played the accompaniment, too, losing, moreover, +nothing of what went on below. The music was good, very like something +of Mozart's, but when subsequently interrogated, Juanito declared it to +have been a _Capriccio_ of his own. We can only say, that if it was not +Mozart's, we shall certainly hear of Juanito some day, as a composer. + +The two old beggars who take off their tattered hats with such stately +humility all the week, were here to-day, but did not beg in church. +Item, they do not chatter like their Italian brethren in the trade, but +commence a slow statement of their grievances, which you interrupt with +"_nada_," nothing, when they walk sadly away. A Cuban generally gives +them something, and always without rebuke. In the church was, too, a +kneeling figure of Christ, neither divine nor human, fastened to a +platform, with four lanterns at the four corners,--it is carried through +the streets on Fridays in Lent for devotion, and the priests chant, and +bear candles before it. + +Well, Mass is over, and we walk back to the hotel,--and here is our +pretty neighbor, Maria Luisa, watching at the door to see the people +come from church. "What, not at Mass, Maria Luisa?" "No, I'm so sorry, +but Papa is away, and Dolores has a cold, and Mariquilla has been +sitting up with a sick friend, so there was no one to go with me." +Clearly, there is a laxity in matters of religion in the house opposite. +On the other hand public opinion, even in San Antonio, would never have +permitted Maria Luisa, or any other female under sixty to have walked +the quiet streets without escort, upon whatever errand of piety or of +charity. Scarcely to the bedside of a dying mother might she go, +unattended by a suitable companion. We pass the remainder of the Sunday +in quiet resignation to the heat, the thermometer standing at 86 in the +shade, (say, on the fourth of March,) and letter-writing causing one to +perspire like a wood-sawyer, or a stout youth in the Polka. For the +nobler sex, there is the cockpit,--all the _cafés_ and billiards too are +full of soldiers and countrymen,--one hears the click of the balls +throughout the quiet streets. Towards sunset we walk out, and find the +village alive with little groups of people, and the windows of the +houses, at least the window-gratings, filled with the best women in the +best dresses. Some of them are well got-up. All look cool, easy, and +indolent. Here and there is seen amongst them the glimmer of a furtive +cigar. We pass the Cavalry Barracks, once a spacious monastery, and see +the horses gathered in from their wide pasture for the night. They obey +the voice, and with a little driving, make a tolerable charge at the +arched doorway, and carry it in style. The sense of smell too is regaled +with the savory odors of the soldiers' supper, and looking in at a +grating, we see huge stewpans simmering over charcoal fires,--the rest +in darkness, for it now grows late. The men are a stouter looking set +than the regiment we saw at Matanzas, but the horses have not the bone +and muscle requisite for heavy action,--they could only make respectable +light-horse. Returning home, we meet our friends of the house opposite +going to "_Sermon_," as they tell us, for this is Lent, and not +Carnival. Mamma wears a black veil,--the others are bareheaded. We have +still tea to look forward to, but under such difficulties! we have given +a dollar for a teapot which in Boston should cost twenty-five cents. Our +precious pound of black tea, brought from home, has not yet given out, +but how hard is it to make Antonio, the head-waiter, put the tea in the +pot, make the water boil, and pour it boiling over the tea. Yet this +sacred rite we accomplish every evening. It has the solemnity of a +religious observance, for where the tea-table is, there is home. After +tea, a chair by the well in the middle of the Court, and a silent feast +of tropical starlight. The lady of the house is chattering nothings +with that queer Californian, who looks as much like a spoiled preacher +as anything. The excitable Carolinian has got some one to hear him abuse +Cuba, and glorify Charleston. Yonder at the left angle the flare of a +lamp betrays the kitchen, and in the next compartment of the picture +Polonia, the slave washer-woman, who has been kept at the ironing-table +all day, vents her feelings in passionate snatches of talk, shakes her +kerchiefed head, tosses her arms about, and returns to the ironing with +more determination than ever. Poor slave,--a great debt was piled up +against her before she was born, and the labor of all her life cannot +work it out. Bankrupt must she die, and hand down the debt, sole +inheritance, to her children. So the world to the slave is a debtor's +prison, with a good or bad Jailer, and for utmost alleviation, an +occasional treat all round. And while the cooking, and chattering, and +ironing goes on about us, Reader, you and I will ponder this, sitting by +the well, under the stars set an hundred thousand miles deep in the +dark velvet of the tropical heavens. + +This was Sunday, and with the next day came one of those changes which +resemble in kind, not in degree, the caprices of our own Continental +climate. The day has been a little less genial than usual, still we are +all comfortably seated at dinner, when a sudden wind shakes the house, +and blowing in furiously at the blinds, threatens to make the tablecloth +fly over our heads. A fierce shower of rain follows,--our table is set +in a gallery inclosed on one side only with Venetian blind-work, and +through this the rain rushes at us like a volley of canes flung into the +pit of a theatre. It grows dark, and for an hour or so, very cold. There +is an instantaneous closing of doors and wooden window-shutters, and we +of the Dinner protect ourselves from the wet and chill with the few warm +garments we have with us,--for is not the bulk of our solid clothing +laid up at Havana in that sea-trunk which we could wish never to open +again? We pass the remainder of the afternoon under hatches, as it +were. The rain soon exhausts itself, but the cold wind continues for +some days. This is the Norther, fatal to yellow fever, but fatal also to +those who are ill of it, and dreaded by all patients whatever. To us, +the storm being over, the wind is only chilly, bringing with it a dull +sky, and the desire for exercise, but the invalids shrivel up in it like +rose-leaves in a frost,--the hectic gives place to deadly pallor, and +the purple hues that mark the orbit of the eye come out, stronger than +ever. Meeting, they interrogate each other's faces with anxious looks, +as if wishing to see what headway their little community could keep +against the common foe. The aspect of the streets is changed. The women +scarcely appear, save where you see the heads of three or four of them +in a row, looking through the small square breathing-hole cut in the +window-shutters, and giving one the idea of so many people standing +erect in their coffins. The men walk moodily about, each one enveloped +in the dark folds of a Spanish cloak, or _capa_, of which the material +varies from fine to coarse, but the shape is always the same. These +solemn, stalking figures so resemble the _mysterious personages_ of the +theatre, the bandits, spies, disguised lovers, and other varmint, that +we saw for once where the stage has preserved a tradition of real life, +these costumes having been, no doubt, long since imitated from Spain, +and never changed. + +What crime is this grave man meditating, with heavy brow and splendid +eyes? Murder or conspiracy, at least. No, he only wants to purchase a +string of onions at that shop at the corner. And this melancholy hero +with the pale olive complexion, dark as the stage-Romeo after he has +bought the poison? He enters yonder door to refresh himself with a glass +of _aguardiente_, and a game of billiards. At the house opposite, +Dolores complains of "_muchisima flussion_,"--a most severe cold. "Is it +the President's Message?" we ask. "No, in San Antonio they call the cold +'_el Polvorin_,' after the powder-magazine that exploded, last year, in +Havana." We tell Dotor Hernandez that he must cure Dolores, and he +promises her a "_vomitivo_" next morning, the very mention of which +considerably hastens her convalescence. The health of the village is +suffering from the Norther, the Doctor has his hands full. Mariquilla +must give us some account of the sick friend she is nursing. "He has a +_Calentura_, (fever of the country,) with delirium. They treat him with +leeches, bleeding, borage tea, mustard at the feet; around the head +bread with oil, vinegar, and pepper, as a _preventivo_." "Why," cried +one of us, "you have seasoned him and stuffed him with herbs, fit for +roasting." Dotor Hernandez gravely explains and defends his practice. + +While the Norther is in full force, we go to pay a visit to Don Juan +Sanchez, a man of wealth and position in San Antonio, and proprietor of +large estates in the neighborhood. Don Juan is not at home,--his wife, +Doña Tomasita, and the Tutor, an elderly Frenchman, receive us. She is +young, but the mother of seven children. At our request, the nursery is +reviewed in the parlor, as follows: Enter Manuel, eight years of age, +enveloped in the stage cloak, and with the utmost gravity of +countenance. He marches up to us, and startles us by inquiring after +our health, in very good English. Enter Tomas Ignacio, seven years of +age, also in a _capa_, and grave. This infant addressed us in French, +and took a seat beside his brother. He was followed by two noble imps, +of six and five, dressed in the same manner, and with the same decorum. +These four creatures in linen suits, with black cloaks, were positively +imposing, and it was not until Dolorita, the baby, had begun to howl in +her mother's arms, and Ricardo, the three-year old, to tumble on the +floor at her feet, that we could feel we were in the presence of +lawless, spontaneous childhood. Before we departed, Doña Tomasita kindly +placed her whole house, and all her earthly goods at our disposition, +and we, with great moderation, claimed only the right of exit at her +front door. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +EDUCATION--LAST NIGHT IN SAN ANTONIO--FAREWELL. + + +One of our number, visiting the public schools of San Antonio one day, +found the course of studies for boys of very respectable extension,--it +comprised all the usual elementary branches, including the History of +Spain, such a history of that country at least as is good for Cuban boys +to learn. For the education of girls, a single hour was reserved, and +into this were crowded the necessary reading and writing, a little +instruction in accounts, and the geography of the island. My friend +remonstrated against this unequal division of the spoils of time, but +those in authority insisted that it was according to the rights of +Nature, as follows. + +_American._ Do you mean to say that boys should be taught five or six +hours a day, and girls only one? + +_Schoolmaster._ Certainly. + +_American._ Why do you make this difference? + +_Schoolmaster._ Because women need so much less education than men. + +_American._ Why is that? + +_Schoolmaster._ They have less mind, in the first place, and then their +mode of life demands less cultivation of what they have. + +_American._ What knowledge do you consider necessary for a woman? only +reading and writing, I suppose. + +_Schoolmaster._ Yes, and a little arithmetic. They must fill up the rest +of their time with sewing, and household matters. + +_American._ But supposing you were required to add something to this +small amount of instruction, what would it be? + +_Schoolmaster_ (after some reflection). I scarcely know, unless indeed +_a slight coloring of Grammar_. + +Our American, now excited, brings in view the good of the race. "Do you +not think," he says, "that by elevating the organism of the mothers, you +elevate the intellectual chances of the whole race? Stupid mothers will +have stupid sons,--the results of culture are inherited." + +The master replies that that is not his business, but Don Juan, who +happens to be present, being appealed to, assents, and thinks it might +be as well if a mother could have an idea. So far, so good, but a +jealous-hearted woman to whom the conversation was reported smiled to +observe how both American and Cuban made woman subservient to the +interests of the race. "And if she should never be a mother," said this +one, "educate her for herself, that she may give good counsel, and +discern the noble and the beautiful. For women are good to inspire men, +as well as to bear them, and for their own sakes, they have a right to +know all that elevates and dignifies life." And this brings to mind +another brief conversation overheard in one of our voyages. + +_Young Wife_ (holding up a number of the "Atlantic Monthly"). Ought +women to learn the alphabet, dear? what do you think? + +_Young Husband._ Oh! certainly--don't they have to teach it? + +But the time draws nigh for us to leave San Antonio. Our return passages +are engaged in the next Isabel. If this steamer prove such a Bird of +Gladness as the papers and her consignees say, then our once weary +voyage will become a veritable translation,--only three days of +sunshine, smoothness, and turtle-soup for luncheon, and you land in +Charleston in undisturbed equilibrium of manners and of dress. Well, +more of this anon. + +But to-night is our last night in San Antonio. We have danced our last +_contra-danza_ with Dotor Hernandez, and had our last chat with Maria +Luisa and her mother. Juanito was there, that evening, and as we were +all in a musical mood, he played through whole piano-forte arrangements +of "Norma" and "Lucia," and we all screamed through the score, some six +notes too high for the voice, Papa and Mamma applauding us, and did +wonders in "Casta Diva" and "_Chi mi frena_." But this is all at an end, +and one of us stands alone at her open window, and looks for the last +time on the quiet scene,--just before her is the little pasture where +the goats pick up a scanty subsistence all day, and where shadows and +moonlight play such wild freaks at night. This morning, as she sat at +that window and worked, two men in haste carried a coffin past it. She +always sees coffins, and sometimes writes about them,--that one gives +tone to her thoughts to-night. For the house opposite is now dark and +still,--the parlor where Mariquilla embroiders her chemises, and Dolores +pulls lint for the sick is silent and deserted. The trees stand up there +in the moonlight, and the river runs among its shallows so near that one +hears its voice. And Hulita thinks: fifty years from this time--that +river will be running just as it is now, and those trees, or others like +them, will be standing at the angle of the picture as I now see them, +but where shall we, friends of to-day, be? Dead, or old enough to die. +Juanito will be a man in years, then, with white hairs, scarcely +remembering the American lady who praised his compositions in +church-music. The Dotor, Papa, and Mamma cannot be alive, Maria Luisa +will be a Grandmother, and if Hulita lives, her infirmities will make +death a welcome deliverance. So she envies that moon, the trees, the +river, who can all stay and be eternal. She saw the coffin to-day,--very +like she will see the whole no more. Good-night, dear moon, dear +shadows, dear unlearned, unsophisticated people,--I shall leave you +to-morrow, forget you never. + +And the next day comes the bustle of departure, and packing of trunks, +for we are to take the afternoon train down to Havana. Doña Tomasita +sends a parting gift of fruit, as much as one man and one stout boy can +carry. The fruit is as follows: one bushel of golden, honeyed +oranges,--oh! the glory of all oranges are those of this island,--the +same quantity of _chaimitos_ and _mameys_, and a huge fagot of +sugar-cane. We hasten to share these good creatures with those +immediately at hand, having lauded Doña Tomasita to the skies and paid +her messengers. What could be carried away we took with us. Then came +the parting with Polonia, who wrung her hands as usual, and cried out: +"Know thou, girl, that I shall miss thee much." "And I thee, too, thou +dear old half-mad charcoal figure,--thou art human, though black, and +canst ache over the ironing-table as well as another. Let these few +reals console thee, as far as may be, for the loss of my sympathy. If we +ever get the Island, I will help thee to ease and good wages. + +"But not so to thee, roguish Antonio. 'Art thou not free and perfidious? +We intrusted a sum of money to thine hand to pay the negro +baggage-carrier, and to slightly fee thyself, and we ascertain all too +late, by the complaints of the injured negro, that thou didst slightly +fee him, and pay thyself for services never rendered. Wherefore dread +our coming, or the Day of Justice, by whomsoever administered!'"---- + +We have taken affectionate leave of the family of the house opposite, +promising to write, with the remainder of our mortal lives as the vague +term of fulfilment. A trinket or two made the younger ones happy, while +the whole family solemnly united to bestow on me a little set of +vignettes of Cuba, folded fan-fashion, and purchasable for the sum of +five reals. Not without much explanation was it delivered to me,--this +was the Cock-fight, this the Bull-fight, this the Tacon theatre. I +received these instructions without any of that American asperity which +led a celebrated Chief Justice to say: "There are some things, Mr. +Counsel, which the Court is supposed to know," and gratefully departed. +We walked to the _dépôt_, in the hot afternoon sun, our smaller pieces +conveyed on a barrow, and the huge trunk resting, for fifty cents, on +the head of a stalwart negro.--_Mem._ A negro could carry the round +earth on his head, if he could only get it there. And here came the +discovery of Antonio's vileness,--he had had an eighth of an ounce, +wherewith to pay the carriers. According to the bargain, as rehearsed to +us, he was to pay them a dollar and three fourths, which would leave him +three reals for himself. He professed to have done this with so +ingenuous an air, that we were a little ashamed of so small a fee, and +added thereto the small remnant of our change. Only at the last moment, +when the train was puffing and smoking alongside, did the poor blacks +venture to say that one dollar was very little for carrying all those +trunks. Our hearts were stirred, but the train was there, the purse +empty, and Antonio out of sight. Wherefore, let him, as before said, +avoid our second coming. + +But there never was a departure without an omission. Something you have +forgotten that you meant to take, or you have brought with you something +that should have been left. Wending your way from an English mansion of +splendid hospitality, a stray towel has found its way into your +portmanteau. Before you have discovered this, a confidential letter from +the housekeeper overtakes you informing you of the fact, and begging you +to return the missing article at once, which you do for six stamps, with +a slight tingle in the cheek. In the present instance we have taken +nought that was not ours, but we have left an article of domestic +dignity and importance. + +Stranger, if you should ever sit at that tea-table in the hotel at San +Antonio, with the lamp smoking under your nose, and the three tasteless +dishes of preserves spread before your sight, a cup of astringent +nothingness being offered to you, and a choking stale roll forming the +complement of your evening service,--if there and thus you should see a +white teapot, with bands of blue, that looks as if it had seen better +days, oh then remember us! For we had scarcely settled ourselves in the +cars, when a pensive recollection came over us. It was too late to do +anything,--we only touched the shoulder of our friend, who was as usual +intent upon palms and scenery, and remarked, with a look of melancholy +intelligence, "The Teapot is left behind!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +SLAVERY--CUBAN SLAVE LAWS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. + + +It is not with pleasure that we approach this question, sacred to the +pugilism of debate. Nor is it worth while to add one word to the past +infinity of talk about it, unless that word could have the weight of a +new wisdom. We Americans, caught by the revolutionary spirit of the +French, make them too much our models, and run too much to grandiloquent +speech, and fine moral attitudinizing. The attitudes do not move the +world,--the words do not change the intrinsic bearings of things. They +whom we attack, the fight being over, sit down and wipe the dust from +their faces,--we sit and wipe the sweat from ours,--something stronger +than their will or ours passes between us,--it is the great moral +necessity which expresses the will of God. We and they are two forces, +pulling in opposite ways to preserve the equilibrium of a third point, +which we do not see. We must keep to our pulling, they cannot relinquish +theirs. The point of solution that shall reconcile and supersede the +differences is not in sight, nor has the wisest of us known how to +indicate it. Meanwhile, the calm satisfaction with which some of us +divide our national moral inheritance, giving them all the vices, and +ourselves all the virtues, is at once mournful and ridiculous. Why are +we New Englanders so _naïve_ as not to see this? When the representative +of a handful of men rises to speak, and, alluding to the progress which +a great question has made in twenty years, says: "This is all our +doing,--behold our work and admire it!" we cannot, but pause and wonder +if merely that irruption of bitter words can have produced so sweet a +fruit. In this view, what becomes of the moral evolution of the ages, of +the slow, sure help of Time, showing new aspects, presenting new +possibilities? What becomes of human modesty, which is nearly related +to human justice? + +I preface with these remarks, because, looking down from where I sit, I +cannot curse the pleasant Southern land, nor those who dwell in it. Nor +would I do so if I thought tenfold more ill of its corruptions. Were +half my body gangrened, I would not smite nor reproach it, but seek with +patience an available remedy. This is the half of our body, and the +moral blood which brings the evil runs as much in our veins as in +theirs. + +Looking at realities and their indications, we see a future for the +African race, educated by the enslavement which must gradually +ameliorate, and slowly die out. We see that in countries where the black +men are many, and the white few, the white will one day disappear, and +the black govern. In South Carolina, for example, the tide of emigration +has carried westward the flower of the white population. In Charleston, +all the aristocratic families have their mulatto representatives, who +bear their names. There are Pinckneys, Pringles, Middletons, and so on, +of various shades of admixture, living in freedom, and forming a +community by themselves. There are even mulatto representatives of +extinct families, who alone keep from oblivion names which were once +thought honorable. These things are indications of changes which will +work themselves slowly. Noble efforts have hemmed the evil in, and the +great soul of the World watches, we believe, at the borders, and will +not suffer the sad contagion to creep over them into the virgin +territories. But where the Institution sits at home, with its roots +undergrowing the foundations of society, we may be sad, but we must be +patient. The enfranchisement of a race, where it is lasting, is always +accomplished by the slow and solid progress of the race itself. The +stronger people rarely gives Freedom to the weaker as a boon,--when they +are able, they rise up and take it with their own hands. It is an +earning, not a gift, nor can the attributes which make liberty virtual +and valuable be commanded, save under certain moral conditions. A man is +not noble because he is free, but noble men constituting a nation +become free. Let the wounds of Africa first be stopped,--let her +lifeblood stay to enrich her own veins. The enslaved population of Cuba +and our own South must, under ordinary circumstances, attain in time a +condition in which Slavery shall be impossible. + +But our business is with what actually exists. We will leave what shall +and should be to the Theorists who invent it, and to God who executes +it, often strangely unmindful of their suggestions. + +The black and white races are, by all accounts, more mingled in Cuba, +than in any part of our own country. People who have long been resident +there assure us that some of the wealthiest and most important families +are of mixed blood. Animadvert upon this as you will, it is nevertheless +certain that it weaves close bonds of affinity between them, and ties of +Nature which, though ignored, cannot be unfelt. I have not seen in Cuba +anything that corresponds to our ideal separation of the two sets of +human beings, living in distinctness one from the other, hating and +wronging each other with the fierceness of enemies in the death-grapple. +The Negro cannot be so hated, so despised,--it is not in the nature of +things. His _bonhommie_, his gentle and attachable nature do not allow +it. Nor can he, in return, so hate. There is a great familiarity between +the children of the two races. They play, and run about, and are petted +together. We made a visit at a Creole house, where the youngest child, a +feeble infant of six months, was suckled by a black nurse. "You must see +the nurse's Baby," they all said, and the little daughter of the house +ran to fetch her, and soon returned, bringing her by one arm, the way in +which their own mothers carry them. She was an uncommonly handsome +infant, scarcely older than her white foster-brother, but greatly in +advance of him in her powers of locomotion. She was, according to +custom, entirely naked, but her shining black skin seemed to clothe her, +and her fine back and perfect limbs showed that she throve in nudity. +She ran about on all fours like some strange creature, so swift and +strong was she, and meeting with a chair, pulled herself up by it, and +stood dancing on one foot, holding out the other. The family all +gathered round her, admiring her color and her shape, and the little +girl finally carried her off in triumph, as she had brought her. + +The slave children wear oftenest no clothing until five or six years +old. They look well-fed and healthy, only the prevalence of umbilical +Hernia shows a neglect of proper bandaging at birth,--the same trouble +from the same cause is very observable in the south of Italy. The +increase of the slaves is, of course, an important test of their +treatment,--it is small throughout the Island, and amounts to little +save on the best plantations. There is now a slow improvement in this +respect. The repression of the slave-trade has caused such a rise in the +price of negroes, that it is become better economy to preserve and +transmit their lives than to work them off in eight or ten years, +leaving no posterity to supply their place. Vile as these motives seem, +they are too near akin to the general springs of human action for us to +contemn them. Is it otherwise with operatives in England, or with +laborers in Ireland? Emigration lessens their numbers, and raises their +value,--it becomes important to society that they shall be fed and +sustained. One wrong does not excuse another, but where a class of +wrongs is universal, it shows a want of moral power in the race, at +which the individual cannot justly carp. + +Even the race of Coolies, hired at small wages for eight years, and +exploitered for that time with murderous severity, have found a suicidal +remedy that nearly touches their selfish masters. So many of them +emancipated themselves from hard service by voluntary death, that it +became matter of necessity to lighten the weight about their necks, and +to leave them that minimum of well-being which is necessary to keep up +the love of life. The instinct itself is shown to be feeble in the race, +whereas the Negro clings to life under whatever pains and torment. The +Coolies are valued for their superior skill and intelligence, but as men +will treat a hired horse worse than a horse of their own, so they were, +until they happily bethought them of killing themselves, more hardly +used than the Negroes. Would that horses in the North had the same +resource. If the wretched beast, harnessed, loaded, and beaten over the +face and head by some greater brute in human shape, could only "his +quietus make" by himself, and be found hanging in his stall, what a +revolution would there be in the ideas of Omnibus-drivers and Carmen! +Self-assassination is, surely, the most available alleviation of +despotism. When Death is no longer terrible to the Enslaved, then let +the Enslaver look to it. + +True, we have heard of horrible places in the interior of the Island, +where the crack of the whip pauses only during four hours in the +twenty-four, where, so to speak, the sugar smells of the blood of the +slaves. We have heard of plantations whereon there are no women, where +the wretched laborers have not the privileges of beasts, but are only +human machines, worked and watched. There, not even the mutilated +semblance of family ties and domestic surroundings alleviates the sore +strain upon life and limb. How can human creatures endure, how inflict +this? Let God remember them, as we do in our hearts, with tears and +supplication. + +We have seen too, here and there, fiendish faces which looked as if +cruelty and hardness might be familiar to them. The past history of +Spain shows to what a point that nation can carry insensibility to the +torment of others. Yet the Creoles seem generally an amiable set of +people, enduring from the Spanish government much more than they in turn +inflict on those beneath them. Nor can we believe that even the Spaniard +can be a more dreaded tyrant than the Yankee, where the strong nature of +the latter has been left coarse and uncultured, or brutalized by +indulgence in vice. The nervous energy of his race makes him a worse +demon than the other, while the peaceable and pious traditions of his +youth, turned against him, urge him yet further from the sphere of all +that is Christian. + +The slave laws of Cuba are far more humane than our own. It is only to +be doubted whether the magistrates in general are trustworthy in +carrying them out. Still, it is the policy of the Government to favor +the Negroes, and allow them definite existence as a third class, which +would be likely to range with the Government in case of civil war. It is +affirmed and believed by the Cubans that the colonial President has in +his hands orders to loose the slaves throughout the Island, at the first +symptoms of rebellion, that they may turn all their old rancors against +their late masters. The humane clauses of which we speak are the +following:-- + +In the first place, every slave is allowed by law to purchase his own +freedom, when he has amassed a sum sufficient for the purchase. He can +moreover compel his master to receive a small sum in part payment, and +then, hiring himself out, can pay the residue from his wages. The law +intervenes also, if desired, to fix the price of the slave, which it +will reduce to the minimum value. Every slave has the right to purchase +his child before birth for the sum of thirty dollars, a fortnight after, +for fifty, and so on, the value of course rising rapidly with the age +of the child. Again, a slave who complains of ill-treatment on the part +of his master may demand to be sold to another, and a limited space of +time is allowed, during which he can exert himself to find a purchaser. +These statutes do not seem to contemplate the perpetuity of slavery as +do our own institutions. What a thrill of joy would run through our +Southern and South-Western states, if every slave father and mother had +the power to purchase their own offspring for a sum not altogether +beyond their reach. How would they toil and starve to accumulate that +sum, and how many charitable friends would invest the price of a dress +or shawl in such black jewels, which would be the glory of so many black +mothers. On the other hand, it is to be feared that the ignorance and +poverty of the slaves may, in many places, make the benevolent intention +of these statutes null and void. Official corruption, too, may impede +their operation. In many parts of our own South, superior enlightenment +and a more humane state of public feeling may do something to +counterbalance the inferiority of legislation. Still, Americans should +feel a pang in acknowledging that even in the dark article of slave laws +they are surpassed by a nation which they contemn. Slaves are not sold +by public auction, in Cuba, but by private sale. Nor are they subject to +such rudeness and insult as they often receive from the lower whites of +our own Southern cities. The question now rises, whether in case of a +possible future possession of the Island by Americans, the condition of +the blacks would be improved. There is little reason to think so, in any +case, as our own unmitigated despotism would be enforced; but if their +new masters were of the Filibuster type, they might indeed sing with +sorrow the dirge of the Creole occupation, and betake themselves to the +Coolie expedient of obtaining freedom at small cost. + +Not in such familiarity live the Creoles and Spaniards. Here, the +attitudes are sharply defined. Oppression on the one hand and endurance +on the other appear in a tangible form, and the oppression is +conscious, and the endurance compulsory. The Spanish race is in the +saddle, and rides the Creole, its derivative, with hands reeking with +plunder. Not content with taxes, customs, and prohibitions, all of which +pass the bounds of robbery, the Home Government looses on the Colony a +set of Officials, who are expected to live by peculation, their salaries +being almost nominal, their perquisites, whatever they can get. All +State-offices are filled by Spaniards, and even Judgeships and +Professorates are generally reserved to them. A man receives an +appointment of which the salary may be a thousand dollars per annum. He +hires at once an expensive house, sets up a _volante_, dresses his wife +and daughters without economy, lives in short at the rate of ten times +that sum, and retires after some years, with a handsome competency. What +is the secret of all this? Plunder,--twofold plunder, of the +inhabitants, and of the Home Government. And this, from the lowest to +the highest, is the universal rule. We spoke of customs and +prohibitions. Among the first, that on flour seems the most monstrous +imposition. No bread-stuffs being raised on the Island, the importation +of them becomes almost a condition of life, yet every barrel of wheaten +flour from the States pays a duty of eight dollars, so that it becomes +cheaper to ship the flour to Spain, and re-ship it thence to Cuba, than +to send it direct from here. Of prohibitions, the most striking is that +laid upon the vine, which flourishes throughout the Island. It may be +cultivated for fruit, but wine must on no account be made from the +grape, lest it should spoil the market for the Spanish wines. Among +taxes, none will astonish Americans more than the stamp-tax, which +requires all merchants, dealers, and bankers to have every page of their +books stamped, at high cost. Of course, no business contracts are valid, +recorded on any other than stamped paper. To these grievances are added +monopolies. All the fish caught on the Island is held at the disposition +of Señor Marti, the _Empresario_ of the Tacon theatre. This man was once +a pirate of formidable character,--after some negotiation with the +Tacon Government, he gave up his comrades to justice, receiving in +return his own safety, and the monopoly of the fish-market. The price of +this article of food is therefore kept at twenty-five cents a pound. +These compromises are by no means uncommon. The public Executioner of +Havana is a Negro whose life, once forfeit to the State, was redeemed +only by his consenting to perform this function for life. He is allowed +only the liberty of the Prison. One of our party, visiting that +Institution, found this man apparently on the most amicable terms with +all the inmates. The _Garrote_ being shown, he was asked if it was he +who garroted Lopez, and replied in the affirmative, with a grin. Our +friend inquired of him how many he had garroted: "How can one tell?" he +said, shrugging his shoulders, "so many, so many!" The prisoners chatted +and smoked with him, patting him on the back,--making thus that +discrimination between the man and his office which is at the bottom of +all human institutions. Of the great sums of money received by the +Government through direct and indirect taxation, little or nothing +revisits the people in the shape of improvements. The Government does +not make roads, nor establish schools, nor reform criminals, nor stretch +out its strong arm to prevent the offences of ignorant and depraved +youth. The roads, consequently, are few and dangerous,--a great part of +the Island being traversable only on horseback. There is little or no +instruction provided for the children of the poorer classes, and the +prisons are abominable with filth, nakedness, and disorder of every +kind. There is the same espionage, the same power of arbitrary +imprisonment as in Austria, Rome, and Naples, only they have America +near them, and in that neighborhood is fear to some, and hope to others. +The administration of justice would seem to be one of the worst of all +the social plagues that abide in the Island. Nowhere in the world have +people a more wholesome terror of going to law. The Government pays for +no forms of legal procedure, and a man once engaged in a civil or +criminal suit, is at the mercy of Judges and Lawyers who plunder him at +will, and without redress. If a man is robbed, the Police come to him at +once with offers of assistance and detection. It is often the case that +he denies and persists in denying the robbery, rather than be involved +in the torment of a suit. Much of what we narrate was common to all the +civilized world, an hundred years ago, but the Cubans do not deserve to +be held under the weight of these ancient abuses. They are not an effete +people, but have something of the spring of the present time in them, +and would gladly march to the measure of the nineteenth century, were it +not for the decrepit Government whose hand has stiffened with their +chains in it. The portrait of the vulgar Queen hangs in nearly every +place of note,--she is generally painted at full length, in a blue +dress. So coarse and weak is her face that one would think those +interested would keep it out of sight, that the abstract idea of royalty +might not be lowered by so unqueenly a representation. But this is +unjust, for what crowned head of the present day is there that has +anything intrinsically august in its aspect? + +The Cubans, considered in comparison with the Spaniards, form quite as +distinct a people as the Americans, compared with the English. Climate +and the habits of insular life have partly brought about this +difference, but it has also a moral cause,--a separate interest makes a +separate people. The mother-countries that would keep their colonies +unweaned must be good nurses. The intermingling of the black element in +the Creole race is, as I have said, strongly insisted upon by competent +judges,--it is evidently not purely Caucasian, and there seems to be +little reason for supposing that it perpetuates any aboriginal descent. +The complexion, and in some degree the tastes of these people give some +color to the hypothesis of their indebtedness to the African race. The +prevailing color of the Creole is not the clear olive of the Spaniard, +nor the white of the Saxon,--it is an indescribable, clouded hue, +neither fair nor brown. We have seen children at a school who were +decidedly dark, and would have been taken for mulattoes in the +North,--they had straight hair, vivacious eyes, and coffee-colored +skins,--those whom we interrogated called them "_Criollos_" as if the +word had a distinct meaning. We could not ascertain that they were +considered to be of black descent, though the fact seemed patent. In +this school, which we saw at recess only, some of the mischievous boys +amused themselves with dragging their comrades up to us, and saying: +"Señora, this boy is a mulatto." The accused laughed, kicked, and +disclaimed. + +The taste of the Cubans, if judged by the European standard, is bad +taste. They love noisy music,--their architecture consults only the +exigencies of the climate, and does not deserve the name of an art. Of +painting they must have little knowledge, if one may judge by the vile +daubs which deface their walls, and which would hardly pass current in +the poorest New England village. As to dress; although I have whispered +for your good, my lady friends, that the most beautiful summer-dresses +in the world may be bought in Havana, yet the Creole ladies themselves +have in general but glaring and barbaric ideas of adornment, and their +_volante_-toilette would give a Parisienne the ague. + +The Creoles then, as a race, do not incline to plastic art, nor to the +energetic elegancies of life. Theirs is not the nature to grapple with +marble or bronze, or with the more intellectual obstacles of Painting. +One art remains to them, common to all early civilizations, first in +history, first too in rank,--they are Poets. Not only is a facility for +versification common amongst them, but they have some names which the +real halo adorns. Of these, Heredia, Placido, and Milanés are best +known. + +This seems a very natural manifestation in their case. Held in check by +the despotism of the tropical sun, and excluded from social and +political action by the more barbarous despotism of Spain, their minds +are turned inward, and their energies flow in the channel of +contemplation. For Poetry is the freedom of the oppressed,--it is one +voice leaping up where a thousand arms are chained, but the thousand +hear it, and take courage. In the dreamy tropical life, the beautiful +surroundings must bear some fruit. Those glorious growths of tree and +flower, those prickly hedges with the sudden glare of a red sword among +them, those inconceivable sunsets and nights without parallel,--these +things must all write themselves upon the sensitive Southern nature, and +the language in which they write themselves is poetry. How far a wider +sphere of action may develop in them more hardy and varied powers is a +question not to be solved in the existing state of things. + +It does not seem likely that the Cubans will ever by their own act +abolish slavery. The indolence and mechanical ineptitude which enter +into their characters will make them always a people to be waited on. +Perhaps no nation, living below a certain parallel, would be capable of +such a deed. The far-off English, in their cool island, could emancipate +the slaves in their own Indies, but the English dwelling among them +would never have relinquished the welcome service; nor is it likely that +the men of our own far South will ever conceive as possible another +social _status_ than the present relations between master and slave. +From the North the impulse must come, and however clogged and sanded +with unutterable nonsense of self-gratulation and vituperation of the +brother man, we must welcome it. The enslaved race too, gradually +conquering the finer arts of its masters, will rise up to meet the hand +of deliverance, having in due course of time reached that spiritual +level at which enslavement becomes impossible. + +Sismondi, in the second volume of his Essays, has some sensible remarks +on the farming system as pursued in Tuscany, where the farmer is +employed on long leases, receiving one half the profits of the farm +worked by him. Sismondi sufficiently sets forth the advantages of this +over all other systems of leasing and underletting, as it allows the +husbandman a well-being in direct proportion to the thoroughness and +persistency of his labors. After speaking of the apparent failure of +English emancipation, he ascribes the idleness of the freed blacks to +their entire want of interest in the landed property about them, and +proposes associating them in this way to the interests of their +would-be employers. For the world can hardly afford that these people +should merely feed and grovel in the sun, when all the tillage of the +tropics lies fitted to their hand. Nor will it much longer afford, let +us hope, that the human tool shall work without the advantage that +individual will and interest alone can give him. They who thus consent +to use the man without his crowning faculties are like those who would +purchase the watch without the main-spring. + +How all this is to end, doth not yet appear. The abstract principles of +right and wrong we know, but not the processes, nor the duration of +their working out in history. All the white handkerchiefs in Exeter Hall +will not force the general Congress of Nations to decide questions +otherwise than by the laws of convenience and advantage. England as a +power has never lifted a finger nor a breath against Russian serfdom or +Austrian oppression; and the Spanish government she is determined to +uphold in Cuba is reeking with abominations of which she cannot afford +to be cognizant. + +I know that God has in His power swift miracles of redemption. He can +command the sudden Exodus of a wronged people, and can raise bloody +waves of wrath over the heads of their oppressors. But we cannot call +down these wonders, nor foretell their appointed time. Meantime, the +ram's horn Fantasias which our modern Prophets have so long been +performing against the walls of the southern Jericho do not seem to have +had the Divine commission to overthrow them. + +I feel that any one in the North who gives a mild, perhaps palliative +view of slavery, will be subject to bitter and severe censure. But this +should surely make no difference to us in the sincere and simple +statement of our impressions. Intellectual justice revolts from the +rhetorical strainings, exaggerations, and denaturalizations of facts +which the Partisan continually employs, but which the Philosopher and +Historian must alike reject. Moral justice dissents from the habitual +sneer, denunciation, and malediction, which have become consecrated +forms of piety in speaking of the South. Believe me, in so far as we +allow personal temper, spite, or uncharity, place in our treatment of a +holy cause, in so far we do it wrong. Believe me, too, that the actual +alleviations which often temper the greatest social evils should not be +left out of sight, lest an atheistic despair should settle on the minds +of men. The overruling mercy of God is everywhere,--in the North and in +the South it has its work of consolation and of compensation. It +absolves us from no possible reform, from no labor for the amelioration +of the condition of our fellow-men. But as it limits alike the +infliction and endurance of wrong, and sets bounds which the boldest and +wickedest dare not pass, we must not paint the picture of what is, +without it. + +So, with thoughts reverting to the slow and mighty operations in the +World of Nature, which seem to have their counterpart in the World of +Life and Fate,--trusting in the wisdom of the gray-haired centuries, +even when the half-grown ones call them Fool, I finish my Chapter of +philosophizing, somewhat, no doubt, to the relief of my Reader, but very +much more to my own. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +FAREWELL! + + +Farewell to Havana! the pleasant time is over. We are to return where we +belong. Not with undue sentimentalism of sorrow, as though it were +greater loss to see beautiful places and forsake them, than to have +staid at Pudding-gut Point, Coxackie, or Martha's Vineyard all one's +life, having beheld and regretted nothing else. When travellers tear +themselves from the maternal bosom of Rome, a pang is inevitable, and +its expression allowable. Even meretricious Paris sometimes harpoons an +honest American heart more deeply than is fit. But there are those, born +and bred amongst us, who return from their foreign travel with +wide-mouthed lamentation over the past enjoyment. Others snippingly +accost one with: "I cannot bear your climate,"----. "Strange," I reply, +"since it bore you." We are not so deeply moved at leaving Havana, +though to go to sea is always as unnatural an act as having a tooth +pulled. The green earth reminds us that it is our element, and the +slowly counted palms nod to us: "Remember,--remember!" We indulge +ourselves in a last drive, and take kind farewell of the gay streets, +the Plaza, the Paseo, and the Cerro, with its blue villas and +palm-bordered gardens. Beautiful those gardens are in their own +way,--Nature refusing to be kept down, but excusing her irregularities +by their wild and graceful results. There is Count Fernandino's +garden,--we have not described that, have we? Palms, flowers, +fruit-trees, a marble pavilion with a marble Venus, a bath-house painted +in fresco, paved with fine tiling, and lit through stained glass, an +ethereal trellis and canopy of fairy-like iron-work, painted coral-red, +and hung with vines, whose industry in weaving themselves is almost +perceptible to the eye,--still, shady walks, and evermore palms. We +passed a morning there with some botanical friends, and had much +explained to us that we cannot possibly remember. This we did retain, +that there are known on the island sixty varieties of palms, and that +this garden contains at least forty of them. + +And here is Doña Herrera's garden, which we visited one morning, with +our friends of the Cup of Tea, (_vide_ earlier letters). How soft and +dewy was it in the morning light! the flowers had still the dreamy +starlight in them. We ran about like children, admiring at every moment +something new and strange. In the middle of the garden was a fairy lake, +with a little mock steamboat upon it, the paddles being moved by hand. +There were gas fixtures disposed throughout the grounds, which are +lighted on the occasion of a _fête champêtre_. What a time the young +people must have of it, then! There is an Aviary, too, with the remnant +of a collection of tropical birds, and a small Menagerie, with a fox, a +monkey, and a 'coon. We ask permission to see the house, and our friends +having sent in their good names, Doña Maria walks slowly out to meet us. +She is a plain, elderly woman, short and stout, with a pleasant voice +and gentle manners. She has rather a splendid nest, for a bird of such +sober plumage, but all its adornments are in good taste. She shows us +first a cool Banqueting-room, where the table is invitingly laid for her +Ladyship's own breakfast,--it is painted in fresco, and opens on the +garden,--then come the Drawing-rooms, then an exquisite Bedroom hung +with blue, the bed and mosquito-netting being adorned with rich lace, +then a Picture-gallery, which serves as an Oratory, a cabinet in the +wall containing and concealing the altar. Then comes a small room, +adorned by her Ladyship's own hands, with paper flowers and stuffed +birds, lighted by a pretty, tiny glass dome, and then, endless thanks, +good Doña Maria, and farewell forever. For as I love not stuffed birds, +nor paper flowers, no, nor mass neither, it is not likely that I shall +bear your Ladyship company in Heaven, even should both of us get there, +which, while we continue to live and sin, must be considered as +uncertain. + +Other visions unroll themselves as we review our Havana days and ways. +Our voyage up the spire of the Cathedral, with swimming eyes and dizzy +head. Our friends go bravely through it, and ascend even the last little +rickety wooden staircase, calling back for us as the chimney-sweeper +sings out from the top of the chimney. Where is Hulia? holding on to a +beam with frantic eagerness, deaf to entreaty and encouragement. She is +persuaded at last to relinquish it, and is hoisted, pushed, and dragged +to the top where, opening her unwilling eyes, she seeks the first strong +point of masonry, and hugs it, admiring the view in convulsive +sentences, as occasion demands. The point is tolerably lofty, and the +view extensive, but one loses many of its beauties in looking down from +such an elevation. We must remember this, and not ascribe to St. Simeon +Stylites too great an advantage in the enjoyment of natural scenery. +Then, after the perilous descent, our exploration of the Cathedral +itself, with its shrine of porphyry, and little other adornment,--the +pious thoughtfulness of the Sacristan, who, when we pass the host, tells +us that "His Majesty is there," and his look of amazement when we do +not bow or bend the knee at this intelligence. Then, that refreshing +season in the Sacristy, with a graceless young Sub-Deacon, intent upon +extending to us all the hospitalities of the church. "Here is the +incense,"--he burns some of it under our nostrils; "here is the wine for +the Sacrament,--taste of it," and he pours out a tolerable portion, and, +handing it to us to sip, tosses off the residue with a smack. "Here is +the oil and salt for baptism,--you won't like that, but you may taste it +if you choose." And then, he tumbles over all the priest's garments. +"This crimson brocade is for high feasts,--this green for common +occasions,--this black velvet for funerals,--this white scarf is for +marriages." You really begin to regard the Priest as a sort of +chameleon, whose color changes with the spiritual food he lives on. +Rascal-neophyte, you will be as sanctimonious as the priest himself some +day, and as sincere. + +But all this is in the past, and we have got really to our last of +Havana. The last purchases have been made; by great economy we have +accomplished a little extravagance. The farewell visits have been +paid,--we have paid also the necessary four dollars for the privilege of +leaving the Island. Copious leave-takings follow, between ourselves and +our long companions at the Hotel,--follow the Bill and servants' +fees,--and then, having been waked after a short night's rest, there +remains no further excuse for our not taking the boat at early morning, +and delivering ourselves into their hands who are to return us to our +native country. + +So, Havana is done with. We are sad and sorry to leave it, but do not +sentimentalize, recalling Sheridan's sensible lines:-- + + "Oh, matchless excellence! and must we part? + Well, if we must, we must, and in that case, + The less is said, the better." + +There is a large party of us known to each other in our late wanderings; +and as we meet on board, we make a tolerable attempt at cheerfulness. +But the thought of the Northern cold lies heavy upon every heart, for +though it is late in March, we know where the east wind is now, and +will be for two months to come. We are soon in motion, and, casting a +last look towards our sky-blue hotel, we see some of the Almy-ites +waving flags of truce at us. We seize whatever is at hand, and make the +usual frantic demonstrations. Farewell, Morro Castle! farewell, Isla de +Cuba! We have nothing left us now but the Steamer. This is the Isabel, +greatly be-puffed in the Charleston papers, but rarely praised, one +should think, by those who have been in her. Breakfast is served us in a +cabin without ventilation, where to breathe is disgusting, to eat, +impossible. We explore our state-room,--the thermometer stands at 100° +in it, but the day is hot, and we do not suspect any other reason for +its high temperature. From these dens we emerge as quickly as possible +to the open air, and get ourselves on deck. The Southern seas are always +detestable; and though there is no wind to speak of, it soon gets rough, +and people stiffen in their places, and go to sleep, or go below, and +are never heard of more. Dinner is eaten mostly on the upper deck, but +the demand is not large. Iced champagne proves a friend in need. We +reach Key West early in the afternoon. The landing is ugly, and though +we stop an hour or more, we are expressly told "ten minutes," in order +that the Captain may not be bothered with our going on shore. We have +here a last look at the cocoa-palm, which grows along the coast. White +sea-corals are brought for sale; many turtles are taken on board and +laid on their backs, their fins being tied together; also, an invalid in +a chair, in the last stages of decline. The turtles remain, for the +fifty-six hours that follow, helpless and untended. So piteous do they +seem, that one of us suggests "the last sigh of the turtle" as a +commemorative title for the aromatic soup that is to follow. + +And this is all of Key West. On going below at bed-time, our bare feet +find the floor of the state-room scorching hot. On inquiry, we find +ourselves directly over the boiler,--a pleasant situation in an American +steamer. We consider ourselves nearer translation than ever before, and +go to sleep trying to show just reason why we should not be blown up, +as better people have been, before morning. + +Next morning--Oh let me here breathe a word of advice to those who +plough the Southern seas. Rise early in the morning, if you mean to rise +at all, for the sea is quietest then, before the wind is up; and if you +are once dressed and on deck, you have a chance. Next morning none were +able to get up who were not up by six o'clock,--for by that time the +day's work was begun, and people only staid and stiffened where they +were. Now do not fear, I have described sea-sickness once and for all; +this paper shall not be nauseous with new details. But for love of the +dear old Karnak, I must show up this pinchbeck Isabel; this dirty, +disorderly floating prison, where no kind care alleviated one's +miseries, and no suitable diet helped one's recovery. On board the +Karnak, Steward, Stewardess, and Captain followed you up with the zeal +of loving-kindness. Here, the hateful black servants flit past you like +a dream. If you try to detain them, they vanish with a grin, and +promising to return, take care to avoid you in future. N. B.--I call +them hateful, because of the true American steam-boat breed, smirking, +supercilious, and unserviceable. There, mattresses and cushions were +plentifully supplied, and you might lie on deck, if you could not sit +up. Here, not even a pillow could be brought. You sit all day bolt +upright in a miserable wooden chair, holding your aching head first with +this hand, now with that, and wondering that your suffering body can +hold together so long. There, the log, the daily observation, the +boatswain's whistle, the pleasant bells ringing the hour. Here, no log, +no observation, no boatswain, no bells. There, in a word, comfort and +confidence; here, distrust and disgust. But we drop the parallel. + +To us, that dark day was as a vision of familiar faces, strangely +distorted and discolored, of friends, usually kind and attentive, who +sit grimly around, and looking on one's misery, do not stir to help it. +There is a pillow, ah! if somebody would only lay it under this heavy +head, that cannot be held up by the weary hand any longer. Henry there +is going to do it,--he has got the pillow,--no, he puts it under his +own head, regarding me with the glare of a sickly cannibal. One good +creature flings half of her blanket over my shivering knees. I know not +her name, nor her nature, but I know that she is blessed, and worthy of +Paradise. Going below for a moment, I pass through the after-cabin, and +see such a collection of wretches as would furnish forth a Chamber of +Horrors to repletion. With tossed clothes, disordered hair, and wild +eyes, they lie panting for air, which they don't get. We are better off +up-stairs, and I return to my wooden chair and end of a blanket, with +enthusiasm. But the day passes, and at night we are down again in the +state-room over the boiler, with the ports screwed up, and no air to +temper the heat. No matter, our weary skeleton refuses to be kept +upright any more,--we lie and sleep. And at two in the morning, one of +the strong-minded, who could not sleep, arose, and found that the sea +was down, and that the ports might be opened, only that the man who had +charge of them was asleep. Wherefore she aroused the slumbering traitor +with the wholesome clarion of a woman's tongue, and he got up and +fumbled about till he found the port-wrench, wherewith he unscrewed all +the ports, and we took heart, and revived. The next day was all smooth +sailing,--we ate our victuals on deck, and were thankful. And that +evening, say at six o'clock, we made the welcome port of Charleston, and +went on shore, hoping never to leave it more. + +Let me not forget to say that at the last moment, when all possibility +of service was over, the faithless blacks came about us, and were full +of hopes that we were better, smiling and lingering very much as if they +expected a fee. But if any of us were weak enough to comply with their +desires, for the honor of human nature suffer me to draw a veil over +such base compliance, and let the World think they got only what they +deserved, which is little enough in any case, and in theirs, nothing. + + * * * * * + +And now, Reader, if I have one, farewell. The Preacher who speaks even +to one, has his congregation before him, but the poor Scribbler is left +to his own illusions, and calls up for himself a gorgeous Public, where +perhaps he has only himself for company. Still, it is safest to imagine +a Public; and having imagined one, I here take a kind leave of it. If +any have followed me along in my travels, and wished me God-speed, I +hereby thank them heartily. If any have treated with discourtesy a true +word here and there which does not tally with their own notions, so much +the worse for them, and for any cause which cannot bear sincerity. And +so, wishing that you might all see the pleasant things I have described, +and thinking that you cannot have been half so weary in reading these +pages as I have been in writing them, I will prolong no further the +sweet sorrow of parting, only God bless you, and Good-bye. + + +THE END. + + * * * * * + +The following changes have been made in the text. + +(note of the etext transcriber) + +two in the morning, One of the strong-minded,=>two in the morning, one +of the strong-minded, + +he looked much inclined to give Somebody else a bad one=>he looked much +inclined to give somebody else a bad one + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Trip to Cuba, by Julia Ward Howe + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TRIP TO CUBA *** + +***** This file should be named 38203-8.txt or 38203-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/2/0/38203/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images available at The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: A Trip to Cuba + +Author: Julia Ward Howe + +Release Date: December 3, 2011 [EBook #38203] +[Last updated: March 11, 2013] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TRIP TO CUBA *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images available at The Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="348" height="550" alt="image of the book's cover" title="" /> +</p> + +<h1>A TRIP TO CUBA.</h1> + +<p> +<br /> +<br /> +</p> + +<p class="cb">BY<br /> +M<small>RS.</small> JULIA WARD HOWE.</p> + +<p> +<br /> +<br /> +</p> + +<p class="cb">BOSTON.<br /> +TICKNOR AND FIELDS.<br /> +<small>M DCCC LX.</small></p> + +<p> +<br /> +<br /> +</p> + +<p class="c">Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by<br /> +<small>TICKNOR AND FIELDS,</small><br /> +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.<br /> +<br /><br /><br /> +<small>RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:<br /> +STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY<br /> +H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY.</small></p> + +<p> +<br /> +<br /> +</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" summary="CONTENTS"> + +<tr><th colspan="3" align="center"><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a><big>CONTENTS.</big></th></tr> + +<tr align="right"><td><small>CHAP.</small></td><td> </td><td><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">I.</a></td><td>THE DEPARTURE</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_001">1</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">II.</a></td><td>NASSAU</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_010">10</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a></td><td>FROM NASSAU TO CUBA</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_020">20</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV.</a></td><td>THE HARBOR OF HAVANA</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_030">30</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">V.</a></td><td>HAVANA—THE HOTELS</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_040">40</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a></td><td>HAVANA—YOUR BANKER—OUR CONSUL—THE FRIENDLY CUP OF TEA</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_048">48</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a></td><td>HAVANA—THE JESUIT COLLEGE</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_057">57</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a></td><td>SAN ANTONIO DE LOS BAÑOS</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_066">66</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a></td><td>THE MORRO FORTRESS—THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA—THE BENEFICENZA</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_079">79</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">X.</a></td><td>CAN GRANDE'S DEPARTURE—THE DOMINICA—LOTTERY-TICKETS</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_094">94</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI.</a></td><td>COMPANY AT THE HOTEL—SERVANTS—OUR DRIVE—DON PEPE</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_111">111</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII.</a></td><td>MATANZAS</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_132">132</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII.</a></td><td>THE PASEO—THE PLAZA—DINING OUT</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_145">145</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV.</a></td><td>GAME-CHICKENS—DON RODRIGUEZ—DAY ON THE PLANTATION—DEPARTURE</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_157">157</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV.</a></td><td>RETURN TO HAVANA—SAN ANTONIO AGAIN</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_177">177</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI.</a></td><td>SAN ANTONIO—CHURCH ON SUNDAY—THE NORTHER—THE S. FAMILY</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_190">190</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII.</a></td><td>EDUCATION—LAST NIGHT IN SAN ANTONIO—FAREWELL</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_202">202</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">XVIII.</a></td><td>SLAVERY—CUBAN SLAVE LAWS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC.</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_212">212</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">XIX.</a></td><td>FAREWELL!</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_238">238</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<p><a name="page_001" id="page_001"></a></p> + +<h1>A TRIP TO CUBA.</h1> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /><br /> +<small>THE DEPARTURE.</small></h2> + +<p>W<small>HY</small> one leaves home at all is a question that travellers are sure, +sooner or later, to ask themselves,—I mean, pleasure-travellers. Home, +where one has the "Transcript" every night, and the "Autocrat" every +month, opera, theatre, circus, and good society, in constant +rotation,—home, where everybody knows us, and the little good there is +to know about us,—finally, home, as seen regretfully for the last time, +with the gushing of long frozen friendships, the priceless kisses of +children, and the last sad look at dear baby's pale face through the +window-pane,—well, all this is left behind, and we review it as a +dream, while the railroad-train hurries us along to the spot where we +are to leave, not only this, but<a name="page_002" id="page_002"></a> Winter, rude tyrant, with all our +precious hostages in his grasp. Soon the swift motion lulls our brains +into the accustomed muddle. We seem to be dragged along like a miserable +thread pulled through the eye of an everlasting needle,—through and +through, and never through,—while here and there, like painful knots, +the <i>dépôts</i> stop us, the poor thread is arrested for a minute, and then +the pulling begins again. Or, in another dream, we are like fugitives +threading the gauntlet of the grim forests, while the ice-bound trees +essay a charge of bayonets on either side; but, under the guidance of +our fiery Mercury, we pass them as safely as ancient Priam passed the +outposts of the Greeks,—and New York, hospitable as Achilles, receives +us in its mighty tent. Here we await the "Karnak," the British Mail +Company's new screw-steamer, bound for Havana, <i>viâ</i> Nassau. At length +comes the welcome order to "be on board." We betake ourselves +thither,—the anchor is weighed, the gun fired, and we take leave of our +native land with a patriotic pang, which soon gives place to severer +spasms.<a name="page_003" id="page_003"></a></p> + +<p>I do not know why all celebrated people who write books of travels begin +by describing their days of sea-sickness. Dickens, George Combe, Fanny +Kemble, Mrs. Stowe, Miss Bremer, and many others, have opened in like +manner their valuable remarks on foreign countries. While intending to +avail myself of their privilege and example, I would nevertheless +suggest, for those who may come after me, that the subject of +sea-sickness should be embalmed in science, and enshrined in the crypt +of some modern encyclopædia, so that future writers should refer to it +only as the Pang Unspeakable, for which <i>vide</i> Ripley and Dana, vol., +page. But, as I have already said, I shall speak of sea-sickness in a +hurried and picturesque manner, as follows:—</p> + +<p>Who are these that sit by the long dinner-table in the forward cabin, +with a most unusual lack of interest in the bill of fare? Their eyes are +closed, mostly, their cheeks are pale, their lips are quite bloodless, +and to every offer of good cheer, their "No, thank you," is as faintly +uttered as are marriage-vows by maiden lips. Can they be the same that, +an<a name="page_004" id="page_004"></a> hour ago, were so composed, so jovial, so full of dangerous defiance +to the old man of the sea? The officer who carves the roast-beef offers +at the same time a slice of fat;—this is too much; a panic runs through +the ranks, and the rout is instantaneous and complete. The ghost of what +each man was disappears through the trap-door of his state-room, and the +hell which the theatre faintly pictures behind the scenes begins in good +earnest.</p> + +<p>For to what but to Dante's "Inferno" can we liken this steamboat-cabin, +with its double row of pits, and its dismal captives? What are these +sighs, groans, and despairing noises, but the <i>alti guai</i> rehearsed by +the poet? Its fiends are the stewards who rouse us from our perpetual +torpor with offers of food and praises of shadowy banquets,—"Nice +mutton-chop, Sir? roast-turkey? plate of soup?" Cries of "No, no!" +resound, and the wretched turn again, and groan. The Philanthropist has +lost the movement of the age,—keeled up in an upper berth, convulsively +embracing a blanket, what conservative more immovable than he? The Great +Man of the party refrains from his<a name="page_005" id="page_005"></a> large theories, which, like the +circles made by the stone thrown into the water, begin somewhere and end +nowhere. As we have said, he expounds himself no more, the significant +forefinger is down, the eye no longer imprisons yours. But if you ask +him how he does, he shakes himself as if, like Farinata,—</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="center"><span style="margin-left: 0em;">"avesse l'inferno in gran dispetto,"—</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><span style="margin-left: 0em;">"he had a very contemptible opinion of hell."</span></td></tr> +</table> + +<p>Let me not forget to add, that it rains every day, that it blows every +night, and that it rolls through the twenty-four hours till the whole +world seems as if turned bottom upwards, clinging with its nails to +chaos, and fearing to launch away. The Captain comes and says,—"It is +true you have a nasty, short, chopping sea hereabouts; but you see, she +is spinning away down South jolly!" And this is the Gulf-Stream!</p> + +<p>But all things have an end, and most things have two. After the third +day, a new development manifests itself. Various shapeless masses are +carried up-stairs and suffered to fall like snow-flakes on the deck, and +to lie there<a name="page_006" id="page_006"></a> in shivering heaps. From these larvæ gradually emerge +features and voices,—the luncheon-bell at last stirs them with the +thrill of returning life. They look up, they lean up, they exchange +pensive smiles of recognition,—the Steward comes, no fiend this time, +but a ministering angel; and lo! the strong man eats broth, and the weak +woman clamors for pickled oysters. And so ends my description of our +sea-sickness.</p> + +<p>For, as for betraying the confidences of those sad days, as for telling +how wofully untrue Professors of Temperance were to their principles, +how the Apostle of Total Abstinence developed a brandy-flask, not +altogether new, what unsuccessful tipplings were attempted in the +desperation of nausea, and for what lady that stunning brandy-smasher +was mixed,—as for such tales out of school, I would have you know that +I am not the man to tell them.</p> + +<p>Yet a portrait or so lingers in my mental repository;—let me throw them +in, to close off the lot.</p> + +<p>No. 1. A sober Bostonian in the next <a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a>state-room, whose assiduity with +his sea-sick wife reminds one of Cock-Robin, in the days when he sent +Jenny Wren sops and wine. This person was last seen in a dressing-gown, +square-cut night-cap, and odd slippers, dancing up and down the +state-room floor with a cup of gruel, making wild passes with a spoon at +an individual in a berth, who never got any of the contents. Item, the +gruel, in a moment of excitement, finally ran in a stream upon the +floor, and was wiped up by the Steward. Result not known, but +disappointment is presumable.</p> + +<p>No. 2. A stout lady, imprisoned by a board on a sofa nine inches wide, +called by a facetious friend "The Coffin." She complains that her sides +are tolerably battered in;—we hold our tongues, and think that the +board, too, has had a hard time of it. Yet she is a jolly soul, laughing +at her misfortunes, and chirruping to her baby. Her spirits keep up, +even when her dinner won't keep down. Her favorite expressions are "Good +George!" and "Oh, jolly!" She does not intend, she says, to lay in any +dry goods in Cuba, but means to eat up all the good victuals she comes<a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a> +across. Though seen at present under unfavorable circumstances, she +inspires confidence as to her final accomplishment of this result.</p> + +<p>No. 3. A woman, said to be of a literary turn of mind, in the +miserablest condition imaginable. Her clothes, flung at her by the +Stewardess seem to have hit in some places, and missed in others. Her +listless hands occasionally make an attempt to keep her draperies +together, and to pull her hat on her head; but though the intention is +evident, she accomplishes little by her motion. She is perpetually being +lugged about by a stout steward, who knocks her head against both sides +of the vessel, folds her up in the gangway, spreads her out on the deck, +and takes her up-stairs, down-stairs, and in my lady's chamber, where, +report says, he feeds her with a spoon, and comforts her with such +philosophy as he is master of. N.B. This woman, upon the first change of +weather, rose like a cork, dressed like a Christian, and toddled about +the deck in the easiest manner, sipping her grog, and cutting sly jokes +upon her late<a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a> companions in misery,—is supposed by some to have been +an impostor, and, when ill-treated, announced intentions of writing a +book.</p> + +<p>No. 4, my last, is only a sketch;—circumstances allowed no more. Can +Grande, the great dog, has been got up out of the pit, where he worried +the Stewardess and snapped at the friend who tried to pat him on the +head. Everybody asks where he is. "Don't you see that heap of shawls +yonder, lying in the sun, and heated up to about 212° Fahrenheit? That +slouched hat on top marks the spot where his head should lie,—by +treading cautiously in the opposite direction you may discover his feet. +All between is perfectly passive and harmless. His chief food is +pickles,—his only desire is rest. After all these years of controversy, +after all these battles, bravely fought and nobly won, you might write +with truth upon this moveless mound of woollens the pathetic words from +Père la Chaise:—<i>Implora Pace</i>."</p> + +<p>But no more at present, for land is in sight, and in my next you shall +hear how we found it, and what we saw at Nassau.<a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /><br /> +<small>NASSAU.</small></h2> + +<p>N<small>ASSAU</small> looked very green and pleasant to us after our voyage;—the eyes +enjoy a little fresh provision after so long a course of salt food. The +first view of land is little more than "the feeling of the thing,"—it +is matter of faith, rather than of sight. You are shown a dark and +distant line, near the horizon, without color or features. They say it +is land, and you believe, it. But you come nearer and nearer,—you see +first the green of vegetation, then the form of the trees,—the harbor +at last opens its welcome arms,—the anchor is dropped,—the gun +fired,—the steam snuffed out. Led by a thread of sunshine, you have +walked the labyrinth of the waters, and all their gigantic dangers lie +behind you.</p> + +<p>We made Nassau at twelve o'clock, on the sixth day from our departure, +counting the first<a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a> as one. The earliest feature discernible was a group +of tall cocoa-nut trees, with which the island is bounteously +feathered;—the second was a group of negroes in a small boat, steering +towards us with open-mouthed and white-toothed wonder. Nothing makes its +simple impression upon the mind sophisticated by education. The negroes, +as they came nearer, suggested only Christy's Minstrels, of whom they +were a tolerably faithful imitation,—while the cocoa-nut trees +transported us to the Boston in Ravel-time, and we strained our eyes to +see the wonderful ape, Jocko, whose pathetic death, nightly repeated, +used to cheat the credulous Bostonians of time, tears, and treasure. +Despite the clumsiest management, the boat soon effected a junction with +our gangway, allowing some nameless official to come on board, and to go +through I know not what mysterious and indispensable formality. Other +boats then came, like a shoal of little fishes around the carcass of a +giant whale. There were many negroes, together with whites of every +grade; and some of our number, leaning over the<a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a> side, saw for the first +time the raw material out of which Northern Humanitarians have spun so +fine a skein of compassion and sympathy.</p> + +<p>Now we who write, and they for whom we write, are all orthodox upon this +mighty question. We have all made our confession of faith in private and +in public; we all, on suitable occasions, walk up and apply the match to +the keg of gunpowder which is to blow up the Union, but which, somehow, +at the critical moment, fails to ignite. But you must allow us one +heretical whisper,—very small and low. The negro of the North is an +ideal negro; it is the negro refined by white culture, elevated by white +blood, instructed even by white iniquity;—the negro among negroes is a +coarse, grinning, flat-footed, thick-skulled creature, ugly as Caliban, +lazy as the laziest of brutes, chiefly ambitious to be of no use to any +in the world. View him as you will, his stock in trade is small;—he has +but the tangible instincts of all creatures,—love of life, of ease, and +of offspring. For all else, he must go to school to the white race, and +his<a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a> discipline must be long and laborious. Nassau, and all that we saw +of it, suggested to us the unwelcome question whether compulsory labor +be not better than none. But as a question I gladly leave it, and return +to the simple narration of what befell.</p> + +<p>There was a sort of eddy at the gangway of our steamer, made by the +conflicting tides of those who wanted to come on board and of those who +wanted to go on shore. We were among the number of the latter, but were +stopped and held by the button by one of the former, while those more +impatient or less sympathizing made their way to the small boats which +waited below. The individual in question had come alongside in a +handsome barge, rowed by a dozen stout blacks, in the undress uniform of +the Zouaves. These men, well drilled and disciplined, seemed of a +different sort from the sprawling, screaming creatures in the other +boats, and their bright red caps and white tunics became them well. But +he who now claimed my attention was of British birth and military +profession. His face was ardent, his pantaloons were of white flannel,<a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a> +his expression of countenance was that of habitual discontent, but with +a twinkle of geniality in the eye which redeemed the Grumbler from the +usual tedium of his tribe. He accosted us as follows:—</p> + +<p>"Go ashore? What for? To see something, eh? There's nothing to see; the +island, isn't bigger than a nut-shell, and doesn't contain a single +prospect.—Go ashore and get some dinner? There isn't anything to eat +there.—Fruit? None to speak of; sour oranges and green bananas.—I went +to market last Saturday, and bought one cabbage, one banana, and half a +pig's head;—there's a market for you!—Fish? Oh, yes, if you like +it.—Turtle? Yes, you can get the Gallipagos turtle; it makes tolerable +soup, but has not the green fat, which, in <i>my</i> opinion, is the most +important feature in turtle-soup.—Shops? You can't buy a pair of +scissors on the island, nor a baby's bottle;—broke mine the other day, +and tried to replace it; couldn't.—Society? There are lots of people to +call upon you, and bore you to death with returning their visits."<a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a></p> + +<p>At last the Major went below, and we broke away, and were duly conveyed +to <i>terra firma</i>. It was Sunday, and late in the afternoon. The first +glimpse certainly seemed to confirm the Major's disparaging statements. +The town is small; the houses dingy and out of repair; the legend, that +paint costs nothing, is not received here; and whatever may have been +the original colors of the buildings, the climate has had its own way +with them for many a day. The barracks are superior in finish to +anything else we see. Government-House is a melancholy-looking +<i>caserne</i>, surrounded by a piazza, the grounds being adorned with a most +chunky and inhuman statue of Columbus. All the houses are surrounded by +verandas, from which pale children and languid women in muslins look +out, and incline us to ask what epidemic has visited the island and +swept the rose from every cheek. They are a pallid race, the Nassauese, +and retain little of the vigor of their English ancestry. One English +trait they exhibit,—the hospitality which has passed into a proverb; +another, perhaps,—the stanch adherence to<a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a> the forms and doctrines of +Episcopacy. We enter the principal church;—they are just lighting it +for evening service; it is hung with candles, each burning in a clear +glass shade. The walls and ceiling are white-washed, and contrast +prettily with the dark timbering of the roof. We would gladly have staid +to give thanks for our safe and prosperous voyage, but a black +rain-cloud warns us homeward,—not, however, until we have received a +kind invitation from one of the hospitable Islanders to return the next +morning for a drive and breakfast.</p> + +<p>Returning soon after sunrise to fulfil this promise, we encounter the +barracks, and are tempted to look in and see the Sons of Darkness +performing their evolutions. The morning drill is about half over. We +peep in,—the Colonel, a lean Don Quixote on a leaner Rosinante, dashes +up to us with a weak attempt at a canter; he courteously invites us to +come in and see all that is to be seen, and lo! our friend the Major, +quite gallant in his sword and scarlet jacket, is detailed for our +service. The soldiers are black, and very black,<a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a>—none of your dubious +American shades, ranging from clear salmon to <i>café au lait</i> or even to +<i>café noir</i>. These are your good, satisfactory, African sables, +warranted not to change in the washing. Their Zouave costume is very +becoming, with the Oriental turban, caftan, and loose trousers; and the +Philosopher of our party remarks that the African requires costume, +implying that the New Englander can stand alone, as can his clothes, in +their black rigidity. The officers are white, and the Major very polite; +he shows us the men, the arms, the kits, the quarters, and, having done +all that he can do for us, relinquishes us with a gallant bow to our +Host of the drive and breakfast.</p> + +<p>The drive does something to retrieve the character of the island. The +road is hard and even, overhung with glossy branches of strange trees +bearing unknown fruits, and studded on each side with pleasant villas +and with negro huts. There are lovely flowers everywhere, among which +the Hibiscus, called South-Sea Rose, and the Oleander, are most +frequent, and most brilliant. We see many<a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a> tall groves of cocoa-nut, and +cast longing glances towards the fruit, which little negroes, with +surprising activity, attain and shake down. A sudden turn in the road +discloses a lovely view of the bay, with its wonderful green waters, +clear and bright as emerald;—there is a little beach, and boats lie +about, and groups of negroes are laughing and chattering,—quoting +stocks from the last fish-market, very likely. We purchase for half a +dollar a bunch of bananas, for which Ford or Palmer would ask us ten +dollars at least, and go rejoicing to our breakfast.</p> + +<p>Our Host is a physician of the island, English by birth, and retaining +his robust form and color in spite of a twenty-years' residence in the +warm climate. He has a pleasant family of sons and daughters, all in +health, but without a shade of pink in lips or cheeks. The breakfast +consists of excellent fried fish, fine Southern hominy,—not the pebbly +broken corn which our dealers impose under that name,—various hot +cakes, tea and coffee, bananas, sapodillas, and if there be anything +else not included in the present statement, let<a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a> haste and want of time +excuse the omission. The conversation runs a good deal on the hopes of +increasing prosperity which the new mail-steamer opens to the eyes of +the Nassauese. Invalids, they say, will do better there than in +Cuba,—it is quieter, much cheaper, and the climate is milder. There +will be a hotel very soon, where no attention will be spared, etc., etc. +The Government will afford every facility, etc., etc. It seemed indeed a +friendly little place, with delicious air and sky, and a good, +reasonable, decent, English tone about it. Expenses moderate, ye fathers +of encroaching families. Negroes abundant and natural, ye students of +ethnological possibilities. Officers in red jackets, you young +ladies,—young ones, some of them. Why wouldn't you all try it, +especially as the Captain of the "Karnak" is an excellent sailor, and +the kindest and manliest of conductors?<a name="page_020" id="page_020"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /><br /> +<small>FROM NASSAU TO CUBA.</small></h2> + +<p>T<small>HE</small> breakfast being over, we recall the Captain's parting admonition to +be on board by ten o'clock, with the significant gesture and roll of the +eye which clearly express that England expects every passenger to do his +duty. Now we know very well that the "Karnak" is not likely to weigh +anchor before twelve, at the soonest, but we dare not for our lives +disobey the Captain. So, passing by yards filled with the huge Bahama +sponges, piles of wreck-timber, fishing-boats with strange fishes, red, +yellow, blue, and white, and tubs of aldermanic turtle, we attain the +shore, and presently, the steamer. Here we find a large deputation of +the towns-people taking passage with us for a pleasure excursion to +Havana. The greater number are ladies and children. They come fluttering +on board, poor things,<a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a> like butterflies, in gauzy dresses, hats, and +feathers, according to the custom of their country; one gentleman takes +four little daughters with him for a holiday. We ask ourselves whether +they know what an ugly beast the Gulf-Stream is, that they affront him +in such light armor. "Good heavens! how sick they will be!" we exclaim; +while they eye us askance, in our winter trim, and pronounce us slow, +and old fogies. With all the rashness of youth, they attack the +luncheon-table. So boisterous a popping of corks was never heard in all +our boisterous passage;—there is a chorus, too, of merry tongues and +shrill laughter. But we get fairly out to sea, where the wind, an +adverse one, is waiting for us, and at that gay table there is silence, +followed by a rush and disappearance. The worst cases are hurried out of +sight, and going above, we find the disabled lying in groups about the +deck, the feather-hats discarded, the muslins crumpled, and we, the old +fogies, going to cover the fallen with shawls and blankets, to speak +words of consolation, and to implore the sufferers<a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a> not to cure +themselves with brandy, soda-water, claret, and wine-bitters, in quick +succession,—which they, nevertheless, do, and consequently are no +better that day, nor the next.</p> + +<p>But I am forgetting to chronicle a touching parting interview with the +Major, the last thing remembered in Nassau, and of course the last to be +forgotten anywhere. Our concluding words might best be recorded in the +form of a catechism of short questions and answers, to wit:—</p> + +<p>"How long did the Major expect to stay in Nassau?"</p> + +<p>"About six months."</p> + +<p>"How long would he stay, if he had his own way?"</p> + +<p>"Not one!"</p> + +<p>"What did he come for, then?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you buy into a nigger regiment for promotion."</p> + +<p>These were the most important facts elicited by cross-examination. At +last we shook hands warmly, promising to meet again somewhere, and the +crimson-lined barge with the<a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a> black Zouaves carried him away. In humbler +equipages depart the many black women who have visited the steamer, some +for amusement, some to sell the beautiful shell-work made on the island. +These may be termed, in general, as ugly a set of wenches as one could +wish not to see. They all wear palm-leaf hats stuck on their heads +without strings or ribbons, and their clothes are so ill-made that you +cannot help thinking that each has borrowed somebody else's dress, until +you see that the ill-fitting garments are the rule, not the exception.</p> + +<p>But neither youth nor sea-sickness lasts forever. The forces of nature +rally on the second day, and the few who have taken no remedies recover +the use of their tongues and some of their faculties. From these I +gather what I shall here impart as</p> + +<p class="c"><small>SERIOUS VIEWS OF THE BAHAMAS.</small></p> + +<p>The principal exports of these favored islands are fruits, sponges, +molasses, and sugar. Their imports include most of the necessaries of +life, which come to them oftenest in the<a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a> form of wrecks, by which they +obtain them at a small fraction of the original cost and value. For this +resource they are indebted to the famous Bahama Banks, which to their +way of thinking are institutions as important as the Bank of England +itself. These banks stand them in a handsome annual income, and +facilitate large discounts and transfers of property not contemplated by +the original possessors. One supposes that somebody must suffer by these +forced sales of large cargoes at prices ruinous to commerce,—but <i>who</i> +suffers is a point not easy to ascertain. There seems to be a good, +comfortable understanding all round. The Owners say, "Go ahead, and +don't bother yourself,—she's insured." The Captain has got his ship +aground in shoal water where she can't sink, and no harm done. The +friendly wreckers are close at hand to haul the cargo ashore. The +Underwriter of the insurance company has shut his eyes and opened his +mouth to receive a plum, which, being a good large one, will not let him +speak. And so the matter providentially comes to pass, and "enterprises +of great pith<a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a> and moment" oftenest get no further than the Bahamas.</p> + +<p>Nassau produces neither hay nor corn,—these, together with butter, +flour, and tea, being brought chiefly from the United States. Politics, +of course, it has none. As to laws, the colonial system certainly needs +propping up,—for under its action a man may lead so shameless a life of +immorality as to compel his wife to leave him, and yet not be held +responsible for her support and that of the children she has borne him. +The principal points of interest are, first, the garrison,—secondly, +Government-House, with an occasional ball there,—and, third, one's +next-door neighbor, and his or her doings. The principal event in the +memory of the citizens seems to be a certain most desirable wreck, in +consequence of which, a diamond card-case, worth fifteen hundred +dollars, was sold for an eighth part of that sum, and laces, whose +current price ranges from thirty to forty dollars a yard, were purchased +at will for seventy-five cents. That was a wreck worth having! say the +Nassauese. The price of milk ranges from<a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a> eighteen to twenty-five cents +a quart;—think of that, ye New England housekeepers! That precious +article, the pudding, is nearly unknown in the Nassauese economy; nor is +pie-crust so short as it might be, owing to the enormous price of +butter, which has been known to attain the sum of one dollar per pound. +Eggs are quoted at prices not commendable for large families with small +means. On the other hand, fruits, vegetables, and sugar-cane are +abundant.</p> + +<p>The Nassauese, on the whole, seem to be a kind-hearted and friendly set +of people, partly English, partly Southern in character, but with rather +a predominance of the latter ingredient in their composition. Their +women resemble the women of our own Southern States, but seem simpler +and more domestic in their habits,—while the men would make tolerable +Yankees, but would scarcely support President Buchanan, the Kansas +question, or the Filibustero movement. Physically, the race suffers and +degenerates under the influence of the warm climate. Cases of pulmonary +disease, asthma, and neuralgia are of frequent<a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a> occurrence, and cold is +considered as curative to them as heat is to us. The diet, too, is not +that "giant ox-beef" which the Saxon race requires. Meat is rare and +tough, unless brought from the States at high cost. We were forced to +the conclusion that no genuine English life can be supported upon a +<i>régime</i> of fish and fruit,—or, in other words, no beef, no Bull, but a +very different sort of John, lantern-jawed, leather-skinned, and of a +thirsty complexion. It occurred to us, furthermore, that it is a +dolorous thing to live on a lonely little island, tied up like a wart on +the face of civilization,—no healthful stream of life coming and going +from the great body of the main land,—the same moral air to be breathed +over and over again, without renewal,—the same social elements turned +and returned in one tiresome kaleidoscope. Wherefore rejoice, ye +Continentals, and be thankful, and visit the Nassauese, bringing beef, +butter, and beauty,—bringing a few French muslins, to replace the +coarse English fabrics, and buxom Irish girls to outwork the idle negro +women,—bringing new books, newspapers,<a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a> and periodicals,—bringing the +Yankee lecturer, all expenses paid, and his drink found him. All these +good things, and more, the States have for the Nassauese, of whom we +must now take leave, for all hands have been piped on deck.</p> + +<p>We have jolted for three weary days over the roughest of ocean-highways, +and Cuba, nay, Havana, is in sight. The worst cases are up, and begin to +talk about their sea-legs, now that the occasion for them is at an end. +Sobrina, the chief wit of our party, who would eat sour-sop, sapodilla, +orange, banana, cocoa-nut, and sugar-cane at Nassau, and who has lived +upon toddy of twenty-cocktail power ever since,—even she is seen, +clothed and in her right mind, sitting at the feet of the Prophet she +loves, and going through the shawl-and-umbrella exercise. And here is +the Morro Castle, which guards the entrance of the harbor,—here go the +signals, answering to our own. Here comes the man with the +speaking-trumpet, who, understanding no English, yells out to our +captain, who understands no Spanish. The following is a free rendering +of their conversation:—<a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a></p> + +<p>"Any Americans on board?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, thank Heaven, plenty."</p> + +<p>"How many are Filibusteros?"</p> + +<p>"All of them."</p> + +<p>"Bad luck to them, then!"</p> + +<p>"The same to you!"</p> + +<p>"<i>Caramba</i>," says the Spaniard.</p> + +<p>"—— ——," says the Englishman.</p> + +<p>And so the forms of diplomacy are fulfilled; and of Havana, more in my +next.<a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br /> +<small>THE HARBOR OF HAVANA.</small></h2> + +<p>A<small>S</small> we have said, there were some official mysteries connected with the +arrival of our steamer in Nassau; but these did not compare with the +visitations experienced in Havana. As soon as we had dropped anchor, a +swarm of dark creatures came on board, with gloomy brows, mulish noses, +and suspicious eyes. This application of Spanish flies proves irritating +to the good-natured Captain, and uncomfortable to all of us. All +possible documents are produced for their satisfaction,—bill of lading, +bill of health, and so on. Still they persevere in tormenting the whole +ship's crew, and regard us, when we pass, with all the hatred of race in +their rayless eyes. "Is it a crime," we are disposed to ask, "to have a +fair Saxon skin, blue eyes, and red blood?" Truly, one would seem to +think so; and the<a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a> first glance at this historical race makes clear to +us the Inquisition, the Conquest of Granada, and the ancient butcheries +of Alva and Pizarro.</p> + +<p>As Havana is an unco uncertain place for accommodations, we do not go on +shore, the first night, but, standing close beside the bulwarks, feel a +benevolent pleasure in seeing our late companions swallowed and carried +off like tidbits by the voracious boatmen below, who squabble first for +them and then with them, and so gradually disappear in the darkness. On +board the "Karnak" harmony reigns serene. The custom-house wretches are +gone, and we are, on the whole, glad we did not murder them. Our little +party enjoys tea and bread-and-butter together for the last time. After +so many mutual experiences of good and evil, the catguts about our tough +old hearts are loosened, and discourse the pleasant music of Friendship. +An hour later, I creep up to the higher deck, to have a look-out +forward, where the sailors are playing leap-frog and dancing +fore-and-afters. I have a genuine love of such common sights, and am +quite<a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a> absorbed by the good fun before me, when a solemn voice sounds at +my left, and looking round, I perceive Can Grande, who has come up to +explain to me the philosophy of the sailor's dances, and to unfold his +theory of amusements, as far as the narrow area of one little brain +(mine, not his) will permit. His monologue, and its interruptions, ran +very much as follows:—</p> + +<p>I.—This is a pleasant sight, isn't it?</p> + +<p><i>Can Grande.</i>—It has a certain interest, as exhibiting the inborn ideal +tendency of the human race;—no tribe of people so wretched, so poor, or +so infamous as to dispense with amusement, in some form or other.</p> + +<p><i>Voice from below.</i>—Play up, Cook! That's but a slow jig ye're fluting +away at.</p> + +<p><i>Can Grande.</i>—I went once to the Five Points of New York, with a +police-officer and two philanthropists;—our object was to investigate +that lowest phase of social existence.——</p> + +<p>Bang, whang, go the wrestlers below, with loud shouts and laughter. I +give them one eye and ear,—Can Grande has me by the other.<a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a></p> + +<p><i>Can Grande.</i>—I went into one of their miserable dance-saloons. I saw +there the vilest of men and the vilest of women, meeting with the worst +intentions; but even for this they had the fiddle, music and dancing. +Without this little crowning of something higher, their degradation +would have been intolerable to themselves and to each other.——</p> + +<p>Here the man who gave the back in leap-frog suddenly went down in the +middle of the leap, bringing with him the other who, rolling on the +deck, caught the traitor by the hair, and pommeled him to his heart's +content. I ventured to laugh, and exclaim, "Did you see that?"</p> + +<p><i>Can Grande.</i>—Yes; that is very common.—At that dance of death, every +wretched woman had such poor adornment as her circumstances allowed,—a +collar, a tawdry ribbon, a glaring false jewel, her very rags disposed +with the greater decency of the finer sex,—a little effort at beauty, a +sense of it. The good God puts it there;—He does not allow the poorest, +the lowest of his human<a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a> children the thoughtless indifference of +brutes.——</p> + +<p>And there was the beautiful tropical sky above, starry, soft, and +velvet-deep,—the placid waters all around, and at my side the Man who +is to speak no more in public, but whose words in private have still the +old thrill, the old power to shake the heart and bring the good thoughts +uppermost. I put my hand in his, and we descended the companion-way +together, and left the foolish sailors to their play.</p> + +<p>But now, on the after-deck, the Captain, entreated and in nowise +unwilling, takes down his violin, and with pleasant touch gives us the +dear old airs, "Home, Sweet Home," "Annie Laurie," and so on, and we +accompany him with voices toned down by the quiet of the scene around. +He plays too, with a musing look, the merry tune to which his little +daughter dances, in the English dancing-school, hundreds of leagues +away. Good-night, at last, and make the most of it. Coolness and quiet +on the water to-night, and heat and mosquitoes, howling of dogs and<a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a> +chattering of negroes to-morrow night, in Havana.</p> + +<p>The next morning allowed us to accomplish our transit to the desired +land of Havana. We pass the Custom-house, where an official in a cage, +with eyes of most oily sweetness, and tongue, no doubt, to match, +pockets our gold, and imparts in return a governmental permission to +inhabit the island of Cuba for the space of one calendar month. We go +trailing through the market, where we buy peeled oranges, and through +the streets, where we eat them, seen and recognized afar as Yankees by +our hats, bonnets, and other features. We stop at the Café Dominica, and +refresh with coffee and buttered rolls, for we have still a drive of +three miles to accomplish before breakfast. All the hotels in Havana are +full, and more than full. Woolcut, of the Cerro, three miles from the +gates, is the only landlord who will take us in; so he seizes us fairly +by the neck, bundles us into an omnibus, swears that his hotel is but +two miles distant, smiles archly when we find the two miles long, brings +us where he wants to have us, the<a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a> Spaniards in the omnibus puffing and +staring at the ladies all the way. Finally, we arrive at his hotel, glad +to be somewhere, but hot, tired, hungry, and not in raptures with our +first experience of tropical life.</p> + +<p>It must be confessed that our long-tried energies fall somewhat flat on +the quiet of Woolcut's. We look round, and behold one long room with +marble floor, with two large doors, not windows, opening in front upon +the piazza and the street, and other openings into a large court behind, +surrounded by small, dark bedrooms. The large room is furnished with two +dilapidated cane sofas, a few chairs, a small table, and three or four +indifferent prints, which we have ample time to study. For company, we +see a stray New York or Philadelphia family, a superannuated Mexican who +smiles and bows to everybody, and some dozen of those undistinguishable +individuals whom we class together as Yankees, and who, taking the map +from Maine to Georgia, might as well come from one place as another, the +Southerner being as like the Northerner as a dried pea is to a green +pea. The ladies begin<a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a> to hang their heads, and question a +little:—"What are we to do here? and where is the perfectly delightful +Havana you told us of?" Answer:—"There is nothing whatever to do here, +at this hour of the day, but to undress and go to sleep;—the heat will +not let you stir, the glare will not let you write or read. Go to bed; +dinner is at four; and after that, we will make an effort to find the +Havana of the poetical and Gan Eden people, praying Heaven it may not +have its only existence in their brains."</p> + +<p>Still, the pretty ones do not brighten. They walk up and down, eyeing +askance the quiet boarders who look so contented over their children and +worsted-work, and wondering in what part of the world they have taken +the precaution to leave their souls. Unpacking is then begun, with +rather a flinging of the things about, interspersed with little peppery +hints as to discomfort and dulness, and dejected stage-sighs, intended +for hearing. But this cannot go on,—the thermometer is at 78° in the +shade,—an intense and contagious stillness reigns through the +house,—some<a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a> good genius waves a bunch of poppies near those little +fretful faces, for which a frown is rather heavy artillery. The balmy +breath of sleep blows off the lightly-traced furrows, and after a dreamy +hour or two all is bright, smooth, and freshly dressed, as a husband +could wish it. The dinner proves not intolerable, and after it we sit on +the piazza. A refreshing breeze springs up, and presently the tide of +the afternoon drive sets in from the city. The <i>volantes</i> dash by, with +silver-studded harnesses, and postilions black and booted; within sit +the pretty Señoritas, in twos and threes. They are attired mostly in +muslins, with bare necks and arms; bonnets they know not,—their heads +are dressed with flowers, or with jewelled pins. Their faces are +whitened, we know, with powder, but in the distance the effect is +pleasing. Their dark eyes are vigilant; they know a lover when they see +him. But there is no twilight in these parts, and the curtain of the +dark falls upon the scene as suddenly as the screen of the theatre upon +the <i>dénouement</i> of the tragedy. Then comes a cup of truly infernal +tea,<a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a> the mastication of a stale roll, with butter, also stale,—then, +more sitting on the piazza,—then, retirement, and a wild hunt after +mosquitoes,—and so ends the first day at Woolcut's, on the Cerro.<a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /><br /> +<small>HAVANA. THE HOTELS.</small></h2> + +<p>"S<small>HALL</small> I not take mine ease in mine inn?" Yes, truly, if you can get it, +Jack Falstaff; but it is one thing to pay for comfort, and another thing +to have it. You certainly pay for it, in Havana; for the $3 or $3.50 +<i>per diem</i>, which is your simplest hotel-charge there, should, in any +civilized part of the world, give you a creditable apartment, clean +linen, and all reasonable diet. What it does give, the travelling public +may like to learn.</p> + +<p>Can Grande has left Woolcut's. The first dinner did not please him,—the +cup of tea, with only bread, exasperated,—and the second breakfast, +greasy, peppery, and incongruous, finished his disgust; so he asked for +his bill, packed his trunk, called the hotel detestable, and went.</p> + +<p>Now he was right enough in this; the house<a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a> is detestable;—but as all +houses of entertainment throughout the country are about equally so, it +is scarcely fair to complain of one. I shall not fear to be more +inclusive in my statement, and to affirm that in no part of the world +does one get so little comfort for so much money as on the Island of +Cuba. To wit: an early cup of black coffee, oftenest very bad; bread not +to be had without an extra sputtering of Spanish, and darkening of the +countenance;—to wit, a breakfast between nine and ten, invariably +consisting of fish, rice, beefsteak, fried plantains, salt cod with +tomatoes, stewed tripe and onions, indifferent claret, and an after-cup +of coffee or green tea;—to wit, a dinner at three or four, of which the +inventory varieth not,—to wit, a plate of soup, roast beef, tough +turkeys and chickens, tolerable ham, nameless stews, cayota, plantains, +salad, sweet potatoes; and for dessert, a spoonful each of West India +preserve,—invariably the kind you do not like,—oranges, bananas, and +another cup of coffee;—to wit, tea of the sort already described;—to +wit, attendance and non-attendance<a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a> of negro and half-breed waiters, who +mostly speak no English, and neither know nor care what you want;—to +wit, a room whose windows, reaching from floor to ceiling, inclose no +glass, and are defended from the public by iron rails, and from the +outer air, at desire, by clumsy wooden shutters, which are closed only +when it rains;—to wit, a bed with a mosquito-netting;—to wit, a towel +and a pint of water, for all ablutions. This is the sum of your comforts +as to quantity; but as to their quality, experience alone can enlighten +you.</p> + +<p>Taking pity on my exile at the Cerro, Can Grande and his party invite me +to come and spend a day at their hotel, of higher reputation, and +situated in the centre of things. I go;—the breakfast, to my surprise, +is just like Woolcut's; the dinner <i>idem</i>, but rather harder to get; +preserves for tea, and two towels daily, instead of one, seem to +constitute the chief advantages of this establishment. Domestic linens, +too, are fairer than elsewhere; but when you have got your ideas of +cleanliness down to the Cuban standard,<a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a> a shade or two either way makes +no material difference.</p> + +<p>Can Grande comes and goes; for stay in the hotel, behind those +prison-gratings, he cannot. He goes to the market and comes back, goes +to the Jesuit College and comes back, goes to the Banker's and gets +money. In his encounters with the sun he is like a prize-fighter coming +up to time. Every round finds him weaker and weaker, still his pluck is +first-rate, and he goes at it again. It is not until three, <small>P. M.</small>, that +he wrings out his dripping pocket-handkerchief, slouches his hat over +his brows, and gives in as dead-beat.</p> + +<p>They of the lovely sex meanwhile undergo, with what patience they may, +an Oriental imprisonment. In the public street they must on no account +set foot. The Creole and Spanish women are born and bred to this, and +the hardiest American or English woman will scarcely venture out a +second time without the severe escort of husband or brother. These +relatives are, accordingly, in great demand. In the thrifty North, Man +is considered an incumbrance from breakfast to dinner,—and the<a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a> sooner +he is fed and got out of the way in the morning, the better the work of +the household goes on. If the master of the house return at an +unseasonable hour, he is held to an excuse, and must prove a headache, +or other suitable indisposition. In Havana, on the contrary, the +American woman suddenly becomes very fond of her husband:—"he must not +leave her at home alone; where does he go? she will go with him; when +will he come back? Remember, now, she will expect him." The secret of +all this is that she cannot go out without him. The other Angel of +deliverance is the <i>volante</i>, with its tireless horses and <i>calesero</i>, +who seems fitted and screwed to the saddle, which he never leaves. He +does not even turn his head for orders. His senses are in the back of +his head, or wherever his Mistress pleases. "<i>José, Calle de la Muralla, +esquina á los oficios</i>,"—and the black machine moves on, without look, +word, or sign of intelligence. In New York, your Irish coachman grins +approval of your order; and even an English flunkey may touch his hat +and say, "Yes, Mum." But in the Cuban negro<a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a> of service, dumbness is the +complement of darkness. You speak, and the patient right hand pulls the +strap that leads the off horse, while the other gathers up the reins of +the nigh, and the horses, their tails tightly braided and deprived of +all movement, seem as mechanical as the driver. Happy are the ladies at +the hotel who have a perpetual <i>volante</i> at their service! for they +dress in their best clothes three times a day, and do not soil them by +contact with the dusty street. They drive before breakfast, and shop +before dinner, and after dinner go to flirt their fans and refresh their +robes on the Paseo, where the fashions drive. At twilight, they stop at +friendly doors and pay visits, or at the entrance of the <i>café</i>, where +ices are brought out to them. At eight o'clock they go to the Plaza, and +hear the band play, sitting in the <i>volante</i>; and at ten they come home +without fatigue, having all day taken excellent care of Number One, +beyond which their arithmetic does not extend. "I and my <i>volante</i>" is +like Cardinal Wolsey's "<i>Ego et Rex meus</i>."</p> + +<p>As for those who have no <i>volantes</i>, modesty<a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a> becomes them, and +quietness of dress and demeanor. They get a little walk before +breakfast, and stay at home all day, or ride in an omnibus, which is +perhaps worse;—they pay a visit now and then in a hired carriage, the +bargain being made with difficulty;—they look a good deal through the +bars of the windows, and remember the free North, and would, perhaps, +envy the <i>volante</i>-commanding women, did not dreadful Moses forbid.</p> + +<p>One alleviation of the tedium of hotel-life in the city is the almost +daily visit of the young man from the dry-goods' shop, who brings +samples of lawns, linen dresses, piña handkerchiefs, and fans of all +prices, from two to seventy-five dollars. The ladies cluster like bees +around these flowery goods, and, after some hours of bargaining, +disputing, and purchasing, the vendor pockets the golden honey, and +marches off. As dressmakers in Havana are scarce, dear, and bad, our +fair friends at the hotel make up these dresses mostly themselves, and +astonish their little world every day by appearing in new attire. "How +extravagant!" you say. They reply,<a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a> "Oh! it cost nothing for the making; +I made it myself." But we remember to have heard somewhere that "Time is +Money." At four in the afternoon, a negress visits in turn every +bedroom, sweeps out the mosquitoes from the curtains with a +feather-brush, and lets down the mosquito-net, which she tucks in around +the bed. After this, do not meddle with your bed until it is time to get +into it; then put the light away, open the net cautiously, enter with a +dexterous swing, and close up immediately, leaving no smallest opening +to help them after. In this mosquito-net you live, move, and have your +being until morning; and should you venture to pull it aside, even for +an hour, you will appall your friends, next day, with a face which +suggests the early stages of small-pox, or the spotted fever.</p> + +<p>The valuable information I have now communicated is the sum of what I +learned in that one day at Mrs. Almy's; and though our party speedily +removed thither, I doubt whether I shall be able to add to it anything +of importance.<a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /><br /> +<small>HAVANA. YOUR BANKER. OUR CONSUL. THE FRIENDLY CUP OF TEA.</small></h2> + +<p>O<small>NE</small> is apt to arrive in Havana with a heart elated by the prospect of +such kindnesses and hospitalities as are poetically supposed to be the +perquisite of travellers. You count over your letters as so many +treasures; you regard the unknown houses you pass as places of deposit +for the new acquaintances and delightful friendships which await you. In +England, say you, each of these letters would represent a pleasant +family-mansion thrown open to your view,—a social breakfast,—a dinner +of London wits,—a box at the opera,—or the visit of a Lord, whose +perfect carriage and livery astonish the quiet street in which you +lodge, and whose good taste and good manners should, one thinks, prove +contagious, at once soothing and shaming the fretful Yankee<a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a> conceit. +But your Cuban letters, like fairy money, soon turn to withered leaves +in your possession, and, having delivered two or three of them, you +employ the others more advantageously, as shaving-paper, or for the +lighting of cigars, or any other useful purpose.</p> + +<p>Your Banker, of course, stands first upon the list,—and to him +accordingly, with a beaming countenance, you present yourself. For him +you have a special letter of recommendation, and however others may +fail, you consider him as sure as the trump of the deal at whist. But +why, alas, should people, who have gone through the necessary +disappointments of life, prepare for themselves others, which may be +avoided? Listen and learn. At the first visit, your Banker is tolerably +glad to see you,—he discounts your modest letter of credit, and pockets +his two and a half <i>per cent</i>, with the best grace imaginable. If he +wishes to be very civil, he offers you a seat, offers you a cigar, and +mumbles in an indistinct tone that he will be happy to serve you in any +way. You call again and again, keeping yourself before his favorable +remembrance,<a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a>—always the same seat, the same cigar, the same desire to +serve you, carefully repressed, and prevented from breaking out into any +overt demonstration of good-will. At last, emboldened by the brilliant +accounts of former tourists and the successes of your friends, you +suggest that you would like to see a plantation,—you only ask for +one,—would he give you a letter, etc., etc.? He assumes an abstracted +air, wonders if he knows anybody who has a plantation,—the fact being +that he scarcely knows anybody who has not one. Finally, he will +try,—call again, and he will let you know. You call again,—"Next +week," he says. You call after that interval,—"Next week," again, is +all you get. Now, if you are a thorough-bred man, you can afford to +quarrel with your Banker; so you say, "Next week,—why not next +year?"—make a very decided snatch at your hat, and wish him a very long +"good-morning." But if you are a Snob and afraid, you take his neglect +quietly enough, and will boast, when you go home, of his polite +attentions to yourself and family, when on the Island of Cuba.<a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a></p> + +<p><i>Our Consul</i> is the next post in the weary journey of your hopes, and to +him, with such assurance as you have left, you now betake yourself. +Touching him personally I have nothing to say. I will only remark, in +general, that the traveller who can find, in any part of the world, an +American Consul not disabled from all service by ill-health, want of +means, ignorance of foreign languages, or unpleasant relations with the +representatives of foreign powers,—that traveller, we say, should go in +search of the sea-serpent, and the passage of the North Pole, for he has +proved himself able to find what, to every one but him, is +undiscoverable.</p> + +<p>But who, setting these aside, is to show you any attention? Who will +lift you from the wayside, and set you upon his own horse, or in his own +<i>volante</i>, pouring oil and wine upon your wounded feelings? Ah! the +breed of the good Samaritan is never allowed to become extinct in this +world, where so much is left for it to do.</p> + +<p>A kind and hospitable American family, long resident in Havana, takes us +up at last.<a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a> They call upon us, and we lift up our heads; they take us +out in their carriage, and we step in with a little familiar flounce, +intended to show that we are used to such things; finally, they invite +us to a friendly cup of tea,—all the hotel knows it,—we have tarried +at home in the shade long enough. Now, people have begun to find us +out,—<i>we are going out to tea</i>!</p> + +<p>How pleasant the tea-table was, how good the tea, how more than good the +bread-and-butter and plum-cake, how quaint the house of Spanish +construction, all open to the air, adorned with flowers like a temple, +fresh and fragrant, and with no weary upholstery to sit heavy on the +sight, how genial and prolonged the talk, how reluctant the +separation,—imagine it, ye who sing the songs of home in a strange +land. And ye who cannot imagine, forgo the pleasure, for I shall tell +you no more about it. I will not, I, give names, to make good-natured +people regret the hospitality they have afforded. If they have +entertained unawares angels and correspondents of the press, (I use the +two terms as synonymous,)<a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a> they shall not be made aware of it by the +sacrifice of their domestic privacy. All celebrated people do this, and +that we do it not answers for our obscurity.</p> + +<p>The cup of tea proves the precursor of many kind services and pleasant +hours. Our new friends assist us to a deal of sight-seeing, and +introduce us to cathedral, college, and garden. We walk out with them at +sunrise and at sunset, and sit under the stately trees, and think it +almost strange to be at home with people of our own race and our own way +of thinking, so far from the home-surroundings. For the gardens, they +may chiefly be described as triumphs of Nature over Art,—our New +England horticulture being, on the contrary, the triumph of Art over +Nature, after a hard-fought battle. Here, the avenues of palm and cocoa +are magnificent, and the flowers new to us, and very brilliant. But +pruning and weeding out are hard tasks for Creole natures, with only +negroes to help them. There is for the most part a great overgrowth and +overrunning of the least desirable elements, a general air of +slovenliness and unthrift. In all artificial<a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a> arrangements decay seems +imminent, and the want of idea in the laying out of grounds is a +striking feature. In Italian villas, the feeling of the Beautiful, which +has produced a race of artists, is everywhere manifest,—everywhere are +beautiful forms and picturesque effects. Even the ruins of Rome seem to +be held together by this fine bond. No stone dares to drop, no arch to +moulder, but with an exquisite and touching grace. And the weeds, oh! +the weeds that hang their little pennon on the Coliseum, how graciously +do they float, as if they said,—"Breathe softly, lest this crumbling +vision of the Past go down before the rude touch of the modern world!" +And so one treads lightly, and speaks in hushed accents; lest, in the +brilliant Southern noon, one should wake the sleeping heart of Rome to +the agony of her slow extinction.</p> + +<p>But what is all this? We are dreaming of Rome,—and this is Cuba, where +the spirit of Art has never been, and where it could not pass without +sweeping out from houses, churches, gardens, and brains, such trash as +has rarely been seen and endured elsewhere.<a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a> They show us, for example, +some mutilated statues in the ruins of what is called the Bishop's +Garden. Why, the elements did a righteous work, when they effaced the +outlines of these coarse and trivial shapes, unworthy even the poor +marble on which they were imposed. Turning from these, however, we find +lovely things enough to rebuke this savage mood of criticism. The +palm-trees are unapproachable in beauty,—they stand in rows like Ionic +columns, straight, strong, and regular, with their plumed capitals. They +talk solemnly of the Pyramids and the Desert, whose legends have been +whispered to them by the winds that cross the ocean, freighted with the +thoughts of God. Then, these huge white lilies, deep as goblets, from +which one drinks fragrance, and never exhausts,—these thousand unknown +jewels of the tropics. Here is a large tank, whose waters are covered +with the leaves and flowers of beautiful aquatic plants, whose Latin +names are of no possible consequence to anybody. Here, in the very heart +of the garden, is a rustic lodge, curtained with trailing vines. Birds +in cages are hung<a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a> about it, and a sweet voice, singing within, tells us +that the lodge is the cage of a yet more costly bird. We stop to listen, +and the branches of the trees seem to droop more closely about us, the +twilight lays its cool, soft touch upon our heated foreheads, and we +whisper,—"Peace to his soul!" as we leave the precincts of the Bishop's +Garden.<a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /><br /> +<small>HAVANA—THE JESUIT COLLEGE.</small></h2> + +<p>T<small>HE</small> gentlemen of our party go one day to visit the Jesuit College in +Havana, yclept "<i>Universidad de Belen</i>." The ladies, weary of dry goods, +manifest some disposition to accompany them. This is at once frowned +down by the unfairer sex, and Can Grande, appealed to by the other side, +shakes his shoulders, and replies, "No, you are only miserable women, +and cannot be admitted into any Jesuit establishment whatever." And so +the male deputation departs with elation, and returns with airs of +superior opportunity, and is more insufferable than ever at dinner, and +thereafter.</p> + +<p>They of the feminine faction, on the other hand, consult with more +direct authorities, and discover that the doors of Belen are in nowise +closed to them, and that everything within<a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a> those doors is quite at +their disposition, saving and excepting the sleeping-apartments of the +Jesuit fathers,—to which, even in thought, they would on no account +draw near. And so they went and saw Belen, whereof one of them relates +as follows.</p> + +<p>The building is spacious, inclosing a hollow square, and with numerous +galleries, like European cloisters, where the youth walk, study, and +play. We were shown up-stairs, into a pleasant reception-room, where two +priests soon waited on us. One of these, Padre Doyaguez, seemed to be +the decoy-duck of the establishment, and soon fastened upon one of our +party, whose Protestant tone of countenance had probably caught his +attention. Was she a Protestant? Oh, no!—not with that intelligent +physiognomy!—not with that talent! What was her name? Julia (pronounced +<i>H</i>ulia). Hulia was a Roman name, a Catholic name; he had never heard of +a Hulia who was a Protestant;—very strange, it seemed to him, that a +Hulia could hold to such unreasonable ideas. The other priest, Padre +Lluc, meanwhile followed<a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a> with sweet, quiet eyes, whose silent looks had +more persuasion in them than all the innocent cajoleries of the elder +man. Padre Doyaguez was a man eminently qualified to deal with the sex +in general,—a coaxing voice, a pair of vivacious eyes whose cunning was +not unpleasing, tireless good-humor and perseverance, and a savor of +sincerity. Padre Lluc was the sort of man that one recalls in quiet +moments with a throb of sympathy,—the earnest eyes, the clear brow, the +sonorous voice. One thinks of him, and hopes that he is satisfied,—that +cruel longing and more cruel doubt shall never spring up in that +capacious heart, divorcing his affections and convictions from the +system to which his life is irrevocably wedded. No, keep still, Padre +Lluc! think ever as you think now, lest the faith that seems a fortress +should prove a prison, the mother a step-dame,—lest the high, +chivalrous spirit, incapable of a safe desertion, should immolate truth +or itself on the altar of consistency.</p> + +<p>Between those two advocates of Catholicity, Hulia Protestante walks +slowly through<a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a> the halls of the University. She sees first a Cabinet of +Natural History, including minerals, shells, fossils, and insects, all +well-arranged, and constituting a very respectable beginning. Padre Lluc +says some good words on the importance of scientific education. Padre +Doyaguez laughs at the ladies' hoops, which he calls Malakoffs, as they +crowd through the doorways and among the glass cases; he repeats +occasionally, "<i>Hulia Protestante?</i>" in a tone of mock astonishment, and +receives for answer, "<i>Si, Hulia Protestante</i>." Then comes a very +creditable array of scientific apparatus,—not of the order employed by +the judges of Galileo,—electric and galvanic batteries, an orrery, and +many things beside. The Library interests us more, with some luxurious +Classics, a superb Dante, and a prison-cage of forbidden works, of which +Padre Lluc certainly has the key. Among these were fine editions of +Rousseau and Voltaire, which appeared to be intended for use; and we +could imagine a solitary student, dark-eyed and pale, exploring their +depths at midnight with a stolen candle, and endeavoring, with +<a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a>self-torment, to reconcile the intolerance of his doctrine with the +charities of his heart. We imagine such an one lost in the philosophy +and sentiment of the "Nouvelle Héloise," and suddenly summoned by the +convent-bell to the droning of the Mass, the mockery of Holy Water, the +fable of the Real Presence. Such contrasts might be strange and +dangerous. No, no, Padre Lluc! keep these unknown spells from your +heart,—let the forbidden books alone. Instead of the Confessions of +Jean Jacques, read the Confessions of St. Augustine,—read the new book, +in three volumes, on the Immaculate Conception, which you show me with +such ardor, telling me that Can Grande has spoken of it with respect. +Beyond the Fathers you must not get, for you have vowed to be a child +all your life. Those clear eyes of yours are never to look up into the +face of the Eternal Father; the show-box of the Church must content +them, with Mary and the saints seen through its dusty glass,—the august +figure of the Son, who sometimes reproved his Mother, crowded quite out +of sight behind the woman, whom<a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a> it is so much easier to dress up and +exhibit. What is this other book which Parker has read? Padre Doyaguez +says, "Hulia, if you read this, you must become a Catholic." Padre Lluc +says, "If Parker has read this book, I cannot conceive that he is not a +Catholic." The quick Doyaguez then remarks, "Parker is going to Rome to +join the Romish Church." Padre Lluc rejoins, "They say so." Hulia +Protestante is inclined to cry out, "The day that Parker becomes a +Catholic, I too will become one"; but, remembering the rashness of vows +and the fallibility of men, she does not adopt that form of expressing +<i>Never</i>. Parker might, if it pleased God, become a Catholic, and then +the world would have two Popes instead of one.</p> + +<p>We leave at last the disputed ground of the Library and ascend to the +Observatory, which commands a fine view of the city, and a good sweep of +the heavens for the telescope, in which Padre Lluc seemed especially to +delight. The Observatory is commodious, and is chiefly directed by an +attenuated young priest, with a keen eye and hectic cheek;<a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a> another is +occupied in working out mathematical tables;—for these Fathers observe +the stars, and are in scientific correspondence with Astronomers in +Europe. This circumstance gave us real pleasure on their account,—for +science, in all its degrees, is a positive good, and a mental tonic of +the first importance. Earnestly did we, in thought, commend it to those +wearied minds which have undergone the dialectic dislocations, the +denaturalizations of truth and of thought, which enable rational men to +become first Catholics, and then Jesuits. For let there be no illusions +about strength of mind and so on,—this is effected by means of a vast +machinery. As, in the old story, the calves were put in at one end of +the cylinder and taken out leather breeches at the other, or as glass is +cut and wood carved, so does the raw human material, put into the +machine of the Catholic Church, become fashioned according to the will +of those who guide it. Hulia Protestante! you have a free step and a +clear head; but once go into the machine, and you will come out carved +and embossed according to the old traditional<a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a> pattern,—you as well as +another. Where the material is hard, they put on more power,—where it +is soft, more care; wherefore I caution you here, as I would in a mill +at Lowell or Lawrence,—Don't meddle with the shafts,—don't go too near +the wheel,—in short, keep clear of the machinery. And Hulia does so; +for, at the last attack of Padre Doyaguez, she suddenly turns upon him +and says, "Sir, you are a Doctrinary and a Propagandist." And the good +Father suffers her to depart in peace. But first there is the chapel to +be seen, with its tawdry and poor ornamentation,—and the dormitories of +the scholars, with long double rows of beds and mosquito-nettings. There +are two of these, and each of them has at one end a raised platform, +with curtains and a bed, where rests and watches the shepherd of the +little sheep. Lastly, we have a view of the whole flock, assembled in +their play-ground, and one of them, looking up, sees his mother, who has +kindly accompanied our visit to the institution. Across the distance +that separates us, we see his blue eyes brighten, and, as soon as +permission is<a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a> given, he bounds like a young roe to her arms, shy and +tender, his English blood showing through his Spanish skin,—for he is a +child of mixed race. We are all pleased and touched, and Padre Lluc +presently brings us a daguerreotype, and says, "It is my mother." To us +it is an indifferent portrait of an elderly Spanish woman,—but to him, +how much! With kindest mutual regard we take leave,—a little surprised, +perhaps, to see that Jesuit priests have mothers, and remember them.<a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /><br /> +<small>SAN ANTONIO DE LOS BAÑOS.</small></h2> + +<p class="c">"Far from my thoughts, vain world, begone!"</p> + +<p>However enchanting Havana may prove when seen through the moonlight of +memory, it seems as good a place to go away from as any other, after a +stifling night in a net, the wooden shutters left open in the remote +hope of air, and admitting the music of a whole opera-troupe of dogs, +including Bass, Tenor, Soprano, and Chorus. Instead of bouquets, you +throw stones, if you are so fortunate as to have them,—if not, +boot-jacks, oranges, your only umbrella. You are last seen thrusting +frantic hands and feet through the iron bars, your wife holding you back +by the flannel night-gown which you will persist in wearing in this +doubtful climate. At last it is over,—the fifth act ends with a howl +which makes you hope that some one of the performers<a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a> has come to grief. +But, alas! it is only a stage <i>dénouement</i>, whose hero will die again +every night while the season lasts. You fall asleep, but the welcome +cordial has scarcely been tasted when you are aroused by a knock at the +door. It is the night-porter, who wakes you at five by appointment, that +you may enjoy your early coffee, tumble into a hired <i>volante</i>, and +reach, half dead with sleep, the station in time for the train that goes +to San Antonio.</p> + +<p>Now, whether you are a partisan of early rising or not, you must allow +that sunrise and the hour after is the golden time of the day in Cuba. +So this hour of starting,—six o'clock,—so distasteful in our +latitudes, is a matter of course in tropical climates. Arriving at the +station, you encounter new tribulations in the registering and payment +of luggage, the transportation of which is not included in the charge +for your ticket. Your trunks are recorded in a book, and, having paid a +<i>real</i> apiece for them, you receive a paper which entitles you to demand +them again at your journey's end. The Cuban railways are good,<a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a> but +dear,—the charge being ten cents a mile; whereas in our more favored +land one goes for three cents, and has the chance of a collision and +surgeon's services without any extra payment. The cars have windows +which are always open, and blinds which are always closed, or nearly so. +The seats and backs of seats are of cane, for coolness,—hardness being +secured at the same time. One reaches San Antonio in an hour and a half, +and finds a pleasant village, with a river running through it, several +streets of good houses, several more of bad ones, a cathedral, a +cockpit, a <i>volante</i>, four soldiers on horseback, two on foot, a market, +dogs, a bad smell, and lastly, the American Hotel,—a house built in a +hollow square, as usual,—kept by a strong-minded woman from the States, +whose Yankee thrift is unmistakable, though she has been long absent +from the great centres of domestic economy.</p> + +<p>Mrs. L——, always on the watch for arrivals, comes out to receive us. +We are very welcome, she hints, as far as we go; but why are there not +more of us? The smallest favors should be thankfully received, but she<a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a> +hears that Havana is full of strangers, and she wonders, for her part, +why people will stay in that hot place, and roast, and stew, and have +the yellow fever, when she could make them so comfortable in San +Antonio. This want of custom she continues, during our whole visit, to +complain of. Would it be uncharitable for us to aver that we found other +wants in her establishment which caused us more astonishment, and which +went some way towards accounting for the deficiency complained of? wants +of breakfast, wants of dinner, wants of something good for tea, wants of +towels, wants of candles, wants of ice, or at least of the cooling jars +used in the country. Charges exorbitant,—the same as in Havana, where +rents are an ounce a week, and upwards; <i>volantes</i> difficult,—Mrs. L. +having made an agreement with the one livery-stable that they shall +always be furnished at most unreasonable prices, of which she, +supposably, pockets half. On the other hand, the village is really cool, +healthy, and pretty; there are pleasant drives over dreadful roads, if +one makes up one's mind to the <i>volante</i>, and<a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a> delightful river-baths, +shaded by roofs of palm-tree thatch. One of the best of these is at the +foot of Mrs. L.'s inclosure, and its use is included in the privileges +of the house. The water is nearly tepid, clear, and green, and the +little fish float hither and thither in it,—though men of active minds +are sometimes reduced to angle for them, with crooked pins, for +amusement. At the hour of one, daily, the ladies of the house betake +themselves to this refreshment; and there is laughing, and splashing, +and holding of hands, and simulation of all the Venuses that ever were, +from the crouching one of the bath, to the triumphant Cytherea, +springing for the first time from the wave.</p> + +<p>Such are the resources of the house. Those of the neighborhood are +various. Foremost among them is the <i>cafetal</i>, or coffee-plantation, of +Don Juan Torres, distant a league from the village, over which league of +stone, sand, and rut you rumble in a <i>volante</i> dragged by three horses. +You know that the <i>volante</i> cannot upset; nevertheless you experience +some anxious moments when it leans at an obtuse<a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a> angle, one wheel in +air, one sticking in a hole, the horses balking and kicking, and the +postilion swearing his best. But it is written, the <i>volante</i> shall not +upset,—and so it does not. Long before you see the entrance to the +plantation, you watch the tall palms, planted in a line, that shield its +borders. An avenue of like growth leads you to the house, where barking +dogs announce you, and Don Juan, an elderly gentleman in slippers and a +Panama hat, his hair, face, and eyes all faded to one hue of grayness, +comes out to accost us. Here, again, Hulia Protestante becomes the +subject of a series of attacks, in a new kind. Don Juan first exhausts +his flower-garden upon her, and explains all that is new to her. Then +she must see his blind Chino, a sightless Samson of a Cooly, who is +working resolutely in a mill. "<i>Canta!</i>" says the master, and the poor +slave gives tongue like a hound on the scent. "<i>Baila!</i>" and, a stick +being handed him, he performs the gymnastics of his country, a sort of +war-dance without accompaniment. "<i>El can!</i>" and, giving him a broom, +they loose the dog upon him. A curious<a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a> tussle then ensues,—the dog +attacking furiously, and the blind man, guided by his barking, defending +himself lustily. The Chino laughs, the master laughs, but the visitor +feels more inclined to cry, having been bred in those Northern habits +which respect infirmity. A <i>real</i> dismisses the poor soul with a smile, +and then begins the journey round the <i>cafetal</i>. The coffee-blossom is +just in its perfection, and whole acres in sight are white with its +flower, which nearly resembles that of the small white jasmine. Its +fragrance is said to be delicious after a rain; but, the season being +dry, it is scarcely discernible. As shade is a great object in growing +coffee, the grounds are laid out in lines of fruit-trees, and these are +the ministers of Hulia's tribulation; for Don Juan, whether in kindness +or in mischief, insists that she shall taste every unknown fruit,—and +as he cuts them and hands them to her, she is forced to obey. First, a +little negro shins up a cocoa-nut tree, and flings down the nut, whose +water she must drink. One cocoa-nut she endures,—two,—but three? no, +she must rebel, and cry out, "<i>No mi gusta!</i>"<a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a> Then she must try a +bitter orange, then a sour bitter one, then a sweet lemon, then a huge +fruit of triple verjuice flavor. "What is it good for?" she asks, after +a shuddering plunge into its acrid depths. "Oh," says the Don, "they eat +it in the castors instead of vinegar." Then come <i>sapotas</i>, <i>mamey</i>, +Otaheite gooseberries. "Does she like bananas?" he cuts a tree down with +his own hand, and sends the bunch of fruit to her +<i>volante</i>;—"Sugar-cane?" he bestows a huge bundle of sticks for her +leisurely rodentation;—he fills her pocket with coral beans for her +children. Having, at last, exhausted every polite attention, and vainly +offered gin, rum, and coffee, as a parting demonstration, Hulia and her +partner escape, bearing with them many strange flavors, and an agonizing +headache, the combined result of sun and acids. Really, if there exist +anywhere on earth a Society for the promotion and encouragement of good +manners, it should send a diploma to Don Juan, admonishing him only to +omit the vinegar-fruit in his further walks of hospitality.<a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a></p> + +<p>We take the Sunday to visit the nearest Sugar-plantation, belonging to +Don Jacinto Gonzales. Sun, not shade, being the desideratum in +sugar-planting, there are few trees or shrubs bordering the +sugar-fields, which resemble at a distance our own fields of Indian +corn, the green of the leaves being lighter, and a pale blue blossom +appearing here and there. The points of interest here are the machinery, +the negroes, and the work. Entering the sugar-house, we find the +<i>Maquinista</i> (engineer) superintending some repairs in the machinery, +aided by another white man, a Cooly, and an imp of a black boy, who +begged of all the party, and revenged himself with clever impertinence +on those who refused him. The <i>Maquinista</i> was a fine-looking man, from +the Pyrenees, very kind and obliging. He told us that Don Jacinto was +very old, and came rarely to the plantation. We asked him how the +extreme heat of his occupation suited him, and for an answer he opened +the bosom of his shirt, and showed us the marks of innumerable leeches. +The machinery is not very complicated. It<a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a> consists of a wheel and band, +to throw the canes under the powerful rollers which crush them, and +these rollers, three in number, all moved by the steam-engine. The juice +flows into large copper caldrons, where it is boiled and skimmed. As +they were not at work, we did not see the actual process. Leaving the +sugar-house, we went in pursuit of the <i>Mayoral</i>, or Overseer, who +seemed to inhabit comfortable quarters, in a long, low house, shielded +from the sun by a thick screen of matting. We found him a powerful, +thick-set man, of surly and uncivil manners, girded with a sword, and +further armed with a pistol, a dagger, and a stout whip. He was much too +important a person to waste his words upon us, but signified that the +major-domo would wait on us, which he presently did. We now entered the +Negro quarter, a solid range of low buildings, formed around a hollow +square, whose strong entrance is closed at nightfall, and its inmates +kept in strict confinement till the morning hour of work comes round. +Just within the doorway we encountered the trader, who visits the +plantations every<a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a> Sunday, to tempt the stray cash of the negroes by +various commodities, of which the chief seemed to be white bread, +calicoes, muslins, and bright cotton handkerchiefs. He told us that +their usual weekly expenditure amounted to about twenty-five dollars. +Bargaining with him stood the Negro-Driver, a tattooed African, armed +with a whip. All within the court swarmed the black bees of the +hive,—the men with little clothing, the small children naked, the women +decent. All had their little charcoal fires, with pots boiling over +them; the rooms within looked dismally dark, close, and dirty; there are +no windows, no air and light save through the ever-open door. The beds +are sometimes partitioned off by a screen of dried palm-leaf, but I saw +no better sleeping-privilege than a board with a blanket or coverlet. +From this we turned to the Nursery, where all the children incapable of +work are kept. The babies are quite naked, and sometimes very handsome +in their way, black and shining, with bright eyes and well-formed limbs. +No great provision is made for their amusement, but the little girls +nurse them<a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a> tenderly enough, and now and then the elders fling them a +bit of orange or <i>chaimito</i>, for which they scramble like so many +monkeys. Appeals are constantly made to the pockets of visitors, by open +hands stretched out in all directions. To these "<i>Nada</i>"—"Nothing"—is +the safe reply; for, if you give to one, the others close about you with +frantic gesticulation, and you have to break your way through them with +some violence, which hurts your own feelings more than it does theirs. +On <i>strict</i> plantations this is not allowed; but Don Jacinto, like Lord +Ashburton at the time of the Maine treaty, is an old man,—a very old +man; and where discipline cannot be maintained, peace must be secured on +any terms. We visit next the Sugar-house, where we find the desired +condiment in various stages of color and refinement. It is whitened with +clay in large funnel-shaped vessels, open at the bottom, to allow the +molasses to run off. Above are hogsheads of coarse, dark sugar; below is +a huge pit of fermenting molasses, in which rats and small negroes +occasionally commit involuntary suicide, and from which<a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a> rum is +made.—N. B. Rum is not a wicked word in Cuba; in Boston everybody is +shocked when it is named, and in Cuba nobody is shocked when it is +drunk.</p> + +<p>And here endeth the description of our visit to the sugar-plantation of +Don Jacinto, and in good time, too,—for by this it had grown so hot, +that we made a feeble rush for the <i>volante</i>, and lay back in it, +panting for breath. Encountering a negress with a load of oranges on her +head, we bought and ate the fruit with eagerness, though the oranges +were bitter. The jolting over three miles of stone and rut did not +improve the condition of our aching heads. Arriving at San Antonio, we +thankfully went to bed for the rest of the morning, and dreamed, only +dreamed, that the saucy black boy in the boiling-house had run after us, +had lifted the curtain of the <i>volante</i>, screeched a last impertinence +after us, and kissed his hand for a good-bye, which, luckily for him, is +likely to prove eternal.<a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /><br /> +<small>THE MORRO FORTRESS—THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA—THE BENEFICENZA.</small></h2> + +<p>T<small>HE</small> Spanish government experiences an unwillingness to admit foreigners +into the Morro, their great stronghold, the causes of which may not be +altogether mysterious. Americans have been of late especially excluded +from it, and it was only by a fortunate chance that we were allowed to +visit it. A friend of a friend of ours happened to have a friend in the +garrison, and, after some delays and negotiations, an early morning hour +was fixed upon for the expedition.</p> + +<p>The Fort is finely placed at the entrance of the harbor, and is in +itself a picturesque object. It is built of a light, yellowish stone, +which is seen, as you draw near, in strong contrast with the vivid green +of the tropical waters. We approached it by water, taking<a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a> a row-boat +from the Alameda. As we passed, we had a good view of a daily Havana +spectacle, the washing of the horses. This being by far the easiest and +most expeditious way of cleaning the animals, they are driven daily to +the sea in great numbers, those of one party being tied together; they +disport themselves in the surge and their wet backs glisten in the sun. +Their drivers, nearly naked, plunge in with them, and bring them safely +back to the shore.</p> + +<p>But for the Morro. We entered without difficulty, and began at once a +somewhat steep ascent, which the heat, even at that early hour, made +laborious. After some climbing, we reached the top of the parapet, and +looked out from the back of the Fortress. On this side, if ever on any, +it will be taken,—for, standing with one's back to the harbor, one +sees, nearly on the right hand, a point where trenches could be opened +with advantage. The Fort is heavily gunned and garrisoned, and seems to +be in fighting order. The outer wall is separated from the inner by a +paved space some forty feet in width.<a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a> The height of both walls makes +this point a formidable one; but scaling-ladders could be thrown across, +if one had possession of the outer wall. The material is the coralline +rock common in this part of the island. It is a soft stone, and would +prove, it is feared, something like the cotton-bag defence of New +Orleans memory,—as the balls thrown from without would sink in, and not +splinter the stone, which for the murderous work were to be wished. A +little perseverance, with much perspiration, brought us to a high point +called the Lantern, which is merely a small room, where the telescope, +signal-books, and signals are kept. Here we were received by an official +in blue spectacles and with a hole in his boot, but still with that air +of being the chiefest thing on God's earth common to all Spaniards. The +best of all was that we had brought a sack of oranges with us, and that +the time was now come for their employment. With no other artillery than +these did we take the very heart of the Morro citadel,—for on offering +them to the official with the hole, he surrendered at once, smiled, gave +us seats, and<a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a> sitting down with us, indeed, was soon in the midst of +his half-dozenth orange. Having refreshed ourselves, examined the flags +of all nations, and made all the remarks which our limited Spanish +allowed, we took leave, redescended, and reëmbarked. One of our party, +an old soldier, had meanwhile been busily scanning the points and angles +of the fortress, pacing off distances, etc., etc. The result of his +observations would, no doubt, be valuable to men of military minds. But +the writer of this, to be candid, was especially engaged with the heat, +the prospect, the oranges, and the soldiers' wives and children, who +peeped out from windows here and there. Such trifling creatures do come +into such massive surroundings, and trifle still!</p> + +<p>Our ladies, being still in a furious mood of sight-seeing, desired to +visit the University of Havana, and, having made appointment with an +accomplished Cuban, betook themselves to the College buildings with all +proper escort. Their arrival in the peristyle occasioned some +excitement. One of the students came up, and said in good English, "What +do you<a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a> want?" Others, not so polite, stared and whispered in corners. A +message to one of the professors was attended with some delay, and our +Cuban friend, having gone to consult with him, returned to say, with +some embarrassment, that the professor would be happy to show the +establishment to the ladies on Sunday, at two <small>P. M.</small>, when every male +creature but himself would be out of it; but as for their going through +the rooms while the undergraduates were about, that was not to be +thought of. "Why not?" asked the ladies. "For your own sake," said the +messenger, and proceeded to explain that the appearance of the <i>skirted</i> +in these halls of learning would be followed by such ill-conduct and +indignity of impertinence on the part of the <i>shirted</i> as might be +intolerable to the one and disadvantageous to the other. Now there be +women, we know, whose horrid fronts could have awed these saucy little +Cubans into decency and good behavior, and some that we wot of, whether +possessing that power or not, would have delighted in the fancied +exercise of it. What strong-minded company, under these<a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a> circumstances, +would have turned back? What bolting, tramping, and rushing would they +not have made through the ranks of the astonished professors and +students? The Anniversary set, for example, who sweep the pews of men, +or, coming upon one forlorn, crush him as a boa does a sheep. Our silly +little flock only laughed, colored, and retreated to the <i>volantes</i>, +where they held a council of war, and decided to go visit some +establishment where possibly better manners might prevail.</p> + +<p>Returning on the Sunday at the hour appointed, they walked through the +deserted building, and found spacious rooms, the pulpits of the +professors, the benches of the students, the Queen's portrait, a very +limited library, and for all consolation, some pleasant Latin sentences +over the doors of the various departments, celebrating the solace and +delights of learning. This was seeing the College, literally; but it was +a good deal like seeing the Lion's den, the Lion himself being absent on +leave,—or like visiting the Hippopotamus in Regent's Park on those days +in<a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a> which he remains steadfastly buried in his tank, and will show only +the tip of a nostril for your entrance-fee. Still, it was a pleasure to +know that learning was so handsomely housed; and as for the little +rabble who could not be trusted in the presence of the sex, we forgave +them heartily, knowing that soberer manners would one day come upon them +as inevitably as baldness and paternity.</p> + +<p>Let me here say that a few days in Havana make clear to one the +seclusion of women in the East, and its causes. Wherever the animal +vigor of men is so large in proportion to their moral power as in those +countries, women must be glad to forego their liberties for the +protection of the strong arm. One master is better for them than many. +Whatever tyranny may grow out of such barbarous manners, the institution +springs from a veritable necessity and an original good intention. The +Christian religion should change this, which is justifiable only in a +Mohammedan country. But where that religion is so loosely administered +as in Cuba, where its teachers themselves frequent the cockpit and the +gaming<a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a>-table, one must not look for too much of its power in the +manners and morals of men.</p> + +<p>The Beneficenza was our next station. It is, as its name signifies, an +institution with a benevolent purpose, an orphan asylum and foundling +hospital in one. The State here charitably considers that infants who +are abandoned by their parents are as much orphaned as they can become +by the interposition of death,—nay, more. The death of parents oftenest +leaves a child with some friend or relative; but the foundling is cut +off from all human relationship,—he belongs only to the hand that takes +him up, where he has been left to die. Despite the kind cruelty of +modern theories, which will not allow of suitable provision for the +sufferer, for fear of increasing the frequency of the crime by which he +suffers, our hearts revolt at the miserable condition of these little +creatures in our great cities, confounded with hopeless pauperism in its +desolate asylums, or farmed out to starve and die. They belong to the +State, and the State should nobly retrieve the world's offence against +them. Their broken galaxy shows<a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a> many a bright star here and there. Such +a little wailing creature has been found who has commanded great actions +and done good service among men. Let us then cherish the race of +foundlings, of whom Moses was the first and the greatest. The princess +who reared him saw not the glorious destiny which lay hid, as a +birth-jewel, in his little basket of reeds. She saw only, as some of us +have seen, a helpless, friendless babe. When he dedicated to her his +first edition of the Pentateuch—— But nay, he did not; for neither +gratitude nor dedications were in fashion among the Jews.</p> + +<p>We found the Beneficenza spacious, well-ventilated, and administered +with great order. It stands near the sea, with a fine prospect in view, +and must command a cool breeze, if there be any. The children enjoy +sea-bathing in summer. The Superintendent received us most kindly, and +presented us to the Sisters who have charge of the children, who were +good specimens of their class. We walked with them through the neat +dormitories, and observed that they were much more<a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a> airy than those of +the Jesuit College, lately described. They all slept on the sackings of +cots, beds being provided only in the infirmary. In the latter place we +found but two inmates,—one suffering from ordinary Cuban fever, the +other from ophthalmia.—N. B. Disease of the eyes does not seem to be +common in Cuba, in spite of the tropical glare of the sun; nor do people +nurse and complain of their eyes there, as with us. We found a separate +small kitchen for the sick, which was neat and convenient. The larger +kitchen too was handsomely endowed with apparatus, and the +Superintendent told us, with a twinkle in his eye, that the children +lived well. Coffee at six, a good breakfast at nine, dinner at the usual +hour, bread and coffee before bed-time;—this seemed very suitable as to +quantity, though differing from our ideas of children's food; but it +must be remembered that the nervous stimulus of coffee is not found to +be excessive in hot climates; it seems to be only what Nature +demands,—no more. The kind Nun who accompanied us now showed us, with +some<a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a> pride, various large presses set in the wall, and piled to the top +with clean and comfortable children's clothing. We came presently to +where the boys were reciting their catechism. An Ecclesiastic was +hearing them;—they seemed ready enough with their answers, but were +allowed to gabble off the holy words in a manner almost unintelligible, +and quite indecorous. They were bright, healthy-looking little fellows, +ranging apparently from eight to twelve years of age. They had good +play-ground set off for them, and shady galleries to walk up and down +in. Coming from their quarter, the girls' department seemed quiet +enough. Here was going on the eternal task of needle-work, to which the +sex has been condemned ever since Adam's discovery of his want of +wardrobe. Oh, ye wretched, foolish women! why will ye forever sew? "We +must not only sew, but be thankful to sew; <i>that little needle</i> being, +as the sentimental Curtis has said, the only thing between us and the +worst that may befall."</p> + +<p>These incipient women were engaged in various forms of sewing,—the most +skilful<a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a> in a sort of embroidery, like that which forms the border of +<i>piña</i> handkerchiefs. A few were reading and spelling. One poor blind +girl sat amongst them, with melancholy arms folded, and learned +nothing,—they told us, nothing; for the instruction of the blind is not +thought of in these parts. This seemed piteous to us, and made us +reflect how happy are <i>our</i> Blinds, to say nothing of our Deafs and +Dumbs. Idiocy is not uncommon here, and is the result of continual +intermarriage between near relations; but it will be long before they +will provide it with a separate asylum and suitable instruction.</p> + +<p>But now came the saddest part of the whole exhibition,—a sight common +enough in Europe, but by some accident hitherto unseen by us. Here is a +sort of receptacle, with three or four compartments, which turns on a +pivot. One side of it is open to the street, and in it the wretched +parent lays the more wretched baby,—ringing a small bell at the same +time, for the new admittance. The parent vanishes, the receptacle turns +on its pivot,—the baby is within,<a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a> and, we are willing to believe, in +merciful hands.</p> + +<p>The sight of this made, for the first time, the crime real to me. I saw +at a flash the whole tragedy of desertion,—the cautious approach, the +frightened countenance, the furtive act, and the great avenging pang of +Nature after its consummation. What was Hester Prynne's pillory, +compared to the heart of any of these mothers? I thought too of +Rousseau, bringing to such a place as this children who had the right to +inherit divine genius, and deserting them for the sordid reason that he +did not choose to earn their bread;—the helpless mother weeping at +home, and begging, through long years, to be allowed to seek and reclaim +them.</p> + +<p>Well, here were the little creatures kindly cared for; yet what a +piteous place was their nursery! Some of the recent arrivals looked as +if ill-usage had been exhausted upon them before they were brought +hither. Blows and drugs and starvation had been tried upon them, but, +with the tenacity of infancy, they clung to life. They would not +die;—well<a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a> then, they should live to regret it. Some of them lay on the +floor, deformed and helpless; the older ones formed a little class, and +were going through some elementary exercise when we passed. The babies +had a large room allotted to them, and I found the wet-nurses +apportioned one to each child. This appeared a very generous provision, +as in such establishments elsewhere, three and even four children are +given to one nurse. They had comfortable cribs, on each of which was +pinned the name of its little inmate, and the date of its +entrance;—generally, the name and age of the child are found written on +a slip of paper attached to its clothing, when it is left in the +receptacle. I saw on one, "Cecilio, three weeks old." He had been but a +few days in the establishment.</p> + +<p>Of course, I lingered longest in the babies' room, and longest of all +near the crib of the little Cecilio. He was a pretty baby, and seemed to +me the most ill-used of all, because the youngest. "Could they not bear +with you three weeks, little fellow?" I said. "I know those at whose +firesides such as you<a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a> would have been welcome guests. That New York +woman whom I met lately, young, rich, and childless,—I could commend +you to her in place of the snarling little spaniel fiend who was her +constant care and companion."</p> + +<p>But here the Superintendent made a polite bow, saying,—"And now your +Worships have seen all; for the chapel is undergoing repairs, and cannot +be visited." And so we thanked, and departed.<a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /><br /> +<small>CAN GRANDE'S DEPARTURE.—THE DOMINICA.—LOTTERY-TICKETS.</small></h2> + +<p>I <small>HAVE</small> not told you how Can Grande took leave of the Isle of Rogues, as +one of our party christened the fair Queen of the Antilles. I could not +tell you how he loathed the goings on at Havana, how hateful he found +the Spaniards, and how villanous the American hotel-keepers. His +superlatives of censure were in such constant employment that they began +to have a threadbare sound before he left us; and as he has it in +prospective to run the gauntlet of all the innkeepers on the continent +of Europe, to say nothing of further lands, where innkeepers would be a +relief, there is no knowing what exhaustion his powers in this sort may +undergo before he reaches us again. He may break down into weak, +compliant good-nature, and never be<a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a> able to abuse anybody again, as +long as he lives. In that case, his past life and his future, taken +together, will make a very respectable average. But the climate really +did not suit him, the company did not satisfy, and there came a moment +when he said, "I can bear it no longer!" and we answered, "Go in peace!"</p> + +<p>It now becomes me to speak of Sobrina, who has long been on a temperance +footing, and who forgets even to blush when the former toddy is +mentioned, though she still shudders at the remembrance of sour-sop. She +is the business-man of the party; and while philosophy and highest +considerations occupy the others, with an occasional squabble over +virtue and the rights of man, she changes lodgings, hires carts, +transports luggage, and, knowing half-a-dozen words of Spanish, makes +herself clearly comprehensible to everybody. "We have found a Spanish +steamer for Can Grande;" but she rows thither in a boat and secures his +passage and state-room. The noontide sun is hot upon the waters, but her +zeal is hotter still. Now she has made a<a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a> curious bargain with her +boatmen, by which they are to convey the whole party to the steamer on +the fourth day.</p> + +<p>"What did you tell them?" we asked.</p> + +<p>"I said, <i>tres noches</i> (three nights) and <i>un dia</i>, (one day,) and then +took out my watch and showed them five o'clock on it, and pointed to the +boat and to myself. They understood perfectly."</p> + +<p>And so, in truth, they did; for, going to the wharf on the day and at +the hour appointed, we found the boatmen in waiting, with eager faces. +But here a new difficulty presented itself;—the runner of our hotel, a +German whose Cuban life has sharpened his wits and blunted his +conscience, insisted that the hiring of boats for the lodgers was one of +his (many) perquisites, and that before his sovereign prerogative all +other agreements were null and void.—N. B. There was always something +experimentative about this man's wickedness. He felt that he did not +know how far men might be gulled, or the point where they would be +likely to resist. This was a fault of youth. With increasing years<a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a> and +experience he will grow bolder and more skilful, and bids fair, we +should say, to become one of the most dexterous operators known in his +peculiar line. On the present occasion he did not heed the piteous +pleadings of the disappointed boatmen, nor Sobrina's explanations, nor +Can Grande's arguments. But when the whole five of us fixed upon him our +mild and scornful eyes, something within him gave way. He felt a little +bit of the moral pressure of Boston, and feebly broke down, saying, "You +better do as you like, then," and so the point was carried.</p> + +<p>A pleasant row brought us to the side of the steamer. It was dusk +already as we ascended her steep gangway, and from that to darkness +there is, at this season, but the interval of a breath. Dusk too were +our thoughts, at parting from Can Grande, the mighty, the vehement, the +great fighter. How were we to miss his deep music, here and at home! +With his assistance we had made a very respectable band; now we were to +be only a wandering drum and fife,—the fife particularly shrill, and +the drum particularly solemn. Well, we went<a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a> below, and examined the +little den where Can Grande was to pass the other seven days of his +tropical voyaging. The berths were arranged the wrong way,—across, not +along, the vessel,—and we foresaw that his head would go up and his +feet down, and <i>vice versâ</i>, with every movement of the steamer, and our +weak brains reeled at the bare thought of what he was to suffer. He, +good soul, meanwhile was thinking of his supper, and wondering if he +could get tea, coffee, and chocolate, a toasted roll, and the touch of +cold ham which an invalid loves. And we beheld, and they were bringing +up the side of the vessel trays of delicious pastry, and festoons of +fowls, with more literal butcher's meat. And we said, "There will be no +famine on board. Make the most of your supper, Can Grande; for it will +be the last of earth to you, for some time to come." And now came +silence, and tears, and last embraces; we slipped down the gangway into +our little craft, and looking up, saw bending above us, between the +slouched hat and the silver beard, the eyes that we can never forget, +that seemed to drop back in the<a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a> darkness with the solemnity of a last +farewell. We went home, and the drum hung himself gloomily on his peg, +and the little fife <i>shut up</i> for the remainder of the evening.</p> + +<p>Has Mr. Dana described the Dominica, I wonder? Well, if he has, I cannot +help it. He never can have eaten so many ices there as I have, nor +passed so many patient hours amid the screeching, chattering, and +devouring, which make it most like a cage of strange birds, or the +monkey department in the Jardin des Plantes.—<i>Mem.</i> I always observed +that the monkeys just mentioned seemed far more mirthful than their +brethren in the London Zoological Gardens. They form themselves, so to +speak, on a livelier model, and feel themselves more at home with their +hosts.</p> + +<p>But the Dominica. You know, probably, that it is the great <i>café</i> of +Havana. All the day long it is full of people of all nations, sipping +ices, chocolate, and so on; and all night long, also, up to the to me +very questionable hour when its patrons go home and its <i>garçons</i> go to +bed. We often found it a welcome refuge at noon, when the <i>douche</i> of<a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a> +sunlight on one's <i>cervix</i> bewilders the faculties, and confuses one's +principles of gravitation, toleration, etc., etc. You enter from the +Tophet of the street, and the intolerable glare is at once softened to a +sort of golden shadow. The floor is of stone; in the midst trickles a +tiny fountain with gilded network; all other available space is crowded +with marble tables, square or round; and they in turn are scarcely +visible for the swarm of black-coats that gather round them. The smoke +of innumerable cigars gives a Rembrandtic tinge to the depths of the +picture, and the rows and groups of nodding Panama hats are like very +dull flower-beds. In the company, of course, the Spanish-Cuban element +largely predominates; yet here and there the sharper English breaks upon +the ear.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I went to that plantation; but they have only one thousand boxes +of sugar, and we want three thousand for our operation."</p> + +<p>A Yankee, you say. Yes, certainly; and turning, you see the tall, strong +Philadelphian from our hotel, who calls for everything by its right +name, and always says, "<i>Mas! mas!</i>"<a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a> when the waiter helps him to ice. +Some one near us is speaking a fuller English, with a richer "<i>r</i>" and +deeper intonation. See there! that is our own jolly captain, Brownless +of ours, the King of the "Karnak"; and going up to the British lion, we +shake the noble beast heartily by the paw.</p> + +<p>The people about us are imbibing a variety of cooling liquids. Our turn +comes at last. The <i>garçon</i> who says, "I speke Aingliss," brings us each +a delicious orange <i>granizada</i>, a sort of half-frozen water-ice, +familiar to Italy, but unknown in America. It is ice in the first +enthusiasm of freezing,—condensed, not hardened. Promoting its +liquefaction with the spoon, you enjoy it through the mediation of a +straw. The unskilful make strange noises and gurglings through this +<i>tenuis avena</i>; but to those who have not forgotten the accomplishment +of suction, as acquired at an early period of existence, the <i>modus in +quo</i> is easy and agreeable.</p> + +<p>You will hardly weary of watching the groups that come and go, and sit +and talk in this dreamy place. If you are a lady, every<a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a> black eye +directs its full, tiresome stare at your face, no matter how plain that +face may be. But you have learned before this to consider those eyes as +so many black dots, so many marks of wonder with no sentence attached; +and so you coolly pursue your philosophizing in your corner, strong in +the support of a companion who, though deeply humanitarian and peaceful, +would not hesitate to punch any number of Spanish heads that should be +necessary for the maintenance of your comfort and his dignity.</p> + +<p>The scene is occasionally varied by the appearance of a beggar-woman, +got up in great decency, and with a wonderful air of pinched and faded +gentility. She wears an old shawl upon her head, but it is as nicely +folded as an aristocratic mantilla; her feet are cased in the linen +slippers worn by the poorer classes, but there are no unsavory rags and +dirt about her. "That good walk of yours, friend," I thought, "does not +look like starvation." Yet, if ever there were a moment when one's heart +should soften towards an imposing fellow-creature, it is when one is<a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a> in +the midst of the orange <i>granizada</i>. The beggar circles slowly and +mournfully round all the marble tables in turn, holding out her hand to +each, as the plate is offered at a church collection. She is not +importunate; but looking in each one's face, seems to divine whether he +will give or no. A Yankee, sitting with a Spaniard, offers her his +cigar. The Spaniard gravely pushes the cigar away, and gives her a +<i>medio</i>.</p> + +<p>More pertinacious is the seller of lottery-tickets, male or female, who +has more at stake, and must run the risk of your displeasure for the +chance of your custom. Even in your bed you are hardly safe from the +ticket-vender. You stand at your window, and he, waiting in the street, +perceives you, and with nods, winks, and showing of his wares endeavors +to establish a communication with you. Or you stop and wait somewhere in +your <i>volante</i>, and in the twinkling of an eye the wretch is at your +side, to bear you company till you drive off again. At the Dominica he +is especially persevering, and stands and waits with as much zeal as if +he<a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a> knew the saintly line of Milton. Like the beggar, however, he is +discriminative in the choice of his victims, and persecutes the stony +Yankee less than the oily Spaniard, whose inbred superstitions force him +to believe in luck.</p> + +<p>Very strange stories do they tell about the trade in +lottery-tickets,—strange at least to us, who consider them the folly of +follies. Here, as in Italy, the lotteries are under the care of the +State, and their administration is as careful and important as that of +any other branch of finance. They are a regular and even reputable mode +of investment. The wealthy commercial houses all own tickets, sometimes +keeping the same number for years, but more frequently changing after +each unsuccessful experiment. A French gentleman in Havana assured me +that his tickets had already cost him seven thousand dollars. "And now," +said he, "I cannot withdraw, for I cannot lose what I have already paid. +The number has not been up once in eight years; its turn must come soon. +If I were to sell my ticket, some one would be sure to draw<a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a> the great +prize with it the week after." This, perhaps, is not very unlike the +calculations of business risks most in vogue in our great cities. A +single ticket costs an ounce (seventeen dollars); but you are constantly +offered fractions, to an eighth or a sixteenth. There are ticket-brokers +who accommodate the poorer classes with interests to the amount of ten +cents, and so on. Thus, for them, the lottery replaces the savings-bank, +with entire uncertainty of any return, and the demoralizing process of +expectation thrown into the bargain. The negroes invest a good deal of +money in this way, and we heard in Matanzas a curious anecdote on this +head. A number of negroes, putting their means together, had +commissioned a ticket-broker to purchase and hold for them a certain +ticket. After long waiting and paying up, news came to Matanzas that the +ticket had drawn the $100,000 prize. The owners of the negroes were in +despair at this intelligence. "Now my cook will buy himself," says one; +"my <i>calesero</i> will be free," says another; and so on. The poor slaves +ran, of course, in great agitation, to get<a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a> their money. But, lo! the +office was shut up. The rascal broker had absconded. He had never run +the risk of purchasing the ticket; but had coolly appropriated this and +similar investments to his own use, preferring the bird in the hand to +the whole aviary of possibilities. He was never heard of more; but +should he ever turn up anywhere, I commend him as the fittest subject +for Lynch-law on record.</p> + +<p>Well, as I have told you, all these golden chances wait for you at the +Dominica, and many Americans buy, and look very foolish when they +acknowledge it. The Nassauese all bought largely during their short +stay; and even their little children held up with exultation their +fragments of tickets, all good for something, and bad for something, +too.</p> + +<p>If you visit the Dominica in the evening, you find the same crowd, only +with a sprinkling of women, oftenest of your own country, in audacious +bonnets, and with voices and laughter which bring the black eyes upon +them for a time. If it be Sunday evening, you<a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a> will see here and there +groups of ladies in full ball-dress, fresh from the Paseo, the <i>volante</i> +waiting for them outside. All is then at its gayest and busiest; but +your favorite waiter, with disappointment in his eyes, will tell you +that there is "<i>no mas</i>" of your favorite <i>granizada</i>, and will persuade +you to take I know not what nauseous substitute in its place; for all +ices are not good at the Dominica, and some are (excuse the word) nasty. +People sit and sip, prolonging their pleasures with dilatory spoon and +indefatigable tongue. Group follows group; but the Spaniards are what I +should call heavy sitters, and tarry long over their ice or chocolate. +The waiter invariably brings to every table a chafing-dish with a +burning coal, which will light a cigar long after its outer glow has +subsided into ashy white. Some humans retain this kindling +power;—<i>vide</i> Ninon and the ancient Goethe;—it is the heart of fire, +not the flame of beauty, that does it. When one goes home, tired, at ten +or eleven, the company shows no sign of thinning, nor does one imagine +how the ground is ever cleared, so as to<a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a> allow an interval of sleep +between the last ice at night and the first coffee in the morning. It is +the universal <i>siesta</i> which makes the Cubans so bright and fresh in the +evening. With all this, their habits are sober, and the evening +refreshment always light. No suppers are eaten here; and it is even held +dangerous to take fruit as late as eight o'clock, <small>P. M.</small></p> + +<p>The Dominica has still another aspect to you, when you go there in the +character of a Citizen and Head of family to order West India sweetmeats +for home-consumption. You utter the magic word <i>dulces</i>, and are shown +with respect into the establishment across the way, where a neat +steam-engine is in full operation, tended by blacks and whites, stripped +above the waist, and with no superfluous clothing below it. Here they +grind the chocolate, and make the famous preserves, of which a list is +shown you, with prices affixed. As you will probably lose some minutes +in perplexity as to which are best for you to order, let me tell you +that the guava jelly and marmalade are first among them, and there is no +second. You may<a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a> throw in a little pine-apple, mamey, lime, and +cocoa-plum; but the guava is the thing, and, in case of a long run on +the tea-table, will give the most effectual support. The limes used to +be famous in our youth; but in these days they make them hard and tough. +The marmalade of bitter oranges is one of the most useful of Southern +preserves; but I do not remember it on the list of the Dominica. Having +given your order, let me further advise you to remain, if practicable, +and see it fulfilled; as you will otherwise find divers trifling +discrepancies between the bill and the goods delivered, which, though of +course purely accidental, will all be, somehow, to the Dominica's +advantage, and not to yours. If you are in moderate circumstances, order +eight or ten dollars' worth; if affluent, twenty or thirty dollars' +worth; if rash and extravagant, you may rise even to sixty dollars; but +you will find in such an outlay food for repentance. One word in your +ear: do not buy the syrups, for they are made with very bad sugar, and +have no savor of the fruits they represent.<a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a></p> + +<p>And this is all I can tell about the Dominica, which I recommend to all +of you for refreshment and amusement. We have nothing like it in New +York or Boston,—our <i>salons</i> of the same description having in them +much more to eat, and much less to see. As I look back upon it, the +place assumes a deeply Moorish aspect. I see the fountain, the golden +light, the dark faces, and intense black eyes, a little softened by the +comforting distance. Oh! to sit there for one hour, and help the +<i>garçon's</i> bad English, and be pestered by the beggar, and tormented by +the ticket-vender, and support the battery of the wondering looks, which +make it sin for you, a woman, to be abroad by day! Is there any +Purgatory which does not grow lovely as you remember it? Would not a man +be hanged twice, if he could?<a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br /><br /> +<small>COMPANY AT THE HOTEL.—SERVANTS.—OUR DRIVE.—DON PEPE.</small></h2> + +<p>I <small>DO</small> not mean to give portraits of the individuals at our hotel. My +chance acquaintance with them confers on me no right to appropriate +their several characteristics for my own convenience and the diversion +of the public. I will give only such general sketches as one may make of +a public body at a respectful distance, marking no features that can fix +or offend.</p> + +<p>Our company is almost entirely composed of two classes,—invalids and +men of business, with or without their families. The former are easily +recognizable by their sad eyes and pallid countenances; even the hectic +of disease does not deceive you,—it has no affinity to the rose of +health. There is the cough, too,—the cruel cough that would not<a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a> be +left at the North, that breaks out through all the smothering by day, +and shakes the weak frame with uneasy rocking by night.</p> + +<p>The men of business are apt to name their firm, when they introduce +themselves to you.</p> + +<p>"My name is Norval, Sir,—Norval, Grampian, & Company. I suppose you +know the firm."</p> + +<p>"We do not, indeed; but we murmur, in return, that we have an Uncle or a +Cousin in business, who may, very likely, know it.</p> + +<p>"What is your Uncle's firm?" will be the next question.</p> + +<p>"Philpots Brothers."</p> + +<p>"Excellent people,—we have often done business with them. Happy to make +your acquaintance, Sir."</p> + +<p>And so, the first preliminaries being established, and each party +assured of the other's solvency, we glide easily into a relation of chat +and kind little mutualities which causes the periods of contact to pass +smoothly enough.</p> + +<p>We found among these some manly, straightforward fellows, to whom one +would<a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a> confide one's fortunes, or even one's widow and orphans, with +small fear of any flaw in their trustworthiness. Nor was the more +slippery class, we judged, without its representatives; but of this we +had only hints, not experience. There were various day-boarders, who +frequented our table only, and lodged elsewhere. A few of these were +decorous Spaniards, who did not stare, nor talk, nor gobble their meals +with unbecoming vivacity of appetite. They were obviously staid +business-men, differing widely in character from the street Spaniard, +whom I have already copiously described. Some were Germans, thinned by +the climate, and sharpened up to the true Yankee point of competition; +very little smack of Father-land was left about them,—no song, no +sentimentality, not much quivering of the heart-strings at remembrance +of the old folks at home, whom some of them have not seen in twenty +years, and will never see again. To be sure, in such a hard life as +theirs, with no social surroundings, and grim Death meeting them at +every corner, there is nothing for it but to be as hard and tough as +one's circumstances.<a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a> But give me rather the German heart in the little +old German village, with the small earnings and spendings, the narrow +sphere of life and experience, and the great vintage of geniality which +is laid up from youth to age, and handed down with the old wine from +father to son. I don't like your cosmopolitan German any better than I +do your Englishman done to death with travel. I prize the home-flavor in +all the races that are capable of home. There are very many Germans +scattered throughout Cuba, in various departments of business. They are +generally successful, and make very good Yankees, in the technical +acceptation of the word. Their original soundness of constitution +enables them to resist the climate better than Americans, and though +they lose flesh and color, they rarely give that evidence of a +disordered liver which foreign residents in tropical countries are so +apt to show.</p> + +<p>The ladies at the hotel were all our own countrywomen, as we see them at +home and abroad. I have already spoken of their diligence in sewing, and +of their enthusiasm in<a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a> shopping. Their other distinctive features are +too familiar to us to require illustration. Yet upon one trait I will +adventure. A group of them sat peaceably together, one day, when a file +of newspapers arrived, with full details of a horrible Washington +scandal, and the murder consequent upon it. Now I must say that no swarm +of bees ever settled upon a bed of roses more eagerly than our fair +sisters pounced upon the carrion of that foul and dreadful tale. It flew +from hand to hand and from mouth to mouth, as if it had been glad +tidings of great joy,—and the universal judgment upon it caused our +heart to shudder with the remembrance that we had heard some one +somewhere propose that female offenders should be tried by a jury of +their own sex.</p> + +<p>It was a real comfort, a few days later, to hear this sad subject +discussed by a circle of intelligent Englishwomen, with good sense and +good feeling, and with true appreciation of the twofold crime, the +domestic treason and the public assassination. In passing, I must say of +this English circle that it is charming, and that the Britannic Consul +has the key of<a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a> it in his pocket. Wherefore, if any of you, my friends, +would desire to know four of the most charming women in Havana, he is to +lay hold upon Mr. Consul Crawford, and compel him to become his friend.</p> + +<p>Mr. Dana recounts his shopping in Havana, whereof the beginning and +ending were one dress, white and blue, which he commendably purchased +for his wife. But does Dana know what he had to be thankful for, in +getting off with one dress? Tell him, ye patient husbands, whose pockets +seem to be made like lemons, only to be squeezed! Tell him, ye insatiate +ones, who have new wants and new ideas every day! Dana's dress was, +probably, an <i>holan batista</i>, which he calls "<i>Bolan</i>";—it was, in +other words, a figured linen cambric. But you have bought those cambrics +by the piece, and also <i>piñas</i>, thin, gossamer fabrics, of all degrees +of color and beauty, sometimes with <i>pattern flounces</i>,—do you hear? +And you have bought Spanish table-cloths with red or blue edges, with +bull-fights on them, and balloon-ascensions, and platoons of soldiery in +review, and with bull-fighting and<a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a> ballooning napkins to match. And you +have secured such bales of transparent white muslins, that one would +think you intended to furnish a whole troupe of ballet-girls with saucer +petticoats. Catalan lace you have got, to trim curtains, sheets, +pillow-cases, and kitchen-towels with. And as for your fans, we only +hope that the stories you tell about them are true, and that Kitty, +Julia, and Jemima at home are to divide them with you; for we shrewdly +suspect that you mean, after all, to keep them, and to have a fan for +every day in the year. Let a man reflect upon all this, added to the +inevitable three dollars and fifty cents <i>per diem</i>, with the frequent +refreshment of <i>volantes</i> and ices at the Dominica, and then say whether +it pays to take a partner, not of a frugal mind, to Havana for the +season.</p> + +<p>I had intended to give some account of the servants at Mrs. Almy's; but +my gossip runs to such lengths that I must dismiss them with a few +words. Ramon, the porter, never leaves the vestibule; he watches there +all day, takes his meals there, plays cards there in the evening with +his fellow-servants, and at night<a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a> spreads his cot there, and lies down +to sleep. He is white, as are most of the others. If I have occasion to +go into the kitchen at night, I find a cot there also, with no bed, and +a twisted sheet upon it, which, I am told, is the chrysalis of the cook. +Said cook is a free yellow, from Nassau, who has wrought in this kitchen +for many years past. Heat, hard work, and they say drink, have +altogether brought him to a bad pass. His legs are frightfully swollen, +and in a few days he leaves, unable to continue his function. Somebody +asks after his wife. "She has got a white husband now," he tells us, +with a dejected air. She might have waited a little,—he is to die soon.</p> + +<p>Garcia is the kind waiter with the rather expressive face, who is never +weary of bringing us the rice and fried plantain which form, after all, +the staple of our existence in Cuba. The waiters all do as well as they +can, considering the length of the table, and the extremely short staple +of the boarders' patience. As a general rule, they understand good +English better than bad Spanish; but comparative philology<a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a> has +obviously been neglected among them.</p> + +<p>Luis is a negro boy of twelve, fearfully black in the face and white in +the eye; his wool cropped to entire bareness. He is chiefly good at +dodging your orders,—disappears when anything is asked for, but does +not return with it.</p> + +<p>Rosalia is the chambermaid, of whom I have already spoken, as dexterous +in sweeping the mosquitos from the nets,—her afternoon service. She +brings, too, the morning cup of coffee, and always says, "Good morning, +Sir; you want coffee?"—the only English she can speak. Her voice and +smile are particularly sweet, her person tall and well-formed, and her +face comely and modest. She is not altogether black,—about mahogany +color. I mention her modesty because, so far as I saw, the good-looking +ones among the black women have an air of assumption, and almost of +impudence,—probably the result of flattery.</p> + +<p>With all this array of very respectable "help," our hostess avers that +she has not a<a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a> single person about her whom she can trust. Hence the +weary look about her eyes and brow, speaking of a load never laid down. +She attends to every detail of business herself, and is at work over her +books long after her boarders have retired to rest.</p> + +<p>But the one of all the servants who interests us most is Alexander, Mrs. +Almy's own slave. He is, like Rosalia, of mahogany color, with a broad +forehead and intelligent eyes. His proud, impatient nature is little +suited to his position, and every day brings some new account of his +petulant outbreaks. To-day he quarrelled with the new cook, and drew a +knife upon him. Mrs. Almy threatens continually to sell him, and at this +the hearts of some of us grow very sick,—for she always says that his +spirit must be broken, that only the severest punishment will break it, +and that she cannot endure to send him to receive that punishment. What +that mysterious ordeal may be, we dare not question,—we who cannot help +him from it; we can only wish that he might draw that knife across his +own throat before he undergoes it. He is trying to buy<a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a> his own freedom, +and has something saved towards it. He looks as if he would do good +service, with sufficient training. As it is, he probably knows no law, +save the two conflicting ones, of necessity and his own wild passions. +One of the sad thoughts we shall carry away from here will be that +Alexander is to be sold, and his spirit broken. Good Mrs. Almy, do have +a little patience with him! Enlighten his dark mind; let Christianity be +taught him, which will show him, even in his slave's estate, that he can +conquer his fellow-servant better than by drawing a knife upon him. Set +him free? Ah! that is past praying for; but, as he has the right to buy +himself, give him every chance of doing so, and we, your petitioners, +will pray for him, and for you who need it, with that heavy brow of +care.</p> + +<p>I have called the negroes of Nassau ugly, clumsy, and unserviceable. The +Cuban negroes make, so far, a very different impression upon me. One +sees among them considerable beauty of form, and their faces are more +expressive and better cut than those of the Nassau<a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a> blacks. The women +are well-made, and particularly well-poised, standing perfectly straight +from top to toe, with no hitch or swing in their gait. Beauty of feature +is not so common among them; still, one meets with it here and there. +There is a massive sweep in the bust and arms of the women which is very +striking. Even in their faces, there is a certain weight of feature and +of darkness, which makes its own impression. The men have less grace of +movement, though powerful and athletic in their make. Those who are +employed at hard work, within-doors, wear very little clothing, being +stripped to the loins. One often has a glimpse of them, in passing the +open smithies and wheelwrights' shops. The greatest defect among the men +is the want of calf. The narrow boots of the postilions make this +particularly discernible. Such a set of spindleshanks I never saw, not +even in Trumbull's famous Declaration of Independence, in which we have +the satisfaction of assuring ourselves that the fathers of our liberty +had two legs apiece, and crossed them in concert with the utmost +regularity. One<a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a> might think, at first, that these narrow boots were as +uncomfortable to the <i>calesero</i> as the Scottish instrument of torture of +that name; but his little swagger when he is down, and his freedom in +kicking when he is up, show that he has ample room in them.</p> + +<p>Very jolly groups of Spanish artisans does one see in the open shops at +noon, gathered around a table. The board is chiefly adorned with earthen +jars of an ancient pattern filled with oil and wine, platters of bread +and sausage,—and the ever fragrant onion is generally perceptible. The +personal qualities of these men are quite unknown to us; but they have +an air of good-fellowship which gives pleasure.</p> + +<p>We hired a carriage this afternoon,—we and two others from Boston. We +had a four-wheeled barouche, with two horses, which costs two dollars an +hour; whereas a <i>volante</i> can be hired only at eight dollars and a half +per whole afternoon,—no less time, no less money. As it holds but two, +or, at the utmost, three, this is paying rather dear for the glory of +showing one's self on the Paseo. The moment we<a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a> were in the carriage, +our coachman nodded to us, and saying, "<i>A la tropa</i>," galloped off with +us in an unknown direction. We soon fell in with a line of other +carriages, and concluded that there was something to be seen somewhere, +and that we were going to see it. Nor were we mistaken; for in due time, +ascending a steep acclivity, we came upon "<i>la tropa</i>," and found some +ten thousand soldiers undergoing review, in their seersucker coats and +Panama hats, which, being very like the costume of an easy Wall-Street +man in August, had a very peaceful appearance on so military an +occasion. The cavalry and infantry had nearly concluded their evolutions +when we arrived. The troops were spread out on a vast plateau. The view +was magnificent. The coachman pointed to one immovable figure on +horseback, and said, "Concha." We found it was indeed the +Captain-General; for as the different bands passed, they all saluted +him, and he returned their courtesy. Unluckily, his back was towards us, +and so remained until he rode off in an opposite direction. He was +mounted on a white<a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a> horse, and was dressed like the others. He seemed +erect and well-made; but his back, after all, was very like any one +else's back. <i>Query</i>,—Did we see Concha, or did we not? When all was +over, the coachman carefully descended the hill. He had come hither in +haste, wishing to witness the sport himself; but now he drove slowly, +and indulged in every sort of roundabout to spin out his time and our +money. We met with a friend who, on our complaint, expostulated with +him, and said,—"Señor, these gentlemen say that you drive them very +slowly (<i>muy poco á poco</i>)." To the which he,—"Señor, if gentlemen will +hire a carriage by the hour, and not by the afternoon, they must expect +to get on very softly."—<i>Mem.</i> A white driver is always addressed as +<i>Señor</i>, and I have occasionally heard such monologues as the +following:—"Señor, why do you drive me this way? Curse you, Señor! You +don't know anything, Señor! You are the greatest ass I ever +encountered." The coachman takes it all coolly enough; the "Señor" +spares his dignity, and he keeps his feelings to himself.<a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a></p> + +<p>The writer of this has already spoken of various disappointments, in the +way of seeing things, incidental to the position of the sex in Cuba. She +came abroad prepared for microscopic, telescopic, and stereoscopic +investigation,—but, hedged in on all sides by custom and convenience, +she often observed only four very bare walls and two or three very +stupid people. What could she see? Prisons? No. Men naked and filthy, +lying about, using very unedifying language, and totally unaccustomed to +the presence of Lady-visitors. She invoked the memory of Mrs. Fry and +the example of Miss Dix. "Oh, they were saints, you know." "Only because +they went to prisons, which you won't let me do."—Bull-fight? No. "How +could you go back to Boston after seeing a bull-fight, eh?" "As if +married life were anything else, eh?" And so on.—Negro ball? "Not +exactly the place for a lady." "Miss Bremer went." "Very differently +behaved woman from you." "Yes, virtue with a nose, impregnable."</p> + +<p>But there is something she can go to see,—at least, some one,—the +angelic man, Don<a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a> Pepe, the wise, the gentle, the fearless, whom all the +good praise. Yes, she shall go to see Don Pepe; and one burning Sunday +noon she makes a pilgrimage through the scorching streets, and comes +where he may be inquired for, and is shown up a pair of stairs, at the +head of which stands the angelic man, mild and bland, with great, dark +eyes, and a gracious countenance. He ushers us into a room furnished +with nothing but books, and finds two chairs for us and one for himself, +not without research.</p> + +<p>Now I will not pretend to say that Don Pepe occupied himself with me +after the first kind greeting, nor that my presence occasioned him +either pleasure or surprise. My companion was a man after his own heart, +and, at first sight, the two mounted their humanitarian hobbies, and +rode them till they were tired. And when this time came, I went away and +said nothing. Yet I knew that I had seen a remarkable man.</p> + +<p>Don Pepe de la Luz is a Cuban by birth, and his age may number some +sixty years. He inherited wealth and its advantages, having<a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a> received +somewhere a first-rate education, to which he has copiously added in +subsequent years. He is a Liberal in politics and religion, a man of +great reason and of great heart. In affairs of state, however, he +meddles not, but contents himself with making statesmen. Like all wise +Philanthropists, he sees the chief source of good to man in education, +and devotes his life, and in a degree, his fortune, to this object. The +building in which we found him was a large school, or rather college, +founded by himself, and carried on in a great measure through his +efforts. This college is upon the same literary footing as the +University of Havana; and Don Pepe's graduates pass examinations and +receive diplomas in the last-named institution. He himself rarely leaves +its walls; and though he has house and wife elsewhere, and the great +world is everywhere open to him, he leads here a more congenial life of +ascetic seclusion, study, and simplicity.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 0em;">"Oh, noble instinct of good men, to stay and do their duty!</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 0.25em;">This let us celebrate above all daring, wit, and beauty."</span></td></tr> +</table> + +<p><a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a></p> + +<p>Don Pepe has been abroad as much as it profits a man to be,—but has not +lost his own soul there, as an American is apt to do. He has known the +best men in Europe and America. The best languages, he possesses them; +the best books, here they are, piled all about his room. The floor is +carpeted with them; there are cases all around the walls; and a large +parallelogramic arrangement in the middle of the room, stuck all with +books, as a pincushion with pins. True, there is not in their +arrangement that ornateness of order observable in Northern libraries; +dust even lies and blows about; and though he can find his favorites, +<i>we</i> should be much puzzled to find any volume where it ought to be. But +it looks as if the master were happy and undisturbed here, and as if the +housemaid and her hated broom were as far off as the snow and frost.</p> + +<p>In person, Don Pepe is not above the middle height. He is a fairly +developed man, but looks thin and worn, and his shoulders have the stoop +of age, which scholars mostly anticipate. His face is much corrugated, +but it<a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a> bears the traces of vivacious thought and emotion, not the +withering print of passion. Of his eyes I have already spoken; they are +wise, kind, and full of Southern fire.</p> + +<p>Don Pepe has had some annoyances from the government,—probably in the +more sanguine period of his life. The experience of years has taught him +the secret of living peaceably with all men. He can be great and good +himself, without perpetually quarrelling with those who can be neither. +He spoke with warm interest of his scholars. "They have much capacity," +he said; "but we want a little more of that <i>air</i> you spoke of just now, +Doctor." That air was Liberty. Reader, have you ever been in a place +where her name was contraband? All such places are alike. Here, as in +Rome, men who have thoughts disguise them; and painful circumlocution +conveys the meaning of friend to friend. For treachery lies hid, like +the scorpion, under your pillow, and your most trusted companion will +betray your head, to save his own. I am told that this sub-treason +reached, in the days of the Lopez invasion, an incredible<a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a> point. After +every secret meeting of those affected to the invaders, each conspirator +ran to save himself by denouncing all the others. One Cuban, of large +fortune and small reputation, being implicated in these matters, brought +General Concha a list of all his confederates, which Concha burned +before his face, unread. Piteous, laughable spectacle! Better be monkeys +than such men; yet such work does Absolutism in government and religion +make of the noble human creature! God preserve us ever from tyrants, +spies, and Jesuits!</p> + +<p>Don Pepe does not tell us this; but we have much pleasant talk with him +about books, about great men in Europe, and lastly about Prescott, whom +he knew and honored. We took leave of him with regret. He accompanied us +to the head of the stairs, and then said, "Ah! my dear Madam, my liver +will not suffer me to go down." "I am glad it is not your heart," I +rejoined, and we parted,—to meet again, in my thoughts, and perhaps +elsewhere, in the dim vista of the future.<a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br /><br /> +<small>MATANZAS.</small></h2> + +<p>A <small>HOT</small> and dusty journey of some six hours brought us to Matanzas at high +noon. Our companions were Cubans, Spaniards, Americans, and +game-chickens, who travel extensively in these parts, sometimes in +little baskets, with openings for the head and tail, sometimes in the +hands of their owners, secured only by a string fastened to one foot and +passed over the body. They seem to be objects of tender solicitude to +those who carry them; they are nursed and fondled like children, and at +intervals are visited all round by a negro, who fills his mouth with +water, and squirts it into their eyes and under their feathers. They are +curiously plucked on the back and about the tail, where only the long +tail-feathers are allowed to grow. Their tameness in the hands of their +masters is quite remarkable;<a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a> they suffer themselves to be turned and +held in any direction. But when set down, at any stage of the journey, +they stamp their little feet, stretch their necks, crow, and look about +them for the other cock with most belligerent eyes. As we have said that +the negro of the North is an ideal negro, so we must say that the +game-cock of Cuba is an ideal chicken, a fowl that is too good to be +killed,—clever enough to fight for people who are too indolent and +perhaps too cowardly to fight for themselves,—in short, the Gladiator +of the Tropics.</p> + +<p>Well, as we have said, we and they arrived at our journey's end in the +extreme heat of the day; and having shown our paper and demanded our +trunks, we beat an instantaneous retreat before the victorious Monarch +of the skies, and lo! the Ensor House, dirty, bare, and comfortless, was +to us as a fortress and a rock of defence.</p> + +<p>Here I would gladly pause, and giving vent to my feelings, say how +lovely I found Matanzas. But ever since Byron's time, the author is +always hearing the public say, "Don't be<a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a> poetical," etc., etc.; and in +these days both writer and reader seem to have discovered that life is +too short for long descriptions,—so that when the pen of a G. P. R. +James, waiting for the inspirations of its master, has amused itself +with sketching a greater or less extent of natural scenery, the rule of +the novel-reader is invariably, "Skip landscape, etc., to event on +thirty-second page." Nevertheless, I will say that Matanzas is +lovely,—with the fair harbor on one hand and the fair hills on the +other, sitting like a mother between two beautiful daughters, who looks +from one to the other and wonders which she loves best. The air from the +water is cool and refreshing, the sky is clear and open, and the country +around seems to beckon one to the green bosom of its shades. "Oh, what a +relief after Havana!" one says, drawing a full breath, and remembering +with a shudder the sickening puffs from its stirring streets, which make +you think that Polonius lies unburied in every house, and that you nose +him as you <i>knows</i> not, as you pass the door and window-gratings. With +this exclamation and<a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a> remembrance, you lower yourself into one of Mr. +Ensor's rocking-chairs,—twelve of which, with a rickety table and a +piano, four crimson tidies and six white ones, form the furniture of the +Ensor drawing-room,—you lean your head on your hand, close your eyes, +and wish for a comfortable room with a bed in it. A tolerable room you +shall have; but for a bed, only a cot-bedstead with a sacking +bottom,—further, nothing. Now, if you are some folks that I know, you +will be able to establish very comfortable repose on this slender +foundation, Nature having so amply furnished you that you are your own +feather-bed, bolster, sofa-cushion, and easy-chair, a moving mass of +upholstery, wanting only a frame to be set down in and supported. But if +you should be one of Boston's normal skeletons, pinched in every member +with dyspepsia, and with the mark of the beast Neuralgia on your +forehead, then your skin will have a weary time of it, holding your +bones, and you will be fain to entreat with tears the merciful mediation +of a mattress.<a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a></p> + +<p>Now I know very well that those of my readers who intend visiting Cuba +will be much more interested in statistics of hotels than in any +speculations, poetical or philosophical, with which I might be glad to +recompense their patience. Let me tell them, therefore, that the Ensor +House is neither better nor worse than other American hotels in Cuba. +The rooms are not very bad, the attendance not intolerable, the table +almost commendable. The tripe, salt-fish, and plantains were, methought, +much as at other places. There were stews of meat, onions, sweet +peppers, and <i>ochra</i>, which deserve notice. The early coffee was +punctual; the tea, for a wonder, black and hot. True, it was served on a +bare pine table, with the accompaniment only of a bit of dry bread,—no +butter, cake, nor <i>dulces</i>. But Mr. Ensor has heard, no doubt, that +sweet things are unwholesome, and is determined, at whatever cost to his +own feelings, to keep them out of the way of his guests, who are, for +the time, his children. Then there is an excellent English servant +called John, whom,<a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a> though the fair Ensor did berate him, we must +enumerate among the comforts of the establishment. There is a dark +corner about <i>volantes</i>, which they are disposed to order for you at a +very unreasonable profit; but as there are plenty of livery stables at +hand, and street <i>volantes</i> passing all the time, it will be your own +fault if you pay six dollars where you ought to pay three.</p> + +<p>The first thing to be done at Matanzas is to drive out and see the +Cumbre, a hill in the neighborhood, and from it the valley of the +Yumori. The road is an improvement on those already described;—the ruts +being much deeper and the rocks much larger, the jolting is altogether +more complete and effective. Still, you remember the doctrine that the +<i>volante</i> cannot upset, and this blind faith to which you cling carries +you through triumphantly. The Cumbre is lofty, the view extensive, and +the valley lovely, of a soft, light green, like the early leaves and +grass of spring, dotted everywhere with the palms and their dark +clusters. It opens far, far down at your feet, and on your left you see +the<a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a> harbor quiet and bright in the afternoon sun, with a cheering +display of masts and pennons. You would look and linger long, but that +the light will wane, and you are on your way to Jenks his +sugar-plantation, the only one within convenient distance of the town. +Here the people are obviously accustomed to receive visitors, and are +decently, not superfluously, civil. The <i>major-domo</i> hands you over to a +negro who speaks English, and who salutes you at once with, "Good-bye, +Sir!" The boiling here is conducted in one huge, open vat. A cup and +saucer are brought for you to taste the juice, which is dipped out of +the boiling vat for your service. It is very like balm-tea, unduly +sweetened; and after a hot sip or so you return the cup with thanks. A +loud noise, as of cracking of whips and of hurrahs, guides you to the +sugar-mill, where the crushing of the cane goes on in the jolliest +fashion. The building is octagonal and open. Its chief feature is a very +large horizontal wheel, which turns the smaller ones that grind the +cane. This wheel is turned after the following<a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a> manner. In the centre of +the building, and as it were in the second story, stands a stout post, +to which are attached, at equal distances, six horizontal bars, which +are dragged round by six horses, vehemently flogged by the like number +of slaves, male and female. This is really a novel and picturesque +sight. Each negro is armed with a short whip, and their attitudes, as +they stand, well-balanced on the revolving wheel, are rather striking. +Liberal as they were of blows and of objurations to the horses, all +their cries and whipping produced scarcely a tenth of the labor so +silently performed by the invisible, noiseless slave that works the +steam-engine. From this we wandered about the avenues, planted with +palms, cocoas, and manifold fruit-trees,—visited the sugar-fields, +where many slaves were cutting the canes and piling them on enormous +ox-carts, and came at last to a great, open field, where many head of +cattle were quietly standing. Our negro guide had not been very lavish +or intelligible in his answers to our numerous questions. We asked him +about these cattle.<a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a> "Dey cows," he replied. We asked if they gave milk, +and if butter was made on the plantation. He seemed quite puzzled and +confused, and finally exclaimed,—"<i>Dat cows no got none wife</i>." Coming +nearer, we found that the cows were draught oxen, employed in dragging +the canes and other produce of the plantation. Jenks his garden we found +in good order, and beautiful with many plants in full blossom; but Jenks +his house seemed dreary and desolate, with no books, a wretched print or +so, dilapitated furniture, and beds that looked like the very essence of +nightmare. Nothing suggested domestic life or social enjoyment, or +anything ——; but as Jenks is perfectly unknown to us, either by +appearance or reputation, we give only a guess in the dark, and would +suggest, in case it may displease him, that he should refurnish and +repaint a little, and diffuse an air of cheerfulness over his solitary +villa, remembering that Americans have imaginations, and that visitors +will be very apt to construct an unknown host from his surroundings.<a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a></p> + +<p>The second thing to be done in Matanzas, if you arrive on Saturday, is +to attend military mass at the Cathedral on Sunday morning. This +commences at eight o'clock; but the hour previous may be advantageously +employed in watching the arrival and arrangement of the female +aristocracy of Matanzas. These enter in groups of twos and threes, +carrying their prayer-books, and followed by slaves of either sex, who +bear the prayer-carpet of their mistresses. The ladies are wonderfully +got up, considering the early hour; and their toilettes suggest that +they may not have undressed since the ball of the night before. All that +hoops, powder, and puffery can do for them has been done; they walk in +silk attire, and their hair is what is technically termed dressed. Some +of them bring their children, bedizened like dolls, and mimicking +mamma's gestures and genuflection in a manner more provoking to sadness +than to satire. If the dressing is elaborate, the crossing is also. It +does not consist of one simple cross, "<i>in nomine Patris</i>," etc.; they +seem to make three or four crosses from<a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a> forehead to chin, and conclude +by kissing the thumb-nail, in honor of what or whom we could not +imagine. Entering the middle aisle, which is divided from the rest by a +row of seats on either side, they choose their position, and motion to +the dark attendant to spread the carpet. Some of them evince +considerable strategic skill in the selection of their ground. All being +now in readiness, they drop on their knees, spread their flounces, cross +themselves, open their books, and look about them. Their attendants +retire a little, spread a handkerchief on the ground, and modestly kneel +behind them, obviously expecting to be saved with the family. These are +neatly, sometimes handsomely dressed. In this <i>status</i> things remain +until the music of the regiment is heard. With a martial sound of +trumpets it enters the church, and fills the aisles, the officers taking +place within the chancel, and a guard of honor of eight soldiers ranging +on either side of the officiating priest. And now our devotions begin in +good earnest; for, simultaneously with the regiment, the <i>jeunessé +dorée</i> of Matanzas has<a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a> made its appearance, and has ranged itself along +the two long lines of demarcation which separate the fair penitents from +the rest of the congregation. The ladies now spread their flounces +again, and their eyes find other occupation than the dreary Latin of +their missals. There is, so to speak, a lively and refreshing time +between the youths of both sexes, while the band plays its utmost, and +<i>Evangel</i>, <i>Kyrie</i>, and <i>Credo</i> are recited to the music of Trovatore +and Traviata. That child of four years old, dressed in white and gold +flounces, and white satin boots with heels, handles her veil and uses +her eyes like Mamma, eager for notice, and delighted with the gay music +and uniforms. The moment comes to elevate the Host,—thump goes the +drum, the guard presents arms, and the soldiers, instead of kneeling, +bend forward, in a most uncomfortable manner. Another thump, and all +that is over; the swords are returned to their sheaths, and soon, the +loud music coming to an end, the regiment marches out of church, very +much as it marched in, its devotional experiences being known to Heaven<a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a> +alone. Ladies and lovers look their last, the flounces rise in pyramids, +the prayer-carpets are rolled up, and with a silken sweep and rush, +Youth, Beauty, and Fashion forsake the church, where Piety has hardly +been, and go home to breakfast. To that comfortable meal you also betake +yourself, musing on the small heads and villanous low foreheads of the +Spanish soldiery, and wondering how long it would take a handful of +resolute Yankees to knock them all into—— But you are not a +Filibuster, you know.<a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br /><br /> +<small>THE PASEO—THE PLAZA—DINING OUT.</small></h2> + +<p>"As this Sunday is Carnival, you cannot do better than drive about the +city, and then go to the Plaza to see the masks. My partner's wife, with +whom you have now so comfortably breakfasted, will call for you in her +<i>volante</i> this afternoon, between five and six o'clock. She will show +you the Paseo, and we will go and see the masks afterwards."</p> + +<p>So spoke a banker, who, though not <i>our</i> banker, is our friend, and +whose kind attentions we shall ever recall, when we remember Cuba. So he +spoke, and so it befell. The pretty American lady, Cubanized into +paleness, but not into sallowness, called at the appointed hour, and in +her company we visited the principal streets, and the favorite drive of +the Matanzasts. The Paseo is shorter than that of Havana, but much +prettier.<a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a> We found it gay with <i>volantes</i>, whose fair occupants kept up +an incessant bowing and smiling to their friends in carriages and on +horseback. The Cubans are generally good riders, and their saddle-horses +have the easiest and pleasantest gait imaginable. The heat of the +climate does not allow the severe exercise of trot and gallop, and so +these creatures go along as smoothly and easily as the waves of the sea, +and are much better broken to obedience. The ladies of Matanzas seem to +possess a great deal of beauty, but they abuse the privilege of powder, +and whiten themselves with <i>cascarilla</i> to a degree that is positively +ghastly. This <i>cascarilla</i> is formed by the trituration of egg-shells; +and the oval faces whitened with it resemble a larger egg, with features +drawn on it in black and red. In spite of this, they are handsome; but +one feels a natural desire to rush in amongst them with a feather +duster, and lay about one a little, before giving an available opinion +of their good looks.</p> + +<p>If the Paseo was gay, the streets of the city were gay also; the windows +filled with<a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a> faces and figures in full dress, with little groups of +children at the feet of the grown people, like the two world-famous +cherubs at the feet of the Madonna di San Sisto. There were crowds of +promenaders too, everywhere, interspersed with parties of maskers, who +went about screaming at the public with high, shrill voices. Leaving the +<i>volante</i>, we descend to the Plaza, where is now the height and centre +of movement, we find it flanked on all sides with little movable +kitchens, where good things are cooked, and with tables, where they are +sold and eaten. Fried cakes, fish, and meats seem the predominant bill +of fare, with wine, coffee, and fruits. The masks are circulating with +great animation; men in women's clothes, white people disguised as +negroes, and negroes disguised as whites, prodigious noses, impossible +chins and foreheads; the stream of popular fancy ran chiefly in these +channels. We met processions consisting of a man carrying a rat in a +cage, and shouting out, "Catch this rat!" followed by a perfect stampede +of wild creatures, all yelling,<a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a> "Catch that rat!" at the top of their +voices. The twanging of the guitar is heard everywhere, accompanied by +the high nasal voices of the natives, in various strains of monotony. In +some spots the music is more lively, accompanied by the shaking of a +gourd filled with dry seeds, which is called <i>ghirra</i>, and whose +"chick-a-chick, chick-chick" takes the place of the more poetical +castanets;—here you find one or more couples exhibiting their skill in +Cuban dances, with a great deal of applause and chattering from the +crowd around. Beside those of the populace, many aristocratic groups +parade the Plaza, in full dress, crowned with flowers and jewels;—a +more motley scene can hardly be imagined. Looking up, one sees in +curious contrast the tall palms with which the Plaza is planted, and the +quiet, wondering stars set in the deep tropical heavens.</p> + +<p>But in our evening's programme, tea has been omitted; now, what availeth +a Bostonian without his tea? By eight o'clock, we are pensive, "most +like a tired child at a show,"—by half-past eight, stupid,—by<a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a> nine, +furious. Two hours of folly, taken on an empty stomach, alarm us for our +constitution. A visit to the <i>café</i> is suggested and adopted. It proves +to be crowded with people in fancy attire, who have laid aside their +masks to indulge in beer, orgeat, and sherbet. While our Cuban friends +regale themselves with sour-sop and <i>zapote</i> ice sweetened with brown +sugar, we call for a cup of delicious Spanish chocolate, which is served +with a buttered toasted roll, worthy of all imitation. Oh, how much +comfort is in a little cup of chocolate! what an underpinning does it +afford our spiritual house, a material basis for our mental operations! +In its support, we go it a little longer on the Plaza, see more masks, +hear more guitars and "catch this rat!" and finally return, in a hired +<i>volante</i>, to the Ensor House, where rest and the bedless cots await us.</p> + +<p>But we have friends in Matanzas, real born Cubans, who will not suffer +us to remain forever in the Ensor House. They send their <i>volante</i> for +us, one day, and we visit them. Their house, of the inevitable<a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a> Cuban +pattern, is richly furnished; the marbles of the floor are pure and +smooth, the rug ample and velvety; the wainscoting of the walls, so to +speak, is in handsome tiling,—not in mean, washy painting; the cane +chairs and sofas are fresh and elegant, and there is a fine Erard piano. +The Master of the house is confined to his room by illness, but will be +happy to see us. His son and daughters speak English with fluency. They +inform us, that the epidemic colds which prevail in Cuban winters are +always called by the name of some recent untoward occurrence, and that +their father, who suffers from severe influenza, has got the President's +Message. We find Don José in a bedroom darkened by the necessary closing +of the shutters, there being no other way of excluding the air. The +bedsteads are of gilded iron, with luxurious bedding and spotless +mosquito-nettings. His head is tied up with a silk handkerchief. He +rises from his rocking-chair, receives us with great urbanity, and +expresses his appreciation of the American nation and their country, +which he himself<a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a> has visited. After a short interview we leave him, but +not until he has placed his house and all it contains "<i>á la disposition +de Usted</i>." We are then shown the pretty bedroom of the young ladies, +whose toilettes are furnished in silver, the bath lined with tiling, the +study, and the dining-room, where luncheon awaits us. We take leave, +with a kind invitation to return and dine the next day, which, upon +mature deliberation, we accept.</p> + +<p>The <i>volante</i> comes for us next day, with Roqué, brightest of all living +<i>caleseros</i>, fixed in his boots and saddle. After a pleasant drive we +attain the house, and are received by its hospitable inmates as before. +The interval before dinner, a tolerably long one, is filled up by +pleasant chitchat, chiefly in English. The lady of the house does not, +however, profess our vernacular, and to her understanding we lay siege +in French, Italian, and laughter-provoking Spanish. Before dining we pay +a second visit to the host, who is still busy digesting the President's +Message. Obviously, the longer he has it under consideration,<a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a> the worse +he finds it. He has nausea from its bragging, his head aches with its +loudness, and its emptiness fills him with wind. We are at our wits' end +to prescribe for him, and take our leave with grave commiseration, +telling him that we too have had it, but that the symptoms it produces +in the North are a reddening in the cheek and a spasmodic contraction of +the right arm. Now comes great dinner on. A slave announces it, and with +as little ceremony as may be we take our places. And here we must +confess that our friend the banker had rendered us an important service. +For he had said,—"Look not upon the soup when it is hot, neither let +any victuals entice thee to more than a slight and temporary +participation; for the dishes at a Cuban dinner be many, and the guest +must taste of all that is presented; wherefore, if he indulge in one +dish to his special delectation, he shall surely die before the end." +And it came to pass that we remembered this, and walked through the +dinner as on egg-shells, gratifying curiosity on the one hand, and +avoiding satiety on the<a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a> other; with the fear of fulness, as it were, +before our eyes. For oh, my friends! what pang is comparable to too much +dinner, save the distress of being refused by a young woman, or the +comfortless sensation, in times of economy, of having paid away a +five-dollar gold piece in place of a silver quarter of a dollar?</p> + +<p>But you, Reader, would like more circumstantiality in the account of +this dinner, which united many perfections. It was handsome, but not +splendid,—orderly, but not stately,—succulent, but not unctuous. It +kept the word of promise to the smell and did not break it to the taste. +It was a dinner such as we shall wish only to our best friends, not to +those acquaintances who ask how we do when they meet us, and wish we +were dead before we part. As for particulars, we should be glad to +impart much useful information and many choice receipts; but the +transitory nature of such an entertainment does not allow one to improve +it as one could wish. One feature we remember, which is that the whole +dinner was placed on the<a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a> table at once, and so you had the advantage of +seeing your work cut out before you. None of that hope deferred, when, +after being worried through a dozen stews and <i>entrées</i>, you are +rewarded at last with an infinitesimal fragment of the <i>rôti</i>. Nor, on +the other hand, the unwelcome surprise of three supplementary courses +and a dessert, when you have already dined to repletion, and feel +yourself at peace with all the world. Here all was fair play; you knew +what to expect and what was expected of you. Soup, of course, came +first,—then fish,—then meat stewed with potatoes and onions,—then +other meat with <i>ochra</i> and tomatoes,—then boiled chicken, which is +eaten with a <i>pilaff</i> of rice colored with saffron,—then delicious +sweet potatoes, yams, plantains, and vegetables of every sort,—then a +kind of pepper brought, we think, from the East Indies, and intensely +tropical in its taste,—then a splendid roast turkey, and ham strewed +with small colored sugar-plums,—then —— well, is not that enough for +one person to have eaten at a stretch, and that person accustomed to a<a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a> +Boston diet? Then came such a display of sweetmeats as would exercise +the mind of a New England housekeeper beyond all power of repose,—a +pudding,—a huge tart with very thick crust,—cakes of <i>yuca</i>,—a dish +of cocoa-nut, made into a sort of impalpable preserve, with eggs and +sugar,—then a course of fruits,—then coffee, of the finest quality, +from the host's own plantation,—and then we arose and went into the +drawing-room, with a thankful recollection of what we had had, and also +a thankful assurance that we should have no more.</p> + +<p>A drive by moonlight was now proposed, to see the streets and the masks, +it being still Carnival. So the <i>volante</i> was summoned, with its +smiling, silent Roqué, and the pretty daughter of the house took seat +beside us. The streets around the Plaza proved quite impassable from the +crowd, whose wild movements and wilder voices went nigh to scaring the +well-trained horses. The little lady was accustomed, apparently, to +direct every movement of her charioteer, and her orders were uttered in +a voice high and sweet as a <a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a>bird-call. "<i>Dobla al derecho, Roqué! +Roqué, dobla al derecho</i>!" Why did not Roqué go mad, and exclaim,—"Yes, +Señorita, and to heaven itself, if you bid me so prettily!" But Roqué +only doubled as he was bid, and took us hither and thither, and back to +the nest of his lady-bird, where we left her and the others with +grateful regrets, and finally back to the Ensor House, which on this +occasion seemed to us the end of all things.<a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br /><br /> +<small>GAME-CHICKENS—DON RODRIGUEZ—DAY ON THE PLANTATION—DEPARTURE.</small></h2> + +<p>As there are prejudices in Cuba and elsewhere, touching the appropriate +sphere of woman, Hulia was not taken to the Cockpit, as she had demanded +and expected,—not to see the chickens fight, but to see the Spaniards +see it.</p> + +<p>Forgive her, ye Woman's-Righters, if on this occasion she was weak and +obedient! You would have gone, no doubt,—those of you who have not +husbands; but such as have must know how much easier it is to deal with +the article man in his theoretical than in his real presence. You may +succeed in showing by every convincement that you are his natural master +and superior, and that there is every reason on earth why you should +<a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a>command and direct him. "No!——," says the wretch, shaking his fist, +or shrugging his shoulders; and whatever your intimate convictions may +be, the end is, that you do not.</p> + +<p>Propitiated by that ready obedience which is safest, dear Sisters, in +these contingencies, the proprietor of Hulia takes her, one morning, to +see the establishment of a man of fortune in the neighborhood, where one +hundred and forty game-chickens are kept for training and fighting. +These chickens occupy two good-sized rooms, whose walls are entirely +covered with compartments, some two feet square, in each of which +resides a cock, with his little perch and drinking-vessel. They are kept +on allowance of water and of food, lest they should get beyond fighting +weight. Their voices are uplifted all day long, and on all moonlight +nights. An old woman receives us, and conducts us to the training-pit, +pointing out on the way the heroes of various battles, and telling us +that this cock and the other have won <i>mucho dinero</i>, "much money." Each +has also its appointed value;—this cock is worth forty<a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a> dollars, this +four ounces, this one six ounces,—oh, he is a splendid fellow! No +periodal and sporadic hen-fever prevails here, but the <i>gallo-mania</i> is +the chronic madness of the tropics.</p> + +<p>The training-pit is a circular space inclosed with boards, perhaps some +twelve feet in diameter. Here we find the proprietor, Don Manuel +Rodriguez, with a negro assistant, up to the ears in business. Don +Manuel is young, handsome, and vivacious, and with an air of good family +that astonishes us. He receives us with courtesy, finds nothing unusual +in the visit of a lady, but is too much engrossed with his occupation to +accord us more than a passing notice. This is exactly as we could +wish,—it allows us to study the Don, so to speak, <i>au naturel</i>. He is +engaged at first in weighing two cocks, with a view to their subsequent +fighting. Having ascertained their precise weight, which he registers in +his pocket-memorandum, he proceeds to bind strips of linen around their +formidable spurs, that in their training they may not injure each other +with them. This being accomplished,—he all the while delivering himself +with great<a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a> volubility to his black Second,—the two cocks are taken +into the arena; one is let loose there; the negro holds the other, and +knocks the free fowl about the head with it. Sufficient provocation +having been given, they are allowed to go at each other in their own +fashion, and their attacks and breathing-spells are not very unlike a +bout of fencing. They flap, fly at each other, fly over, peck, seize by +the neck, let go, rest a moment, and begin again, getting more and more +excited with each round. The negro separates them, when about to draw +blood. And as for Don Manuel, he goes mad over them, like an Italian +<i>maestro</i> over his favorite pupil. "<i>Hombre, hombre!</i>" he cries to the +negro, "what a cock! By Heaven, what a couple! <i>Ave María santísima!</i> +did one ever see such spirit? <i>Santísima Trinidad!</i> is there such +fighting in all Matanzas?" Having got pretty well through with the +calendar of the saints, he takes out his watch;—the fight has lasted +long enough. One of the champions retires to take a little repose; +another is brought in his place; the negro takes him,<a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a> and boxes him +about the ears of the remaining fowl,—brushing him above his head, and +underneath, and on his back, to accustom him to every method of attack. +Don Manuel informs us that the cock made use of in this way is the +father of the other, and exclaims, with an air of mock compassion, +<i>Pobre padre!</i> "Poor father!" The exercise being concluded, he takes a +small feather, and cleans out therewith the throat of either chicken, +which proves to be full of the sand of the arena, and which he calls +<i>porquería</i>, "dirt."</p> + +<p>We leave Don Manuel about to employ himself with other cocks, and, as +before, too much absorbed to give our departure much notice. Strange to +say, Hulia is so well satisfied with this rehearsal, that she expresses +no further desire to witness the performance itself. We learn +subsequently that Don Manuel is a man of excellent family and great +wealth, who has lavished several fortunes on his favorite pursuit, and +is hurrying along on the road to ruin as fast as chickens' wings can +carry him. We were very sorry, but couldn't<a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a> possibly interfere. +Meantime, he appeared excessively jolly.</p> + +<p>Our kind friends of the dinner were determined to pay us, in their +persons, all the debts of hospitality the island might be supposed to +contract towards strangers and Americans. Arrangements were accordingly +made for us to pass our last day in Matanzas at a coffee-plantation of +theirs, some four miles distant from town. They would send their +travelling <i>volante</i> for us, they said, which was not so handsome as the +city <i>volante</i>, but stronger, as it had need to be, for the roads. At +eleven o'clock, on a very warm morning, this vehicle made its appearance +at the door of the Ensor House, with Roqué in the saddle,—Roqué with +that mysterious <i>calesero</i> face of his, knowing everything, but +volunteering nothing until the word of command. Don Antoñico he tells +us, has gone before on horseback;—we mount the <i>volante</i>, and follow. +Roqué drives briskly at first, a slight breeze refreshes us, and we +think the road better than is usual. But wait a bit, and we come to what +seems an unworked quarry of coral rock, with no<a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a> perceptible way over +it, and Roqué still goes on, slowly indeed, but without stop or remark. +The strong horses climb the rough and slippery rocks, dragging the +strong <i>volante</i> after them. The <i>calesero</i> picks his way carefully; the +carriage tips, jolts, and tumbles; the centre of gravity appears to be +nowhere. The breeze dies away; the vertical sun seems to pin us through +the head; we get drowsy, and dream of an uneasy sea of stones, whose +harsh waves induce headache, if not sea-sickness. We wish for a +photograph of the road;—first, to illustrate the inclusive meaning of +the word; second, to serve as a remembrance, to reconcile us to all +future highways.</p> + +<p>Why these people are content to work out their road-tax by such sore +travail of mind and body appeareth to us mysterious. The breaking of +stone in state-prison is not harder work than riding over a Cuban road; +yet this extreme of industry is endured by the Cubans from year to year, +and from one human life to another, without complaint or effort. An hour +or more of these and similar reflections brings us to a bit of smooth +road, and then to<a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a> the gate of the plantation, where a fine avenue of +palms conducts us to the house. Here resides the relative and partner of +our Matanzas friends, a man of intelligent and humane aspect, who comes +to greet us, with his pleasant wife, and a pretty niece, their constant +guest. The elder lady has made use of her retirement for the +accomplishment of her mind. She has some knowledge of French and +Italian, and, though unwilling to speak English, is able to translate +from that language with entire fluency. The plantation-house is very +pretty, situated just at the end of the palm-avenue, with all the +flowers in sight,—for these are planted between the palms;—it has a +deep piazza in front, and the first door opens into one large room, with +sleeping-apartments on either side. Opposite this door is another, +opening upon the court behind the house, and between the two our chairs +are placed, courting the draught.—<i>N. B.</i> In Cuba, no one shuns a +draught; you ride, drive, sit, and sleep in one, and, unless you are a +Cuban, never take cold. The floor of this principal room is merely<a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a> of +clay rubbed with a red powder, which, mixed with water, hardens into a +firm, polished surface. The house has but one story; the timbers of the +roof, unwhitened, forming the only ceiling. The furniture consists of +cane easy-chairs, a dining-table, and a pretty hammock, swung across one +end of the room. Here we sit and talk long. Our host has many good books +in French and Spanish,—and in English, Walter Scott's Novels, which his +wife fully appreciates.</p> + +<p>A walk is proposed, and we go first to visit <i>los negros +chiquitos</i>,—<i>Anglicè</i>, "the small niggers," in their nursery. We find +their cage airy enough; it is a house with a large piazza completely +inclosed in coarse lattice-work, so that the <i>pequeñuelos</i> cannot tumble +out, nor the nurses desert their charge. Our lady friend produces a key, +unlocking a small gate which admits us. We found, as usual, the girls of +eight and upwards tending the babies, and one elderly woman +superintending them. On our arrival, African drums, formed of logs +hollowed out, and covered with skin at the end, were produced. Two +little girls<a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a> proceeded to belabor these primitive instruments, and made +a sort of rhythmic strumming, which kept time to a monotonous chant. Two +other girls executed a dance to this, which, for its slowness, might be +considered an African minuet. The dancing children were bright-looking, +and not ungraceful. Work stops at noon for a recess; and the mothers run +from the field to visit the imprisoned babies, whom they carry to their +own homes and keep till the afternoon-hour for work comes round, which +it does at two, <small>P. M.</small> We went next to the negro-houses, which are built, +as we have described others, contiguous, in one hollow square. On this +plantation the food of the negroes is cooked for them, and in the middle +of the inclosed square stood the cooking-apparatus, with several large +caldrons. Still, we found little fires in most of the houses, and the +inmates employed in concocting some tidbit or other. A hole in the roof +serves for a chimney, where there is one, but they as often have the +fire just before their door. The slaves on this plantation looked in +excellent condition, and<a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a> had, on the whole, cheerful countenances. The +good proportion of their increase showed that they were well treated, as +on estates where they are overworked they increase scarcely or not at +all. We found some of the men enjoying a nap between a board and a +blanket. Most of the women seemed busy about their household operations. +The time from twelve to two is given to the negroes, besides an hour or +two after work in the evening, before they are locked up for the night. +This time they improve mostly in planting and watering their little +gardens, which are their only source of revenue. The negroes on this +estate had formed a society amongst themselves for the accumulation of +money; and our friend, the Manager of the plantation, told us that they +had on his books two thousand dollars to their credit. One man alone had +amassed six hundred dollars, a very considerable sum, under the +circumstances. We visited also the house of the mayoral, or overseer, +whose good face seemed in keeping with the general humane arrangements +of the place,—as humane, at least, as<a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a> the system permits. The negroes +all over the island have Sunday for themselves; and on Sunday afternoons +they hold their famous balls, which sometimes last until four o'clock on +Monday morning. Much of the illness among the negroes is owing to their +imprudence on these and like occasions. Pneumonia is the prevalent +disease with them, as with the slaves in our own South; it is often +acute and fatal. Everything in Cuba has such a tendency to go on +horseback, that we could not forbear asking if dead men did, and were +told that it was so,—the dead negroes being temporarily inclosed in a +box, and conveyed to the cemetery on the back of a horse. Our friend, +seeing our astonishment, laughed, and told us that the poor whites were +very glad to borrow the burial-horse and box, to furnish their own +funerals.</p> + +<p>Dinner was served at four o'clock, quite informally, in the one +sitting-room of the house. A black girl brushed off the flies with a +paper fly-brush, and another waited on table. The dinner was excellent; +but I have already given so many bills of fare in these letters,<a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a> that I +will content myself with mentioning the novelty of a Cuban country-dish, +a sort of stew, composed of ham, beef, mutton, potatoes, sweet potatoes, +<i>yuca</i>, and yams. This is called <i>Ayacco</i>, and is a characteristic dish, +like eel-soup in Hamburg, or salt codfish in Boston;—as is usual in +such cases, it is more relished by the inhabitants than by their +visitors. On the present occasion, however, it was only one among many +good things, which were made better by pleasant talk, and were succeeded +by delicious fruits and coffee. After dinner we visited the vegetable +garden, and the well, where we found Candido, the rich negro who had +saved six hundred dollars, drawing water with the help of a blind mule. +Now the Philanthrope of our party was also a Phrenologist, and had +conceived a curiosity to inspect the head of the very superior negro who +had made all this money; so at his request Candido was summoned from the +well, and ordered to take off his hat. This being removed disclosed the +covering of a cotton handkerchief, of which he was also obliged to +divest himself. Candido was much too well<a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a> bred to show any signs of +contumacy; but the expression of his countenance varied, under the +observation of the Phrenologist, from wonder to annoyance, and from that +to the extreme of sullen, silent wrath. The reason was obvious,—he +supposed himself brought up with a view to bargain and sale; and when +informed that he had a good head, he looked much inclined to give +somebody else a bad one. He was presently allowed to go back to his +work; and our sympathies went with him, as it would probably take some +days to efface from his mind the painful impression that he was to be +sold, the last calamity that can happen to a negro who is in kind hands. +We now wandered through the long avenues of palm and fruit trees with +which the estate was planted, and saw the stout black wenches at their +out-door occupations, which at this time consisted chiefly in raking and +cleansing the ground about the roots of the trees and flowers. Their +faces brightened as their employers passed, and the smaller children +kissed hands. Returned to the house, we paused awhile to enjoy the<a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a> +evening red, for the sun was already below the horizon. Then came the +<i>volante</i>, and with heartfelt thanks and regrets we suffered it to take +us away.</p> + +<p>And who had been the real hero of this day? Who but Roqué, fresh from +town, with his experience of Carnival, and his own accounts of the +masked ball, the Paseo, and the Señorita's beaux? All that durst +followed him to the gate, and kissed hands after him. "<i>Adios, Roqué! +Roqué, adios!</i>" resounded on all sides; and Roqué, the mysterious one, +actually smiled in conscious superiority, as he nodded farewell, and +galloped off, dragging us after him.</p> + +<p>As we drove back to Matanzas in the moonlight, a sound of horses' feet +made us aware that Don Antoñico, the young friend who had planned and +accompanied our day's excursion, was to be our guard of honor on the +lonely road. A body-servant accompanied him, like-wise mounted. Don +Antoñico rode a milk-white Cuban pony, whose gait was soft, swift, and +stealthy as that of a phantom horse. His master might have carried a +brimming<a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a> glass in either hand, without spilling a drop, or might have +played chess, or written love-letters on his back, so smoothly did he +tread the rough, stony road. All its pits and crags and jags, the pony +made them all a straight line for his rider, whose unstirred figure and +even speech made this quite discernible. For when a friend talks to you +on the trot, much gulping doth impede his conversation,—and there is +even a good deal of wallop in a young lady's gallop. But our friend's +musical Spanish ran on like a brook with no stones in it, that merely +talks to the moonlight for company. And such moonlight as it was that +rained down upon us, except where the palm-trees spread their inverted +parasols, and wouldn't let it! And such a glorification of all trees and +shrubs, including the palm, which we are almost afraid to call again by +name, lest it should grow "stuck up," and imagine there were no other +trees but itself! And such a combination of tropical silence, warmth, +and odor! Even in the night, we did not forget that the aloe-hedges had +red in them, which made all the ways beautiful by day. Oh! it<a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a> was what +good Bostonians call "a lovely time"; and it was with a sigh of fulness +that we set down the goblet of enjoyment, drained to the last drop, and +getting, somehow, always sweeter towards the bottom.</p> + +<p>For it was set down at the Ensor House, which we are to leave to-night, +half-regretful at not having seen the scorpion by which we always +expected to be bitten; for we had heard such accounts of it, patrolling +the galleries with its venomous tail above its head, that we had thought +a sight might be worth a bite. It was not to be, however. The luggage is +brought; John is gratified with a <i>peso</i>; and we take leave with entire +good-will.</p> + +<p>I mention our departure, only because it was Cuban and characteristic. +Returning by boat to Havana, we were obliged to be on board by ten +o'clock that evening, the boat starting at eleven. Of course, the +steamer was nowhere but a mile out in the stream; and a little +cockle-shell of a row-boat was our only means of attaining her. How +different, ye good New Yorkers and Bostonians, from<a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a> your afternoon walk +on board the "Bay State," with valise and umbrella in hand, and all the +flesh-pots of Egypt in ——, well, in remembrance! After that degree of +squabbling among the boatmen which serves to relieve the feelings of +that habitually disappointed class of men, we chose our craft, and were +rowed to the steamer, whose sides were steep and high out of water. The +arrangements on board were peculiar. The body of the main deck was +occupied by the <i>gentlemen's</i> cabin, which was large and luxurious. A +tiny after-cabin was fitted up for the ladies. In the region of the +machinery were six horrible staterooms, bare and dirty, the berths being +furnished simply with cane-bottoms, a pillow, and one unclean sheet. +Those who were decoyed into these staterooms endured them with disgust +while the boat was at anchor; but when the paddle-wheels began to +revolve, and dismal din of clang and bang and whirr came down about +their ears, and threatened to unroof the fortress of the brain, why then +they fled madly, precipitately, leaving their clothes mostly behind +them. But I am anticipating.<a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a> The passengers arrived and kept arriving; +and we watched, leaning over the side, for Don Antoñico, who was to +accompany our voyage. Each boat had its little light; and to see them +dancing and toppling on the water was like a fairy scene. At last came +our friend; and after a little talk and watching of the stars, we betook +ourselves to rest.</p> + +<p>Many of the Dons were by this time undressed, and smoking in their +berths. As there was no access to the ladies' cabin, save through the +larger one, she who went thither awaited a favorable moment and ran, +looking neither to the right hand nor the left. The small cabin was +tolerably filled by Cuban ladies in full dress.—<i>Mem.</i> They always +travel in their best clothes.—The first navigation among them was a +real balloon-voyage, with collisions; but they soon collapsed and went +to bed. All is quiet now; and she of whom we write has thrown herself +upon the first vacant bed, spreading first a clean napkin on the +extremely serviceable pillow. Sleep comes; but what is this that murders +sleep?<a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a> A diminutive male official going to each berth, and arousing its +fair occupant with "Doña Teresita," or whatever the name may be, "favor +me with the amount of your passage-money." No comment is necessary; +here, no tickets,—here, no Stewardess to mediate between the unseen +Captain and the unprotected female! The sanctuary of the sex invaded at +midnight, without apology and without rebuke! Think of that, <i>those</i> +passengers who have not paid their fare, and, when invited to call at +the Captain's office and settle, do so, and be thankful! The male +passengers underwent a similar visitation. It is the Cuban idea of a +compendious and economic arrangement.</p> + +<p>And here ends our account of Matanzas, our journey thither, stay, and +return. Peace rest upon the fair city! May the earthquake and hurricane +spare it! May the hateful Spanish government sit lightly on its strong +shoulders! May the Filibusters attack it with kisses, and conquer it +with loving-kindness! So might it be with the whole Island—<i>vale</i>!<a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br /><br /> +<small>RETURN TO HAVANA—SAN ANTONIO AGAIN.</small></h2> + +<p>N<small>OT</small> many days did we tarry in Havana, on our return. We found the city +hot, the hotel full, the invalids drooping. The heat and the confined +life (many of them never crossed the threshold) began to tell upon them, +and to undo the good work wrought by the mild winter. They talked of +cooling breezes, and comfortable houses, with windows, carpets, and +padded sofas. Home was become a sort of watchword among them, exchanged +with a certain subdued rapture. One of them was on the brink of a longer +journey. He had been the worst case all winter, and since our arrival, +had rarely left his room. A friend was now come to take him to his +father's house, but he failed so rapidly, that it was feared the slender +thread would be broken<a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a> before the sailing of the steamer should allow +him to turn his face homewards. The charities of the Cubans, such as +they are, do not extend to the bodies of dead Protestants,—for them is +nothing but the Potter's Field. This gross Priest, that shameless woman +shall lie in consecrated ground, but our poor countryman, pale and pure +as he looked, would defile the sainted inclosure, and must be cast out, +with dogs and heretics. So there was a sort of hush, even in the +heartless hotel-life, and an anxious inquiry every morning,—"Is he yet +alive?"</p> + +<p>"Just alive," and for a moment, people were really interested. But the +day of departure came at last, and he was carried on board in a chair, +his coffin following him. His closed eyes were too weak to open on the +glorious tropical noon, and take a last leave of its beauty, and of the +dry land he was never to see again; for he died, we afterwards learned, +the day before the vessel reached New York, without pain or +consciousness. And many thus depart. In this very hotel died glorious +Dr. Kane, having, like a<a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a> few other illustrious men, compressed all the +merits of a long life in the short years of youth. When he was carried +from these walls, a great concourse rose up to attend him, and when the +procession passed the Governor's palace, the dark Concha himself, the +centre of power and despotism, stood at the gate, hat in hand, to do +reverence to the noble corpse. A practical word àpropos of these things. +A flight to the tropics is apt to be like a death-bed repentance, +deferred to the last moment, and with no appreciable benefit. Not only +giving,—everything is done twice which is done quickly,—Time and +Disease having between them a ratio too mysterious and rapid for +computation. Ye who must fly, wounded, from the terrible North, fly in +season, before the wound festers and rankles,—otherwise you escape not, +bringing Death with you. Do not rush moreover to a hotel in the heart of +Havana, and falling down there, refuse to be removed. Pulmonary patients +rarely profit in Havana, whose climate is tainted with the sea-board, +and further, with all the abominations of the dirtiest<a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a> of cities. Santa +Cruz has a better climate than Cuba,—so has Nassau, but in Cuba there +are better places than Havana. San Antonio is better,—Guines, +Guanabacoa, even Matanzas, are all healthier. Best of all is to reside +on a coffee or sugar-plantation in the interior, but to attain this +object, special letters are necessary,—as before observed, neither +<i>your</i> Banker, nor <i>our</i> Consul, will help you to it.</p> + +<p>We find little news in Havana. B. has gone to Trinidad de Cuba,—C. has +gone to New Orleans. The Bachelor who daily treated to oranges is among +the departed, and remembering his benefactions, we wish him a safe +return and continuance of celibacy. Carnival has been gay,—Concha gave +a Ball, and our Consul plucked up heart and went, and introduced eight +of our countrywomen, elegantly dressed, no doubt, and not speaking a +word of Spanish, nor the Consul neither,—one of the requisites of an +American foreign Official being that he shall be capable of no foreign +language. This rule has been rigorously adhered to by the +Administration<a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a> for twenty years past, and in some instances, a +tolerable ignorance of English has been added, as a merit of +supererogation. However, to return to the Ball, one of the ladies +performed in Boarding-school French, and as far as looks went, they made +a decidedly good impression. The little English Lords are +expected,—Ladies, do not flutter so!—it is not the fascinating English +Lord who has glittered like a diamond for two years past on the finger +of Washington diplomacy. These are Boys, and by all accounts, good ones.</p> + +<p>There is an Englishman at the hotel already, and he quarrels with his +victuals in a manner that is awful, quite reminding one of the stories +of unthankful children, whom the wolves get. And he labors with the +unknown Spanish like a ship at sea, and steers for this dish and that +with undistinguishable orders. Though I know him not, I must help him +when I see him struggling so for his dinner, winking, pointing, and +sputtering to the waiters without result. The wretch has been in Italy, +and would make the softer idiom<a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a> serve his turn here. "<i>Riso, eh, riso, +riz, rice</i>," says he, with extended index. "<i>Trae el arroz al Señor</i>" +comes timely to his aid, and with a few more helpings he is fed, though +not satisfied. So irrational, so unappeasable is his appetite, that one +cannot help thinking he has heard the story of the Belly and the Members +in his youth, and has determined to avenge the injured ganglion of its +ancient tormentors.</p> + +<p>But among so many faces, remembered and sketched with little pleasure, +there is one whose traits I must record as a labor of love. It belonged +to one of the recent arrivals at the hotel, and was first seen in strong +contrast with the countenance of the gluttonous Englishman, which it +regarded with grave wonder. Expressive dark eyes, fine brows, heavy +black hair, and a clear skin, subdued by ill-health, were its principal +points of interest, but such enumeration can give you no more idea of +its charm than an auctioneer's catalogue of furniture can suggest the +features of a happy home. I had heard of its owner, but had never seen +her<a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a> before, yet we met somehow like people who had known each other, +and a few commonplace phrases ended in a dialogue like this: "Are you +A?"—"Yes,—are you B?"—"Yes;" and eternal friendship, though not +sworn, set in immediately, and still perseveres. Modesty forbids us to +praise our friend,—the very epithet "my friend," says the utmost we can +say for any one. So I must not further celebrate my new-found treasure, +who from this moment became the companion of all my steps in Cuba. I +will only say that she was an apple-blossom of our Northern Spring, +grafted upon a noble Southern stock, and turning her face now to the +regions of the sun for healing warmth. Readers! you have all heard of +her,—you would all give your ears to know her name. Keep them, you +shall not.</p> + +<p>In this pleasant company we sought San Antonio again. My friend was not +doing well in Havana, and the graceful head was bowed every day lower by +pain and weakness. But once out of the pent-up city, the head rose like +a lily after rain, and all the<a name="page_184" id="page_184"></a> little journey was pleasure and +surprise. The tangled thickets, the new trees, the strange flowers, +filled her with admiration. This was Cuba. Havana was, what is +everywhere almost alike, the World. And soon we came to the clear, +low-running river, with its green, bushy banks. And the next whistle of +the steam-engine, like a fairy horn, called up the pretty village, with +its streets and bridges, its one church, and its diminutive Plaza. We +walk along the newly paved street, lined with small dwellings built of +palm and plaster. The naked children are playing at the doors, the +fathers and mothers are making cigars, or smoking them, the soldiers are +walking vacantly about, and the small shopkeepers are looking out from +behind their dull counters, piled with the refuse of the better markets. +Here is the American Hotel, and just opposite, the eternal piano is +playing "Norma," as it always did twelve hours out of twenty-four, and +was a nuisance. But let me not grumble, for at the door of that house +stand Mariquilla and Dolores, to welcome me back, and, hearing their +voices,<a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a> Norma leaves the instrument of her revenge, and comes out to +embrace me. It is pleasant, is it not, to arrive where some one is glad +to see you? These kind people quite warm my heart with their welcome. +Mrs. L. at the hotel, too, is always glad to see a boarder, especially +if he have with him a trunk that looks like staying. So we are fèted all +around, and have the best rooms given us, and are happy.</p> + +<p>In the evening, I betake myself to the house opposite, which was +familiar to me in my earlier visit, but of which I now speak for the +first time. Its inmates are in comfortable, though moderate +circumstances, and their habits are the type of Cuban village-life. Here +I meet the accustomed circle,—fie! they have no <i>circle</i>, but sit in +two long parallel lines, and rock, and smoke at each other. Papa is a +small, slight Spaniard, with good manners and no teeth. Mamma is not +more than forty,—a massive, handsome woman, with that dignity of +expression which is beyond beauty,—she is simple in her dress, and +quiet in all her ways, but her thoughtful<a name="page_186" id="page_186"></a> eyes make you remember her. +Mariquilla is a buxom girl, some thirty years of age, who uses ten +cosmetics in her bath, and still preserves a tolerably fresh complexion. +Dolores is quiet and gentle, and spends her days in taking care of two +little motherless children, whose father brings them every morning, and +takes them away at night. Maria Luisa, whom I call Norma, is the only +daughter of the family. She is pretty and modest, slight and small, like +her father, but with fine eyes. She is a great Belle, we are told, in +the neighborhood, and her musical accomplishment is considered +prodigious. Besides these we find Dotor Hernandez, the village +Physician, an Aragonese, thick-set and vigorous, with a good honest +face, and Juanito, the Music-Master, a youth of eighteen, from +Barcelona, with straight black hair, a pock-marked countenance, and a +pair of as mischievous black eyes as ever looked demurely into the +mysteries of the divine art. He is just offering cigarettes to all the +family. Mamma has taken one, so have Dolores and Mariquilla,—he hands +me the<a name="page_187" id="page_187"></a> little packet with: "<i>Te fuma, Hulita?</i>" and seems rather +surprised at my refusal, supposing doubtless that women of a certain age +smoke, all over the world. One small lamp dimly illuminates this family +party. When music is proposed, two candles, not of wax, are lighted, and +placed on the piano. I sing a song or two, which they are good enough to +call "<i>muy bonito</i>," and then, Maria Luisa, invited in turn, thunders +through "Norma," from Overture to Finale. Oh! I have not described the +piano,—it is a grand one, and bears the name of Stoddard. It should be +about sixty years old, and would seem to have been through three +generations and ten boarding-schools. It is a sort of skeleton piano, +empty of music, and the rattling of its poor old bones makes mine ache. +After the Opera, dancing is proposed. Juanito is disabled with a lame +hand, and Maria Luisa volunteers to play the new <i>contra-danza</i>. It is +christened "the Atlantic Telegraph," and is full of jerks and +interruptions, having nothing very definite about it. We have learned +the <i>contra-danza</i> of Dolores,<a name="page_188" id="page_188"></a> on a former occasion, but now they all +say "Hulita must dance with the Doctor," and to that consummate honor +she resigns herself. That distinguished functionary divests himself of +his cigar, polishes his perspiring forehead with his handkerchief, and +offers himself as a candidate for her hand. "<i>Vamos</i>," he says, and they +begin a slow, circling measure, to a music which is nondescript. Quiet +work this, none of your spasmodic Waltzes, kicking Polkas, and teetotum +jigmarigs. This gentle revolution seems imitated from the movement of +the planets, or perhaps the dance of the seasons,—gravity pervades +it,—it is a slow eternity. The rest of the family group has resolved +itself into couples,—we all go round and round, and suddenly confront +each other for a right and left, and look delighted, and then go round +again. This dreamy performance goes on, until we have just sense enough +left to remember that there is such a thing as bed-time. We break off, +inquire the hour, find it late, say that we must go, which occasions no +surprise. The piano ceases,—the candles are<a name="page_189" id="page_189"></a> put out. There is a +general kissing and "<i>Buenas noches</i>, <i>Hulita</i>." Dotor Hernandez sees us +home. We pass every evening at the house opposite, and all the evenings +are like this.<a name="page_190" id="page_190"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br /><br /> +<small>SAN ANTONIO—CHURCH ON SUNDAY—THE NORTHER—THE S. FAMILY.</small></h2> + +<p>T<small>HE</small> least shrub has its blossom, if you only know how to find it. The +dullest country town in New England has its days when people hear +speeches and get drunk, the one act illustrating the morals, the other +the manners of the community. In like manner, the smallest village in +Cuba has its Sunday, when the imprisoned women go to church in their +best clothes, the men attend cockfights, and in the evening there is +ball or sermon, according as the Church makes feast or fast. The +population of San Antonio does not seem particularly given to weekday +devotion, nor indeed do you anywhere in Cuba find men and women praying +in the churches, as you do in Rome. There is a degree of sobriety among +the people in all things,<a name="page_191" id="page_191"></a> partly Spanish, it may be, partly the result +of the extreme climate,—certain it is, that the Cuban Spaniard has not, +either in pleasure or devotion, the extravagance of the French or +Italian. The church at San Antonio was always open, but I always found +it empty, except on the one Sunday morning when I went thither to +observe manners and customs. High mass was at eight o'clock, and was in +all respects a miniature of the same ceremonial as described at +Matanzas, the accompaniment of martial music and the regiment being left +out. The body of the church was covered with prayer-carpets, which were +closely occupied by kneeling figures. The display of good dresses and +good looks was cheerful and invigorating. There was less flouncing and +fanning, methought, than in the larger town; but no doubt the usual +telegraphy was carried on, only in a more covert manner, as became the +severer exigencies of village decorum. The priest went through his +harmless little functions at the altar with what seemed to be a calico +Dalmatique on his back, but we have no doubt<a name="page_192" id="page_192"></a> that it was a brocade of +creditable thickness. What he said was, of course, inaudible. Juanito +was at the organ, perched sideways in a high gallery, so that his impish +face and dancing eyes formed a part of the picture. Though nearer heaven +in his position, he looked more full of the devil (pardon the +expression) than we had ever seen him. With him were three young +choristers, laboring away at the "Kyrie Eleison,"—he made the fourth in +the Quartette, and played the accompaniment, too, losing, moreover, +nothing of what went on below. The music was good, very like something +of Mozart's, but when subsequently interrogated, Juanito declared it to +have been a <i>Capriccio</i> of his own. We can only say, that if it was not +Mozart's, we shall certainly hear of Juanito some day, as a composer.</p> + +<p>The two old beggars who take off their tattered hats with such stately +humility all the week, were here to-day, but did not beg in church. +Item, they do not chatter like their Italian brethren in the trade, but +commence a slow statement of their grievances,<a name="page_193" id="page_193"></a> which you interrupt with +"<i>nada</i>," nothing, when they walk sadly away. A Cuban generally gives +them something, and always without rebuke. In the church was, too, a +kneeling figure of Christ, neither divine nor human, fastened to a +platform, with four lanterns at the four corners,—it is carried through +the streets on Fridays in Lent for devotion, and the priests chant, and +bear candles before it.</p> + +<p>Well, Mass is over, and we walk back to the hotel,—and here is our +pretty neighbor, Maria Luisa, watching at the door to see the people +come from church. "What, not at Mass, Maria Luisa?" "No, I'm so sorry, +but Papa is away, and Dolores has a cold, and Mariquilla has been +sitting up with a sick friend, so there was no one to go with me." +Clearly, there is a laxity in matters of religion in the house opposite. +On the other hand public opinion, even in San Antonio, would never have +permitted Maria Luisa, or any other female under sixty to have walked +the quiet streets without escort, upon whatever errand of piety or of +charity. Scarcely to the bedside of a dying mother might she go,<a name="page_194" id="page_194"></a> +unattended by a suitable companion. We pass the remainder of the Sunday +in quiet resignation to the heat, the thermometer standing at 86 in the +shade, (say, on the fourth of March,) and letter-writing causing one to +perspire like a wood-sawyer, or a stout youth in the Polka. For the +nobler sex, there is the cockpit,—all the <i>cafés</i> and billiards too are +full of soldiers and countrymen,—one hears the click of the balls +throughout the quiet streets. Towards sunset we walk out, and find the +village alive with little groups of people, and the windows of the +houses, at least the window-gratings, filled with the best women in the +best dresses. Some of them are well got-up. All look cool, easy, and +indolent. Here and there is seen amongst them the glimmer of a furtive +cigar. We pass the Cavalry Barracks, once a spacious monastery, and see +the horses gathered in from their wide pasture for the night. They obey +the voice, and with a little driving, make a tolerable charge at the +arched doorway, and carry it in style. The sense of smell too is regaled +with the savory odors of the soldiers'<a name="page_195" id="page_195"></a> supper, and looking in at a +grating, we see huge stewpans simmering over charcoal fires,—the rest +in darkness, for it now grows late. The men are a stouter looking set +than the regiment we saw at Matanzas, but the horses have not the bone +and muscle requisite for heavy action,—they could only make respectable +light-horse. Returning home, we meet our friends of the house opposite +going to "<i>Sermon</i>," as they tell us, for this is Lent, and not +Carnival. Mamma wears a black veil,—the others are bareheaded. We have +still tea to look forward to, but under such difficulties! we have given +a dollar for a teapot which in Boston should cost twenty-five cents. Our +precious pound of black tea, brought from home, has not yet given out, +but how hard is it to make Antonio, the head-waiter, put the tea in the +pot, make the water boil, and pour it boiling over the tea. Yet this +sacred rite we accomplish every evening. It has the solemnity of a +religious observance, for where the tea-table is, there is home. After +tea, a chair by the well in the middle of the Court, and a silent feast +of tropical<a name="page_196" id="page_196"></a> starlight. The lady of the house is chattering nothings +with that queer Californian, who looks as much like a spoiled preacher +as anything. The excitable Carolinian has got some one to hear him abuse +Cuba, and glorify Charleston. Yonder at the left angle the flare of a +lamp betrays the kitchen, and in the next compartment of the picture +Polonia, the slave washer-woman, who has been kept at the ironing-table +all day, vents her feelings in passionate snatches of talk, shakes her +kerchiefed head, tosses her arms about, and returns to the ironing with +more determination than ever. Poor slave,—a great debt was piled up +against her before she was born, and the labor of all her life cannot +work it out. Bankrupt must she die, and hand down the debt, sole +inheritance, to her children. So the world to the slave is a debtor's +prison, with a good or bad Jailer, and for utmost alleviation, an +occasional treat all round. And while the cooking, and chattering, and +ironing goes on about us, Reader, you and I will ponder this, sitting by +the well, under the stars set an hundred thousand<a name="page_197" id="page_197"></a> miles deep in the +dark velvet of the tropical heavens.</p> + +<p>This was Sunday, and with the next day came one of those changes which +resemble in kind, not in degree, the caprices of our own Continental +climate. The day has been a little less genial than usual, still we are +all comfortably seated at dinner, when a sudden wind shakes the house, +and blowing in furiously at the blinds, threatens to make the tablecloth +fly over our heads. A fierce shower of rain follows,—our table is set +in a gallery inclosed on one side only with Venetian blind-work, and +through this the rain rushes at us like a volley of canes flung into the +pit of a theatre. It grows dark, and for an hour or so, very cold. There +is an instantaneous closing of doors and wooden window-shutters, and we +of the Dinner protect ourselves from the wet and chill with the few warm +garments we have with us,—for is not the bulk of our solid clothing +laid up at Havana in that sea-trunk which we could wish never to open +again? We pass the remainder of the afternoon under hatches, as<a name="page_198" id="page_198"></a> it +were. The rain soon exhausts itself, but the cold wind continues for +some days. This is the Norther, fatal to yellow fever, but fatal also to +those who are ill of it, and dreaded by all patients whatever. To us, +the storm being over, the wind is only chilly, bringing with it a dull +sky, and the desire for exercise, but the invalids shrivel up in it like +rose-leaves in a frost,—the hectic gives place to deadly pallor, and +the purple hues that mark the orbit of the eye come out, stronger than +ever. Meeting, they interrogate each other's faces with anxious looks, +as if wishing to see what headway their little community could keep +against the common foe. The aspect of the streets is changed. The women +scarcely appear, save where you see the heads of three or four of them +in a row, looking through the small square breathing-hole cut in the +window-shutters, and giving one the idea of so many people standing +erect in their coffins. The men walk moodily about, each one enveloped +in the dark folds of a Spanish cloak, or <i>capa</i>, of which the material +varies from fine to coarse, but the shape is always the same.<a name="page_199" id="page_199"></a> These +solemn, stalking figures so resemble the <i>mysterious personages</i> of the +theatre, the bandits, spies, disguised lovers, and other varmint, that +we saw for once where the stage has preserved a tradition of real life, +these costumes having been, no doubt, long since imitated from Spain, +and never changed.</p> + +<p>What crime is this grave man meditating, with heavy brow and splendid +eyes? Murder or conspiracy, at least. No, he only wants to purchase a +string of onions at that shop at the corner. And this melancholy hero +with the pale olive complexion, dark as the stage-Romeo after he has +bought the poison? He enters yonder door to refresh himself with a glass +of <i>aguardiente</i>, and a game of billiards. At the house opposite, +Dolores complains of "<i>muchisima flussion</i>,"—a most severe cold. "Is it +the President's Message?" we ask. "No, in San Antonio they call the cold +'<i>el Polvorin</i>,' after the powder-magazine that exploded, last year, in +Havana." We tell Dotor Hernandez that he must cure Dolores, and he +promises her a "<i>vomitivo</i>" next morning, the very mention of which +considerably<a name="page_200" id="page_200"></a> hastens her convalescence. The health of the village is +suffering from the Norther, the Doctor has his hands full. Mariquilla +must give us some account of the sick friend she is nursing. "He has a +<i>Calentura</i>, (fever of the country,) with delirium. They treat him with +leeches, bleeding, borage tea, mustard at the feet; around the head +bread with oil, vinegar, and pepper, as a <i>preventivo</i>." "Why," cried +one of us, "you have seasoned him and stuffed him with herbs, fit for +roasting." Dotor Hernandez gravely explains and defends his practice.</p> + +<p>While the Norther is in full force, we go to pay a visit to Don Juan +Sanchez, a man of wealth and position in San Antonio, and proprietor of +large estates in the neighborhood. Don Juan is not at home,—his wife, +Doña Tomasita, and the Tutor, an elderly Frenchman, receive us. She is +young, but the mother of seven children. At our request, the nursery is +reviewed in the parlor, as follows: Enter Manuel, eight years of age, +enveloped in the stage cloak, and with the utmost gravity of +countenance. He marches up to us,<a name="page_201" id="page_201"></a> and startles us by inquiring after +our health, in very good English. Enter Tomas Ignacio, seven years of +age, also in a <i>capa</i>, and grave. This infant addressed us in French, +and took a seat beside his brother. He was followed by two noble imps, +of six and five, dressed in the same manner, and with the same decorum. +These four creatures in linen suits, with black cloaks, were positively +imposing, and it was not until Dolorita, the baby, had begun to howl in +her mother's arms, and Ricardo, the three-year old, to tumble on the +floor at her feet, that we could feel we were in the presence of +lawless, spontaneous childhood. Before we departed, Doña Tomasita kindly +placed her whole house, and all her earthly goods at our disposition, +and we, with great moderation, claimed only the right of exit at her +front door.<a name="page_202" id="page_202"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br /><br /> +<small>EDUCATION—LAST NIGHT IN SAN ANTONIO—FAREWELL.</small></h2> + +<p>O<small>NE</small> of our number, visiting the public schools of San Antonio one day, +found the course of studies for boys of very respectable extension,—it +comprised all the usual elementary branches, including the History of +Spain, such a history of that country at least as is good for Cuban boys +to learn. For the education of girls, a single hour was reserved, and +into this were crowded the necessary reading and writing, a little +instruction in accounts, and the geography of the island. My friend +remonstrated against this unequal division of the spoils of time, but +those in authority insisted that it was according to the rights of +Nature, as follows.</p> + +<p><i>American.</i> Do you mean to say that boys should be taught five or six +hours a day, and girls only one?<a name="page_203" id="page_203"></a></p> + +<p><i>Schoolmaster.</i> Certainly.</p> + +<p><i>American.</i> Why do you make this difference?</p> + +<p><i>Schoolmaster.</i> Because women need so much less education than men.</p> + +<p><i>American.</i> Why is that?</p> + +<p><i>Schoolmaster.</i> They have less mind, in the first place, and then their +mode of life demands less cultivation of what they have.</p> + +<p><i>American.</i> What knowledge do you consider necessary for a woman? only +reading and writing, I suppose.</p> + +<p><i>Schoolmaster.</i> Yes, and a little arithmetic. They must fill up the rest +of their time with sewing, and household matters.</p> + +<p><i>American.</i> But supposing you were required to add something to this +small amount of instruction, what would it be?</p> + +<p><i>Schoolmaster</i> (after some reflection). I scarcely know, unless indeed +<i>a slight coloring of Grammar</i>.</p> + +<p>Our American, now excited, brings in view the good of the race. "Do you +not think," he says, "that by elevating the organism of the mothers, you +elevate the intellectual<a name="page_204" id="page_204"></a> chances of the whole race? Stupid mothers will +have stupid sons,—the results of culture are inherited."</p> + +<p>The master replies that that is not his business, but Don Juan, who +happens to be present, being appealed to, assents, and thinks it might +be as well if a mother could have an idea. So far, so good, but a +jealous-hearted woman to whom the conversation was reported smiled to +observe how both American and Cuban made woman subservient to the +interests of the race. "And if she should never be a mother," said this +one, "educate her for herself, that she may give good counsel, and +discern the noble and the beautiful. For women are good to inspire men, +as well as to bear them, and for their own sakes, they have a right to +know all that elevates and dignifies life." And this brings to mind +another brief conversation overheard in one of our voyages.</p> + +<p><i>Young Wife</i> (holding up a number of the "Atlantic Monthly"). Ought +women to learn the alphabet, dear? what do you think?</p> + +<p><i>Young Husband.</i> Oh! certainly—don't they have to teach it?<a name="page_205" id="page_205"></a></p> + +<p>But the time draws nigh for us to leave San Antonio. Our return passages +are engaged in the next Isabel. If this steamer prove such a Bird of +Gladness as the papers and her consignees say, then our once weary +voyage will become a veritable translation,—only three days of +sunshine, smoothness, and turtle-soup for luncheon, and you land in +Charleston in undisturbed equilibrium of manners and of dress. Well, +more of this anon.</p> + +<p>But to-night is our last night in San Antonio. We have danced our last +<i>contra-danza</i> with Dotor Hernandez, and had our last chat with Maria +Luisa and her mother. Juanito was there, that evening, and as we were +all in a musical mood, he played through whole piano-forte arrangements +of "Norma" and "Lucia," and we all screamed through the score, some six +notes too high for the voice, Papa and Mamma applauding us, and did +wonders in "Casta Diva" and "<i>Chi mi frena</i>." But this is all at an end, +and one of us stands alone at her open window, and looks for the last +time on the quiet scene,—just before her is the little pasture where +the goats pick up a<a name="page_206" id="page_206"></a> scanty subsistence all day, and where shadows and +moonlight play such wild freaks at night. This morning, as she sat at +that window and worked, two men in haste carried a coffin past it. She +always sees coffins, and sometimes writes about them,—that one gives +tone to her thoughts to-night. For the house opposite is now dark and +still,—the parlor where Mariquilla embroiders her chemises, and Dolores +pulls lint for the sick is silent and deserted. The trees stand up there +in the moonlight, and the river runs among its shallows so near that one +hears its voice. And Hulita thinks: fifty years from this time—that +river will be running just as it is now, and those trees, or others like +them, will be standing at the angle of the picture as I now see them, +but where shall we, friends of to-day, be? Dead, or old enough to die. +Juanito will be a man in years, then, with white hairs, scarcely +remembering the American lady who praised his compositions in +church-music. The Dotor, Papa, and Mamma cannot be alive, Maria Luisa +will be a Grandmother, and if Hulita lives, her infirmities will make<a name="page_207" id="page_207"></a> +death a welcome deliverance. So she envies that moon, the trees, the +river, who can all stay and be eternal. She saw the coffin to-day,—very +like she will see the whole no more. Good-night, dear moon, dear +shadows, dear unlearned, unsophisticated people,—I shall leave you +to-morrow, forget you never.</p> + +<p>And the next day comes the bustle of departure, and packing of trunks, +for we are to take the afternoon train down to Havana. Doña Tomasita +sends a parting gift of fruit, as much as one man and one stout boy can +carry. The fruit is as follows: one bushel of golden, honeyed +oranges,—oh! the glory of all oranges are those of this island,—the +same quantity of <i>chaimitos</i> and <i>mameys</i>, and a huge fagot of +sugar-cane. We hasten to share these good creatures with those +immediately at hand, having lauded Doña Tomasita to the skies and paid +her messengers. What could be carried away we took with us. Then came +the parting with Polonia, who wrung her hands as usual, and cried out: +"Know thou, girl, that I shall<a name="page_208" id="page_208"></a> miss thee much." "And I thee, too, thou +dear old half-mad charcoal figure,—thou art human, though black, and +canst ache over the ironing-table as well as another. Let these few +reals console thee, as far as may be, for the loss of my sympathy. If we +ever get the Island, I will help thee to ease and good wages.</p> + +<p>"But not so to thee, roguish Antonio. 'Art thou not free and perfidious? +We intrusted a sum of money to thine hand to pay the negro +baggage-carrier, and to slightly fee thyself, and we ascertain all too +late, by the complaints of the injured negro, that thou didst slightly +fee him, and pay thyself for services never rendered. Wherefore dread +our coming, or the Day of Justice, by whomsoever administered!'"——</p> + +<p>We have taken affectionate leave of the family of the house opposite, +promising to write, with the remainder of our mortal lives as the vague +term of fulfilment. A trinket or two made the younger ones happy, while +the whole family solemnly united to bestow on me a little set of +vignettes of Cuba, folded<a name="page_209" id="page_209"></a> fan-fashion, and purchasable for the sum of +five reals. Not without much explanation was it delivered to me,—this +was the Cock-fight, this the Bull-fight, this the Tacon theatre. I +received these instructions without any of that American asperity which +led a celebrated Chief Justice to say: "There are some things, Mr. +Counsel, which the Court is supposed to know," and gratefully departed. +We walked to the <i>dépôt</i>, in the hot afternoon sun, our smaller pieces +conveyed on a barrow, and the huge trunk resting, for fifty cents, on +the head of a stalwart negro.—<i>Mem.</i> A negro could carry the round +earth on his head, if he could only get it there. And here came the +discovery of Antonio's vileness,—he had had an eighth of an ounce, +wherewith to pay the carriers. According to the bargain, as rehearsed to +us, he was to pay them a dollar and three fourths, which would leave him +three reals for himself. He professed to have done this with so +ingenuous an air, that we were a little ashamed of so small a fee, and +added thereto the small remnant of our change. Only at the last<a name="page_210" id="page_210"></a> moment, +when the train was puffing and smoking alongside, did the poor blacks +venture to say that one dollar was very little for carrying all those +trunks. Our hearts were stirred, but the train was there, the purse +empty, and Antonio out of sight. Wherefore, let him, as before said, +avoid our second coming.</p> + +<p>But there never was a departure without an omission. Something you have +forgotten that you meant to take, or you have brought with you something +that should have been left. Wending your way from an English mansion of +splendid hospitality, a stray towel has found its way into your +portmanteau. Before you have discovered this, a confidential letter from +the housekeeper overtakes you informing you of the fact, and begging you +to return the missing article at once, which you do for six stamps, with +a slight tingle in the cheek. In the present instance we have taken +nought that was not ours, but we have left an article of domestic +dignity and importance.</p> + +<p>Stranger, if you should ever sit at that <a name="page_211" id="page_211"></a>tea-table in the hotel at San +Antonio, with the lamp smoking under your nose, and the three tasteless +dishes of preserves spread before your sight, a cup of astringent +nothingness being offered to you, and a choking stale roll forming the +complement of your evening service,—if there and thus you should see a +white teapot, with bands of blue, that looks as if it had seen better +days, oh then remember us! For we had scarcely settled ourselves in the +cars, when a pensive recollection came over us. It was too late to do +anything,—we only touched the shoulder of our friend, who was as usual +intent upon palms and scenery, and remarked, with a look of melancholy +intelligence, "The Teapot is left behind!"<a name="page_212" id="page_212"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /><br /> +<small>SLAVERY—CUBAN SLAVE LAWS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC.</small></h2> + +<p>I<small>T</small> is not with pleasure that we approach this question, sacred to the +pugilism of debate. Nor is it worth while to add one word to the past +infinity of talk about it, unless that word could have the weight of a +new wisdom. We Americans, caught by the revolutionary spirit of the +French, make them too much our models, and run too much to grandiloquent +speech, and fine moral attitudinizing. The attitudes do not move the +world,—the words do not change the intrinsic bearings of things. They +whom we attack, the fight being over, sit down and wipe the dust from +their faces,—we sit and wipe the sweat from ours,—something stronger +than their will or ours passes between us,—it is the great moral +necessity which expresses<a name="page_213" id="page_213"></a> the will of God. We and they are two forces, +pulling in opposite ways to preserve the equilibrium of a third point, +which we do not see. We must keep to our pulling, they cannot relinquish +theirs. The point of solution that shall reconcile and supersede the +differences is not in sight, nor has the wisest of us known how to +indicate it. Meanwhile, the calm satisfaction with which some of us +divide our national moral inheritance, giving them all the vices, and +ourselves all the virtues, is at once mournful and ridiculous. Why are +we New Englanders so <i>naïve</i> as not to see this? When the representative +of a handful of men rises to speak, and, alluding to the progress which +a great question has made in twenty years, says: "This is all our +doing,—behold our work and admire it!" we cannot, but pause and wonder +if merely that irruption of bitter words can have produced so sweet a +fruit. In this view, what becomes of the moral evolution of the ages, of +the slow, sure help of Time, showing new aspects, presenting new +possibilities? What becomes of human<a name="page_214" id="page_214"></a> modesty, which is nearly related +to human justice?</p> + +<p>I preface with these remarks, because, looking down from where I sit, I +cannot curse the pleasant Southern land, nor those who dwell in it. Nor +would I do so if I thought tenfold more ill of its corruptions. Were +half my body gangrened, I would not smite nor reproach it, but seek with +patience an available remedy. This is the half of our body, and the +moral blood which brings the evil runs as much in our veins as in +theirs.</p> + +<p>Looking at realities and their indications, we see a future for the +African race, educated by the enslavement which must gradually +ameliorate, and slowly die out. We see that in countries where the black +men are many, and the white few, the white will one day disappear, and +the black govern. In South Carolina, for example, the tide of emigration +has carried westward the flower of the white population. In Charleston, +all the aristocratic families have their mulatto representatives, who +bear their names. There are Pinckneys, Pringles, Middletons, and so<a name="page_215" id="page_215"></a> on, +of various shades of admixture, living in freedom, and forming a +community by themselves. There are even mulatto representatives of +extinct families, who alone keep from oblivion names which were once +thought honorable. These things are indications of changes which will +work themselves slowly. Noble efforts have hemmed the evil in, and the +great soul of the World watches, we believe, at the borders, and will +not suffer the sad contagion to creep over them into the virgin +territories. But where the Institution sits at home, with its roots +undergrowing the foundations of society, we may be sad, but we must be +patient. The enfranchisement of a race, where it is lasting, is always +accomplished by the slow and solid progress of the race itself. The +stronger people rarely gives Freedom to the weaker as a boon,—when they +are able, they rise up and take it with their own hands. It is an +earning, not a gift, nor can the attributes which make liberty virtual +and valuable be commanded, save under certain moral conditions. A man is +not noble because he is free, but noble<a name="page_216" id="page_216"></a> men constituting a nation +become free. Let the wounds of Africa first be stopped,—let her +lifeblood stay to enrich her own veins. The enslaved population of Cuba +and our own South must, under ordinary circumstances, attain in time a +condition in which Slavery shall be impossible.</p> + +<p>But our business is with what actually exists. We will leave what shall +and should be to the Theorists who invent it, and to God who executes +it, often strangely unmindful of their suggestions.</p> + +<p>The black and white races are, by all accounts, more mingled in Cuba, +than in any part of our own country. People who have long been resident +there assure us that some of the wealthiest and most important families +are of mixed blood. Animadvert upon this as you will, it is nevertheless +certain that it weaves close bonds of affinity between them, and ties of +Nature which, though ignored, cannot be unfelt. I have not seen in Cuba +anything that corresponds to our ideal separation of the two sets of +human beings, living in distinctness one from<a name="page_217" id="page_217"></a> the other, hating and +wronging each other with the fierceness of enemies in the death-grapple. +The Negro cannot be so hated, so despised,—it is not in the nature of +things. His <i>bonhommie</i>, his gentle and attachable nature do not allow +it. Nor can he, in return, so hate. There is a great familiarity between +the children of the two races. They play, and run about, and are petted +together. We made a visit at a Creole house, where the youngest child, a +feeble infant of six months, was suckled by a black nurse. "You must see +the nurse's Baby," they all said, and the little daughter of the house +ran to fetch her, and soon returned, bringing her by one arm, the way in +which their own mothers carry them. She was an uncommonly handsome +infant, scarcely older than her white foster-brother, but greatly in +advance of him in her powers of locomotion. She was, according to +custom, entirely naked, but her shining black skin seemed to clothe her, +and her fine back and perfect limbs showed that she throve in nudity. +She ran about on all fours like some strange creature, so<a name="page_218" id="page_218"></a> swift and +strong was she, and meeting with a chair, pulled herself up by it, and +stood dancing on one foot, holding out the other. The family all +gathered round her, admiring her color and her shape, and the little +girl finally carried her off in triumph, as she had brought her.</p> + +<p>The slave children wear oftenest no clothing until five or six years +old. They look well-fed and healthy, only the prevalence of umbilical +Hernia shows a neglect of proper bandaging at birth,—the same trouble +from the same cause is very observable in the south of Italy. The +increase of the slaves is, of course, an important test of their +treatment,—it is small throughout the Island, and amounts to little +save on the best plantations. There is now a slow improvement in this +respect. The repression of the slave-trade has caused such a rise in the +price of negroes, that it is become better economy to preserve and +transmit their lives than to work them off in eight or ten years, +leaving no posterity to supply their place. Vile as these motives seem, +they are too near akin to the<a name="page_219" id="page_219"></a> general springs of human action for us to +contemn them. Is it otherwise with operatives in England, or with +laborers in Ireland? Emigration lessens their numbers, and raises their +value,—it becomes important to society that they shall be fed and +sustained. One wrong does not excuse another, but where a class of +wrongs is universal, it shows a want of moral power in the race, at +which the individual cannot justly carp.</p> + +<p>Even the race of Coolies, hired at small wages for eight years, and +exploitered for that time with murderous severity, have found a suicidal +remedy that nearly touches their selfish masters. So many of them +emancipated themselves from hard service by voluntary death, that it +became matter of necessity to lighten the weight about their necks, and +to leave them that minimum of well-being which is necessary to keep up +the love of life. The instinct itself is shown to be feeble in the race, +whereas the Negro clings to life under whatever pains and torment. The +Coolies are valued for their superior skill and intelligence, but as men +will<a name="page_220" id="page_220"></a> treat a hired horse worse than a horse of their own, so they were, +until they happily bethought them of killing themselves, more hardly +used than the Negroes. Would that horses in the North had the same +resource. If the wretched beast, harnessed, loaded, and beaten over the +face and head by some greater brute in human shape, could only "his +quietus make" by himself, and be found hanging in his stall, what a +revolution would there be in the ideas of Omnibus-drivers and Carmen! +Self-assassination is, surely, the most available alleviation of +despotism. When Death is no longer terrible to the Enslaved, then let +the Enslaver look to it.</p> + +<p>True, we have heard of horrible places in the interior of the Island, +where the crack of the whip pauses only during four hours in the +twenty-four, where, so to speak, the sugar smells of the blood of the +slaves. We have heard of plantations whereon there are no women, where +the wretched laborers have not the privileges of beasts, but are only +human machines, worked and watched. There, not even the mutilated +semblance of family ties<a name="page_221" id="page_221"></a> and domestic surroundings alleviates the sore +strain upon life and limb. How can human creatures endure, how inflict +this? Let God remember them, as we do in our hearts, with tears and +supplication.</p> + +<p>We have seen too, here and there, fiendish faces which looked as if +cruelty and hardness might be familiar to them. The past history of +Spain shows to what a point that nation can carry insensibility to the +torment of others. Yet the Creoles seem generally an amiable set of +people, enduring from the Spanish government much more than they in turn +inflict on those beneath them. Nor can we believe that even the Spaniard +can be a more dreaded tyrant than the Yankee, where the strong nature of +the latter has been left coarse and uncultured, or brutalized by +indulgence in vice. The nervous energy of his race makes him a worse +demon than the other, while the peaceable and pious traditions of his +youth, turned against him, urge him yet further from the sphere of all +that is Christian.</p> + +<p>The slave laws of Cuba are far more humane than our own. It is only to +be doubted<a name="page_222" id="page_222"></a> whether the magistrates in general are trustworthy in +carrying them out. Still, it is the policy of the Government to favor +the Negroes, and allow them definite existence as a third class, which +would be likely to range with the Government in case of civil war. It is +affirmed and believed by the Cubans that the colonial President has in +his hands orders to loose the slaves throughout the Island, at the first +symptoms of rebellion, that they may turn all their old rancors against +their late masters. The humane clauses of which we speak are the +following:—</p> + +<p>In the first place, every slave is allowed by law to purchase his own +freedom, when he has amassed a sum sufficient for the purchase. He can +moreover compel his master to receive a small sum in part payment, and +then, hiring himself out, can pay the residue from his wages. The law +intervenes also, if desired, to fix the price of the slave, which it +will reduce to the minimum value. Every slave has the right to purchase +his child before birth for the sum of thirty dollars, a fortnight after, +for fifty, and so on, the value<a name="page_223" id="page_223"></a> of course rising rapidly with the age +of the child. Again, a slave who complains of ill-treatment on the part +of his master may demand to be sold to another, and a limited space of +time is allowed, during which he can exert himself to find a purchaser. +These statutes do not seem to contemplate the perpetuity of slavery as +do our own institutions. What a thrill of joy would run through our +Southern and South-Western states, if every slave father and mother had +the power to purchase their own offspring for a sum not altogether +beyond their reach. How would they toil and starve to accumulate that +sum, and how many charitable friends would invest the price of a dress +or shawl in such black jewels, which would be the glory of so many black +mothers. On the other hand, it is to be feared that the ignorance and +poverty of the slaves may, in many places, make the benevolent intention +of these statutes null and void. Official corruption, too, may impede +their operation. In many parts of our own South, superior enlightenment +and a more humane state of public feeling may do something to<a name="page_224" id="page_224"></a> +counterbalance the inferiority of legislation. Still, Americans should +feel a pang in acknowledging that even in the dark article of slave laws +they are surpassed by a nation which they contemn. Slaves are not sold +by public auction, in Cuba, but by private sale. Nor are they subject to +such rudeness and insult as they often receive from the lower whites of +our own Southern cities. The question now rises, whether in case of a +possible future possession of the Island by Americans, the condition of +the blacks would be improved. There is little reason to think so, in any +case, as our own unmitigated despotism would be enforced; but if their +new masters were of the Filibuster type, they might indeed sing with +sorrow the dirge of the Creole occupation, and betake themselves to the +Coolie expedient of obtaining freedom at small cost.</p> + +<p>Not in such familiarity live the Creoles and Spaniards. Here, the +attitudes are sharply defined. Oppression on the one hand and endurance +on the other appear in a tangible form, and the oppression is +conscious,<a name="page_225" id="page_225"></a> and the endurance compulsory. The Spanish race is in the +saddle, and rides the Creole, its derivative, with hands reeking with +plunder. Not content with taxes, customs, and prohibitions, all of which +pass the bounds of robbery, the Home Government looses on the Colony a +set of Officials, who are expected to live by peculation, their salaries +being almost nominal, their perquisites, whatever they can get. All +State-offices are filled by Spaniards, and even Judgeships and +Professorates are generally reserved to them. A man receives an +appointment of which the salary may be a thousand dollars per annum. He +hires at once an expensive house, sets up a <i>volante</i>, dresses his wife +and daughters without economy, lives in short at the rate of ten times +that sum, and retires after some years, with a handsome competency. What +is the secret of all this? Plunder,—twofold plunder, of the +inhabitants, and of the Home Government. And this, from the lowest to +the highest, is the universal rule. We spoke of customs and +prohibitions. Among the first, that on flour seems<a name="page_226" id="page_226"></a> the most monstrous +imposition. No bread-stuffs being raised on the Island, the importation +of them becomes almost a condition of life, yet every barrel of wheaten +flour from the States pays a duty of eight dollars, so that it becomes +cheaper to ship the flour to Spain, and re-ship it thence to Cuba, than +to send it direct from here. Of prohibitions, the most striking is that +laid upon the vine, which flourishes throughout the Island. It may be +cultivated for fruit, but wine must on no account be made from the +grape, lest it should spoil the market for the Spanish wines. Among +taxes, none will astonish Americans more than the stamp-tax, which +requires all merchants, dealers, and bankers to have every page of their +books stamped, at high cost. Of course, no business contracts are valid, +recorded on any other than stamped paper. To these grievances are added +monopolies. All the fish caught on the Island is held at the disposition +of Señor Marti, the <i>Empresario</i> of the Tacon theatre. This man was once +a pirate of formidable character,—after some negotiation with the +Tacon<a name="page_227" id="page_227"></a> Government, he gave up his comrades to justice, receiving in +return his own safety, and the monopoly of the fish-market. The price of +this article of food is therefore kept at twenty-five cents a pound. +These compromises are by no means uncommon. The public Executioner of +Havana is a Negro whose life, once forfeit to the State, was redeemed +only by his consenting to perform this function for life. He is allowed +only the liberty of the Prison. One of our party, visiting that +Institution, found this man apparently on the most amicable terms with +all the inmates. The <i>Garrote</i> being shown, he was asked if it was he +who garroted Lopez, and replied in the affirmative, with a grin. Our +friend inquired of him how many he had garroted: "How can one tell?" he +said, shrugging his shoulders, "so many, so many!" The prisoners chatted +and smoked with him, patting him on the back,—making thus that +discrimination between the man and his office which is at the bottom of +all human institutions. Of the great sums of money received by the +Government through direct and indirect<a name="page_228" id="page_228"></a> taxation, little or nothing +revisits the people in the shape of improvements. The Government does +not make roads, nor establish schools, nor reform criminals, nor stretch +out its strong arm to prevent the offences of ignorant and depraved +youth. The roads, consequently, are few and dangerous,—a great part of +the Island being traversable only on horseback. There is little or no +instruction provided for the children of the poorer classes, and the +prisons are abominable with filth, nakedness, and disorder of every +kind. There is the same espionage, the same power of arbitrary +imprisonment as in Austria, Rome, and Naples, only they have America +near them, and in that neighborhood is fear to some, and hope to others. +The administration of justice would seem to be one of the worst of all +the social plagues that abide in the Island. Nowhere in the world have +people a more wholesome terror of going to law. The Government pays for +no forms of legal procedure, and a man once engaged in a civil or +criminal suit, is at the mercy of Judges and Lawyers who plunder him at<a name="page_229" id="page_229"></a> +will, and without redress. If a man is robbed, the Police come to him at +once with offers of assistance and detection. It is often the case that +he denies and persists in denying the robbery, rather than be involved +in the torment of a suit. Much of what we narrate was common to all the +civilized world, an hundred years ago, but the Cubans do not deserve to +be held under the weight of these ancient abuses. They are not an effete +people, but have something of the spring of the present time in them, +and would gladly march to the measure of the nineteenth century, were it +not for the decrepit Government whose hand has stiffened with their +chains in it. The portrait of the vulgar Queen hangs in nearly every +place of note,—she is generally painted at full length, in a blue +dress. So coarse and weak is her face that one would think those +interested would keep it out of sight, that the abstract idea of royalty +might not be lowered by so unqueenly a representation. But this is +unjust, for what crowned head of the present day is there that has +anything intrinsically august in its aspect?<a name="page_230" id="page_230"></a></p> + +<p>The Cubans, considered in comparison with the Spaniards, form quite as +distinct a people as the Americans, compared with the English. Climate +and the habits of insular life have partly brought about this +difference, but it has also a moral cause,—a separate interest makes a +separate people. The mother-countries that would keep their colonies +unweaned must be good nurses. The intermingling of the black element in +the Creole race is, as I have said, strongly insisted upon by competent +judges,—it is evidently not purely Caucasian, and there seems to be +little reason for supposing that it perpetuates any aboriginal descent. +The complexion, and in some degree the tastes of these people give some +color to the hypothesis of their indebtedness to the African race. The +prevailing color of the Creole is not the clear olive of the Spaniard, +nor the white of the Saxon,—it is an indescribable, clouded hue, +neither fair nor brown. We have seen children at a school who were +decidedly dark, and would have been taken for mulattoes in the +North,—they had straight hair, vivacious<a name="page_231" id="page_231"></a> eyes, and coffee-colored +skins,—those whom we interrogated called them "<i>Criollos</i>" as if the +word had a distinct meaning. We could not ascertain that they were +considered to be of black descent, though the fact seemed patent. In +this school, which we saw at recess only, some of the mischievous boys +amused themselves with dragging their comrades up to us, and saying: +"Señora, this boy is a mulatto." The accused laughed, kicked, and +disclaimed.</p> + +<p>The taste of the Cubans, if judged by the European standard, is bad +taste. They love noisy music,—their architecture consults only the +exigencies of the climate, and does not deserve the name of an art. Of +painting they must have little knowledge, if one may judge by the vile +daubs which deface their walls, and which would hardly pass current in +the poorest New England village. As to dress; although I have whispered +for your good, my lady friends, that the most beautiful summer-dresses +in the world may be bought in Havana, yet the Creole ladies themselves +have in general but glaring and<a name="page_232" id="page_232"></a> barbaric ideas of adornment, and their +<i>volante</i>-toilette would give a Parisienne the ague.</p> + +<p>The Creoles then, as a race, do not incline to plastic art, nor to the +energetic elegancies of life. Theirs is not the nature to grapple with +marble or bronze, or with the more intellectual obstacles of Painting. +One art remains to them, common to all early civilizations, first in +history, first too in rank,—they are Poets. Not only is a facility for +versification common amongst them, but they have some names which the +real halo adorns. Of these, Heredia, Placido, and Milanés are best +known.</p> + +<p>This seems a very natural manifestation in their case. Held in check by +the despotism of the tropical sun, and excluded from social and +political action by the more barbarous despotism of Spain, their minds +are turned inward, and their energies flow in the channel of +contemplation. For Poetry is the freedom of the oppressed,—it is one +voice leaping up where a thousand arms are chained, but the thousand +hear it, and take courage. In the dreamy tropical life, the beautiful +surroundings<a name="page_233" id="page_233"></a> must bear some fruit. Those glorious growths of tree and +flower, those prickly hedges with the sudden glare of a red sword among +them, those inconceivable sunsets and nights without parallel,—these +things must all write themselves upon the sensitive Southern nature, and +the language in which they write themselves is poetry. How far a wider +sphere of action may develop in them more hardy and varied powers is a +question not to be solved in the existing state of things.</p> + +<p>It does not seem likely that the Cubans will ever by their own act +abolish slavery. The indolence and mechanical ineptitude which enter +into their characters will make them always a people to be waited on. +Perhaps no nation, living below a certain parallel, would be capable of +such a deed. The far-off English, in their cool island, could emancipate +the slaves in their own Indies, but the English dwelling among them +would never have relinquished the welcome service; nor is it likely that +the men of our own far South will ever conceive as possible another<a name="page_234" id="page_234"></a> +social <i>status</i> than the present relations between master and slave. +From the North the impulse must come, and however clogged and sanded +with unutterable nonsense of self-gratulation and vituperation of the +brother man, we must welcome it. The enslaved race too, gradually +conquering the finer arts of its masters, will rise up to meet the hand +of deliverance, having in due course of time reached that spiritual +level at which enslavement becomes impossible.</p> + +<p>Sismondi, in the second volume of his Essays, has some sensible remarks +on the farming system as pursued in Tuscany, where the farmer is +employed on long leases, receiving one half the profits of the farm +worked by him. Sismondi sufficiently sets forth the advantages of this +over all other systems of leasing and underletting, as it allows the +husbandman a well-being in direct proportion to the thoroughness and +persistency of his labors. After speaking of the apparent failure of +English emancipation, he ascribes the idleness of the freed blacks to +their entire want of interest in the landed property about them, and +proposes<a name="page_235" id="page_235"></a> associating them in this way to the interests of their +would-be employers. For the world can hardly afford that these people +should merely feed and grovel in the sun, when all the tillage of the +tropics lies fitted to their hand. Nor will it much longer afford, let +us hope, that the human tool shall work without the advantage that +individual will and interest alone can give him. They who thus consent +to use the man without his crowning faculties are like those who would +purchase the watch without the main-spring.</p> + +<p>How all this is to end, doth not yet appear. The abstract principles of +right and wrong we know, but not the processes, nor the duration of +their working out in history. All the white handkerchiefs in Exeter Hall +will not force the general Congress of Nations to decide questions +otherwise than by the laws of convenience and advantage. England as a +power has never lifted a finger nor a breath against Russian serfdom or +Austrian oppression; and the Spanish government she is determined to +uphold in Cuba is reeking with abominations of which she cannot afford +to be cognizant.<a name="page_236" id="page_236"></a></p> + +<p>I know that God has in His power swift miracles of redemption. He can +command the sudden Exodus of a wronged people, and can raise bloody +waves of wrath over the heads of their oppressors. But we cannot call +down these wonders, nor foretell their appointed time. Meantime, the +ram's horn Fantasias which our modern Prophets have so long been +performing against the walls of the southern Jericho do not seem to have +had the Divine commission to overthrow them.</p> + +<p>I feel that any one in the North who gives a mild, perhaps palliative +view of slavery, will be subject to bitter and severe censure. But this +should surely make no difference to us in the sincere and simple +statement of our impressions. Intellectual justice revolts from the +rhetorical strainings, exaggerations, and denaturalizations of facts +which the Partisan continually employs, but which the Philosopher and +Historian must alike reject. Moral justice dissents from the habitual +sneer, denunciation, and malediction, which have become consecrated +forms of piety in speaking of the South. Believe me, in so far as we +allow personal<a name="page_237" id="page_237"></a> temper, spite, or uncharity, place in our treatment of a +holy cause, in so far we do it wrong. Believe me, too, that the actual +alleviations which often temper the greatest social evils should not be +left out of sight, lest an atheistic despair should settle on the minds +of men. The overruling mercy of God is everywhere,—in the North and in +the South it has its work of consolation and of compensation. It +absolves us from no possible reform, from no labor for the amelioration +of the condition of our fellow-men. But as it limits alike the +infliction and endurance of wrong, and sets bounds which the boldest and +wickedest dare not pass, we must not paint the picture of what is, +without it.</p> + +<p>So, with thoughts reverting to the slow and mighty operations in the +World of Nature, which seem to have their counterpart in the World of +Life and Fate,—trusting in the wisdom of the gray-haired centuries, +even when the half-grown ones call them Fool, I finish my Chapter of +philosophizing, somewhat, no doubt, to the relief of my Reader, but very +much more to my own.<a name="page_238" id="page_238"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.<br /><br /> +<small>FAREWELL!</small></h2> + +<p>F<small>AREWELL</small> to Havana! the pleasant time is over. We are to return where we +belong. Not with undue sentimentalism of sorrow, as though it were +greater loss to see beautiful places and forsake them, than to have +staid at Pudding-gut Point, Coxackie, or Martha's Vineyard all one's +life, having beheld and regretted nothing else. When travellers tear +themselves from the maternal bosom of Rome, a pang is inevitable, and +its expression allowable. Even meretricious Paris sometimes harpoons an +honest American heart more deeply than is fit. But there are those, born +and bred amongst us, who return from their foreign travel with +wide-mouthed lamentation over the past enjoyment. Others snippingly +<a name="page_239" id="page_239"></a>accost one with: "I cannot bear your climate,"——. "Strange," I reply, +"since it bore you." We are not so deeply moved at leaving Havana, +though to go to sea is always as unnatural an act as having a tooth +pulled. The green earth reminds us that it is our element, and the +slowly counted palms nod to us: "Remember,—remember!" We indulge +ourselves in a last drive, and take kind farewell of the gay streets, +the Plaza, the Paseo, and the Cerro, with its blue villas and +palm-bordered gardens. Beautiful those gardens are in their own +way,—Nature refusing to be kept down, but excusing her irregularities +by their wild and graceful results. There is Count Fernandino's +garden,—we have not described that, have we? Palms, flowers, +fruit-trees, a marble pavilion with a marble Venus, a bath-house painted +in fresco, paved with fine tiling, and lit through stained glass, an +ethereal trellis and canopy of fairy-like iron-work, painted coral-red, +and hung with vines, whose industry in weaving themselves is almost +perceptible to the eye,—still, shady walks, and evermore palms. We +passed a morning there with some botanical friends, and had much +explained to us that we cannot<a name="page_240" id="page_240"></a> possibly remember. This we did retain, +that there are known on the island sixty varieties of palms, and that +this garden contains at least forty of them.</p> + +<p>And here is Doña Herrera's garden, which we visited one morning, with +our friends of the Cup of Tea, (<i>vide</i> earlier letters). How soft and +dewy was it in the morning light! the flowers had still the dreamy +starlight in them. We ran about like children, admiring at every moment +something new and strange. In the middle of the garden was a fairy lake, +with a little mock steamboat upon it, the paddles being moved by hand. +There were gas fixtures disposed throughout the grounds, which are +lighted on the occasion of a <i>fête champêtre</i>. What a time the young +people must have of it, then! There is an Aviary, too, with the remnant +of a collection of tropical birds, and a small Menagerie, with a fox, a +monkey, and a 'coon. We ask permission to see the house, and our friends +having sent in their good names, Doña Maria walks slowly out to meet us. +She is a plain, elderly woman, short<a name="page_241" id="page_241"></a> and stout, with a pleasant voice +and gentle manners. She has rather a splendid nest, for a bird of such +sober plumage, but all its adornments are in good taste. She shows us +first a cool Banqueting-room, where the table is invitingly laid for her +Ladyship's own breakfast,—it is painted in fresco, and opens on the +garden,—then come the Drawing-rooms, then an exquisite Bedroom hung +with blue, the bed and mosquito-netting being adorned with rich lace, +then a Picture-gallery, which serves as an Oratory, a cabinet in the +wall containing and concealing the altar. Then comes a small room, +adorned by her Ladyship's own hands, with paper flowers and stuffed +birds, lighted by a pretty, tiny glass dome, and then, endless thanks, +good Doña Maria, and farewell forever. For as I love not stuffed birds, +nor paper flowers, no, nor mass neither, it is not likely that I shall +bear your Ladyship company in Heaven, even should both of us get there, +which, while we continue to live and sin, must be considered as +uncertain.</p> + +<p><a name="page_242" id="page_242"></a>Other visions unroll themselves as we review our Havana days and ways. +Our voyage up the spire of the Cathedral, with swimming eyes and dizzy +head. Our friends go bravely through it, and ascend even the last little +rickety wooden staircase, calling back for us as the chimney-sweeper +sings out from the top of the chimney. Where is Hulia? holding on to a +beam with frantic eagerness, deaf to entreaty and encouragement. She is +persuaded at last to relinquish it, and is hoisted, pushed, and dragged +to the top where, opening her unwilling eyes, she seeks the first strong +point of masonry, and hugs it, admiring the view in convulsive +sentences, as occasion demands. The point is tolerably lofty, and the +view extensive, but one loses many of its beauties in looking down from +such an elevation. We must remember this, and not ascribe to St. Simeon +Stylites too great an advantage in the enjoyment of natural scenery. +Then, after the perilous descent, our exploration of the Cathedral +itself, with its shrine of porphyry, and little other adornment,—the +pious thoughtfulness of the Sacristan, who, when we pass the host, tells +us<a name="page_243" id="page_243"></a> that "His Majesty is there," and his look of amazement when we do +not bow or bend the knee at this intelligence. Then, that refreshing +season in the Sacristy, with a graceless young Sub-Deacon, intent upon +extending to us all the hospitalities of the church. "Here is the +incense,"—he burns some of it under our nostrils; "here is the wine for +the Sacrament,—taste of it," and he pours out a tolerable portion, and, +handing it to us to sip, tosses off the residue with a smack. "Here is +the oil and salt for baptism,—you won't like that, but you may taste it +if you choose." And then, he tumbles over all the priest's garments. +"This crimson brocade is for high feasts,—this green for common +occasions,—this black velvet for funerals,—this white scarf is for +marriages." You really begin to regard the Priest as a sort of +chameleon, whose color changes with the spiritual food he lives on. +Rascal-neophyte, you will be as sanctimonious as the priest himself some +day, and as sincere.</p> + +<p>But all this is in the past, and we have got really to our last of +Havana. The last purchases<a name="page_244" id="page_244"></a> have been made; by great economy we have +accomplished a little extravagance. The farewell visits have been +paid,—we have paid also the necessary four dollars for the privilege of +leaving the Island. Copious leave-takings follow, between ourselves and +our long companions at the Hotel,—follow the Bill and servants' +fees,—and then, having been waked after a short night's rest, there +remains no further excuse for our not taking the boat at early morning, +and delivering ourselves into their hands who are to return us to our +native country.</p> + +<p>So, Havana is done with. We are sad and sorry to leave it, but do not +sentimentalize, recalling Sheridan's sensible lines:—</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 0em;">"Oh, matchless excellence! and must we part?</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 0.25em;">Well, if we must, we must, and in that case,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 0.25em;">The less is said, the better."</span></td></tr> +</table> +<p>There is a large party of us known to each other in our late wanderings; +and as we meet on board, we make a tolerable attempt at cheerfulness. +But the thought of the Northern cold lies heavy upon every heart, for +though it is late in March, we know where<a name="page_245" id="page_245"></a> the east wind is now, and +will be for two months to come. We are soon in motion, and, casting a +last look towards our sky-blue hotel, we see some of the Almy-ites +waving flags of truce at us. We seize whatever is at hand, and make the +usual frantic demonstrations. Farewell, Morro Castle! farewell, Isla de +Cuba! We have nothing left us now but the Steamer. This is the Isabel, +greatly be-puffed in the Charleston papers, but rarely praised, one +should think, by those who have been in her. Breakfast is served us in a +cabin without ventilation, where to breathe is disgusting, to eat, +impossible. We explore our state-room,—the thermometer stands at 100° +in it, but the day is hot, and we do not suspect any other reason for +its high temperature. From these dens we emerge as quickly as possible +to the open air, and get ourselves on deck. The Southern seas are always +detestable; and though there is no wind to speak of, it soon gets rough, +and people stiffen in their places, and go to sleep, or go below, and +are never heard of more. Dinner is eaten mostly on the upper deck, but +the demand is<a name="page_246" id="page_246"></a> not large. Iced champagne proves a friend in need. We +reach Key West early in the afternoon. The landing is ugly, and though +we stop an hour or more, we are expressly told "ten minutes," in order +that the Captain may not be bothered with our going on shore. We have +here a last look at the cocoa-palm, which grows along the coast. White +sea-corals are brought for sale; many turtles are taken on board and +laid on their backs, their fins being tied together; also, an invalid in +a chair, in the last stages of decline. The turtles remain, for the +fifty-six hours that follow, helpless and untended. So piteous do they +seem, that one of us suggests "the last sigh of the turtle" as a +commemorative title for the aromatic soup that is to follow.</p> + +<p>And this is all of Key West. On going below at bed-time, our bare feet +find the floor of the state-room scorching hot. On inquiry, we find +ourselves directly over the boiler,—a pleasant situation in an American +steamer. We consider ourselves nearer translation than ever before, and +go to sleep trying to show just reason why we should not<a name="page_247" id="page_247"></a> be blown up, +as better people have been, before morning.</p> + +<p>Next morning—Oh let me here breathe a word of advice to those who +plough the Southern seas. Rise early in the morning, if you mean to rise +at all, for the sea is quietest then, before the wind is up; and if you +are once dressed and on deck, you have a chance. Next morning none were +able to get up who were not up by six o'clock,—for by that time the +day's work was begun, and people only staid and stiffened where they +were. Now do not fear, I have described sea-sickness once and for all; +this paper shall not be nauseous with new details. But for love of the +dear old Karnak, I must show up this pinchbeck Isabel; this dirty, +disorderly floating prison, where no kind care alleviated one's +miseries, and no suitable diet helped one's recovery. On board the +Karnak, Steward, Stewardess, and Captain followed you up with the zeal +of loving-kindness. Here, the hateful black servants flit past you like +a dream. If you try to detain them, they vanish with a grin, and +promising to return, take care<a name="page_248" id="page_248"></a> to avoid you in future. N. B.—I call +them hateful, because of the true American steam-boat breed, smirking, +supercilious, and unserviceable. There, mattresses and cushions were +plentifully supplied, and you might lie on deck, if you could not sit +up. Here, not even a pillow could be brought. You sit all day bolt +upright in a miserable wooden chair, holding your aching head first with +this hand, now with that, and wondering that your suffering body can +hold together so long. There, the log, the daily observation, the +boatswain's whistle, the pleasant bells ringing the hour. Here, no log, +no observation, no boatswain, no bells. There, in a word, comfort and +confidence; here, distrust and disgust. But we drop the parallel.</p> + +<p>To us, that dark day was as a vision of familiar faces, strangely +distorted and discolored, of friends, usually kind and attentive, who +sit grimly around, and looking on one's misery, do not stir to help it. +There is a pillow, ah! if somebody would only lay it under this heavy +head, that cannot be held up by the weary hand any longer. Henry there +is going<a name="page_249" id="page_249"></a> to do it,—he has got the pillow,—no, he puts it under his +own head, regarding me with the glare of a sickly cannibal. One good +creature flings half of her blanket over my shivering knees. I know not +her name, nor her nature, but I know that she is blessed, and worthy of +Paradise. Going below for a moment, I pass through the after-cabin, and +see such a collection of wretches as would furnish forth a Chamber of +Horrors to repletion. With tossed clothes, disordered hair, and wild +eyes, they lie panting for air, which they don't get. We are better off +up-stairs, and I return to my wooden chair and end of a blanket, with +enthusiasm. But the day passes, and at night we are down again in the +state-room over the boiler, with the ports screwed up, and no air to +temper the heat. No matter, our weary skeleton refuses to be kept +upright any more,—we lie and sleep. And at two in the morning, one of +the strong-minded, who could not sleep, arose, and found that the sea +was down, and that the ports might be opened, only that the man who had +charge of them was asleep. Wherefore she<a name="page_250" id="page_250"></a> aroused the slumbering traitor +with the wholesome clarion of a woman's tongue, and he got up and +fumbled about till he found the port-wrench, wherewith he unscrewed all +the ports, and we took heart, and revived. The next day was all smooth +sailing,—we ate our victuals on deck, and were thankful. And that +evening, say at six o'clock, we made the welcome port of Charleston, and +went on shore, hoping never to leave it more.</p> + +<p>Let me not forget to say that at the last moment, when all possibility +of service was over, the faithless blacks came about us, and were full +of hopes that we were better, smiling and lingering very much as if they +expected a fee. But if any of us were weak enough to comply with their +desires, for the honor of human nature suffer me to draw a veil over +such base compliance, and let the World think they got only what they +deserved, which is little enough in any case, and in theirs, nothing.</p> + +<p> +<br /> +</p> + +<p>And now, Reader, if I have one, farewell. The Preacher who speaks even +to one, has<a name="page_251" id="page_251"></a> his congregation before him, but the poor Scribbler is left +to his own illusions, and calls up for himself a gorgeous Public, where +perhaps he has only himself for company. Still, it is safest to imagine +a Public; and having imagined one, I here take a kind leave of it. If +any have followed me along in my travels, and wished me God-speed, I +hereby thank them heartily. If any have treated with discourtesy a true +word here and there which does not tally with their own notions, so much +the worse for them, and for any cause which cannot bear sincerity. And +so, wishing that you might all see the pleasant things I have described, +and thinking that you cannot have been half so weary in reading these +pages as I have been in writing them, I will prolong no further the +sweet sorrow of parting, only God bless you, and Good-bye.</p> + +<p class="c"><small>THE END.</small></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" summary="" +style="border:2px dotted gray;"> +<tr><td align="center">The following changes have been made in the text.<br /> +(note of the etext transcriber)</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">two in the morning, One of the strong-minded,=>two in the morning, one of the strong-minded,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">he looked much inclined to give Somebody else a bad one=>he looked much inclined to give somebody else a bad one</td></tr> +</table> +<hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Trip to Cuba, by Julia Ward Howe + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TRIP TO CUBA *** + +***** This file should be named 38203-h.htm or 38203-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/2/0/38203/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images available at The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: A Trip to Cuba + +Author: Julia Ward Howe + +Release Date: December 3, 2011 [EBook #38203] +[Last updated: March 11, 2013] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TRIP TO CUBA *** + + + + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images available at The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + +A TRIP TO CUBA. + +BY + +MRS. JULIA WARD HOWE. + +BOSTON. + +TICKNOR AND FIELDS. + +M DCCC LX. + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by + +TICKNOR AND FIELDS, + +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of +the District of Massachusetts. + +RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: + +STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY + +H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAP. PAGE + +I. THE DEPARTURE 1 + +II. NASSAU 10 + +III. FROM NASSAU TO CUBA 20 + +IV. THE HARBOR OF HAVANA 30 + +V. HAVANA--THE HOTELS 40 + +VI. HAVANA--YOUR BANKER--OUR CONSUL--THE FRIENDLY CUP OF TEA 48 + +VII. HAVANA--THE JESUIT COLLEGE 57 + +VIII. SAN ANTONIO DE LOS BANOS 66 + +IX. THE MORRO FORTRESS--THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA--THE BENEFICENZA 79 + +X. CAN GRANDE'S DEPARTURE--THE DOMINICA--LOTTERY-TICKETS 94 + +XI. COMPANY AT THE HOTEL--SERVANTS--OUR DRIVE--DON PEPE 111 + +XII. MATANZAS 132 + +XIII. THE PASEO--THE PLAZA--DINING OUT 145 + +XIV. GAME-CHICKENS--DON RODRIGUEZ--DAY ON THE PLANTATION--DEPARTURE 157 + +XV. RETURN TO HAVANA--SAN ANTONIO AGAIN 177 + +XVI. SAN ANTONIO--CHURCH ON SUNDAY--THE NORTHER--THE S. FAMILY 190 + +XVII. EDUCATION--LAST NIGHT IN SAN ANTONIO--FAREWELL 202 + +XVIII. SLAVERY--CUBAN SLAVE LAWS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 212 + +XIX. FAREWELL! 238 + + + + +A TRIP TO CUBA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE DEPARTURE. + + +Why one leaves home at all is a question that travellers are sure, +sooner or later, to ask themselves,--I mean, pleasure-travellers. Home, +where one has the "Transcript" every night, and the "Autocrat" every +month, opera, theatre, circus, and good society, in constant +rotation,--home, where everybody knows us, and the little good there is +to know about us,--finally, home, as seen regretfully for the last time, +with the gushing of long frozen friendships, the priceless kisses of +children, and the last sad look at dear baby's pale face through the +window-pane,--well, all this is left behind, and we review it as a +dream, while the railroad-train hurries us along to the spot where we +are to leave, not only this, but Winter, rude tyrant, with all our +precious hostages in his grasp. Soon the swift motion lulls our brains +into the accustomed muddle. We seem to be dragged along like a miserable +thread pulled through the eye of an everlasting needle,--through and +through, and never through,--while here and there, like painful knots, +the _depots_ stop us, the poor thread is arrested for a minute, and then +the pulling begins again. Or, in another dream, we are like fugitives +threading the gauntlet of the grim forests, while the ice-bound trees +essay a charge of bayonets on either side; but, under the guidance of +our fiery Mercury, we pass them as safely as ancient Priam passed the +outposts of the Greeks,--and New York, hospitable as Achilles, receives +us in its mighty tent. Here we await the "Karnak," the British Mail +Company's new screw-steamer, bound for Havana, _via_ Nassau. At length +comes the welcome order to "be on board." We betake ourselves +thither,--the anchor is weighed, the gun fired, and we take leave of our +native land with a patriotic pang, which soon gives place to severer +spasms. + +I do not know why all celebrated people who write books of travels begin +by describing their days of sea-sickness. Dickens, George Combe, Fanny +Kemble, Mrs. Stowe, Miss Bremer, and many others, have opened in like +manner their valuable remarks on foreign countries. While intending to +avail myself of their privilege and example, I would nevertheless +suggest, for those who may come after me, that the subject of +sea-sickness should be embalmed in science, and enshrined in the crypt +of some modern encyclopaedia, so that future writers should refer to it +only as the Pang Unspeakable, for which _vide_ Ripley and Dana, vol., +page. But, as I have already said, I shall speak of sea-sickness in a +hurried and picturesque manner, as follows:-- + +Who are these that sit by the long dinner-table in the forward cabin, +with a most unusual lack of interest in the bill of fare? Their eyes are +closed, mostly, their cheeks are pale, their lips are quite bloodless, +and to every offer of good cheer, their "No, thank you," is as faintly +uttered as are marriage-vows by maiden lips. Can they be the same that, +an hour ago, were so composed, so jovial, so full of dangerous defiance +to the old man of the sea? The officer who carves the roast-beef offers +at the same time a slice of fat;--this is too much; a panic runs through +the ranks, and the rout is instantaneous and complete. The ghost of what +each man was disappears through the trap-door of his state-room, and the +hell which the theatre faintly pictures behind the scenes begins in good +earnest. + +For to what but to Dante's "Inferno" can we liken this steamboat-cabin, +with its double row of pits, and its dismal captives? What are these +sighs, groans, and despairing noises, but the _alti guai_ rehearsed by +the poet? Its fiends are the stewards who rouse us from our perpetual +torpor with offers of food and praises of shadowy banquets,--"Nice +mutton-chop, Sir? roast-turkey? plate of soup?" Cries of "No, no!" +resound, and the wretched turn again, and groan. The Philanthropist has +lost the movement of the age,--keeled up in an upper berth, convulsively +embracing a blanket, what conservative more immovable than he? The Great +Man of the party refrains from his large theories, which, like the +circles made by the stone thrown into the water, begin somewhere and end +nowhere. As we have said, he expounds himself no more, the significant +forefinger is down, the eye no longer imprisons yours. But if you ask +him how he does, he shakes himself as if, like Farinata,-- + + "avesse l'inferno in gran dispetto,"-- + + "he had a very contemptible opinion of hell." + +Let me not forget to add, that it rains every day, that it blows every +night, and that it rolls through the twenty-four hours till the whole +world seems as if turned bottom upwards, clinging with its nails to +chaos, and fearing to launch away. The Captain comes and says,--"It is +true you have a nasty, short, chopping sea hereabouts; but you see, she +is spinning away down South jolly!" And this is the Gulf-Stream! + +But all things have an end, and most things have two. After the third +day, a new development manifests itself. Various shapeless masses are +carried up-stairs and suffered to fall like snow-flakes on the deck, and +to lie there in shivering heaps. From these larvae gradually emerge +features and voices,--the luncheon-bell at last stirs them with the +thrill of returning life. They look up, they lean up, they exchange +pensive smiles of recognition,--the Steward comes, no fiend this time, +but a ministering angel; and lo! the strong man eats broth, and the weak +woman clamors for pickled oysters. And so ends my description of our +sea-sickness. + +For, as for betraying the confidences of those sad days, as for telling +how wofully untrue Professors of Temperance were to their principles, +how the Apostle of Total Abstinence developed a brandy-flask, not +altogether new, what unsuccessful tipplings were attempted in the +desperation of nausea, and for what lady that stunning brandy-smasher +was mixed,--as for such tales out of school, I would have you know that +I am not the man to tell them. + +Yet a portrait or so lingers in my mental repository;--let me throw them +in, to close off the lot. + +No. 1. A sober Bostonian in the next state-room, whose assiduity with +his sea-sick wife reminds one of Cock-Robin, in the days when he sent +Jenny Wren sops and wine. This person was last seen in a dressing-gown, +square-cut night-cap, and odd slippers, dancing up and down the +state-room floor with a cup of gruel, making wild passes with a spoon at +an individual in a berth, who never got any of the contents. Item, the +gruel, in a moment of excitement, finally ran in a stream upon the +floor, and was wiped up by the Steward. Result not known, but +disappointment is presumable. + +No. 2. A stout lady, imprisoned by a board on a sofa nine inches wide, +called by a facetious friend "The Coffin." She complains that her sides +are tolerably battered in;--we hold our tongues, and think that the +board, too, has had a hard time of it. Yet she is a jolly soul, laughing +at her misfortunes, and chirruping to her baby. Her spirits keep up, +even when her dinner won't keep down. Her favorite expressions are "Good +George!" and "Oh, jolly!" She does not intend, she says, to lay in any +dry goods in Cuba, but means to eat up all the good victuals she comes +across. Though seen at present under unfavorable circumstances, she +inspires confidence as to her final accomplishment of this result. + +No. 3. A woman, said to be of a literary turn of mind, in the +miserablest condition imaginable. Her clothes, flung at her by the +Stewardess seem to have hit in some places, and missed in others. Her +listless hands occasionally make an attempt to keep her draperies +together, and to pull her hat on her head; but though the intention is +evident, she accomplishes little by her motion. She is perpetually being +lugged about by a stout steward, who knocks her head against both sides +of the vessel, folds her up in the gangway, spreads her out on the deck, +and takes her up-stairs, down-stairs, and in my lady's chamber, where, +report says, he feeds her with a spoon, and comforts her with such +philosophy as he is master of. N.B. This woman, upon the first change of +weather, rose like a cork, dressed like a Christian, and toddled about +the deck in the easiest manner, sipping her grog, and cutting sly jokes +upon her late companions in misery,--is supposed by some to have been +an impostor, and, when ill-treated, announced intentions of writing a +book. + +No. 4, my last, is only a sketch;--circumstances allowed no more. Can +Grande, the great dog, has been got up out of the pit, where he worried +the Stewardess and snapped at the friend who tried to pat him on the +head. Everybody asks where he is. "Don't you see that heap of shawls +yonder, lying in the sun, and heated up to about 212 deg. Fahrenheit? That +slouched hat on top marks the spot where his head should lie,--by +treading cautiously in the opposite direction you may discover his feet. +All between is perfectly passive and harmless. His chief food is +pickles,--his only desire is rest. After all these years of controversy, +after all these battles, bravely fought and nobly won, you might write +with truth upon this moveless mound of woollens the pathetic words from +Pere la Chaise:--_Implora Pace_." + +But no more at present, for land is in sight, and in my next you shall +hear how we found it, and what we saw at Nassau. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +NASSAU. + + +Nassau looked very green and pleasant to us after our voyage;--the eyes +enjoy a little fresh provision after so long a course of salt food. The +first view of land is little more than "the feeling of the thing,"--it +is matter of faith, rather than of sight. You are shown a dark and +distant line, near the horizon, without color or features. They say it +is land, and you believe, it. But you come nearer and nearer,--you see +first the green of vegetation, then the form of the trees,--the harbor +at last opens its welcome arms,--the anchor is dropped,--the gun +fired,--the steam snuffed out. Led by a thread of sunshine, you have +walked the labyrinth of the waters, and all their gigantic dangers lie +behind you. + +We made Nassau at twelve o'clock, on the sixth day from our departure, +counting the first as one. The earliest feature discernible was a group +of tall cocoa-nut trees, with which the island is bounteously +feathered;--the second was a group of negroes in a small boat, steering +towards us with open-mouthed and white-toothed wonder. Nothing makes its +simple impression upon the mind sophisticated by education. The negroes, +as they came nearer, suggested only Christy's Minstrels, of whom they +were a tolerably faithful imitation,--while the cocoa-nut trees +transported us to the Boston in Ravel-time, and we strained our eyes to +see the wonderful ape, Jocko, whose pathetic death, nightly repeated, +used to cheat the credulous Bostonians of time, tears, and treasure. +Despite the clumsiest management, the boat soon effected a junction with +our gangway, allowing some nameless official to come on board, and to go +through I know not what mysterious and indispensable formality. Other +boats then came, like a shoal of little fishes around the carcass of a +giant whale. There were many negroes, together with whites of every +grade; and some of our number, leaning over the side, saw for the first +time the raw material out of which Northern Humanitarians have spun so +fine a skein of compassion and sympathy. + +Now we who write, and they for whom we write, are all orthodox upon this +mighty question. We have all made our confession of faith in private and +in public; we all, on suitable occasions, walk up and apply the match to +the keg of gunpowder which is to blow up the Union, but which, somehow, +at the critical moment, fails to ignite. But you must allow us one +heretical whisper,--very small and low. The negro of the North is an +ideal negro; it is the negro refined by white culture, elevated by white +blood, instructed even by white iniquity;--the negro among negroes is a +coarse, grinning, flat-footed, thick-skulled creature, ugly as Caliban, +lazy as the laziest of brutes, chiefly ambitious to be of no use to any +in the world. View him as you will, his stock in trade is small;--he has +but the tangible instincts of all creatures,--love of life, of ease, and +of offspring. For all else, he must go to school to the white race, and +his discipline must be long and laborious. Nassau, and all that we saw +of it, suggested to us the unwelcome question whether compulsory labor +be not better than none. But as a question I gladly leave it, and return +to the simple narration of what befell. + +There was a sort of eddy at the gangway of our steamer, made by the +conflicting tides of those who wanted to come on board and of those who +wanted to go on shore. We were among the number of the latter, but were +stopped and held by the button by one of the former, while those more +impatient or less sympathizing made their way to the small boats which +waited below. The individual in question had come alongside in a +handsome barge, rowed by a dozen stout blacks, in the undress uniform of +the Zouaves. These men, well drilled and disciplined, seemed of a +different sort from the sprawling, screaming creatures in the other +boats, and their bright red caps and white tunics became them well. But +he who now claimed my attention was of British birth and military +profession. His face was ardent, his pantaloons were of white flannel, +his expression of countenance was that of habitual discontent, but with +a twinkle of geniality in the eye which redeemed the Grumbler from the +usual tedium of his tribe. He accosted us as follows:-- + +"Go ashore? What for? To see something, eh? There's nothing to see; the +island, isn't bigger than a nut-shell, and doesn't contain a single +prospect.--Go ashore and get some dinner? There isn't anything to eat +there.--Fruit? None to speak of; sour oranges and green bananas.--I went +to market last Saturday, and bought one cabbage, one banana, and half a +pig's head;--there's a market for you!--Fish? Oh, yes, if you like +it.--Turtle? Yes, you can get the Gallipagos turtle; it makes tolerable +soup, but has not the green fat, which, in _my_ opinion, is the most +important feature in turtle-soup.--Shops? You can't buy a pair of +scissors on the island, nor a baby's bottle;--broke mine the other day, +and tried to replace it; couldn't.--Society? There are lots of people to +call upon you, and bore you to death with returning their visits." + +At last the Major went below, and we broke away, and were duly conveyed +to _terra firma_. It was Sunday, and late in the afternoon. The first +glimpse certainly seemed to confirm the Major's disparaging statements. +The town is small; the houses dingy and out of repair; the legend, that +paint costs nothing, is not received here; and whatever may have been +the original colors of the buildings, the climate has had its own way +with them for many a day. The barracks are superior in finish to +anything else we see. Government-House is a melancholy-looking +_caserne_, surrounded by a piazza, the grounds being adorned with a most +chunky and inhuman statue of Columbus. All the houses are surrounded by +verandas, from which pale children and languid women in muslins look +out, and incline us to ask what epidemic has visited the island and +swept the rose from every cheek. They are a pallid race, the Nassauese, +and retain little of the vigor of their English ancestry. One English +trait they exhibit,--the hospitality which has passed into a proverb; +another, perhaps,--the stanch adherence to the forms and doctrines of +Episcopacy. We enter the principal church;--they are just lighting it +for evening service; it is hung with candles, each burning in a clear +glass shade. The walls and ceiling are white-washed, and contrast +prettily with the dark timbering of the roof. We would gladly have staid +to give thanks for our safe and prosperous voyage, but a black +rain-cloud warns us homeward,--not, however, until we have received a +kind invitation from one of the hospitable Islanders to return the next +morning for a drive and breakfast. + +Returning soon after sunrise to fulfil this promise, we encounter the +barracks, and are tempted to look in and see the Sons of Darkness +performing their evolutions. The morning drill is about half over. We +peep in,--the Colonel, a lean Don Quixote on a leaner Rosinante, dashes +up to us with a weak attempt at a canter; he courteously invites us to +come in and see all that is to be seen, and lo! our friend the Major, +quite gallant in his sword and scarlet jacket, is detailed for our +service. The soldiers are black, and very black,--none of your dubious +American shades, ranging from clear salmon to _cafe au lait_ or even to +_cafe noir_. These are your good, satisfactory, African sables, +warranted not to change in the washing. Their Zouave costume is very +becoming, with the Oriental turban, caftan, and loose trousers; and the +Philosopher of our party remarks that the African requires costume, +implying that the New Englander can stand alone, as can his clothes, in +their black rigidity. The officers are white, and the Major very polite; +he shows us the men, the arms, the kits, the quarters, and, having done +all that he can do for us, relinquishes us with a gallant bow to our +Host of the drive and breakfast. + +The drive does something to retrieve the character of the island. The +road is hard and even, overhung with glossy branches of strange trees +bearing unknown fruits, and studded on each side with pleasant villas +and with negro huts. There are lovely flowers everywhere, among which +the Hibiscus, called South-Sea Rose, and the Oleander, are most +frequent, and most brilliant. We see many tall groves of cocoa-nut, and +cast longing glances towards the fruit, which little negroes, with +surprising activity, attain and shake down. A sudden turn in the road +discloses a lovely view of the bay, with its wonderful green waters, +clear and bright as emerald;--there is a little beach, and boats lie +about, and groups of negroes are laughing and chattering,--quoting +stocks from the last fish-market, very likely. We purchase for half a +dollar a bunch of bananas, for which Ford or Palmer would ask us ten +dollars at least, and go rejoicing to our breakfast. + +Our Host is a physician of the island, English by birth, and retaining +his robust form and color in spite of a twenty-years' residence in the +warm climate. He has a pleasant family of sons and daughters, all in +health, but without a shade of pink in lips or cheeks. The breakfast +consists of excellent fried fish, fine Southern hominy,--not the pebbly +broken corn which our dealers impose under that name,--various hot +cakes, tea and coffee, bananas, sapodillas, and if there be anything +else not included in the present statement, let haste and want of time +excuse the omission. The conversation runs a good deal on the hopes of +increasing prosperity which the new mail-steamer opens to the eyes of +the Nassauese. Invalids, they say, will do better there than in +Cuba,--it is quieter, much cheaper, and the climate is milder. There +will be a hotel very soon, where no attention will be spared, etc., etc. +The Government will afford every facility, etc., etc. It seemed indeed a +friendly little place, with delicious air and sky, and a good, +reasonable, decent, English tone about it. Expenses moderate, ye fathers +of encroaching families. Negroes abundant and natural, ye students of +ethnological possibilities. Officers in red jackets, you young +ladies,--young ones, some of them. Why wouldn't you all try it, +especially as the Captain of the "Karnak" is an excellent sailor, and +the kindest and manliest of conductors? + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +FROM NASSAU TO CUBA. + + +The breakfast being over, we recall the Captain's parting admonition to +be on board by ten o'clock, with the significant gesture and roll of the +eye which clearly express that England expects every passenger to do his +duty. Now we know very well that the "Karnak" is not likely to weigh +anchor before twelve, at the soonest, but we dare not for our lives +disobey the Captain. So, passing by yards filled with the huge Bahama +sponges, piles of wreck-timber, fishing-boats with strange fishes, red, +yellow, blue, and white, and tubs of aldermanic turtle, we attain the +shore, and presently, the steamer. Here we find a large deputation of +the towns-people taking passage with us for a pleasure excursion to +Havana. The greater number are ladies and children. They come fluttering +on board, poor things, like butterflies, in gauzy dresses, hats, and +feathers, according to the custom of their country; one gentleman takes +four little daughters with him for a holiday. We ask ourselves whether +they know what an ugly beast the Gulf-Stream is, that they affront him +in such light armor. "Good heavens! how sick they will be!" we exclaim; +while they eye us askance, in our winter trim, and pronounce us slow, +and old fogies. With all the rashness of youth, they attack the +luncheon-table. So boisterous a popping of corks was never heard in all +our boisterous passage;--there is a chorus, too, of merry tongues and +shrill laughter. But we get fairly out to sea, where the wind, an +adverse one, is waiting for us, and at that gay table there is silence, +followed by a rush and disappearance. The worst cases are hurried out of +sight, and going above, we find the disabled lying in groups about the +deck, the feather-hats discarded, the muslins crumpled, and we, the old +fogies, going to cover the fallen with shawls and blankets, to speak +words of consolation, and to implore the sufferers not to cure +themselves with brandy, soda-water, claret, and wine-bitters, in quick +succession,--which they, nevertheless, do, and consequently are no +better that day, nor the next. + +But I am forgetting to chronicle a touching parting interview with the +Major, the last thing remembered in Nassau, and of course the last to be +forgotten anywhere. Our concluding words might best be recorded in the +form of a catechism of short questions and answers, to wit:-- + +"How long did the Major expect to stay in Nassau?" + +"About six months." + +"How long would he stay, if he had his own way?" + +"Not one!" + +"What did he come for, then?" + +"Oh, you buy into a nigger regiment for promotion." + +These were the most important facts elicited by cross-examination. At +last we shook hands warmly, promising to meet again somewhere, and the +crimson-lined barge with the black Zouaves carried him away. In humbler +equipages depart the many black women who have visited the steamer, some +for amusement, some to sell the beautiful shell-work made on the island. +These may be termed, in general, as ugly a set of wenches as one could +wish not to see. They all wear palm-leaf hats stuck on their heads +without strings or ribbons, and their clothes are so ill-made that you +cannot help thinking that each has borrowed somebody else's dress, until +you see that the ill-fitting garments are the rule, not the exception. + +But neither youth nor sea-sickness lasts forever. The forces of nature +rally on the second day, and the few who have taken no remedies recover +the use of their tongues and some of their faculties. From these I +gather what I shall here impart as + + +SERIOUS VIEWS OF THE BAHAMAS. + +The principal exports of these favored islands are fruits, sponges, +molasses, and sugar. Their imports include most of the necessaries of +life, which come to them oftenest in the form of wrecks, by which they +obtain them at a small fraction of the original cost and value. For this +resource they are indebted to the famous Bahama Banks, which to their +way of thinking are institutions as important as the Bank of England +itself. These banks stand them in a handsome annual income, and +facilitate large discounts and transfers of property not contemplated by +the original possessors. One supposes that somebody must suffer by these +forced sales of large cargoes at prices ruinous to commerce,--but _who_ +suffers is a point not easy to ascertain. There seems to be a good, +comfortable understanding all round. The Owners say, "Go ahead, and +don't bother yourself,--she's insured." The Captain has got his ship +aground in shoal water where she can't sink, and no harm done. The +friendly wreckers are close at hand to haul the cargo ashore. The +Underwriter of the insurance company has shut his eyes and opened his +mouth to receive a plum, which, being a good large one, will not let him +speak. And so the matter providentially comes to pass, and "enterprises +of great pith and moment" oftenest get no further than the Bahamas. + +Nassau produces neither hay nor corn,--these, together with butter, +flour, and tea, being brought chiefly from the United States. Politics, +of course, it has none. As to laws, the colonial system certainly needs +propping up,--for under its action a man may lead so shameless a life of +immorality as to compel his wife to leave him, and yet not be held +responsible for her support and that of the children she has borne him. +The principal points of interest are, first, the garrison,--secondly, +Government-House, with an occasional ball there,--and, third, one's +next-door neighbor, and his or her doings. The principal event in the +memory of the citizens seems to be a certain most desirable wreck, in +consequence of which, a diamond card-case, worth fifteen hundred +dollars, was sold for an eighth part of that sum, and laces, whose +current price ranges from thirty to forty dollars a yard, were purchased +at will for seventy-five cents. That was a wreck worth having! say the +Nassauese. The price of milk ranges from eighteen to twenty-five cents +a quart;--think of that, ye New England housekeepers! That precious +article, the pudding, is nearly unknown in the Nassauese economy; nor is +pie-crust so short as it might be, owing to the enormous price of +butter, which has been known to attain the sum of one dollar per pound. +Eggs are quoted at prices not commendable for large families with small +means. On the other hand, fruits, vegetables, and sugar-cane are +abundant. + +The Nassauese, on the whole, seem to be a kind-hearted and friendly set +of people, partly English, partly Southern in character, but with rather +a predominance of the latter ingredient in their composition. Their +women resemble the women of our own Southern States, but seem simpler +and more domestic in their habits,--while the men would make tolerable +Yankees, but would scarcely support President Buchanan, the Kansas +question, or the Filibustero movement. Physically, the race suffers and +degenerates under the influence of the warm climate. Cases of pulmonary +disease, asthma, and neuralgia are of frequent occurrence, and cold is +considered as curative to them as heat is to us. The diet, too, is not +that "giant ox-beef" which the Saxon race requires. Meat is rare and +tough, unless brought from the States at high cost. We were forced to +the conclusion that no genuine English life can be supported upon a +_regime_ of fish and fruit,--or, in other words, no beef, no Bull, but a +very different sort of John, lantern-jawed, leather-skinned, and of a +thirsty complexion. It occurred to us, furthermore, that it is a +dolorous thing to live on a lonely little island, tied up like a wart on +the face of civilization,--no healthful stream of life coming and going +from the great body of the main land,--the same moral air to be breathed +over and over again, without renewal,--the same social elements turned +and returned in one tiresome kaleidoscope. Wherefore rejoice, ye +Continentals, and be thankful, and visit the Nassauese, bringing beef, +butter, and beauty,--bringing a few French muslins, to replace the +coarse English fabrics, and buxom Irish girls to outwork the idle negro +women,--bringing new books, newspapers, and periodicals,--bringing the +Yankee lecturer, all expenses paid, and his drink found him. All these +good things, and more, the States have for the Nassauese, of whom we +must now take leave, for all hands have been piped on deck. + +We have jolted for three weary days over the roughest of ocean-highways, +and Cuba, nay, Havana, is in sight. The worst cases are up, and begin to +talk about their sea-legs, now that the occasion for them is at an end. +Sobrina, the chief wit of our party, who would eat sour-sop, sapodilla, +orange, banana, cocoa-nut, and sugar-cane at Nassau, and who has lived +upon toddy of twenty-cocktail power ever since,--even she is seen, +clothed and in her right mind, sitting at the feet of the Prophet she +loves, and going through the shawl-and-umbrella exercise. And here is +the Morro Castle, which guards the entrance of the harbor,--here go the +signals, answering to our own. Here comes the man with the +speaking-trumpet, who, understanding no English, yells out to our +captain, who understands no Spanish. The following is a free rendering +of their conversation:-- + +"Any Americans on board?" + +"Yes, thank Heaven, plenty." + +"How many are Filibusteros?" + +"All of them." + +"Bad luck to them, then!" + +"The same to you!" + +"_Caramba_," says the Spaniard. + +"---- ----," says the Englishman. + +And so the forms of diplomacy are fulfilled; and of Havana, more in my +next. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE HARBOR OF HAVANA. + + +As we have said, there were some official mysteries connected with the +arrival of our steamer in Nassau; but these did not compare with the +visitations experienced in Havana. As soon as we had dropped anchor, a +swarm of dark creatures came on board, with gloomy brows, mulish noses, +and suspicious eyes. This application of Spanish flies proves irritating +to the good-natured Captain, and uncomfortable to all of us. All +possible documents are produced for their satisfaction,--bill of lading, +bill of health, and so on. Still they persevere in tormenting the whole +ship's crew, and regard us, when we pass, with all the hatred of race in +their rayless eyes. "Is it a crime," we are disposed to ask, "to have a +fair Saxon skin, blue eyes, and red blood?" Truly, one would seem to +think so; and the first glance at this historical race makes clear to +us the Inquisition, the Conquest of Granada, and the ancient butcheries +of Alva and Pizarro. + +As Havana is an unco uncertain place for accommodations, we do not go on +shore, the first night, but, standing close beside the bulwarks, feel a +benevolent pleasure in seeing our late companions swallowed and carried +off like tidbits by the voracious boatmen below, who squabble first for +them and then with them, and so gradually disappear in the darkness. On +board the "Karnak" harmony reigns serene. The custom-house wretches are +gone, and we are, on the whole, glad we did not murder them. Our little +party enjoys tea and bread-and-butter together for the last time. After +so many mutual experiences of good and evil, the catguts about our tough +old hearts are loosened, and discourse the pleasant music of Friendship. +An hour later, I creep up to the higher deck, to have a look-out +forward, where the sailors are playing leap-frog and dancing +fore-and-afters. I have a genuine love of such common sights, and am +quite absorbed by the good fun before me, when a solemn voice sounds at +my left, and looking round, I perceive Can Grande, who has come up to +explain to me the philosophy of the sailor's dances, and to unfold his +theory of amusements, as far as the narrow area of one little brain +(mine, not his) will permit. His monologue, and its interruptions, ran +very much as follows:-- + +I.--This is a pleasant sight, isn't it? + +_Can Grande._--It has a certain interest, as exhibiting the inborn ideal +tendency of the human race;--no tribe of people so wretched, so poor, or +so infamous as to dispense with amusement, in some form or other. + +_Voice from below._--Play up, Cook! That's but a slow jig ye're fluting +away at. + +_Can Grande._--I went once to the Five Points of New York, with a +police-officer and two philanthropists;--our object was to investigate +that lowest phase of social existence.---- + +Bang, whang, go the wrestlers below, with loud shouts and laughter. I +give them one eye and ear,--Can Grande has me by the other. + +_Can Grande._--I went into one of their miserable dance-saloons. I saw +there the vilest of men and the vilest of women, meeting with the worst +intentions; but even for this they had the fiddle, music and dancing. +Without this little crowning of something higher, their degradation +would have been intolerable to themselves and to each other.---- + +Here the man who gave the back in leap-frog suddenly went down in the +middle of the leap, bringing with him the other who, rolling on the +deck, caught the traitor by the hair, and pommeled him to his heart's +content. I ventured to laugh, and exclaim, "Did you see that?" + +_Can Grande._--Yes; that is very common.--At that dance of death, every +wretched woman had such poor adornment as her circumstances allowed,--a +collar, a tawdry ribbon, a glaring false jewel, her very rags disposed +with the greater decency of the finer sex,--a little effort at beauty, a +sense of it. The good God puts it there;--He does not allow the poorest, +the lowest of his human children the thoughtless indifference of +brutes.---- + +And there was the beautiful tropical sky above, starry, soft, and +velvet-deep,--the placid waters all around, and at my side the Man who +is to speak no more in public, but whose words in private have still the +old thrill, the old power to shake the heart and bring the good thoughts +uppermost. I put my hand in his, and we descended the companion-way +together, and left the foolish sailors to their play. + +But now, on the after-deck, the Captain, entreated and in nowise +unwilling, takes down his violin, and with pleasant touch gives us the +dear old airs, "Home, Sweet Home," "Annie Laurie," and so on, and we +accompany him with voices toned down by the quiet of the scene around. +He plays too, with a musing look, the merry tune to which his little +daughter dances, in the English dancing-school, hundreds of leagues +away. Good-night, at last, and make the most of it. Coolness and quiet +on the water to-night, and heat and mosquitoes, howling of dogs and +chattering of negroes to-morrow night, in Havana. + +The next morning allowed us to accomplish our transit to the desired +land of Havana. We pass the Custom-house, where an official in a cage, +with eyes of most oily sweetness, and tongue, no doubt, to match, +pockets our gold, and imparts in return a governmental permission to +inhabit the island of Cuba for the space of one calendar month. We go +trailing through the market, where we buy peeled oranges, and through +the streets, where we eat them, seen and recognized afar as Yankees by +our hats, bonnets, and other features. We stop at the Cafe Dominica, and +refresh with coffee and buttered rolls, for we have still a drive of +three miles to accomplish before breakfast. All the hotels in Havana are +full, and more than full. Woolcut, of the Cerro, three miles from the +gates, is the only landlord who will take us in; so he seizes us fairly +by the neck, bundles us into an omnibus, swears that his hotel is but +two miles distant, smiles archly when we find the two miles long, brings +us where he wants to have us, the Spaniards in the omnibus puffing and +staring at the ladies all the way. Finally, we arrive at his hotel, glad +to be somewhere, but hot, tired, hungry, and not in raptures with our +first experience of tropical life. + +It must be confessed that our long-tried energies fall somewhat flat on +the quiet of Woolcut's. We look round, and behold one long room with +marble floor, with two large doors, not windows, opening in front upon +the piazza and the street, and other openings into a large court behind, +surrounded by small, dark bedrooms. The large room is furnished with two +dilapidated cane sofas, a few chairs, a small table, and three or four +indifferent prints, which we have ample time to study. For company, we +see a stray New York or Philadelphia family, a superannuated Mexican who +smiles and bows to everybody, and some dozen of those undistinguishable +individuals whom we class together as Yankees, and who, taking the map +from Maine to Georgia, might as well come from one place as another, the +Southerner being as like the Northerner as a dried pea is to a green +pea. The ladies begin to hang their heads, and question a +little:--"What are we to do here? and where is the perfectly delightful +Havana you told us of?" Answer:--"There is nothing whatever to do here, +at this hour of the day, but to undress and go to sleep;--the heat will +not let you stir, the glare will not let you write or read. Go to bed; +dinner is at four; and after that, we will make an effort to find the +Havana of the poetical and Gan Eden people, praying Heaven it may not +have its only existence in their brains." + +Still, the pretty ones do not brighten. They walk up and down, eyeing +askance the quiet boarders who look so contented over their children and +worsted-work, and wondering in what part of the world they have taken +the precaution to leave their souls. Unpacking is then begun, with +rather a flinging of the things about, interspersed with little peppery +hints as to discomfort and dulness, and dejected stage-sighs, intended +for hearing. But this cannot go on,--the thermometer is at 78 deg. in the +shade,--an intense and contagious stillness reigns through the +house,--some good genius waves a bunch of poppies near those little +fretful faces, for which a frown is rather heavy artillery. The balmy +breath of sleep blows off the lightly-traced furrows, and after a dreamy +hour or two all is bright, smooth, and freshly dressed, as a husband +could wish it. The dinner proves not intolerable, and after it we sit on +the piazza. A refreshing breeze springs up, and presently the tide of +the afternoon drive sets in from the city. The _volantes_ dash by, with +silver-studded harnesses, and postilions black and booted; within sit +the pretty Senoritas, in twos and threes. They are attired mostly in +muslins, with bare necks and arms; bonnets they know not,--their heads +are dressed with flowers, or with jewelled pins. Their faces are +whitened, we know, with powder, but in the distance the effect is +pleasing. Their dark eyes are vigilant; they know a lover when they see +him. But there is no twilight in these parts, and the curtain of the +dark falls upon the scene as suddenly as the screen of the theatre upon +the _denouement_ of the tragedy. Then comes a cup of truly infernal +tea, the mastication of a stale roll, with butter, also stale,--then, +more sitting on the piazza,--then, retirement, and a wild hunt after +mosquitoes,--and so ends the first day at Woolcut's, on the Cerro. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +HAVANA. THE HOTELS. + + +"Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn?" Yes, truly, if you can get it, +Jack Falstaff; but it is one thing to pay for comfort, and another thing +to have it. You certainly pay for it, in Havana; for the $3 or $3.50 +_per diem_, which is your simplest hotel-charge there, should, in any +civilized part of the world, give you a creditable apartment, clean +linen, and all reasonable diet. What it does give, the travelling public +may like to learn. + +Can Grande has left Woolcut's. The first dinner did not please him,--the +cup of tea, with only bread, exasperated,--and the second breakfast, +greasy, peppery, and incongruous, finished his disgust; so he asked for +his bill, packed his trunk, called the hotel detestable, and went. + +Now he was right enough in this; the house is detestable;--but as all +houses of entertainment throughout the country are about equally so, it +is scarcely fair to complain of one. I shall not fear to be more +inclusive in my statement, and to affirm that in no part of the world +does one get so little comfort for so much money as on the Island of +Cuba. To wit: an early cup of black coffee, oftenest very bad; bread not +to be had without an extra sputtering of Spanish, and darkening of the +countenance;--to wit, a breakfast between nine and ten, invariably +consisting of fish, rice, beefsteak, fried plantains, salt cod with +tomatoes, stewed tripe and onions, indifferent claret, and an after-cup +of coffee or green tea;--to wit, a dinner at three or four, of which the +inventory varieth not,--to wit, a plate of soup, roast beef, tough +turkeys and chickens, tolerable ham, nameless stews, cayota, plantains, +salad, sweet potatoes; and for dessert, a spoonful each of West India +preserve,--invariably the kind you do not like,--oranges, bananas, and +another cup of coffee;--to wit, tea of the sort already described;--to +wit, attendance and non-attendance of negro and half-breed waiters, who +mostly speak no English, and neither know nor care what you want;--to +wit, a room whose windows, reaching from floor to ceiling, inclose no +glass, and are defended from the public by iron rails, and from the +outer air, at desire, by clumsy wooden shutters, which are closed only +when it rains;--to wit, a bed with a mosquito-netting;--to wit, a towel +and a pint of water, for all ablutions. This is the sum of your comforts +as to quantity; but as to their quality, experience alone can enlighten +you. + +Taking pity on my exile at the Cerro, Can Grande and his party invite me +to come and spend a day at their hotel, of higher reputation, and +situated in the centre of things. I go;--the breakfast, to my surprise, +is just like Woolcut's; the dinner _idem_, but rather harder to get; +preserves for tea, and two towels daily, instead of one, seem to +constitute the chief advantages of this establishment. Domestic linens, +too, are fairer than elsewhere; but when you have got your ideas of +cleanliness down to the Cuban standard, a shade or two either way makes +no material difference. + +Can Grande comes and goes; for stay in the hotel, behind those +prison-gratings, he cannot. He goes to the market and comes back, goes +to the Jesuit College and comes back, goes to the Banker's and gets +money. In his encounters with the sun he is like a prize-fighter coming +up to time. Every round finds him weaker and weaker, still his pluck is +first-rate, and he goes at it again. It is not until three, P. M., that +he wrings out his dripping pocket-handkerchief, slouches his hat over +his brows, and gives in as dead-beat. + +They of the lovely sex meanwhile undergo, with what patience they may, +an Oriental imprisonment. In the public street they must on no account +set foot. The Creole and Spanish women are born and bred to this, and +the hardiest American or English woman will scarcely venture out a +second time without the severe escort of husband or brother. These +relatives are, accordingly, in great demand. In the thrifty North, Man +is considered an incumbrance from breakfast to dinner,--and the sooner +he is fed and got out of the way in the morning, the better the work of +the household goes on. If the master of the house return at an +unseasonable hour, he is held to an excuse, and must prove a headache, +or other suitable indisposition. In Havana, on the contrary, the +American woman suddenly becomes very fond of her husband:--"he must not +leave her at home alone; where does he go? she will go with him; when +will he come back? Remember, now, she will expect him." The secret of +all this is that she cannot go out without him. The other Angel of +deliverance is the _volante_, with its tireless horses and _calesero_, +who seems fitted and screwed to the saddle, which he never leaves. He +does not even turn his head for orders. His senses are in the back of +his head, or wherever his Mistress pleases. "_Jose, Calle de la Muralla, +esquina a los oficios_,"--and the black machine moves on, without look, +word, or sign of intelligence. In New York, your Irish coachman grins +approval of your order; and even an English flunkey may touch his hat +and say, "Yes, Mum." But in the Cuban negro of service, dumbness is the +complement of darkness. You speak, and the patient right hand pulls the +strap that leads the off horse, while the other gathers up the reins of +the nigh, and the horses, their tails tightly braided and deprived of +all movement, seem as mechanical as the driver. Happy are the ladies at +the hotel who have a perpetual _volante_ at their service! for they +dress in their best clothes three times a day, and do not soil them by +contact with the dusty street. They drive before breakfast, and shop +before dinner, and after dinner go to flirt their fans and refresh their +robes on the Paseo, where the fashions drive. At twilight, they stop at +friendly doors and pay visits, or at the entrance of the _cafe_, where +ices are brought out to them. At eight o'clock they go to the Plaza, and +hear the band play, sitting in the _volante_; and at ten they come home +without fatigue, having all day taken excellent care of Number One, +beyond which their arithmetic does not extend. "I and my _volante_" is +like Cardinal Wolsey's "_Ego et Rex meus_." + +As for those who have no _volantes_, modesty becomes them, and +quietness of dress and demeanor. They get a little walk before +breakfast, and stay at home all day, or ride in an omnibus, which is +perhaps worse;--they pay a visit now and then in a hired carriage, the +bargain being made with difficulty;--they look a good deal through the +bars of the windows, and remember the free North, and would, perhaps, +envy the _volante_-commanding women, did not dreadful Moses forbid. + +One alleviation of the tedium of hotel-life in the city is the almost +daily visit of the young man from the dry-goods' shop, who brings +samples of lawns, linen dresses, pina handkerchiefs, and fans of all +prices, from two to seventy-five dollars. The ladies cluster like bees +around these flowery goods, and, after some hours of bargaining, +disputing, and purchasing, the vendor pockets the golden honey, and +marches off. As dressmakers in Havana are scarce, dear, and bad, our +fair friends at the hotel make up these dresses mostly themselves, and +astonish their little world every day by appearing in new attire. "How +extravagant!" you say. They reply, "Oh! it cost nothing for the making; +I made it myself." But we remember to have heard somewhere that "Time is +Money." At four in the afternoon, a negress visits in turn every +bedroom, sweeps out the mosquitoes from the curtains with a +feather-brush, and lets down the mosquito-net, which she tucks in around +the bed. After this, do not meddle with your bed until it is time to get +into it; then put the light away, open the net cautiously, enter with a +dexterous swing, and close up immediately, leaving no smallest opening +to help them after. In this mosquito-net you live, move, and have your +being until morning; and should you venture to pull it aside, even for +an hour, you will appall your friends, next day, with a face which +suggests the early stages of small-pox, or the spotted fever. + +The valuable information I have now communicated is the sum of what I +learned in that one day at Mrs. Almy's; and though our party speedily +removed thither, I doubt whether I shall be able to add to it anything +of importance. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +HAVANA. YOUR BANKER. OUR CONSUL. THE FRIENDLY CUP OF TEA. + + +One is apt to arrive in Havana with a heart elated by the prospect of +such kindnesses and hospitalities as are poetically supposed to be the +perquisite of travellers. You count over your letters as so many +treasures; you regard the unknown houses you pass as places of deposit +for the new acquaintances and delightful friendships which await you. In +England, say you, each of these letters would represent a pleasant +family-mansion thrown open to your view,--a social breakfast,--a dinner +of London wits,--a box at the opera,--or the visit of a Lord, whose +perfect carriage and livery astonish the quiet street in which you +lodge, and whose good taste and good manners should, one thinks, prove +contagious, at once soothing and shaming the fretful Yankee conceit. +But your Cuban letters, like fairy money, soon turn to withered leaves +in your possession, and, having delivered two or three of them, you +employ the others more advantageously, as shaving-paper, or for the +lighting of cigars, or any other useful purpose. + +Your Banker, of course, stands first upon the list,--and to him +accordingly, with a beaming countenance, you present yourself. For him +you have a special letter of recommendation, and however others may +fail, you consider him as sure as the trump of the deal at whist. But +why, alas, should people, who have gone through the necessary +disappointments of life, prepare for themselves others, which may be +avoided? Listen and learn. At the first visit, your Banker is tolerably +glad to see you,--he discounts your modest letter of credit, and pockets +his two and a half _per cent_, with the best grace imaginable. If he +wishes to be very civil, he offers you a seat, offers you a cigar, and +mumbles in an indistinct tone that he will be happy to serve you in any +way. You call again and again, keeping yourself before his favorable +remembrance,--always the same seat, the same cigar, the same desire to +serve you, carefully repressed, and prevented from breaking out into any +overt demonstration of good-will. At last, emboldened by the brilliant +accounts of former tourists and the successes of your friends, you +suggest that you would like to see a plantation,--you only ask for +one,--would he give you a letter, etc., etc.? He assumes an abstracted +air, wonders if he knows anybody who has a plantation,--the fact being +that he scarcely knows anybody who has not one. Finally, he will +try,--call again, and he will let you know. You call again,--"Next +week," he says. You call after that interval,--"Next week," again, is +all you get. Now, if you are a thorough-bred man, you can afford to +quarrel with your Banker; so you say, "Next week,--why not next +year?"--make a very decided snatch at your hat, and wish him a very long +"good-morning." But if you are a Snob and afraid, you take his neglect +quietly enough, and will boast, when you go home, of his polite +attentions to yourself and family, when on the Island of Cuba. + +_Our Consul_ is the next post in the weary journey of your hopes, and to +him, with such assurance as you have left, you now betake yourself. +Touching him personally I have nothing to say. I will only remark, in +general, that the traveller who can find, in any part of the world, an +American Consul not disabled from all service by ill-health, want of +means, ignorance of foreign languages, or unpleasant relations with the +representatives of foreign powers,--that traveller, we say, should go in +search of the sea-serpent, and the passage of the North Pole, for he has +proved himself able to find what, to every one but him, is +undiscoverable. + +But who, setting these aside, is to show you any attention? Who will +lift you from the wayside, and set you upon his own horse, or in his own +_volante_, pouring oil and wine upon your wounded feelings? Ah! the +breed of the good Samaritan is never allowed to become extinct in this +world, where so much is left for it to do. + +A kind and hospitable American family, long resident in Havana, takes us +up at last. They call upon us, and we lift up our heads; they take us +out in their carriage, and we step in with a little familiar flounce, +intended to show that we are used to such things; finally, they invite +us to a friendly cup of tea,--all the hotel knows it,--we have tarried +at home in the shade long enough. Now, people have begun to find us +out,--_we are going out to tea_! + +How pleasant the tea-table was, how good the tea, how more than good the +bread-and-butter and plum-cake, how quaint the house of Spanish +construction, all open to the air, adorned with flowers like a temple, +fresh and fragrant, and with no weary upholstery to sit heavy on the +sight, how genial and prolonged the talk, how reluctant the +separation,--imagine it, ye who sing the songs of home in a strange +land. And ye who cannot imagine, forgo the pleasure, for I shall tell +you no more about it. I will not, I, give names, to make good-natured +people regret the hospitality they have afforded. If they have +entertained unawares angels and correspondents of the press, (I use the +two terms as synonymous,) they shall not be made aware of it by the +sacrifice of their domestic privacy. All celebrated people do this, and +that we do it not answers for our obscurity. + +The cup of tea proves the precursor of many kind services and pleasant +hours. Our new friends assist us to a deal of sight-seeing, and +introduce us to cathedral, college, and garden. We walk out with them at +sunrise and at sunset, and sit under the stately trees, and think it +almost strange to be at home with people of our own race and our own way +of thinking, so far from the home-surroundings. For the gardens, they +may chiefly be described as triumphs of Nature over Art,--our New +England horticulture being, on the contrary, the triumph of Art over +Nature, after a hard-fought battle. Here, the avenues of palm and cocoa +are magnificent, and the flowers new to us, and very brilliant. But +pruning and weeding out are hard tasks for Creole natures, with only +negroes to help them. There is for the most part a great overgrowth and +overrunning of the least desirable elements, a general air of +slovenliness and unthrift. In all artificial arrangements decay seems +imminent, and the want of idea in the laying out of grounds is a +striking feature. In Italian villas, the feeling of the Beautiful, which +has produced a race of artists, is everywhere manifest,--everywhere are +beautiful forms and picturesque effects. Even the ruins of Rome seem to +be held together by this fine bond. No stone dares to drop, no arch to +moulder, but with an exquisite and touching grace. And the weeds, oh! +the weeds that hang their little pennon on the Coliseum, how graciously +do they float, as if they said,--"Breathe softly, lest this crumbling +vision of the Past go down before the rude touch of the modern world!" +And so one treads lightly, and speaks in hushed accents; lest, in the +brilliant Southern noon, one should wake the sleeping heart of Rome to +the agony of her slow extinction. + +But what is all this? We are dreaming of Rome,--and this is Cuba, where +the spirit of Art has never been, and where it could not pass without +sweeping out from houses, churches, gardens, and brains, such trash as +has rarely been seen and endured elsewhere. They show us, for example, +some mutilated statues in the ruins of what is called the Bishop's +Garden. Why, the elements did a righteous work, when they effaced the +outlines of these coarse and trivial shapes, unworthy even the poor +marble on which they were imposed. Turning from these, however, we find +lovely things enough to rebuke this savage mood of criticism. The +palm-trees are unapproachable in beauty,--they stand in rows like Ionic +columns, straight, strong, and regular, with their plumed capitals. They +talk solemnly of the Pyramids and the Desert, whose legends have been +whispered to them by the winds that cross the ocean, freighted with the +thoughts of God. Then, these huge white lilies, deep as goblets, from +which one drinks fragrance, and never exhausts,--these thousand unknown +jewels of the tropics. Here is a large tank, whose waters are covered +with the leaves and flowers of beautiful aquatic plants, whose Latin +names are of no possible consequence to anybody. Here, in the very heart +of the garden, is a rustic lodge, curtained with trailing vines. Birds +in cages are hung about it, and a sweet voice, singing within, tells us +that the lodge is the cage of a yet more costly bird. We stop to listen, +and the branches of the trees seem to droop more closely about us, the +twilight lays its cool, soft touch upon our heated foreheads, and we +whisper,--"Peace to his soul!" as we leave the precincts of the Bishop's +Garden. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +HAVANA--THE JESUIT COLLEGE. + + +The gentlemen of our party go one day to visit the Jesuit College in +Havana, yclept "_Universidad de Belen_." The ladies, weary of dry goods, +manifest some disposition to accompany them. This is at once frowned +down by the unfairer sex, and Can Grande, appealed to by the other side, +shakes his shoulders, and replies, "No, you are only miserable women, +and cannot be admitted into any Jesuit establishment whatever." And so +the male deputation departs with elation, and returns with airs of +superior opportunity, and is more insufferable than ever at dinner, and +thereafter. + +They of the feminine faction, on the other hand, consult with more +direct authorities, and discover that the doors of Belen are in nowise +closed to them, and that everything within those doors is quite at +their disposition, saving and excepting the sleeping-apartments of the +Jesuit fathers,--to which, even in thought, they would on no account +draw near. And so they went and saw Belen, whereof one of them relates +as follows. + +The building is spacious, inclosing a hollow square, and with numerous +galleries, like European cloisters, where the youth walk, study, and +play. We were shown up-stairs, into a pleasant reception-room, where two +priests soon waited on us. One of these, Padre Doyaguez, seemed to be +the decoy-duck of the establishment, and soon fastened upon one of our +party, whose Protestant tone of countenance had probably caught his +attention. Was she a Protestant? Oh, no!--not with that intelligent +physiognomy!--not with that talent! What was her name? Julia (pronounced +_H_ulia). Hulia was a Roman name, a Catholic name; he had never heard of +a Hulia who was a Protestant;--very strange, it seemed to him, that a +Hulia could hold to such unreasonable ideas. The other priest, Padre +Lluc, meanwhile followed with sweet, quiet eyes, whose silent looks had +more persuasion in them than all the innocent cajoleries of the elder +man. Padre Doyaguez was a man eminently qualified to deal with the sex +in general,--a coaxing voice, a pair of vivacious eyes whose cunning was +not unpleasing, tireless good-humor and perseverance, and a savor of +sincerity. Padre Lluc was the sort of man that one recalls in quiet +moments with a throb of sympathy,--the earnest eyes, the clear brow, the +sonorous voice. One thinks of him, and hopes that he is satisfied,--that +cruel longing and more cruel doubt shall never spring up in that +capacious heart, divorcing his affections and convictions from the +system to which his life is irrevocably wedded. No, keep still, Padre +Lluc! think ever as you think now, lest the faith that seems a fortress +should prove a prison, the mother a step-dame,--lest the high, +chivalrous spirit, incapable of a safe desertion, should immolate truth +or itself on the altar of consistency. + +Between those two advocates of Catholicity, Hulia Protestante walks +slowly through the halls of the University. She sees first a Cabinet of +Natural History, including minerals, shells, fossils, and insects, all +well-arranged, and constituting a very respectable beginning. Padre Lluc +says some good words on the importance of scientific education. Padre +Doyaguez laughs at the ladies' hoops, which he calls Malakoffs, as they +crowd through the doorways and among the glass cases; he repeats +occasionally, "_Hulia Protestante?_" in a tone of mock astonishment, and +receives for answer, "_Si, Hulia Protestante_." Then comes a very +creditable array of scientific apparatus,--not of the order employed by +the judges of Galileo,--electric and galvanic batteries, an orrery, and +many things beside. The Library interests us more, with some luxurious +Classics, a superb Dante, and a prison-cage of forbidden works, of which +Padre Lluc certainly has the key. Among these were fine editions of +Rousseau and Voltaire, which appeared to be intended for use; and we +could imagine a solitary student, dark-eyed and pale, exploring their +depths at midnight with a stolen candle, and endeavoring, with +self-torment, to reconcile the intolerance of his doctrine with the +charities of his heart. We imagine such an one lost in the philosophy +and sentiment of the "Nouvelle Heloise," and suddenly summoned by the +convent-bell to the droning of the Mass, the mockery of Holy Water, the +fable of the Real Presence. Such contrasts might be strange and +dangerous. No, no, Padre Lluc! keep these unknown spells from your +heart,--let the forbidden books alone. Instead of the Confessions of +Jean Jacques, read the Confessions of St. Augustine,--read the new book, +in three volumes, on the Immaculate Conception, which you show me with +such ardor, telling me that Can Grande has spoken of it with respect. +Beyond the Fathers you must not get, for you have vowed to be a child +all your life. Those clear eyes of yours are never to look up into the +face of the Eternal Father; the show-box of the Church must content +them, with Mary and the saints seen through its dusty glass,--the august +figure of the Son, who sometimes reproved his Mother, crowded quite out +of sight behind the woman, whom it is so much easier to dress up and +exhibit. What is this other book which Parker has read? Padre Doyaguez +says, "Hulia, if you read this, you must become a Catholic." Padre Lluc +says, "If Parker has read this book, I cannot conceive that he is not a +Catholic." The quick Doyaguez then remarks, "Parker is going to Rome to +join the Romish Church." Padre Lluc rejoins, "They say so." Hulia +Protestante is inclined to cry out, "The day that Parker becomes a +Catholic, I too will become one"; but, remembering the rashness of vows +and the fallibility of men, she does not adopt that form of expressing +_Never_. Parker might, if it pleased God, become a Catholic, and then +the world would have two Popes instead of one. + +We leave at last the disputed ground of the Library and ascend to the +Observatory, which commands a fine view of the city, and a good sweep of +the heavens for the telescope, in which Padre Lluc seemed especially to +delight. The Observatory is commodious, and is chiefly directed by an +attenuated young priest, with a keen eye and hectic cheek; another is +occupied in working out mathematical tables;--for these Fathers observe +the stars, and are in scientific correspondence with Astronomers in +Europe. This circumstance gave us real pleasure on their account,--for +science, in all its degrees, is a positive good, and a mental tonic of +the first importance. Earnestly did we, in thought, commend it to those +wearied minds which have undergone the dialectic dislocations, the +denaturalizations of truth and of thought, which enable rational men to +become first Catholics, and then Jesuits. For let there be no illusions +about strength of mind and so on,--this is effected by means of a vast +machinery. As, in the old story, the calves were put in at one end of +the cylinder and taken out leather breeches at the other, or as glass is +cut and wood carved, so does the raw human material, put into the +machine of the Catholic Church, become fashioned according to the will +of those who guide it. Hulia Protestante! you have a free step and a +clear head; but once go into the machine, and you will come out carved +and embossed according to the old traditional pattern,--you as well as +another. Where the material is hard, they put on more power,--where it +is soft, more care; wherefore I caution you here, as I would in a mill +at Lowell or Lawrence,--Don't meddle with the shafts,--don't go too near +the wheel,--in short, keep clear of the machinery. And Hulia does so; +for, at the last attack of Padre Doyaguez, she suddenly turns upon him +and says, "Sir, you are a Doctrinary and a Propagandist." And the good +Father suffers her to depart in peace. But first there is the chapel to +be seen, with its tawdry and poor ornamentation,--and the dormitories of +the scholars, with long double rows of beds and mosquito-nettings. There +are two of these, and each of them has at one end a raised platform, +with curtains and a bed, where rests and watches the shepherd of the +little sheep. Lastly, we have a view of the whole flock, assembled in +their play-ground, and one of them, looking up, sees his mother, who has +kindly accompanied our visit to the institution. Across the distance +that separates us, we see his blue eyes brighten, and, as soon as +permission is given, he bounds like a young roe to her arms, shy and +tender, his English blood showing through his Spanish skin,--for he is a +child of mixed race. We are all pleased and touched, and Padre Lluc +presently brings us a daguerreotype, and says, "It is my mother." To us +it is an indifferent portrait of an elderly Spanish woman,--but to him, +how much! With kindest mutual regard we take leave,--a little surprised, +perhaps, to see that Jesuit priests have mothers, and remember them. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +SAN ANTONIO DE LOS BANOS. + + "Far from my thoughts, vain world, begone!" + + +However enchanting Havana may prove when seen through the moonlight of +memory, it seems as good a place to go away from as any other, after a +stifling night in a net, the wooden shutters left open in the remote +hope of air, and admitting the music of a whole opera-troupe of dogs, +including Bass, Tenor, Soprano, and Chorus. Instead of bouquets, you +throw stones, if you are so fortunate as to have them,--if not, +boot-jacks, oranges, your only umbrella. You are last seen thrusting +frantic hands and feet through the iron bars, your wife holding you back +by the flannel night-gown which you will persist in wearing in this +doubtful climate. At last it is over,--the fifth act ends with a howl +which makes you hope that some one of the performers has come to grief. +But, alas! it is only a stage _denouement_, whose hero will die again +every night while the season lasts. You fall asleep, but the welcome +cordial has scarcely been tasted when you are aroused by a knock at the +door. It is the night-porter, who wakes you at five by appointment, that +you may enjoy your early coffee, tumble into a hired _volante_, and +reach, half dead with sleep, the station in time for the train that goes +to San Antonio. + +Now, whether you are a partisan of early rising or not, you must allow +that sunrise and the hour after is the golden time of the day in Cuba. +So this hour of starting,--six o'clock,--so distasteful in our +latitudes, is a matter of course in tropical climates. Arriving at the +station, you encounter new tribulations in the registering and payment +of luggage, the transportation of which is not included in the charge +for your ticket. Your trunks are recorded in a book, and, having paid a +_real_ apiece for them, you receive a paper which entitles you to demand +them again at your journey's end. The Cuban railways are good, but +dear,--the charge being ten cents a mile; whereas in our more favored +land one goes for three cents, and has the chance of a collision and +surgeon's services without any extra payment. The cars have windows +which are always open, and blinds which are always closed, or nearly so. +The seats and backs of seats are of cane, for coolness,--hardness being +secured at the same time. One reaches San Antonio in an hour and a half, +and finds a pleasant village, with a river running through it, several +streets of good houses, several more of bad ones, a cathedral, a +cockpit, a _volante_, four soldiers on horseback, two on foot, a market, +dogs, a bad smell, and lastly, the American Hotel,--a house built in a +hollow square, as usual,--kept by a strong-minded woman from the States, +whose Yankee thrift is unmistakable, though she has been long absent +from the great centres of domestic economy. + +Mrs. L----, always on the watch for arrivals, comes out to receive us. +We are very welcome, she hints, as far as we go; but why are there not +more of us? The smallest favors should be thankfully received, but she +hears that Havana is full of strangers, and she wonders, for her part, +why people will stay in that hot place, and roast, and stew, and have +the yellow fever, when she could make them so comfortable in San +Antonio. This want of custom she continues, during our whole visit, to +complain of. Would it be uncharitable for us to aver that we found other +wants in her establishment which caused us more astonishment, and which +went some way towards accounting for the deficiency complained of? wants +of breakfast, wants of dinner, wants of something good for tea, wants of +towels, wants of candles, wants of ice, or at least of the cooling jars +used in the country. Charges exorbitant,--the same as in Havana, where +rents are an ounce a week, and upwards; _volantes_ difficult,--Mrs. L. +having made an agreement with the one livery-stable that they shall +always be furnished at most unreasonable prices, of which she, +supposably, pockets half. On the other hand, the village is really cool, +healthy, and pretty; there are pleasant drives over dreadful roads, if +one makes up one's mind to the _volante_, and delightful river-baths, +shaded by roofs of palm-tree thatch. One of the best of these is at the +foot of Mrs. L.'s inclosure, and its use is included in the privileges +of the house. The water is nearly tepid, clear, and green, and the +little fish float hither and thither in it,--though men of active minds +are sometimes reduced to angle for them, with crooked pins, for +amusement. At the hour of one, daily, the ladies of the house betake +themselves to this refreshment; and there is laughing, and splashing, +and holding of hands, and simulation of all the Venuses that ever were, +from the crouching one of the bath, to the triumphant Cytherea, +springing for the first time from the wave. + +Such are the resources of the house. Those of the neighborhood are +various. Foremost among them is the _cafetal_, or coffee-plantation, of +Don Juan Torres, distant a league from the village, over which league of +stone, sand, and rut you rumble in a _volante_ dragged by three horses. +You know that the _volante_ cannot upset; nevertheless you experience +some anxious moments when it leans at an obtuse angle, one wheel in +air, one sticking in a hole, the horses balking and kicking, and the +postilion swearing his best. But it is written, the _volante_ shall not +upset,--and so it does not. Long before you see the entrance to the +plantation, you watch the tall palms, planted in a line, that shield its +borders. An avenue of like growth leads you to the house, where barking +dogs announce you, and Don Juan, an elderly gentleman in slippers and a +Panama hat, his hair, face, and eyes all faded to one hue of grayness, +comes out to accost us. Here, again, Hulia Protestante becomes the +subject of a series of attacks, in a new kind. Don Juan first exhausts +his flower-garden upon her, and explains all that is new to her. Then +she must see his blind Chino, a sightless Samson of a Cooly, who is +working resolutely in a mill. "_Canta!_" says the master, and the poor +slave gives tongue like a hound on the scent. "_Baila!_" and, a stick +being handed him, he performs the gymnastics of his country, a sort of +war-dance without accompaniment. "_El can!_" and, giving him a broom, +they loose the dog upon him. A curious tussle then ensues,--the dog +attacking furiously, and the blind man, guided by his barking, defending +himself lustily. The Chino laughs, the master laughs, but the visitor +feels more inclined to cry, having been bred in those Northern habits +which respect infirmity. A _real_ dismisses the poor soul with a smile, +and then begins the journey round the _cafetal_. The coffee-blossom is +just in its perfection, and whole acres in sight are white with its +flower, which nearly resembles that of the small white jasmine. Its +fragrance is said to be delicious after a rain; but, the season being +dry, it is scarcely discernible. As shade is a great object in growing +coffee, the grounds are laid out in lines of fruit-trees, and these are +the ministers of Hulia's tribulation; for Don Juan, whether in kindness +or in mischief, insists that she shall taste every unknown fruit,--and +as he cuts them and hands them to her, she is forced to obey. First, a +little negro shins up a cocoa-nut tree, and flings down the nut, whose +water she must drink. One cocoa-nut she endures,--two,--but three? no, +she must rebel, and cry out, "_No mi gusta!_" Then she must try a +bitter orange, then a sour bitter one, then a sweet lemon, then a huge +fruit of triple verjuice flavor. "What is it good for?" she asks, after +a shuddering plunge into its acrid depths. "Oh," says the Don, "they eat +it in the castors instead of vinegar." Then come _sapotas_, _mamey_, +Otaheite gooseberries. "Does she like bananas?" he cuts a tree down with +his own hand, and sends the bunch of fruit to her _volante_;--"Sugar-cane?" +he bestows a huge bundle of sticks for her leisurely rodentation;--he +fills her pocket with coral beans for her children. Having, at last, +exhausted every polite attention, and vainly offered gin, rum, and +coffee, as a parting demonstration, Hulia and her partner escape, +bearing with them many strange flavors, and an agonizing headache, the +combined result of sun and acids. Really, if there exist anywhere on +earth a Society for the promotion and encouragement of good manners, it +should send a diploma to Don Juan, admonishing him only to omit the +vinegar-fruit in his further walks of hospitality. + +We take the Sunday to visit the nearest Sugar-plantation, belonging to +Don Jacinto Gonzales. Sun, not shade, being the desideratum in +sugar-planting, there are few trees or shrubs bordering the +sugar-fields, which resemble at a distance our own fields of Indian +corn, the green of the leaves being lighter, and a pale blue blossom +appearing here and there. The points of interest here are the machinery, +the negroes, and the work. Entering the sugar-house, we find the +_Maquinista_ (engineer) superintending some repairs in the machinery, +aided by another white man, a Cooly, and an imp of a black boy, who +begged of all the party, and revenged himself with clever impertinence +on those who refused him. The _Maquinista_ was a fine-looking man, from +the Pyrenees, very kind and obliging. He told us that Don Jacinto was +very old, and came rarely to the plantation. We asked him how the +extreme heat of his occupation suited him, and for an answer he opened +the bosom of his shirt, and showed us the marks of innumerable leeches. +The machinery is not very complicated. It consists of a wheel and band, +to throw the canes under the powerful rollers which crush them, and +these rollers, three in number, all moved by the steam-engine. The juice +flows into large copper caldrons, where it is boiled and skimmed. As +they were not at work, we did not see the actual process. Leaving the +sugar-house, we went in pursuit of the _Mayoral_, or Overseer, who +seemed to inhabit comfortable quarters, in a long, low house, shielded +from the sun by a thick screen of matting. We found him a powerful, +thick-set man, of surly and uncivil manners, girded with a sword, and +further armed with a pistol, a dagger, and a stout whip. He was much too +important a person to waste his words upon us, but signified that the +major-domo would wait on us, which he presently did. We now entered the +Negro quarter, a solid range of low buildings, formed around a hollow +square, whose strong entrance is closed at nightfall, and its inmates +kept in strict confinement till the morning hour of work comes round. +Just within the doorway we encountered the trader, who visits the +plantations every Sunday, to tempt the stray cash of the negroes by +various commodities, of which the chief seemed to be white bread, +calicoes, muslins, and bright cotton handkerchiefs. He told us that +their usual weekly expenditure amounted to about twenty-five dollars. +Bargaining with him stood the Negro-Driver, a tattooed African, armed +with a whip. All within the court swarmed the black bees of the +hive,--the men with little clothing, the small children naked, the women +decent. All had their little charcoal fires, with pots boiling over +them; the rooms within looked dismally dark, close, and dirty; there are +no windows, no air and light save through the ever-open door. The beds +are sometimes partitioned off by a screen of dried palm-leaf, but I saw +no better sleeping-privilege than a board with a blanket or coverlet. +From this we turned to the Nursery, where all the children incapable of +work are kept. The babies are quite naked, and sometimes very handsome +in their way, black and shining, with bright eyes and well-formed limbs. +No great provision is made for their amusement, but the little girls +nurse them tenderly enough, and now and then the elders fling them a +bit of orange or _chaimito_, for which they scramble like so many +monkeys. Appeals are constantly made to the pockets of visitors, by open +hands stretched out in all directions. To these "_Nada_"--"Nothing"--is +the safe reply; for, if you give to one, the others close about you with +frantic gesticulation, and you have to break your way through them with +some violence, which hurts your own feelings more than it does theirs. +On _strict_ plantations this is not allowed; but Don Jacinto, like Lord +Ashburton at the time of the Maine treaty, is an old man,--a very old +man; and where discipline cannot be maintained, peace must be secured on +any terms. We visit next the Sugar-house, where we find the desired +condiment in various stages of color and refinement. It is whitened with +clay in large funnel-shaped vessels, open at the bottom, to allow the +molasses to run off. Above are hogsheads of coarse, dark sugar; below is +a huge pit of fermenting molasses, in which rats and small negroes +occasionally commit involuntary suicide, and from which rum is +made.--N. B. Rum is not a wicked word in Cuba; in Boston everybody is +shocked when it is named, and in Cuba nobody is shocked when it is +drunk. + +And here endeth the description of our visit to the sugar-plantation of +Don Jacinto, and in good time, too,--for by this it had grown so hot, +that we made a feeble rush for the _volante_, and lay back in it, +panting for breath. Encountering a negress with a load of oranges on her +head, we bought and ate the fruit with eagerness, though the oranges +were bitter. The jolting over three miles of stone and rut did not +improve the condition of our aching heads. Arriving at San Antonio, we +thankfully went to bed for the rest of the morning, and dreamed, only +dreamed, that the saucy black boy in the boiling-house had run after us, +had lifted the curtain of the _volante_, screeched a last impertinence +after us, and kissed his hand for a good-bye, which, luckily for him, is +likely to prove eternal. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE MORRO FORTRESS--THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA--THE BENEFICENZA. + + +The Spanish government experiences an unwillingness to admit foreigners +into the Morro, their great stronghold, the causes of which may not be +altogether mysterious. Americans have been of late especially excluded +from it, and it was only by a fortunate chance that we were allowed to +visit it. A friend of a friend of ours happened to have a friend in the +garrison, and, after some delays and negotiations, an early morning hour +was fixed upon for the expedition. + +The Fort is finely placed at the entrance of the harbor, and is in +itself a picturesque object. It is built of a light, yellowish stone, +which is seen, as you draw near, in strong contrast with the vivid green +of the tropical waters. We approached it by water, taking a row-boat +from the Alameda. As we passed, we had a good view of a daily Havana +spectacle, the washing of the horses. This being by far the easiest and +most expeditious way of cleaning the animals, they are driven daily to +the sea in great numbers, those of one party being tied together; they +disport themselves in the surge and their wet backs glisten in the sun. +Their drivers, nearly naked, plunge in with them, and bring them safely +back to the shore. + +But for the Morro. We entered without difficulty, and began at once a +somewhat steep ascent, which the heat, even at that early hour, made +laborious. After some climbing, we reached the top of the parapet, and +looked out from the back of the Fortress. On this side, if ever on any, +it will be taken,--for, standing with one's back to the harbor, one +sees, nearly on the right hand, a point where trenches could be opened +with advantage. The Fort is heavily gunned and garrisoned, and seems to +be in fighting order. The outer wall is separated from the inner by a +paved space some forty feet in width. The height of both walls makes +this point a formidable one; but scaling-ladders could be thrown across, +if one had possession of the outer wall. The material is the coralline +rock common in this part of the island. It is a soft stone, and would +prove, it is feared, something like the cotton-bag defence of New +Orleans memory,--as the balls thrown from without would sink in, and not +splinter the stone, which for the murderous work were to be wished. A +little perseverance, with much perspiration, brought us to a high point +called the Lantern, which is merely a small room, where the telescope, +signal-books, and signals are kept. Here we were received by an official +in blue spectacles and with a hole in his boot, but still with that air +of being the chiefest thing on God's earth common to all Spaniards. The +best of all was that we had brought a sack of oranges with us, and that +the time was now come for their employment. With no other artillery than +these did we take the very heart of the Morro citadel,--for on offering +them to the official with the hole, he surrendered at once, smiled, gave +us seats, and sitting down with us, indeed, was soon in the midst of +his half-dozenth orange. Having refreshed ourselves, examined the flags +of all nations, and made all the remarks which our limited Spanish +allowed, we took leave, redescended, and reembarked. One of our party, +an old soldier, had meanwhile been busily scanning the points and angles +of the fortress, pacing off distances, etc., etc. The result of his +observations would, no doubt, be valuable to men of military minds. But +the writer of this, to be candid, was especially engaged with the heat, +the prospect, the oranges, and the soldiers' wives and children, who +peeped out from windows here and there. Such trifling creatures do come +into such massive surroundings, and trifle still! + +Our ladies, being still in a furious mood of sight-seeing, desired to +visit the University of Havana, and, having made appointment with an +accomplished Cuban, betook themselves to the College buildings with all +proper escort. Their arrival in the peristyle occasioned some +excitement. One of the students came up, and said in good English, "What +do you want?" Others, not so polite, stared and whispered in corners. A +message to one of the professors was attended with some delay, and our +Cuban friend, having gone to consult with him, returned to say, with +some embarrassment, that the professor would be happy to show the +establishment to the ladies on Sunday, at two P. M., when every male +creature but himself would be out of it; but as for their going through +the rooms while the undergraduates were about, that was not to be +thought of. "Why not?" asked the ladies. "For your own sake," said the +messenger, and proceeded to explain that the appearance of the _skirted_ +in these halls of learning would be followed by such ill-conduct and +indignity of impertinence on the part of the _shirted_ as might be +intolerable to the one and disadvantageous to the other. Now there be +women, we know, whose horrid fronts could have awed these saucy little +Cubans into decency and good behavior, and some that we wot of, whether +possessing that power or not, would have delighted in the fancied +exercise of it. What strong-minded company, under these circumstances, +would have turned back? What bolting, tramping, and rushing would they +not have made through the ranks of the astonished professors and +students? The Anniversary set, for example, who sweep the pews of men, +or, coming upon one forlorn, crush him as a boa does a sheep. Our silly +little flock only laughed, colored, and retreated to the _volantes_, +where they held a council of war, and decided to go visit some +establishment where possibly better manners might prevail. + +Returning on the Sunday at the hour appointed, they walked through the +deserted building, and found spacious rooms, the pulpits of the +professors, the benches of the students, the Queen's portrait, a very +limited library, and for all consolation, some pleasant Latin sentences +over the doors of the various departments, celebrating the solace and +delights of learning. This was seeing the College, literally; but it was +a good deal like seeing the Lion's den, the Lion himself being absent on +leave,--or like visiting the Hippopotamus in Regent's Park on those days +in which he remains steadfastly buried in his tank, and will show only +the tip of a nostril for your entrance-fee. Still, it was a pleasure to +know that learning was so handsomely housed; and as for the little +rabble who could not be trusted in the presence of the sex, we forgave +them heartily, knowing that soberer manners would one day come upon them +as inevitably as baldness and paternity. + +Let me here say that a few days in Havana make clear to one the +seclusion of women in the East, and its causes. Wherever the animal +vigor of men is so large in proportion to their moral power as in those +countries, women must be glad to forego their liberties for the +protection of the strong arm. One master is better for them than many. +Whatever tyranny may grow out of such barbarous manners, the institution +springs from a veritable necessity and an original good intention. The +Christian religion should change this, which is justifiable only in a +Mohammedan country. But where that religion is so loosely administered +as in Cuba, where its teachers themselves frequent the cockpit and the +gaming-table, one must not look for too much of its power in the +manners and morals of men. + +The Beneficenza was our next station. It is, as its name signifies, an +institution with a benevolent purpose, an orphan asylum and foundling +hospital in one. The State here charitably considers that infants who +are abandoned by their parents are as much orphaned as they can become +by the interposition of death,--nay, more. The death of parents oftenest +leaves a child with some friend or relative; but the foundling is cut +off from all human relationship,--he belongs only to the hand that takes +him up, where he has been left to die. Despite the kind cruelty of +modern theories, which will not allow of suitable provision for the +sufferer, for fear of increasing the frequency of the crime by which he +suffers, our hearts revolt at the miserable condition of these little +creatures in our great cities, confounded with hopeless pauperism in its +desolate asylums, or farmed out to starve and die. They belong to the +State, and the State should nobly retrieve the world's offence against +them. Their broken galaxy shows many a bright star here and there. Such +a little wailing creature has been found who has commanded great actions +and done good service among men. Let us then cherish the race of +foundlings, of whom Moses was the first and the greatest. The princess +who reared him saw not the glorious destiny which lay hid, as a +birth-jewel, in his little basket of reeds. She saw only, as some of us +have seen, a helpless, friendless babe. When he dedicated to her his +first edition of the Pentateuch---- But nay, he did not; for neither +gratitude nor dedications were in fashion among the Jews. + +We found the Beneficenza spacious, well-ventilated, and administered +with great order. It stands near the sea, with a fine prospect in view, +and must command a cool breeze, if there be any. The children enjoy +sea-bathing in summer. The Superintendent received us most kindly, and +presented us to the Sisters who have charge of the children, who were +good specimens of their class. We walked with them through the neat +dormitories, and observed that they were much more airy than those of +the Jesuit College, lately described. They all slept on the sackings of +cots, beds being provided only in the infirmary. In the latter place we +found but two inmates,--one suffering from ordinary Cuban fever, the +other from ophthalmia.--N. B. Disease of the eyes does not seem to be +common in Cuba, in spite of the tropical glare of the sun; nor do people +nurse and complain of their eyes there, as with us. We found a separate +small kitchen for the sick, which was neat and convenient. The larger +kitchen too was handsomely endowed with apparatus, and the +Superintendent told us, with a twinkle in his eye, that the children +lived well. Coffee at six, a good breakfast at nine, dinner at the usual +hour, bread and coffee before bed-time;--this seemed very suitable as to +quantity, though differing from our ideas of children's food; but it +must be remembered that the nervous stimulus of coffee is not found to +be excessive in hot climates; it seems to be only what Nature +demands,--no more. The kind Nun who accompanied us now showed us, with +some pride, various large presses set in the wall, and piled to the top +with clean and comfortable children's clothing. We came presently to +where the boys were reciting their catechism. An Ecclesiastic was +hearing them;--they seemed ready enough with their answers, but were +allowed to gabble off the holy words in a manner almost unintelligible, +and quite indecorous. They were bright, healthy-looking little fellows, +ranging apparently from eight to twelve years of age. They had good +play-ground set off for them, and shady galleries to walk up and down +in. Coming from their quarter, the girls' department seemed quiet +enough. Here was going on the eternal task of needle-work, to which the +sex has been condemned ever since Adam's discovery of his want of +wardrobe. Oh, ye wretched, foolish women! why will ye forever sew? "We +must not only sew, but be thankful to sew; _that little needle_ being, +as the sentimental Curtis has said, the only thing between us and the +worst that may befall." + +These incipient women were engaged in various forms of sewing,--the most +skilful in a sort of embroidery, like that which forms the border of +_pina_ handkerchiefs. A few were reading and spelling. One poor blind +girl sat amongst them, with melancholy arms folded, and learned +nothing,--they told us, nothing; for the instruction of the blind is not +thought of in these parts. This seemed piteous to us, and made us +reflect how happy are _our_ Blinds, to say nothing of our Deafs and +Dumbs. Idiocy is not uncommon here, and is the result of continual +intermarriage between near relations; but it will be long before they +will provide it with a separate asylum and suitable instruction. + +But now came the saddest part of the whole exhibition,--a sight common +enough in Europe, but by some accident hitherto unseen by us. Here is a +sort of receptacle, with three or four compartments, which turns on a +pivot. One side of it is open to the street, and in it the wretched +parent lays the more wretched baby,--ringing a small bell at the same +time, for the new admittance. The parent vanishes, the receptacle turns +on its pivot,--the baby is within, and, we are willing to believe, in +merciful hands. + +The sight of this made, for the first time, the crime real to me. I saw +at a flash the whole tragedy of desertion,--the cautious approach, the +frightened countenance, the furtive act, and the great avenging pang of +Nature after its consummation. What was Hester Prynne's pillory, +compared to the heart of any of these mothers? I thought too of +Rousseau, bringing to such a place as this children who had the right to +inherit divine genius, and deserting them for the sordid reason that he +did not choose to earn their bread;--the helpless mother weeping at +home, and begging, through long years, to be allowed to seek and reclaim +them. + +Well, here were the little creatures kindly cared for; yet what a +piteous place was their nursery! Some of the recent arrivals looked as +if ill-usage had been exhausted upon them before they were brought +hither. Blows and drugs and starvation had been tried upon them, but, +with the tenacity of infancy, they clung to life. They would not +die;--well then, they should live to regret it. Some of them lay on the +floor, deformed and helpless; the older ones formed a little class, and +were going through some elementary exercise when we passed. The babies +had a large room allotted to them, and I found the wet-nurses +apportioned one to each child. This appeared a very generous provision, +as in such establishments elsewhere, three and even four children are +given to one nurse. They had comfortable cribs, on each of which was +pinned the name of its little inmate, and the date of its +entrance;--generally, the name and age of the child are found written on +a slip of paper attached to its clothing, when it is left in the +receptacle. I saw on one, "Cecilio, three weeks old." He had been but a +few days in the establishment. + +Of course, I lingered longest in the babies' room, and longest of all +near the crib of the little Cecilio. He was a pretty baby, and seemed to +me the most ill-used of all, because the youngest. "Could they not bear +with you three weeks, little fellow?" I said. "I know those at whose +firesides such as you would have been welcome guests. That New York +woman whom I met lately, young, rich, and childless,--I could commend +you to her in place of the snarling little spaniel fiend who was her +constant care and companion." + +But here the Superintendent made a polite bow, saying,--"And now your +Worships have seen all; for the chapel is undergoing repairs, and cannot +be visited." And so we thanked, and departed. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +CAN GRANDE'S DEPARTURE.--THE DOMINICA.--LOTTERY-TICKETS. + + +I have not told you how Can Grande took leave of the Isle of Rogues, as +one of our party christened the fair Queen of the Antilles. I could not +tell you how he loathed the goings on at Havana, how hateful he found +the Spaniards, and how villanous the American hotel-keepers. His +superlatives of censure were in such constant employment that they began +to have a threadbare sound before he left us; and as he has it in +prospective to run the gauntlet of all the innkeepers on the continent +of Europe, to say nothing of further lands, where innkeepers would be a +relief, there is no knowing what exhaustion his powers in this sort may +undergo before he reaches us again. He may break down into weak, +compliant good-nature, and never be able to abuse anybody again, as +long as he lives. In that case, his past life and his future, taken +together, will make a very respectable average. But the climate really +did not suit him, the company did not satisfy, and there came a moment +when he said, "I can bear it no longer!" and we answered, "Go in peace!" + +It now becomes me to speak of Sobrina, who has long been on a temperance +footing, and who forgets even to blush when the former toddy is +mentioned, though she still shudders at the remembrance of sour-sop. She +is the business-man of the party; and while philosophy and highest +considerations occupy the others, with an occasional squabble over +virtue and the rights of man, she changes lodgings, hires carts, +transports luggage, and, knowing half-a-dozen words of Spanish, makes +herself clearly comprehensible to everybody. "We have found a Spanish +steamer for Can Grande;" but she rows thither in a boat and secures his +passage and state-room. The noontide sun is hot upon the waters, but her +zeal is hotter still. Now she has made a curious bargain with her +boatmen, by which they are to convey the whole party to the steamer on +the fourth day. + +"What did you tell them?" we asked. + +"I said, _tres noches_ (three nights) and _un dia_, (one day,) and then +took out my watch and showed them five o'clock on it, and pointed to the +boat and to myself. They understood perfectly." + +And so, in truth, they did; for, going to the wharf on the day and at +the hour appointed, we found the boatmen in waiting, with eager faces. +But here a new difficulty presented itself;--the runner of our hotel, a +German whose Cuban life has sharpened his wits and blunted his +conscience, insisted that the hiring of boats for the lodgers was one of +his (many) perquisites, and that before his sovereign prerogative all +other agreements were null and void.--N. B. There was always something +experimentative about this man's wickedness. He felt that he did not +know how far men might be gulled, or the point where they would be +likely to resist. This was a fault of youth. With increasing years and +experience he will grow bolder and more skilful, and bids fair, we +should say, to become one of the most dexterous operators known in his +peculiar line. On the present occasion he did not heed the piteous +pleadings of the disappointed boatmen, nor Sobrina's explanations, nor +Can Grande's arguments. But when the whole five of us fixed upon him our +mild and scornful eyes, something within him gave way. He felt a little +bit of the moral pressure of Boston, and feebly broke down, saying, "You +better do as you like, then," and so the point was carried. + +A pleasant row brought us to the side of the steamer. It was dusk +already as we ascended her steep gangway, and from that to darkness +there is, at this season, but the interval of a breath. Dusk too were +our thoughts, at parting from Can Grande, the mighty, the vehement, the +great fighter. How were we to miss his deep music, here and at home! +With his assistance we had made a very respectable band; now we were to +be only a wandering drum and fife,--the fife particularly shrill, and +the drum particularly solemn. Well, we went below, and examined the +little den where Can Grande was to pass the other seven days of his +tropical voyaging. The berths were arranged the wrong way,--across, not +along, the vessel,--and we foresaw that his head would go up and his +feet down, and _vice versa_, with every movement of the steamer, and our +weak brains reeled at the bare thought of what he was to suffer. He, +good soul, meanwhile was thinking of his supper, and wondering if he +could get tea, coffee, and chocolate, a toasted roll, and the touch of +cold ham which an invalid loves. And we beheld, and they were bringing +up the side of the vessel trays of delicious pastry, and festoons of +fowls, with more literal butcher's meat. And we said, "There will be no +famine on board. Make the most of your supper, Can Grande; for it will +be the last of earth to you, for some time to come." And now came +silence, and tears, and last embraces; we slipped down the gangway into +our little craft, and looking up, saw bending above us, between the +slouched hat and the silver beard, the eyes that we can never forget, +that seemed to drop back in the darkness with the solemnity of a last +farewell. We went home, and the drum hung himself gloomily on his peg, +and the little fife _shut up_ for the remainder of the evening. + +Has Mr. Dana described the Dominica, I wonder? Well, if he has, I cannot +help it. He never can have eaten so many ices there as I have, nor +passed so many patient hours amid the screeching, chattering, and +devouring, which make it most like a cage of strange birds, or the +monkey department in the Jardin des Plantes.--_Mem._ I always observed +that the monkeys just mentioned seemed far more mirthful than their +brethren in the London Zoological Gardens. They form themselves, so to +speak, on a livelier model, and feel themselves more at home with their +hosts. + +But the Dominica. You know, probably, that it is the great _cafe_ of +Havana. All the day long it is full of people of all nations, sipping +ices, chocolate, and so on; and all night long, also, up to the to me +very questionable hour when its patrons go home and its _garcons_ go to +bed. We often found it a welcome refuge at noon, when the _douche_ of +sunlight on one's _cervix_ bewilders the faculties, and confuses one's +principles of gravitation, toleration, etc., etc. You enter from the +Tophet of the street, and the intolerable glare is at once softened to a +sort of golden shadow. The floor is of stone; in the midst trickles a +tiny fountain with gilded network; all other available space is crowded +with marble tables, square or round; and they in turn are scarcely +visible for the swarm of black-coats that gather round them. The smoke +of innumerable cigars gives a Rembrandtic tinge to the depths of the +picture, and the rows and groups of nodding Panama hats are like very +dull flower-beds. In the company, of course, the Spanish-Cuban element +largely predominates; yet here and there the sharper English breaks upon +the ear. + +"Yes, I went to that plantation; but they have only one thousand boxes +of sugar, and we want three thousand for our operation." + +A Yankee, you say. Yes, certainly; and turning, you see the tall, strong +Philadelphian from our hotel, who calls for everything by its right +name, and always says, "_Mas! mas!_" when the waiter helps him to ice. +Some one near us is speaking a fuller English, with a richer "_r_" and +deeper intonation. See there! that is our own jolly captain, Brownless +of ours, the King of the "Karnak"; and going up to the British lion, we +shake the noble beast heartily by the paw. + +The people about us are imbibing a variety of cooling liquids. Our turn +comes at last. The _garcon_ who says, "I speke Aingliss," brings us each +a delicious orange _granizada_, a sort of half-frozen water-ice, +familiar to Italy, but unknown in America. It is ice in the first +enthusiasm of freezing,--condensed, not hardened. Promoting its +liquefaction with the spoon, you enjoy it through the mediation of a +straw. The unskilful make strange noises and gurglings through this +_tenuis avena_; but to those who have not forgotten the accomplishment +of suction, as acquired at an early period of existence, the _modus in +quo_ is easy and agreeable. + +You will hardly weary of watching the groups that come and go, and sit +and talk in this dreamy place. If you are a lady, every black eye +directs its full, tiresome stare at your face, no matter how plain that +face may be. But you have learned before this to consider those eyes as +so many black dots, so many marks of wonder with no sentence attached; +and so you coolly pursue your philosophizing in your corner, strong in +the support of a companion who, though deeply humanitarian and peaceful, +would not hesitate to punch any number of Spanish heads that should be +necessary for the maintenance of your comfort and his dignity. + +The scene is occasionally varied by the appearance of a beggar-woman, +got up in great decency, and with a wonderful air of pinched and faded +gentility. She wears an old shawl upon her head, but it is as nicely +folded as an aristocratic mantilla; her feet are cased in the linen +slippers worn by the poorer classes, but there are no unsavory rags and +dirt about her. "That good walk of yours, friend," I thought, "does not +look like starvation." Yet, if ever there were a moment when one's heart +should soften towards an imposing fellow-creature, it is when one is in +the midst of the orange _granizada_. The beggar circles slowly and +mournfully round all the marble tables in turn, holding out her hand to +each, as the plate is offered at a church collection. She is not +importunate; but looking in each one's face, seems to divine whether he +will give or no. A Yankee, sitting with a Spaniard, offers her his +cigar. The Spaniard gravely pushes the cigar away, and gives her a +_medio_. + +More pertinacious is the seller of lottery-tickets, male or female, who +has more at stake, and must run the risk of your displeasure for the +chance of your custom. Even in your bed you are hardly safe from the +ticket-vender. You stand at your window, and he, waiting in the street, +perceives you, and with nods, winks, and showing of his wares endeavors +to establish a communication with you. Or you stop and wait somewhere in +your _volante_, and in the twinkling of an eye the wretch is at your +side, to bear you company till you drive off again. At the Dominica he +is especially persevering, and stands and waits with as much zeal as if +he knew the saintly line of Milton. Like the beggar, however, he is +discriminative in the choice of his victims, and persecutes the stony +Yankee less than the oily Spaniard, whose inbred superstitions force him +to believe in luck. + +Very strange stories do they tell about the trade in +lottery-tickets,--strange at least to us, who consider them the folly of +follies. Here, as in Italy, the lotteries are under the care of the +State, and their administration is as careful and important as that of +any other branch of finance. They are a regular and even reputable mode +of investment. The wealthy commercial houses all own tickets, sometimes +keeping the same number for years, but more frequently changing after +each unsuccessful experiment. A French gentleman in Havana assured me +that his tickets had already cost him seven thousand dollars. "And now," +said he, "I cannot withdraw, for I cannot lose what I have already paid. +The number has not been up once in eight years; its turn must come soon. +If I were to sell my ticket, some one would be sure to draw the great +prize with it the week after." This, perhaps, is not very unlike the +calculations of business risks most in vogue in our great cities. A +single ticket costs an ounce (seventeen dollars); but you are constantly +offered fractions, to an eighth or a sixteenth. There are ticket-brokers +who accommodate the poorer classes with interests to the amount of ten +cents, and so on. Thus, for them, the lottery replaces the savings-bank, +with entire uncertainty of any return, and the demoralizing process of +expectation thrown into the bargain. The negroes invest a good deal of +money in this way, and we heard in Matanzas a curious anecdote on this +head. A number of negroes, putting their means together, had +commissioned a ticket-broker to purchase and hold for them a certain +ticket. After long waiting and paying up, news came to Matanzas that the +ticket had drawn the $100,000 prize. The owners of the negroes were in +despair at this intelligence. "Now my cook will buy himself," says one; +"my _calesero_ will be free," says another; and so on. The poor slaves +ran, of course, in great agitation, to get their money. But, lo! the +office was shut up. The rascal broker had absconded. He had never run +the risk of purchasing the ticket; but had coolly appropriated this and +similar investments to his own use, preferring the bird in the hand to +the whole aviary of possibilities. He was never heard of more; but +should he ever turn up anywhere, I commend him as the fittest subject +for Lynch-law on record. + +Well, as I have told you, all these golden chances wait for you at the +Dominica, and many Americans buy, and look very foolish when they +acknowledge it. The Nassauese all bought largely during their short +stay; and even their little children held up with exultation their +fragments of tickets, all good for something, and bad for something, +too. + +If you visit the Dominica in the evening, you find the same crowd, only +with a sprinkling of women, oftenest of your own country, in audacious +bonnets, and with voices and laughter which bring the black eyes upon +them for a time. If it be Sunday evening, you will see here and there +groups of ladies in full ball-dress, fresh from the Paseo, the _volante_ +waiting for them outside. All is then at its gayest and busiest; but +your favorite waiter, with disappointment in his eyes, will tell you +that there is "_no mas_" of your favorite _granizada_, and will persuade +you to take I know not what nauseous substitute in its place; for all +ices are not good at the Dominica, and some are (excuse the word) nasty. +People sit and sip, prolonging their pleasures with dilatory spoon and +indefatigable tongue. Group follows group; but the Spaniards are what I +should call heavy sitters, and tarry long over their ice or chocolate. +The waiter invariably brings to every table a chafing-dish with a +burning coal, which will light a cigar long after its outer glow has +subsided into ashy white. Some humans retain this kindling +power;--_vide_ Ninon and the ancient Goethe;--it is the heart of fire, +not the flame of beauty, that does it. When one goes home, tired, at ten +or eleven, the company shows no sign of thinning, nor does one imagine +how the ground is ever cleared, so as to allow an interval of sleep +between the last ice at night and the first coffee in the morning. It is +the universal _siesta_ which makes the Cubans so bright and fresh in the +evening. With all this, their habits are sober, and the evening +refreshment always light. No suppers are eaten here; and it is even held +dangerous to take fruit as late as eight o'clock, P. M. + +The Dominica has still another aspect to you, when you go there in the +character of a Citizen and Head of family to order West India sweetmeats +for home-consumption. You utter the magic word _dulces_, and are shown +with respect into the establishment across the way, where a neat +steam-engine is in full operation, tended by blacks and whites, stripped +above the waist, and with no superfluous clothing below it. Here they +grind the chocolate, and make the famous preserves, of which a list is +shown you, with prices affixed. As you will probably lose some minutes +in perplexity as to which are best for you to order, let me tell you +that the guava jelly and marmalade are first among them, and there is no +second. You may throw in a little pine-apple, mamey, lime, and +cocoa-plum; but the guava is the thing, and, in case of a long run on +the tea-table, will give the most effectual support. The limes used to +be famous in our youth; but in these days they make them hard and tough. +The marmalade of bitter oranges is one of the most useful of Southern +preserves; but I do not remember it on the list of the Dominica. Having +given your order, let me further advise you to remain, if practicable, +and see it fulfilled; as you will otherwise find divers trifling +discrepancies between the bill and the goods delivered, which, though of +course purely accidental, will all be, somehow, to the Dominica's +advantage, and not to yours. If you are in moderate circumstances, order +eight or ten dollars' worth; if affluent, twenty or thirty dollars' +worth; if rash and extravagant, you may rise even to sixty dollars; but +you will find in such an outlay food for repentance. One word in your +ear: do not buy the syrups, for they are made with very bad sugar, and +have no savor of the fruits they represent. + +And this is all I can tell about the Dominica, which I recommend to all +of you for refreshment and amusement. We have nothing like it in New +York or Boston,--our _salons_ of the same description having in them +much more to eat, and much less to see. As I look back upon it, the +place assumes a deeply Moorish aspect. I see the fountain, the golden +light, the dark faces, and intense black eyes, a little softened by the +comforting distance. Oh! to sit there for one hour, and help the +_garcon's_ bad English, and be pestered by the beggar, and tormented by +the ticket-vender, and support the battery of the wondering looks, which +make it sin for you, a woman, to be abroad by day! Is there any +Purgatory which does not grow lovely as you remember it? Would not a man +be hanged twice, if he could? + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +COMPANY AT THE HOTEL.--SERVANTS.--OUR DRIVE.--DON PEPE. + + +I do not mean to give portraits of the individuals at our hotel. My +chance acquaintance with them confers on me no right to appropriate +their several characteristics for my own convenience and the diversion +of the public. I will give only such general sketches as one may make of +a public body at a respectful distance, marking no features that can fix +or offend. + +Our company is almost entirely composed of two classes,--invalids and +men of business, with or without their families. The former are easily +recognizable by their sad eyes and pallid countenances; even the hectic +of disease does not deceive you,--it has no affinity to the rose of +health. There is the cough, too,--the cruel cough that would not be +left at the North, that breaks out through all the smothering by day, +and shakes the weak frame with uneasy rocking by night. + +The men of business are apt to name their firm, when they introduce +themselves to you. + +"My name is Norval, Sir,--Norval, Grampian, & Company. I suppose you +know the firm." + +"We do not, indeed; but we murmur, in return, that we have an Uncle or a +Cousin in business, who may, very likely, know it. + +"What is your Uncle's firm?" will be the next question. + +"Philpots Brothers." + +"Excellent people,--we have often done business with them. Happy to make +your acquaintance, Sir." + +And so, the first preliminaries being established, and each party +assured of the other's solvency, we glide easily into a relation of chat +and kind little mutualities which causes the periods of contact to pass +smoothly enough. + +We found among these some manly, straightforward fellows, to whom one +would confide one's fortunes, or even one's widow and orphans, with +small fear of any flaw in their trustworthiness. Nor was the more +slippery class, we judged, without its representatives; but of this we +had only hints, not experience. There were various day-boarders, who +frequented our table only, and lodged elsewhere. A few of these were +decorous Spaniards, who did not stare, nor talk, nor gobble their meals +with unbecoming vivacity of appetite. They were obviously staid +business-men, differing widely in character from the street Spaniard, +whom I have already copiously described. Some were Germans, thinned by +the climate, and sharpened up to the true Yankee point of competition; +very little smack of Father-land was left about them,--no song, no +sentimentality, not much quivering of the heart-strings at remembrance +of the old folks at home, whom some of them have not seen in twenty +years, and will never see again. To be sure, in such a hard life as +theirs, with no social surroundings, and grim Death meeting them at +every corner, there is nothing for it but to be as hard and tough as +one's circumstances. But give me rather the German heart in the little +old German village, with the small earnings and spendings, the narrow +sphere of life and experience, and the great vintage of geniality which +is laid up from youth to age, and handed down with the old wine from +father to son. I don't like your cosmopolitan German any better than I +do your Englishman done to death with travel. I prize the home-flavor in +all the races that are capable of home. There are very many Germans +scattered throughout Cuba, in various departments of business. They are +generally successful, and make very good Yankees, in the technical +acceptation of the word. Their original soundness of constitution +enables them to resist the climate better than Americans, and though +they lose flesh and color, they rarely give that evidence of a +disordered liver which foreign residents in tropical countries are so +apt to show. + +The ladies at the hotel were all our own countrywomen, as we see them at +home and abroad. I have already spoken of their diligence in sewing, and +of their enthusiasm in shopping. Their other distinctive features are +too familiar to us to require illustration. Yet upon one trait I will +adventure. A group of them sat peaceably together, one day, when a file +of newspapers arrived, with full details of a horrible Washington +scandal, and the murder consequent upon it. Now I must say that no swarm +of bees ever settled upon a bed of roses more eagerly than our fair +sisters pounced upon the carrion of that foul and dreadful tale. It flew +from hand to hand and from mouth to mouth, as if it had been glad +tidings of great joy,--and the universal judgment upon it caused our +heart to shudder with the remembrance that we had heard some one +somewhere propose that female offenders should be tried by a jury of +their own sex. + +It was a real comfort, a few days later, to hear this sad subject +discussed by a circle of intelligent Englishwomen, with good sense and +good feeling, and with true appreciation of the twofold crime, the +domestic treason and the public assassination. In passing, I must say of +this English circle that it is charming, and that the Britannic Consul +has the key of it in his pocket. Wherefore, if any of you, my friends, +would desire to know four of the most charming women in Havana, he is to +lay hold upon Mr. Consul Crawford, and compel him to become his friend. + +Mr. Dana recounts his shopping in Havana, whereof the beginning and +ending were one dress, white and blue, which he commendably purchased +for his wife. But does Dana know what he had to be thankful for, in +getting off with one dress? Tell him, ye patient husbands, whose pockets +seem to be made like lemons, only to be squeezed! Tell him, ye insatiate +ones, who have new wants and new ideas every day! Dana's dress was, +probably, an _holan batista_, which he calls "_Bolan_";--it was, in +other words, a figured linen cambric. But you have bought those cambrics +by the piece, and also _pinas_, thin, gossamer fabrics, of all degrees +of color and beauty, sometimes with _pattern flounces_,--do you hear? +And you have bought Spanish table-cloths with red or blue edges, with +bull-fights on them, and balloon-ascensions, and platoons of soldiery in +review, and with bull-fighting and ballooning napkins to match. And you +have secured such bales of transparent white muslins, that one would +think you intended to furnish a whole troupe of ballet-girls with saucer +petticoats. Catalan lace you have got, to trim curtains, sheets, +pillow-cases, and kitchen-towels with. And as for your fans, we only +hope that the stories you tell about them are true, and that Kitty, +Julia, and Jemima at home are to divide them with you; for we shrewdly +suspect that you mean, after all, to keep them, and to have a fan for +every day in the year. Let a man reflect upon all this, added to the +inevitable three dollars and fifty cents _per diem_, with the frequent +refreshment of _volantes_ and ices at the Dominica, and then say whether +it pays to take a partner, not of a frugal mind, to Havana for the +season. + +I had intended to give some account of the servants at Mrs. Almy's; but +my gossip runs to such lengths that I must dismiss them with a few +words. Ramon, the porter, never leaves the vestibule; he watches there +all day, takes his meals there, plays cards there in the evening with +his fellow-servants, and at night spreads his cot there, and lies down +to sleep. He is white, as are most of the others. If I have occasion to +go into the kitchen at night, I find a cot there also, with no bed, and +a twisted sheet upon it, which, I am told, is the chrysalis of the cook. +Said cook is a free yellow, from Nassau, who has wrought in this kitchen +for many years past. Heat, hard work, and they say drink, have +altogether brought him to a bad pass. His legs are frightfully swollen, +and in a few days he leaves, unable to continue his function. Somebody +asks after his wife. "She has got a white husband now," he tells us, +with a dejected air. She might have waited a little,--he is to die soon. + +Garcia is the kind waiter with the rather expressive face, who is never +weary of bringing us the rice and fried plantain which form, after all, +the staple of our existence in Cuba. The waiters all do as well as they +can, considering the length of the table, and the extremely short staple +of the boarders' patience. As a general rule, they understand good +English better than bad Spanish; but comparative philology has +obviously been neglected among them. + +Luis is a negro boy of twelve, fearfully black in the face and white in +the eye; his wool cropped to entire bareness. He is chiefly good at +dodging your orders,--disappears when anything is asked for, but does +not return with it. + +Rosalia is the chambermaid, of whom I have already spoken, as dexterous +in sweeping the mosquitos from the nets,--her afternoon service. She +brings, too, the morning cup of coffee, and always says, "Good morning, +Sir; you want coffee?"--the only English she can speak. Her voice and +smile are particularly sweet, her person tall and well-formed, and her +face comely and modest. She is not altogether black,--about mahogany +color. I mention her modesty because, so far as I saw, the good-looking +ones among the black women have an air of assumption, and almost of +impudence,--probably the result of flattery. + +With all this array of very respectable "help," our hostess avers that +she has not a single person about her whom she can trust. Hence the +weary look about her eyes and brow, speaking of a load never laid down. +She attends to every detail of business herself, and is at work over her +books long after her boarders have retired to rest. + +But the one of all the servants who interests us most is Alexander, Mrs. +Almy's own slave. He is, like Rosalia, of mahogany color, with a broad +forehead and intelligent eyes. His proud, impatient nature is little +suited to his position, and every day brings some new account of his +petulant outbreaks. To-day he quarrelled with the new cook, and drew a +knife upon him. Mrs. Almy threatens continually to sell him, and at this +the hearts of some of us grow very sick,--for she always says that his +spirit must be broken, that only the severest punishment will break it, +and that she cannot endure to send him to receive that punishment. What +that mysterious ordeal may be, we dare not question,--we who cannot help +him from it; we can only wish that he might draw that knife across his +own throat before he undergoes it. He is trying to buy his own freedom, +and has something saved towards it. He looks as if he would do good +service, with sufficient training. As it is, he probably knows no law, +save the two conflicting ones, of necessity and his own wild passions. +One of the sad thoughts we shall carry away from here will be that +Alexander is to be sold, and his spirit broken. Good Mrs. Almy, do have +a little patience with him! Enlighten his dark mind; let Christianity be +taught him, which will show him, even in his slave's estate, that he can +conquer his fellow-servant better than by drawing a knife upon him. Set +him free? Ah! that is past praying for; but, as he has the right to buy +himself, give him every chance of doing so, and we, your petitioners, +will pray for him, and for you who need it, with that heavy brow of +care. + +I have called the negroes of Nassau ugly, clumsy, and unserviceable. The +Cuban negroes make, so far, a very different impression upon me. One +sees among them considerable beauty of form, and their faces are more +expressive and better cut than those of the Nassau blacks. The women +are well-made, and particularly well-poised, standing perfectly straight +from top to toe, with no hitch or swing in their gait. Beauty of feature +is not so common among them; still, one meets with it here and there. +There is a massive sweep in the bust and arms of the women which is very +striking. Even in their faces, there is a certain weight of feature and +of darkness, which makes its own impression. The men have less grace of +movement, though powerful and athletic in their make. Those who are +employed at hard work, within-doors, wear very little clothing, being +stripped to the loins. One often has a glimpse of them, in passing the +open smithies and wheelwrights' shops. The greatest defect among the men +is the want of calf. The narrow boots of the postilions make this +particularly discernible. Such a set of spindleshanks I never saw, not +even in Trumbull's famous Declaration of Independence, in which we have +the satisfaction of assuring ourselves that the fathers of our liberty +had two legs apiece, and crossed them in concert with the utmost +regularity. One might think, at first, that these narrow boots were as +uncomfortable to the _calesero_ as the Scottish instrument of torture of +that name; but his little swagger when he is down, and his freedom in +kicking when he is up, show that he has ample room in them. + +Very jolly groups of Spanish artisans does one see in the open shops at +noon, gathered around a table. The board is chiefly adorned with earthen +jars of an ancient pattern filled with oil and wine, platters of bread +and sausage,--and the ever fragrant onion is generally perceptible. The +personal qualities of these men are quite unknown to us; but they have +an air of good-fellowship which gives pleasure. + +We hired a carriage this afternoon,--we and two others from Boston. We +had a four-wheeled barouche, with two horses, which costs two dollars an +hour; whereas a _volante_ can be hired only at eight dollars and a half +per whole afternoon,--no less time, no less money. As it holds but two, +or, at the utmost, three, this is paying rather dear for the glory of +showing one's self on the Paseo. The moment we were in the carriage, +our coachman nodded to us, and saying, "_A la tropa_," galloped off with +us in an unknown direction. We soon fell in with a line of other +carriages, and concluded that there was something to be seen somewhere, +and that we were going to see it. Nor were we mistaken; for in due time, +ascending a steep acclivity, we came upon "_la tropa_," and found some +ten thousand soldiers undergoing review, in their seersucker coats and +Panama hats, which, being very like the costume of an easy Wall-Street +man in August, had a very peaceful appearance on so military an +occasion. The cavalry and infantry had nearly concluded their evolutions +when we arrived. The troops were spread out on a vast plateau. The view +was magnificent. The coachman pointed to one immovable figure on +horseback, and said, "Concha." We found it was indeed the +Captain-General; for as the different bands passed, they all saluted +him, and he returned their courtesy. Unluckily, his back was towards us, +and so remained until he rode off in an opposite direction. He was +mounted on a white horse, and was dressed like the others. He seemed +erect and well-made; but his back, after all, was very like any one +else's back. _Query_,--Did we see Concha, or did we not? When all was +over, the coachman carefully descended the hill. He had come hither in +haste, wishing to witness the sport himself; but now he drove slowly, +and indulged in every sort of roundabout to spin out his time and our +money. We met with a friend who, on our complaint, expostulated with +him, and said,--"Senor, these gentlemen say that you drive them very +slowly (_muy poco a poco_)." To the which he,--"Senor, if gentlemen will +hire a carriage by the hour, and not by the afternoon, they must expect +to get on very softly."--_Mem._ A white driver is always addressed as +_Senor_, and I have occasionally heard such monologues as the +following:--"Senor, why do you drive me this way? Curse you, Senor! You +don't know anything, Senor! You are the greatest ass I ever +encountered." The coachman takes it all coolly enough; the "Senor" +spares his dignity, and he keeps his feelings to himself. + +The writer of this has already spoken of various disappointments, in the +way of seeing things, incidental to the position of the sex in Cuba. She +came abroad prepared for microscopic, telescopic, and stereoscopic +investigation,--but, hedged in on all sides by custom and convenience, +she often observed only four very bare walls and two or three very +stupid people. What could she see? Prisons? No. Men naked and filthy, +lying about, using very unedifying language, and totally unaccustomed to +the presence of Lady-visitors. She invoked the memory of Mrs. Fry and +the example of Miss Dix. "Oh, they were saints, you know." "Only because +they went to prisons, which you won't let me do."--Bull-fight? No. "How +could you go back to Boston after seeing a bull-fight, eh?" "As if +married life were anything else, eh?" And so on.--Negro ball? "Not +exactly the place for a lady." "Miss Bremer went." "Very differently +behaved woman from you." "Yes, virtue with a nose, impregnable." + +But there is something she can go to see,--at least, some one,--the +angelic man, Don Pepe, the wise, the gentle, the fearless, whom all the +good praise. Yes, she shall go to see Don Pepe; and one burning Sunday +noon she makes a pilgrimage through the scorching streets, and comes +where he may be inquired for, and is shown up a pair of stairs, at the +head of which stands the angelic man, mild and bland, with great, dark +eyes, and a gracious countenance. He ushers us into a room furnished +with nothing but books, and finds two chairs for us and one for himself, +not without research. + +Now I will not pretend to say that Don Pepe occupied himself with me +after the first kind greeting, nor that my presence occasioned him +either pleasure or surprise. My companion was a man after his own heart, +and, at first sight, the two mounted their humanitarian hobbies, and +rode them till they were tired. And when this time came, I went away and +said nothing. Yet I knew that I had seen a remarkable man. + +Don Pepe de la Luz is a Cuban by birth, and his age may number some +sixty years. He inherited wealth and its advantages, having received +somewhere a first-rate education, to which he has copiously added in +subsequent years. He is a Liberal in politics and religion, a man of +great reason and of great heart. In affairs of state, however, he +meddles not, but contents himself with making statesmen. Like all wise +Philanthropists, he sees the chief source of good to man in education, +and devotes his life, and in a degree, his fortune, to this object. The +building in which we found him was a large school, or rather college, +founded by himself, and carried on in a great measure through his +efforts. This college is upon the same literary footing as the +University of Havana; and Don Pepe's graduates pass examinations and +receive diplomas in the last-named institution. He himself rarely leaves +its walls; and though he has house and wife elsewhere, and the great +world is everywhere open to him, he leads here a more congenial life of +ascetic seclusion, study, and simplicity. + + "Oh, noble instinct of good men, to stay and do their duty! + This let us celebrate above all daring, wit, and beauty." + +Don Pepe has been abroad as much as it profits a man to be,--but has not +lost his own soul there, as an American is apt to do. He has known the +best men in Europe and America. The best languages, he possesses them; +the best books, here they are, piled all about his room. The floor is +carpeted with them; there are cases all around the walls; and a large +parallelogramic arrangement in the middle of the room, stuck all with +books, as a pincushion with pins. True, there is not in their +arrangement that ornateness of order observable in Northern libraries; +dust even lies and blows about; and though he can find his favorites, +_we_ should be much puzzled to find any volume where it ought to be. But +it looks as if the master were happy and undisturbed here, and as if the +housemaid and her hated broom were as far off as the snow and frost. + +In person, Don Pepe is not above the middle height. He is a fairly +developed man, but looks thin and worn, and his shoulders have the stoop +of age, which scholars mostly anticipate. His face is much corrugated, +but it bears the traces of vivacious thought and emotion, not the +withering print of passion. Of his eyes I have already spoken; they are +wise, kind, and full of Southern fire. + +Don Pepe has had some annoyances from the government,--probably in the +more sanguine period of his life. The experience of years has taught him +the secret of living peaceably with all men. He can be great and good +himself, without perpetually quarrelling with those who can be neither. +He spoke with warm interest of his scholars. "They have much capacity," +he said; "but we want a little more of that _air_ you spoke of just now, +Doctor." That air was Liberty. Reader, have you ever been in a place +where her name was contraband? All such places are alike. Here, as in +Rome, men who have thoughts disguise them; and painful circumlocution +conveys the meaning of friend to friend. For treachery lies hid, like +the scorpion, under your pillow, and your most trusted companion will +betray your head, to save his own. I am told that this sub-treason +reached, in the days of the Lopez invasion, an incredible point. After +every secret meeting of those affected to the invaders, each conspirator +ran to save himself by denouncing all the others. One Cuban, of large +fortune and small reputation, being implicated in these matters, brought +General Concha a list of all his confederates, which Concha burned +before his face, unread. Piteous, laughable spectacle! Better be monkeys +than such men; yet such work does Absolutism in government and religion +make of the noble human creature! God preserve us ever from tyrants, +spies, and Jesuits! + +Don Pepe does not tell us this; but we have much pleasant talk with him +about books, about great men in Europe, and lastly about Prescott, whom +he knew and honored. We took leave of him with regret. He accompanied us +to the head of the stairs, and then said, "Ah! my dear Madam, my liver +will not suffer me to go down." "I am glad it is not your heart," I +rejoined, and we parted,--to meet again, in my thoughts, and perhaps +elsewhere, in the dim vista of the future. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MATANZAS. + + +A hot and dusty journey of some six hours brought us to Matanzas at high +noon. Our companions were Cubans, Spaniards, Americans, and +game-chickens, who travel extensively in these parts, sometimes in +little baskets, with openings for the head and tail, sometimes in the +hands of their owners, secured only by a string fastened to one foot and +passed over the body. They seem to be objects of tender solicitude to +those who carry them; they are nursed and fondled like children, and at +intervals are visited all round by a negro, who fills his mouth with +water, and squirts it into their eyes and under their feathers. They are +curiously plucked on the back and about the tail, where only the long +tail-feathers are allowed to grow. Their tameness in the hands of their +masters is quite remarkable; they suffer themselves to be turned and +held in any direction. But when set down, at any stage of the journey, +they stamp their little feet, stretch their necks, crow, and look about +them for the other cock with most belligerent eyes. As we have said that +the negro of the North is an ideal negro, so we must say that the +game-cock of Cuba is an ideal chicken, a fowl that is too good to be +killed,--clever enough to fight for people who are too indolent and +perhaps too cowardly to fight for themselves,--in short, the Gladiator +of the Tropics. + +Well, as we have said, we and they arrived at our journey's end in the +extreme heat of the day; and having shown our paper and demanded our +trunks, we beat an instantaneous retreat before the victorious Monarch +of the skies, and lo! the Ensor House, dirty, bare, and comfortless, was +to us as a fortress and a rock of defence. + +Here I would gladly pause, and giving vent to my feelings, say how +lovely I found Matanzas. But ever since Byron's time, the author is +always hearing the public say, "Don't be poetical," etc., etc.; and in +these days both writer and reader seem to have discovered that life is +too short for long descriptions,--so that when the pen of a G. P. R. +James, waiting for the inspirations of its master, has amused itself +with sketching a greater or less extent of natural scenery, the rule of +the novel-reader is invariably, "Skip landscape, etc., to event on +thirty-second page." Nevertheless, I will say that Matanzas is +lovely,--with the fair harbor on one hand and the fair hills on the +other, sitting like a mother between two beautiful daughters, who looks +from one to the other and wonders which she loves best. The air from the +water is cool and refreshing, the sky is clear and open, and the country +around seems to beckon one to the green bosom of its shades. "Oh, what a +relief after Havana!" one says, drawing a full breath, and remembering +with a shudder the sickening puffs from its stirring streets, which make +you think that Polonius lies unburied in every house, and that you nose +him as you _knows_ not, as you pass the door and window-gratings. With +this exclamation and remembrance, you lower yourself into one of Mr. +Ensor's rocking-chairs,--twelve of which, with a rickety table and a +piano, four crimson tidies and six white ones, form the furniture of the +Ensor drawing-room,--you lean your head on your hand, close your eyes, +and wish for a comfortable room with a bed in it. A tolerable room you +shall have; but for a bed, only a cot-bedstead with a sacking +bottom,--further, nothing. Now, if you are some folks that I know, you +will be able to establish very comfortable repose on this slender +foundation, Nature having so amply furnished you that you are your own +feather-bed, bolster, sofa-cushion, and easy-chair, a moving mass of +upholstery, wanting only a frame to be set down in and supported. But if +you should be one of Boston's normal skeletons, pinched in every member +with dyspepsia, and with the mark of the beast Neuralgia on your +forehead, then your skin will have a weary time of it, holding your +bones, and you will be fain to entreat with tears the merciful mediation +of a mattress. + +Now I know very well that those of my readers who intend visiting Cuba +will be much more interested in statistics of hotels than in any +speculations, poetical or philosophical, with which I might be glad to +recompense their patience. Let me tell them, therefore, that the Ensor +House is neither better nor worse than other American hotels in Cuba. +The rooms are not very bad, the attendance not intolerable, the table +almost commendable. The tripe, salt-fish, and plantains were, methought, +much as at other places. There were stews of meat, onions, sweet +peppers, and _ochra_, which deserve notice. The early coffee was +punctual; the tea, for a wonder, black and hot. True, it was served on a +bare pine table, with the accompaniment only of a bit of dry bread,--no +butter, cake, nor _dulces_. But Mr. Ensor has heard, no doubt, that +sweet things are unwholesome, and is determined, at whatever cost to his +own feelings, to keep them out of the way of his guests, who are, for +the time, his children. Then there is an excellent English servant +called John, whom, though the fair Ensor did berate him, we must +enumerate among the comforts of the establishment. There is a dark +corner about _volantes_, which they are disposed to order for you at a +very unreasonable profit; but as there are plenty of livery stables at +hand, and street _volantes_ passing all the time, it will be your own +fault if you pay six dollars where you ought to pay three. + +The first thing to be done at Matanzas is to drive out and see the +Cumbre, a hill in the neighborhood, and from it the valley of the +Yumori. The road is an improvement on those already described;--the ruts +being much deeper and the rocks much larger, the jolting is altogether +more complete and effective. Still, you remember the doctrine that the +_volante_ cannot upset, and this blind faith to which you cling carries +you through triumphantly. The Cumbre is lofty, the view extensive, and +the valley lovely, of a soft, light green, like the early leaves and +grass of spring, dotted everywhere with the palms and their dark +clusters. It opens far, far down at your feet, and on your left you see +the harbor quiet and bright in the afternoon sun, with a cheering +display of masts and pennons. You would look and linger long, but that +the light will wane, and you are on your way to Jenks his +sugar-plantation, the only one within convenient distance of the town. +Here the people are obviously accustomed to receive visitors, and are +decently, not superfluously, civil. The _major-domo_ hands you over to a +negro who speaks English, and who salutes you at once with, "Good-bye, +Sir!" The boiling here is conducted in one huge, open vat. A cup and +saucer are brought for you to taste the juice, which is dipped out of +the boiling vat for your service. It is very like balm-tea, unduly +sweetened; and after a hot sip or so you return the cup with thanks. A +loud noise, as of cracking of whips and of hurrahs, guides you to the +sugar-mill, where the crushing of the cane goes on in the jolliest +fashion. The building is octagonal and open. Its chief feature is a very +large horizontal wheel, which turns the smaller ones that grind the +cane. This wheel is turned after the following manner. In the centre of +the building, and as it were in the second story, stands a stout post, +to which are attached, at equal distances, six horizontal bars, which +are dragged round by six horses, vehemently flogged by the like number +of slaves, male and female. This is really a novel and picturesque +sight. Each negro is armed with a short whip, and their attitudes, as +they stand, well-balanced on the revolving wheel, are rather striking. +Liberal as they were of blows and of objurations to the horses, all +their cries and whipping produced scarcely a tenth of the labor so +silently performed by the invisible, noiseless slave that works the +steam-engine. From this we wandered about the avenues, planted with +palms, cocoas, and manifold fruit-trees,--visited the sugar-fields, +where many slaves were cutting the canes and piling them on enormous +ox-carts, and came at last to a great, open field, where many head of +cattle were quietly standing. Our negro guide had not been very lavish +or intelligible in his answers to our numerous questions. We asked him +about these cattle. "Dey cows," he replied. We asked if they gave milk, +and if butter was made on the plantation. He seemed quite puzzled and +confused, and finally exclaimed,--"_Dat cows no got none wife_." Coming +nearer, we found that the cows were draught oxen, employed in dragging +the canes and other produce of the plantation. Jenks his garden we found +in good order, and beautiful with many plants in full blossom; but Jenks +his house seemed dreary and desolate, with no books, a wretched print or +so, dilapitated furniture, and beds that looked like the very essence of +nightmare. Nothing suggested domestic life or social enjoyment, or +anything ----; but as Jenks is perfectly unknown to us, either by +appearance or reputation, we give only a guess in the dark, and would +suggest, in case it may displease him, that he should refurnish and +repaint a little, and diffuse an air of cheerfulness over his solitary +villa, remembering that Americans have imaginations, and that visitors +will be very apt to construct an unknown host from his surroundings. + +The second thing to be done in Matanzas, if you arrive on Saturday, is +to attend military mass at the Cathedral on Sunday morning. This +commences at eight o'clock; but the hour previous may be advantageously +employed in watching the arrival and arrangement of the female +aristocracy of Matanzas. These enter in groups of twos and threes, +carrying their prayer-books, and followed by slaves of either sex, who +bear the prayer-carpet of their mistresses. The ladies are wonderfully +got up, considering the early hour; and their toilettes suggest that +they may not have undressed since the ball of the night before. All that +hoops, powder, and puffery can do for them has been done; they walk in +silk attire, and their hair is what is technically termed dressed. Some +of them bring their children, bedizened like dolls, and mimicking +mamma's gestures and genuflection in a manner more provoking to sadness +than to satire. If the dressing is elaborate, the crossing is also. It +does not consist of one simple cross, "_in nomine Patris_," etc.; they +seem to make three or four crosses from forehead to chin, and conclude +by kissing the thumb-nail, in honor of what or whom we could not +imagine. Entering the middle aisle, which is divided from the rest by a +row of seats on either side, they choose their position, and motion to +the dark attendant to spread the carpet. Some of them evince +considerable strategic skill in the selection of their ground. All being +now in readiness, they drop on their knees, spread their flounces, cross +themselves, open their books, and look about them. Their attendants +retire a little, spread a handkerchief on the ground, and modestly kneel +behind them, obviously expecting to be saved with the family. These are +neatly, sometimes handsomely dressed. In this _status_ things remain +until the music of the regiment is heard. With a martial sound of +trumpets it enters the church, and fills the aisles, the officers taking +place within the chancel, and a guard of honor of eight soldiers ranging +on either side of the officiating priest. And now our devotions begin in +good earnest; for, simultaneously with the regiment, the _jeunesse +doree_ of Matanzas has made its appearance, and has ranged itself along +the two long lines of demarcation which separate the fair penitents from +the rest of the congregation. The ladies now spread their flounces +again, and their eyes find other occupation than the dreary Latin of +their missals. There is, so to speak, a lively and refreshing time +between the youths of both sexes, while the band plays its utmost, and +_Evangel_, _Kyrie_, and _Credo_ are recited to the music of Trovatore +and Traviata. That child of four years old, dressed in white and gold +flounces, and white satin boots with heels, handles her veil and uses +her eyes like Mamma, eager for notice, and delighted with the gay music +and uniforms. The moment comes to elevate the Host,--thump goes the +drum, the guard presents arms, and the soldiers, instead of kneeling, +bend forward, in a most uncomfortable manner. Another thump, and all +that is over; the swords are returned to their sheaths, and soon, the +loud music coming to an end, the regiment marches out of church, very +much as it marched in, its devotional experiences being known to Heaven +alone. Ladies and lovers look their last, the flounces rise in pyramids, +the prayer-carpets are rolled up, and with a silken sweep and rush, +Youth, Beauty, and Fashion forsake the church, where Piety has hardly +been, and go home to breakfast. To that comfortable meal you also betake +yourself, musing on the small heads and villanous low foreheads of the +Spanish soldiery, and wondering how long it would take a handful of +resolute Yankees to knock them all into---- But you are not a +Filibuster, you know. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE PASEO--THE PLAZA--DINING OUT. + + +"As this Sunday is Carnival, you cannot do better than drive about the +city, and then go to the Plaza to see the masks. My partner's wife, with +whom you have now so comfortably breakfasted, will call for you in her +_volante_ this afternoon, between five and six o'clock. She will show +you the Paseo, and we will go and see the masks afterwards." + +So spoke a banker, who, though not _our_ banker, is our friend, and +whose kind attentions we shall ever recall, when we remember Cuba. So he +spoke, and so it befell. The pretty American lady, Cubanized into +paleness, but not into sallowness, called at the appointed hour, and in +her company we visited the principal streets, and the favorite drive of +the Matanzasts. The Paseo is shorter than that of Havana, but much +prettier. We found it gay with _volantes_, whose fair occupants kept up +an incessant bowing and smiling to their friends in carriages and on +horseback. The Cubans are generally good riders, and their saddle-horses +have the easiest and pleasantest gait imaginable. The heat of the +climate does not allow the severe exercise of trot and gallop, and so +these creatures go along as smoothly and easily as the waves of the sea, +and are much better broken to obedience. The ladies of Matanzas seem to +possess a great deal of beauty, but they abuse the privilege of powder, +and whiten themselves with _cascarilla_ to a degree that is positively +ghastly. This _cascarilla_ is formed by the trituration of egg-shells; +and the oval faces whitened with it resemble a larger egg, with features +drawn on it in black and red. In spite of this, they are handsome; but +one feels a natural desire to rush in amongst them with a feather +duster, and lay about one a little, before giving an available opinion +of their good looks. + +If the Paseo was gay, the streets of the city were gay also; the windows +filled with faces and figures in full dress, with little groups of +children at the feet of the grown people, like the two world-famous +cherubs at the feet of the Madonna di San Sisto. There were crowds of +promenaders too, everywhere, interspersed with parties of maskers, who +went about screaming at the public with high, shrill voices. Leaving the +_volante_, we descend to the Plaza, where is now the height and centre +of movement, we find it flanked on all sides with little movable +kitchens, where good things are cooked, and with tables, where they are +sold and eaten. Fried cakes, fish, and meats seem the predominant bill +of fare, with wine, coffee, and fruits. The masks are circulating with +great animation; men in women's clothes, white people disguised as +negroes, and negroes disguised as whites, prodigious noses, impossible +chins and foreheads; the stream of popular fancy ran chiefly in these +channels. We met processions consisting of a man carrying a rat in a +cage, and shouting out, "Catch this rat!" followed by a perfect stampede +of wild creatures, all yelling, "Catch that rat!" at the top of their +voices. The twanging of the guitar is heard everywhere, accompanied by +the high nasal voices of the natives, in various strains of monotony. In +some spots the music is more lively, accompanied by the shaking of a +gourd filled with dry seeds, which is called _ghirra_, and whose +"chick-a-chick, chick-chick" takes the place of the more poetical +castanets;--here you find one or more couples exhibiting their skill in +Cuban dances, with a great deal of applause and chattering from the +crowd around. Beside those of the populace, many aristocratic groups +parade the Plaza, in full dress, crowned with flowers and jewels;--a +more motley scene can hardly be imagined. Looking up, one sees in +curious contrast the tall palms with which the Plaza is planted, and the +quiet, wondering stars set in the deep tropical heavens. + +But in our evening's programme, tea has been omitted; now, what availeth +a Bostonian without his tea? By eight o'clock, we are pensive, "most +like a tired child at a show,"--by half-past eight, stupid,--by nine, +furious. Two hours of folly, taken on an empty stomach, alarm us for our +constitution. A visit to the _cafe_ is suggested and adopted. It proves +to be crowded with people in fancy attire, who have laid aside their +masks to indulge in beer, orgeat, and sherbet. While our Cuban friends +regale themselves with sour-sop and _zapote_ ice sweetened with brown +sugar, we call for a cup of delicious Spanish chocolate, which is served +with a buttered toasted roll, worthy of all imitation. Oh, how much +comfort is in a little cup of chocolate! what an underpinning does it +afford our spiritual house, a material basis for our mental operations! +In its support, we go it a little longer on the Plaza, see more masks, +hear more guitars and "catch this rat!" and finally return, in a hired +_volante_, to the Ensor House, where rest and the bedless cots await us. + +But we have friends in Matanzas, real born Cubans, who will not suffer +us to remain forever in the Ensor House. They send their _volante_ for +us, one day, and we visit them. Their house, of the inevitable Cuban +pattern, is richly furnished; the marbles of the floor are pure and +smooth, the rug ample and velvety; the wainscoting of the walls, so to +speak, is in handsome tiling,--not in mean, washy painting; the cane +chairs and sofas are fresh and elegant, and there is a fine Erard piano. +The Master of the house is confined to his room by illness, but will be +happy to see us. His son and daughters speak English with fluency. They +inform us, that the epidemic colds which prevail in Cuban winters are +always called by the name of some recent untoward occurrence, and that +their father, who suffers from severe influenza, has got the President's +Message. We find Don Jose in a bedroom darkened by the necessary closing +of the shutters, there being no other way of excluding the air. The +bedsteads are of gilded iron, with luxurious bedding and spotless +mosquito-nettings. His head is tied up with a silk handkerchief. He +rises from his rocking-chair, receives us with great urbanity, and +expresses his appreciation of the American nation and their country, +which he himself has visited. After a short interview we leave him, but +not until he has placed his house and all it contains "_a la disposition +de Usted_." We are then shown the pretty bedroom of the young ladies, +whose toilettes are furnished in silver, the bath lined with tiling, the +study, and the dining-room, where luncheon awaits us. We take leave, +with a kind invitation to return and dine the next day, which, upon +mature deliberation, we accept. + +The _volante_ comes for us next day, with Roque, brightest of all living +_caleseros_, fixed in his boots and saddle. After a pleasant drive we +attain the house, and are received by its hospitable inmates as before. +The interval before dinner, a tolerably long one, is filled up by +pleasant chitchat, chiefly in English. The lady of the house does not, +however, profess our vernacular, and to her understanding we lay siege +in French, Italian, and laughter-provoking Spanish. Before dining we pay +a second visit to the host, who is still busy digesting the President's +Message. Obviously, the longer he has it under consideration, the worse +he finds it. He has nausea from its bragging, his head aches with its +loudness, and its emptiness fills him with wind. We are at our wits' end +to prescribe for him, and take our leave with grave commiseration, +telling him that we too have had it, but that the symptoms it produces +in the North are a reddening in the cheek and a spasmodic contraction of +the right arm. Now comes great dinner on. A slave announces it, and with +as little ceremony as may be we take our places. And here we must +confess that our friend the banker had rendered us an important service. +For he had said,--"Look not upon the soup when it is hot, neither let +any victuals entice thee to more than a slight and temporary +participation; for the dishes at a Cuban dinner be many, and the guest +must taste of all that is presented; wherefore, if he indulge in one +dish to his special delectation, he shall surely die before the end." +And it came to pass that we remembered this, and walked through the +dinner as on egg-shells, gratifying curiosity on the one hand, and +avoiding satiety on the other; with the fear of fulness, as it were, +before our eyes. For oh, my friends! what pang is comparable to too much +dinner, save the distress of being refused by a young woman, or the +comfortless sensation, in times of economy, of having paid away a +five-dollar gold piece in place of a silver quarter of a dollar? + +But you, Reader, would like more circumstantiality in the account of +this dinner, which united many perfections. It was handsome, but not +splendid,--orderly, but not stately,--succulent, but not unctuous. It +kept the word of promise to the smell and did not break it to the taste. +It was a dinner such as we shall wish only to our best friends, not to +those acquaintances who ask how we do when they meet us, and wish we +were dead before we part. As for particulars, we should be glad to +impart much useful information and many choice receipts; but the +transitory nature of such an entertainment does not allow one to improve +it as one could wish. One feature we remember, which is that the whole +dinner was placed on the table at once, and so you had the advantage of +seeing your work cut out before you. None of that hope deferred, when, +after being worried through a dozen stews and _entrees_, you are +rewarded at last with an infinitesimal fragment of the _roti_. Nor, on +the other hand, the unwelcome surprise of three supplementary courses +and a dessert, when you have already dined to repletion, and feel +yourself at peace with all the world. Here all was fair play; you knew +what to expect and what was expected of you. Soup, of course, came +first,--then fish,--then meat stewed with potatoes and onions,--then +other meat with _ochra_ and tomatoes,--then boiled chicken, which is +eaten with a _pilaff_ of rice colored with saffron,--then delicious +sweet potatoes, yams, plantains, and vegetables of every sort,--then a +kind of pepper brought, we think, from the East Indies, and intensely +tropical in its taste,--then a splendid roast turkey, and ham strewed +with small colored sugar-plums,--then ---- well, is not that enough for +one person to have eaten at a stretch, and that person accustomed to a +Boston diet? Then came such a display of sweetmeats as would exercise +the mind of a New England housekeeper beyond all power of repose,--a +pudding,--a huge tart with very thick crust,--cakes of _yuca_,--a dish +of cocoa-nut, made into a sort of impalpable preserve, with eggs and +sugar,--then a course of fruits,--then coffee, of the finest quality, +from the host's own plantation,--and then we arose and went into the +drawing-room, with a thankful recollection of what we had had, and also +a thankful assurance that we should have no more. + +A drive by moonlight was now proposed, to see the streets and the masks, +it being still Carnival. So the _volante_ was summoned, with its +smiling, silent Roque, and the pretty daughter of the house took seat +beside us. The streets around the Plaza proved quite impassable from the +crowd, whose wild movements and wilder voices went nigh to scaring the +well-trained horses. The little lady was accustomed, apparently, to +direct every movement of her charioteer, and her orders were uttered in +a voice high and sweet as a bird-call. "_Dobla al derecho, Roque! +Roque, dobla al derecho_!" Why did not Roque go mad, and exclaim,--"Yes, +Senorita, and to heaven itself, if you bid me so prettily!" But Roque +only doubled as he was bid, and took us hither and thither, and back to +the nest of his lady-bird, where we left her and the others with +grateful regrets, and finally back to the Ensor House, which on this +occasion seemed to us the end of all things. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +GAME-CHICKENS--DON RODRIGUEZ--DAY ON THE PLANTATION--DEPARTURE. + + +As there are prejudices in Cuba and elsewhere, touching the appropriate +sphere of woman, Hulia was not taken to the Cockpit, as she had demanded +and expected,--not to see the chickens fight, but to see the Spaniards +see it. + +Forgive her, ye Woman's-Righters, if on this occasion she was weak and +obedient! You would have gone, no doubt,--those of you who have not +husbands; but such as have must know how much easier it is to deal with +the article man in his theoretical than in his real presence. You may +succeed in showing by every convincement that you are his natural master +and superior, and that there is every reason on earth why you should +command and direct him. "No!----," says the wretch, shaking his fist, +or shrugging his shoulders; and whatever your intimate convictions may +be, the end is, that you do not. + +Propitiated by that ready obedience which is safest, dear Sisters, in +these contingencies, the proprietor of Hulia takes her, one morning, to +see the establishment of a man of fortune in the neighborhood, where one +hundred and forty game-chickens are kept for training and fighting. +These chickens occupy two good-sized rooms, whose walls are entirely +covered with compartments, some two feet square, in each of which +resides a cock, with his little perch and drinking-vessel. They are kept +on allowance of water and of food, lest they should get beyond fighting +weight. Their voices are uplifted all day long, and on all moonlight +nights. An old woman receives us, and conducts us to the training-pit, +pointing out on the way the heroes of various battles, and telling us +that this cock and the other have won _mucho dinero_, "much money." Each +has also its appointed value;--this cock is worth forty dollars, this +four ounces, this one six ounces,--oh, he is a splendid fellow! No +periodal and sporadic hen-fever prevails here, but the _gallo-mania_ is +the chronic madness of the tropics. + +The training-pit is a circular space inclosed with boards, perhaps some +twelve feet in diameter. Here we find the proprietor, Don Manuel +Rodriguez, with a negro assistant, up to the ears in business. Don +Manuel is young, handsome, and vivacious, and with an air of good family +that astonishes us. He receives us with courtesy, finds nothing unusual +in the visit of a lady, but is too much engrossed with his occupation to +accord us more than a passing notice. This is exactly as we could +wish,--it allows us to study the Don, so to speak, _au naturel_. He is +engaged at first in weighing two cocks, with a view to their subsequent +fighting. Having ascertained their precise weight, which he registers in +his pocket-memorandum, he proceeds to bind strips of linen around their +formidable spurs, that in their training they may not injure each other +with them. This being accomplished,--he all the while delivering himself +with great volubility to his black Second,--the two cocks are taken +into the arena; one is let loose there; the negro holds the other, and +knocks the free fowl about the head with it. Sufficient provocation +having been given, they are allowed to go at each other in their own +fashion, and their attacks and breathing-spells are not very unlike a +bout of fencing. They flap, fly at each other, fly over, peck, seize by +the neck, let go, rest a moment, and begin again, getting more and more +excited with each round. The negro separates them, when about to draw +blood. And as for Don Manuel, he goes mad over them, like an Italian +_maestro_ over his favorite pupil. "_Hombre, hombre!_" he cries to the +negro, "what a cock! By Heaven, what a couple! _Ave Maria santisima!_ +did one ever see such spirit? _Santisima Trinidad!_ is there such +fighting in all Matanzas?" Having got pretty well through with the +calendar of the saints, he takes out his watch;--the fight has lasted +long enough. One of the champions retires to take a little repose; +another is brought in his place; the negro takes him, and boxes him +about the ears of the remaining fowl,--brushing him above his head, and +underneath, and on his back, to accustom him to every method of attack. +Don Manuel informs us that the cock made use of in this way is the +father of the other, and exclaims, with an air of mock compassion, +_Pobre padre!_ "Poor father!" The exercise being concluded, he takes a +small feather, and cleans out therewith the throat of either chicken, +which proves to be full of the sand of the arena, and which he calls +_porqueria_, "dirt." + +We leave Don Manuel about to employ himself with other cocks, and, as +before, too much absorbed to give our departure much notice. Strange to +say, Hulia is so well satisfied with this rehearsal, that she expresses +no further desire to witness the performance itself. We learn +subsequently that Don Manuel is a man of excellent family and great +wealth, who has lavished several fortunes on his favorite pursuit, and +is hurrying along on the road to ruin as fast as chickens' wings can +carry him. We were very sorry, but couldn't possibly interfere. +Meantime, he appeared excessively jolly. + +Our kind friends of the dinner were determined to pay us, in their +persons, all the debts of hospitality the island might be supposed to +contract towards strangers and Americans. Arrangements were accordingly +made for us to pass our last day in Matanzas at a coffee-plantation of +theirs, some four miles distant from town. They would send their +travelling _volante_ for us, they said, which was not so handsome as the +city _volante_, but stronger, as it had need to be, for the roads. At +eleven o'clock, on a very warm morning, this vehicle made its appearance +at the door of the Ensor House, with Roque in the saddle,--Roque with +that mysterious _calesero_ face of his, knowing everything, but +volunteering nothing until the word of command. Don Antonico he tells +us, has gone before on horseback;--we mount the _volante_, and follow. +Roque drives briskly at first, a slight breeze refreshes us, and we +think the road better than is usual. But wait a bit, and we come to what +seems an unworked quarry of coral rock, with no perceptible way over +it, and Roque still goes on, slowly indeed, but without stop or remark. +The strong horses climb the rough and slippery rocks, dragging the +strong _volante_ after them. The _calesero_ picks his way carefully; the +carriage tips, jolts, and tumbles; the centre of gravity appears to be +nowhere. The breeze dies away; the vertical sun seems to pin us through +the head; we get drowsy, and dream of an uneasy sea of stones, whose +harsh waves induce headache, if not sea-sickness. We wish for a +photograph of the road;--first, to illustrate the inclusive meaning of +the word; second, to serve as a remembrance, to reconcile us to all +future highways. + +Why these people are content to work out their road-tax by such sore +travail of mind and body appeareth to us mysterious. The breaking of +stone in state-prison is not harder work than riding over a Cuban road; +yet this extreme of industry is endured by the Cubans from year to year, +and from one human life to another, without complaint or effort. An hour +or more of these and similar reflections brings us to a bit of smooth +road, and then to the gate of the plantation, where a fine avenue of +palms conducts us to the house. Here resides the relative and partner of +our Matanzas friends, a man of intelligent and humane aspect, who comes +to greet us, with his pleasant wife, and a pretty niece, their constant +guest. The elder lady has made use of her retirement for the +accomplishment of her mind. She has some knowledge of French and +Italian, and, though unwilling to speak English, is able to translate +from that language with entire fluency. The plantation-house is very +pretty, situated just at the end of the palm-avenue, with all the +flowers in sight,--for these are planted between the palms;--it has a +deep piazza in front, and the first door opens into one large room, with +sleeping-apartments on either side. Opposite this door is another, +opening upon the court behind the house, and between the two our chairs +are placed, courting the draught.--_N. B._ In Cuba, no one shuns a +draught; you ride, drive, sit, and sleep in one, and, unless you are a +Cuban, never take cold. The floor of this principal room is merely of +clay rubbed with a red powder, which, mixed with water, hardens into a +firm, polished surface. The house has but one story; the timbers of the +roof, unwhitened, forming the only ceiling. The furniture consists of +cane easy-chairs, a dining-table, and a pretty hammock, swung across one +end of the room. Here we sit and talk long. Our host has many good books +in French and Spanish,--and in English, Walter Scott's Novels, which his +wife fully appreciates. + +A walk is proposed, and we go first to visit _los negros +chiquitos_,--_Anglice_, "the small niggers," in their nursery. We find +their cage airy enough; it is a house with a large piazza completely +inclosed in coarse lattice-work, so that the _pequenuelos_ cannot tumble +out, nor the nurses desert their charge. Our lady friend produces a key, +unlocking a small gate which admits us. We found, as usual, the girls of +eight and upwards tending the babies, and one elderly woman +superintending them. On our arrival, African drums, formed of logs +hollowed out, and covered with skin at the end, were produced. Two +little girls proceeded to belabor these primitive instruments, and made +a sort of rhythmic strumming, which kept time to a monotonous chant. Two +other girls executed a dance to this, which, for its slowness, might be +considered an African minuet. The dancing children were bright-looking, +and not ungraceful. Work stops at noon for a recess; and the mothers run +from the field to visit the imprisoned babies, whom they carry to their +own homes and keep till the afternoon-hour for work comes round, which +it does at two, P. M. We went next to the negro-houses, which are built, +as we have described others, contiguous, in one hollow square. On this +plantation the food of the negroes is cooked for them, and in the middle +of the inclosed square stood the cooking-apparatus, with several large +caldrons. Still, we found little fires in most of the houses, and the +inmates employed in concocting some tidbit or other. A hole in the roof +serves for a chimney, where there is one, but they as often have the +fire just before their door. The slaves on this plantation looked in +excellent condition, and had, on the whole, cheerful countenances. The +good proportion of their increase showed that they were well treated, as +on estates where they are overworked they increase scarcely or not at +all. We found some of the men enjoying a nap between a board and a +blanket. Most of the women seemed busy about their household operations. +The time from twelve to two is given to the negroes, besides an hour or +two after work in the evening, before they are locked up for the night. +This time they improve mostly in planting and watering their little +gardens, which are their only source of revenue. The negroes on this +estate had formed a society amongst themselves for the accumulation of +money; and our friend, the Manager of the plantation, told us that they +had on his books two thousand dollars to their credit. One man alone had +amassed six hundred dollars, a very considerable sum, under the +circumstances. We visited also the house of the mayoral, or overseer, +whose good face seemed in keeping with the general humane arrangements +of the place,--as humane, at least, as the system permits. The negroes +all over the island have Sunday for themselves; and on Sunday afternoons +they hold their famous balls, which sometimes last until four o'clock on +Monday morning. Much of the illness among the negroes is owing to their +imprudence on these and like occasions. Pneumonia is the prevalent +disease with them, as with the slaves in our own South; it is often +acute and fatal. Everything in Cuba has such a tendency to go on +horseback, that we could not forbear asking if dead men did, and were +told that it was so,--the dead negroes being temporarily inclosed in a +box, and conveyed to the cemetery on the back of a horse. Our friend, +seeing our astonishment, laughed, and told us that the poor whites were +very glad to borrow the burial-horse and box, to furnish their own +funerals. + +Dinner was served at four o'clock, quite informally, in the one +sitting-room of the house. A black girl brushed off the flies with a +paper fly-brush, and another waited on table. The dinner was excellent; +but I have already given so many bills of fare in these letters, that I +will content myself with mentioning the novelty of a Cuban country-dish, +a sort of stew, composed of ham, beef, mutton, potatoes, sweet potatoes, +_yuca_, and yams. This is called _Ayacco_, and is a characteristic dish, +like eel-soup in Hamburg, or salt codfish in Boston;--as is usual in +such cases, it is more relished by the inhabitants than by their +visitors. On the present occasion, however, it was only one among many +good things, which were made better by pleasant talk, and were succeeded +by delicious fruits and coffee. After dinner we visited the vegetable +garden, and the well, where we found Candido, the rich negro who had +saved six hundred dollars, drawing water with the help of a blind mule. +Now the Philanthrope of our party was also a Phrenologist, and had +conceived a curiosity to inspect the head of the very superior negro who +had made all this money; so at his request Candido was summoned from the +well, and ordered to take off his hat. This being removed disclosed the +covering of a cotton handkerchief, of which he was also obliged to +divest himself. Candido was much too well bred to show any signs of +contumacy; but the expression of his countenance varied, under the +observation of the Phrenologist, from wonder to annoyance, and from that +to the extreme of sullen, silent wrath. The reason was obvious,--he +supposed himself brought up with a view to bargain and sale; and when +informed that he had a good head, he looked much inclined to give +somebody else a bad one. He was presently allowed to go back to his +work; and our sympathies went with him, as it would probably take some +days to efface from his mind the painful impression that he was to be +sold, the last calamity that can happen to a negro who is in kind hands. +We now wandered through the long avenues of palm and fruit trees with +which the estate was planted, and saw the stout black wenches at their +out-door occupations, which at this time consisted chiefly in raking and +cleansing the ground about the roots of the trees and flowers. Their +faces brightened as their employers passed, and the smaller children +kissed hands. Returned to the house, we paused awhile to enjoy the +evening red, for the sun was already below the horizon. Then came the +_volante_, and with heartfelt thanks and regrets we suffered it to take +us away. + +And who had been the real hero of this day? Who but Roque, fresh from +town, with his experience of Carnival, and his own accounts of the +masked ball, the Paseo, and the Senorita's beaux? All that durst +followed him to the gate, and kissed hands after him. "_Adios, Roque! +Roque, adios!_" resounded on all sides; and Roque, the mysterious one, +actually smiled in conscious superiority, as he nodded farewell, and +galloped off, dragging us after him. + +As we drove back to Matanzas in the moonlight, a sound of horses' feet +made us aware that Don Antonico, the young friend who had planned and +accompanied our day's excursion, was to be our guard of honor on the +lonely road. A body-servant accompanied him, like-wise mounted. Don +Antonico rode a milk-white Cuban pony, whose gait was soft, swift, and +stealthy as that of a phantom horse. His master might have carried a +brimming glass in either hand, without spilling a drop, or might have +played chess, or written love-letters on his back, so smoothly did he +tread the rough, stony road. All its pits and crags and jags, the pony +made them all a straight line for his rider, whose unstirred figure and +even speech made this quite discernible. For when a friend talks to you +on the trot, much gulping doth impede his conversation,--and there is +even a good deal of wallop in a young lady's gallop. But our friend's +musical Spanish ran on like a brook with no stones in it, that merely +talks to the moonlight for company. And such moonlight as it was that +rained down upon us, except where the palm-trees spread their inverted +parasols, and wouldn't let it! And such a glorification of all trees and +shrubs, including the palm, which we are almost afraid to call again by +name, lest it should grow "stuck up," and imagine there were no other +trees but itself! And such a combination of tropical silence, warmth, +and odor! Even in the night, we did not forget that the aloe-hedges had +red in them, which made all the ways beautiful by day. Oh! it was what +good Bostonians call "a lovely time"; and it was with a sigh of fulness +that we set down the goblet of enjoyment, drained to the last drop, and +getting, somehow, always sweeter towards the bottom. + +For it was set down at the Ensor House, which we are to leave to-night, +half-regretful at not having seen the scorpion by which we always +expected to be bitten; for we had heard such accounts of it, patrolling +the galleries with its venomous tail above its head, that we had thought +a sight might be worth a bite. It was not to be, however. The luggage is +brought; John is gratified with a _peso_; and we take leave with entire +good-will. + +I mention our departure, only because it was Cuban and characteristic. +Returning by boat to Havana, we were obliged to be on board by ten +o'clock that evening, the boat starting at eleven. Of course, the +steamer was nowhere but a mile out in the stream; and a little +cockle-shell of a row-boat was our only means of attaining her. How +different, ye good New Yorkers and Bostonians, from your afternoon walk +on board the "Bay State," with valise and umbrella in hand, and all the +flesh-pots of Egypt in ----, well, in remembrance! After that degree of +squabbling among the boatmen which serves to relieve the feelings of +that habitually disappointed class of men, we chose our craft, and were +rowed to the steamer, whose sides were steep and high out of water. The +arrangements on board were peculiar. The body of the main deck was +occupied by the _gentlemen's_ cabin, which was large and luxurious. A +tiny after-cabin was fitted up for the ladies. In the region of the +machinery were six horrible staterooms, bare and dirty, the berths being +furnished simply with cane-bottoms, a pillow, and one unclean sheet. +Those who were decoyed into these staterooms endured them with disgust +while the boat was at anchor; but when the paddle-wheels began to +revolve, and dismal din of clang and bang and whirr came down about +their ears, and threatened to unroof the fortress of the brain, why then +they fled madly, precipitately, leaving their clothes mostly behind +them. But I am anticipating. The passengers arrived and kept arriving; +and we watched, leaning over the side, for Don Antonico, who was to +accompany our voyage. Each boat had its little light; and to see them +dancing and toppling on the water was like a fairy scene. At last came +our friend; and after a little talk and watching of the stars, we betook +ourselves to rest. + +Many of the Dons were by this time undressed, and smoking in their +berths. As there was no access to the ladies' cabin, save through the +larger one, she who went thither awaited a favorable moment and ran, +looking neither to the right hand nor the left. The small cabin was +tolerably filled by Cuban ladies in full dress.--_Mem._ They always +travel in their best clothes.--The first navigation among them was a +real balloon-voyage, with collisions; but they soon collapsed and went +to bed. All is quiet now; and she of whom we write has thrown herself +upon the first vacant bed, spreading first a clean napkin on the +extremely serviceable pillow. Sleep comes; but what is this that murders +sleep? A diminutive male official going to each berth, and arousing its +fair occupant with "Dona Teresita," or whatever the name may be, "favor +me with the amount of your passage-money." No comment is necessary; +here, no tickets,--here, no Stewardess to mediate between the unseen +Captain and the unprotected female! The sanctuary of the sex invaded at +midnight, without apology and without rebuke! Think of that, _those_ +passengers who have not paid their fare, and, when invited to call at +the Captain's office and settle, do so, and be thankful! The male +passengers underwent a similar visitation. It is the Cuban idea of a +compendious and economic arrangement. + +And here ends our account of Matanzas, our journey thither, stay, and +return. Peace rest upon the fair city! May the earthquake and hurricane +spare it! May the hateful Spanish government sit lightly on its strong +shoulders! May the Filibusters attack it with kisses, and conquer it +with loving-kindness! So might it be with the whole Island--_vale_! + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +RETURN TO HAVANA--SAN ANTONIO AGAIN. + + +Not many days did we tarry in Havana, on our return. We found the city +hot, the hotel full, the invalids drooping. The heat and the confined +life (many of them never crossed the threshold) began to tell upon them, +and to undo the good work wrought by the mild winter. They talked of +cooling breezes, and comfortable houses, with windows, carpets, and +padded sofas. Home was become a sort of watchword among them, exchanged +with a certain subdued rapture. One of them was on the brink of a longer +journey. He had been the worst case all winter, and since our arrival, +had rarely left his room. A friend was now come to take him to his +father's house, but he failed so rapidly, that it was feared the slender +thread would be broken before the sailing of the steamer should allow +him to turn his face homewards. The charities of the Cubans, such as +they are, do not extend to the bodies of dead Protestants,--for them is +nothing but the Potter's Field. This gross Priest, that shameless woman +shall lie in consecrated ground, but our poor countryman, pale and pure +as he looked, would defile the sainted inclosure, and must be cast out, +with dogs and heretics. So there was a sort of hush, even in the +heartless hotel-life, and an anxious inquiry every morning,--"Is he yet +alive?" + +"Just alive," and for a moment, people were really interested. But the +day of departure came at last, and he was carried on board in a chair, +his coffin following him. His closed eyes were too weak to open on the +glorious tropical noon, and take a last leave of its beauty, and of the +dry land he was never to see again; for he died, we afterwards learned, +the day before the vessel reached New York, without pain or +consciousness. And many thus depart. In this very hotel died glorious +Dr. Kane, having, like a few other illustrious men, compressed all the +merits of a long life in the short years of youth. When he was carried +from these walls, a great concourse rose up to attend him, and when the +procession passed the Governor's palace, the dark Concha himself, the +centre of power and despotism, stood at the gate, hat in hand, to do +reverence to the noble corpse. A practical word apropos of these things. +A flight to the tropics is apt to be like a death-bed repentance, +deferred to the last moment, and with no appreciable benefit. Not only +giving,--everything is done twice which is done quickly,--Time and +Disease having between them a ratio too mysterious and rapid for +computation. Ye who must fly, wounded, from the terrible North, fly in +season, before the wound festers and rankles,--otherwise you escape not, +bringing Death with you. Do not rush moreover to a hotel in the heart of +Havana, and falling down there, refuse to be removed. Pulmonary patients +rarely profit in Havana, whose climate is tainted with the sea-board, +and further, with all the abominations of the dirtiest of cities. Santa +Cruz has a better climate than Cuba,--so has Nassau, but in Cuba there +are better places than Havana. San Antonio is better,--Guines, +Guanabacoa, even Matanzas, are all healthier. Best of all is to reside +on a coffee or sugar-plantation in the interior, but to attain this +object, special letters are necessary,--as before observed, neither +_your_ Banker, nor _our_ Consul, will help you to it. + +We find little news in Havana. B. has gone to Trinidad de Cuba,--C. has +gone to New Orleans. The Bachelor who daily treated to oranges is among +the departed, and remembering his benefactions, we wish him a safe +return and continuance of celibacy. Carnival has been gay,--Concha gave +a Ball, and our Consul plucked up heart and went, and introduced eight +of our countrywomen, elegantly dressed, no doubt, and not speaking a +word of Spanish, nor the Consul neither,--one of the requisites of an +American foreign Official being that he shall be capable of no foreign +language. This rule has been rigorously adhered to by the +Administration for twenty years past, and in some instances, a +tolerable ignorance of English has been added, as a merit of +supererogation. However, to return to the Ball, one of the ladies +performed in Boarding-school French, and as far as looks went, they made +a decidedly good impression. The little English Lords are +expected,--Ladies, do not flutter so!--it is not the fascinating English +Lord who has glittered like a diamond for two years past on the finger +of Washington diplomacy. These are Boys, and by all accounts, good ones. + +There is an Englishman at the hotel already, and he quarrels with his +victuals in a manner that is awful, quite reminding one of the stories +of unthankful children, whom the wolves get. And he labors with the +unknown Spanish like a ship at sea, and steers for this dish and that +with undistinguishable orders. Though I know him not, I must help him +when I see him struggling so for his dinner, winking, pointing, and +sputtering to the waiters without result. The wretch has been in Italy, +and would make the softer idiom serve his turn here. "_Riso, eh, riso, +riz, rice_," says he, with extended index. "_Trae el arroz al Senor_" +comes timely to his aid, and with a few more helpings he is fed, though +not satisfied. So irrational, so unappeasable is his appetite, that one +cannot help thinking he has heard the story of the Belly and the Members +in his youth, and has determined to avenge the injured ganglion of its +ancient tormentors. + +But among so many faces, remembered and sketched with little pleasure, +there is one whose traits I must record as a labor of love. It belonged +to one of the recent arrivals at the hotel, and was first seen in strong +contrast with the countenance of the gluttonous Englishman, which it +regarded with grave wonder. Expressive dark eyes, fine brows, heavy +black hair, and a clear skin, subdued by ill-health, were its principal +points of interest, but such enumeration can give you no more idea of +its charm than an auctioneer's catalogue of furniture can suggest the +features of a happy home. I had heard of its owner, but had never seen +her before, yet we met somehow like people who had known each other, +and a few commonplace phrases ended in a dialogue like this: "Are you +A?"--"Yes,--are you B?"--"Yes;" and eternal friendship, though not +sworn, set in immediately, and still perseveres. Modesty forbids us to +praise our friend,--the very epithet "my friend," says the utmost we can +say for any one. So I must not further celebrate my new-found treasure, +who from this moment became the companion of all my steps in Cuba. I +will only say that she was an apple-blossom of our Northern Spring, +grafted upon a noble Southern stock, and turning her face now to the +regions of the sun for healing warmth. Readers! you have all heard of +her,--you would all give your ears to know her name. Keep them, you +shall not. + +In this pleasant company we sought San Antonio again. My friend was not +doing well in Havana, and the graceful head was bowed every day lower by +pain and weakness. But once out of the pent-up city, the head rose like +a lily after rain, and all the little journey was pleasure and +surprise. The tangled thickets, the new trees, the strange flowers, +filled her with admiration. This was Cuba. Havana was, what is +everywhere almost alike, the World. And soon we came to the clear, +low-running river, with its green, bushy banks. And the next whistle of +the steam-engine, like a fairy horn, called up the pretty village, with +its streets and bridges, its one church, and its diminutive Plaza. We +walk along the newly paved street, lined with small dwellings built of +palm and plaster. The naked children are playing at the doors, the +fathers and mothers are making cigars, or smoking them, the soldiers are +walking vacantly about, and the small shopkeepers are looking out from +behind their dull counters, piled with the refuse of the better markets. +Here is the American Hotel, and just opposite, the eternal piano is +playing "Norma," as it always did twelve hours out of twenty-four, and +was a nuisance. But let me not grumble, for at the door of that house +stand Mariquilla and Dolores, to welcome me back, and, hearing their +voices, Norma leaves the instrument of her revenge, and comes out to +embrace me. It is pleasant, is it not, to arrive where some one is glad +to see you? These kind people quite warm my heart with their welcome. +Mrs. L. at the hotel, too, is always glad to see a boarder, especially +if he have with him a trunk that looks like staying. So we are feted all +around, and have the best rooms given us, and are happy. + +In the evening, I betake myself to the house opposite, which was +familiar to me in my earlier visit, but of which I now speak for the +first time. Its inmates are in comfortable, though moderate +circumstances, and their habits are the type of Cuban village-life. Here +I meet the accustomed circle,--fie! they have no _circle_, but sit in +two long parallel lines, and rock, and smoke at each other. Papa is a +small, slight Spaniard, with good manners and no teeth. Mamma is not +more than forty,--a massive, handsome woman, with that dignity of +expression which is beyond beauty,--she is simple in her dress, and +quiet in all her ways, but her thoughtful eyes make you remember her. +Mariquilla is a buxom girl, some thirty years of age, who uses ten +cosmetics in her bath, and still preserves a tolerably fresh complexion. +Dolores is quiet and gentle, and spends her days in taking care of two +little motherless children, whose father brings them every morning, and +takes them away at night. Maria Luisa, whom I call Norma, is the only +daughter of the family. She is pretty and modest, slight and small, like +her father, but with fine eyes. She is a great Belle, we are told, in +the neighborhood, and her musical accomplishment is considered +prodigious. Besides these we find Dotor Hernandez, the village +Physician, an Aragonese, thick-set and vigorous, with a good honest +face, and Juanito, the Music-Master, a youth of eighteen, from +Barcelona, with straight black hair, a pock-marked countenance, and a +pair of as mischievous black eyes as ever looked demurely into the +mysteries of the divine art. He is just offering cigarettes to all the +family. Mamma has taken one, so have Dolores and Mariquilla,--he hands +me the little packet with: "_Te fuma, Hulita?_" and seems rather +surprised at my refusal, supposing doubtless that women of a certain age +smoke, all over the world. One small lamp dimly illuminates this family +party. When music is proposed, two candles, not of wax, are lighted, and +placed on the piano. I sing a song or two, which they are good enough to +call "_muy bonito_," and then, Maria Luisa, invited in turn, thunders +through "Norma," from Overture to Finale. Oh! I have not described the +piano,--it is a grand one, and bears the name of Stoddard. It should be +about sixty years old, and would seem to have been through three +generations and ten boarding-schools. It is a sort of skeleton piano, +empty of music, and the rattling of its poor old bones makes mine ache. +After the Opera, dancing is proposed. Juanito is disabled with a lame +hand, and Maria Luisa volunteers to play the new _contra-danza_. It is +christened "the Atlantic Telegraph," and is full of jerks and +interruptions, having nothing very definite about it. We have learned +the _contra-danza_ of Dolores, on a former occasion, but now they all +say "Hulita must dance with the Doctor," and to that consummate honor +she resigns herself. That distinguished functionary divests himself of +his cigar, polishes his perspiring forehead with his handkerchief, and +offers himself as a candidate for her hand. "_Vamos_," he says, and they +begin a slow, circling measure, to a music which is nondescript. Quiet +work this, none of your spasmodic Waltzes, kicking Polkas, and teetotum +jigmarigs. This gentle revolution seems imitated from the movement of +the planets, or perhaps the dance of the seasons,--gravity pervades +it,--it is a slow eternity. The rest of the family group has resolved +itself into couples,--we all go round and round, and suddenly confront +each other for a right and left, and look delighted, and then go round +again. This dreamy performance goes on, until we have just sense enough +left to remember that there is such a thing as bed-time. We break off, +inquire the hour, find it late, say that we must go, which occasions no +surprise. The piano ceases,--the candles are put out. There is a +general kissing and "_Buenas noches_, _Hulita_." Dotor Hernandez sees us +home. We pass every evening at the house opposite, and all the evenings +are like this. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +SAN ANTONIO--CHURCH ON SUNDAY--THE NORTHER--THE S. FAMILY. + + +The least shrub has its blossom, if you only know how to find it. The +dullest country town in New England has its days when people hear +speeches and get drunk, the one act illustrating the morals, the other +the manners of the community. In like manner, the smallest village in +Cuba has its Sunday, when the imprisoned women go to church in their +best clothes, the men attend cockfights, and in the evening there is +ball or sermon, according as the Church makes feast or fast. The +population of San Antonio does not seem particularly given to weekday +devotion, nor indeed do you anywhere in Cuba find men and women praying +in the churches, as you do in Rome. There is a degree of sobriety among +the people in all things, partly Spanish, it may be, partly the result +of the extreme climate,--certain it is, that the Cuban Spaniard has not, +either in pleasure or devotion, the extravagance of the French or +Italian. The church at San Antonio was always open, but I always found +it empty, except on the one Sunday morning when I went thither to +observe manners and customs. High mass was at eight o'clock, and was in +all respects a miniature of the same ceremonial as described at +Matanzas, the accompaniment of martial music and the regiment being left +out. The body of the church was covered with prayer-carpets, which were +closely occupied by kneeling figures. The display of good dresses and +good looks was cheerful and invigorating. There was less flouncing and +fanning, methought, than in the larger town; but no doubt the usual +telegraphy was carried on, only in a more covert manner, as became the +severer exigencies of village decorum. The priest went through his +harmless little functions at the altar with what seemed to be a calico +Dalmatique on his back, but we have no doubt that it was a brocade of +creditable thickness. What he said was, of course, inaudible. Juanito +was at the organ, perched sideways in a high gallery, so that his impish +face and dancing eyes formed a part of the picture. Though nearer heaven +in his position, he looked more full of the devil (pardon the +expression) than we had ever seen him. With him were three young +choristers, laboring away at the "Kyrie Eleison,"--he made the fourth in +the Quartette, and played the accompaniment, too, losing, moreover, +nothing of what went on below. The music was good, very like something +of Mozart's, but when subsequently interrogated, Juanito declared it to +have been a _Capriccio_ of his own. We can only say, that if it was not +Mozart's, we shall certainly hear of Juanito some day, as a composer. + +The two old beggars who take off their tattered hats with such stately +humility all the week, were here to-day, but did not beg in church. +Item, they do not chatter like their Italian brethren in the trade, but +commence a slow statement of their grievances, which you interrupt with +"_nada_," nothing, when they walk sadly away. A Cuban generally gives +them something, and always without rebuke. In the church was, too, a +kneeling figure of Christ, neither divine nor human, fastened to a +platform, with four lanterns at the four corners,--it is carried through +the streets on Fridays in Lent for devotion, and the priests chant, and +bear candles before it. + +Well, Mass is over, and we walk back to the hotel,--and here is our +pretty neighbor, Maria Luisa, watching at the door to see the people +come from church. "What, not at Mass, Maria Luisa?" "No, I'm so sorry, +but Papa is away, and Dolores has a cold, and Mariquilla has been +sitting up with a sick friend, so there was no one to go with me." +Clearly, there is a laxity in matters of religion in the house opposite. +On the other hand public opinion, even in San Antonio, would never have +permitted Maria Luisa, or any other female under sixty to have walked +the quiet streets without escort, upon whatever errand of piety or of +charity. Scarcely to the bedside of a dying mother might she go, +unattended by a suitable companion. We pass the remainder of the Sunday +in quiet resignation to the heat, the thermometer standing at 86 in the +shade, (say, on the fourth of March,) and letter-writing causing one to +perspire like a wood-sawyer, or a stout youth in the Polka. For the +nobler sex, there is the cockpit,--all the _cafes_ and billiards too are +full of soldiers and countrymen,--one hears the click of the balls +throughout the quiet streets. Towards sunset we walk out, and find the +village alive with little groups of people, and the windows of the +houses, at least the window-gratings, filled with the best women in the +best dresses. Some of them are well got-up. All look cool, easy, and +indolent. Here and there is seen amongst them the glimmer of a furtive +cigar. We pass the Cavalry Barracks, once a spacious monastery, and see +the horses gathered in from their wide pasture for the night. They obey +the voice, and with a little driving, make a tolerable charge at the +arched doorway, and carry it in style. The sense of smell too is regaled +with the savory odors of the soldiers' supper, and looking in at a +grating, we see huge stewpans simmering over charcoal fires,--the rest +in darkness, for it now grows late. The men are a stouter looking set +than the regiment we saw at Matanzas, but the horses have not the bone +and muscle requisite for heavy action,--they could only make respectable +light-horse. Returning home, we meet our friends of the house opposite +going to "_Sermon_," as they tell us, for this is Lent, and not +Carnival. Mamma wears a black veil,--the others are bareheaded. We have +still tea to look forward to, but under such difficulties! we have given +a dollar for a teapot which in Boston should cost twenty-five cents. Our +precious pound of black tea, brought from home, has not yet given out, +but how hard is it to make Antonio, the head-waiter, put the tea in the +pot, make the water boil, and pour it boiling over the tea. Yet this +sacred rite we accomplish every evening. It has the solemnity of a +religious observance, for where the tea-table is, there is home. After +tea, a chair by the well in the middle of the Court, and a silent feast +of tropical starlight. The lady of the house is chattering nothings +with that queer Californian, who looks as much like a spoiled preacher +as anything. The excitable Carolinian has got some one to hear him abuse +Cuba, and glorify Charleston. Yonder at the left angle the flare of a +lamp betrays the kitchen, and in the next compartment of the picture +Polonia, the slave washer-woman, who has been kept at the ironing-table +all day, vents her feelings in passionate snatches of talk, shakes her +kerchiefed head, tosses her arms about, and returns to the ironing with +more determination than ever. Poor slave,--a great debt was piled up +against her before she was born, and the labor of all her life cannot +work it out. Bankrupt must she die, and hand down the debt, sole +inheritance, to her children. So the world to the slave is a debtor's +prison, with a good or bad Jailer, and for utmost alleviation, an +occasional treat all round. And while the cooking, and chattering, and +ironing goes on about us, Reader, you and I will ponder this, sitting by +the well, under the stars set an hundred thousand miles deep in the +dark velvet of the tropical heavens. + +This was Sunday, and with the next day came one of those changes which +resemble in kind, not in degree, the caprices of our own Continental +climate. The day has been a little less genial than usual, still we are +all comfortably seated at dinner, when a sudden wind shakes the house, +and blowing in furiously at the blinds, threatens to make the tablecloth +fly over our heads. A fierce shower of rain follows,--our table is set +in a gallery inclosed on one side only with Venetian blind-work, and +through this the rain rushes at us like a volley of canes flung into the +pit of a theatre. It grows dark, and for an hour or so, very cold. There +is an instantaneous closing of doors and wooden window-shutters, and we +of the Dinner protect ourselves from the wet and chill with the few warm +garments we have with us,--for is not the bulk of our solid clothing +laid up at Havana in that sea-trunk which we could wish never to open +again? We pass the remainder of the afternoon under hatches, as it +were. The rain soon exhausts itself, but the cold wind continues for +some days. This is the Norther, fatal to yellow fever, but fatal also to +those who are ill of it, and dreaded by all patients whatever. To us, +the storm being over, the wind is only chilly, bringing with it a dull +sky, and the desire for exercise, but the invalids shrivel up in it like +rose-leaves in a frost,--the hectic gives place to deadly pallor, and +the purple hues that mark the orbit of the eye come out, stronger than +ever. Meeting, they interrogate each other's faces with anxious looks, +as if wishing to see what headway their little community could keep +against the common foe. The aspect of the streets is changed. The women +scarcely appear, save where you see the heads of three or four of them +in a row, looking through the small square breathing-hole cut in the +window-shutters, and giving one the idea of so many people standing +erect in their coffins. The men walk moodily about, each one enveloped +in the dark folds of a Spanish cloak, or _capa_, of which the material +varies from fine to coarse, but the shape is always the same. These +solemn, stalking figures so resemble the _mysterious personages_ of the +theatre, the bandits, spies, disguised lovers, and other varmint, that +we saw for once where the stage has preserved a tradition of real life, +these costumes having been, no doubt, long since imitated from Spain, +and never changed. + +What crime is this grave man meditating, with heavy brow and splendid +eyes? Murder or conspiracy, at least. No, he only wants to purchase a +string of onions at that shop at the corner. And this melancholy hero +with the pale olive complexion, dark as the stage-Romeo after he has +bought the poison? He enters yonder door to refresh himself with a glass +of _aguardiente_, and a game of billiards. At the house opposite, +Dolores complains of "_muchisima flussion_,"--a most severe cold. "Is it +the President's Message?" we ask. "No, in San Antonio they call the cold +'_el Polvorin_,' after the powder-magazine that exploded, last year, in +Havana." We tell Dotor Hernandez that he must cure Dolores, and he +promises her a "_vomitivo_" next morning, the very mention of which +considerably hastens her convalescence. The health of the village is +suffering from the Norther, the Doctor has his hands full. Mariquilla +must give us some account of the sick friend she is nursing. "He has a +_Calentura_, (fever of the country,) with delirium. They treat him with +leeches, bleeding, borage tea, mustard at the feet; around the head +bread with oil, vinegar, and pepper, as a _preventivo_." "Why," cried +one of us, "you have seasoned him and stuffed him with herbs, fit for +roasting." Dotor Hernandez gravely explains and defends his practice. + +While the Norther is in full force, we go to pay a visit to Don Juan +Sanchez, a man of wealth and position in San Antonio, and proprietor of +large estates in the neighborhood. Don Juan is not at home,--his wife, +Dona Tomasita, and the Tutor, an elderly Frenchman, receive us. She is +young, but the mother of seven children. At our request, the nursery is +reviewed in the parlor, as follows: Enter Manuel, eight years of age, +enveloped in the stage cloak, and with the utmost gravity of +countenance. He marches up to us, and startles us by inquiring after +our health, in very good English. Enter Tomas Ignacio, seven years of +age, also in a _capa_, and grave. This infant addressed us in French, +and took a seat beside his brother. He was followed by two noble imps, +of six and five, dressed in the same manner, and with the same decorum. +These four creatures in linen suits, with black cloaks, were positively +imposing, and it was not until Dolorita, the baby, had begun to howl in +her mother's arms, and Ricardo, the three-year old, to tumble on the +floor at her feet, that we could feel we were in the presence of +lawless, spontaneous childhood. Before we departed, Dona Tomasita kindly +placed her whole house, and all her earthly goods at our disposition, +and we, with great moderation, claimed only the right of exit at her +front door. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +EDUCATION--LAST NIGHT IN SAN ANTONIO--FAREWELL. + + +One of our number, visiting the public schools of San Antonio one day, +found the course of studies for boys of very respectable extension,--it +comprised all the usual elementary branches, including the History of +Spain, such a history of that country at least as is good for Cuban boys +to learn. For the education of girls, a single hour was reserved, and +into this were crowded the necessary reading and writing, a little +instruction in accounts, and the geography of the island. My friend +remonstrated against this unequal division of the spoils of time, but +those in authority insisted that it was according to the rights of +Nature, as follows. + +_American._ Do you mean to say that boys should be taught five or six +hours a day, and girls only one? + +_Schoolmaster._ Certainly. + +_American._ Why do you make this difference? + +_Schoolmaster._ Because women need so much less education than men. + +_American._ Why is that? + +_Schoolmaster._ They have less mind, in the first place, and then their +mode of life demands less cultivation of what they have. + +_American._ What knowledge do you consider necessary for a woman? only +reading and writing, I suppose. + +_Schoolmaster._ Yes, and a little arithmetic. They must fill up the rest +of their time with sewing, and household matters. + +_American._ But supposing you were required to add something to this +small amount of instruction, what would it be? + +_Schoolmaster_ (after some reflection). I scarcely know, unless indeed +_a slight coloring of Grammar_. + +Our American, now excited, brings in view the good of the race. "Do you +not think," he says, "that by elevating the organism of the mothers, you +elevate the intellectual chances of the whole race? Stupid mothers will +have stupid sons,--the results of culture are inherited." + +The master replies that that is not his business, but Don Juan, who +happens to be present, being appealed to, assents, and thinks it might +be as well if a mother could have an idea. So far, so good, but a +jealous-hearted woman to whom the conversation was reported smiled to +observe how both American and Cuban made woman subservient to the +interests of the race. "And if she should never be a mother," said this +one, "educate her for herself, that she may give good counsel, and +discern the noble and the beautiful. For women are good to inspire men, +as well as to bear them, and for their own sakes, they have a right to +know all that elevates and dignifies life." And this brings to mind +another brief conversation overheard in one of our voyages. + +_Young Wife_ (holding up a number of the "Atlantic Monthly"). Ought +women to learn the alphabet, dear? what do you think? + +_Young Husband._ Oh! certainly--don't they have to teach it? + +But the time draws nigh for us to leave San Antonio. Our return passages +are engaged in the next Isabel. If this steamer prove such a Bird of +Gladness as the papers and her consignees say, then our once weary +voyage will become a veritable translation,--only three days of +sunshine, smoothness, and turtle-soup for luncheon, and you land in +Charleston in undisturbed equilibrium of manners and of dress. Well, +more of this anon. + +But to-night is our last night in San Antonio. We have danced our last +_contra-danza_ with Dotor Hernandez, and had our last chat with Maria +Luisa and her mother. Juanito was there, that evening, and as we were +all in a musical mood, he played through whole piano-forte arrangements +of "Norma" and "Lucia," and we all screamed through the score, some six +notes too high for the voice, Papa and Mamma applauding us, and did +wonders in "Casta Diva" and "_Chi mi frena_." But this is all at an end, +and one of us stands alone at her open window, and looks for the last +time on the quiet scene,--just before her is the little pasture where +the goats pick up a scanty subsistence all day, and where shadows and +moonlight play such wild freaks at night. This morning, as she sat at +that window and worked, two men in haste carried a coffin past it. She +always sees coffins, and sometimes writes about them,--that one gives +tone to her thoughts to-night. For the house opposite is now dark and +still,--the parlor where Mariquilla embroiders her chemises, and Dolores +pulls lint for the sick is silent and deserted. The trees stand up there +in the moonlight, and the river runs among its shallows so near that one +hears its voice. And Hulita thinks: fifty years from this time--that +river will be running just as it is now, and those trees, or others like +them, will be standing at the angle of the picture as I now see them, +but where shall we, friends of to-day, be? Dead, or old enough to die. +Juanito will be a man in years, then, with white hairs, scarcely +remembering the American lady who praised his compositions in +church-music. The Dotor, Papa, and Mamma cannot be alive, Maria Luisa +will be a Grandmother, and if Hulita lives, her infirmities will make +death a welcome deliverance. So she envies that moon, the trees, the +river, who can all stay and be eternal. She saw the coffin to-day,--very +like she will see the whole no more. Good-night, dear moon, dear +shadows, dear unlearned, unsophisticated people,--I shall leave you +to-morrow, forget you never. + +And the next day comes the bustle of departure, and packing of trunks, +for we are to take the afternoon train down to Havana. Dona Tomasita +sends a parting gift of fruit, as much as one man and one stout boy can +carry. The fruit is as follows: one bushel of golden, honeyed +oranges,--oh! the glory of all oranges are those of this island,--the +same quantity of _chaimitos_ and _mameys_, and a huge fagot of +sugar-cane. We hasten to share these good creatures with those +immediately at hand, having lauded Dona Tomasita to the skies and paid +her messengers. What could be carried away we took with us. Then came +the parting with Polonia, who wrung her hands as usual, and cried out: +"Know thou, girl, that I shall miss thee much." "And I thee, too, thou +dear old half-mad charcoal figure,--thou art human, though black, and +canst ache over the ironing-table as well as another. Let these few +reals console thee, as far as may be, for the loss of my sympathy. If we +ever get the Island, I will help thee to ease and good wages. + +"But not so to thee, roguish Antonio. 'Art thou not free and perfidious? +We intrusted a sum of money to thine hand to pay the negro +baggage-carrier, and to slightly fee thyself, and we ascertain all too +late, by the complaints of the injured negro, that thou didst slightly +fee him, and pay thyself for services never rendered. Wherefore dread +our coming, or the Day of Justice, by whomsoever administered!'"---- + +We have taken affectionate leave of the family of the house opposite, +promising to write, with the remainder of our mortal lives as the vague +term of fulfilment. A trinket or two made the younger ones happy, while +the whole family solemnly united to bestow on me a little set of +vignettes of Cuba, folded fan-fashion, and purchasable for the sum of +five reals. Not without much explanation was it delivered to me,--this +was the Cock-fight, this the Bull-fight, this the Tacon theatre. I +received these instructions without any of that American asperity which +led a celebrated Chief Justice to say: "There are some things, Mr. +Counsel, which the Court is supposed to know," and gratefully departed. +We walked to the _depot_, in the hot afternoon sun, our smaller pieces +conveyed on a barrow, and the huge trunk resting, for fifty cents, on +the head of a stalwart negro.--_Mem._ A negro could carry the round +earth on his head, if he could only get it there. And here came the +discovery of Antonio's vileness,--he had had an eighth of an ounce, +wherewith to pay the carriers. According to the bargain, as rehearsed to +us, he was to pay them a dollar and three fourths, which would leave him +three reals for himself. He professed to have done this with so +ingenuous an air, that we were a little ashamed of so small a fee, and +added thereto the small remnant of our change. Only at the last moment, +when the train was puffing and smoking alongside, did the poor blacks +venture to say that one dollar was very little for carrying all those +trunks. Our hearts were stirred, but the train was there, the purse +empty, and Antonio out of sight. Wherefore, let him, as before said, +avoid our second coming. + +But there never was a departure without an omission. Something you have +forgotten that you meant to take, or you have brought with you something +that should have been left. Wending your way from an English mansion of +splendid hospitality, a stray towel has found its way into your +portmanteau. Before you have discovered this, a confidential letter from +the housekeeper overtakes you informing you of the fact, and begging you +to return the missing article at once, which you do for six stamps, with +a slight tingle in the cheek. In the present instance we have taken +nought that was not ours, but we have left an article of domestic +dignity and importance. + +Stranger, if you should ever sit at that tea-table in the hotel at San +Antonio, with the lamp smoking under your nose, and the three tasteless +dishes of preserves spread before your sight, a cup of astringent +nothingness being offered to you, and a choking stale roll forming the +complement of your evening service,--if there and thus you should see a +white teapot, with bands of blue, that looks as if it had seen better +days, oh then remember us! For we had scarcely settled ourselves in the +cars, when a pensive recollection came over us. It was too late to do +anything,--we only touched the shoulder of our friend, who was as usual +intent upon palms and scenery, and remarked, with a look of melancholy +intelligence, "The Teapot is left behind!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +SLAVERY--CUBAN SLAVE LAWS, INSTITUTIONS, ETC. + + +It is not with pleasure that we approach this question, sacred to the +pugilism of debate. Nor is it worth while to add one word to the past +infinity of talk about it, unless that word could have the weight of a +new wisdom. We Americans, caught by the revolutionary spirit of the +French, make them too much our models, and run too much to grandiloquent +speech, and fine moral attitudinizing. The attitudes do not move the +world,--the words do not change the intrinsic bearings of things. They +whom we attack, the fight being over, sit down and wipe the dust from +their faces,--we sit and wipe the sweat from ours,--something stronger +than their will or ours passes between us,--it is the great moral +necessity which expresses the will of God. We and they are two forces, +pulling in opposite ways to preserve the equilibrium of a third point, +which we do not see. We must keep to our pulling, they cannot relinquish +theirs. The point of solution that shall reconcile and supersede the +differences is not in sight, nor has the wisest of us known how to +indicate it. Meanwhile, the calm satisfaction with which some of us +divide our national moral inheritance, giving them all the vices, and +ourselves all the virtues, is at once mournful and ridiculous. Why are +we New Englanders so _naive_ as not to see this? When the representative +of a handful of men rises to speak, and, alluding to the progress which +a great question has made in twenty years, says: "This is all our +doing,--behold our work and admire it!" we cannot, but pause and wonder +if merely that irruption of bitter words can have produced so sweet a +fruit. In this view, what becomes of the moral evolution of the ages, of +the slow, sure help of Time, showing new aspects, presenting new +possibilities? What becomes of human modesty, which is nearly related +to human justice? + +I preface with these remarks, because, looking down from where I sit, I +cannot curse the pleasant Southern land, nor those who dwell in it. Nor +would I do so if I thought tenfold more ill of its corruptions. Were +half my body gangrened, I would not smite nor reproach it, but seek with +patience an available remedy. This is the half of our body, and the +moral blood which brings the evil runs as much in our veins as in +theirs. + +Looking at realities and their indications, we see a future for the +African race, educated by the enslavement which must gradually +ameliorate, and slowly die out. We see that in countries where the black +men are many, and the white few, the white will one day disappear, and +the black govern. In South Carolina, for example, the tide of emigration +has carried westward the flower of the white population. In Charleston, +all the aristocratic families have their mulatto representatives, who +bear their names. There are Pinckneys, Pringles, Middletons, and so on, +of various shades of admixture, living in freedom, and forming a +community by themselves. There are even mulatto representatives of +extinct families, who alone keep from oblivion names which were once +thought honorable. These things are indications of changes which will +work themselves slowly. Noble efforts have hemmed the evil in, and the +great soul of the World watches, we believe, at the borders, and will +not suffer the sad contagion to creep over them into the virgin +territories. But where the Institution sits at home, with its roots +undergrowing the foundations of society, we may be sad, but we must be +patient. The enfranchisement of a race, where it is lasting, is always +accomplished by the slow and solid progress of the race itself. The +stronger people rarely gives Freedom to the weaker as a boon,--when they +are able, they rise up and take it with their own hands. It is an +earning, not a gift, nor can the attributes which make liberty virtual +and valuable be commanded, save under certain moral conditions. A man is +not noble because he is free, but noble men constituting a nation +become free. Let the wounds of Africa first be stopped,--let her +lifeblood stay to enrich her own veins. The enslaved population of Cuba +and our own South must, under ordinary circumstances, attain in time a +condition in which Slavery shall be impossible. + +But our business is with what actually exists. We will leave what shall +and should be to the Theorists who invent it, and to God who executes +it, often strangely unmindful of their suggestions. + +The black and white races are, by all accounts, more mingled in Cuba, +than in any part of our own country. People who have long been resident +there assure us that some of the wealthiest and most important families +are of mixed blood. Animadvert upon this as you will, it is nevertheless +certain that it weaves close bonds of affinity between them, and ties of +Nature which, though ignored, cannot be unfelt. I have not seen in Cuba +anything that corresponds to our ideal separation of the two sets of +human beings, living in distinctness one from the other, hating and +wronging each other with the fierceness of enemies in the death-grapple. +The Negro cannot be so hated, so despised,--it is not in the nature of +things. His _bonhommie_, his gentle and attachable nature do not allow +it. Nor can he, in return, so hate. There is a great familiarity between +the children of the two races. They play, and run about, and are petted +together. We made a visit at a Creole house, where the youngest child, a +feeble infant of six months, was suckled by a black nurse. "You must see +the nurse's Baby," they all said, and the little daughter of the house +ran to fetch her, and soon returned, bringing her by one arm, the way in +which their own mothers carry them. She was an uncommonly handsome +infant, scarcely older than her white foster-brother, but greatly in +advance of him in her powers of locomotion. She was, according to +custom, entirely naked, but her shining black skin seemed to clothe her, +and her fine back and perfect limbs showed that she throve in nudity. +She ran about on all fours like some strange creature, so swift and +strong was she, and meeting with a chair, pulled herself up by it, and +stood dancing on one foot, holding out the other. The family all +gathered round her, admiring her color and her shape, and the little +girl finally carried her off in triumph, as she had brought her. + +The slave children wear oftenest no clothing until five or six years +old. They look well-fed and healthy, only the prevalence of umbilical +Hernia shows a neglect of proper bandaging at birth,--the same trouble +from the same cause is very observable in the south of Italy. The +increase of the slaves is, of course, an important test of their +treatment,--it is small throughout the Island, and amounts to little +save on the best plantations. There is now a slow improvement in this +respect. The repression of the slave-trade has caused such a rise in the +price of negroes, that it is become better economy to preserve and +transmit their lives than to work them off in eight or ten years, +leaving no posterity to supply their place. Vile as these motives seem, +they are too near akin to the general springs of human action for us to +contemn them. Is it otherwise with operatives in England, or with +laborers in Ireland? Emigration lessens their numbers, and raises their +value,--it becomes important to society that they shall be fed and +sustained. One wrong does not excuse another, but where a class of +wrongs is universal, it shows a want of moral power in the race, at +which the individual cannot justly carp. + +Even the race of Coolies, hired at small wages for eight years, and +exploitered for that time with murderous severity, have found a suicidal +remedy that nearly touches their selfish masters. So many of them +emancipated themselves from hard service by voluntary death, that it +became matter of necessity to lighten the weight about their necks, and +to leave them that minimum of well-being which is necessary to keep up +the love of life. The instinct itself is shown to be feeble in the race, +whereas the Negro clings to life under whatever pains and torment. The +Coolies are valued for their superior skill and intelligence, but as men +will treat a hired horse worse than a horse of their own, so they were, +until they happily bethought them of killing themselves, more hardly +used than the Negroes. Would that horses in the North had the same +resource. If the wretched beast, harnessed, loaded, and beaten over the +face and head by some greater brute in human shape, could only "his +quietus make" by himself, and be found hanging in his stall, what a +revolution would there be in the ideas of Omnibus-drivers and Carmen! +Self-assassination is, surely, the most available alleviation of +despotism. When Death is no longer terrible to the Enslaved, then let +the Enslaver look to it. + +True, we have heard of horrible places in the interior of the Island, +where the crack of the whip pauses only during four hours in the +twenty-four, where, so to speak, the sugar smells of the blood of the +slaves. We have heard of plantations whereon there are no women, where +the wretched laborers have not the privileges of beasts, but are only +human machines, worked and watched. There, not even the mutilated +semblance of family ties and domestic surroundings alleviates the sore +strain upon life and limb. How can human creatures endure, how inflict +this? Let God remember them, as we do in our hearts, with tears and +supplication. + +We have seen too, here and there, fiendish faces which looked as if +cruelty and hardness might be familiar to them. The past history of +Spain shows to what a point that nation can carry insensibility to the +torment of others. Yet the Creoles seem generally an amiable set of +people, enduring from the Spanish government much more than they in turn +inflict on those beneath them. Nor can we believe that even the Spaniard +can be a more dreaded tyrant than the Yankee, where the strong nature of +the latter has been left coarse and uncultured, or brutalized by +indulgence in vice. The nervous energy of his race makes him a worse +demon than the other, while the peaceable and pious traditions of his +youth, turned against him, urge him yet further from the sphere of all +that is Christian. + +The slave laws of Cuba are far more humane than our own. It is only to +be doubted whether the magistrates in general are trustworthy in +carrying them out. Still, it is the policy of the Government to favor +the Negroes, and allow them definite existence as a third class, which +would be likely to range with the Government in case of civil war. It is +affirmed and believed by the Cubans that the colonial President has in +his hands orders to loose the slaves throughout the Island, at the first +symptoms of rebellion, that they may turn all their old rancors against +their late masters. The humane clauses of which we speak are the +following:-- + +In the first place, every slave is allowed by law to purchase his own +freedom, when he has amassed a sum sufficient for the purchase. He can +moreover compel his master to receive a small sum in part payment, and +then, hiring himself out, can pay the residue from his wages. The law +intervenes also, if desired, to fix the price of the slave, which it +will reduce to the minimum value. Every slave has the right to purchase +his child before birth for the sum of thirty dollars, a fortnight after, +for fifty, and so on, the value of course rising rapidly with the age +of the child. Again, a slave who complains of ill-treatment on the part +of his master may demand to be sold to another, and a limited space of +time is allowed, during which he can exert himself to find a purchaser. +These statutes do not seem to contemplate the perpetuity of slavery as +do our own institutions. What a thrill of joy would run through our +Southern and South-Western states, if every slave father and mother had +the power to purchase their own offspring for a sum not altogether +beyond their reach. How would they toil and starve to accumulate that +sum, and how many charitable friends would invest the price of a dress +or shawl in such black jewels, which would be the glory of so many black +mothers. On the other hand, it is to be feared that the ignorance and +poverty of the slaves may, in many places, make the benevolent intention +of these statutes null and void. Official corruption, too, may impede +their operation. In many parts of our own South, superior enlightenment +and a more humane state of public feeling may do something to +counterbalance the inferiority of legislation. Still, Americans should +feel a pang in acknowledging that even in the dark article of slave laws +they are surpassed by a nation which they contemn. Slaves are not sold +by public auction, in Cuba, but by private sale. Nor are they subject to +such rudeness and insult as they often receive from the lower whites of +our own Southern cities. The question now rises, whether in case of a +possible future possession of the Island by Americans, the condition of +the blacks would be improved. There is little reason to think so, in any +case, as our own unmitigated despotism would be enforced; but if their +new masters were of the Filibuster type, they might indeed sing with +sorrow the dirge of the Creole occupation, and betake themselves to the +Coolie expedient of obtaining freedom at small cost. + +Not in such familiarity live the Creoles and Spaniards. Here, the +attitudes are sharply defined. Oppression on the one hand and endurance +on the other appear in a tangible form, and the oppression is +conscious, and the endurance compulsory. The Spanish race is in the +saddle, and rides the Creole, its derivative, with hands reeking with +plunder. Not content with taxes, customs, and prohibitions, all of which +pass the bounds of robbery, the Home Government looses on the Colony a +set of Officials, who are expected to live by peculation, their salaries +being almost nominal, their perquisites, whatever they can get. All +State-offices are filled by Spaniards, and even Judgeships and +Professorates are generally reserved to them. A man receives an +appointment of which the salary may be a thousand dollars per annum. He +hires at once an expensive house, sets up a _volante_, dresses his wife +and daughters without economy, lives in short at the rate of ten times +that sum, and retires after some years, with a handsome competency. What +is the secret of all this? Plunder,--twofold plunder, of the +inhabitants, and of the Home Government. And this, from the lowest to +the highest, is the universal rule. We spoke of customs and +prohibitions. Among the first, that on flour seems the most monstrous +imposition. No bread-stuffs being raised on the Island, the importation +of them becomes almost a condition of life, yet every barrel of wheaten +flour from the States pays a duty of eight dollars, so that it becomes +cheaper to ship the flour to Spain, and re-ship it thence to Cuba, than +to send it direct from here. Of prohibitions, the most striking is that +laid upon the vine, which flourishes throughout the Island. It may be +cultivated for fruit, but wine must on no account be made from the +grape, lest it should spoil the market for the Spanish wines. Among +taxes, none will astonish Americans more than the stamp-tax, which +requires all merchants, dealers, and bankers to have every page of their +books stamped, at high cost. Of course, no business contracts are valid, +recorded on any other than stamped paper. To these grievances are added +monopolies. All the fish caught on the Island is held at the disposition +of Senor Marti, the _Empresario_ of the Tacon theatre. This man was once +a pirate of formidable character,--after some negotiation with the +Tacon Government, he gave up his comrades to justice, receiving in +return his own safety, and the monopoly of the fish-market. The price of +this article of food is therefore kept at twenty-five cents a pound. +These compromises are by no means uncommon. The public Executioner of +Havana is a Negro whose life, once forfeit to the State, was redeemed +only by his consenting to perform this function for life. He is allowed +only the liberty of the Prison. One of our party, visiting that +Institution, found this man apparently on the most amicable terms with +all the inmates. The _Garrote_ being shown, he was asked if it was he +who garroted Lopez, and replied in the affirmative, with a grin. Our +friend inquired of him how many he had garroted: "How can one tell?" he +said, shrugging his shoulders, "so many, so many!" The prisoners chatted +and smoked with him, patting him on the back,--making thus that +discrimination between the man and his office which is at the bottom of +all human institutions. Of the great sums of money received by the +Government through direct and indirect taxation, little or nothing +revisits the people in the shape of improvements. The Government does +not make roads, nor establish schools, nor reform criminals, nor stretch +out its strong arm to prevent the offences of ignorant and depraved +youth. The roads, consequently, are few and dangerous,--a great part of +the Island being traversable only on horseback. There is little or no +instruction provided for the children of the poorer classes, and the +prisons are abominable with filth, nakedness, and disorder of every +kind. There is the same espionage, the same power of arbitrary +imprisonment as in Austria, Rome, and Naples, only they have America +near them, and in that neighborhood is fear to some, and hope to others. +The administration of justice would seem to be one of the worst of all +the social plagues that abide in the Island. Nowhere in the world have +people a more wholesome terror of going to law. The Government pays for +no forms of legal procedure, and a man once engaged in a civil or +criminal suit, is at the mercy of Judges and Lawyers who plunder him at +will, and without redress. If a man is robbed, the Police come to him at +once with offers of assistance and detection. It is often the case that +he denies and persists in denying the robbery, rather than be involved +in the torment of a suit. Much of what we narrate was common to all the +civilized world, an hundred years ago, but the Cubans do not deserve to +be held under the weight of these ancient abuses. They are not an effete +people, but have something of the spring of the present time in them, +and would gladly march to the measure of the nineteenth century, were it +not for the decrepit Government whose hand has stiffened with their +chains in it. The portrait of the vulgar Queen hangs in nearly every +place of note,--she is generally painted at full length, in a blue +dress. So coarse and weak is her face that one would think those +interested would keep it out of sight, that the abstract idea of royalty +might not be lowered by so unqueenly a representation. But this is +unjust, for what crowned head of the present day is there that has +anything intrinsically august in its aspect? + +The Cubans, considered in comparison with the Spaniards, form quite as +distinct a people as the Americans, compared with the English. Climate +and the habits of insular life have partly brought about this +difference, but it has also a moral cause,--a separate interest makes a +separate people. The mother-countries that would keep their colonies +unweaned must be good nurses. The intermingling of the black element in +the Creole race is, as I have said, strongly insisted upon by competent +judges,--it is evidently not purely Caucasian, and there seems to be +little reason for supposing that it perpetuates any aboriginal descent. +The complexion, and in some degree the tastes of these people give some +color to the hypothesis of their indebtedness to the African race. The +prevailing color of the Creole is not the clear olive of the Spaniard, +nor the white of the Saxon,--it is an indescribable, clouded hue, +neither fair nor brown. We have seen children at a school who were +decidedly dark, and would have been taken for mulattoes in the +North,--they had straight hair, vivacious eyes, and coffee-colored +skins,--those whom we interrogated called them "_Criollos_" as if the +word had a distinct meaning. We could not ascertain that they were +considered to be of black descent, though the fact seemed patent. In +this school, which we saw at recess only, some of the mischievous boys +amused themselves with dragging their comrades up to us, and saying: +"Senora, this boy is a mulatto." The accused laughed, kicked, and +disclaimed. + +The taste of the Cubans, if judged by the European standard, is bad +taste. They love noisy music,--their architecture consults only the +exigencies of the climate, and does not deserve the name of an art. Of +painting they must have little knowledge, if one may judge by the vile +daubs which deface their walls, and which would hardly pass current in +the poorest New England village. As to dress; although I have whispered +for your good, my lady friends, that the most beautiful summer-dresses +in the world may be bought in Havana, yet the Creole ladies themselves +have in general but glaring and barbaric ideas of adornment, and their +_volante_-toilette would give a Parisienne the ague. + +The Creoles then, as a race, do not incline to plastic art, nor to the +energetic elegancies of life. Theirs is not the nature to grapple with +marble or bronze, or with the more intellectual obstacles of Painting. +One art remains to them, common to all early civilizations, first in +history, first too in rank,--they are Poets. Not only is a facility for +versification common amongst them, but they have some names which the +real halo adorns. Of these, Heredia, Placido, and Milanes are best +known. + +This seems a very natural manifestation in their case. Held in check by +the despotism of the tropical sun, and excluded from social and +political action by the more barbarous despotism of Spain, their minds +are turned inward, and their energies flow in the channel of +contemplation. For Poetry is the freedom of the oppressed,--it is one +voice leaping up where a thousand arms are chained, but the thousand +hear it, and take courage. In the dreamy tropical life, the beautiful +surroundings must bear some fruit. Those glorious growths of tree and +flower, those prickly hedges with the sudden glare of a red sword among +them, those inconceivable sunsets and nights without parallel,--these +things must all write themselves upon the sensitive Southern nature, and +the language in which they write themselves is poetry. How far a wider +sphere of action may develop in them more hardy and varied powers is a +question not to be solved in the existing state of things. + +It does not seem likely that the Cubans will ever by their own act +abolish slavery. The indolence and mechanical ineptitude which enter +into their characters will make them always a people to be waited on. +Perhaps no nation, living below a certain parallel, would be capable of +such a deed. The far-off English, in their cool island, could emancipate +the slaves in their own Indies, but the English dwelling among them +would never have relinquished the welcome service; nor is it likely that +the men of our own far South will ever conceive as possible another +social _status_ than the present relations between master and slave. +From the North the impulse must come, and however clogged and sanded +with unutterable nonsense of self-gratulation and vituperation of the +brother man, we must welcome it. The enslaved race too, gradually +conquering the finer arts of its masters, will rise up to meet the hand +of deliverance, having in due course of time reached that spiritual +level at which enslavement becomes impossible. + +Sismondi, in the second volume of his Essays, has some sensible remarks +on the farming system as pursued in Tuscany, where the farmer is +employed on long leases, receiving one half the profits of the farm +worked by him. Sismondi sufficiently sets forth the advantages of this +over all other systems of leasing and underletting, as it allows the +husbandman a well-being in direct proportion to the thoroughness and +persistency of his labors. After speaking of the apparent failure of +English emancipation, he ascribes the idleness of the freed blacks to +their entire want of interest in the landed property about them, and +proposes associating them in this way to the interests of their +would-be employers. For the world can hardly afford that these people +should merely feed and grovel in the sun, when all the tillage of the +tropics lies fitted to their hand. Nor will it much longer afford, let +us hope, that the human tool shall work without the advantage that +individual will and interest alone can give him. They who thus consent +to use the man without his crowning faculties are like those who would +purchase the watch without the main-spring. + +How all this is to end, doth not yet appear. The abstract principles of +right and wrong we know, but not the processes, nor the duration of +their working out in history. All the white handkerchiefs in Exeter Hall +will not force the general Congress of Nations to decide questions +otherwise than by the laws of convenience and advantage. England as a +power has never lifted a finger nor a breath against Russian serfdom or +Austrian oppression; and the Spanish government she is determined to +uphold in Cuba is reeking with abominations of which she cannot afford +to be cognizant. + +I know that God has in His power swift miracles of redemption. He can +command the sudden Exodus of a wronged people, and can raise bloody +waves of wrath over the heads of their oppressors. But we cannot call +down these wonders, nor foretell their appointed time. Meantime, the +ram's horn Fantasias which our modern Prophets have so long been +performing against the walls of the southern Jericho do not seem to have +had the Divine commission to overthrow them. + +I feel that any one in the North who gives a mild, perhaps palliative +view of slavery, will be subject to bitter and severe censure. But this +should surely make no difference to us in the sincere and simple +statement of our impressions. Intellectual justice revolts from the +rhetorical strainings, exaggerations, and denaturalizations of facts +which the Partisan continually employs, but which the Philosopher and +Historian must alike reject. Moral justice dissents from the habitual +sneer, denunciation, and malediction, which have become consecrated +forms of piety in speaking of the South. Believe me, in so far as we +allow personal temper, spite, or uncharity, place in our treatment of a +holy cause, in so far we do it wrong. Believe me, too, that the actual +alleviations which often temper the greatest social evils should not be +left out of sight, lest an atheistic despair should settle on the minds +of men. The overruling mercy of God is everywhere,--in the North and in +the South it has its work of consolation and of compensation. It +absolves us from no possible reform, from no labor for the amelioration +of the condition of our fellow-men. But as it limits alike the +infliction and endurance of wrong, and sets bounds which the boldest and +wickedest dare not pass, we must not paint the picture of what is, +without it. + +So, with thoughts reverting to the slow and mighty operations in the +World of Nature, which seem to have their counterpart in the World of +Life and Fate,--trusting in the wisdom of the gray-haired centuries, +even when the half-grown ones call them Fool, I finish my Chapter of +philosophizing, somewhat, no doubt, to the relief of my Reader, but very +much more to my own. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +FAREWELL! + + +Farewell to Havana! the pleasant time is over. We are to return where we +belong. Not with undue sentimentalism of sorrow, as though it were +greater loss to see beautiful places and forsake them, than to have +staid at Pudding-gut Point, Coxackie, or Martha's Vineyard all one's +life, having beheld and regretted nothing else. When travellers tear +themselves from the maternal bosom of Rome, a pang is inevitable, and +its expression allowable. Even meretricious Paris sometimes harpoons an +honest American heart more deeply than is fit. But there are those, born +and bred amongst us, who return from their foreign travel with +wide-mouthed lamentation over the past enjoyment. Others snippingly +accost one with: "I cannot bear your climate,"----. "Strange," I reply, +"since it bore you." We are not so deeply moved at leaving Havana, +though to go to sea is always as unnatural an act as having a tooth +pulled. The green earth reminds us that it is our element, and the +slowly counted palms nod to us: "Remember,--remember!" We indulge +ourselves in a last drive, and take kind farewell of the gay streets, +the Plaza, the Paseo, and the Cerro, with its blue villas and +palm-bordered gardens. Beautiful those gardens are in their own +way,--Nature refusing to be kept down, but excusing her irregularities +by their wild and graceful results. There is Count Fernandino's +garden,--we have not described that, have we? Palms, flowers, +fruit-trees, a marble pavilion with a marble Venus, a bath-house painted +in fresco, paved with fine tiling, and lit through stained glass, an +ethereal trellis and canopy of fairy-like iron-work, painted coral-red, +and hung with vines, whose industry in weaving themselves is almost +perceptible to the eye,--still, shady walks, and evermore palms. We +passed a morning there with some botanical friends, and had much +explained to us that we cannot possibly remember. This we did retain, +that there are known on the island sixty varieties of palms, and that +this garden contains at least forty of them. + +And here is Dona Herrera's garden, which we visited one morning, with +our friends of the Cup of Tea, (_vide_ earlier letters). How soft and +dewy was it in the morning light! the flowers had still the dreamy +starlight in them. We ran about like children, admiring at every moment +something new and strange. In the middle of the garden was a fairy lake, +with a little mock steamboat upon it, the paddles being moved by hand. +There were gas fixtures disposed throughout the grounds, which are +lighted on the occasion of a _fete champetre_. What a time the young +people must have of it, then! There is an Aviary, too, with the remnant +of a collection of tropical birds, and a small Menagerie, with a fox, a +monkey, and a 'coon. We ask permission to see the house, and our friends +having sent in their good names, Dona Maria walks slowly out to meet us. +She is a plain, elderly woman, short and stout, with a pleasant voice +and gentle manners. She has rather a splendid nest, for a bird of such +sober plumage, but all its adornments are in good taste. She shows us +first a cool Banqueting-room, where the table is invitingly laid for her +Ladyship's own breakfast,--it is painted in fresco, and opens on the +garden,--then come the Drawing-rooms, then an exquisite Bedroom hung +with blue, the bed and mosquito-netting being adorned with rich lace, +then a Picture-gallery, which serves as an Oratory, a cabinet in the +wall containing and concealing the altar. Then comes a small room, +adorned by her Ladyship's own hands, with paper flowers and stuffed +birds, lighted by a pretty, tiny glass dome, and then, endless thanks, +good Dona Maria, and farewell forever. For as I love not stuffed birds, +nor paper flowers, no, nor mass neither, it is not likely that I shall +bear your Ladyship company in Heaven, even should both of us get there, +which, while we continue to live and sin, must be considered as +uncertain. + +Other visions unroll themselves as we review our Havana days and ways. +Our voyage up the spire of the Cathedral, with swimming eyes and dizzy +head. Our friends go bravely through it, and ascend even the last little +rickety wooden staircase, calling back for us as the chimney-sweeper +sings out from the top of the chimney. Where is Hulia? holding on to a +beam with frantic eagerness, deaf to entreaty and encouragement. She is +persuaded at last to relinquish it, and is hoisted, pushed, and dragged +to the top where, opening her unwilling eyes, she seeks the first strong +point of masonry, and hugs it, admiring the view in convulsive +sentences, as occasion demands. The point is tolerably lofty, and the +view extensive, but one loses many of its beauties in looking down from +such an elevation. We must remember this, and not ascribe to St. Simeon +Stylites too great an advantage in the enjoyment of natural scenery. +Then, after the perilous descent, our exploration of the Cathedral +itself, with its shrine of porphyry, and little other adornment,--the +pious thoughtfulness of the Sacristan, who, when we pass the host, tells +us that "His Majesty is there," and his look of amazement when we do +not bow or bend the knee at this intelligence. Then, that refreshing +season in the Sacristy, with a graceless young Sub-Deacon, intent upon +extending to us all the hospitalities of the church. "Here is the +incense,"--he burns some of it under our nostrils; "here is the wine for +the Sacrament,--taste of it," and he pours out a tolerable portion, and, +handing it to us to sip, tosses off the residue with a smack. "Here is +the oil and salt for baptism,--you won't like that, but you may taste it +if you choose." And then, he tumbles over all the priest's garments. +"This crimson brocade is for high feasts,--this green for common +occasions,--this black velvet for funerals,--this white scarf is for +marriages." You really begin to regard the Priest as a sort of +chameleon, whose color changes with the spiritual food he lives on. +Rascal-neophyte, you will be as sanctimonious as the priest himself some +day, and as sincere. + +But all this is in the past, and we have got really to our last of +Havana. The last purchases have been made; by great economy we have +accomplished a little extravagance. The farewell visits have been +paid,--we have paid also the necessary four dollars for the privilege of +leaving the Island. Copious leave-takings follow, between ourselves and +our long companions at the Hotel,--follow the Bill and servants' +fees,--and then, having been waked after a short night's rest, there +remains no further excuse for our not taking the boat at early morning, +and delivering ourselves into their hands who are to return us to our +native country. + +So, Havana is done with. We are sad and sorry to leave it, but do not +sentimentalize, recalling Sheridan's sensible lines:-- + + "Oh, matchless excellence! and must we part? + Well, if we must, we must, and in that case, + The less is said, the better." + +There is a large party of us known to each other in our late wanderings; +and as we meet on board, we make a tolerable attempt at cheerfulness. +But the thought of the Northern cold lies heavy upon every heart, for +though it is late in March, we know where the east wind is now, and +will be for two months to come. We are soon in motion, and, casting a +last look towards our sky-blue hotel, we see some of the Almy-ites +waving flags of truce at us. We seize whatever is at hand, and make the +usual frantic demonstrations. Farewell, Morro Castle! farewell, Isla de +Cuba! We have nothing left us now but the Steamer. This is the Isabel, +greatly be-puffed in the Charleston papers, but rarely praised, one +should think, by those who have been in her. Breakfast is served us in a +cabin without ventilation, where to breathe is disgusting, to eat, +impossible. We explore our state-room,--the thermometer stands at 100 deg. +in it, but the day is hot, and we do not suspect any other reason for +its high temperature. From these dens we emerge as quickly as possible +to the open air, and get ourselves on deck. The Southern seas are always +detestable; and though there is no wind to speak of, it soon gets rough, +and people stiffen in their places, and go to sleep, or go below, and +are never heard of more. Dinner is eaten mostly on the upper deck, but +the demand is not large. Iced champagne proves a friend in need. We +reach Key West early in the afternoon. The landing is ugly, and though +we stop an hour or more, we are expressly told "ten minutes," in order +that the Captain may not be bothered with our going on shore. We have +here a last look at the cocoa-palm, which grows along the coast. White +sea-corals are brought for sale; many turtles are taken on board and +laid on their backs, their fins being tied together; also, an invalid in +a chair, in the last stages of decline. The turtles remain, for the +fifty-six hours that follow, helpless and untended. So piteous do they +seem, that one of us suggests "the last sigh of the turtle" as a +commemorative title for the aromatic soup that is to follow. + +And this is all of Key West. On going below at bed-time, our bare feet +find the floor of the state-room scorching hot. On inquiry, we find +ourselves directly over the boiler,--a pleasant situation in an American +steamer. We consider ourselves nearer translation than ever before, and +go to sleep trying to show just reason why we should not be blown up, +as better people have been, before morning. + +Next morning--Oh let me here breathe a word of advice to those who +plough the Southern seas. Rise early in the morning, if you mean to rise +at all, for the sea is quietest then, before the wind is up; and if you +are once dressed and on deck, you have a chance. Next morning none were +able to get up who were not up by six o'clock,--for by that time the +day's work was begun, and people only staid and stiffened where they +were. Now do not fear, I have described sea-sickness once and for all; +this paper shall not be nauseous with new details. But for love of the +dear old Karnak, I must show up this pinchbeck Isabel; this dirty, +disorderly floating prison, where no kind care alleviated one's +miseries, and no suitable diet helped one's recovery. On board the +Karnak, Steward, Stewardess, and Captain followed you up with the zeal +of loving-kindness. Here, the hateful black servants flit past you like +a dream. If you try to detain them, they vanish with a grin, and +promising to return, take care to avoid you in future. N. B.--I call +them hateful, because of the true American steam-boat breed, smirking, +supercilious, and unserviceable. There, mattresses and cushions were +plentifully supplied, and you might lie on deck, if you could not sit +up. Here, not even a pillow could be brought. You sit all day bolt +upright in a miserable wooden chair, holding your aching head first with +this hand, now with that, and wondering that your suffering body can +hold together so long. There, the log, the daily observation, the +boatswain's whistle, the pleasant bells ringing the hour. Here, no log, +no observation, no boatswain, no bells. There, in a word, comfort and +confidence; here, distrust and disgust. But we drop the parallel. + +To us, that dark day was as a vision of familiar faces, strangely +distorted and discolored, of friends, usually kind and attentive, who +sit grimly around, and looking on one's misery, do not stir to help it. +There is a pillow, ah! if somebody would only lay it under this heavy +head, that cannot be held up by the weary hand any longer. Henry there +is going to do it,--he has got the pillow,--no, he puts it under his +own head, regarding me with the glare of a sickly cannibal. One good +creature flings half of her blanket over my shivering knees. I know not +her name, nor her nature, but I know that she is blessed, and worthy of +Paradise. Going below for a moment, I pass through the after-cabin, and +see such a collection of wretches as would furnish forth a Chamber of +Horrors to repletion. With tossed clothes, disordered hair, and wild +eyes, they lie panting for air, which they don't get. We are better off +up-stairs, and I return to my wooden chair and end of a blanket, with +enthusiasm. But the day passes, and at night we are down again in the +state-room over the boiler, with the ports screwed up, and no air to +temper the heat. No matter, our weary skeleton refuses to be kept +upright any more,--we lie and sleep. And at two in the morning, one of +the strong-minded, who could not sleep, arose, and found that the sea +was down, and that the ports might be opened, only that the man who had +charge of them was asleep. Wherefore she aroused the slumbering traitor +with the wholesome clarion of a woman's tongue, and he got up and +fumbled about till he found the port-wrench, wherewith he unscrewed all +the ports, and we took heart, and revived. The next day was all smooth +sailing,--we ate our victuals on deck, and were thankful. And that +evening, say at six o'clock, we made the welcome port of Charleston, and +went on shore, hoping never to leave it more. + +Let me not forget to say that at the last moment, when all possibility +of service was over, the faithless blacks came about us, and were full +of hopes that we were better, smiling and lingering very much as if they +expected a fee. But if any of us were weak enough to comply with their +desires, for the honor of human nature suffer me to draw a veil over +such base compliance, and let the World think they got only what they +deserved, which is little enough in any case, and in theirs, nothing. + + * * * * * + +And now, Reader, if I have one, farewell. The Preacher who speaks even +to one, has his congregation before him, but the poor Scribbler is left +to his own illusions, and calls up for himself a gorgeous Public, where +perhaps he has only himself for company. Still, it is safest to imagine +a Public; and having imagined one, I here take a kind leave of it. If +any have followed me along in my travels, and wished me God-speed, I +hereby thank them heartily. If any have treated with discourtesy a true +word here and there which does not tally with their own notions, so much +the worse for them, and for any cause which cannot bear sincerity. And +so, wishing that you might all see the pleasant things I have described, +and thinking that you cannot have been half so weary in reading these +pages as I have been in writing them, I will prolong no further the +sweet sorrow of parting, only God bless you, and Good-bye. + + +THE END. + + * * * * * + +The following changes have been made in the text. + +(note of the etext transcriber) + +two in the morning, One of the strong-minded,=>two in the morning, one +of the strong-minded, + +he looked much inclined to give Somebody else a bad one=>he looked much +inclined to give somebody else a bad one + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Trip to Cuba, by Julia Ward Howe + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TRIP TO CUBA *** + +***** This file should be named 38203.txt or 38203.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/2/0/38203/ + +Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images available at The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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