Chapter XXXII

DULLNESS--ISOLATION--WEARINESS--CUBA, FAREWELL!

A Cuban life is intolerably monotonous to one who has always known activity and enterprise. In the cities there are amusements and distractions, though of a very insipid and languid nature, but in the country the dullness is oppressive. We wearied of the eternal soft, mild air; the never-varying green of the landscape; the perpetual equable temperature that made the thinnest linen comfortable--the seasons only varied by dry and wet--the dry very dry and dusty, and the wet--very wet and muddy. The country roads are so narrow that the constant travel with loaded ox-teams all winter cuts them into deep ruts, and the summer rain soon makes them well-nigh impassable. A climate like this palls upon one who has been accustomed to the variations of the temperate zone. Unchanging verdure is like the everlasting, simpering smile on a pretty woman’s face--so constant as to become meaningless and insipid.

We wearied of the senseless platitudes of our few visitors, and of the foreign tongue, that, with all its smoothly flowing euphony, could never be to our ears as sweet as the voices of our fatherland. In our isolation, every new book, magazine article, or newspaper topic, started a discussion that enlivened the table at meals from one steamer-day to the next; and even a quaint advertisement was commented upon, giving food for thought and speech other than the details of the plantation, that were becoming so tiresome and threadbare.

As Ellie and I could not spend all our leisure in reading--neither of us being particularly literary or studious--the wonderfully brilliant heavens offered attractive astronomical research, and with the aid of an odd volume of Dick’s “System”--the only book on the subject we had, and a good field-glass--we were quite successful in locating the position of stars and constellations, many of which are not visible in more northern latitudes.

We had very little fancy-work. No Berlin wools work was needed in that climate, so the materials were not procurable. The laborious drawing of thread-in fine linen and embroidering over the drawn places in delicate, cobwebby designs, so intricate that it makes one’s eyes ache to look at them, had no charms for us, though it was the favorite occupation of Cuban señoras. We embroidered conventional morning glories and wheat on pillow-shams; scalloped flounces and dress-waists, and made yards upon yards of senseless tatting, till we wearied with the work. Sewing-thread could be had in abundance, and our busy fingers produced wonderful tidies and spreads, for which we had no use. There remains in my possession a round-table cover, five yards in circumference, crochetted in Spanish sewing-thread--the center an elaborate arrangement of pansies and fuchias, the border enlivened by forty performing monkeys in the midst of acrobatic feats. This pure white spread is not only valuable as a memento of a dull summer’s occupation, but an ingenious specimen of handicraft accomplished with scarcely an outline of instruction or pattern. Improvising a design to widen from a center to a periphery of sixteen feet, though by no means a slight undertaking, is diminutive compared with successful execution of the work.

Martha had time to “take in” sewing, and Ellie and I amused ourselves by designing--even frequently helping in the work itself--_tombo_ dresses for the African belles on the plantation. Any new occupation that presented itself was eagerly welcomed. Zell brought us, from the swamps in the rear of the marquis’s place, quantities of palmetto, which we bleached in the sun, split into suitable widths, and braided into hats, pressing the crowns into _shape_ by ironing them over a perfectly _round_ tin pail! Soon every one had a brand-new palmetto hat, which a few showers ruined.

Henry, who, with the keen perception of boyhood, saw so much in his out-door life which brightened and cheered us, and whose incoming always brought a breath of fresh air--was gone. The daily duty of hearing him recite lessons amid countless interruptions that at the time were so trying, was sadly missed now. His father walked in and out of the rooms with a weary, listless air, missing the boy at every turn; while Ellie ceased to care for the early morning rides which they had so often enjoyed together.

Life was becoming a burden: we were wearying and losing heart; it was not occupation we needed, it was recreation, but the only change available in our dull lives was change of work. Ellie offered to teach Zell and Martha to read, but Zell “low’d half dese here white folks can’t read; I’se no time fur _dictionary_ work. While I’se settin’ down readin’, who’s waitin’ on Lamo and ’terpretin’ fur him?” The faithful soul, now that “little Mars Henry” was gone, followed Lamo around, hoping to cheer and assist him in the varied occupations of the day. Martha was more easily persuaded, but she was rather dull, and at the end of a winter’s schooling, coming up every night with her book, had only advanced to words with two syllables. So the experiment was not very encouraging.

Finding Zell, now twenty years old, was casting amorous glances at a dusky Maud Muller, who raked cane in the field, I suggested that, if he contemplated marriage, it would be well to open a bank account, for he was inclined to be extravagant with his money. Martha, whose opportunities to spend her earnings were limited to an occasional visit with me to Havana, also brought up her little savings. In return I gave to each a note bearing ten per cent. interest. From time to time they were encouraged in adding to the amount; and when, at the end of the first year, the notes with accrued interest were renewed, and they understood how the money “grow’d,” they became enthusiastic capitalists.

Notwithstanding our heroic efforts to amuse and divert the mind with something to relieve us of the tiresome and busy routine of work, we found in time that a radical change was imperatively necessary, first to one, then to another, of the brave little household. Ellie, who had so lovingly and unselfishly shared my burden and lightened my cares, went home to her mother and remained several months. I had made various short and rapid trips to New York, which were exceedingly refreshing. Lamo, who felt his presence absolutely necessary at Desengaño, as indeed it was, valiantly staid year after year at his post, until his step began to falter, a paleness overspread his once ruddy countenance, a tired, dull look crept into his eye, and the faint smile that replaced his old cheery laugh, warned us there was a limit to the endurance of even the bravest spirit. When I spoke firmly and determinedly of a trip to the United States, insisted upon the (somewhat imaginary) business that needed his personal attention, and urged that the storm had so reduced the crop that it could easily be harvested without his aid, I think he realized that a still stronger motive was hidden in the proposition, and that his overtaxed mind and body demanded an entire change of climate. Deeply regretting the urgency of the step, he could no longer hesitate; and one of the bravest acts of an unselfish life was, turning his back on Desengaño for a whole six months, and leaving me there. Henry’s departure had already sundered one of the ties that bound us to the Cuban home that the boy loved so well. It was easy for us to break away after that. A few years later we left the island forever.

During the latter years of our residence, and those that immediately followed, military exactions and ruinous taxation crushed the life out of Cuba.

The gradual emancipation of slaves was enforced, the importation of coolies prohibited, and, as an inevitable sequence, an untold number of valuable estates were abandoned by their impoverished owners, thereby revolutionizing the entire financial and domestic status of the island.

Brito’s beautiful plantation, notwithstanding the rare administrative ability of its owner, is to-day a forsaken wilderness; and the once genial, whole-souled Don José, now broken-hearted, walks dejectedly the roads he erst traveled in such magnificent state.

The buildings of the “Josefita” were destroyed by fire; the family wealth taxed out of existence; Don Pancho, who was so attentive to Ellie, and such a kindly neighbor, dead of gout; the family all impoverished and scattered, and the hospitable old Cuban home wiped off the face of the earth. All the prancing steeds were seized by the Spaniards on the one side or the insurgents on the other; no cattle left for the _boyero_ to care for, or labor for the _mayoral_ to superintend; no engine for the sturdy Scotch engineer to run--all gone--and little else than a waste of weeds and choked cane left to indicate the spot where, little more than a decade ago, stood a magnificently equipped and managed sugar estate! If Spain had ravaged her “siempre fiel Isla de Cuba” with fire and pestilence, the destruction could scarcely have been more rapid and complete.

That superb province, whose natural resources are almost inexhaustible, has been bled to death by the leeches and parasites to whom her welfare and government were intrusted.

Zell, having already formed the strongest of ties, decided to remain at Desengaño, with his wife and children, even after it had passed into other hands. Through Mr. Hall, our consul-general in Cuba, he was furnished with all the necessary papers of United States citizenship. After assisting him in making a favorable contract for work with the new owner of the plantation, in the same capacity as in the past, viz., _mandadero_ (messenger), we paid him several hundred dollars, the accumulated amount of his savings. Year after year we received letters from him, written in Spanish by some plantation employé, giving all the neighborhood news of interest, and messages from the Chinese and negroes, among whom we had lived and labored almost ten years--invariably subscribing himself “Your devoted and faithful _slave_.” _Serviente_ was the conventional phrase used from equal to equal, and may not have appeared expressive enough to suit Zell, so it was _esclavo_ (_slave_). One day a mourning letter came to Henry. Zell was dead! congestion or fever, it mattered little--Zell was dead! Bitter tears we wept over that black-bordered letter, the last one we ever received from Desengaño. Faithful friend--not slave!

Martha returned to the United States with us, and, when she married, her savings were found sufficient to purchase a lot and pay for the building of a comfortable house in Virginia, near enough for us to see her almost every year, when she could take our daughter, already taller and larger than herself, in her loving arms, and call her “my Mexican baby.”

Now that tender, faithful soul, who ministered to our comfort, not as slave but helpful companion during those trying years, has gone “where change shall come not till all change end”--thus severing one of the few remaining links that bound us to the old, old life.

THE END.

_D. APPLETON & CO.’S PUBLICATIONS._

=A VIRGINIA INHERITANCE.= By EDMUND PENDLETON, author of “A Conventional Bohemian.” 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; cloth, $1.00.

“‘A Virginia Inheritance’ will easily take rank among the best novels that have appeared this year, both for the remarkable interest and artistically skillful development of the story, and for the brilliancy and originality of its character-sketching.”--_Boston Home Journal._

=A NYMPH OF THE WEST.= By HOWARD SEELY. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; cloth, $1.00.

“In his ‘Nymph of the West’ Mr. Howard Seely has presented a lively and picturesque, if somewhat highly colored, study of life on the ranch and the range in western Texas, which region, as well as with the habits of its people, he appears to be unusually familiar. Cynthia Dallas, the heroine, is a fresh and original conception--a frank, high-minded girl, with enough of the innocent coquetry of her sex to make her almost irresistible.”--_The Sun_ (New York).

=A DÉBUTANTE IN NEW YORK SOCIETY.= HER ILLUSIONS, AND WHAT BECAME OF THEM. By RACHEL BUCHANAN. 12mo. Cloth, $1.25.

“There is a keenness of social satire, an intimate acquaintance with New York society, and an abundance of wit, which combine to make the book unusually attractive.”--_Boston Courier._

“It seems to be the work of a lady who has witnessed what she chronicles. She makes her report on the actualities and illusions of New York society without a particle of sarcasm or ill-feeling.”--_Journal of Commerce._

=NINETTE: An Idyll of Provence.= By the author of “Véra.” 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

“The tale in itself is true to nature and tenderly pathetic.”--_London Post._

“This is a particularly well-told story.”--_London Globe._

=A COUNSEL OF PERFECTION.= By LUCAS MALET, author of “Mrs. Lorimer,” “Colonel Enderby’s Wife,” etc. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

“It would require us to go back to Miss Austen to find anything that better deserved the praise of fine form, fine grouping, fine coloring, humorous delineation, and precision of design.”--_London Spectator._

=THE ELECT LADY.= By GEORGE MACDONALD, author of “Home Again,” etc. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

“There are some good bits of dialogue and strong situations in the book.”--_The Athenæum._

“Rich in imaginative beauty and fine insight into the mysteries of spiritual life.”--_London Spectator._

=THE DEEMSTER.= A ROMANCE. By HALL CAINE, author of “The Shadow of a Crime,” etc. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

“The spiritual grandeur of its conception and the tremendous nature of the forces engaged raise it to the region of tragic drama.... Grandly conceived and grandly executed.”--_London Academy._

“It is a marvelous study ... by the creative power of genius.”--_Literary World, London._

“Fascinates the mind like the gathering and bursting of a storm.”--_Illustrated London News._

=AN UNLAID GHOST.= A STUDY IN METEMPSYCHOSIS. By an American Author. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

“It would not be fair to the readers to outline the strange _dénoûment_ of this tale, or to prompt his attention to the identity of the spirit in the two parts of the romance. So subtile, yet unmistakable, is the suggestion of identity that it is startling. The exquisite language, the poetic power of description, enchant the reader, and the novel is one which will make one of the greatest successes of the day.”--_Boston Traveller._

=THE CASE OF MOHAMMED BENANI.= A STORY OF TO-DAY. 12mo. Paper cover, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

This novel is based upon certain exciting events that occurred in Morocco during the past year. The author is an American gentleman residing in Tangier, who lately came to Washington to expose the cruelties existing in Morocco under the protection of the American flag. The political events of the narrative are secondary to the incidents of the story, while for the novelist’s purpose Russia and Russian personages take the place of the United States and Washington officials.

“The story is well told, and keeps the attention fixed throughout. It passes backward and forward, from Africa to Russia, and deals now with actual personages, now with creations of fancy.”--_The Athenæum._

=THROUGH GREEN GLASSES=: ANDY MERRIGAN’S GREAT DISCOVERY AND OTHER IRISH TALES. By F. M. ALLEN. With Illustrations by M. FITZGERALD. 12mo. Paper cover, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

“The book is full of drollery, laughter is rippling over every page.”--_London Spectator._

“Deliciously humorous sketches.”--_Whitehall Review._

“The funniest book of the year.”--_St. Stephen’s Review._

=ONE MAID’S MISCHIEF.= By GEORGE MANVILLE FENN, author of “The Story of Antony Grace,” “The Master of the Ceremonies,” etc. 12mo. Paper, 30 cents.

Mr. Fenn has produced many excellent novels, but none more pleasant and enjoyable than this.

=HOME AGAIN.= A NOVEL. By GEORGE MACDONALD, author of “Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood,” etc. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

“‘Home Again’ is a more compact and complete story than some of his later works. It is, of course, full of good things, pithy sayings, and deep thought.... A master’s hand shows itself in every page.”--_Literary World._

=THE STORY OF ANTONY GRACE.= A NOVEL. By GEORGE MANVILLE FENN, author of “The Master of the Ceremonies,” etc. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

An admirable story of the struggles, adventures, and ultimate successes of a young boy in London.

=THE NUN’S CURSE.= A NOVEL. By Mrs. J. H. RIDDELL, author of “Miss Gascoigne,” etc. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

A powerful story that is not merely interesting but exciting, delineating fresh and remarkable phases of life in the north of Ireland, and with some admirably-drawn characters.

“=THE RIGHT HONOURABLE.=” A ROMANCE OF SOCIETY AND POLITICS. By JUSTIN MCCARTHY, M.P., and Mrs. CAMPBELL-PRAED. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

“The moral is sound. It is one of duty victoriously achieved though at great cost; and perhaps verisimilitude is not strained by the idealization which imputes to the woman’s superior strength of renunciation and moral stamina the successful passage through the last and most fiery trial. Incidentally there is much bright description of fashionable life and people. Nowhere is there any lack of power or knowledge.”--_New York Tribune._

=SCHEHERAZADE=: A LONDON NIGHT’S ENTERTAINMENT. By FLORENCE WARDEN. 12mo. Paper, 25 cents.

“Miss Warden has surpassed herself in ‘Scheherazade.’ In originality, daring, and startling incident it goes far beyond her previous works.”--_London Morning Post._

“Miss Warden has conceived and wrought out a plot of peculiar ingenuity.... We are not aware that any girl exactly like Nouma is to be found within the limits of contemporary fiction. She is entitled to the rank and dignity of a creation.”--_London Globe._

“Nouma is a subtle character, far more subtle than anything Dickens ever attempted.... The book is full of real life.”--_Pall Mall Gazette._

_FLORENCE WARDEN’S PREVIOUS NOVELS._

THE HOUSE ON THE MARSH.
AT THE WORLD’S MERCY.
DELDEE; OR, THE IRON HAND.
A PRINCE OF DARKNESS.
A VAGRANT WIFE.
DORIS’S FORTUNE.

12mo. Paper, 25 cents each.

=THE ROMANCE OF THE CANONESS.= A LIFE-HISTORY. By PAUL HEYSE, author of “In Paradise,” etc. Translated from the German by J. M. PERCIVAL. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

=THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A SLANDER.= By EDNA LYALL, author of “Donovan,” “We Two,” etc. 12mo. Paper, 25 cents.

The author dedicates this suggestive little book “to all whom it may concern.”

=THRALDOM.= A NOVEL. By JULIAN STURGIS, author of “Dick’s Wandering,” “An Accomplished Gentleman,” “John Maidment,” etc. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

“The tale contains two or three delightfully subtle and effective character-creations that give it an enduring value.”--_Scottish Leader._

=THE BAG OF DIAMONDS.= By GEORGE MANVILLE FENN, author of “The Master of the Ceremonies,” “Double Cunning,” etc. 12mo. Paper cover, 25 cents.

“It is full of incident, the mystery is well guarded and quite unguessable.”--_London Athenæum._

=RED SPIDER.= A NOVEL. By S. BARING-GOULD, author of “Little Tu’penny,” etc. 12mo. Paper cover, 50 cents.

“A well-told and neatly-contrived story, with several excellent figures exhibiting broad traits of human character with vivacity and distinctness.”--_London Athenæum._

=A TERRIBLE LEGACY.= A TALE OF THE SOUTH DOWNS. By G. W. APPLETON, author of “Frozen Hearts,” etc. 12mo. Paper cover, 50 cents.

“The book has movement and vigor, and is readable throughout.”--_London Academy._

=MISS GASCOIGNE.= A TALE. By Mrs. J. H. RIDDELL, author of “Susan Drummond,” etc. “The Gainsborough Series.” 12mo. Paper cover, 25 cents.

=A GAME OF CHANCE.= A NOVEL. By ANNE SHELDON COOMBS, author of “As Common Mortals.” 12mo. Cloth, $1.00.

“A Game of Chance,” by Mrs. Coombe, will, in its fresh and vigorous character drawing, and its fidelity to American life, fully justify the expectations awakened by her first novel, “As Common Mortals.”

=IN THE GOLDEN DAYS.= A NOVEL. By EDNA LYALL, author of “Donovan,” “We Two,” “Won by Waiting,” “Knight-Errant.” _A new edition_, uniform with the author’s other books. 12 mo. Cloth, $1.50.

“‘In the Golden Days’ is an excellent novel of a kind we are always particularly glad to recommend. It has a good foundation of plot and incident, a thoroughly noble and wholesome motive, a hero who really acts and suffers heroically, and two very nice heroines. The historical background is very carefully indicated, but is never allowed to become more than background.”--_Guardian._

=ARIUS THE LIBYAN=: AN IDYL OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. _A new edition in new style, at a reduced price._ 12mo. Cloth, $1.25.

“Arias the Libyan” is a stirring and vivid picture of the Christian Church in the latter part of the third and beginning of the fourth century. It is an admirable companion volume to General Wallace’s “Ben Hur.”

=A DATELESS BARGAIN.= A NOVEL. By C. L. PIRKIS, author of “Judith Wynne,” etc. 12mo. Paper cover, 30 cents.

“A clever and interesting novel.”--_London Literary World._

“Mrs. Pirkis has supplied fresh proof of her skill in turning out very good and workmanlike fiction.”--_Academy._

=TEMPEST-DRIVEN.= A ROMANCE. By RICHARD DOWLING. 12mo. Paper cover, 50 cents.

=THE GREAT HESPER.= A ROMANCE. By FRANK BARRETT. 12mo. Paper cover, 25 cents.

“Two of the scenes of this tale can lay claim to more power than anything of the kind that has yet been written.”--_London Post._

=DICK’S WANDERING.= A NOVEL. By JULIAN STURGIS, author of “John Maidment,” “An Accomplished Gentleman,” etc. _A new edition._ 12mo. Paper cover, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

=MISS CHURCHILL=: A STUDY. By CHRISTIAN REID, author of “A Daughter of Bohemia,” “Morton House,” “Bonny Kate,” etc., etc. 12mo. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents.

The author calls “Miss Churchill” _a study_, for the reason that it consists so largely of a study of character; but there is no little variety of scene in the story, the action taking place partly in the South and partly in Europe, while the experiences and vicissitudes of the heroine are of great interest. The contrasts of place and character make it a very vivid picture.

=THE MASTER OF THE CEREMONIES.= A NOVEL. By GEORGE MANVILLE FENN, author of “Double Cunning,” etc. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

“The interest in the plot is skillfully kept up to the end.”--_Academy._

“The story is very interesting.”--_Athenæum._

=LIL LORIMER.= A NOVEL. By THEO GIFT, author of “Pretty Miss Bellew,” etc. 12mo. Paper, 50 cents; half bound, 75 cents.

Lil Lorimer, the heroine of this novel, is a character marked by many individual and fascinating qualities, and enlists the sympathies of the reader to an unusual degree. The action of the story takes place partly in South America, with an English family residing there, affording some fresh and striking pictures of life.

=IN ONE TOWN.= A NOVEL. By EDMUND DOWNEY. 12mo. Paper, 25 cents.

“A story of unusual merit; by turns romantic, pathetic, and humorous.”--_Westminster Review._

=A ZEALOT IN TULLE.= A NOVEL. By Mrs. WILDRICK. 12mo. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents.

The scenes of “A Zealot in Tulle” are laid in Florida, the introductory part in Florida of seventy years ago; the main story in Florida of to-day. The plot turns mainly upon romantic incidents connected with a treasure buried in an old fort by the Spaniards at the time of their occupancy.

=THE WITCHING TIME=: TALES FOR THE YEAR’S END. By F. MARION CRAWFORD, W. E. NORRIS, LAURENCE ALMA TADEMA, VERNON LEE, EDMUND GOSSE, and others. Uniform with “The Broken Shaft.” 12mo. Paper cover, 25 cents.

=“GOOD FORM” IN ENGLAND.= By AN AMERICAN, resident in the United Kingdom. 12mo, cloth. Price, $1.50.

“The _raison d’être_ of this book is to provide Americans--and especially those visiting England--with a concise, comprehensive, and comprehensible hand-book which will give them all necessary information respecting ‘how things are’ in England. While it deals with subjects connected with all ranks and classes, it is particularly intended to be an exhibit and explanation of the ways, habits, customs, and usages of what is known in England as ‘high life.’ Such being the society to which American ladies and gentlemen have the _entrée_, it is hoped that the book will be useful to them.”--_From the Preface._

=SOCIAL ETIQUETTE OF NEW YORK.= Rewritten and enlarged. 12mo, cloth, gilt. Price, $1.00.

In response to constant applications from all parts of the country for information regarding social forms and usages in New York, the author has prepared a work in which special pains have been taken to make it represent accurately existing customs in New York society, in distinction from the many manuals that have simply reproduced the codes of Paris and London. The subjects treated are of visiting and visiting-cards, giving and attending balls, receptions, dinners, etc., débuts, chaperons, weddings, opera and theatre parties, costumes and customs, addresses and signatures, funeral customs, covering so far as practicable all social usages.

=DON’T; or, Directions for avoiding Improprieties in Conduct and Common Errors of Speech.= By CENSOR.

PARCHMENT-PAPER EDITION. Square 18mo. 30 cents.

VEST-POCKET EDITION. Cloth, flexible, gilt edges, red lines. 30 cents.

BOUDOIR EDITION (with a new chapter designed for young people). Cloth, gilt. 30 cents.

“Don’t” deals with manners at the table, in the drawing-room and In public, with the rules of taste in dress, with personal habits, with common mistakes in various situations in life, and with the ordinary errors of speech.

=THE CORRESPONDENT.= By JAMES WOOD DAVIDSON, A. M. 12mo. Cloth, 60 cents.

The aim of this book is to give in convenient and immediately accessible form information often needed by the American correspondent in regard to forms of address, salutation, complimentary close, superscriptions, etc., and other matters connected with correspondence.

=ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKE; or, A Jest in Sober Earnest.= Compiled from the celebrated “New Guide of Conversation in Portuguese and English,” Square 18mo. Parchment-paper. 30 cents.

=ENGLISH AS SHE IS WROTE=, showing curious ways in which the English Language may be made to convey Ideas or obscure them. Square 18mo. Parchment-paper. 30 cents.

=CHINA.= TRAVELS AND INVESTIGATIONS IN THE MIDDLE KINGDOM. A Study of Its Civilization and Possibilities. WITH A GLANCE AT JAPAN. By JAMES HARRISON WILSON, late Major-General United States Volunteers, and Brevet Major-General United States Army. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.

=ROUNDABOUT TO MOSCOW.= AN EPICUREAN JOURNEY. By JOHN BELL BOUTON, author of “Round the Block.” 12mo. Cloth, ornamented cover, Russian title-page, 421 pages, $1.50.

“This genial book gives the first truly American view of the land of Nihilists and Novelists. The author exposes and playfully ridicules the current English misrepresentations of Russia. His epicurean circuit for getting into and out of the empire includes nearly every country of Europe. He keeps on the track of all the comforts and luxuries required by American travelers. Tourists will find the volume a boon companion. But it is no less designed to please those who stay at home and travel only by book.”

=BRAZIL=: ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS. By C. C. ANDREWS, ex-Consul-General to Brazil; formerly U. S. Minister to Norway and Sweden. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.

CONTENTS: Prefatory. Voyage to Brazil. Getting to Housekeeping. Rio and its People. Life and Manners. The Emperor of Brazil. Tijuca--Pedra Bonita. Situation, Resources, and Climate. American-Brazilian Relations. A Trip into the Interior. Visit to a Coffee-Plantation. Public Instruction. Local Administration. Parliamentary Government. Brazilian Literature. Agriculture and Stock-raising. The Amazon Valley. Beasts of Prey. Slavery and Emancipation. The Religious Orders. Public Lands and Immigration.

“I hope I maybe able to present some facts in respect to the present situation of Brazil which will be both instructive and entertaining to general readers. My means of acquaintance with that empire are principally derived from a residence of three years at Rio de Janeiro, its capital, while employed in the service of the United States Government, during which period I made a few journeys into the interior.”--_From the Preface._

=A STUDY OF MEXICO.= By DAVID A. WELLS, LL. D., D. C. L. 12mo. Cloth, $1.00; paper cover, 50 cents.

“Mr. Wells’s showing is extremely interesting, and its value is great. Nothing like it has been published in many years.”--_New York Times._

“Mr. Wells sketches broadly but in firm lines Mexico’s physical geography, her race inheritance, political history, social condition, and present government.”--_New York Evening Post._

“Several efforts have been made to satisfy the growing desire for information relating to Mexico since that country has become connected by railways with the United States. But we have seen no book upon the subject by an American writer which is so satisfactory on the score of knowledge and trustworthiness as ‘A Study of Mexico,’ by David A. Wells.”--_New York Sun._

=IN THE BRUSH=; OR, OLD-TIME SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE IN THE SOUTHWEST. By H. W. PIERSON, D. D. With Illustrations by W. L. Sheppard. 16mo. Cloth, $1.50. New cheap edition, paper, 50 cents.

“It has peculiar attractions in its literary methods, its rich and quiet humor, and the genial spirit of its author.”--_The Critic._

New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3 & 5 Bond Street.

Transcriber’s Notes

Punctuation errors have been corrected.

Page 25: “on the Confedate side” changed to “on the Confederate side”

Page 110: “fading noislessly” changed to “fading noiselessly”

Page 146: “eclesiastical calendar” changed to “ecclesiastical calendar”

Page 198: “monthy nurse” changed to “monthly nurse”

Page 249: “Shakespere’s dramas” changed to “Shakespeare’s dramas”

Page 286: “Centipeds started” changed to “Centipedes started”