Chapter I: Preface

The remarkable degree of interest expressed on all sides, at the present time, relative to the island of Cuba, has led the author of the following pages to place together in this form a series of notes from his journal, kept during a brief residence upon the island. To these he has prefixed a historical glance at the political story of Cuba, that may not be unworthy of preservation. The fact that the subject-matter was penned in the hurry of observation upon the spot, and that it is thus a simple record of what would be most likely to engage and interest a stranger, is his excuse for the desultory character of the work. So critically is the island now situated, in a political point of view, that ere this book shall have passed through an edition, it may be no longer a dependency of Spain, or may have become the theatre of scenes to which its former convulsions shall bear no parallel.

In preparing the volume for the press, the author has felt the want of books of reference, bearing a late date. Indeed, there are none; and the only very modern records are those written in the desultory manner of hurried travellers. To the admirable work of the learned Ramon de la Sagra,--a monument of industry and intelligence,--the author of the following pages has been indebted for historical suggestions and data. For the privilege of consulting this, and other Spanish books and pamphlets, relative to the interests and history of the island, the author is indebted to the Hon. Edward Everett, who kindly placed them at his disposal. Where statistics were concerned, the several authorities have been carefully collated, and the most responsible given. The writer has preferred to offer the fresh memories of a pleasant trip to the tropics, to attempting a labored volume abounding in figures and statistics; and trusts that this summer book of a summer clime may float lightly upon the sea of public favor.

M.M.B.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

The Island of Cuba--Early colonists--Island aborigines--First
importation of slaves--Cortez and his followers--Aztecs--The law of
races--Mexican aborigines--Valley of Mexico--Pizarro--The end of
heroes--Retributive justice--Decadence of Spanish power--History of
Cuba--The rovers of the gulf--Havana fortified--The tyrant
Velasquez--Office of Captain-general--Loyalty of the Cubans--Power of
the captain-general--Cupidity of the government--The slave-trade--The
British take Havana--General Don Luis de las Casas--Don Francisco de
Arranjo--Improvement, moral and physical, of Cuba, 9

CHAPTER II.

The constitution of 1812--Revolution of La Granja--Political aspect of
the island--Discontent among the Cubans--The example before them--Simon
Bolivar, the Liberator--Revolutions of 1823 and 1826--General
Lorenzo and the constitution--The assumption of extraordinary power
by Tacon--Civil war threatened--Tacon sustained by royal
authority--Despair of the Cubans--Military rule--A foreign press
established--Programme of the liberal party--General O'Donnell--The
spoils--Influence of the climate, 25

CHAPTER III.

Armed intervention--Conspiracy of Cienfuegos and Trinidad--General
Narciso Lopez--The author's views on the subject--Inducements to
revolt--Enormous taxation--Scheme of the patriots--Lopez's first
landing, in 1850--Taking of Cardinas--Return of the invaders--Effect
upon the Cuban authorities--Roncali recalled--New
captain-general--Lopez's second expedition--Condition of the
Invaders--Vicissitudes--Col. Crittenden--Battle of Las
Pozas--Superiority of courage--Battle of Las Frias--Death of Gen.
Enna--The fearful finale of the expedition, 38

CHAPTER IV.

Present condition of Cuba--Secret treaty with France and
England--British plan for the Africanization of the island--Sale
of Cuba--Measures of General Pezuela--Registration of
slaves--Intermarriage of blacks and whites--Contradictory
proclamations--Spanish duplicity--A Creole's view of the crisis and
the prospect, 54

CHAPTER V.

Geographical position of the island--Its size--The climate--Advice to
invalids--Glance at the principal cities--Matanzas--Puerto
Principe--Santiago de Cuba--Trinidad--The writer's first view of
Havana--Importance of the capital--Its literary
institutions--Restriction on Cuban youths and education--Glance at the
city streets--Style of architecture--Domestic arrangements of town
houses--A word about Cuban ladies--Small feet--Grace of manners and
general characteristics, 66

CHAPTER VI.

Contrast between Protestant and Catholic communities--Catholic
churches--Sabbath scenes in Havana--Devotion of the common people--The
Plaza de Armas--City squares--The poor man's opera--Influence of
music--La Dominica--The Tacon Paseo--The Tacon Theatre--The
Cathedral--Tomb of Columbus over the altar--Story of the great Genoese
pilot--His death--Removal of remains--The former great wealth of the
church in Cuba--Influence of the priests, 80

CHAPTER VII.

Nudity of children and slaves--The street of the merchants--The
currency of Cuba--The Spanish army in the island--Enrolment of
blacks--Courage of Spanish troops--Treatment by the government--The
garrote--A military execution--The market-men and their wares--The
milk-man and his mode of supply--Glass windows--Curtains for
doors--The Campo Santo, or burial-place of Havana--Treatment of the
dead--The prison--The fish-market of the capital, 95

CHAPTER VIII.

The story of Marti, the smuggler, 108

CHAPTER IX.

The lottery at Havana--Hospitality of the Spaniards--Flattery--Cuban
ladies--Castilian, Parisian and American politeness--The bonnet in
Cuba--Ladies' dresses--The fan--Jewelry and its wear--Culture of
flowers--Reflections--A most peculiar narcotic--Cost of living on the
island--Guines--The cock-pit--Training of the birds--The garden of the
world--Birds of the tropics--Condition of agriculture--Night-time--The
Southern Cross--Natural resources of Cuba--Her wrongs and oppressions,
116

CHAPTER X.

The volante and its belongings--The ancient town of Regla--The arena
for the bull-fights at Havana--A bull-fight as witnessed by the author
at Regla--A national passion with the Spanish people--Compared with old
Roman sports--Famous bull-fighters--Personal description of Cuban
ladies--Description of the men--Romance and the tropics--The nobility
of Cuba--Sugar noblemen--The grades of society--The yeomanry of the
island--Their social position--What they might be--Love of gambling,
131

CHAPTER XI.

A sugar plantation--Americans employed--Slaves on the plantations--A
coffee plantation--Culture of coffee, sugar and tobacco--Statistics of
agriculture--The cucullos, or Cuban fire-fly--Novel ornaments worn by
the ladies--The Cuban mode of harnessing oxen--The montero and his
horse--Curious style of out-door painting--Petty annoyances to
travellers--Jealousy of the authorities--Japan-like
watchfulness--Questionable policy--Political condition of Cuba, 145

CHAPTER XII.

Tacon's summary mode of justice, 161

CHAPTER XIII.

Consumption of tobacco--The universal cigar--Lady smokers--The fruits
of Cuba--Flour a prohibited article--The royal palm--West Indian
trees--Snakes, animals, etc.--The Cuban blood-hound--Mode of training
him--Remarkable instinct--Importation of slaves--Their cost--Various
African tribes--Superstitious belief--Tattooing--Health of the
negroes--Slave laws of the island--Food of the negroes--Spanish law of
emancipation--General treatment of the slaves, 171

CHAPTER XIV.

Pecuniary value of the slave-trade to Havana--The slave clippers--First
introduction of slaves into Cuba--Monopoly of the traffic by
England--Spain's disregard of treaty stipulations--Spanish
perfidy--Present condition of Spain--Her decadence--Influence upon her
American possessions--Slaves upon the plantations--The soil of
Cuba--Mineral wealth of the island--The present condition of the
people--The influences of American progress--What Cuba might be, 186

CHAPTER XV.

Area of Cuba--Extent of cultivated and uncultivated
lands--Population--Proportion between the sexes--Ratio of
legitimate to illegitimate births--Ratio between births and
deaths--Agricultural statistics--Commerce and commercial
regulations--Custom-house and port charges--Exports and imports--Trade
with the United States--Universities and schools--Education--Charitable
institutions--Railroads--Temperature,
201

CHAPTER XVI.

Retrospective thoughts--The bright side and dark side of the
picture--Cuban institutions contrasted with our own--Political
sentiments of the Creoles--War footing--Loyalty of the colony--Native
men of genius--The Cubans not willing slaves--Our own
revolution--Apostles of rebellion--Moral of the Lopez
expedition--Jealousy of Spain--Honorable position of our
government--Spanish aggressions on our flag--Purchase of the
island--Distinguished conservative opinion--The end. 214

THE HISTORY OF CUBA.