Chapter I: Havana, 1 (10)

The people are naturally indolent, not having the same stimulant to activity as in the cold regions of the north. Riding in the country as I do daily, on the coffee and sugar plantations, one can see how the lower classes subsist; the wild cane which grows in abundance is used with mud and straw for the sides of a cabin, the roof covered with the leaves of the palm tree, or other material; a shirt, with a pair of drawers, is their only covering; their furniture consists of an iron pot, and a jar, to contain water. Two or three bananas a day are sufficient to support life. Children up to the age of seven cost nothing for clothing. A lovely and equitable climate the year round, with a soil which, with proper cultivation, would produce anything.

The consumption of beef is greater than in any country I have yet seen; and in all parts of the suburbs are seen slaughtering-places for the cattle from the great plains, and a curious and startling sight presents itself of fences made of bullocks’ horns. Cattle in large numbers have been sold by those who feared that the government would take them for the army, or for the want of money, at two dollars per head, and delivered in the city at from three dollars to five dollars. The hides are exported, and the flesh is consumed in large quantities by all classes, particularly the lower orders; the price is as low as ten cents per six pounds. I have seen so much of it, that I have almost abandoned eating meat. There are in the country, holders of from two to three hundred thousand head of cattle on the vast plains.

I have just seen an advertisement of an exhibition at the theatre for Sunday night, called the Gran Nacimiento, or Birth of Christ, which usually takes place at this season of the year; and as curiosity led me to see the exhibition, I must describe it to you, to show the peculiar tastes of these people. There were some one thousand five hundred persons present, of all classes and colors; and among them were seen the scuttle-formed hats of the priests, and their black robes, and the white and black mantillas of the dark-eyed damsels of Caracas. The roof of the theatre over the parquette was the vault of heaven, with the mild full moon’s rays, and the twinkling of the stars, almost extinguished the light of the lamps in the carved balconies and boxes, which formed the inclosure, and extended to the roofed building in the rear, for the stage and actors. The first act represented eight children dressed as angels, after which appears Mary, and three other angels descend upon a white cloud and announce the conception; the coronation then takes place by the group of angels, with solos and duets, accompanied by the orchestra; after which appears Joseph, in oriental costume, and accompanies his spouse on a pilgrimage. King Herod and others are introduced in the performance, as well as Lucifer, from the burning pit, and his contest with the archangel Michael, who destroys him; finally comes the birth of the infant at Bethlehem, the dances of the shepherds, and the adoration of the three kings. The performers were all mulattoes and blacks.

There is a club-house and reading-room here, kept by an American, which is frequented by the foreign residents as well as the natives.

Our Minister, Mr. Shields, from Alabama, is a gentleman of talent, and a worthy representative of his nation. He occupies the house and grounds of the former president, Gen. Paez, which has protected this property from spoliation. In dining with him I made the acquaintance of two of the members of the late Congress who narrowly escaped when the attack was made upon them, and were much indebted to Mr. Shields, who secreted them in his house for some weeks until the excitement had subsided.

This is an equable and delightful climate, and more agreeable to the senses than either the extremes of heat or cold; the night and morning air is to be avoided by invalids in consequence of the vapors or clouds which sometimes descend, but during the day rise by the attraction of the sun’s rays.

L.*

DANISH BRIG OF WAR, ORNEN,
ISLAND OF BEATTI, ST. DOMINGO, _January 25, 1849_.

I took the old mountain road from Caracas on mule back to La Guayra to await the Venezuelan mail schooner, bound to Puerto Cabello. I never passed over a more rugged road or one where it was more difficult for a mule to keep on his legs, for rain the day before had rendered the tortuous and winding way very slippery. I left before sunrise, and found the city enveloped in a white cloud or mist, but on arriving upon the summit of the mountain, where commences the descent to the ocean, the sun had risen in all his majesty, and dispelled the vapors upon the eminences, while Caracas was yet invisible, and appeared like an immense misty sea in the valley below.

The rollers or surf at LaGuayra are perhaps worse than any to be found after a storm, except on the African coast, and the roadstead affording no protection, most of the vessels had put to sea the day after my arrival, and I found myself in company at the hotel with the commander of the Danish brig of war, Ornen, or Eagle, who was separated from his vessel, as his lieutenant was obliged to put to sea to escape a lee shore. Being a particular friend of a Danish commander of my acquaintance, with whom I had travelled, and whose plantation I had visited at St. Croix, he invited me to join him. After the storm had abated, with the aid of surf-boats and men, who stripped and forced the boat forwards, we reached the ship’s boat, and gained our brig, bidding adieu to the frightful white-caps which had almost entirely destroyed the breakwater of the port, and produced such a deafening noise that I could scarcely sleep at night at the hotel which was near the shore.

One day’s sail brought us to Puerto Cabello, a beautiful and safe harbor, which is resorted to for repairing vessels, and for purposes of commerce, as well as safety. It is a plain Spanish town, on level ground, and has nothing remarkable to offer the traveller, except its beautiful rides in ascending the Cordillera of Mountains that runs parallel with the coast, and then winds along the banks of a beautiful small stream to the village of St. Stephen, the resort of the foreign residents in summer. Our brig had formerly visited this port when the foreigners had fears of an attack from the blacks of the country, and as the report of sixteen thirty-two-pounders, and an equipage of one hundred and two men and officers presents a formidable appearance, all passed off quietly. We were received with great hospitality on the part of the German merchants, and the commander and myself had always horses at our disposal.

I had never yet seen in any country such a luxurious growth of vegetation as presented itself along the streams in the valley of the interior. This country produces an abundance of coffee, and cacao, from which chocolate is made, and my eyes had never beheld such a variety of tropical fruits and in such profusion, as in winding along the banks of this little stream on horseback. The coffee plant; the cacao, which produces a sort of seed resembling a large bean; orange and lime trees filled with fruit; cocoa-nut trees loaded with fruit, falling in many instances without being gathered; bananas, which produce the staff of life in the absence of bread, and which, after yielding fruit, are cut down to spring up anew without culture; the beautiful and tall, broad-leafed bread-fruit trees; with the graceful palm, and an immense variety of wild trees and flowers full of beauty. It seems as if nature had been too lavish and wished to outdo herself, and that, too, to an ungrateful people who would not gather through indolence that which was forced upon them.

The new steamer Venezuela, built at Pittsburg by a New York company, for the navigation of the Oronoko river, was at LaGuayra a few days since. At Puerto Cabello I found the officers of the steamer Scourge, which was captured, and lies in the harbor. I think she was unlawfully seized under American colors, although brought out for the revolutionary party.

We sailed from Puerto Cabello to Curacoa in company with the French brig of war, Le Cygne, and arrived a little before her, taking the first and only pilot to enter that pretty harbor, with its narrow and difficult passage, which resembles somewhat, in its fortifications on each side, the entrance of Havana. We had given our salute and been responded to by sixteen guns from the fort, when our rival entered. We were soon visited by the aide-de-camp of the governor, and the officers of the Dutch transport ship and brig of war on the station, from whom we received much civility. Through the politeness of Mr. Slaugard, the governor’s aide, horses were procured for the French and Danish commanders and myself to visit the curious caves of Hatto, on the north side of the island, which to me were not very interesting, as I had seen others of like formation on a more extensive scale in other countries; but what appeared to me curious was the continual dripping and formation of stalactites from this volcanic and coral rock, considerably elevated above the level of the sea, and in a country where it seldom rains.

The island is generally arid, and has a barren appearance; an insect has destroyed within a few years almost all the cocoa-nut trees. The trees generally are of a stunted growth, and where they are exposed to the trade-winds they lean or shoot their branches in an opposite direction. The guinea corn is adapted to the soil, and is produced in large quantities. Within a few years the government has introduced the growth of the cochineal, and with success; and Mr. Slaugard accompanied us to the plantations, where we had an opportunity of seeing the production of the cochineal bug upon the cactus plant. The aloes and the tamarind fruit also produce well.

The population of the island is about twenty thousand; the town itself is situated upon both sides of the harbor, which extends back and opens into a large bay for miles in depth, and in both boroughs contains some six or eight thousand inhabitants. The houses are well built, after the Dutch style, and have the external air of freshness of color, comfort, and cleanliness; but the present race sadly represents its ancestors. Nature has withheld her bountiful hand, and I could readily contrast the difference between the people here, and those I had just left. Stern necessity obliges them to be industrious, and in all parts women, men, and children are employed in making a sort of straw or cane, into hats, cigar cases, baskets, &c. The climate is delightful, perhaps the best in the West Indies or the Spanish Main for invalids. The expenses of life are very moderate, but the hotels are miserable, with no reading-rooms or sources of amusement or instruction for a permanent residence.

The language of the common people is the Curacoa, so called, and is a composition or patois of African, Dutch, and Spanish. In families of the best class, and among the officers of government, the language of the mother country is spoken; many speak English and French. At a soirée given to the officers of the ships of war in harbor by the governor, who is a finished gentleman, and much respected, I found several young ladies quite at home in the English and French languages, and also quite proficient in music, though they had never left the island.

One of the sources of revenue of Curacoa, is its salt pans, which we took occasion to visit, upon the borders of the sea. The water from the ocean is let in in sufficient quantities; the sluices are then closed, when the process of evaporation commences, and with the strong rays of the sun produces an abundant yield.

In company with Mr. Ellis, formerly minister at Caracas, who brought out the steamer Scourge for the Paez party, I went to visit the old general, who had chosen Curacoa for a residence, that being the nearest point to the Spanish Main. He was alone and somewhat disconsolate, having heard of the capture of two of his sons, who had been sent to Caracas as prisoners of war; his fleet had been mostly taken and destroyed, and the day before we had seen a portion of the Venezuelan fleet beating to windward in passing Curacoa. He is a man of middle stature, of dark complexion, not remarkable in his appearance or manner, though he has at times when animated a fiery expression of the eye, and is said to have been the best lancer of his country; he speaks only Spanish, and has never had the advantages of much education, but is a self-made man. His son, who came in during the interview, and who generally accompanies his father, speaks English and French fluently.

The slave population is small in the island of Curacoa, but the negroes seem to be well treated and contented. The commerce of the town is chiefly in the hands of the Jews; a fair proportion of the small currency is in Spanish dollars, cut in four parts, to prevent its going abroad; while the piece of five francs passes currently there and in Venezuela for a dollar, and is the basis of circulation.

I could find no vessel for Hayti from Curacoa, and Captain Irminger persuaded me to continue with him to St. Thomas, where I could get the English steamer; and finding myself comfortable on board with my every want gratified, I concluded to do so, as I had abundance of time with an ordinary passage, for the arrival of the steamer. But in this I was disappointed, as we had to contend with a violent north-easter for several days, which prevented our making an easterly course, and finding the current strong to the west, and having reached the south side of St. Domingo, we took shelter in a bay near the False Cape, and despatched a boat’s crew ashore in search of wood, who reported that it could be obtained, as also fresh fish from some negro fishermen on the coast. We then ordered the gig of the brig, and with the captain and several of the officers went ashore, where we found two sail-boats and four naked Haytians, who were in want of tobacco and biscuit in exchange for fish. The idea had occurred to me that if I could get to Jacmel by private conveyance, I could cross the island to Port au Prince on horseback, and save much time in beating up against the wind and current to St. Thomas; but I had my misgivings in trusting my life in the hands of these fellows for eighty or a hundred miles along an uninhabited coast; I found also, as far as I could understand the Creole French, that they would not attempt it. We made sail yesterday, but the sea is too strong, and we have taken refuge under the lea of this Beattie Island. The ship would run back to Jacmel and land me, but positive instructions to be in Denmark without delay prevent.

We have just had some fishermen alongside, two of whom appear honest and decently clad, and quite intelligent. For a handsome reward on my safe arrival, they will convey me to Jacmel, so shall leave to-morrow as soon as the weather permits. You will hear from me, if I arrive safe at my destination.

LI.

JACMEL, REPUBLIC OF HAYTI, _Feb. 5, 1849_.

My last communication was from on shipboard, at anchor under the lee of Beattie Island, where I had every facility for corresponding, as the generous and gentlemanly commander had given me entire possession of the cabin and library on the main deck, from which I had at will a full view of the tactics and manœuvres of a man-of-war vessel, under the most rigid discipline, and manned by the most hardy and fine looking Danish crew I had ever seen; whose health and conduct were the care and pride of the officers, who were intelligent from necessity, as the naval school of Copenhagen obliges its inmates to acquire the English, German, and French languages, in addition to a general education, so that when they are sent abroad as officers they are at home among the great powers.

According to promise the Haytian fisherman came alongside with his boat. The steward had provided my outfit for a three days’ passage, and after exchanging gifts, as souvenirs, with my worthy friend Capt. Irminger, whose kindness I shall not forget, I embarked in the frail vessel, half loaded with dried fish, to make a coasting voyage of upwards of one hundred miles to this place.

Although an old traveller, I had been extremely undecided how to act; if I continued with the brig I could not arrive at St. Thomas in time for the steamer, and would lose a month’s time, and my letters had preceded me. The coast of Domingo and Hayti was quite uninhabited, except by half-civilized negroes, and the exposure was considerable in making the point of False Cape with a rolling sea. I had however decided, and thought my confidence was not misplaced in my boatman. The weather was very warm, with a full moon, and ordinarily a breeze in our favor; so trusting in that Providence which has protected me through so many wanderings, I waved my hat in response to the salutations from shipboard and shot away before the breeze in order to double the cape before nightfall, in which we succeeded, not however without drenching my cloak with the spray. I never saw a boat more skilfully managed than by these fellows, who hold their lives in their hands in passing that point, where it looked as if we should be engulphed every moment. In twenty-four hours we arrived at the residence of my men, a village called Saltrou, of four hundred inhabitants, living in cane and mud houses, with thatched roofs; and I found to my surprise that we had unintentionally created a great excitement. One of the fishermen whom we had first met at False Cape had reported that he had seen a man-of war vessel, and a white man on board who wanted to be conveyed to Jacmel. I was met at the beach by some negro officers in rusty uniform, and bare-footed, who escorted me before the colonel and other officers of this military despotism, whose cognomen of republic is a farce. I was then questioned from whence I came, and the object of my visit. I had my passports en regle, and had taken the precaution to have the visé of the captain of the brig, showing my intentions. The colonel, who could not read, and spoke but little French, began to abuse the boatman in the Creole tongue, for bringing a man from the direction of the Dominicans, with whom they were at war; but his secretary, an intelligent black, and one out of six who could read and write in the village, gave him to understand who I was, and I had taken an independent course in manner and expression, although the only white man or stranger in the place. He was informed, aside, as I learned subsequently, that I might have the village razed to the ground by this vessel of war, if I was ill treated. I then received from the villagers great attention, and the mother of the fisherman, who happened to be one of the élite of the town, provided the best she was capable of. I was detained one day and night, until the formalities of Haytian law were fulfilled in sending information and an escort with me to Jacmel to the authorities of the place.

As good fortune would have it, my boatmen were good and honest fellows, and became much attached to me from my conduct towards them. The colonel wished to separate me from my men, and send me by a barge coming to this place, in company with a group of all sorts of people, to which I demurred strongly, and he finally consented that my boat should convey me, but in company with the other; so I took my departure, and arrived the following day. On my arrival, I was presented to the Commandant du Port, and other authorities, who were in full uniform, and who appeared well, and showed more intelligence than I had yet found. The highest official with whom I conferred relative to crossing the island to visit the capital, Port au Prince, said that he was obliged to send a special messenger to the President, announcing my arrival on the coast from a war vessel, and that he would probably leave about the same time that I did.

The following morning I departed with my guide, on horseback, and at mid-day was overtaken by a black officer in full costume and well armed, who came up at a full gallop, and inquired if I was the individual he was directed to join. I concluded I was to be ordered back, but such was not the case. He had almost ruined his horse in overtaking me.

The distance across from Jacmel to Port au Prince is sixty-six miles, along deep valleys watered by ever-living streams, and only traversed by horses, mules, and donkeys, there being from eighty to ninety fording-places, produced by the windings of the little rivers. The valleys are rich and fertile in the extreme. The mountains to be crossed are very lofty, and covered with a profusion of verdure and forestry; they present one of the grandest scenes in all the West India Islands, and prove the assertion that the blacks have the jewel-island of all the Antilles; but how mortifying the reflection should be to them, that what was once such a source of riches to France, and to the islands, and what with industry might be made a paradise, is now so woefully neglected, and falling back into barbarism.

Agriculture is very much neglected from the want of a disposition to labor, as the blacks will not work for themselves or others, and their wants are trifling and readily supplied. The government is a military despotism, and exhausts the country by its levies of troops, and taxation. It has a standing force of some twenty thousand men, and is now at war with the Dominicans at the east end of the island.

Port au Prince has a population of about twenty thousand, composed of all colors, with perhaps one hundred whites. It has a fine harbor, and is a place of considerable trade, being situated in an agricultural and cultivated country.

The city is mostly composed of frame buildings, although there are many of other materials, covered with slate and shingles, but it has a dull and dusky air for the want of paint. The Government-House, which is occupied by Soulouque, with the grounds inclosed, is quite extensive, and the array of infantry, cavalry, and artillery within the grounds, looks formidable; but instead of the simplicity of a republican government, it has the appearance of the residence of a tyrant.

I arrived quite à-propos on Saturday morning--the market-day--when the inhabitants of the country come in with their products without a permit. They are permitted to do so from Friday night to Monday morning; on the other days of the week a passport must be obtained, which is quite a tax to them; and although it is arbitrary, and helps the government, it may have a good effect in keeping them from idling their time in the city, instead of being at work at home. Sunday was the gala-day, and the great review of the troops by the President, whom I saw in full uniform, attended by a numerous staff, and some of the companies, who were well dressed, and appeared quite militaire. Several of them looked well in the distance, but their rusty uniforms would not bear inspection. The blacks are fond of military display. Chapeaux, feathers, and gold lace give them great importance, and one sees generals and colonels sufficient for a British army.

I passed a day with the Consul General of France, and the English Vice-Consul, at their villas, a few miles from town. I had met the former in my travels, and now obtained much information relative to the massacre of the colored people by the blacks, last April. He had taken a noble stand in their favor, and had protected large numbers under his flag, in his own house; and having a vessel of war in the harbor, he effected, under cover of night, the embarkment of many of the most distinguished and intelligent mulattoes.

The ignorant blacks, jealous of the mixed castes, whose intelligence and wealth were far superior to their own, had resolved on a general extermination and pillage. Since then, however, a French war ship is constantly in port, and there is now a better understanding between the races. The President, who is a black, had lent himself to his own color, but soon saw the error. Monsieur Rebaud, the consul, has just returned from St. Domingo, and effected the release of one hundred and sixty Haytian prisoners, who had been incarcerated three years. This act, with the fearless exposure of his own life in April last, among the mob, for the preservation of families from massacre, and threatening the President to fire upon the town if more blood was shed, has endeared him much to the colored people of the island.

It has been said that confidence in the common people of the country is rarely misplaced, and that strangers heretofore could travel over the country by day or night without being robbed or molested; and I must add, that in most cases I have been treated with great civility.

In the mountains, at night, we met with the sable troops bivouacked around their camp fires, en route for the war declared against the Dominicans. Very little clothing is required in this climate, and scores of women and girls may be seen washing clothes by the side of the streams, with no other covering than a handkerchief; while the little naked urchins are basking like black snakes on the rocks, in the sun’s rays.

I have just returned from the north side of this little continent, whose circumference, by an even line, is about one thousand miles, and am now waiting the arrival of the steamer to proceed to Jamaica. At present, the drought is excessive on the plains, and the heat of the sun almost overpowering; and I can scarcely realize that while I am writing, dressed in light summer clothing, with my unglazed shutters wide open, and the birds singing merrily in the cocoa-nut trees of the garden, that in this month (February) you, at home, are muffled in furs, and have another music in the chinkling sleigh bells. This town, Jacmel, with a population of some eight thousand, stands at the head of a fine bay (the lower town is the commercial portion), and is built along the shore, near which lies the shipping, that takes the products of the country, principally coffee and logwood. The upper town is built on the hill, and in entering the port, presents a pretty appearance; but the effect is soon lost with bad paved streets and indifferent houses. I was pleased to find a number of schools in the towns and cities.

I am gratified in having had an opportunity of seeing a South American Republic, and a Black Republic, both of which are failures, as they have resolved themselves into military despotisms, without the great fundamental principles of religion and education, which I trust we shall always preserve in the United States.

LII.

HAVANA, _March 22, 1849_.

I started for Jamaica in the English steamer, which proved to be our old New York favorite, the Great Western. After landing at Kingston she proceeded to San Jago de Cuba, giving me nearly a week’s sojourn on the island, prior to embarking for the island of Cuba.

Kingston, although quite a large town, was exceedingly dull. The colonists complain bitterly of the mother country; an immense number of estates have been thrown up, the price of labor demanded by the manumitted blacks exceeding the ability of the planter to grow sugar in competition with the slave-holding colonies. Various expedients have been tried by the English to introduce laborers from the East Indies, and have proved a failure. One large planter informed me that the apprentice system was now found to be the best. All captured slaves are apprenticed for a number of years, and not understanding the language of the country, they apply themselves readily to labor, and become attached to the estate on which they are placed, and with good treatment show no disposition to leave. Although Kingston is a quiet and uninteresting town, lying on a slope with wide and unpaved streets, and sandy soil, still many of the houses, constructed of wood or stone, two stories high, setting a little back from the street, with verandas above and below, have an air of convenience for a warm climate. I found a very good and retired hotel, full of English comforts, and kept by an English lady. The hotels generally are only tolerable.

I enjoyed a rest after my fatigues in Hayti, and then made some excursions in the interior. The capital of the island, Spanish Town, offers nothing of interest aside from the public buildings, the House of Assembly, the residence of the governor, and the military barracks for the black troops. The white regiment of English soldiers is stationed at New Castle, an elevated point in the mountains, some fifteen miles from Kingston, where they enjoy better health than they would at the latter place, and can be called upon when needed.

The House of Assembly was in session. It is composed of forty-seven members, a respectable-looking body, the largest proportion of whom are white, though there are some mulattoes and one black among them. The debate was rather interesting, as tending to reduce the burdens of the island, the taxes being enormous for their present reduced resources; but the governor, bishop, and other officials, appointed by the crown, with fat offices, being members of the Council or Upper House of twelve, bolted, I understood, and I suppose had their own way. The Court of Assize was holding its term while I was in the capital. On entering the court-room I found a crowd of blacks and mulattoes, drawn thither by the trial of a negro, who occupied the prisoner’s box, for the murder of one of his race in a night fracas. I made my way through to get a view, and hear the evidence, and could not without difficulty command my gravity. The judges and lawyers were in black robes, agreeably to the English forms; the jury were half white, the balance being negroes and mulattoes. The evidence, on the part of the blacks who were present at the fight, was in such broken language, and so contradictory, that the counsel and judges were at times obliged to give vent to a suppressed laugh, and in which I heartily joined, but was soon stopped by the cry of “silence,” coming loudly from the mulatto criers in regimentals.

Jamaica is a fine island, and has been one of the most productive of the group. The views in the interior are varied, and the mountain ranges present a great variety of magnificent scenery, and a great diversity of climate; but the island in general has sadly fallen off from its ancient prosperity. The distance from Kingston to Havana, seven hundred and forty miles, was made under favorable circumstances, the ship and passengers behaving well. The portion of the latter who had never seen Havana were struck with the cheerful and picturesque views in the distance, as we approached the harbor, on the left of the narrow channel or entrance of which stands the old Moro Castle, with its bastions well fortified, and on the opposite side the Punta, another strong fort, and the immense Tacon prison, with its imposing exterior.

Being already familiar with the island, nothing struck me as new except such innovations as had been made upon old Spanish customs, since my last visit; but I well recollect the impressions made upon me when I first landed upon its shores and could enjoy the surprise of some of my fellow passengers when they beheld the peculiar construction of the buildings, the narrow streets, and the volante, or carriage of the country. I repeat, a stranger is surprised and amused at seeing such things for the first time, and as these vehicles dash along the Paseo or public promenade, in long files with fleet horses, filled with ladies in full dress, with mantillas instead of bonnets, enjoying the balmy air before the setting sun, they cannot but prove attractive to him.

So much has been said and written about Havana that I shall not attempt a description. Suffice it to say, I found that the same causes which extend the suburbs of our cities have here had their effects, for since a line of omnibuses was established, the environs of Cero have been beautified for about three miles out, and there are now many delightful residences there. When passing the country-house where Santa Anna formerly resided, and where I saw him engaged in his favorite sport of cock-fighting three years ago, a crowd of thoughts came in my mind, of the immense conflicts and conquests growing out of his return to Mexico; and now I find him banished again, and living in retirement in the suburbs of Kingston, Jamaica.

The city, in fact the island in general, is enjoying its usual prosperity under the existing institution of slavery, but in a more grateful aspect than formerly, by reason of the suppression of the slave trade to a great extent. In consequence of the drought the sugar crop will be much less in quantity, but the large prices obtained for it will make good the deficiency.

The Habaneros are fond of music, and have been in raptures with the Opera Company who have now left. They have the Tacon Theatre, an immense structure, the interior of which is chastely ornamented, with boxes separated by slight railings, and open gilded trellised work in front; when filled with ladies in full dress it produces a beautiful spectacle. The Ravels are now doing all the business. The steamer for Charleston has taken the family of children called “The Viennese Dancers,” who have done better at Matanzas than here.

The carnival season had ended when I arrived, but having already passed several carnivals here and in different parts of Italy, it was no great loss. The Grand Catalan Benevolent Society Masquerade Ball did not come off as usual in the theatre this year, but was held in three distinct places, on a Sunday evening, according to custom. When held at the Tacon, where I saw it once, with six thousand persons attending it attired in all possible variety of costumes and dances, while outside, the Paseo or public promenade contained many thousands more, under the mild rays of a full moon, dancing to the sounds of banjos, and other discordant music; it was really a novelty, and like all new visitors I enjoyed it, but now I gaze upon it with indifference.

A few days since I met with a travelling acquaintance who had accompanied me, when I was last on the island, to its south side, where we visited the sugar estates, and made ourselves familiar with the whole operation of grinding the cane, and boiling and granulating the extract into sugar. Afterwards we stopped at a small Spanish town at the termination of the railroad, which was exceedingly dull, except on festivals, or to those who take an interest in cock-fighting, for which the Spaniards have a great passion, congregating here in goodly numbers, from town and country, in the arena of a small theatre, twice a week, to exercise this cruel practice, in which one of the combatants must be killed to decide their heavy bets.

On Sunday morning we attended the parish church, where a large number of ladies had assembled, with their flowing white and black lace mantillas, gracefully thrown over the back of the head and shoulders, kneeling and sitting in groups upon their rugs on the stone floor of the church, apparently devout, and watching the changes of the service, while their negro servants in livery were placed beside them. A detachment of cavalry was also upon their knees, and two of the privates in the same position, with drawn swords, were placed beside the priest at the altar. During the several changes of the service the trumpeter of the troops would sound his shrill bugle, and the old walls seemed to shake. Service being done many of the ladies crossed over to the fancy shops, which were all open, to make their purchases. Soon after the country people begin to arrive on horseback, with their game chickens under their arms, and in this way, or in some other diversion, they pass the Sabbath, which to them is considered a festival or holiday.

The steamer Isabel, of the Charleston line, has just left. The evening before her departure her owner, who is from Charleston, gave an entertainment on board which passed off well. The family of the Captain General of the island, and several of the Spanish nobility, with a number of the consuls, and many English, German, and American ladies and gentlemen, to the number of a hundred, after a dance on deck to the music of the band, sat down to a magnificent supper. The steamer lay off in the harbor, and we were taken on board by a steam ferry-boat. The deck of the steamer, which was well lighted up, and a stream of rockets flying in the air, produced a fine effect from the shore.

The season of Lent will soon be over, when the functions of the Holy Week will take place; but having described to you the ceremonies at Jerusalem, and the great and gorgeous display at Rome under Pius IX., I fear I shall have but little to communicate on this occasion. I could have hardly thought while in Rome, one year since, hearing the enthusiastic multitudes singing VIVAS to PIO NONO, that he would so soon be banished from his temporal and spiritual seat.

LIII.

HAVANA, _April 10, 1849_.

This is the last of the five holidays, during which the custom-house is closed, and commerce suspended. The Passion Week ends to-day, and I have concluded to give you some of the details, without comment, from which you can draw your own conclusions. I find that there is a great difference of opinion among the Spaniards themselves as to the utility of keeping up, in this enlightened day, the observance of customs which were practised in barbarous ages, and are divested in most cases of the imposing and magnificent ceremonies at Rome, during the Holy Week.

Commercial men dislike the prostration and interruption of trade, which continues nearly a week, and which produces great hurry and bustle in loading and discharging vessels, prior to the closing of the custom-house; but on the part of the negro population the festivals are much enjoyed. Dressed in all the finery possible, the sable damsels may be seen with white and black mantillas, and fans in their hands, forming a portion of the church attendants, sitting or kneeling upon the marble pavement, side by side with the wealthy classes, kneeling and reposing upon rugs brought by liveried servants. In the house of worship no distinction is made between bond or free, black or white; all enjoy the same religious privileges.

On Jueves Santo, or Holy Thursday, after ten o’clock in the morning, Havana, the noisy, bustling, active city, is in deep repose, and for forty-eight hours all is silent; not a vehicle is allowed to pass; the bells are muffled; the sentries and military guards have their arms reversed; the flags of all the vessels are half-mast; the altars of the churches and convents are decorated with the figures of angels and cherubim, in gold and silver tinsel robes, bearing in their hands the instruments of torture, symbolical of the crucifixion of Christ. In the Santa Catalina, which, as well as some eight or ten other churches, was illuminated with hundreds of wax candles, and visited by thousands, is the figure of Christ bearing his cross, and borne down by its crushing weight nearly to the marble pave; a little further on are two other figures, representing the flagellated and the mutilated body; the third Christ being in a sitting posture, bound and bleeding from his wound.

The hosts of ladies who scarcely ever appear in the streets unless in volantes, are obliged to make use of their tiny feet, and from the churches wend their way to the Plaza d’Armas, a beautiful promenade in front of the governor’s house, where by the light of the moon they can exchange glances and salutations with friends, and listen to fine music from the military band.

On Viernes Santo, or Good Friday, an immense procession, composed of the clergy and assistants in full dress, with torches, assisted by the military with arms reversed, proceeds from the church of San Juan de Dios to the cathedral, where the dead body of Christ is deposited in a sepulchre, in which it remains until the morning of the third day, when, after the performance of mass to the multitude at ten o’clock, silence is once more broken by the pealing of the bells, the roar of cannon from the forts, and the discharges of the infantry who occupy the Plaza or square, in front of the cathedral, all of which announces the resurrection. The negro drivers, who have bedecked their mules with ribbons, drive wildly through the streets; the military shoulder arms, and the flags of the vessels are again hoisted to the tops of the masts.

The following morning the ceremony of Christ going forth to meet the Virgin took place. The almost naked figure of our Saviour, as large as life, upon a platform supported by twelve men, almost concealed from view by curtains suspended to the ground, sallies forth from the cathedral followed by the priests in robes, bearing the host under a canopy with burning incense, while the military and populace are prostrated upon their knees; after having made the tour of the Plaza, amid the showers of bouquets from the ladies in the balconies, the procession marches in the direction of one of the churches, which contains full-sized figures of the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene, in rich robes of gold and silver tinsel, who are brought out on platforms upon which they are attached, and supported upon the shoulders of four men each; the latter, espying Christ coming in the distance from an opposite direction, run hurriedly towards him, turn as suddenly and go in pursuit of his mother to communicate the glad tidings, while she in turn rushes rapidly forward to embrace him, when, after a salutation, they proceed together, and are placed within the altar, and mass is said, and the scene is finished.

I observed but a small attendance of whites of the upper classes, at this last described ceremony, but hosts of negroes whose curiosity it gratifies. The sensible part of the community wish it dispensed with, as, instead of being imposing and solemn, portions of it excite the laughter of the crowd.

A grand masquerade ball is announced for Sunday night, at the theatre, which will be attended by probably five or six thousand persons; this will close the ceremonies and performances of the Holy Week in Havana.

The cathedral is an antique, and plain, but noble building, with some good monuments. The most interesting, historically, is that which covers the remains of Christopher Columbus, whose ashes were transported from the cathedral of San Domingo by the Spaniards, when that island was ceded to the French in 1795. The reception of the body at Havana is said to have been august and stately. After it was landed with the greatest pomp, it was conveyed to the cathedral, when, after mass and solemn ceremonies, the mortal remains of the great navigator were placed in the wall behind a bust, in basso relievo, in marble, with the following inscription:

“O, remains and image of the great Columbus,
For a thousand ages continue preserved in this urn,
And in the remembrance of the nation.”

1850.

LIV.

TRIP TO CALIFORNIA, DEC. 20, 1850.

I left New York by mail train for Philadelphia, spent a day there, and then went on to Baltimore and Washington; Congress in session; called upon some of the members: took the train for Aquia Creek, thence by rail to Fredericksburg and Richmond; visited a few friends, and started for Wilmington, North Carolina, all by rail, without any of the inconveniences of corduroy roads as in former days. The steamer took us to Charleston; rough night; second cabin filled with negroes going south, fresh from Virginia plantations; they experienced the horrors of sea-sickness. Left Charleston the first of January, by steamer Jasper, outside passage for Savannah, and Georgia Central Railroad to Macon; passed Sunday, attended divine service there, and continued by rail to Montgomery, in comfortable cars, where more than once before I had made the same journey in open wagons, drawn through the mire by six horses; where the stage could not stand erect; broke the pole at midnight; up to knees in mud, carrying rails on the shoulder to pry out the wheels, and borrowing planters’ wagons; carrying lighted pine knots in hand, in the obscurity of the night; lying before a camp fire, upon a buffalo skin; and riding upon an iron-bound trunk, over the hind axle, for one hundred miles. Such, in winter, were Georgia pine-woods roads for travelling, before the railway was completed. Took steamer Daniel Pratt at Montgomery, capital of Alabama, for Mobile, receiving cotton at all the landings. Weather foggy and rainy--made it slippery work. An animated sight in a dark night (the steamer tied up to some tall tree on the river bank) is the sliding down of cotton bales from a high bluff, while camp fires are lighted on the banks, and the five or six furnace doors on the main deck are thrown open, and the red glare of light throws its lurid beams upon the gangs of negroes, singing sailor songs.

An amusing incident once occurred, coming down the river. The excessive rains had made the roads almost impassable. The boats were anxious to fill up with cotton freight, until the guards were under water, and the bales were piled half the height of the smoke stack; and wherever the eye rested, it was on cotton. This valuable freight could not be resisted; but the bales lay some distance up a little bayou. So all hands and a number of passengers started for the point. Each man mounted a bale and came floating down. I selected a large square one, and with two poles came paddling along safely; while some of my neighbors made poor selections, and round went the bales, and they got a good ducking, to the amusement of the bystanders.

Sunday, attended church in Mobile, and left with steamer J. L. Day for New Orleans. Among our passengers were Madame Le Vert, of Mobile, and Miss Fredrika Bremer, the Swedish authoress, who, like myself, were bound for Cuba. We were laden with cotton, mules, and other freight for New Orleans. Our steamer grounded at midnight on Cat Island, and was so belated we could not arrive in time for the departure for Havana, the next day. I took the ladies under my charge, and escorted them to the St. Charles hotel, where my friends Mr. Brown (late Consul General of Turkey) and his wife, whom I had known in Constantinople, were stopping, with the Turkish Envoy, Amin Bey and suite. Our hotel took fire on Saturday morning, the 18th, and was consumed in two hours. I had just breakfasted with the party, stepped out a half hour, when it was announced that the hotel was on fire. I rushed to the scene, and ascertained that our friends’ luggage was saved, made an effort to secure my own, and succeeded in saving the greatest proportion of it. The conflagration extended to the neighboring church and other buildings, and was terrific. Madame Le Vert requested me to telegraph to her husband, and take her to the railway, and she would return home. Miss Bremer, who fortunately was visiting friends, lost nothing, and went over to Havana in company with us. Here we found Jenny Lind, to whom Miss Bremer presented me. She had not seen her since a child, in Sweden. I had attended her concerts in New York. The steamer Ohio, Captain Porter, was present, bound for Chagres, and I embarked in her. The first day, at dinner at the captain’s table, a lady seated at my right heard my name, and asked if I was the friend of a cousin of hers, who had stated I was on my way south. I replied that I was, and was pleased to meet with her, and should be happy if I could be of service. What was my surprise, when, on going in the ladies’ saloon, I found her with her nurse and four children, the youngest sixteen months old, on her way to California; she had missed her friends, a gentleman and lady, whose boat was detained by ice in the Mississippi, and could not connect at Havana. She had paid a through passage to San Francisco, and was in great distress whether to return or proceed. I was not well myself. I had heard much of the horrors of the Isthmus; my sympathies were with the party, my reputation as an American was at stake, for courtesy towards ladies; the regard I entertained for her friend, induced me to say, “You shall proceed, and I will assume the responsibility.” With travelling experience, and a knowledge of Spanish, and such assistance as gentleman passengers could render throughout, there would be no difficulty. On our arrival in the roadstead of the dirty, filthy place, with low huts on both sides of the Chagres river, the sea was rolling in heavily, and we landed with difficulty. The children were lowered in crockery crates, and, the infant in my arms, I was suspended in a chair. I procured supplies from the steamer and purchased some ashore. We were the last to leave the ship. I chartered a dug-out, or canoe covered with palm-leaf top and tarpaulin; made my contract in Spanish with some Maracaibo natives to pole us up the stream as far as Gorgona, the price sixty dollars, half down, and half on arrival. I would not suffer them to stop at Gatoon, where the boatmen have their fandangos, but, as we were the last to leave, I insisted on beating the party and arriving ahead. We kept straight on and reached los dos Hermanos, and arrived that night at eleven P.M.; I went ashore and purchased sugar, and strolled through the small street of the village where they were slung up in hammocks, half naked. We waited at San Pablo until early break of day; I kept watch in a sitting posture in the stern of the boat, as I did not like the looks of the natives. We started in advance of the others; a beautiful morning after a rainy night in this hot climate; the scenery lovely; tropical vegetation, foliage of the trees, beautiful flowers, parrots and other birds of plumage of charming character. Difficult poling up the rapids; our men were liberally supplied and stimulated to action, and I was determined to beat the party, in consequence of their want of politeness in not assisting an unprotected family. I arrived at Gorgona in advance, made arrangements for four mules at fourteen dollars each, and three children to be carried on the shoulders of natives to Panama at ten dollars each; the luggage at nine cents per pound. We were all mounted and in the act of departure when the other boats came in sight, and up went the price of mules to sixteen dollars.