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.
There is a monthly lottery in Havana, with prizes amounting to one
hundred and ten thousand dollars, and sometimes as high as one hundred
and eighty thousand dollars, under the immediate direction and control
of the authorities, and which is freely patronized by the first
mercantile houses, who have their names registered for a certain number
of tickets each month. The poorer classes, too, by clubbing together,
become purchasers of tickets, including slaves and free negroes; and it
is but a few years since, that some slaves, who had thus united and
purchased a ticket, drew the first prize of sixty thousand dollars;
which was honestly paid to them, and themselves liberated by the
purchase of their freedom from their masters. Honestly and strictly
conducted as these lotteries are, yet their very stability, and the
just payment of all prizes, but makes them the more baneful and
dangerous in their influence upon the populace. Though now and then a
poor man becomes rich through their means, yet thousands are
impoverished in their mad zeal to purchase tickets, though it cost them
their last medio. The government thus countenances and fosters a taste
for gambling, while any one acquainted at all with the Spanish
character, must know that the people need no prompting in a vice to
which they seem to take intuitively.
The Spaniards receive credit for being a very hospitable people, and to
a certain extent this is due to them; but the stranger soon learns to
regard the extravagant manifestations which too often characterize their
etiquette, as quite empty and heartless. Let a stranger enter the house
of a Cuban for the first time, and the host or hostess of the mansion
says at once, either in such words or their equivalent, "All that we
have is at your service; take what you will, and our right hand with
it." Yet no one thinks of understanding this literally. The family
volante is at your order, or a saddle horse; and in such small
kindnesses they are indeed polite; but when they beg of you to accept a
ring, a book, a valuable toy, because you have happened to praise it,
you are by no means to do so. Another trait of character which suggests
itself in this connection, is their Universal habit of profuse
compliment.[28] The ladies listen to them, as a matter of course, from
their countrymen, or from such Frenchmen as have become domesticated in
the island; but if an American takes occasion to compliment them, they
are at once delighted, for they believe them to be sincere, and the
matter is secretly treasured to be repeated.
The Cuban ladies, with true feminine acuteness, estimate correctly the
high-flown compliments of their countrymen; and the kindred French,
Castilian and Parisian politeness is of about equal value, and means the
same thing,--that is, nothing. To strangers it is very pleasant at
first, but the moment it is apparent that these profuse protestations of
friendship and offers of service are transparent devices, and that if
you take them at their word they are embarrassed, perhaps offended, that
you must be constantly on your guard, and be very careful to consider
every fine phrase as a flower of rhetoric, it becomes positively
disagreeable. Good manners go a great way; and if a person does you a
favor, the pleasure you experience is much enhanced by the grace with
which the obligation is conferred; but there is a vast difference
between true and false politeness. The former springs only from a good
and true heart; the latter is especially egotistical. Both the French
and Spanish are extremely gallant to women; and yet the condition of
women in both France and Spain is vastly inferior to that of our fair
countrywomen, notwithstanding the Spanish _caballero_ and the Parisian
_elegant_ can couch their heartless compliments in terms our plain
people would vainly attempt to imitate. But what cares a woman for fine
phrases, if she knows that the respect due to her sex is wanting? The
condition of the women of Cuba is eminently Spanish, and she is here too
often the slave of passion and the victim of jealousy.
The bonnet, which forms so important a part of the ladies' costume in
Europe and American cities, is entirely unknown, or, rather, never worn
by the Creole ladies; and strangers who appear with this article of
dress are regarded with as much curiosity as we should be exercised by
to meet in our own streets a Tuscarora chief in his war-paint. In place
of the bonnet the Cuban ladies wear a long black veil, gathered at the
back of the head upon the clustered braid of hair (always dark and
luxuriant), and drawn to one side of the face or the other, as
circumstances may require. More frequently, however, even this appendage
is not seen, and they ride in the Paseos and streets with their heads
entirely uncovered, save by the sheltering hood of the volante. When
necessity calls them abroad during the early or middle hours of the day,
there is a canvas screen buttoning to the dasher, and extending to the
top of the vehicle, forming a partial shelter from the sun. This
apparatus is universally arranged upon the volantes which stand at the
corners of the streets for common hire; but the private vehicles are
rarely seen much abroad before the early twilight, or just before
sunset.
Full dress, on all state occasions, with the Cuban ladies, is black; but
white is worn on all ordinary ones, forming a rich and striking contrast
to the fair olive complexions of the wearers. Jewelry is worn to a great
extent, and, by those who can afford it, to the amount of most fabulous
sums, of course the diamond predominating; but there is a general
fondness for opals, garnets and pearls, worn in bracelets more
particularly, or in bands about the hair, at the top of the forehead.
There is one article without which the Cuban lady would not feel at home
for a single moment; it is the fan, which is a positive necessity to
her, and she learns its coquettish and graceful use from very childhood.
Formed of various rich materials, it glitters in her hand like a gaudy
butterfly, now half, now wholly shading her radiant face, which quickly
peeps out again from behind its shelter, like the moon from out a gilded
cloud. This little article (always rich and expensive), perfectly
indispensable in a Cuban lady's costume, in their hands seems almost to
speak; she has a witching flirt with it that expresses scorn; a graceful
wave of complaisance; an abrupt closing of it, that indicates vexation
or anger; a gradual and cautious opening of its folds, that signifies
reluctant forgiveness; in short, the language of the fan in a Cuban's
hand is an adroit and expressive pantomime, that requires no foreign
interpreter.
It may be owing to the prodigality of nature in respect to Flora's
kingdom, which has led to no development among the people of Cuba, in
the love and culture of flowers. Of course this remark is intended in a
general point of view, there necessarily being exceptions to establish
the rule. But it is a rare thing to see flowers under cultivation here,
other than such as spring up from the over-fertile soil, unplanted and
untended. In New Orleans one cannot pass out of the doors of the St.
Charles Hotel, at any hour of the day, without being saluted first by
the flavor of magnolias, and then by a Creole flower-girl, with "Buy a
bouquet for a dime, sir?" But nothing of the sort is seen in Cuba;
flowers are a drug. Nevertheless, I fear that people who lack an
appreciation of these "illumined scriptures of the prairie," show a want
of delicacy and refinement that even an humble Parisian grisette is not
without. Scarcely can you pass from the coast of Cuba inland for half a
league, in any direction, without your senses being regaled by the
fragrance of natural flowers,--the heliotrope, honeysuckle, sweet pea,
and orange blossoms predominating. The jessamine and cape rose, though
less fragrant, are delightful to the eye, and cluster everywhere, among
the hedges, groves and plantations.
There seems to be, at times, a strange narcotic influence in the
atmosphere of the island, more especially inland, where the visitor is
partially or wholly removed from the winds that usually blow from the
gulf in the after part of the day. So potent has the writer felt this
influence, that at first it was supposed to be the effect of some
powerful plant that might abound upon the plantations; but careful
inquiry satisfied him that this dreamy somnolence, this delightful sense
of ease and indolent luxuriance of feeling, was solely attributable to
the natural effect of the soft climate of Cuba. By gently yielding to
this influence, one seems to dream while waking; and while the sense of
hearing is diminished, that of the olfactories appears to be increased,
and pleasurable odors float upon every passing zephyr. One feels at
peace with all human nature, and a sense of voluptuous ease overspreads
the body. Others have spoken to the writer of this feeling of idle
happiness, which he has himself more than once experienced in the
delightful rural neighborhood of Alquizar. The only unpleasant realizing
sense during the enjoyment of the condition referred to, is the fear
that some human voice, or some chance noise, loud and abrupt, shall
arouse the waking dreamer from a situation probably not unlike the
pleasanter effect of opium, without its unpleasant reaection.
As it regards the cost of living in the island, it may be said to
average rather high to the stranger, though it is declared that the
expense to those who permanently reside here, either in town or country,
is cheaper, all things considered, than in the United States. At the
city hotels and best boarding-houses of Havana and Matanzas, the charge
is three dollars per day, unless a special bargain is made for a
considerable period of time. Inland, at the houses of public
entertainment, the charge per diem is, of course, considerably less;
and the native style of living is nearly the same within or out of the
city. The luscious and healthful fruits of the tropics form a large
share of the provision for the table, and always appear in great variety
at dessert. Good common claret wine is regularly placed before the guest
without charge, it being the ordinary drink of the people. As to the
mode of cooking, it seems to be very like the French, though the
universal garlic, which appears to be a positive necessity to a Spanish
palate, is very apt to form a disagreeable preponderance in the flavor
of every dish. Fish, meat and fowl are so disguised with this article
and with spices, that one is fain to resort to the bill of fare, to
ascertain of what he is partaking. The vegetable soups of the city
houses (but for the garlic) are excellent, many of the native vegetables
possessing not only admirable flavor, and other desirable properties for
the purpose, but being also glutinous, add much to the properties of a
preparation answering to the character of our Julian soup. Oysters,
though plentiful on the coast, are of inferior quality, and are seldom
used for the table; but pickled oysters from the United States are
largely used in the cities.
One of the pleasantest places of resort for enjoyment on the whole
island, is probably the town of Guines, connected with Havana by a
railroad (the first built upon the soil of Cuba), and but a few leagues
from the capital.[29] This locality is thought to be one of the most
salubrious and appropriate for invalids, and has therefore become a
general resort for this class, possessing several good public houses,
and in many respects is quite Americanized with regard to comforts and
the necessities of visitors from the United States. In Guines, and
indeed in all Cuban towns, villages, and even small hamlets, there is a
spacious cock-pit, where the inhabitants indulge in the sport of
cock-fighting,--an absorbing passion with the humble, and oftentimes
with the better classes. This indulgence is illustrative of their
nature,--that is, the Spanish nature and blood that is in them,--a fact
that is equally attested by their participation in the fearful contest
of the bull-fight. It is really astonishing how fierce these birds
become by training; and they always fight until one or the other dies,
unless they are interfered with. The amount of money lost and won by
this cruel mode of gambling is very large daily. Ladies frequently
attend these exhibitions, the upper seats being reserved for them; and
they may, not unfrequently, be seen entering fully into the excitement
of the sport.
The cock-pit is a large or small circular building, not unlike, in
external appearance, to a New England out-door hay-stack, its dimensions
being governed by the populousness of the locality where it is erected.
The seats are raised in a circle, around a common centre, where the
birds are fought, or "pitted," upon prepared ground, covered with
saw-dust or tan. The cocks, which are of a peculiar species of game
birds, are subjected from chickenhood, so to speak, to a peculiar course
of treatment. Their food is regularly weighed, and so many ounces of
grain are laid out for each day's consumption, so that the bird is never
permitted to grow fat, but is kept in "condition" at all times. The
feathers are kept closely cropped in a jaunty style, and neck and head,
to the length of three inches or more, are completely plucked of all
feathers, and daily rubbed with _aguadiente_ (island rum), until they
become so calloused that they are insensible to any ordinary wound which
its antagonist might inflict. Brief encounters are encouraged among them
while they are young, under proper restrictions, and no fear is had of
their injuring themselves, until they are old enough to have the _steel
gaffs_ affixed upon those which nature has given them. Then, like armed
men, with swords and daggers, they attack each other, and the blood will
flow at every stroke, the conflict being in no degree impeded, nor the
birds affrighted, by the noisy cries, jeers, and loud challenges of the
excited horde of gamblers who throng all sides of the cock-pit.[30]
Cuba has been justly styled the garden of the world, perpetual summer
smiling upon its favored shores, and its natural wealth almost baffling
the capacity of estimation. The waters which surround it, as we have
already intimated, abound with a variety of fishes, whose bright colors,
emulating the tints of precious stones and the prismatic hues of the
rainbow, astonish the eye of the stranger. Stately trees of various
species, the most conspicuous being the royal palm, rear their luxuriant
foliage against the azure heavens, along the sheltered bays, by the
way-side, on the swells of the haciendas, delighting the eye of the
traveller, and diversifying the ever-charming face of the tropical
landscape. Through the woods and groves flit a variety of birds, whose
dazzling colors defy the palette of the artist. Here the loquacious
parrot utters his harsh natural note; there the red flamingo stands
patiently by the shore of the lagoon, watching in the waters, dyed by
the reflection of his plumage, for his unconscious prey. It would
require a volume to describe the vegetable, animal and mineral kingdom
of Cuba. Among the most familiar birds, and those the names of which
even the casual observer is apt to learn, are the Cuba robin, the
blue-bird, the cat-bird, the Spanish woodpecker, the gaudy-plumed
parrot, the pedoreva, with its red throat and breast and its pea-green
head and body. There is also a great variety of wild pigeons, blue, gray
and white; the English ladybird, as it is called, with a blue head and
scarlet breast, and green and white back; the indigo-bird, the
golden-winged woodpecker, the ibis, the flamingo, and many smaller
species, like the humming-bird. Parrots settle on the sour orange trees
when the fruit is ripe, and fifty may be secured by a net at a time. The
Creoles stew and eat them as we do the pigeon; the flesh is rather
tough, and as there are plenty of fine water and marsh birds about the
lagoons, which are most tender and palatable, one is at a loss to
account for the taste that leads the people to eat the parrot. The brown
pelican is very plenty on the sea-coast, like the gull off our own
shores, and may be seen at all times sailing lazily over the sea, and
occasionally dipping for fish. Here, as among other tropical regions,
and even in some southern sections of this country, the lazy-looking
bald-headed vulture is protected by law, being a sort of natural
scavenger or remover of carrion.
The agriculturists of the island confine their attention almost solely
to the raising of sugar, coffee and tobacco, almost entirely neglecting
Indian corn (which the first settlers found indigenous here), and but
slightly attending to the varieties of the orange.[31] It is scarcely
creditable that, when the generous soil produces from two to three crops
annually, the vegetable wealth of this island should be so poorly
developed. It is capable of supporting a population of almost any
density, and yet the largest estimate gives only a million and a half of
inhabitants. On treading the fertile soil, and on beholding the
clustering fruits offered on all sides, the delicious oranges, the
perfumed pine-apples, the luscious bananas, the cooling cocoanuts, and
other fruits for which our language has no name, we are struck with the
thought of how much Providence, and how little man, has done for this
Eden of the Gulf. We long to see it peopled by men who can appreciate
the gifts of nature, men who are willing to do their part in reward for
her bounty, men who will meet her half way and second her spontaneous
efforts.[32] Nowhere on the face of the globe would intelligent labor
meet with a richer reward,--nowhere on the face of the globe would
repose from labor be so sweet. The hour of rest here sinks upon the face
of nature with a peculiar charm; the night breeze comes with its gentle
wing to fan the weary frame, and no danger lurks in its career. It has
free scope through the unglazed windows. Beautifully blue are the
heavens, and festally bright the stars of a tropical night. Preeminent
in brilliancy among the constellations is the Southern Cross, a galaxy
of stars that never greets us in the north. At midnight its glittering
framework stands erect; that solemn hour passed, the Cross declines.[33]
How glorious the night where such a heavenly sentinel indicates its
watches! Cuba is indeed a land of enchantment, where nature is
beautiful, and where mere existence is a luxury, but it requires the
infusion of a sterner, more self-denying and enterprising race to fully
test its capabilities, and to astonish the world with its
productiveness.
We have thus dilated upon the natural resources of Cuba, and depicted
the charms that rest about her; but every picture has its dark side, and
the political situation of the island is the reverse in the present
instance. Her wrongs are multifarious, and the restrictions placed upon
her by her oppressors are each and all of so heinous and tyrannical a
character, that a chapter upon each would be insufficient to place them
in their true light before the world. There is, however, no better way
of placing the grievances of the Cubans, as emanating from the home
government, clearly before the reader, than by stating such of them as
occur readily to the writer's mind in brief:--
She is permitted no voice in the Cortes; the press is under the vilest
censorship; farmers are compelled to pay ten per cent. on all their
harvest except sugar, and on that article two and a half per cent.; the
island has been under martial law since 1825; over $23,000,000 of taxes
are levied upon the inhabitants, to be squandered by Spain; ice is
monopolized by the government; flour is so taxed as to be inadmissible;
a Creole must purchase a license before he can invite a few friends to
take a cup of tea at his board; there is a stamped paper, made legally
necessary for special purposes of contract, costing eight dollars per
sheet; no goods, either in or out of doors, can be sold without a
license; the natives of the island are excluded entirely from the army,
the judiciary, the treasury, and the customs; the military government
assumes the charge of the schools; the grazing of cattle is taxed
exorbitantly; newspapers from abroad, with few exceptions, are
contraband; letters passing through the post are opened and purged of
their contents before delivery; fishing on the coast is forbidden, being
a government monopoly; planters are forbidden to send their sons to the
United States for educational purposes; the slave-trade is secretly
encouraged by government; no person can remove from one house to another
without first paying for a government permit; all cattle (the same as
goods) that are sold must pay six per cent. of their value to
government; in short, every possible subterfuge is resorted to by the
government officials to swindle the people,[34] everything being taxed,
and there is no appeal from the decision of the captain-general!
[Illustration: A CUBAN VOLANTE IN THE PASEO.]
FOOTNOTES:
[28] The common salutation, on being introduced or meeting a lady, is,
"_A los pies de usted senora_" (at the feet of your grace, my lady).
[29] San Julian de los Guines contains from two to three thousand
inhabitants.
[30] The English game-cock is prized in Cuba only for crossing the
breed, for he cannot equal the Spanish bird in agility or endurance.
[31] Three years after the seed of the orange tree is deposited in the
soil, the tree is twelve or fifteen feet high, and the fourth year it
produces a hundred oranges. At ten years of age it bears from three to
four thousand, thus proving vastly profitable.
[32] "This favored land wants nothing but _men_ to turn its advantages
to account, and enjoy their results, to be acknowledged as the garden of
the world."--_Alexander H. Everett._
[33] Humboldt tells us that he has often heard the herdsmen in South
America say, "Midnight is past--the Southern Cross begins to bend."
[34] "No such extent of taxation, as is now enforced in Cuba, was ever
known or heard of before in any part of the world; and no community,
relying solely on the products of its own labor, could possibly exist
under it."--_Alexander H. Everett._