THE CUBANS.
I am often asked, "How did you get along with the Cubans?" very much as
inquiry might be made as to how we got along with the Apaches, or with
the Modocs; and one man said, decidedly, "I think I might like Cuba, but
I could never stand those Cubans." He had never seen a Cuban, I believe.
We got along with the Cubans very well indeed, much better than with
some of our neighbors in the States. Judging from our experience with
the inhabitants of the province of Puerto Principe, there are no better
people on the face of the earth to "get along with" than the Cubans. We
found them, almost without exception, courteous, social, kind,
hospitable, and honest. Indeed, it sometimes seemed as if there was
nothing they would not do for us that lay within their power. They
appeared to appreciate kind and fair treatment, and to be eager to
return the same to us. Those we came in contact with were mainly of the
humbler classes, but we saw nothing to indicate that those higher in
the social scale were less friendly and considerate. The Cubans we met
seemed to like the Americans, and the colonists certainly reciprocated
the feeling. After a residence of nearly a year among them, Hon. Peter
E. Park emphatically declared that there was as little meanness in the
Cubans as in any class of people he had ever fallen in with, and many
other Americans in La Gloria echoed this sentiment.
I can easily conceive that under abuse the Cubans would exhibit some
very disagreeable and dangerous qualities, but what people of spirit
does not under such circumstances? Self-control is not a marked
characteristic of the Cuban, and he is apt to revenge himself upon his
enemy in any way he can at the earliest opportunity. But with kind and
just treatment, he is your friend, and very good friends we found these
Cubans--we of the colony at La Gloria. Among themselves they are an
easy-going, good-natured, talkative people, and they display these same
qualities to foreigners who approach them rightly. Rude they never are,
but they sometimes show a childish sullenness when offended. Strong in
their likes and dislikes, they often exhibit no little devotion to
those whom they esteem or respect, and I believe them to be quite as
reliable and trustworthy as the average among the inhabitants of the
tropics. I have heard it said that the Cubans of some of the other
provinces do not compare favorably with those of Puerto Principe, which
may be true; yet I cannot help thinking that the race as a whole has
been much maligned. Under a strong, just government I believe they would
prove to be excellent citizens, but I do not expect that they will soon
develop much administrative ability.
Some writers and travelers have done the Cubans justice, but many
obviously have not. The soldiers of the United States army have an
unconcealed dislike for them, which the Cubans, naturally enough,
ardently reciprocate. Perhaps the soldiers expect too much homage from a
people upon whom they feel they conferred the priceless boon of liberty.
At all events, in many cases where there has been bad blood between the
two, it is easy to believe that the soldiers were the most to blame, for
the Cubans as we met them were anything but aggressive. Many a Yankee
could take lessons of them in the noble art of minding one's own
business.
So much for the character of the Cubans. Less can be said for their
style of living, which in the rural districts and some parts of the
cities is primitive to the verge of squalor. In the country around La
Gloria it was no uncommon thing to find a Cuban who owned hundreds or
thousands of acres of land--most of it uncultivated, to be sure--living
in a small, palm-thatched hut with no other floor than the hard red
soil. The house would be furnished in the scantiest way, a rude wooden
table, a few chairs, and perhaps a rough bench or two. Often there would
be no beds other than hammocks, no stoves, and sometimes not even a
fireplace of any description. The meals, such as they were, would be
cooked in the open front of the shack over a fire usually built on the
ground. Occasionally the enclosed room which formed the rear of the
shack would have an uneven board floor, but there were never any carpets
or rugs, or even a matting of any sort. Of course there was no paint or
varnish, and very little color about the place save the brown of the dry
thatch on the roof and the brick-red grime from the soil which colored,
or discolored, everything it came in contact with like a pigment. This
red stain was astonishingly in evidence everywhere. It was to be seen
upon the poles which supported the hut, on all of the furniture, upon
the clothing of the inmates, and even upon their persons. It looked like
red paint, and evidently was about as hard to get off. The huge wheels
of the bullock carts seemed to be painted with it, and the mahogany and
cedar logs hauled out of the forest took on the color. In a walking trip
to the city of Puerto Principe I passed through a region about twenty
miles from La Gloria where nearly all the trees along the road were
colored as evenly for about two feet from the ground as if their trunks
had been carefully painted red. My companions and I pondered over this
matter for some time and finally arrived at the opinion that wild hogs,
or possibly a large drove of domesticated swine, had rolled in the red
dust of the highway and then rubbed up against the neighboring trees.
They were colored to about the height of a hog's back. This seemed to be
the only reasonable explanation, and is undoubtedly the true one. This
region was close to the Cubitas mountains, where the Cuban insurgents
long had their capital and kept their cattle to supply the army in the
field; it may be that they had also large droves of hogs which roamed
through the near-by country.
The Cuban homes as I found them in the rural districts around La Gloria
were not ornamented with books and pictures. Sometimes, to be sure,
there would be a few lithographs tacked up, and I had reason to believe
that the houses were not wholly destitute of books, but they were never
in evidence. The things that were always in evidence were children,
chickens, and dogs, and often pigs and goats. There was a democracy
about the domestic economy of the household that must have been highly
flattering to the chickens, dogs, pigs, etc. They always had all the
rights and privileges that the children or even the adults had. I have
seen a two-year-old child and a cat eating contentedly out of the same
dish.
[Illustration: FRANK J. O'REILLY.
(_One of the Early Colonists._)]
But if the children were always in evidence, their clothing oftentimes
was not. Nothing is more common in Cuba than to see young children in
unabashed nakedness. Their nudity is complete, and their unconsciousness
absolute. In nature's garb they toddle along some of the streets of the
cities, and in the rural districts they may be seen in the same
condition in and around their humble homes. Naked babies lie kicking in
hammocks or more quietly in their mothers' arms, and naked children
run about at play. I once stopped at a shack to get coffee, and while
waiting in the open front of the "casa" for its preparation, was
surrounded by a bevy of bright little children who had neglected to put
on their clothes. At last it seemed to occur to a pretty four-year-old
girl that she was not properly attired for company, so she sat down on
the dirt floor and pulled on a slipper! She appeared somewhat disturbed
at not being able to find its mate, and hunted quite a while for it, but
finally gave up the search and accepted the situation, evidently
concluding that a single shoe was clothing enough in which to receive
even such distinguished guests as "Americanos." With the adult members
of the family, also, this nakedness of the children passes as a matter
of course. The climate is so mild that clothing is not demanded, but I
caught myself wondering if insects never bite Cubans.
The Cubans are rather an abstemious people. They care little for their
food and are not given to excessive drinking. Those in the country
around La Gloria lived chiefly on pork, stewed beans, rice, and boniatos
(sweet potatoes). It is a mistaken idea that they do not eat much meat;
they eat a great deal of pork in all forms, and seem to be equally fond
of wild hog and the domesticated animal. As a matter of fact, there is
small difference between the two. Both are "razor backs", and have
practically no fat on them. The flesh tastes about as much like beef as
it does like the fatted pork of New England swine. The Cubans keep a
good deal of poultry, but from personal observation I cannot say that
they eat much of it. The hens and the eggs are small, but the former
sell for one dollar apiece and the latter for about forty cents a dozen.
The Cubans in the rural parts of the province of Puerto Principe eat
very little beef, but this may be because it is not easy to get it,
while lamb and mutton are unheard of. The Cubans make excellent coffee
of their own raising, which they invariably drink without milk. Coffee
alone forms the early breakfast, the substantial breakfast being at ten
o'clock, and the dinner (la comida) at three or four o'clock. There is
nothing to eat after this, but there may be coffee in the evening. In
fact, the Cubans are liable to drink coffee at any hour of the day, and
they always wind up their two regular meals with it. They are fond of
sweets, particularly a sort of preserved orange (dulce naranja). It may
be that they eat fresh fruit, but when I do not know, for I never saw a
Cuban eating an orange, a banana, or a pineapple. These they sold to us
at rather excessive prices. The Cubans nearly all drink, but very little
at a time, and rarely get drunk. Their favorite drinks are wine, rum,
and brandy (aguardiente). In a holiday week in the city of Puerto
Principe, the only two men I saw intoxicated were Americans. One was a
soldier, the other a camp follower.
The Cubans of the rural districts did not appear to be religious,
although there was apt to be a rude wooden cross fixed in the ground in
front of their dwellings, possibly with a superstitious idea of thus
averting evil. These crosses were nothing more than a slender pole,
eight or ten feet high, stripped of its bark, with a cross piece near
the top. They were dry and weather beaten, and looked more like a roost
for birds than a religious emblem. Smaller wooden crosses were to be
found in the little graveyards that we occasionally came upon. These
seldom contained more than two or three graves, which were unmarked by
any visible name or inscription. In the villages there were, of course,
larger cemeteries, but the country I am writing of was very sparsely
settled, averaging scarcely more than one or two families to the square
mile.
The natives appeared to have very few amusements. They hunted somewhat,
and in the villages and cities had occasional dances of rather a weird
character. They had cock fights, too, I suppose, but these did not seem
to be a feature of the country life about us. The rural Cuban spends
much of his time in riding about the country on his patient and
intelligent pony, buying supplies and disposing of his small produce.
When they till their land is a mystery, for they never seem to be at
work upon it. In fact, very little was tilled at all in the region about
La Gloria. It was no uncommon thing to find a man owning hundreds of
acres, with less than one acre under cultivation. This condition was
usually explained by the statement that everything had been killed out
during the Ten Years' War, and that the natives were too poor to again
put their land under cultivation. This was a half-truth, at least, but
Cuban indifference must have had something to do with it. One of the La
Gloria colonists once asked an intelligent and good-appearing elderly
Cuban why he did not cultivate more of his land. "What is the use?" was
the reply. "When I need money I pick off some bananas and sell them. I
get for them twenty or twenty-five dollars, which lasts me a long time.
When I need more money, I pick more bananas." This is the common Cuban
view. His natural indifference, combined with the exactions of Spanish
government, has kept his mind free from any thought of making provision
for the future.
The reader should bear in mind that I have been describing the people of
the province of Puerto Principe, and mainly of the rural portions
thereof. I am well aware that in the more thickly settled and more
prosperous provinces fine country houses are sometimes to be found, and
the people generally may live somewhat differently and perhaps better,
but I believe I have faithfully pictured the typical Cuban as he exists
to-day in the country districts of Puerto Principe, the fertile and
unfortunate province which has probably suffered more from the ravages
of war in the last thirty years than any other province in the island.
It was completely despoiled during the Ten Years' War, and has never
recovered. Its deserted plantations are now being reclaimed, largely by
Americans, and ere long will blossom forth with luscious fruits and
other valuable products.
The slight acquaintance which I had with the Cubans of the cities of
Puerto Principe and Nuevitas led me to the belief that they did not
differ greatly from the more intelligent inhabitants of the country
sections. Among the half hundred Cubans who worked for the company and
occupied a camp at La Gloria, were many from the cities of the province,
the others coming from small towns and villages. Most of them had served
in the Cuban army--the "Army of Liberation", as it was called. Though
these men had but few comforts, they appeared to be happy and contented;
they were almost invariably peaceable and good-humored. The Americans
liked these "Cú-bi-ans"--as some of the colonists persisted in calling
them--and entire harmony prevailed. It was amusing to me when we first
arrived to hear some of the Western colonists inadvertently speak of
them as "the Indians", owing, I suppose, to their primitive mode of
living. Columbus called them by the same name when, on the 28th of
October, 1492, he landed on the island at a point not twenty miles from
what is now Port La Gloria,--but within the last four hundred years the
appellation of "Cuban" has become well known throughout the world. The
Cubans must work out their own destiny, but I am satisfied that they
will steadily progress in the scale of civilization.
[Illustration]