POPULATION.
There must have been people in Cuba in the very night of time, for some
prehistoric race has left its trace behind. Numerous stone implements of
war and agriculture, closely resembling those so frequently found in
various parts of Europe, have been unearthed, near Bayamo, in the
Eastern Province. Then, again, within the last thirty years, a number of
_caneyes_ or pyramidical mounds, covering human remains, many of them in
a fossilized condition, have been discovered in the same part of the
island. Specimens of rude pottery, bearing traces of painting, have also
been dug up in various places, and I have in my possession a little
terra-cotta figure, representing an animal not unlike an ant eater,
which was found in the neighbourhood of Puerto Principe, and exhibited
in the Colonial Exhibition of 1886. Many small earthenware images of a
god, wearing a kind of cocked hat, and bearing a strong resemblance to
Napoleon I., are often picked up in out-of-the-way places, but we have
no other evidence that the ancient Cubans were blessed with any
conspicuous knowledge of the fine arts. The majority of the friendly
Indians who greeted Columbus on his first landing are believed to have
spoken the same language as the Yucayos of the Bahamas, and the
aboriginal natives of Hayti and Jamaica. Grijalva declares they used a
language similar to that of the natives of Yucatan--at any rate, on his
first expedition into that country, he was accompanied by some Cubans,
who made themselves understood by the inhabitants. Although Columbus
mentions the good looks of the early Cubans with admiration, there is
every reason to believe that the Discoverer flattered them considerably.
They seem to have been men of medium height, broad-shouldered,
brown-skinned, flat-featured, and straight-haired. The women are
described as better looking than the men, and do not appear to have
disfigured themselves by ornamental cheek slashes and other hideous
tattooing. They were, as we have already seen, an amiable set of
savages, quite innocent of cannibal tastes. Their huts were made of palm
branches, and their cooking was performed in the most primitive fashion,
over a wood fire, lighted in the open air. Some of their tribes, more
advanced in civilization than others, wore aprons decorated with shells
or with the seeds of the caruba, strung together in rather pretty
designs.[4]
In order to understand the very complex matter known as the Cuban
question, it is necessary for the reader to know something about the
exceedingly mixed population of the island, whereof "Cubans" form by far
the greater part. The present population, estimated at over 1,600,000,
may be divided into six sections[5]:--The Cubans, the Spaniards, the
Creoles, the foreigners, the coloured folk of African origin, of all
shades, from the deepest ebon to the lightest cream, and the coolies or
Chinese.
For three hundred years Cuba was exclusively inhabited by Spaniards, or
people of Spanish descent. The political and religious conditions of the
country were therefore far more favourable to peace and unity, and the
island was much less difficult to govern, than in these troublous times
of ours.
The "Cubanos" are the descendants of Spanish colonists, who have
inhabited the island for at least two generations. The slightest
admixture of African blood debars the enjoyment of this distinction. The
first Spanish immigration into Cuba began very soon after the conquest
of the island, and consisted mainly of adventurers who had accompanied
the earlier expeditions, and who settled permanently in the country,
after having returned to Spain, and transported their wives, and such
members of their families as were ready to follow them, to their new
homes. Almost all these individuals were either of Castilian or
Andalusian origin. A few years later, emigrants began to come in from
the Basque Provinces, and from Catalonia.
The descendants of these early colonists form the present aristocracy of
Cuba, and many of them bear names which have cast lustre on Spanish
history.[6]
Cuba was governed, for over three centuries, by the laws which bound the
other Hispano-American colonies. These were framed by Philip II., and
are still known as _Las Leyes de Indias_.
The unbending nature, and jealous religious orthodoxy of the Spaniards,
offered scant encouragement to the establishment of settlers of any
other race or faith. The Inquisition soon reigned in the island, in all
its gloomy and mysterious horror. To its merciless pressure, and
frequently cruel action, we may perhaps ascribe the instinctive hatred
of the "powers that be"--so characteristic of the modern Cuban--even as
hereditary memories of the doings of Mary Tudor and her Spaniard husband
have implanted a sullen distrust of the Spanish nation in the breast of
the average Englishman.
From the physical point of view, the Cubans are inferior to their
Spanish forefathers, a fact which may be attributed, perhaps, to the
effect of an enervating climate on successive generations. Still, it has
been remarked that they do not seem to have deteriorated,
intellectually, to the same extent as the descendants of the French and
other European Creoles in the West Indies. They are lithe, active, and
occasionally very good-looking, in spite of their pasty complexions and
somewhat lustreless dark eyes. They are certainly more progressive in
their ideas, and more anxious to educate their sons, at all events, to
the highest possible standard, than are their Spanish cousins. A
remarkable impetus was given to education in Cuba by the celebrated Las
Casas, who governed the island from 1790. He increased the endowment of
the University of Havana, which had been established in 1721, and
greatly extended its sphere of action, by creating several important
professorial chairs, and notably one of medicine. He assisted the
Jesuits in improving their colleges. It should be noted, to the credit
of this much maligned order, that the Fathers provided their pupils with
a thorough classical education, and also instructed them in foreign
languages.
During the great Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods there was
considerable chaos in the island, and the vigilance of the censorship
became so relaxed, that the large towns were flooded with French and
Italian literature of an advanced kind, and the ex-pupils of the Jesuits
devoured the translated works of Voltaire, Rousseau, and Beccaria with
an avidity which must have sorely scandalized their orthodox
instructors. The Voltarian spirit thus introduced amongst the better
class of Cubans has endured to this day, and though they pay every
outward respect to their religion, they are exceedingly sceptical both
in thought and speech. During the last seventy years, again, the country
has been overrun by Americans, who have introduced every form of
Protestantism, from Episcopalianism to Quakerism, and even Shakerism.
This large acquaintance with varied schools of religious thought has had
its effect in broadening the horizon of the Cuban mind. Many young men
are sent to schools and colleges in the United States, in England, in
France, in Germany even, or else to the Jesuits' colleges at Havana and
Santiago. Yet the mother country refused for years to admit even the
best class of Cubans to any share in the administration of the island,
and though within the last two decades this rule has been somewhat
relaxed, the result, politically speaking, has not always been
satisfactory, even to the natives. In the legal and medical professions
they have attained brilliant success, and some very large fortunes have
been made. The majority, however, follow the life of planters, or engage
in mercantile pursuits. Here again there is cause for trouble. In bygone
days the Spanish hidalgos were granted large estates in Cuba, and though
they rarely visit the country, they still retain them, entrusting the
management of their property to agents and overseers. Among these
absentee landlords are the Aldamas, Fernandinas, dos Hermanos,
Santovenios, and the Terres, whose palaces in the Cerro quarter of
Havana have stood uninhabited for years, except, perhaps, for an
occasional and rare winter visit. Still there are, or were, until quite
lately, many wealthy Cuban planters who reside on their plantations,
with their wives and families. A few years ago--I daresay it is so
still, on such estates as have not been devastated by the Rebels or the
Spaniards--the grown-up sons lived with their parents, each attending to
a separate department of the plantation, until the father died. Then one
of them--the eldest, as a rule--took over the whole estate, paying each
of his brothers a proper proportion of his net yearly earnings, and if
sufficient frugality was exercised, he was able to pay them a share of
the original property into the bargain. But even when these events took
place, they did not necessitate the separation of the family.
The Cubans are naturally a domestic and affectionate people, exceedingly
happy in their home relations. In many a Hacienda, from one to four or
five families will live most peaceably, under the same roof. The men, as
a rule, make excellent husbands, and are passionately fond of their
children, whom they are apt to spoil, and often ruin, by allowing the
coloured servants to over-indulge them. In these patriarchal homesteads,
the children, being not a little isolated from other society, become
exceedingly attached to each other. When the girls attain a marriageable
age they are placed in seclusion, under the charge of a governess, or
else sent to one or other of the great convents in the Capital managed
by French and Spanish nuns of the SacrA(C) CA"ur, Assumption, and
Ursuline orders. The results of this system are not always fortunate.
Premature marriages abound. Many a Cuban is a father before he is
eighteen years of age, by a wife a couple of years his junior--a fact
which may account, even more, perhaps, than the much-blamed tropical
climate, for the physical inferiority of the race. Then again, as is
invariably the case in slave countries, a pernicious laxity in morals is
tolerated, and Cuban life, in cities and plantations alike, will not, I
have been assured on good authority, bear too close investigation. If
the ancestors were devoted to their Voltaire and their Jean Jacques, the
modern descendants are equally zealous readers of all the most
suggestive French and Italian novels. The fine literature of the mother
country has never found much favour in Cuba, and the educated islanders
are far more intimately acquainted with Zola, Gaboriau, Gyp, and
Huyssman than with Cervantes, Calderon, Lope, and Fernan Cabalero. They
do not even patronise their own national drama, preferring modern French
and Italian plays. It is a curious fact that even really excellent
Spanish troupes have failed to attract audiences in Havana, whereas
French and Italian companies have done tremendous business during the
few weeks of their stay in the city. I shall have occasion to speak
elsewhere of the great love of music which has long distinguished the
Cubans, whose principal Opera House has been kept up all through the
century to a pitch of excellence worthy of one of the great European
capitals.
The Cuban women, even in the lower classes, are generally far better
looking than the men. Those of the upper ranks are often extremely
fascinating. Their features are small and delicate, their eyes dark and
fine, and their hair magnificent. Their feet and hands are small, and
although they cannot vie in grace with their Andalusian sisters, they
have a distinct and striking charm, peculiar to themselves. They have a
regrettable weakness for plastering their faces with rice powder, to an
extent which sometimes makes them look absolutely ghastly, and, like
most Creoles, they are apt, except on formal occasions, to neglect the
elementary duty of personal neatness. They are fond of lolling about in
their own homes, in wrappers, none of the cleanest, and are much
addicted to swinging in hammocks, coiling themselves up on sofas, and,
above all, rocking lazily to and fro, in low American chairs.
Of society, even in the city of Havana, there is little or none. A few
large parties are given by the wealthier families in the winter season,
but very few people can converse easily on any interesting subject.
Conversation must soon flag, indeed, in a country where the intellectual
pabulum of the fair sex consists, generally speaking, of a singular
combination of the Catholic prayer-book and the worst stamp of French
novel. The usual way of spending the evening in a Cuban house is to
place two long rows of rocking-chairs opposite one another, and sit
chatting, everybody, meanwhile, smoking the inevitable cigarette. In
some of the houses, music of a high order may be heard, and not a few of
the Cuban ladies sing charmingly. During the Carnival, a good many
dances take place in private houses, but even these are extremely dull,
for as soon as a gentleman has danced with a lady, he is expected to
lead her back to her rocking-chair, where she sits smoking in smiling
silence till the arrival of another partner. It would be thought highly
improper for a young man to start a conversation, let alone a
flirtation, with an unmarried girl.
The general want of that association between the sexes, so necessary to
the welfare of each, makes the Cuban women indifferent to the opinion of
the Cuban men. They care for nothing but the most childish chatter and
gossip, have no desire to improve their minds, no ambition beyond that
connected with their own personal comfort and vanity. They marry when
they are mere children, from twelve years of age to about
eighteen,--and if no suitor has appeared upon the scene by that time,
they are looked on as old maids. Belonging to a most prolific race,
those who marry soon have large families about them, and devoted as they
are, in most cases, to their children, they find their happiness in
their domestic circle. The haughty spirit derived from their Spanish
ancestry is not dead in the hearts of the Cuban ladies. Many of them
have proved the fact, of late, by qualities of self-sacrifice, courage,
and splendid heroism, which have gone far to carry the revolutionary
struggle to its present phase. The exceedingly pernicious habit of
bandaging infants in swaddling clothes is still prevalent, even in the
best regulated Cuban families. This may account for the excessive infant
mortality, for though as many as eight or ten children are born to most
parents, they rarely succeed in rearing more than three or four.
There is a saying in Havana that "the church is good enough for the old
maids of both sexes." The women are pious from habit. Nearly all of them
begin the day by going to Mass, and in Holy Week they literally live in
church. But, for all this, religion does not seem to have any deep
influence on their lives. The men make no pretence to piety. Generally
speaking, Catholicism in Cuba has become a mere matter of form and
custom, although there are doubtless many sincerely pious people in the
island, who practise all the Christian virtues, both in public and in
private. Still, I fear the clergy can hardly have done their duty by
their flocks for many generations past. Yet, I am assured, a more
evangelical spirit is stirring among them at the present moment. This
we may fairly ascribe to the vigilance and zeal of the present Pope, Leo
XIII., who has appointed more energetic and able bishops than any of his
predecessors, since the Apostolic age. I am assured that the present
Archbishop of Santiago and Bishop of Havana--the island is divided into
two dioceses--have effected many remarkable reforms, not only among
their clergy, but also among the laity.
To resume: the Cubans are, as I have already indicated, the descendants
of Spaniards born on the island. They form considerably over a third of
the population. The true Spanish population, which is not at all
numerous, includes the absentee grandees, who own at least a fourth of
the island, the numerous officials sent out from Spain, and the very
considerable garrison which has always been kept in Cuba, to maintain
order, and suppress all attempts at open rebellion. The Spaniards keep
very much to themselves, although, of course, many of them are allied
with Cuba by family ties, and are on very friendly terms, in times of
peace, with their own kinsfolk. Still, there is a local feeling against
them, as the representatives of bad government in a sorely-troubled
colony. Their manners and customs are not quite identical with those of
the natives. Their women, for instance, have a far higher sense of
dignity than the native ladies. They are more sincerely pious, and, in
many cases, far more highly educated and accomplished. On the other
hand, the men are extremely overbearing and exclusive. Their manners are
ridiculously elaborate, but their hospitality, though courteously
proffered, is less genuine than that of the native Cubans. When a Cuban
says, "Come and stay," or "Come and dine with me," he means it, and is
hurt, however humble his circumstances may be, if you refuse.
During the last fifty years, a great many Americans have established
themselves in Cuba as planters, merchants, and shopkeepers. They come
from all parts of the United States, and associate very little with the
Spaniards, although they are generally very friendly with the Cubans.
The principal American settlements are at Cardenas, quite a modern town,
and known as "The American City," Havana, Cienfuegos, and Santiago. The
Spaniards, on the other hand, suspect and dislike the Americans. There
are not many English established on the island. The railroads, however,
and some of the best tobacco estates, are mainly in British hands. There
is a small French colony, consisting mainly, I am assured, of persons
who cannot live in their own country. In the old slave times, most of
the overseers were Frenchmen who had been expelled from France, and not
a few were well known as having "served their time." There is also a
small Italian colony, and a very considerable German contingent, who
live their own lives, apart from their neighbours. Until within quite
recent times no religion but the Roman Catholic was tolerated on the
island, but, at the present moment, there is, if anything, greater
freedom of worship than in Spain itself. From all I have heard, Cuba is
the last place in the world where people trouble their heads over
theological or philosophical questions. Life is essentially
materialistic, and the chief aim and struggle of existence is to get as
much comfort as may be, out of an exceedingly uncomfortable climate.
The Jews in Cuba barely number 500, and are mostly of Spanish origin,
and engaged in trade. A great many Jews fled to the West Indies from
Spain, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but few remained in
the Spanish possessions. The danger was too great. Five or six of the
Cuban Jewish families are reported wealthy, and are much respected, but
they keep entirely to themselves. We next come to the two last divisions
of the heterogeneous population of the Pearl of the Antilles,--the
coloured race, and the Coolies.
The coloured folk of Cuba, who vary, as I have said, from the deepest
ebony to the lightest cream, form a little over a third of the whole
population. That they are not more numerous in proportion to the whites,
is due to causes which I shall endeavour to explain hereafter. At a very
early date, slaves were introduced into Cuba, to replace the massacred
aborigines. At first the black merchandise was exceedingly dear; in
fact, according to ancient authorities, slaves were "worth their weight
in gold." But, in the seventeenth century, the importation from Africa
began on a great scale, though very few females were at first landed, as
the majority died on the way over. This fact necessitated a system of
constant replenishment of the males, and it was only in the last century
that negresses were brought to Cuba in any great numbers. Their
appearance was followed by the inevitable result--a peaceful invasion of
small niggers. And the dusky Venus found scores of worshippers, among
the haughty Dons. Even worthy Brian Edwards, the pious author of the
_History of the West Indies_, did not neglect to pay tribute to the
charms of the "Sable Aphrodite" in an Ode from which I cannot resist
culling the following lines:--
Her skin excell'd the raven plume,
Her breath the fragrant orange bloom,
Her eye the tropic beam.
Soft was her lip as silken down,
And mild her look as ev'ning sun
That gilds the Cobre stream.
The loveliest limbs her form compose,
Such as her sister Venus chose
In Florence, where she's seen,
But just alike, except the white,
No difference, no--none at night,
The beauteous dames between.
O sable Queen! thy mild domain
I seek, and court thy gentle reign,
So soothing, soft, and sweet,
Where meeting love, sincere delight,
Fond pleasure, ready joys invite,
And unbought raptures meet.
The prating Frank, the Spaniard proud,
The double Scot, Hibernian loud,
And sullen English, own
The pleasing softness of thy sway,
And here, transferr'd allegiance pay,
For gracious is thy throne.
Notwithstanding the nominal abolition of the slave trade, something like
half a million of slaves have been imported into Cuba since the first
treaty between England and France,--for the gradual abolition of slavery
was officially signed in 1856. The traffic continued even as late as
1886, when slavery was at last entirely and finally suppressed. It was
often connived at by the Governor, and other high officials at Havana,
who thus increased their popularity, and their private fortunes. In the
course of 1878 I was told, on good authority, of a cargo of sixty Congo
negroes, which had just been landed in a small port in the neighbourhood
of Havana, and sold to planters in the interior. The first step towards
emancipation was the freeing of all infants born of slave parents, and
of all slaves who had attained their fiftieth year. This was achieved in
1856, with very curious consequences. The infants, being deemed
worthless by their parents' owners, as soon as they realised the fact
that when the children were reared they would have no control over them,
were purposely neglected, and thousands of them perished in their
earliest years. The old folk, on the other hand, were, in most
instances, turned adrift, to enjoy their freedom as best they might, as
vagrants on the highways and byways, or as beggars in the towns. Not a
few died of starvation, and this is one of the main causes which has
reduced the coloured population in Cuba much below its natural
proportion, to that of other countries, where slavery has lately
existed. Many years have elapsed since slaves were publicly sold in the
market-places of Havana and the large cities, but until ten years ago,
advertisements for their sale continued in the principal papers, and I
hold a collection of these, which proves that very little or no
attention was paid to the freedom of infants, even after the passing of
the law in 1856. For the majority of these advertisements refer to
children of twelve and fifteen years of age, who are generally offered
for "private sale," the intending purchaser being asked to "inspect the
goods at the house of the present proprietor." Here is a specimen, dated
April 1885:--"Anyone who requires a nice active little girl of light
colour, aged 12, can inspect her at the house of her mistress. Price to
be settled between the parties privately" (here follows the address).
This is a proof, if proof were needed, of how the slave laws were
regarded in Cuba; and even now, I am assured, in many of the more lonely
plantations, the blacks have not fully realized that they are free, and
continue working gratuitously, as in the old days. On the other hand,
the vast majority, being of opinion that freedom means idleness, have
ceased labour altogether, and, as their requirements are remarkably
modest, a number of them have departed for the woods and wildernesses,
where they lead much the primitive life led by their forebears in their
native Africa. These refugees have proved admirable recruits for the
rebel army, and have, on more than one occasion, found an opportunity of
wreaking their vengeance on their late masters' plantations and
homesteads.
I do not think the slaves were any worse treated in Cuba than in the
Southern States of America before the Abolition, and, indeed, I have
not noticed in Latin slave-owning countries that strong prejudice, on
the part of the whites, against the blacks, which exists all over the
United States, and amounts to a sense of absolute loathing. I am
convinced the free blacks in Cuba are better treated than their
liberated brethren in the Southern States. They are more civilly handled
by the whites, who appear to me to have very little or no prejudice
against them. They mingle freely with the white congregations in the
churches, and are even allowed to walk in the various religious
processions, side by side with their late owners. If the Americans ever
conquer Cuba, they will have to deal with a coloured population which
has long been accustomed to far more courteous treatment than the
Yankees are likely to vouchsafe to it.
The Spanish laws for the protection of the slaves were remarkable for
their humanity. According to the _Leyes de Indias_, all slaves had to be
baptized, and their marriages were to be considered legal. It was
unlawful to separate families. In the towns and villages, judicial
tribunals were instituted, to which any slave could have recourse
against his master. It was illegal to administer more than twenty-five
lashes in a single week on the bare back of any slave, male or female.
It was murder to kill a slave, unless, indeed, it could be proved that
he had attempted to assassinate his master, or strike him, to burn his
house or property, or to violate his wife, daughter, or any other white
female, howsoever humble, in his employ. But these laws, unfortunately,
were rarely observed. It is true that Syndicates, as they were termed,
existed in the capital and in all the larger towns, and were
occasionally useful to the household slaves. But the unfortunate
plantation hands were either utterly ignorant of the existence of these
tribunals, or were unable to reach them. If a bold applicant contrived
to apply to these organizations, his master soon found means to make him
regret his temerity. The slaves were well fed, because they were
considered useful beasts of burden. But during the sugar harvest they
were cruelly overworked, sometimes labouring nineteen or twenty hours
out of the twenty-four, and this for weeks at a stretch, without any
interruption, even on the Sundays. They would often fall down exhausted
from sheer fatigue, only to struggle to their feet again under the
overseer's merciless whip. Personally, I witnessed very few acts of
cruelty, during a visit to the island before the emancipation. Once I
did see a number of blacks in the coffee fields wantonly flipped with
the whip, simply to keep them "spry," as the Yankees say. One horrible
instance, however, took place to my knowledge. A strikingly handsome
mulatto had escaped into the woods. For a week after his recapture he
was daily subjected to the most horrible tortures, the ostensible object
of which was to strike terror into the souls of such of his fellow
slaves who might be tempted to follow his example. They subjected him to
torments too shocking for description, and rubbed his wounds with _agua
ardiente_. The poor wretch, writhing in agony, and shrieking with pain,
was bound hand and foot to the stump of a tree. The strangest part of
it was that the niggers for whom this torture, which eventually ended in
death, was intended as a warning, did not seem impressed by its horror.
They merely laughed and shrieked like so many fiends--possibly they were
accustomed to such scenes, and callous. The excuse given for the
diabolical treatment of this particular slave was that he had escaped
into the forest, where a number of other runaways were in hiding, and
had formed a dangerous association, with the object of pillage and
incendiarism. I afterwards learnt that the master of the plantation on
which the awful crime took place was notorious for his brutality, and
consequently shunned by all his neighbours. A year or so later, he was
arrested on some charge or other connected with the ill-treatment of his
slaves, and after paying a heavy fine, found it to his interest to leave
the island. He came to Paris, where he was well known for his
eccentricity and extravagance, and there died some years ago. Even in
the case of this unfavourable specimen of the Cuban planter the
household slaves were treated with the utmost indulgence, and petted and
pampered to their hearts' content. They were as vicious, idle,
happy-go-lucky a lot as ever existed! I did hear some horrible stories
of fiendish cruelty devised by spiteful mistresses, and inflicted upon
their female servants. One, for instance, which may or may not have been
true, of a lady who, because her own eyes worried her, stabbed out those
of her waiting-maid with pins. Perhaps the worst features of slavery in
Cuba were, as I have already stated, the length of the working hours,
and the fact that the masters considered their religious duty to have
ended with the wholesale administration of baptism. It never entered
their heads to teach the poor wretches any lesson beyond that of
implicit obedience to their own will and caprice. Even the rudiments of
the catechism were absolutely forbidden. Many a worthy priest has found,
to his cost, that any attempt to Christianize the field hands was the
worst possible mistake he could make in their owners' eyes. It not only
involved him in difficulties with the masters, but with his own
ecclesiastical superiors. The Jesuits and Franciscans were persecuted,
and threatened with expulsion over and over again, because they
persisted in their efforts to convert the negroes. The fact is, the
masters were quick to understand that the ethics of Christianity are not
compatible with slavery. Yet many household slaves received a religious
education rather elaborate than otherwise, were obliged to attend
morning and evening prayers, and to say the Rosary, a very favourite
form of devotion at the present time with all Cuban negroes, who will
sit for hours in the glaring sun, telling their beads and smoking
cigarettes, with the oddest imaginable expression of mingled piety and
self-indulgence on their faces. Although the days of slavery are long
since passed,--and they were quite as harmful to the whites as they were
to the negroes,--the condition of the dark population in Cuba has not
greatly improved. On some of the more lonely plantations, as I have
pointed out elsewhere, they still seem unaware that they are
emancipated, but the vast majority have foresworn all regular
employment, and live as best they can, from hand to mouth.
That portion of the coloured population of Cuba which has been free for
several generations, is in better case than the corresponding section in
the United States. The negroes belonging to it earn their living as
labourers, workmen, servants, hackney-coach drivers, messengers, and
even as musicians, in the various towns. Some few are fairly well off.
Whatever their vices may be, they are by no means ambitious, and are
contented with the simplest pleasures. The men love a glass of _agua
ardiente_, and the women delight in any scrap of cast-off finery with
which they can parade the streets, and show themselves off to the
admiration and envy of their neighbours. I fancy that half the old ball
dresses in Europe find their way, after various vicissitudes, to Cuba.
On a Sunday or a feast-day, the ebon ladies sally forth in all their
glory, arrayed in their white sisters' cast-off finery, with low necks
and short sleeves. The matter of underclothing is frequently altogether
overlooked, shoes and stockings never by any chance appear, but a bright
flower is invariably stuck in each woolly pate. Some of the holiday
makers sport a pair of long kid gloves, which have the oddest possible
effect. In church the dusky beauties squat, beads in hand, upon the
floor of the nave, which is reserved for their accommodation, while the
gentlemen darkies stand round in the side aisles. When Mass is over, the
sable congregation pours forth into the sunny streets, each member,
almost without exception, armed with a cigarette. The little negro
children are the sweetest little rascals upon earth, and I can quite
understand the enthusiastic lady who was heard to exclaim "Oh, why can't
we have black babies who turn white when they grow up." These said black
babies are inconceivably quaint, and the older children charming, and
very intelligent, till they reach their twelfth year, when their brains
suddenly appear to cease all development, excepting in the imitative
arts. The Cuban negroes are madly fond of music, and although they
prefer the dreadful tom-tom, and their own barbaric sounds, imported,
doubtless, from Africa, they will crowd the galleries of the Tacon
Theatre to listen to Italian operas. When I was last in Havana, nearly
every darkie you met was whistling the Toreador song from "Carmen," the
favourite opera then being performed, to the accompaniment of an
orchestra largely composed of coloured people,--a peculiarity which
would never be tolerated in the States, where no white conductor would
lead a mixed band, and where half the audience would leave the house on
beholding woolly heads bending over instruments played by sable hands.
Many members of the Tacon orchestra, one of the best in existence, are
full-blooded negroes, and, with their co-operation, not only Italian,
but Wagnerian opera, is successfully performed.
Slavery has unfortunately been replaced, in Cuba, by coolie labour, a
form of the same cruel institution, which, for some occult reason, has
never excited the same amount of horror in Europe, possibly because it
does not bear the actual name of slavery, and because most people
imagine the wretched coolie sells himself, instead of being sold. In
1877 there were 43,000 Chinese workmen on the island, all that remained
out of 100,000, originally imported, of whom not less than 16,000 had
died on their way out from China. At the present moment the coolies
number something like 40,000. These poor wretches do not bring their
female belongings with them, and are consequently reduced to a condition
of enforced celibacy; for so great is the contempt in which these
voluntary slaves are held, not even the lowest negress will have
anything to do with them. Despised by the whites, and detested by the
blacks, they lead a miserable life, and die like flies, in the scorching
climate. The very partial success of the coolie immigration scheme led,
some years ago, to the importation of Mayas from Yucatan, but this has
not been followed by happy results; and what with the depreciation of
tropical produce, the number of estates which have gone out of
cultivation, and the revolutionary movement, the present condition of
the coloured class, and of the coolies, is exceedingly deplorable. They
have swollen the ranks of the malcontents, and form a portion of that
starving multitude of which we have heard so much of late. In a word,
they are workmen out of employment, starving plantation hands, and their
condition seems irremediable, unless, indeed, some wealthy Power should
eventually take the island in hand, and spend countless millions in the
endeavour to lift it, once more, to its former condition of prosperity.