Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-08-26
CUBAN SKETCHES.

Rev. DR.. Leyburn, editor of the PRESBYTERIAN
has been writing some very interesting accounts
Of visit to Cuba. We copy portion of his last
letter
PLANTATION ARRANGEMENrs.-The ubioui.
tous Yankees, OF course, could not fail TO find A
footing In land where ounces of gold are as
easily earned as in Cuba. Their services. too.
are invaluable, especially as machinists and
engineers on the sugar estates, and hence mum.
bers OF them come hither, and some with whom
we met had been here for years Their wages
are large, some OF them getting as much as one
hundred and fifty dollars a month and their
living; but their life must be one of mapy dis
comforts, as they are on remote plantations,
with little society but that of the negroes, the
proprletors almost uniformly residing in Ha-
vana On each plantation there is usually an
administrator, who has the entire SUPER
intendence of its affairs under whom is a
mlral or overseer, who is not unfrequently
one OF the blacks. The statements of the ma
chinists and engineers who came as passengers
on our ship from Havana, differed widely as to
the treatment the negroes receive. Some of
them said they had light work, and were well fed
and clothed, and others, that their condition is,
In all respects as miserable as it can be- The sta
pie article OF their food is jerked beef, brought
from South America, in addition to which they
have rice, plsntains and sugar cane. The latter
would not seem to be a very valuable item in
the bill of fare, though it is said to be very nu-
tritiOus.
The slave trade, as is we'll known, is carried on
on large scale; the Captain. g eneral, unless he
Is ssiandered, reaping m enormous revenue by
winking at it. Their mode of proceeding is for
several planters to unite, and send q ship to the
coast OF Africa, with an understanding as to
what part of the coast she is to make for on her
return. When she ia about due, small fishing
vessels are sent out to intercept her, whilst a
ylgilant lookout is kept, and signals are made
from the shore to warn them, in case cruisers
are known to be iP the vicinity The human
cargo is sdisembarked with all dispatch, and after
being concealed in the woods, in case of suspect
ed danger, are carried off the first opportunity
to their respective plantations.
CooLIss.-However hopeless the breaking up
OF the slave trade may be, by moral influences,
or the police of other nations it is not improb-
able that the COolie system will, in the end,
lead to Its abandonment. The Coolies, indeed
do not stand the climate so well as the African,
and In others respects are not considered as good
laborers; but they require no outlay of capi-
tai, and the supply bids fair to equal the demand
Already there are atleast thirty thousand on the
island, and accessions are constantly arriving
The afternoon before we left, a ship came from
china, swarmiDg with these half-naked, miser-
Bile looking creatures. In Havana, there are
numbers Of them employed as boatmen, sery.
ants, &c, and some of those we saw in the stree Is
on sunday, had very respectable and even
genteel appearance. Their treatment on the
plantations, according to the uniform testi.
mony we received. is much worse than that OF
the negroes.
The proprietor has no interest in preserving
their lives or health beyond the time for which
he has secured their services, and ii is no matter
to him If they are turned off at the expiration of
the apprenticeship with constitutions broken
down by overwork and bad usage. The coolies,
however, are not always as submissive as could
be desired They have sometimes raised ND
against the miral, and cut him to pieces When
the proprietor comes to arrest the culprit and
inquiries who did it, Z" We all did it, - is the re-
ply OF every one of them as he cannot afford
to hang or garrote all of them, the matter
usually ends here.
The Coolies thus far brought to Cuba are ex-
eluslvely Chinese. The planter pays the ship
that brings them seventy five dollars for each
one delivered on the plantation. They are then
apprenticed to him for eight years, be paying
them six dollars a month for their services. A.
yet, the time offew Of them has expired Those
who have become free have mostly remained
here, engaging in peddling and petty traffic of
various kinds. tits predicted that many of them
never will get their freedom-that the planters
manage by some means to keep possession of
them, the government winking at it, of course,
- for a consideration" One of the American
residents said to US that if the United States do
not get possession of Cuba soon, the Coolies will
as they are a sagacious people and if they
continue to increase as they have done, in few
years they will have the majority of the popu-
lation.