The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-01-29
IA Readable Letter from Havana.

!; "A Readable Letter from Havana Y
OUR coRREsPoNb ENr's IETTERs
HAVE At LAST ohUa GIT a pp WIFE
nt" a.S,,vgx1 EsaLl- na1-yEcD
Correspondence Of the Richmond Dispatch
sssa;rs Z H1yAsAa,, January 1ssh.lsea;
.Rolled about In. the Laysoca allfntgntr;
I'LL / was bilious through and through o .
hailed the dawn Of the last day sof i lVs
With supreme pleasure, and, rising Iouno
that we were ,steaming- slong tne Gueas
coast. Shortly after sunrise we Snonore q
naars Moro osetIe, id obedience 20 the GUS
han, Eoos tha Mort which requires alt vessels
10 80, atnn and undergo examination before
ha;ur 'a,,owed 10 enter the harbor..q Being
souy,d all right so far, we were permitted
10 nroceed, and passing through the narrow
tbroaA of the hnrbor, which is completely
commanded by the Notifications, were soon
sailing up the beautiful bay, cheered by
blasts of martial music from the castle, in
which the ,ice-horny ,twang, characteristic
Of the music Of. these parts, strikingly pre-
dominated, And now came to u.s., as we
moved along, boat after. boat containing all
sorts OF officials, demanding all sorts OF pa
pers, and requiring all sorts Of information
"a part of the noble system adopted by
the Spanish Government to facilitate COM
mercial intercourse, and which causes the
haven of Havana to rebellow with the bias
phsmies of tars, Our captain was unsparlng
In his maledictions; .eveno our mild and amia-
BILE engineer let drop some strong express
sions and our purscr swore both in the Eng
lish and French tongues, and besides was IN
cl;neds to oastigate one of the custom house
officers who was suspicious of his integrity
because he had had the politeness to'invite
him to. breakfast. Bum-bcats, perfect little
floating shops, with fruits, cigars, 10, for
sale, also came futtering around, snd ooats
with the hotel runners, sclamorous ana per-
tinacious, pursued us eindefatigaoly..-In
about three hours after coming to 8 fnai
anchor the authorities decided that our four
messengers had not come there to take the
oity and might be allowed teoland without
bringing disaster ppon the body polite.
In the mean time, while they were arriving
at this conclusion, we employed ourselves
in contemplating the scene. alalfz.6 e72 :.
The approach to Havana and the view OF
It from the water is world famous for its
beauty. The loneliness of its situation,
the piotuesqueness of its buildings, and
their strange kind Of architecture, make OF
it at all times very pleasing and interest
ing sight; while the extreme brillianoe OF
the morning sun, under which beheld 1t,
threw over all 8 sort of romantic air which
enraptured the eye and engaged the atten-
ton. 80 that even three hours enforced
gazing upon it was not altogether lntoiera-
BILE. r. =.
The first thing thst befel us on touching
terra frmo was the hesrtless rummaging OF
our trunks at the custom-house, and the
next was the highway robbery Of two dol
lars apiece perpetrated upon us by the Go
yernment under the guise' Of Standing
ticket,'' and ere we depart four dollars
more are to be stolen from us in order that
we may regain our passports, which were
the first Of all our possessions that the mis-
creants fastened upon. In consideration OF
these facts, as we shall be out Of their reach
before they can see this in print, we do not
hesitate to avow that we are ranking with
rebellion, and spend night and day in call
ing down benedictions upon the rebel cause.
Escaping, from the custom. house We were
thrust into vehicle and hurried to the
hotel Ell Telegrass, where the entire estab-
lishment, from the landlord down to the
chief-cook and ,bottle-washer, turned out to
receive us, in honor to my companion, who
had spent five months and q good many
dollars here last winter. Great was the
rejoicing over US; water, soap, and towels,
were dealt out in profusion, and in due
time, renewed, regenerated, and olsen
thralled, we were taking our ease in our
inn. 't'.1 80 = '..T - r.. . 5 -..
Havana is very dull this winter. There
are. scarcely any Americans here. The revo-
luton on the island and perhaps the "res
augusta domi''' have kept them away. /
find it difficult to amuse myself with so few
to converse with. The natives, fear, do
not speak the pure Castilian-it is, certain
if they do I don't, for our Spanish is mu-
tually incomprehensible. Nevertheless, /
have met with some who are expert in
English, and with them commune occa-
sionally. They have a high appreciation
of the South, and speak in aattering terms
of our recent struggle and our generals.
have heard Lay-ay--that is, Lee-awarded
the fullest need Of praise, and splendid
eulogiums are passed on Horngal-who with
some difficulty ascertained to be Stonewall.
In this dearth Of social intercourse my
principal resource is to perambulate the
city and observe the manners and customs
Of the people, which afford food for study
and reflection to man who is travelling
for information. q s - -s.'5% -'a5'F.'51
4 wall of ponderous stones, now broken
down in many places and going to decay,
divides the city into two parts, called re-
spectively the old city and the new. The
former is o crowded, compactly -built, dismal
quarter, with streets narrower than many
Of the alleys in Richmond, from which as
cends an aroma too pungent to be grateful
to foreign olfactories. After looking and
smelling around here no one will esssur.
prised that yellow fever and cholera make
terrible ravages. There is the merest
apology for pavement, 30 that pedestrian
ism is by no means pleasant. The stores
which are very numerous, are for the most
part disheart ening and sad-looking estab.
lishments, with iron gratinge over the win
dows, but they are well supplied with goods
Of every description. Coffee-houses and
cigar stands abound everywhere. Most Of
these places have some fanciful name dis
playedon their signs !; thus The Nymphs u
is q dry goods store Is The Industry . sells
hardware and perfumery and at The
Elegance you can obtain old barrels and
trash of various sorts. Some Of them are
hallowed by. Scriptural appellations; Sfor
instance, I have seen IS The Resurrection
Coffee-house,' % g The 7 Am Saloon. and
6 The Immaculate Conception College for
Young LADIES' liz. .5e4 ~ -5 l:@s,,; ~.
In the new city the streets are generally
much wider and the aspect Of affairs more
lively. Stores are abundant here too,
and oheek-by-jowl with private residences.