Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-05-24

HNt anu hlA uuDlch NJ once. Inc COOKING, L
have said is bad, and the food itself usually
wrotched. l never saw poorer meat, SKINNER
fowls, or more tasteless fish. The sweet dishes
are limited in number, and the ordinary des-
sert consists of oranges, bananas, guava Jelly,
and cheese. In n word, living in Havana is
simply wretched. l may appear to be n
croaker, but every one who comes here says
the same thing. People go from one hotel to
another, from one restaurant to the next, but
the burden Of their song is always the same,
1--WE are starving!" The worst Of it is, the
markets are tolerably well supplied, but not a
single hotel or restaurant keeper seems to
have the sense to know how to buy. In the
market, near our hotel, saw, the other morn
ing the following vegetables exposed for sale
Tomatoes, sweet potatoes beets, egg plant,
okra, onions, cabbages. lettuce, white and
red carrots, green peas, beans, green corn,
cauliilower and several varieties of native
fruits and vegetables, and delicious honey.
All these things were of good quality fresh
and cheap, but have never yet been able to
obtain any other vegetables than potatoes,
haricots verts, and canned peas, or petU pOis,
nor have | seen honey or syrups on the table.
You may ask for them but the invariable an
swer will be, "NO temOs'-we have not got
any. The prices at the restaurants are rs
high as IN those of first class in New York.
One would not grumble at this if he could
only order good dinner and enjoy it,
Visitors to Havana cannot be too careful to
insist upon their terms beforehand at the ho-
tells, or they will find an appalling list of items
added on their bills when they come TO pay
them.
Washing is cheaply and well done, but they
have ruinous fashion Of marking your linen
in indelible ink, with your initials, and even
the number of your room in big figures, aud
ON the most conspicuous places, the top Of
your collar and the best corner of your hand
kerchief, for instance As this is repeated
Mt each wash, the result may he easily imag-
incd. have lately fought a battle ON this
subject and came out victorious. The folk
at the Passage are converted. But the ink
system reigns supreme elsewhere. and as the
saying is-forewarned, forearmed.
Ccrro is the fashionable suburb of Havana.
and the road leading to it is a street of pal
aces, in its way the worthy rival of the Stiuda
Nuova of Genoa If you wish to form an
idea of the magnificent efforts of which Gu
ban architecture is capable. You must here
study the fine proportions of the noble man
siOns which line this street on either side II
the city of Havana proper resembles Pompeii,
the Cerro must be very good reproduction
Of some of the aristocratic portions of old
Rome. The houses i'll the town are fdc-siBi-
jJev Of the little villa Of Diomede Mt Pompeii /:
those on the Cerro of Sallust's on the Pala-
tine.
Many Of tha villas are exceedingly large. al
though few, if any OF them, are over two sto-
ries high. The first house which strikes your
attention on the way up is the Quntd or Villa
hernandez. 1t is vast mansion, having in
front of it splendid marble terrace, which
commands an extensive view of the city and
harbOr. The doors are succeed aud tiled
the columns marble, and the lofty ceilings
frescoed. In one chamber there is "A bold but
repulsiye picture of the Spanish school, rep
resenting the cruciixion. head downward, of
st. Peter, Almost in front of it stands II
very lovely statue Of Pysche in a swing. The
garden is a glory of tropical vegetation
Palms of many varieties tower above, their
slim trunks laced together with gorgeous
creepers Acacias, of infinite beauty, cluster
about. covered with peach, yellow, red. or
violet flowers.
A little higher up the road stands in the
midst Of n stately garden, the Quinta Santo
Nenia belonging to the wealthy countess of
that name. Then comes the forest of palms
which marks the bishops garden and oppo-
site, to the left. are the gates of the Quinta of
Dona Leona Herrera. one of the most sumpt-
uous residences in Havana. 1t is approached
by long line of banian and palm trees, and
| the growth of tropical vegetation around it is
in the world, without its glass roof and sides.
and yon can family picture to yourself the
lOveliness of this Eden.
The mosquitoes are n great nuisance in
| Havana, and prevail all the year round but.
otherwise, if | except the feas | have had
| little to complain of on the score of those
| plaques of warm countries. insects | have
seen two or three small scorpions, but they
are not very venomous. Their sting is said
not to be worse than that of bumlle bee or
a hornet. There are no poisonous snakes.
| A big boa, of the constructor family. is found
in the woods, but it rarely attacks men. The
| lizards are beautiful and harmless some blue,
others green and gray. The iquana is almost
n native of the island, which, of all the West
| Indies, is the freest from noyous vermin,
reptiles or beasts. The only native wild an
| imal found in Cuba is the little hutia. a kind
Of large squirrel easily tanned. We have one
at the hotel. who is quite popular pet and
grows fat ON nuts and banana peelngs.
The finest cattle to be seen here are the OK
| en-, which are used as beasts of draught, and
| present very picturesque and majestic ap-
| pearance as they 60 by, dragging wooden
cart, with huge wheels, of the most ancient
form, just such rude cart as the Hndoos
carve in ivory, which may be seen in every
| Roman rural picture.
| The Cuban horses are small and sorry hay-
ing evidently degenerated through the effect
| of this eneryatng climate. As rule, they
are not too well treated, being often unmerci-
fully beaten and overloaded. visit from
MIR. Bergh would be of incalculable service to
| the suffering animals here. The institution of
n society for the prevention of cruelty TO ami
mails would be n great boon, and, | believe.
likely to be liberally patronized by the better
| classes.
| While on the subject of horses, let me tell
| you there is an admirable cab system main-
| tanned here. You can hire coach, with
seats for two persons for twenty cents (Amer-
ican) the course, within the city walls. The
| fare by hour is seyenty-tiYe cents American
money. These coaches are frequently, am
sorry to say, very dusty but | have never
seen the least attempt ut imposition on the
part of the drivers. The tariff is fixed by
law, and they do not exaggerate it. There
are two lines of street cars, which go nearly
around the town. The fare is thirty cents
American money, but they link the two dis
tant suburbs, Cerro and Jesus del Monte, to
the heart of the city. There is a cheaper car
for colored people,
The bull ring and the cock pit are still Gu
ban institutions Every city has its ring
and its pit"
Cock fights are among the most popular
| sports of Cuba, and usually given ON Sundays
and holidays at nOon-time. Last Sunday ]
drove round to the ring, or galleria, as it is
called, at the corner of the Gale Manuel, in a
rather low quarter of the city. 1t was the
first exhibition of the sort had ever seen,
and believe it will be the last The exteri.
or of the place had its usual assembly of beg.
| garS and cake vendors. Some worIingmen,
negroes, and, | imagine, sporting characters,
were hanging round the entry, and one half.
dead cock lay bleeding in a basket. The box
Office, if so | can call it, was neat and clean,
and the admission about thirty five cents
American currency Passing long wooden
bar, ut which IA rather noisy crowd was drink.
ing gin and aqua artente, we found ourselves
in front of the galleria, which is circular,
built of wooden open work, and looks foi
all the world like n couple of huge round
hen-cOops, placed one on the top of the other.
Thern Nera fnnr nnllerias with snNarnl rn,,s