The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-07-15
WEST INDIA BELLIES.
NOT AS CHARMING AS THEIR SISTERS
OF THE TEMPERATE ZONE.
Pretty Girls Among the Lower Classes
Eyes WondrOus Black and Bewitch-
ing Plaster the Face-NO
Handsome Old Women.
Porto Rico Cor. Inter Ocean,

The upper classes are eltner spanish or
creoles, or Sambos. The former are
those who come from Spain-naturalized
citizens we call them in North America;
the second are natives of the island, of
Spanish blood, more or less mixed; the
third are remnants of the negro race, re-
duced by contact with their former mas
tiers to the shade of quadroons Or octo-
rooms. The Spaniards are supposed to be
the aristocracy, at least they set up a
claim to that distinction, which the
creOleS earnestly dispute. They are car
pet baggers; they come from Spain to fill
the offices and eat up the taxes which the
creoles and others pay. They live at gov
eminent houses and put on airs, but the
gentlemen usually end by marrying q
creole or a Sambo and settling down into
permanent citizenship.
In the country the negroes are black,
but in the cities the mulatto, quadrOon
and octorOOn are more common, but the
social prejudice that exists in the state
does not embarrass society here. A Span
lard can marry "SambO, as all who
have negro blood in their veins are seri
ously called, without losing caste, just as
an American can marry German or an
Irish girl The male "Sambos" often
find wives among the creoleS, but seldom
among the Spaniards Some of the best
families in Cuba as well as Porto Rico,
have "Sambo" blood in them The presi-
dent of Venezuela is 'Sambo, as the
president of Mexico is an Indian.
Are the ladies pretty? 1t is purely .
matter of taste Those writers who have
extolled the beauty of the Cuban and other
tropical bellies have had very little knowl-
edge of the girls of America. If one is
fond of dolls he will admire the tropical
plant. There are many pretty girls to be
seen among the lower Classes-more in
Porto Rico than in Cuba-brighteyed
jolly, sylph-like beings; as graceful and
supple as a panther, timid and modest,
but with all the coquettish graces that
budding WOmanhoOd is endowed with
and always has been in all ages and in all
ATTITUDES. None of them can read, none
of them ever saw the inside of a school
house and do not know the existence of
books; they call you an Americana, but
have as little idea of where an American
came from as Of the composition of the
stars; they reply Sc Seno" to everything
you say TO them, and mOdestly droop their
long, black lashes over such eyes as is
supposed were the ruin Of Antony
The bellies Of the upper classes, those
whose languishing eyes and rich bloom
have been the topics of so much literature
in prose and verse, may be beautiful au
natUrei. but with what they choose to
consider artificial adornment they are not.
Their eyes are wondrouS black and be-
witching, and to be able to use them
effectively is a matter of education. 1t is
said that Cuban women-and by that /
mean the whole West Indies-can throw
more expression into a glance of the eye
than any in existence. but the people who
say it have probably f1irted with them or
seen the glowing of heart in love. To
me their eyes all look alike, beautifully
black, sensuously languishing, and gen
orally Indicative of bad temper. but
otherwise expressiOnless. The haven't
half the expression of the eyes of thor
oughbred horse or dog. and are simply
evidences of passion, not of intelligence.
And with the eyes ends the Cuban
woman's beauty. She would spoil them
if she could, but as she can't she daubS
The chemists here sell a sort of paste
made of powdered eggs-shells which the
women paint their faces with until they
have the appearance of plaster images.
They take the stuff with them in the cars
to church, and to the opera and when
they think obody is looking give their
faces a dauh There cannot exist in the
mind of any one of them a suppOsition
that this plaster of Paris complexion de-
ceives people, but why they think chalk is
beautiful is mystery. The neck and
ears of a West India belle are about ten
shades darker than her nose and cheeks.
Their mouths are usually large, their
lips thicker than Is consistent with classic
rules, but their teeth are usually white,
even, pretty, and well preserved AL
though they make sweet meats or
"dulces" great part of their diet for
breakfast as we'll as dinner you seldom see
a woman or a man without good teeth.
But the most disagreeable thing about
Cuban woman is her voice-that low,
sweet, musical tone which is told about as
one of the att actions of Turkish beauties
is not heard here, nor is the bold accent of
the English girl noticed anywhere in the
West Indies. The voice of the most re-
fined lady is usually as harsh and rasping
as the cry of a parrot and she always
talks very loud and in a high key.
They mature early and fade early, these
tropical women. They either dry up and
wither, or else become very obese. There
are no beautiful old ladies to be seen, as
in all parts of the United States When
they reach 40 years of age they are either
gaunt and sour, like crab apple, or else
fat and greasy. Their compilations are
ruined by the use of the plaster l have
described, and the lack of exercise shows
in their awkwardness as well as their
physique The only exercise a West
India woman ever takes is in a rocking
chair.