The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-04-29

tural burden, sight which ut
once suggests Japan to one.
Often only four moving pegs are
visible below the huge load to
testify to the presence within.
Tho animals mouth is nuzzled
III most cases to prevent his in.
vestigating the merits af the fod-
der.
You often see long strings of
horses, also, the nose of eacl,
horse tied to the tail of the one
before him, just AZ I had seen
camels strung together in the up
country of India!!e,
Of course the streets, with two
or three exceptions, are very mar
row, with tiny sidewalks ringing
from one to three feet in width.
But l have ceased to criticise
narrow streets i'll tropical climates
They are u great comfort, as the
suns rays are largely excluded.
On the same ground I understand
why the houses and stores are
usually but two stories high,
However, native diet, or gar
ments, or customs may annoy the
traveller from temperate zones,
ne will usual y find reason un-
DERIVING them. The Indian toes
in, not because he wants to be Or
merry. but because thut's the way
to make progress if you're walk
ing through swamp-grass.
STREET cANoP1Es.
Across the street aud from ono
rooftop to another iron rods fire.
quently extend, to which u cun-
vas covering is attached by means
of rings, cords and pulleys. BY
this arrangement even the per-
pendicular rays of the sun can
be excluded from the street,
while the canvas may be drawn
back at sundown to admit ligh,
and mir. This is better than the
boards spread across the tops of
strccts in Chinese cities, and far
better thant the gloomy arcadcd
lanes of Damascus, Hebron and
Jerusalem. The second story
windows arc usually provided
with balconies about a foot wide,
80 that opposite neighbors may
gossip together without the for
mality of a call. This, again,
suggested the verandas of the lie.
want, especiailyjn Cairo. where of.
ten only a foot intervcnes between
the upper stories ofopposite houae
But here again there is II wide diff.
ference, for the members of a Tur-
kish or Arab harem do not show
their faces outside of the balcony
latticc-work, und these Spanish
and Cuban Scnoras expose theirs
freel Y unless they arc ultra aristo-
cratic. .....
The reader will see that I ap-
pear to be robbing Cuba of its in
dividuality. by thus parcelling off
the strange sights to he cncoun-
tered here.
The truth is that around-the.
world trip strips the novelty from
things Occidental. What the
Orientals have not done in the way
of startling things is hardly worth
the doing; and
THE NOVELTIES OF CUBA
are among the commonplaces OF
the far East, being duplicated
there and far eclipsed. Yet what
the professional traveller loses in
this way he more than makes up
IN the pleasure of comparing civ
ilizations and tracing common
bonds OF national habit.
The houses and stores alike
open directly upon the sidewalk,
and are reached without any as
cent. The windows ofthe houses
are all fronted with powerful iron
grating, giving the city the ap.
pearance Of vast collection OF
dungeons. The forbidding grid
irons often constitute mediums
of intercourse between natives
Pyramuses and Thisbes, I am told
owing to the limited faculties for
association between the sexes in
Cuba. The walls of the buildings
are tinted, so that the eyeis greet
ed by all assortment of faded
greens, blues, reds and yellows.
The stores still further suggest the
Orient, for they are go construct
ed that their entire fronts open to
the street, the doors doubling
back against the side partitions.
When you meet a man you turn
out to the right. The
SIDEWALKS ARE SO NARROW
that this usually means taking to
the gutter, or the place where the
gutter ought to be, unless you are
on tho ripht hnnI sido of tho