, 1888-01-29

broad stone staircase, 1anked by pOndrOuS
ornaments in iron, brass and bronze. The
building is but three stories high, but
arrived at the second floor its ancient
noble interior is easily recognized. The
court is perhaps 200 feet long, 100 feet
wide, and opens TO the matchless Cuban
sky. Superb floors of tressellated marble.
patched here and there with cheap earth
en- thing, extend to and through all the
spacious surrounding apartments. The
walls from floors and galleries are set with
wondrous Spanish tiling in blue and
white, with a surface like rare porcelain,
while at every angle and niche is some
relic Of priceless s|tatuary and bronze which
once gave the spot an exalted eclesiastic
interest and rich classic beauty. On this
second floor is a broad promenade run
ming around the inner sides of the struc-
ture, which must have been, in the old
times, a luxurious loungIng place, for
meditation or siesta. This is broidered
on the one side by noble pillars and bal
ustrades Of %curionsly wrought iron and
brass, while opposite are entrances to
what were once grand salons and apart
ments. Above the huge doors of these,
still renal many studies in colored glass
decoration, which for ~brillancy and luster
OF crystal, quaint arrangement of con-
trasting and blending c%olors, and particu.
larly a certain 5~largeness and flowing
breadth in design and effect, | have never
seen surpassed in Europe. The third
story is in duplicate Of the second, save
that from this inner pOrtico or gallery,
over all the imagined and remaining
beauties of the court and belongings, the
eye catches in every direction in the high
est perspective, against a golden blue
atmosphere and sky, the sloping roofs
which bends gracefully to the inner edge
of the court; and, in its chrome thing,
mellowed by age to a soft russell, it is as
full OF oriental suggestiveness MS a sinu-
GUS half circled matching of palms. In
the area of the court itself, among broken
foundations and countless evidences of
the former grandeur Of the place. are
still standing massive metals urns from
which marvellous plants and flowers of the
tropics; and one cannot see, know, and
turn from, the place, without an echo in
his W heart of the dolorous miserere
that filled the place, when the old monks
were driven from it forever.
There are many old half ruins like this
one in Havana the tourist should know;
but few Of the city's structures exceed
four stories in height. More are two and
one story than three. Rugged and solid
as they seem, and are, there is a lofty
spaciousness about most interiors that is
truly inviting. Even if a house, shop or
apartment be little, it is always high; and
with the quaint utensils, fittings and rare
old ornaments which are certain to be
genuine, polished metals always predomi-
mating, ones thought comes quickly to a
liking for the real in things; Just as you
will occasionally turn with delight from
the tlnscl and pretense in your own later
American home finery, to those dear old
New England, and many Southern, homes
where solid iron and solid silver still re-
main. Everything here is solid, secure,
lasting. All buildings are of stone, and
their walls are massively thick. This
stone is secured almost anywhere in the
island, is soft and easily worked and orna-
mented when first quarried, but becomes
nearly as hard as granite from age and
exposure, is porous, therefore cool-and
altogether is a sort OF kind providence
against tropical ~laziness and tropical heat.
The proportion of splendid structures,
as compared with American or continent
tai cities, is small; but there is yet
something fine and imposing in the very
plainness and massiveness of most eX-
t%eriors. IF, however, decoration is
lacking in this respect, much is atoned for
in the frequency, beauty and positive grace
Of what is seen in window, door, balcony
and upon roof. | should not have said
window, for that is practically unknown
in Cuba, where the cline is one Of eternal
summer. That which stands for the win
dow is a great aperture, very wide and
high, and often strikingly pleasing in
decoration. Glass is for ornament here,
not use. The window then, for a better
term, in the common structure, is simply
a large square opening, protected by stout
iron bars by day, and at night by inner
solid wooden shutters. But in their finer
buildings-indeed in most-they are grand
affairs. Some are in the form of IRON
frame bay windows Of elaborate design,
with their protecting iron work Of the
richest foliations, or with ornate lattice
work in polished brass. IF these windows
are interesting as studies, backed as they
frequently are by the c~ostliest interior
decorations, with an occasional glimpse
OF a beautiful senorita to complete the
picture, the doors of these Havana houses
are also worth separate inspection and
study. 1t must be first known that the
Cuban house embodies the idea of pro.
lection. 1t is practically a one or two
story castle. 1t could not be taken with
out a heroic seige. There Is probably not a
door in Cuba which Is mot bullctproof, and
the size and strength preclude all success,
tul assault, save with n battering ram
Many are Of mahogany, and all are rivet.
ed with iron bolts an inch thick. Some
are seen where these bolt heads are i'm
mense knobs of polished brass. All are
provided with locks as big as a lobster, as
also with tremendous wood or iron bars
for fastenings behind. Above many are
fine cornice and pediment; at the sides of
the wall embrasures are frequently seen
antique pateras and gargoyles in stucco
or bronze; while the ancient brass knocker
is universal, and often of the form and
size of a giant hand.
But upon the upper structures there is
a positive wealth Of dormer, latticed, bal
coined, and oriel window, all in such an
tique form and b%ewilderiug variety, that
here the artist, poet or dreamer, finds not
only delight in art and architectural grace
all the more enticing for its age and gro
tesque surroundings, but also everywhere
aispell Of suggested medIaveal life, prompt
ing the imagination in utmost vividness
to romantic quest and adventure. The
ruling form of these qiry minis of van