, 1888-02-19

hundred miles away he comes afOOt or
upon his nlmble iacas over the mountains,
dreaming of Havana's %glOrics, or mayhap
singing in his heart or with his lips hat
melodiOus little love song which one time
or another has bewildered the brains of
every Cuban countryman:
Hnvisto mi amor querido,
pOr In Gale de In Habann-
Una prcCOsa Cubnnn,
Que me ticne c~onfuHdida!
Istw my ndored
on a street of Havana
\ precious Cubana
That held me cnthrallcd'
and his kind are here by the thousand to
add picturcsQueness to the interesting car
nival scenes. The g~uadanero, the carre-
tcro, the lechero, and an hundred other
eros, comprising the swarthy toilers of the
sunny land, have done the same. or more.
Whatever the previous sacrifice or subse-
quent misery, every centavo that can be
got within the eager grasp of expectant
enjoyment. is boarded for, and recklessly
squandered in, the carnival season.
Well it is that Lent follows to sober and
starvc. back into ordinary regime these
simple souls Of utter profigacy. So, too,
along upward through all grades CT hu.
pans, to tho rich and great of the island,
the same thing is true in kind and degree.
Primer domingo de carnival or First
Carnival Sunday" is followed in Cuba by
three SUNDAYS, and often by a fourth,
wholly devoted to enjoyment and ~revelry.
First Carnival Sunday is called La Pinata,
a purely local appellation, of whose origin
Cubans themselves seem ignorant. The
four following Sundays are respectively
popularity named: FL domingo de la vie.
ia or odd Woman's Sunday" FL Figu-
rim or The Fo~p'(dandy); FL domingo de
la SARDINIA or Sardine Sunday; and the
last, not usually well regarded by the bet
ter classes, FL e%ntierro dc la SARDINIA, or
"The Burial OF the Snrdine."
Quaint, gay and brilliant at her worst,
on First Carnival Sunday Havana is I'M
doubtedly one of the most interesting
cities of the world. Her blendid Moorish,
Safacen and Doric architecture has taken
on added ancient seeming from the single
universal decoration-thc red and yellow
flags of Spain in every conceivable form
of testoon and drapery, disposed in every
conceivable manner. BY daylight the
narrow GALES and great paseos are swarm
ing with the lower classes. In these,
their costumes, ways and sunny faced de
light, one has as true q study of the
mixed hordes of Spain, of Morocco, and
OF Africa, as though Barcelona and Nc
rocco were put in sitting panorama to-
gether before ones vision. Until after
the breakfast at the crowded casinos
and cafes, along towards noon, there is
little else to be contemplated than univer-
sal iollity, cheer and song. Then begins
the gradual movement of the quarter
million souls who exist in Havana, and
the thousands upon thousands from every
part of Cuba, towards the Lowe. the
Campo Mario, and the magnificent laurel
shaded Prado, which sweeps from Campo
Mario TO Parque de la Punta, by the sea.
Up Sol, Oficios, Tcinto Rey and Obispo
streets zones tho dense throngs
of mcstizos or mixed breeds of
every sort from the dark
corners of Regla. From Vedado and the
outlying villas along the sea come great
crowds of merry makers. Down Cerro
and Jesu del Monte ways and from the
white calzadas that wind to the interior
troop startling masses of people. While
from out the weird recesses of Gale Bal
uarte quarter come hordes of the densest
barbaric and awful, with enough fetch
ism in a score of them to bedevil a whole
city. But on this day all are equal. There
is the same license to all. From the rich
and great to the most horribly low and
lOst-here 1t sometimes seems in mixed
coollc and negro ~lazza:oni illustrative Of
the most awfuiiy hideous of Gods handi-
work IN man-there arc but smile and
lightsomcness, indescribable elated happi.
ness and impcrturbable good humor.
These tremendous collections OF humans
never crowd and hurt as with us. There
is an elasticity and an agreeable divisibil-
itv about great Cuban throngs which must
be set down as the best test and express
sion OF a characteristic good nature. And
vast as these throngs repeatedly become,
the pressure is invariably relieved without
panlcs or the police.
The principal occupation of the people
in these carnival throngs is seeing and I've.
ing seen. Next in importance in attract.
ing ones attention, is the vociterous chat.
tering, terrific ges~ticulation, Fasting,
drinking and singing, which are c"ontinu-
ally in progress. The songs of old Spain
are oftener heard. But here and there
rollicking Cuban ballads are shouted and
beloved uproariously. A singular fact
about all these street carnival songs is
that one will never hear the beginning or
ending Of any. Bars and slaves seem to
gurgle through the universal bubblIng
over of good feeling, A hundred voices
will seize upon them and ~curiously follow
them. But this is only for n moment
Then here, or there, another and another
is begun, and these in time drown out the
former abruptly: or some sudden criti-
cism or sight has attracted the attention,
and instantly away 20 mind and nerri.
ment in a totally diffent direction. 1t is
mol difficult to trace in this the shadow of
that national characteristic which is so
sore n weakness to these people. There
is no stcadiast purpose in anything. Im.
pulse rules all action.
by 3 o'clock in the afternoon the mask
crs have taken possession of the entire
cty. These do not appear in imposing pro-
c~essions. Tens of thousands OF groups or
ndivi duals. each simply giving expression
ito some isolated vagaIy, fit hither and
thlther like myriads of mystic spirits of
misrule. There is not in it all a single
keen or witty thing. The same anti,
quated, idi0tic things are done, as have
been done in the streets of Madrid, Lis
bon and Barcelona for more than a thous.
and years, The very ancient favors of
very mask, figure or antic, is it truest
merit to these people. Their history, lie.
gend. lore. all thus mass hefnrn thpm in