The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-27

" VI cbilOs .InUfThDoIue0 WIN bluNLe phiui
trees. The buildinga consisted of an engine
house, boilinR5housc. ..pufring house, store
and a collection Of tRStchsd Suts surrounded
by, q high fence, the negroes quarters.
The hours of eating and what we had to cat
OF coffee and two baked piantains we're brought
TO my bedside, and l ate before dressing, but
until breakfast time. which was never before II
o'clock. The meals consisted. Of all manner of
sweet potatoes and rise. Piantains were the
prevailing vcgetsblc, fried, boiled, and baked,
never neS r" on.t iSs taSIe su as Il SH sh newer baked pedSa on tSs
plantation. Stews pbounded. and In the messes
chickens hcads,b!ils and ,ail-end tho legs
with claws attached, rather turned my stomach
a disgusting smell which l found was from
able to mo. 1t took me more than a week be-
fore | was starved into trying. the disgusting
time, and ate everything that was set before
me with an appetite. They say. q satisfied
'ffseim has and n!T / sn s. sa, fat g ! P sSa Sf G,Ss IN mI his
before l left Cuba. The universal beverage ut
table was clarct; no one drinking water
dinner until long after dark, and then ! was
ready TO turn Into bed, which was a bare cot
meath, which, by the way, is the best he'd for q
Afterward, when ] had four companions,
three of them engineers, l had q chance to get
an entirely different style of living from that of
the 10y white mayorsl Eat whose house l Nat
some friends came out for u month, bringing
with them cooks and servants from Havana.
and we had probably the highest style that
was ever, seen In u country place. Fisher
men and hunters we're kept at work to sgpply
the table. We had guinea hens and ducks
Mt every meal, and plenty OF chicken eggs
cooked IN every form, BREAD was brought
were plenty. and sometimes we saw roast beef.
but even at this table the prevailing dish was
a st MSiob [ got to- to admire the mountains OF hrrinSo
steak smothered in onions was very nalatable.
The last course at dinner before the. black
coffee was sweetmeats and preserves of every
variety, prepared from rice. cocoanuts. oranges.
lemons. guayas. mangroves. pawpaws. and vari-
GUS other kinds of which | had never heard.
The claret was not much bet,e r than tho sour
Catalina wine which, l had been accustomed
suffered to 70 out during the whole meal. OK.
cept whom new ones we're being lighted. were
the best that could be obtained in the world.
We soon found out that dressing for q two
hour breakfast, commencing as late as IL
o'clock. and sitting out n long dinner after &
o'clock at night. were not good for either our
Questions or our work. so we induced our
host to set up n separate mess for us, After
said that every gentleman on the plantation
always ate at his tao!e. this, was done. After
We left his table he ortiered that we should
have the best of everything. and came over TO
On another estate called the Tanaja. or water
Wand every day, that ] have never seen else
where on any liable, which was roast peacock.
These birds run wild in thar part of tho ISL
and. 1 was told hundreds could DO seen roost-
ing on one tree. We had venison from the do.
loose on the island. Which had overrnn
Cuba, for cane fields are the best hiding places
FOR game OF that kind; not only owing to the
thickness of the growth. but also because no
gun can be discharged in Il field for fear of fire.
I spent over two months at another planta-
ton. owned by Don Bonifacio. called the Her
III" . :. or horseshoe, which was most beautt-
fully situated on q high hill. the ocean on one
siie and the Bay OF CaEanas on the other.
place, but there was nos sugar enough made
by the old bull mill 10 keep them in provisions.
more people, and the hospital accommoda-
tions were enough for thrice that number.
There were only three white women on the
place. One was the wife of the administrator
at whose house 1 resided. He was a tolerahiy
well-educated doctor. she was a rare type OF
contrast to the usual style of Creole women.
xho grow fat and gross as they grow older. She
were not stark naked, were dressed exactly
like GROWN women in long dresses. looking fun
ny enough. She seemed to be a good wife ami
mother. but had one popularity that would
seem strange in New England. for all the time
was there | never saw her without a lighted
cigar. either in her mouth or lying beside her
plate at meal times. she taking n pun often
enough to keep it going. She set a good table,
the food seemed clean. am thus particular in
describing her, as she was the only Creole that
Cuba. The other two women were the wife
ana daughter OF the mnyoral; who were low;
down Whlte people,. Inc mother was Tat and
homely, and the daughter plump and pretty.
or she looked SO to me, who had not seen q
white girl for so LONG. She was about IS
Cuba. l used TO sit on their veranda. learning
Spanish, before a bushel basket of oranges with
green rinds. peelinE and cutting Tor hours,
varying the monotony by passing around ci-
CARS. as we all smoked all the time. ] soon
found out that the test as to whether a woman
ana cigarettes;, II married. she took pure to,
be &C ,r If ; shlng z p aper.eovered tobacco;
be convenient elsewhere. The young woman
spent much time in irving tn teach me to roll
paper and tobacco that l stopped and allowed
her t. roll mine for me. ] never saw a Norta.
the thumb for the purpose. fhe name OF the
little beauty was Co2chita, or Little Shell. I
was r sSrf tg S Ths5 she ca lets t shs R {let ib for ,s when
there was not a white woman on the place, the
Eh9is managemsns being changed and under a
spoonbills, and other birds were to De seen in
clouds over the bay; and they haunted the pools
pond hole about half an acre in extent and
watch, their motions as they waded and swan
of feeding: using its bill like an adj. with its
long neck for a handle, IT dug up the ground
watch the birds FOR hours. for. never being
hunted, owing TO the fear of firing tho cane.
they seemed to be entirely at home and fear
yell and tho birds would rise up like a cloud.
making u noise like thunder.
Having heard so many stories about scor-
piOns, tarantulas, and centipedes. / was at first
constantly on the watch for them, but | never
saw any Of these insects that were not brought
to me by the negroes as curiosities. which |
preserved in alcohol. but IL | mad been warned
against the omnipresent flea 1t would have
been with more reason. for Of all pests II was
the Eorst- A bar will kecu out the mosquitoes.
which seldom bite in the DAYTIME, but a flea
you have always on YOU. in the hut of the
negro or the palace of the General.
As for the mosquitoes, they are bad enough in
Cuba, but for grim malice | will het on those
on the tout brooks around Lake Superior.
Later In the season | sa " the great freties
of The tropics chasing each other among the
trees ike flashes OF lightning. BY the light
of the two bright spots like eggs in their heads
you can read print, but whcI they open their
wings in fying they give out a glow like that
of n small electric light. Ladies' use them for
in their hair or sewed inside OF
their dresses. A necklace of them inside tho
bodice is a very effective decoration, as no
jewel gives out such IL glow. This is done with
out any cruelty to the insect, for It has a loop
provided in Just the right place to pass tic
thread; whether by natural selection or other
wise. | leave Darwin to decide.