rge extent of public buildings, cathedrals,
antique and venerable churches. It has been declared in its prosperity
to be the richest city, for its number of square miles, in Christendom,
but this cannot be truthfully said of it now. There is nothing grand in
its appearance as we enter the harbor, though Baron Humboldt pronounced
it the gayest and most picturesque sight in America. Its architecture is
not remarkable, its enormous prison overshadowing all other public
buildings. This structure is designed to contain five thousand prisoners
at one time. The hills which make up the distant background are not
sufficiently high to add much to the general effect. The few palm-trees
which catch the eye here and there give an Oriental aspect to the scene,
quite in harmony with the atmospheric tone of intense sunshine.

Havana contains numerous institutions of learning, but not of a high
character. It has a medical and a law school, but education is at a low
ebb. There is a Royal Seminary for girls, but it is scarcely more than
a name. The means of obtaining a good education can hardly be said to
exist, and most of the youth of both sexes belonging to the wealthier
class are sent to this country for school purposes. The city was
originally surrounded by a wall, though the population has long since
extended its dwellings and business structures far into what was once
the suburbs. A portion of the old wall is still extant, crumbling and
decayed, but it has mostly disappeared. The narrow streets of the old
town are paved or macadamized, and cross each other at right angles; but
in their dimensions they recall those of Toledo in Spain, whose Moorish
architecture is also followed here.

The Paseo is the favorite afternoon drive of the citizens, where the
ladies in open carriages and the gentlemen on horseback pass and repass
each other, gayly saluting, the ladies with a coquettish flourish of the
fan, and the gentlemen with a peculiar wave of the hand. The Alameda, a
promenade and garden combined,--every Spanish city has a spot so
designated,--skirts the shore of the harbor on the city side, near the
south end of Oficios Street, and is a favorite resort for promenaders,
where a refreshing coolness is breathed from off the sea. This Alameda
might be a continuation of the Neapolitan Chiaja (the afternoon resort
of Naples). With characteristics quite different, still these shores
remind us of the Mediterranean, Sorrento, Amalfi, and Capr