e
green mass. Then came a Cuban chicken vender from the country, with a
great big hat and blue shirt, leading his mule by the reins, while the
panniers on each side of the animal's back were filled with live fowl.
Immense wagons, laden with hogsheads of sugar and molasses, rattled over
the rough pavements as they were drawn by huge oxen, that were steered
by stout ropes, which were cruelly passed through their nostrils. I was
not a little surprised to see three or four cows walking silently on and
stopping at the doors of the houses to be milked before the public.
Customers need have no fears that any adulteration could take place on
such occasions, as the liquid comes from the pure and natural fountain
right before their eyes. Two old sailors, each minus an arm, were
singing patriotic songs and the signors, signoras and signoritas who
listened to them at the doors and balconies, seemed thrilled with
delight, at the musical recital of the grand victories of old Spain.
Peddlers moved along with an immense heap of miscellaneous wares fixed
in boxes on the backs of their mules. Tall, stately negresses, with
long, trailing dresses, of flashy green and yellow, walked along quite
independently, as at Key West, smoking cigars which in New York would
cost twenty-five cents a piece. One or two Cuban ladies hurried by,
wearing satin slippers, silken dresses and mantillas of rich black lace.
The Hotel de Europa, which I soon reached, is a large, plain, solid
building adorned by a piazza, which runs along the second story, and by
numerous little balconies higher up. It is a very well-managed
institution, has an agreeable interpreter in its office, an excellent
table, and on the hottest day a cool, refreshing breeze from the bay
sweeps through the rooms. The office on the second story is reached by a
large stone staircase. The house is built around a spacious courtyard,
in the centre of which is a beautiful fountain, encircled by choice
native flowers. The music of the fountain and the shade of the trees
have a pleasing and cooling effect.

After securing my room I was shown to it by a bright-eyed, garrulous
Cuban youth named "Josepho," who was well acquainted with his own, but
lamentably ignorant of the English language. He tried to compensate for
this drawback by a copious and intelligent use of gesture. Josepho soon
led me to my room, which stood at the end of a corridor, that was
flanked on one side by the courtyard, and on the