country life about us. The rural Cuban spends
much of his time in riding about the country on his patient and
intelligent pony, buying supplies and disposing of his small produce.
When they till their land is a mystery, for they never seem to be at
work upon it. In fact, very little was tilled at all in the region about
La Gloria. It was no uncommon thing to find a man owning hundreds of
acres, with less than one acre under cultivation. This condition was
usually explained by the statement that everything had been killed out
during the Ten Years' War, and that the natives were too poor to again
put their land under cultivation. This was a half-truth, at least, but
Cuban indifference must have had something to do with it. One of the La
Gloria colonists once asked an intelligent and good-appearing elderly
Cuban why he did not cultivate more of his land. "What is the use?" was
the reply. "When I need money I pick off some bananas and sell them. I
get for them twenty or twenty-five dollars, which lasts me a long time.
When I need more money, I pick more bananas." This is the common Cuban
view. His natural indifference, combined with the exactions of Spanish
government, has kept his mind free from any thought of making provision
for the future.

The reader should bear in mind that I have been describing the people of
the province of Puerto Principe, and mainly of the rural portions
thereof. I am well aware that in the more thickly settled and more
prosperous provinces fine country houses are sometimes to be found, and
the people generally may live somewhat differently and perhaps better,
but I believe I have faithfully pictured the typical Cuban as he exists
to-day in the country districts of Puerto Principe, the fertile and
unfortunate province which has probably suffered more from the ravages
of war in the last thirty years than any other province in the island.
It was completely despoiled during the Ten Years' War, and has never
recovered. Its deserted plantations are now being reclaimed, largely by
Americans, and ere long will blossom forth with luscious fruits and
other valuable products.

The slight acquaintance which I had with the Cubans of the cities of
Puerto Principe and Nuevitas led me to the belief that they did not
differ greatly from the more intelligent inhabitants of the country
sections. Among the half hundred Cubans who worked for the company and
occupied a camp at La Gloria, were many from the cities of