n the party. Two of the Americans drew
revolvers, but they were quickly disarmed and overcome, one of the trio,
who wore the uniform of the United States army, which he had lately
quitted, falling over into the harbor in the scuffle. This sudden and
unexpected ducking ended the fight; the "Americanos" compromised with
the boatman, and were allowed to return to the _Yarmouth_. These
intending colonists did not remain long at La Gloria, although one of
the three purposes to return. The conduct of the Cuban police upon this
occasion, and upon all others which came under my notice, was entirely
creditable. They dress neatly, are sober and inoffensive in manner, and
appear to perform their duties conscientiously and well.

While we lay in Nuevitas harbor we received several visits from Gen. A.
L. Bresler and the Hon. Peter E. Park, president and resident manager,
respectively, of the Cuban Land and Steamship Company, both of whom had
been stopping in the city for some time. They had acquired the Cuban
dress and, to some extent, Cuban habits. Mr. Park decided to accompany
the colonists to La Gloria, and to share with them all the hardships
that they might encounter on the journey. It was no new thing for Mr.
Park to make the trip. He had made it slowly along the coast in a small
sailboat; he had made it in quicker time in a steam launch, and he had
sometimes gone overland on horseback, struggling through mud and water
and tangled vines, swimming swollen rivers and creeks, and fighting
swarms of aggressive mosquitoes in the dense woods. He knew exactly what
was before him; the colonists did not. General Bresler, strange to say,
had never been at La Gloria.

It was on Sunday afternoon, at a little past one o'clock, that the
colonists finally got away from Nuevitas and made the start for La
Gloria. The fleet consisted of three small schooners loaded with light
baggage, a little freight, and nearly two hundred passengers. Two of the
boats were Nuevitas lighters, with Cuban captains and crew, while the
third was a schooner from Lake Worth, Florida, carrying about twenty
colonists from that state. This boat, known as the _Emily B._, had
arrived at Nuevitas a day or two before the _Yarmouth_. Among her
passengers were four or five women. The heavy baggage of the _Yarmouth_
colonists was loaded upon yet another lighter, which was to follow
later.

The colonists embarked upon the sailing craft from the decks of the
_Yarmouth_, leav