nto oblivion. The rising of negroes in Jamaica is forgotten.
The civil war in Hayti is suspended for the nineteenth time. Not so much
as a shipwreck is afloat; even the yellow fever is on the wane, and not
a single case of cholera has been quoted. The people of the tropics are
enjoying a delightful and uninterrupted repose, and the elements and
climate are perfectly inoffensive. It seems as if our part of the world
had sunk into a delicious paradise, and that my services on behalf of
the _New York Trigger_ would be for the future dispensed with.

I am, shortly, recalled to my journalistic duties by the arrival of some
'startling' news from Porto Rico. An insurrection has broken out in the
interior of that island, where the inhabitants have planted what they
call their 'flag of freedom,' intimating their intention to rebel
against their Spanish rulers.

This is food for the _Trigger_, and I hasten to prepare it daintily, for
transmission by telegraph.

At the office of the telegraph, I meet the American consul's secretary.
Now, as I know that that gentleman is connected with the _Central Press
of Havana_, I conclude that he is upon the same errand as myself. In the
interests of the _New York Trigger_, it is therefore my duty now to
forestall the secretary, by forwarding my news before he has had time to
dispatch his.

The secretary is at the telegraph table scribbling at a rapid rate, and
you may be sure he does not slacken his speed when he becomes conscious
of the presence of the formidable agent of the _New York Trigger_! Only
one instrument is used for telegraphic purposes, so he whose telegram is
first handed to the clerk is first to be served by that functionary.

The system of telegraphy--like every other system in Cuba--is supervised
by the Spanish administration. Every telegram must be submitted to the
authorities before it is dispatched, in case anything treasonable or
offensive to the government should enter into its composition. The
dispatch being approved of, it is returned to the telegraph office and
transmitted in the usual manner. The sender is, however, obliged to pay
for his message in paper stamps, and these must be affixed to the
document; but under no circumstances is he permitted to make his
payments in Spanish coin.

This paper money--which in form resembles postage-stamps--cannot be
obtained at the telegraph office, but must be purchased at the
'Colecturia,' a certain government establishmen