ter or
cream without ice, and that is expensive. Human beings, men, women,
and children, look stunted and thin, possessing, however, wonderfully
fine eyes, large, lustrous, and ebony in hue; eyes that alone make
beauty; but the physiognomists have long since learned that eyes of
themselves are no indication of character or moral force.

The thermometer had stood since early morning at 83 deg., during the long
ride from Cienfuegos. It was hot and dusty. Notwithstanding the
ceaseless novelty of the scene, one became a little fatigued, a little
weary; but as we approached Matanzas, the refreshing air from off the
Gulf of Mexico suddenly came to our relief, full of a bracing tonic,
and rendering all things tolerable. The sight of the broad harbor,
lying with its flickering surface under the afternoon sun, was
beautiful to behold.

After all, these tropical regions lack the delicious freshness of the
greensward, of new foliage, and the fine fragrance of the rural North;
they need the invigorating sleep of the seasons from which to awake
refreshed and blooming. Where vegetation is growing and decaying at
the same time, there can never be general freshness and greenness;
eternal summer lacks interest; we crave the frost as well as the
sunshine. Compensation follows fast upon the heels of even a Northern
winter. The tropical loveliness of the vegetation in this attractive
land indicates what Cuba should be, but is not.

Having accompanied the reader across many degrees of latitude,
effecting a landing and reaching the interior of Cuba, let us now pass
to other considerations of this interesting and important island.

CHAPTER IV.

The Great Genoese Pilot. -- Discovery of Cuba. -- Its Various
Names. -- Treatment of the Natives. -- Tobacco! -- Flora of
the Island. -- Strange Idols. -- Antiquity. -- Habits of the
Aborigines. -- Remarkable Speech of an Indian King. -- A
Native Entertainment. -- Paying Tribute. -- Ancient Remains.
-- Wrong Impression of Columbus. -- First Attempt at
Colonization. -- Battle with the Indians. -- First Governor
of Cuba. -- Founding Cities. -- Emigration from Spain. --
Conquest of Mexico.

The island of Cuba was discovered by the great Genoese pilot, on the
28th day of October, 1492. The continent of America was not discovered
until six years later,--in 1498. The name of Columbus flashes a bright
ray over the mental darkness