ens, where the ladies in
victorias and the gentlemen either as equestrians or on foot pass and
repass each other, gayly saluting, the ladies with a coquettish
flourish of the fan, and the gentlemen with a peculiar wave of the
hand. It is in fact the Champs Elysees of Havana, but the road is
sadly out of repair and as dusty as an ash-pit.

The Alameda--every large Spanish city has a spot so designated--skirts
the shore of the harbor on the city side, near the south end of
Oficios Street, and is a favorite resort for promenaders at the
evening hour. Here a refreshing coolness is breathed from off the sea.
This Alameda de Paula might be a continuation of the Neapolitan
Chiaja. With characteristics quite different, still these shores
constantly remind one of the Mediterranean, Sorrento, Amalfi, and
Capri, recalling the shadows which daily creep up the heights of San
Elmo and disappear with the setting sun behind the orange groves.
Sometimes it would seem to be the grand problem of humanity, why the
loveliest regions of the earth and the softest climates should be
apportioned to the share of slaves and despots.

The cathedral of Havana, on Empedrado Street, is a structure of much
interest, its rude pillared front of defaced and moss-grown stone
plainly telling of the wear of time. The two lofty towers are hung
with many bells, which daily call with their brazen tongues to matins
and vespers. Some of these bells are very ancient. The church is not
elaborately ornamented,--it rather strikes one with its unusual
plainness. It contains a few oil paintings of moderate merit, and also
the tomb where the ashes of Columbus so long reposed. All that is
visible of this tomb, which is on the right of the altar, is a marble
tablet six or eight feet square, upon which, in high relief, is a bust
of the great discoverer. As a work of art, the less said of this
effigy the better. Beneath the image is an inscription sufficiently
bombastic and Spanish in tone, but therein we observed no mention was
made of the chains and imprisonment with which an ungrateful country
rewarded this man whom history so delights to honor. It will be
remembered that Columbus died at Valladolid in 1506. In 1513 his
remains were transferred to Seville, preparatory to their being sent,
as desired in his will, to St. Domingo, to which city they were
removed in 1536. When that island was ceded to France, they were
brought with great pomp to Havana in a national ship