sex. They are almost universally handsome,
being rather below the average height of the sex with us, but
possessing an erect and dignified carriage. Their form, always rounded
to a delicate fullness, is quite perfection in point of model. Their
dark hair and olive complexions are well matched,--the latter without
a particle of natural carmine. The eyes are a match for the hair,
being large and beautifully expressive, with a most irresistible dash
of languor in them,--but not the languor of illness. It is really
difficult to conceive of an ugly woman with such eyes as they all
possess in Cuba,--the Moorish, Andalusian eye. The Cuban women have
also been justly famed for their graceful carriage, and it is indeed
the poetry of motion, singular as it may appear, when it is remembered
that for them to walk abroad is such a rarity. It is not the simple
progressive motion alone, but also the harmonious play of features,
the coquettish undulation of the face, the exquisite disposition of
costume, and the modulation of voice, that engage the beholder and
lend a happy charm to every attitude and every step.

The gentlemen as a rule are good-looking, though they are much
smaller, lighter, and more agile than the average American. The lazy
life they so universally lead tends to make them less manly than a
more active one would do. It seems to be a rule among them never to do
for themselves that which a slave can do for them. This is
demonstrated in the style of the volante, where the small horse is
made not only to draw the vehicle, but also to carry a large negro on
his back as driver. Now, if reins were used, there would be no
occasion for the postilion at all, but a Spaniard or Creole would
think it demeaning to drive his own vehicle. With abundance of
leisure, and the ever present influences of their genial clime, where
the heart's blood leaps more swiftly to the promptings of the
imagination and where the female form earliest attains its maturity,
the West Indians seem peculiarly adapted for romance and for love. The
consequent adventures constantly occurring among them often culminate
in startling tragedies, and afford plots in which a French
feuilletonist would revel.

The nobility of Cuba, so called, is composed of rather homespun
material, to say the least, of it. There may be some fifty individuals
dubbed with the title of marquis, and as many more with that of count,
most of whom have acquired their wealth and positio