heir freedom which
struck such terror into Cuba, in 1844, he was convicted and ordered to
be shot. At the first volley, as the story is told, he was only wounded.
"Aim here!" said he, pointing to his head. Another volley, and it was
all over.

The name and story of Gabriel de la Concepcion Valdez are preserved by
the historians and tourists of Cuba. He is best known, however, by the
name of Placido, that under which he wrote and published, than by his
proper name. He was a man of genius and a man of valor, but--he was a
mulatto!

IX.

TO LIMONAR BY TRAIN

Took the train for Limonar, at 2.30 P.M. There are three classes of
cars, all after the American model, the first of about the condition of
our first-class cars when on the point of being condemned as worn out;
the second, a little plainer; and the third, only covered wagons with
benches. The car I entered had "Davenport & Co., makers, Cambridgeport,
Mass.," familiarly on its front, and the next had "Eaton, Gilbert & Co.,
Troy, N. York." The brakemen on the train are coolies, one of them a
handsome lad, with coarse, black hair, that lay gracefully about his
head, and eyes handsome, though of the Chinese pattern. They were all
dressed in the common shirt, trousers and hat, and, but for their eyes,
might be taken for men of any of the Oriental races.

As we leave Matanzas, we rise on an ascending grade, and the bay and
city lie open before us. The bay is deep on the western shore, under the
ridge of the Cumbre, and there the vessels lie at anchor; while the rest
of the bay is shallow, and its water, in this state of the sky and
light, is of a pale green color. The lighters, with sail and oar are
plying between the quays and the vessels below. All is pretty and quiet
and warm, but the scene has none of those regal points that so impress
themselves on the imagination and memory in the surroundings of Havana.

I am now to get my first view of the interior of Cuba. I could not have
a more favorable day. The air is clear, and not excessively hot. The
soft clouds float midway in the serene sky, the sun shines fair and
bright, and the luxuriance of a perpetual summer covers the face of
nature. These strange palm trees everywhere! I cannot yet feel at home
among them. Many of the other trees are like our own, and though,
tropical in fact, look to the eye as if they might grow as well in New
England as here. But the royal palm looks so intensely and exclusively
tr