va; and, according to Prof.
Silliman, who visited it in 1851, promises to be "one of the noblest of
historical records ever sculptured in marble."

[24] The reward of genius is rarely contemporary, and even posterity is
frequently most remiss in its justice. "Sebastian Cabot gave England a
continent," says Bancroft, "and no one knows his burial-place!"

CHAPTER VII.

Nudity of children and slaves--The street of the merchants--The
currency of Cuba--The Spanish army in the island--Enrolment of
blacks--Courage of Spanish troops--Treatment by the government--The
garrote--A military execution--The market-men and their wares--The
milk-man and his mode of supply--Glass windows--Curtains for
doors--The Campo Santo, or burial-place of Havana--Treatment of the
dead--The prison--The fish-market of the capital.

One peculiarity which is certain to strike the stranger from the first
hour he lands upon the island, whether in public or private houses, in
the stores or in the streets, is that the young slaves, of both sexes,
under the age of eight or ten years, are permitted to go about in a
state of perfect nudity; while the men of the same class, who labor in
the streets, wear only a short pair of pantaloons, without any other
covering to the body, thus displaying their brawny muscles at every
movement. This causes rather a shock to the ideas of propriety
entertained by an American; but it is thought nothing of by the
"natives." On the plantations inland, the slaves of either sex wear but
just enough clothes to appear decently. The almost intolerable heat when
exposed to field-labor is the excuse for this, a broad palm-leaf hat
being the only article that the negroes seem to desire to wear in the
field.

The Calle de Mercaderes, or the street of the merchants, is the Broadway
and Washington Street of Havana, and contains many fine stores for the
sale of dry goods, china, jewelry, glass-ware, etc. The merchant here
does not designate his store by placing his own name on his sign, but,
on the contrary, adopts some fancy title, such as the "America," the
"Star," the "Bomb," "Virtue," and the like; which titles are paraded in
golden letters over the doors. These tradesmen are, generally speaking,
thorough Jews in their mode of dealing, and no one thinks of paying the
first price asked by them for an article, as they usually make
allowances for being beaten down at least one half. The ladies common