ies, the band struck up a
lively air, and thus was a human being launched into eternity.

A very common sight in the cities or large towns of Cuba early in the
morning, is to meet a Montero from the country, riding his donkey, to
the tail of which another donkey is tied, and to this second one's tail
a third, and so on, up to a dozen, or less. These animals are loaded
with large panniers, filled with various articles of produce; some
bearing cornstalks for food for city animals; some hay, or straw; others
oranges, or bananas, or cocoanuts, etc.; some with _bunches_ of live
fowls hanging by the feet over the donkey's back. The people live, to
use a common phrase, "from hand to mouth,"--that is, they lay in no
stores whatever, and trust to the coming day to supply its own
necessities. Hay, cornstalks, or grain, are purchased only in sufficient
quantity for the day's consumption. So with meats, so with fruits, so
with everything. When it is necessary to send to the market, the steward
or stewardess of the house, always a negro man or woman, is freely
entrusted with the required sum, and purchases according to his or her
judgment and taste. The cash system is universally adopted, and all
articles are regularly paid for when purchased. The Monteros, who thus
bring their produce to market, wear broad palm-leaf hats, and striped
shirts over brown pantaloons, with a sword by their side, and heavy
spurs upon their heels. Their load once disposed of, with a strong cigar
lighted in their mouths, they trot back to the country again to pile up
the panniers, and on the morrow once more to supply the wants of the
town. They are an industrious and manly race of yeomanry.

Few matters strike the observant stranger with a stronger sense of their
peculiarity than the Cuban milk-man's mode of supplying that necessary
aliment to his town or city customers. He has no cart filled with
shining cans, and they in turn filled with milk (or what purports to be
milk, but which is apt strongly to savor of Cochituate or Croton), so
there can be no deception as to the genuine character of the article
which he supplies. Driving his sober kine from door to door, he
deliberately milks just the quantity required by each customer, delivers
it, and drives on to the next. The patient animal becomes as conversant
with the residence of her master's customers as he is himself, and stops
unbidden at regular intervals before the proper houses, often followed
by