ies for
the purpose, but being also glutinous, add much to the properties of a
preparation answering to the character of our Julian soup. Oysters,
though plentiful on the coast, are of inferior quality, and are seldom
used for the table; but pickled oysters from the United States are
largely used in the cities.

One of the pleasantest places of resort for enjoyment on the whole
island, is probably the town of Guines, connected with Havana by a
railroad (the first built upon the soil of Cuba), and but a few leagues
from the capital.[29] This locality is thought to be one of the most
salubrious and appropriate for invalids, and has therefore become a
general resort for this class, possessing several good public houses,
and in many respects is quite Americanized with regard to comforts and
the necessities of visitors from the United States. In Guines, and
indeed in all Cuban towns, villages, and even small hamlets, there is a
spacious cock-pit, where the inhabitants indulge in the sport of
cock-fighting,--an absorbing passion with the humble, and oftentimes
with the better classes. This indulgence is illustrative of their
nature,--that is, the Spanish nature and blood that is in them,--a fact
that is equally attested by their participation in the fearful contest
of the bull-fight. It is really astonishing how fierce these birds
become by training; and they always fight until one or the other dies,
unless they are interfered with. The amount of money lost and won by
this cruel mode of gambling is very large daily. Ladies frequently
attend these exhibitions, the upper seats being reserved for them; and
they may, not unfrequently, be seen entering fully into the excitement
of the sport.

The cock-pit is a large or small circular building, not unlike, in
external appearance, to a New England out-door hay-stack, its dimensions
being governed by the populousness of the locality where it is erected.
The seats are raised in a circle, around a common centre, where the
birds are fought, or "pitted," upon prepared ground, covered with
saw-dust or tan. The cocks, which are of a peculiar species of game
birds, are subjected from chickenhood, so to speak, to a peculiar course
of treatment. Their food is regularly weighed, and so many ounces of
grain are laid out for each day's consumption, so that the bird is never
permitted to grow fat, but is kept in "condition" at all times. The
feathers are kept closely cropped in a jaunty style,