s; we see the Spanish government imperturbably
setting on foot plans which were thought to be the delirium of excited
imaginations; doing at once what promised to be a gradual work; and hear
it declared, by distinguished persons, who possess the confidence of
General Pezuela, that the existence of the treaty is certain, and that
the United States will be told that they should have accepted the offer
made to become a party to it, in which case the other two powers could
not have adopted the abolition scheme. But, supposing this treaty to
have no existence, the fact of the abolition of slavery is no less
certain. It is only necessary to read the proclamation of the
captain-general, if the last acts of the government be not sufficiently
convincing. The result to the island of Cuba and to the United States is
the same, either way. If the latter do not hasten to avert the blow,
they will soon find it impossible to remedy the evil. In the island
there is not a reflecting man,--foreigner or native, Creole or
European,--who does not tremble for the future that awaits us, at a
period certainly not far remote."

FOOTNOTES:

[11] The administration of Bravo Murillo fell in an attempt of this
kind, and did not rise again.

[12] Pezuela's bank is to have a capital of two million dollars; the
government to be a shareholder for half a million. The effect of such an
institution would be to drain the island of specie.

CHAPTER V.

Geographical position of the island--Its size--The climate--Advice
to invalids--Glance at the principal cities--Matanzas--Puerto
Principe--Santiago de Cuba--Trinidad--The writer's first view of
Havana--Importance of the capital--Its literary
institutions--Restriction on Cuban youths and education--Glance at
the city streets--Style of architecture--Domestic arrangements of
town houses--A word about Cuban ladies--Small feet--Grace of manners
and general characteristics.

Having thus briefly glanced at the political story of Cuba, let us now
pass to a consideration of such peculiarities of climate, soil and
population, as would naturally interest a stranger on visiting the
island. The form, geographically speaking, of Cuba, is quite irregular,
and resembles the blade of a Turkish scimeter slightly curved back, or
approaching the form of a long, narrow crescent. It stretches away in
this shape from east to west, throwing its western end into a curve, as
if to form an