PAGE.
Vignette [title page].
Moro castle, havana. [27]
Peak of orizaba. [90]
Castle of san juan de ulloa, vera cruz. [91]
Indian man and woman. [117]
Female head. [128]
Colossal head. [130]
The american sphinx. [132]
Curiously ornamented head. [136]
A situation. [139]
A road side. [140]
Sepulchral effigy. [145]
A pair of vases. [150]
Travelling by night. [161]
Talismanic penates. [164]
Fragments of idols. [178]
RAMBLES BY LAND AND WATER.
CHAPTER I.
VOYAGE FROM NEW ORLEANS TO HAVANA. DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPITAL OF CUBA.
Introductory remarks.—Departure from New Orleans.—Compagnons de voyage.—Their different objects.—Grumblers and grumbling.—Arrival at Havana.—Passports.—The Harbor.—The Fortifications.—The City.—Its streets and houses.—Anecdote of a sailor.—Society in Cuba.—The nobility.—"Sugar noblemen."—Different grades of Society.—Effects upon the stranger.—Charitable judgment invoked.—Hospitality of individuals.—General love of titles and show.—Festival celebration.—Neatness of the Habañeros.
Who, in these days of easy adventure, does not make a voyage, encounter the perils of the boisterous ocean, gaze with rapture upon its illimitable expanse, make verses upon its deep, unfathomable blue—if perchance the Muse condescends to bear him company—plant his foot on a foreign shore, scrutinize the various objects which are there presented to his view, moralize upon them all, contemplate nations in their past, present and future existence, swell with wonder at the largeness of his comprehension—and return, if haply he may, to his native land, to pour into the listening ears of friends and countrymen, the tale of his ups and downs, his philosophic gatherings, with undisguised complacency? Whose history does not present a chapter analogous to this? We might almost write one universal epitaph, and apply it to every individual who has flourished in the present century.—"He lived, travelled, wrote a book, and died."
And, seeing that in this auspicious age, when the public mind is alive