Beautiful as eastern houris, there is a striking and endearing charm about the Cuban ladies, their very motion being replete with a native grace; every limb elastic and supple. Their voices are sweet and low, "an excellent thing in woman," and the subdued tone of their complexions is relieved by the arch vivacity of night-black eyes that alternately swim in melting lustre or sparkle in expressive glances. Their costume is never ostentatious, though costly; the most delicate muslin, the finest linen, the richest silk, the most exquisitely made satin shoes,—these, of course, render their chaste attire exceedingly expensive. There are no "strong-minded" women among them, nor is it hardly possible to conceive of any extremity that could induce them to get up a woman's right convention—a suspension of fans and volantes might produce such a phenomenon, but we very much doubt it.
The Creole ladies lead a life of decided ease and pleasure. What little work they do is very light and lady-like, a little sewing or embroidery; the bath and the siesta divide the sultry hours of the day. They wait until nearly sunset for the drive in the dear volante, and then go to respond by sweet smiles to the salutations of the caballeros on the Paseos, and after the long twilight to the Plaza de Armas, to listen to the governor's military band, and then perhaps to join the mazy dance. Yet they are capable of deep and high feeling, and when there was a prospect of the liberation of the island, these fair patriots it will be remembered gave their most precious jewels and ornaments as a contribution to the glorious cause of liberty.
FOOTNOTES:
[13] Humboldt's calculation makes it contain forty-three thousand, three hundred and eighty square miles; but other estimates approximate more nearly our own statement.
[14] According to Dr. Finlay, a resident physician on the island, its hottest months are July and August, when the mean temperature is from 80° to 83° Fahrenheit.
[15] "The nights are very dark, but the darkness is as if transparent; the air is not felt. There could not be more beautiful nights in Paradise."—Miss Bremer's Letters.
[16] When consumption originates in Cuba, it runs its course so rapidly that there is, perhaps, no wonder the Creoles should deem it, as they universally do, to be contagious.
[17] The first lines of this city were traced on Saturday, the 10th of October, 1693, by Señor Manzaneda, under whose government it was founded. It was named San Cárlos Alcázar de Matanzas; the last word, that by which it is known, signifying the slaughter of a battle-field.
[18] Moro Castle was first built in 1633; the present structure was erected on the ruins of the first, destroyed by the English in 1762.
[19] Built by Charles III., and said to have cost the sum of $7,000,000. According to Rev. L.L. Allen's lecture on Cuba, it was more than forty years in building.