The unfortunate soldier is seriously ill, and not expected to live many days. It is said that he is not dying of his wounds, but of a disease that has developed since he has been in prison.
A late report says that the discontent among the Spanish soldiers in regard to their pay has induced their officers to give them permission to plunder where they can. The few unfortunates who have any property left are now at the mercy of the soldiers.
This state of distress in the island is in great contrast to the charming picture of peace and prosperity which it presented a few short years ago.
A writer in The Sun describes the island as it was before the breaking out of the first war.
He says that in those days its commerce with this country amounted to a hundred million dollars a year. It maintained an army of twenty thousand Spanish soldiers, and its harbors were always filled with Spanish vessels.
Havana was then one of the gayest capitals in the world. Its streets were thronged with fine carriages, in which the beauties of the island took their daily drives. At night all the fashion of the city would congregate on the Plaza in front of the Governor's mansion, and listen to the music of the military bands.
The people of the island were loyal and obedient to the wishes of the mother country. They gave up the treasures of the island in return for a kindly government.
In those days Spain called Cuba the ever-faithful island, because she was the only American possession of Spain that still remained contented under the rule of the mother country.
To travellers she seemed an earthly Paradise, and many were the stories of the beauties of this favored isle.