This delay was very annoying to us. The Cuban questions are too pressing to be allowed to wait until the autumn, and no business could be transacted with the Spanish Government until we had a property recognized representative there.
Happily for us, Japan has helped us out of the difficulty.
The Mikado has sent a special mission to the Spanish court to present the young King Alphonso with his sacred order of the Chrysanthemum.
It would not be at all polite to keep the Japanese ambassadors waiting all summer to make their presentation, and so there is to be a great court function to receive the messengers of the Mikado, and General Woodford will be recognized at the same time.
The condition of the Spanish troops is reported to grow worse every day.
It is said that their uniforms are ragged and torn, and they look more like tramps than the representatives of a European army.
They are said to go through the streets of Havana begging coppers from the passers-by, and asking bread from door to door.
It is said that numbers of loyal Spanish merchants are leaving the island, because they are forced to supply the soldiers with food without receiving any payment in return. They prefer to leave Cuba rather than be ruined.
In the mean while Havana has been thrown into a panic by the report that General Gomez is marching on the city. The truth of the rumor could not be ascertained, but the fear was strengthened by the sudden return of General Weyler, who had gone off on one of his famous pacifying expeditions.