It is reported on the best authority that Gomez has crossed the Matanzas border, and is now in Havana province. It is also said that the trochas have been abandoned by the Spaniards, and the insurgents cross them at will.
The Spanish garrisons are now being withdrawn from the smaller interior towns and concentrated in the important places, principally on the seaboard.
The condition of the Spanish soldiers grows daily worse, while the rebels have become so inured to hardship that they have developed into fine, sturdy soldiers.
If Spain is not able to send strong reinforcements soon, the end of the Cuban war cannot be very far off.
General Woodford, the United States minister to Spain, will arrive in Madrid about September 1st, and it is expected that he will be presented to the Queen Regent about September 15th.
It is stated that he is to endeavor to persuade Spain to put a speedy end to the war by granting home rule to Cuba.
Mr. Fishback, who acted as Mr. Calhoun's secretary, has, it is said, been sent to Cuba on a special mission from the Government. He is to go the round of the consulates in the island with Consul-General Lee, and obtain an idea of the true conditions in Cuba, and report the result of his observations to the President.
The new tariff law has now been in effect for some weeks, and every day there are fresh accounts of the woes of the incoming travellers from Europe.
The zeal of the Custom-House officers in performing their duty is only equalled by the efforts of the passengers in avoiding theirs. Every ship-load that arrives affords infinite sport for the unconcerned onlooker.