his nation, was taken to a plantation on which, from some cause or other, he was condemned to be flogged, and the others, as is customary in such cases, to witness the punishment. When the young prince laid himself down on the ground to receive the lashes, his attendants did the same likewise, requesting to be allowed to share his punishment. This affecting instance of loyalty produced merely the coarse assurance "that they should not fail of their full share of the whip when opportunity offered!" This occurrence did not take place on this plantation. There is more use made of machinery in this sugar-mill than in that at Ariadne. Instead of fixed troughs by which the sugar-cane is conveyed by human hands to and from the mill-stones, there are here carriages to convey the cane worked by machinery, and which run on many wheels in a long row, one after the other, from one door of the sugar-mill to the other, and it is merely at the entrance-gate that the cane is loaded by human hands.

And now you must have had enough of sugar-cane; but, before I leave the bohea, I must say a few words about the government of its population. This rests, after the master, upon an overseer, who is called the majoral, and below him is a contra-majoral, who sometimes is a negro. On large plantations, such as this, there are many white under-majorals. The condition of the slaves, and the prevailing state of feeling among them on a plantation, depends very much upon the ability, prudence, and humanity of the majorals. The savage murder of a majoral in Cuba not unfrequently bears witness to the despotism of their proceedings, and to the state of frenzied excitement into which cruel oppression may bring the naturally gentle and easily subjected negro-race.

However oppressive slavery may be to the inhabitants of the bohea, and though the planters quite naïvely ignore most of the Spanish laws for the emancipation of the slave, and though the justice of the law is also here nullified at

pleasure, still the wafting breezes of the life of freedom can not be wholly excluded from the bohea. The slave knows, generally, that he can purchase his own freedom, and he knows also the means for the acquisition of money. The lottery is, in Cuba, one of the principal means for this purpose among the negro slaves, and they understand how to calculate their chances wisely. For instance, several individuals of a certain nation will unite for the purchase of a quantity of tickets, the numbers of which follow in close succession. Out of a total of consecutive numbers, one or two will commonly draw a prize, which, according to agreement, belongs to the nation, and is divided among all the members. In this way I have heard that the Luccomée nation lately obtained at Havana a prize of eleven thousand dollars, a portion of which, it is said, has been applied to purchase the freedom of slaves of their nation; and, if I mistake not, a Luccomée negro on this plantation has lately, with the consent of his owner, purchased his own freedom for two or three hundred dollars. Yessome become free, but many, many never become so!

to me.

As far as concerns myself, my life here is as free and agreeable as I can desire. Mrs. De C. is a very charming and amiable person to associate with, and she allows me to have all the liberty I wish, and is infinitely agreeable In the early mornings I go out alone; visit the slaves' bohea, or ramble about the plantation; I enjoy the air, and sketch trees and flowers. I have now become acquainted with that candelabra-like plant, which I have already mentioned. It is the flower-stalk of a plant of the aloe genus, called Peta, a shrub with stiff, thorny leaves, and this flower-stalk shoots up from the root every third year, and bears upon its branches bunches of yellowish flowers which produce fruit. It shoots up to a height of five or six ells, blossoms, and bears fruit all within the space of two months, after which it dies down. It has a singular but very ornamental appearance; I have made a

drawing of it. Here, also, are a couple of remarkable ceiba-trees, the one on account of its beauty, the other for its deformity-its tragical combat with the parasite. The sugar-cane fields are inclosed with lofty, untrimmed hedges, in which grow wild orange and various tropical trees.

During the hottest part of the forenoon I sit quietly in my own light, excellent chamber, writing and drawing. Just before dinner I go out, look around me in the bohea, or seat myself under a mango-tree on a cross-road to catch a few breezes, if I can, in its shade. In the afternoon I generally drive out with Mrs. De C. in her volante, her daughter and Mr. W. accompanying us on horseback. To be rocked over the country in an open volante, in that heavenly, delicious air, is the most soothing, delightful enjoyment that any body can conceive.

The family assembles in the evening, and I then play American marches, "quick-steps," and other lively pieces, with Yankee Doodle for the old gentleman, who, with these, recalls his youthful achievements, and feels new life in his stiffened limbs. At a later hour I go out on the piazza to see the stars shining in the darkness of night, and to inhale the zephyrs which, though not so full of life as at Matanzas, are yet always full of delicious influence.

Among my pleasures, I must not forget the lovely humming-birds in the little garden. In the mornings, and directly after mid-day, one may be sure to see them hovering around the flowers, and around the red ones by preference. There are in the garden a couple of shrubs, which are now covered with most splendid red flowers; the shrub is called La Coquette, and over these the little humming-birds are always hovering, they too of a splendid red, like little flames of fire. They are the most gorgeous little creatures any body can imagine, as fat as little bull-finches, and like them, having plump, brilliant breasts.

They support themselves as if in the air, fluttering their wings for a considerable time about the red flowers, into which they then dip their bills, but how gracefully I can not describe. La Coquette and her winged wooers present the most lovely spectacle. I have here seen three kinds of humming-birds. The one with the crimson coloring of morning, of which I have just spoken; a little one of a smaragdus-green and more delicate form; and a third, green, with a crest of yellow rays on its head. They will sometimes all alight upon a bough, and as they fly away again, a soft, low twittering may be heard. They are quarrelsome, and pursue one another like little arrows through the air, while, as rivals, they approach the same flower.

Besides these most lovely little birds, I see here a black bird about as large as a jackdaw. It resembles the American blackbirds, and is called majitos or solibios (or solivios, for here there is a great confusion between “y” and "b," and "b" and "v;" thus Havana is frequently both written and pronounced Habana). I see these black birds often sitting upon the branches of the candelabra-like peta. These queer birds are said to be a species of communists, to live in communities, to lay their eggs together, to hatch them in common, and to feed the young in the same manner, without any difference of mine or thine. The humming-bird is evidently of a very different temperament, and is a violent anti-communist.

The heat is now becoming excessive, and I feel it so enervating that I think I shall leave Cuba on the 8th of April instead of the 28th, as I had intended. From Cuba I shall proceed to Charleston and Savannah, visit two plantations on the coast of Georgia, and so on to Virginia— the Old Dominion-which I must see, and where I shall probably spend the month of May; thence to Philadelphia and New York-to my dear home at Rose Cottage; then to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, pay a visit to

Maine and Vermont, and thence, in the month of July, to my first beautiful home on the banks of the Hudson; then to England, and then-home!

I am now going for a few days to Cardenas, a little city on the sea-coast; but I shall return hither. Mrs. De C. will lend me her volante.

The kind

LETTER XXXIV.

Cardenas, March 19th.

It was at Cardenas that the first senseless robber-expedition against Cuba, under the conduct of Lopez, landed last year, and was repulsed by the bravery of the Spanish army. You are shown holes in the walls made by cannon-balls, and they are now living in daily expectation and fear of a new attack under the same leader, the news of which is just now in circulation, and people are on the alert in consequence, and the city under watch.

Cardenas is a small city, built in the same style as Havana, and carries on a brisk trade in sugar and treacle. It is situated by the sea, but lies so low that it can scarcely be seen from the sea; its harbor is very shallow, and will not admit vessels of large size. I am living in a small hotel kept by a Mrs. W., the widow of a Portuguese, and who has five daughters, which is nearly four too many! I should not be afraid of having ten daughters in the United States; I should be certain that they all, however poor they might be, would be able to attain to their proper human development, would gain consideration and a competence through their own merits and endeavors. But in Cuba, what could any one do with five daughters? Marriage is the only means there of obtaining for them respect and a living, and it is not so very easy to get married at Cuba, because it is not an easy thing to maintain yourself in an honorable way there. Two of these