"I have recommended you, _hijo mio_, to a friend in Regla, on the opposite side of the harbor at Havana, who will take care of you. He is a _paisano_ of ours. Take these additional ten ounces, which are the fruit of honest labor. They will help you to appear properly in Havana; so that, with the care of Bachicha and our Regla countryman, I don't despair of your welfare. ADIOS! _para siempre!_" And so we parted;--and it was, indeed, an adieu for ever. We never met again, but I heard of Don Rafael and his fortunes. The new enterprise with the pilot-boat turned out successfully, and the band acquired considerable property on the island before the piratical nests along the coast of Cuba were broken up by cruisers. Rafael had some narrow escapes from the noose and the yard arm; but he eluded the grasp of his pursuers, and died a respectable _ranchero_ on a comfortable farm in the interior of the Queen of the Antilles. * * * * * The light winds of summer soon brought us inside the Moro Castle, past the frowning batteries of the Cabanas, and at anchor near Regla, within the beautiful harbor of Havana. I shall never forget the impression made on my mind by this delicious scene as it first broke on my sight at sunrise, in all the cool freshness of morning. The grand amphitheatre of hills swept down to the calm and lake-like water with gentle slopes, lapped in the velvet robes of richest green, and embroidered, as it were, with lace-like spots of castle, fort, dwelling, and villa, until the seaward points were terminated on the left, by the brilliant city, and on the right by a pile of majestic batteries. This grand and lasting impression was made almost at a glance, for, at my time of life, I was more concerned with man than nature, and rarely paused to dwell on the most fascinating scenery. Accordingly, I hastened to Regla with my letter of introduction, which was _interpreted_ by Bachicha to the Italian grocer, the friend of Rafael, to whom I was confided. _Il signore Carlo Cibo_ was an illiterate man of kind heart, who had adventurously emigrated from Italy to furnish the Havanese with good things; while, in return, the Havanese had been so pleased with his provender, that Carlo may be said to have been a man "very well to do in the world" for a foreigner. He received me with unbounded kindness;--welcomed me to his bachelor home;--apologized for its cold cheerlessness, and ordered me to consider himself and his "_casa_" entirely at my disposal as long as I chose to remain.