Although emancipated at a later date, the Cuban negroes are in general more manly and independent than those of the United States. This is due to the social and the political recognition accorded them, but also to the previous conditions of their servitude. Before the abolition of slavery they were granted freedom of marriage, the right of acquiring property, the privilege of purchasing their release by labor, and license to seek a new master at their option. The negro of Cuba is much more happy and content than his brother in America. The burdens of life do not press so heavily on him. He has greater opportunity of enjoyment of the three conditions most desirable to the man of African descent, warmth, indolence, and a full stomach. The climate and the physical nature of the country are entirely to his liking. He thrives in Cuba and is more robust than the white native, as well as more prolific, which is saying a great deal. He and his women and children withstood the stress and strain of the reconcentration better than did the _guajiro_ class. I am fully aware that these statements seem to be contradicted by the census returns, which show a marked diminution of the colored population during the past half century. In the last United States report this is accounted for by “the inability of the colored race to hold its own in competition with the whites.” This does not seem to be sufficient explanation, especially as there has been no competition to speak of between the whites and the blacks in Cuba. Without pretending to any precise knowledge on the subject, I will hazard the suggestion that the apparent discrepancy may be due to the defects in the censuses under Spain, which were notoriously inaccurate, to the latter day tendency of mulattoes to return themselves as “whites,” and to the fact that the colored portion of the population has borne more than its proportional share of the brunt of the later revolutions. Be that as it may, it will be difficult for any one who is familiar with the lives and conditions of the natives of Cuba to believe that “the man of color” is in any but a favorable and congenial environment. The dance is the favorite amusement of the rural population. As the whites practise it, it is a monotonous movement to monotonous music, entirely lacking the grace and variety of the Spanish dances. The negroes merely writhe and wriggle to the slow beat of a drum. There is always a suggestion of obscenity present, and sometimes religious frenzy transforms the performance from the ludicrous to the weird. On such occasions the dancers and the onlookers chant invocations to the saints in an African dialect.