Due South; or, Cuba Past and PresentBallou, Maturin M. (Maturin Murray)
History
Due South; or, Cuba Past and Present
Ballou, Maturin M. (Maturin Murray)
Cuba
To reach the Governor's Garden one turns west from the Campo de Marte
and takes the Calzada de la Reina, which followed about a mile in a
straight line becomes the Paseo de Tacon, really but a continuation of
the former street, commencing at the statue of Carlos III., a colossal
monument placed in the middle of the broad driveway. This Paseo forms
the favorite evening drive of the citizens, where the ladies in
victorias and the gentlemen either as equestrians or on foot pass and
repass each other, gayly saluting, the ladies with a coquettish
flourish of the fan, and the gentlemen with a peculiar wave of the
hand. It is in fact the Champs Elysées of Havana, but the road is
sadly out of repair and as dusty as an ash-pit.
The Alameda--every large Spanish city has a spot so designated--skirts
the shore of the harbor on the city side, near the south end of
Oficios Street, and is a favorite resort for promenaders at the
evening hour. Here a refreshing coolness is breathed from off the sea.
This Alameda de Paula might be a continuation of the Neapolitan
Chiaja. With characteristics quite different, still these shores
constantly remind one of the Mediterranean, Sorrento, Amalfi, and
Capri, recalling the shadows which daily creep up the heights of San
Elmo and disappear with the setting sun behind the orange groves.
Sometimes it would seem to be the grand problem of humanity, why the
loveliest regions of the earth and the softest climates should be
apportioned to the share of slaves and despots.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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