CHAPTER I. PAGE Departure. -- On Board Ship. -- Arrival at Nassau. -- Capital of the Bahamas. -- Climate. -- Soil. -- Fruits and Flowers. -- Magic Fertility. -- Colored Population. -- The Blockade Runners. -- Population. -- Products. -- A Picturesque Local Scene. -- Superstition. -- Fish Story. -- The Silk-Cotton Tree. -- Remarkable Vegetation. -- The Sea Gardens. -- Marine Animal Life. -- The Bahama Banks. -- Burial at Sea. -- Venal Officials. -- Historical Characters. -- The Early Buccaneers. -- Diving for Drinking-Water. 1 CHAPTER II. Among the Islands. -- San Salvador. -- A Glimpse at the Stars. -- Hayti. -- The Gulf Stream. -- The Caribbean Sea. -- Latitude and Longitude. -- The Southern Coast of Cuba. -- A Famous Old Fortress. -- Fate of Political Prisoners. -- The Oldest City in Cuba. -- The Aborigines. -- Cuban Cathedrals. -- Drinking Saloons. -- Dogs, Horses, and Coolies. -- Scenes in Santiago de Cuba. -- Devoured by Sharks. -- Lying at Anchor. -- Wreck of a Historic Ship. -- Cuban Circulating Medium. -- Tropical Temperature. 24 CHAPTER III. Doubling Cape Cruz. -- Trinidad. -- Cienfuegos. -- The Plaza. -- Beggars. -- Visit to a Sugar Plantation. -- Something about Sugar. -- An Original Character. -- A Tropical Fruit Garden. -- Cuban Hospitality. -- The Banana. -- Lottery Tickets. -- Chinese Coolies. -- Blindness in Cuba. -- Birds and Poultry. -- The Cock-Pit. -- Negro Slavery, To-Day. -- Spanish Slaveholders. -- A Slave Mutiny. -- A Pleasant Journey across the Island. -- Pictures of the Interior. -- Scenery about Matanzas. -- The Tropics and the North contrasted. 46 CHAPTER IV. The Great Genoese Pilot. -- Discovery of Cuba. -- Its Various Names. -- Treatment of the Natives. -- Tobacco! -- Flora of the Island. -- Strange Idols. -- Antiquity. -- Habits of the Aborigines. -- Remarkable Speech of an Indian King. -- A Native Entertainment. -- Paying Tribute. -- Ancient Remains. -- Wrong Impression of Columbus. -- First Attempt at Colonization. -- Battle with the Indians. -- First Governor of Cuba. -- Founding Cities. -- Emigration from Spain. -- Conquest of Mexico. 70 CHAPTER V.