Present condition of Cuba--Secret treaty with France and England--British plan for the Africanization of the island--Sale of Cuba--Measures of General Pezuela--Registration of slaves--Intermarriage of blacks and whites--Contradictory proclamations--Spanish duplicity--A Creole's view of the crisis and the prospect, 54 CHAPTER V. Geographical position of the island--Its size--The climate--Advice to invalids--Glance at the principal cities--Matanzas--Puerto Principe--Santiago de Cuba--Trinidad--The writer's first view of Havana--Importance of the capital--Its literary institutions--Restriction on Cuban youths and education--Glance at the city streets--Style of architecture--Domestic arrangements of town houses--A word about Cuban ladies--Small feet--Grace of manners and general characteristics, 66 CHAPTER VI. Contrast between Protestant and Catholic communities--Catholic churches--Sabbath scenes in Havana--Devotion of the common people--The Plaza de Armas--City squares--The poor man's opera--Influence of music--La Dominica--The Tacon Paseo--The Tacon Theatre--The Cathedral--Tomb of Columbus over the altar--Story of the great Genoese pilot--His death--Removal of remains--The former great wealth of the church in Cuba--Influence of the priests, 80 CHAPTER VII. Nudity of children and slaves--The street of the merchants--The currency of Cuba--The Spanish army in the island--Enrolment of blacks--Courage of Spanish troops--Treatment by the government--The garrote--A military execution--The market-men and their wares--The milk-man and his mode of supply--Glass windows--Curtains for doors--The Campo Santo, or burial-place of Havana--Treatment of the dead--The prison--The fish-market of the capital, 95 CHAPTER VIII. The story of Marti, the smuggler, 108 CHAPTER IX. The lottery at Havana--Hospitality of the Spaniards--Flattery--Cuban ladies--Castilian, Parisian and American politeness--The bonnet in Cuba--Ladies' dresses--The fan--Jewelry and its wear--Culture of flowers--Reflections--A most peculiar narcotic--Cost of living on the island--Guines--The cock-pit--Training of the birds--The garden of the world--Birds of the tropics--Condition of agriculture--Night-time--The Southern Cross--Natural resources of Cuba--Her wrongs and oppressions, 116 CHAPTER X.