The Church of the Merced (Mercy) is the most fashionable in the city. The Belen (Jesuit) is the most frequented. It has, connected with it, a school, a laboratory, an observatory, and a museum of natural history. More men go to the Church of Santo Domingo than to any other because more pretty women go there. Fine suburbs of hill and seashore hedge Havana in. Notable among these are Jesus del Monte, the highest point, 220 feet; Cerro, Chorreta Vedado (beautiful and fashionable), Marianao, eight miles out; Regla, across the harbour, famed for its bull-ring and large sugar warehouses; Guanabacoa, Casa Blanco, Playa de Marianao (seashore); La Cienaga, Puertos Grandes, and others of less importance. These places are of varying quality, from the very fashionable to the kind which exist because existence there is cheaper than in the city. The roads (_calzadas_) leading out of Havana are, as a rule, good, though, owing to the war, some are just now in bad repair. Weather observations have been made in Havana since 1859. The rainy season continues from June to November; the rest of the year is dry, although about one-third of the rainfall of the year comes in the dry season. The average rainfall is about 50 inches. The temperature varies from 64 degrees to 85 degrees, and the humidity, which rarely falls below 75, makes the heat most oppressive. The early morning and late afternoon and evening are the hours devoted to business and pleasure. The Jersey mosquito is a silken-winged messenger of mercy compared with his cousins in Havana. There are many asylums and hospitals in the city which are not lacking in funds or attention, but they are all conducted upon antiquated notions, which greatly lessen their usefulness. As in other Catholic cities, Sunday is the amusement day of the week, and all the Havanese are out in gala attire on that day after morning service at the churches. There are many parks and promenades. The Alameda, the Plaza de Armas, the Parque de Isabella, and the Prado are the chief places of resort. CHAPTER XI COLONEL WARING'S SANITARY REPORT When in October, 1898, the late Colonel George E. Waring, of New York City, who had been sent by the Government to investigate the physical condition of Havana, became the victim of the monster he had sought to throttle, he had already written a large portion of his report, and he left copious notes for the completion of it, from which his efficient secretary and assistant, Mr. G. Everett Hill, prepared a full report. From this report the following extracts are made: