The morning meal usually consists of fried pork, of which they are very fond, boiled rice, and roasted plantain, which serves them for bread. Beef, birds or roast pork are served for dinner, together with plantains and a stew composed of fresh meat, dried meat, green plantains, and all kinds of vegetables. These are cooked in a broth, thickened with a farinaceous root called malanga, and flavored with lemon juice. Rice is a staple article of diet, and no meal is complete without it. RURAL AMUSEMENTS. It is not in gastronomy alone that the Cubans of the country districts differ from their city cousins. They have their special amusements, some of which seem cruel to people of refinement, but it may be said in their defense that football is not a popular game on the island. Cock fighting is the national sport, and men, women and children will wager their last possession on the result of an encounter between chickens of fighting blood. The goose fight is another cruel sport. Two poles are placed in the ground, with a rope stretched between them, on which a live goose is hung with its feet securely tied, and its head thoroughly greased. The contestants are on horseback, and ride at full speed past the goose, endeavoring to seize its head and separate it from the body as they pass. The fowl usually dies before the efforts are successful, but the rider who finally succeeds in the noble endeavor gains the glory and the prize. There is a patron saint for every village, for whom there is a feast day, which is celebrated by masses at the church, and afterwards by games and dances. A procession is always arranged on this day, in which a little girl, dressed as an image, rides in a wagon, decorated with banners and flowers. Men in costumes of Indians lead the way, followed by others clad as Moors. A band is a necessary adjunct, and bringing up the rear are the inhabitants, marching and singing to the music of the band. When the church is reached, the people gather about the child, and she recites a composition written for the occasion. During carnival time, processions of mountebanks, cavaliers, dressed as knights of old, on horses splendidly adorned, races, masques, balls and all manner of revelries are indulged in. Dancing is a universal accomplishment, in which the young and old find enjoyment in all places and at all seasons. The Zapato, a dance peculiar to Cuba, is performed to the music of the guitar, accompanied by the voices of the dancers. It consists of fantastic posings, fancy marches, and graceful figures, and resembles in some details the "cake walks" of the negroes of our own country. AN ISLAND FARM.