Saturday, March 24, was a remarkably fine day even for sunny Cuba. A cloudless sky of beautiful blue, a temperature of from 80 to 90 degrees, and a soft, refreshing breeze combined to make it ideal weather for La Gloria's initial holiday. I remember that several bicycles were brought out and used on this day, one or two by young women. The muddy trails had dried up in most places, so that wheels could be ridden for considerable distances on the roads radiating from La Gloria. The dry season was fairly on by March 1, and for some time thereafter mud was practically eliminated from our list of annoyances. At noon the several surveying parties tramped in from their distant work in the woods, and soon after the colonists began to gather on Central avenue from headquarters tent to Connell's store. The women proved that they had not left all their finery in the States, while nearly every child was in its best bib and tucker. The men appeared in a great variety of costumes, but most of them had given more thought to comfort than to elegance. It was at this time that the first large group picture of the colonists was taken. The opportunity was too good to lose. We were hastily grouped across Central avenue, and three amateur photographers simultaneously took shots at us. The resulting photograph, though on a small scale, is a faithful picture of about half the colonists in La Gloria on March 24, 1900. One of the photographers was Lieut. Evans of the Eighth U. S. Cavalry, who had arrived in La Gloria the day before in command of a pack train consisting of about a dozen men and twenty mules. The detachment came from the city of Puerto Principe and was touring the country for practice and exercise. It may easily be imagined that we were glad to see them, and they seemed equally glad to see us. At our earnest solicitation they consented to participate in our holiday sports. [Illustration: GROUP OF COLONISTS. (_March 24, 1900._)]