"The general sorting of the tobacco is done by hands of great experience and judgment, who are the highest in consideration in the factories, some of them receiving large pay; thus for instance, the official _escojedor_, or chooser, gets from five to seven dollars (gold) per day, and the _torcedores_, or twisters, from two to four, the workmen being paid so much per thousand cigars, generally from two to four dollars. To show how very careful the maker must be in cutting out the leaf to make the most of it: Mr. del Valle was explaining to me the process of manufacture, and directed the maker to cut the leaf. This the man did drawing his knife in the manner denoted by the dotted lines in the engraving. This it appears was not making the most of the fine part of the leaf, for Mr. del Valle, annoyed, took the knife himself, and after rating the maker soundly for his carelessness, showed him how to cut it properly, as defined by the black line, the difference being, as far as I could judge, a slight inequality of color between the two parts. The manufacture of the cigar is very simple. The cigar maker, being seated before a low work table, which has raised ledges on every side except that nearest him, takes a leaf of tobacco, spreads it out smoothly before him, and cuts it as in the drawing. He then lays a few fragments of tobacco (_tripa_) in the centre or a leaf strip and rolls the whole into the shape of a cigar, and taking then a wrapper, rolls it spirally around the cigar. If the workman is skillful, he makes it of just the right length and size, without any trimming of the knife. The cigars are assorted, counted, and done up in bundles of generally twenty-five each, and then packed in the boxes, ready for market, under their different names of _Londres_, _Regalias_, etc. These names are generally understood to have the same meaning throughout the trade, the '_Vegueros_,' for instance, being the plantation cigars, made at the _regas_, and much esteemed by smokers, though they are rarely to be met with for sale, or, if so, at an exhorbitant price. The '_Regalia Imperial_,' the finest and best, is nearly seven inches long, the price varying from one hundred and fifty to three hundred dollars per thousand (gold). The '_Regalia_' is not so large but fine, the '_Trabuco_,' short and thick; the '_Londres_,' the most convenient in shape, and most smoked in this country and England; the '_Dama_' the small sized one used by ladies(?) or by men between acts of the opera (_entr' operas_). There are also other names which each factory has for some particular kinds. Artificial flavors are given to cigars, when some particular taste is to be satisfied, by the use of flavoring extracts. Each of the