History of Cuba; or, Notes of a Traveller in the Tropics Being a Political, Historical, and Statistical Account of the Island, from its First Discovery to the Present — Inside the Classic

The Island of Cuba--Early colonists--Island aborigines--First importation of slaves--Cortez and his followers--Aztecs--The law of races--Mexican aborigines--Valley of Mexico--Pizarro--The end of heroes--Retributive justice--Decadence of Spanish power--History of Cuba--The rovers of the gulf--Havana fortified--The tyrant Velasquez--Office of Captain-general--Loyalty of the Cubans--Power of the captain-general--Cupidity of the government--The slave-trade--The British take Havana--General Don Luis de las Casas--Don Francisco de Arranjo--Improvement, moral and physical, of Cuba, 9

The constitution of 1812--Revolution of La Granja--Political aspect of the island--Discontent among the Cubans--The example before them--Simon Bolivar, the Liberator--Revolutions of 1823 and 1826--General Lorenzo and the constitution--The assumption of extraordinary power by Tacon--Civil war threatened--Tacon sustained by royal authority--Despair of the Cubans--Military rule--A foreign press established--Programme of the liberal party--General O'Donnell--The spoils--Influence of the climate, 25

Armed intervention--Conspiracy of Cienfuegos and Trinidad--General Narciso Lopez--The author's views on the subject--Inducements to revolt--Enormous taxation--Scheme of the patriots--Lopez's first landing, in 1850--Taking of Cardinas--Return of the invaders--Effect upon the Cuban authorities--Roncali recalled--New captain-general--Lopez's second expedition--Condition of the Invaders--Vicissitudes--Col. Crittenden--Battle of Las Pozas--Superiority of courage--Battle of Las Frias--Death of Gen. Enna--The fearful finale of the expedition, 38

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

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

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

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

The story of Marti, the smuggler, 108

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

The volante and its belongings--The ancient town of Regla--The arena for the bull-fights at Havana--A bull-fight as witnessed by the author at Regla--A national passion with the Spanish people--Compared with old Roman sports--Famous bull-fighters--Personal description of Cuban ladies--Description of the men--Romance and the tropics--The nobility of Cuba--Sugar noblemen--The grades of society--The yeomanry of the island--Their social position--What they might be--Love of gambling, 131

A sugar plantation--Americans employed--Slaves on the plantations--A coffee plantation--Culture of coffee, sugar and tobacco--Statistics of agriculture--The cucullos, or Cuban fire-fly--Novel ornaments worn by the ladies--The Cuban mode of harnessing oxen--The montero and his horse--Curious style of out-door painting--Petty annoyances to travellers--Jealousy of the authorities--Japan-like watchfulness--Questionable policy--Political condition of Cuba, 145

Tacon's summary mode of justice, 161

Consumption of tobacco--The universal cigar--Lady smokers--The fruits of Cuba--Flour a prohibited article--The royal palm--West Indian trees--Snakes, animals, etc.--The Cuban blood-hound--Mode of training him--Remarkable instinct--Importation of slaves--Their cost--Various African tribes--Superstitious belief--Tattooing--Health of the negroes--Slave laws of the island--Food of the negroes--Spanish law of emancipation--General treatment of the slaves, 171

Pecuniary value of the slave-trade to Havana--The slave clippers--First introduction of slaves into Cuba--Monopoly of the traffic by England--Spain's disregard of treaty stipulations--Spanish perfidy--Present condition of Spain--Her decadence--Influence upon her American possessions--Slaves upon the plantations--The soil of Cuba--Mineral wealth of the island--The present condition of the people--The influences of American progress--What Cuba might be, 186

Area of Cuba--Extent of cultivated and uncultivated lands--Population--Proportion between the sexes--Ratio of legitimate to illegitimate births--Ratio between births and deaths--Agricultural statistics--Commerce and commercial regulations--Custom-house and port charges--Exports and imports--Trade with the United States--Universities and schools--Education--Charitable institutions--Railroads--Temperature, 201

Retrospective thoughts--The bright side and dark side of the picture--Cuban institutions contrasted with our own--Political sentiments of the Creoles--War footing--Loyalty of the colony--Native men of genius--The Cubans not willing slaves--Our own revolution--Apostles of rebellion--Moral of the Lopez expedition--Jealousy of Spain--Honorable position of our government--Spanish aggressions on our flag--Purchase of the island--Distinguished conservative opinion--The end. 214

The Island of Cuba--Early colonists--Island aborigines--First importation of slaves--Cortez and his followers--Aztecs--The law of races--Mexican aborigines--Valley of Mexico--Pizarro--The end of heroes--Retributive justice--Decadence of Spanish power--History of Cuba--The rovers of the Gulf--Havana fortified--The tyrant Velasquez--Office of captain-general--Loyalty of the Cubans--Power of the captain-general--Cupidity of the government--The slave-trade--The British take Havana--General Don Luis de las Casas--Don Francisco de Arranjo--Improvement, moral and physical, of Cuba.