104 TflK COCAL. 



on, by stories about Cuba and Cuban slavery from one of our 

 party. He described the political morality of Cuba as utterly 

 dissolute ; told stories of great sums of money voted for roads 

 wliicli are not made to this day, wliile the money had found 

 its way into the pockets of Government officials ; and, on the 

 whole, said enough to explain the determination of the Cubans 

 to shake off Spanish misrule, and try what they could do for 

 themselves on this earth. He described Cuban slavery as, 

 on the whole, mild ; corporal punishment being restricted 

 by law to a few blows, and very seldom employed : but the 

 mildness seemed dictated rather by self-interest than by 

 humanity. " Hl-use our slaves ?" said a Cuban to him. " We 

 cannot afford it. You take good care of your four-legged 

 mules : we of our two-legged ones." The children, it seems, 

 are taken away from the mothers, not merely because the 

 mothers are needed for work, but because they neglect their 

 offspring so much that the children have more chance of 

 living and therefore of paying if brought up by hand. 

 So each estate has, or had, its creche, as the French would 

 call it a great nursery, in which the little black things are 

 reared, kindly enough, by the elder ladies of the estate. To 

 one old lady, who wearied herself all day long in washing, 

 doctoring, and cramming the babies, my friend expressed pity 

 for all the trouble she took about her human brood. '' Oli 

 dear no," answered she ; " they are a great deal easier to rear 



