98 



CUBA AND POKTO ItICO 



The population of the principal towns in 18!)'_! has been 

 estimated as follows: 



The population of Cuba previous to the late insurrection 

 was about the same as that of Vermont, Virginia, North 

 Carolina, or Wisconsin, and averaged about thirty-six to the 

 square mile. 



The quality and character of the inhabitants of Cuba 

 have been so variously pictured during the recent years of 

 conflict that the public mind has been greatly confused on 

 this subject. The Spanish legation to the United States 

 naturally endeavored to present the character of the Cuban 

 people in its worst light. Furthermore, the North Ameri- 

 can business men and tourists who visit the island are 

 prone to judge superficially its inhabitants by the lack of 

 outward appearances of energy which is everywhere found 

 in the tropics. I fear, therefore, that my estimates of the 

 Cubans may not be in harmony with many current im- 

 pressions, but I shall endeavor to judge them as fairly as 

 possible in the light of a broad experience with the varied 

 people of all parts of the Union and of the other West 

 Indian Islands and Spanish- American countries. 



Contrary to what has been represented, we have found 

 them as a class neither ignorant nor lazy. The higher 

 classes, as in New England, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and 

 Louisiana, are gentlemen of education and refinement, 



1 Suburb of Havana. 



