CUBAN CITIES: HAVANA 111 



but pleasing combinations and ornate effects. Often, by 

 fresco-shading, moldings, cornices, and masonry jointings 

 are imitated. The whole has a remarkably massive and 

 light-colored effect. In the old town the tall and low 

 windows are protected by the projecting Moorish grating 

 so common to Spanish architecture, which would give the 

 houses a prison-like appearance were it not for the bright 

 colors outside and in. 



Toward evening the central plaza and adjacent drives are 

 alive with splendid equipages, and horsemen showing the 

 menage steps of the fine Andalusian chargers; and the 

 benches and colonnades teem with well-dressed citizens in 

 light attire of duck and flannels and hats of straw, or gaily 

 uniformed soldiers, the whole making a picturesque and 

 enlivening scene. Military assemblages of the Volunteers 

 in the morning and bands of music at night add to the 

 general air of gaiety. 



The side of the square on which the Hotel Inglaterra is 

 located is a magnificent avenue of unusual width, extend- 

 ing north and south, known as the Paseo or Prado, leading 

 to the Gulf shore, and lined with imposing two-storied 

 buildings of white, yellow, and drab colors. 



Throughout the city, and especially this portion, there 

 are many elaborate structures, including two theaters and 

 numerous club-houses. The latter usually have superb as- 

 sembly-rooms in their second stories, and belong to asso- 

 ciations representing the different provinces of Spain, so 

 that on certain nights of the carnival the passing stranger, 

 who is always hospitably invited to view the spectacle, 

 may visit a dozen large balls, and see hundreds of well- 

 dressed dancers at each of them. The Ilavanese brag that 

 the Teatro Tacon is the largest in the world ; it certainly is 

 the largest auditorium south of Cincinnati. Here the best 

 actors and singers are seen and heard ; for no great artists 

 who have visited America, such as Nilsson, Patti, Salvini, 

 Coquelin, or Duse, have neglected to pay Havana a week's 

 visit. Here one week I witnessed the superb comedy of 



