i< 



250 A TRIP TO CUBA AND THE 80UTUEKN STATES, 



one of a hiirli tarilT diaractcr, niid di.sfoiirafres maimfacturt's for the sake of an 

 enorniDiis revenue, of whieli the (Jovernnienl is elieatcil l»y its otlieials, of at least 

 one-half to two-thirds. 



The trip to Cuba is of easy accomplisliment. The (Quaker City, a very fine 

 steam-vessel, runs witli regularity from New York to Havatia and Mobile; the 

 Black Warrior, the Cahawba, and the Empire City, to the first-named jjort and 

 New Orleans; though not equal to the "C^uaker," as they call her, the three latter 

 are toleral)ly comfortable, but require overhaul ing in some of their arrangements. 



Our own voyage was made from riiiladelphia to Charleston, S. C, in thesteam- 

 sliip State of Georgia; this connected with the very clever and clean steamer, 

 Isaljcl, running only to Key West and Havana, in which every desirable comfort 

 is found. These two shij)s carried us safely to our destination in seven days, 

 nearly one being lost by detention at Key West, in order that we should not arrive 

 in the night, and be obliged to cast anchor outside the Moro Castle,* according to 

 Spanish usage. After enjoying the novelties of this very novel city of Havana, 

 by examining its peculiarities and institutions, visiting all that was attractive in 

 its neighborhood, and botanizing as much as possil)le, we went into the interior, 

 visited sugar and cofl'ee estates in considerable numbers, resided some time on one 

 of the latter, took a peep at Matanzas and its beautiful port and neighborhood, 

 and returning to Havana, concluded some further researches, held long conver- 

 sations with a most intelligent native botanist, who is doing the world a service 

 by his labors, and took our departure, in the Empire City, for New Orleans. 



At New Orleans, we enjoyed some advantages, and, visiting Natches under 

 happy auspices, found there (before the middle of Ajiril) the climate and the roses 

 of our middle of June. Thence, via New Orleans to Mobile (where we found, 

 April 10, all the forest-trees in full leaf), we ascended, on the 11th, 12th, and 

 l;jth of April, the Alabama River, whose banks were clothed in full summer garb, 

 all the forest-trees being in leaf, and azaleas and the dogwood in bloom. The 

 weather during this river ascent of four hundred and fifty miles, was cold and 

 very chilly, as it had been at Natches, though the roses were in full beauty. 

 Landing at Montgomery, Alabama, in a northeast rain, twelve hours of railroad 

 travel transformed the scene from an entire spring to the perfect desolation of 

 winter. At Atlanta, there was no green leaf, the forest was silent, and the cold 

 became overpowering to a system relaxed by the perpetual summer we had enjoyed 

 in the tropics ; this dreariness of nature continued all the way to Philadelphia, 

 enlivened a little only in the lower land of Augusta. Frost every night bad 

 already injured the corn and sugar about New Orleans^ and had done its work on 

 the fruit of Georgia and other States. It was impossible to keep warm except in 

 tight rooms or rail cars, and, after our return home on the 18th of April, our own 

 neighborhood experienced a snow-storm of great severity ; all of which seemed to 

 ail'ord an argument for Cuban winters, where we had left, a few days before, the 

 fruits and flowers under the influence of the thermometer steadily pointing, in the 

 morning at IG'^, and at noon, at 81"^; where, in short, reigns perpetual summer ; 

 and the porter of the hotel, whom we found shelling peas in early March, as he 

 does all the year, was engaged in the same pleasing occupation when we left. 

 l*eas were plentiful at New Orleans, and strawberries could be had for a consider- 

 ation, but they possessed less flavor than our own. All agreed, wherever the old 

 topic of the weather was talked over daily, that it was an unusually cold spring, 



* The visitor to Cuba should be informed that the land side of the Moro Castle, which 

 presents a level surface, is a place of danger. We were here unexpectedly saluted 

 cannon ball, fired at a target, while collecting corals, shells, and sponges. 



