gl f rip t0 OTttbit anil tlu Southern .^tatts, g^o. 2. 



" It is a goodly sight to see 

 Wliat Heaven hath done for this delicious land ! 

 What fruits of fragrance blush on every tree ! 

 What goodly prospects o'er the hills expand !" 



ARELY did we meet with an- American just landed in 

 Cuba who was not highly delighted with the place and 

 the climate. The general first impression was to make a 

 purchase, and settle down for the winter in this charming 

 sunshine. This impression lasted for about two weeks 

 with most, while others remained true to the first feeling 

 of these " new-born delights," and one or two of our 

 casual acquaintances actually effected purchases. Gene- 

 rally, however, discoveries were not slow in being made 

 that the difficulties of the language, and the habits of 

 the people, with certain fears for the future aspect of 

 political affairs, the necessity of a license to reside there 

 — all these mostly disenchanted us before we had seen 

 much of the island. 

 The fruits, the perpetual summer, and less oppressive weather than we had been 

 led to expect, were all great inducements ; added to this and the low price of land 

 where it had plenty of fruit but no slaves upon it, was the vicinity to home, tole- 

 rably regular mails, and some American society. The habits of the people, so 

 different from our own, came in last as the final discouragement, but Cuba seems 

 to have been designed for the winter residence of the Northerners, and such, if it 

 is acquired, it will unquestionably become. Climate is virtually capital, not only 

 in the easy production of animal, but 

 vegetable food; for instance, the ba- 

 nana, which is estimated to yield 4,000 

 pounds of nutriment on 1,076 square 

 feet, enables a man to maintain a 

 family by working very moderately 

 for two days in seven, the produce 

 of the plant being one hundred and 

 thirty-three times more than that of 

 wheat, and forty-four times more than 

 the yield of the potato, exceeding, as 

 Humboldt supposes, all plants upon 

 the globe in the amount of food it 

 yields on a given area. 



Linnaeus said that the first abode 

 of our species was the region of the 

 palm, and that man is essentially 

 palmiverous. It may be, that the 

 races in these palmiverous regions 

 are not the most progressive, be- 

 cause, though climate is much, race 

 is more. The balmy and the sponta- 

 neous fruits of Paradise, would pro- 

 bably fail to energize some races of 



Vol. YII.— July, 1857. 



20 



