A TRIP TO CUBA AND TBE SOUTHERN STATES. 



till' tri[) tlio very next very cultl winter, and remain I(iii;iit in this noljle field of 

 nature. 



Count Fernandina's parden, on the Cerro Koad, a short distance from Havana, 

 is the best worth visiting: of any that we could liear of, and is accessible to all 

 stranj^ers. It oceuj)ies but a few acres, in the Enfrlish style. The Araucaria 

 ])ra/.iliensis is one of tlic most strikino; trees; it lias attained a heifrlit of about 

 twenty feet, and forms of course, a maprnifieent object. There is almost a total 

 absence, in Cul)a, of coniferous trees ; what we call " everp^reens" are not re(|uired, 

 because they have broad, shininti-leaved trees that are evergreen, which they value 

 more highly. There is a very fine collection of palms here, including the raii-])alm 

 and one with a frond at least six feet in length. The Caoutchouc, or India-rubl)er 

 tree, is also a great ornament, and attains considerable height. The Copailja-tree 

 and the Mahogany here first strike the eye, though common on the island. This 

 garden is kept in the highest order, and is a grand treat to the eye. Amid the 

 ])alms, the old Count has built a most sumptuous cold-water bath — quite good 

 enough to enchant Juno, or to lave the beauties of Calypso. It is entirely lined 

 with exquisite tiles, and the walls of the building are frescoed with mythological 

 legends ; the steps to the water are of the finest material ; the colored glass of the 

 windows throws a red tinge upon the skin, and the faultless transparency of the 

 water tempts the eye. 



The garden possesses twelve native palms, including the screw palm, and six 

 foreign kinds. The night-blooming Cereus runs riot over an immense arbor, and 

 vines, of colors and appearances which we never saw Ijcfore, festoon themselves 

 from every support. The Pimento, the Mammea Apple, the Gourd, or Calabash-^ree, 

 bearing calabashes sometimes large enough to be employed for a child's bathing- 

 tuli, each fruit hanging with its great weight on a slender limb, are astonishments 

 which we must not go out of our way too far to describe. The gardener has 

 succeeded in making a good lawn, by constant attention, and you soon satisfy 

 yourself that a paradise might readily be created with the aid of such climatic 

 accompaniments. 



The house is in elegant taste, filled with European specimens of the fine arts, 

 and luxurious furniture ; hanging baskets on the inclosed piazza, look like civil- 

 ization ; various colored Thunbergias run riot over the lattices, of a strength and 

 size unknown to us ; and altogether, this is one of the best garden experiences to 

 ])C had in Cuba ; it is laid out in perfect taste, with English gardenesque effects 

 much increased by tropical advantages. The Count is a widower, and rarely re- 

 sides here. His income is perfectly beyond one's conception ; they say, three 

 thousand dollars a day ! ITis nephew, who had been imi)licated in some jiolitical 

 transactions, we found at Natchez, Mississippi, teaching Spanish to a small class, 

 while the uncle or the Government have clutched his purse-strings, and refuse him 

 a dollar. The name of this most gentlemanly exile is Don ^lanuel de Santa Cruz, 

 and his title, by inheritance, should be Count Fernandina, Jaruco, and Mopox ; 

 he was for eight months confined in the Moro, from which he most ingeniously 

 escaped. There is a " skeleton" even in palaces. 



7'/ie Climate. — We were fortunate in obtaining a record of the thermometer, 

 carefully kept on a plantation very nearly in the latitude of Havana, and fifty 

 miles from it. This record is for twelve months, excei)ting April, when the glass 

 was broken ; the first record is April 30, 185G, the hour of observation being 

 between twelve and one o'clock (noon), which it will be well to remember. 



THERMOMETER. 



April 30, 18,56 840 



Average of May ........... 850 



