78 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Yol. vii. 



a bamboo pole, resting on the shoulders — in true oriental fashion. 

 They appear to be very thrifty and intelligent, but have other 

 vices than opium-smoking, for they are avaricious and revengeful. 

 The Chinese very soon take a higher position on the estates than 

 the negroes with whom they labor. They are generally to be 

 found employed where delicate manipulation or higher intel- 

 ligence is required. Thus they work in the sugar-houses, while 

 the negroes are generally sent to the cane-fields. If there is any 

 carpentry or masonry to be done on the estates, the Chinamen are 

 the ones to do it ; they are also frequently employed as land- 

 scape gardeners, and show much aptitude and originality in improv- 

 ing the surroundings of a planter's house. On a few estates some 

 who have been long in the Island have risen to the responsible 

 position of overseer of the sugar-house, receiving $2 to $3 per 

 diem. 



Negro field-hands are invaluable to the Cuban planters ; for 

 while the Chinamen have a bad trick of committing suicide when 

 severely dealt with, the negro puts up with his hard lot, and works 

 away, if not contentedly, at least with few attempts at open 

 rebellion. Except for the tremendous labour exacted from them 

 during the griuding-season, and the dependent position in which 

 they are kept, the lot of the negro bondsman in Cuba is one of 

 considerable animal enjoyment, and is such as to subject him to 

 few of the cares of life. He is well fed and housed, and his 

 children well cared for. If he desires to acquire a few additional 

 bodily comforts, a small patch of land is placed at his disposal for 

 cultivation, and he is permitted to raise pigs and poultry on a 

 small scale for sale — all this, however, during good behaviour. 

 If he is restive, thievish, or lazy, he is deprived of the chance of 

 attending to his little farm, and, from neglect, all his luxuries 

 vanish On the plantations, women, as well as men, are taken 

 out to cut the cane, feed the crushers at the mill, and perform 

 other work. 



During the grinding season, which lasts four or five months, the 

 slaves are required to work sixteen hours out of the twenty-four. 

 After the canes are ground they are not usually required to work 

 more than eight or ten hours a day. Planters often employ the 

 farming population of the country in clearing new lands where 

 cane is to be planted, thus saving their slaves from exhausting 

 labor, and curtailing their chances for running away. 



Oxen are extensively used as draft animals in Cuba. Large 



