6o Naturai. History Bui.leiix. 



squall over, we again made the harbor entrance, and this time 

 secured our pilot and passed a brief examination on the part 

 of the health-oflicer of the port, a courteous and affable gentle- 

 man, whose object in life seemed to be not to make himself 

 disagreeable in the course of official duty. 



The setting sun gilded •• El Morro" as we passed its frown- 

 ing battlements and glided beneath the muzzles of its big guns. 

 This fortitication is one of the most historic, as well as pictur- 

 esque, on the American Continent. It was built about three 

 hundred years ago. and has seen many a bloody drama in its 

 day. Report has it that within its walls the massacre of the 

 ill-fated men of the '• Virginius " took place. The massive 

 walls and turrets, the old bastions and lofty tower perched on 

 the top of the precipitous rocks, combine to make a scene 

 strangely like those of mediaeval times. 



Our captain was evidentlv loth to trust his vessel to a pilot 

 who didn't know a word of English with which to direct a 

 crew that knew nothing else, but *• el practice " brought us 

 safely inside the harbor, assigning us an anchorage opposite 

 the ijovernment wharves. 



We had been told that the customs regulations were so 

 severe that it would be difficult to avoid infringement of their 

 intricate requirements. We found, however, that there was 

 nothing unreasonable about them, so far as cur business was 

 concerned. A distinctlv polite official looked over our passen- 

 ger list and manifest, said a few pleasant words regarding our 

 trip, and left the vessel with the assurance that all was right 

 and we could go ashore whenever we liked. The pilot left us 

 a copy of the harbor regulations printed in several languages. 

 Some of these rules seemed a little severe, but all were evi- 

 dently for the common good, with a sufficient number of tines 

 attached to trivial offences to enable the Cuban Govern- 

 ment to secure some revenue thereby, provided the lines were 

 collected, which seems doubtful. 



No one went ashore that night, but all enjoyed the loveli- 

 ness of the moon-light on deck. The electric lights of the 

 city, the music from the parks, the ghostly forms of the white 



