A Sojourn in Cuba 



ture was the agave. It is sometimes used for 

 fencing. One day, in looking back from the top 

 of the Morro Hill, as I was returning to the 

 Island Belle, I chanced to observe two poplar- 

 like trees about twenty-five feet in height. 

 They were growing in a dense patch of cactus 

 and vine-knotted sunflowers. I was anxious to 

 see anything so homelike as a poplar, and so 

 made haste towards the two strange trees, mak 

 ing a way through the cactus and sunflower 

 jungle that protected them. I was surprised to 

 find that what I took to be poplars were agaves 

 in flower, the first I had seen. They were almost 

 out of flower, and fast becoming wilted at the 

 approach of death. Bulbs were scattered about, 

 and a good many still remained on the branches, 

 which gave it a fruited appearance. 



The stem of the agave seems enormous in size 

 when one considers that it is the growth of a 

 few weeks. This plant is said to make a mighty 

 effort to flower and mature its seeds and then to 

 die of exhaustion. Now there is not, so far as 

 I have seen, a mighty effort or the need of one, 

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