46 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1895. 



Havana lottery is conducted by the government and infatuates all 

 classes, from the poor washerwoman to the millionaire. I was told of 

 a colored man who drew a large fortune and suddenly found himself 

 surrounded by a myriad of friends who were all anxious to assist him 

 in spending it. His habits became most aristocratic, and his money 

 and friends melted away as quickly as they came. The hotel-keeper's 

 wife in Matanzas told me that she drew five thousand dollars. 



The rainy season lasts from May to November. It pours so hard 

 that you cannot listen to conversation. During the hurricane season 

 the islanders sometimes have frightful experiences. A lady who was 

 in Matanzas during one of these storms, told me that the water 

 rushed over the city at such a rate that the people who were caught 

 oat were washed down to the harbor. Ropes were stretched, which 

 some caught and were saved ; others were rescued by the ships whose 

 anchors held, and mauy perished. While Matanzas was flooded, all 

 the water was swept out of the bay of Cardenas. The stauuchest 

 ships afloat are sometimes left high and dry upon the shore ; the houses 

 are upset ; trees are uprooted, and general destruction prevails. 



While in Matanzas we rode in a volante, which is a kind of chaise, 

 with very heavy and high wheels and long shafts. One horse is 

 between the shafts, another is hitched to the left side. It is a very 

 comfortable carriage in which to travel over the rough roads of Cuba. 

 As you walk along the streets, you can look into the rooms and see 

 the ladies engaged with their fancy work, etc. They have no need of 

 glass windows to keep out the cold, but have shutters or blinds which 

 are closed at night. 



In Sagua la Grande the town is a little distant from the wharf, and 

 the captains were obliged to take the train back and forth. They 

 always rode in the first-class car, while the American Consul took the 

 third-class. One of the captains asked him why he rode in the third- 

 class car. " I ride in the third-class car," he replied, "because there is 

 no fourth-class." One could not but admire such independence. Our 

 government does not provide a very liberal allowance for some of its 

 consuls, and they are obliged to practice the most rigid economy and 

 get what they can from travellers. West India rum is so plentiful here 

 that the sailors are always begging to go on shore. One evening two 

 were granted permission to go. Sometime during the night, we were 

 aroused by the news that the two were overboard ; in trying to get on 

 board they had both fallen into the water. All hands turned out to 

 rescue tliem, and soon I heard them tossed upon deck like logs of 

 wood. Those two did not go on shore again. 



