THE FOETIPICATIONS. 157 



basin communicates with three creeks, those of Regla, 

 (iiiiiiiiivacoa, and Atares; in this last there are some springs 

 of fresh water. The town of the Havannah, surrounded by 

 walls, forms a promontory bounded on the south by the 

 arsenal, and on the north by the fort of La Punta. After 

 passing beyond some wrecks of vessels sunk in the shoals of 

 La Luz, we no longer find eight or ten, but five or six fathoms 

 of water. The castles of Santo Domingo de Atares and San 

 Carlos del Principe, defend the town on the westward ; they 

 are distant from the interior wall, on the land side, the one 

 6GO toises, the other 1240. The intermediate space is filled 

 by the suburbs (arrabales or barrios extra muros) of the Hor- 

 con, Jesu-Maria, Gruadaloupe, and Senor de la Salud, which 

 from year to year encroach on the Field of Mars (Campo 

 de Marte). The great edifices of the Havannah, the cathe- 

 dral, the Casa del Grovierno, the house of the commandant of 

 the marine, the Correo or General Post Office, and the 

 Factory of Tobacco, are less remarkable for beauty than for 

 solidity of structure. The streets are for the most part 

 narrow and unpaved. Stones being brought from Vera 

 Cruz, and very difficult of transport, the idea was conceived 

 a short time before my voyage, of joining great trunks of 

 trees together, as is done in G-ermany and Russia, when 

 dykes are constructed across marshy places. This project 

 was soon abandoned, and travellers newly arrived beheld with 

 surprise fine trunks of mahogany sunk in the mud of the 

 Havannah. At the time of my sojourn there, few towns of 

 Spanish America presented, owing to the want of a good 

 police, a more unpleasant aspect. People walked in mud up 

 to the knee ; and the multitude of caleches or volantes (the 

 characteristic equipage of the Havannah), of carts loaded 

 with casks of sugar, and porters elbowing passengers, ren- 

 dered walking most disagreeable. The smell of tasajo often 

 poisons the houses and the winding streets. But it appears 

 that of late the police has interposed, and that a manifest 

 improvement has taken place in the cleanliness of the streets ; 

 that the houses are more airy, and that the Calle de loa 

 Mercadores presents a fine appearance. Here, as in the 

 oldest towns of Europe, an ill-traced plan of streetg can 

 only be amended by slow degrees. 

 There are two fine public walks ; one called the Alameda, 



