24 THECUBARF. VIEW 



rest of the island up to the recent date of the construction of the Cuba Company Rail- 

 way, made of this section of the country the one least open to immigration. In 1907 

 the ratio of foreign whites to native whites in this province was above that of any of 

 the other provinces. 



Now the interesting fact is disclosed that this province, with a minimum of intermix- 

 ture of the white and l)!ack races, and with a minimum of importation of new white 

 element from abroad presents, nevertheless, the finest type of the white race in Cuba : 

 rather tall, handsome, often light-eyed, with fair, sunburnt complexion and generally 

 dark hair. Though the number of the population is below that of the other provinces, 

 Camaguey has contributed a fair quota of men of action and of high intellectual attain- 

 ments. There we find also the largest families on the island. The average size of the 

 family in Camaguey is 5.5. For the native white family it is 5.8, and for the white 

 foreign and the negro families it is 5.0. In the rest of the island it is lower. The 

 mininuun is reached in Matanzas with 4.2. In many of the families of Camaguey the 

 Spanish ancestor has to be sought several generations back. In the province of Camaguey 

 the mortality is low and the birth rate is high. The latter was 38.6 for the year 1012, 

 and the death rate was 11.15. The province of Pinar del Rio is the only one presenting 

 a lower figure, 10.25, but its birth rate is low, 22.8 for the year 1912. The province of 

 Camaguey presents also the highest death rate from old age. 



But it is not only in Camaguey: everywhere throughout the island, in the rural and in 

 the urban districts we find the Cuban family ; easily adapted in the cities to the manifesta- 

 tions of the highest civilization, and constituting in the country a hardy race of medium 

 stature, dark complexioned, lean, frugal, capable of working two crops a year from the 

 fertile soil. 



It is a problem well worth careful study by the expansionist of the Anglo-Saxon, 

 Teutonic and other European families to discover how the Spaniard has accomplished 

 the successful colonization of the Tropics. The fact that Spain was found at the end of 

 the 19th century, to be governing her colonics with .utter disregard of the dictates of 

 modern hygiene, should not blind us to the results obtained by her powerful and civiliz- 

 ing initiative in the earlier days of the colonization of the New World. 



There are some noticeable dififerences observable in the manner of living of the Span- 

 iard and the English in the Tropics; differences that perhaps are not as striking to-day 

 as they were formerly. The Spaniard maintained, with regard to his dwelling, the 

 Moorish tradition of Andalusia. He defended himself against the heat by shutting him- 

 self up ; he was afraid of the air, especially the night air ; not so the Englishman. The 

 Spaniard built him large buildings with heavy walls and very large openings for doors 

 and windows, but these were always kept closed, excepting some small wickets. 



We say in Spanish "el espahol es enemigo del arbol", the Spaniard is an enemy of the 

 tree. He certainly was not fond of the dense shrubbery and foliage that we frequently 

 see about English houses in the Tropics. The bare aspect of the huts of the Cuban 

 pea.santry is rather a striking feature of the landscape here. 



May we not suggest that these differences in the ways of living may have protected 

 the Spaniard, to some extent, against the anophelines and malaria? 



Another striking difference between the two stocks of the Caucasian race has been the 

 abuse of alcohol which has characterized the more Northern families. 



A few words, in conclusion, with respect to the actual display of energy made by the 

 white race, or other races, in the Tropics. I believe that general opinion has been mis- 

 guided by preconceived notions. 1 was 1 orn in Cuba, of Spanish descent, and Cuban 

 parents of the white race. I have lived more than half of my life in the temperate zone, 

 and I have worked as hard in the cold country as in the southern land. I am convinced 

 that the capacity for work is the same in both latitudes. The Cuban is active, lively, 

 talkative ; his speech is accompanied with the most extraordinary display of gestures 

 that keep his features and his limbs in constant exercise. This may be misguided 

 energy. 



The Cuban mother, white or black, devotes the same ceaseless tension of purpose to the 

 care of her child as may be seen in any climate ; and the Cuban child is endowed with 

 the same mercurial, inexhaustible mobility of children everywhere. If there be doubters, 

 I would invite them to watch him play ball in the torrid sun. He goes North and he 

 may be a great ball player, or at school he will often stand with the best. The peasant 

 is a light sleeper, working the fields, both summer and winter. We should not forget 

 that the island, with a population little over two million inhabitants, exports products 

 of her soil and her industries at the rate of over 125 million dollars a year. 



History also shows that the Spanish conqueror displayed, in the tropical countries of 

 America, often in the low and hot lands, a degree of energy which he never equalled in 

 his European struggles and achievements. 



