38 THECUBAREVIEW. 



It was not, however, until we left tlie fine main road and taking down the bars of 

 a fence struck out literally across country, that we realized the value of a volante, for 

 no other carriage known to man would have been capable of traversing that fright- 

 ful country. Our cochero, as is the custom, rode the off horse, which is harnessed some- 

 what in advance of its mate, and skillfully guided us up hill and down dale, over 

 boulders that reached to our axle and out of bogs and ditches that would appall the 

 stoutest heart, with scarcely a jolt, so wonderfully swung and balanced is this peculiar 

 vehicle. Part of our journey lay through pathless cane fields and every now and then 

 we would come upon a great wagon drawn by four oxen which laborers were loading 

 with cane to be conveyed to the sugar mill miles away. The drive consumed over three 

 hours but finally we arrived. 



The house attached to the plantation was mellowed by centuries into the most 

 exquisite tint of ivory and fronted by majestic pillars. It was almost Doric in its sim- 

 plicity and was set behind a time-worn iron fence in the midst of the most beautiful 

 undulating garden imaginable, wherein grew orange and lemon trees, great palms, a pro- 

 fusion of the most fragrant rose bushes, and numberless brilliant tropical growths, the 

 whole presenting a wonderful color scheme of orange and purple, yellow and green, 

 crimson and gold ! The reception room with its plain whitewashed walls and tiled 

 floor, was almost bare of ornament, a large centre-table and several dozen rocking chairs 

 arranged in two solemn rows being the sole furnishings. Our host, who entered with 

 two shyly curious offsprings in his wake, showed at once by his manner that he was of 

 the "beau monde" and was, with his blue eyes and golden hair, as fair as a Swede. This 

 type of Cuban is moreover not at all rare. His wife was however, more the style of 

 person we associate with the south, having dusky hair and heavily fringed dark eyes, 

 a creamy skin and the grace of a fawn in her movements. 



We were the most graciously received, but as they knew no English and we but a 

 few words of Spanish, we had to converse mainly by smiles and gestures and the Cap- 

 tain was kept busy interpreting. We were immediately regaled with every available 

 Cuban refreshment. Oranges w-ere brought in, deftly cut down to the quick by our 

 host and presented to us for consumption on the tines of a fork; mango apples which 

 puckered one's mouth like a persimmon; juicy sticks of sugar-cane which we sucked 

 vigorously until absolutely sickened by its tasteless sweetness ; brimming pitchers of 

 the Cuban's favorite beverage, cocoa milk, rather flat and unpalatable to northern 

 palates; and lastly, wonder of wonders, bottles of American beer, which since our troops 

 were quartered in the country, has become a very popular drink with the natives. 



After this refection we were escorted across the road to the sugar mill where two 

 picturesque-looking negresses with gay bandannas on their heads kept ceaselessly feeding 

 the long slim sticks of cane into the ruthless machine which ground them to bits and 

 separated the juice from the useless pith. The operation was intensely interesting and 

 in our eagerness to see everything, we penetrated into some parts of the building where 

 our shoes were fairly glued to the sugar-encrusted floor and we had to take particular care 

 not to slide down the slippery stairs. The building, like all sugar mills, was open and pro- 

 tected by only a roof. Nearby was another small building, from whose roof splashed a 

 continuous broad stream of cold water, like a miniature rainfall, which after much 

 difficulty I succeeded in elucidating was for the purpose of cooling the cane brought in 

 hot from the sun-smitten fields. 



The juice of the cane after being squeezed out by immense crushers is then boiled 

 in great caldrons and stirred by a negro with a long, flat wooden stick. It is of a most 

 repulsive dark-brown color and smells horribly even a mile away. Great tubs of white 

 lime stand near the vats and this we found was used to bring any impurities of the 

 sugar to the surface, from which they were skimmed as we would scoop grease from 

 soup. 



When the sugar leaves the mill it is coarse in grain and of a rich golden color. I, 

 in my ignorance, had expected to see it come out white. Nevertheless this brown sugar 

 is in use all over the island. The hotels and better class of residents use the refined. 

 We carried away several small bags of different grades. 



Again were we conducted to the casa where refreshments were once more hospitably 

 urged upon us, and two of the seven sons presented each of us with an enormous bouquet 



