26 



THE CUBA REVIEW. 



stare at you unabashed with a frank curii)sity in which there was nothing of boldness 

 but much of interest. The natives are all courteous, and even the lowest has a natural 

 grace and dignity worthy of emulation. 



Cabelleros were seen in picturesque attire riding on old-time high-pommeled Mexican 

 saddles, swift-gaited, sturdy little Cuban ponies, as surefooted as Rocky Mountain burros. 

 One creamy-skinned woman, who from her haughty pose and rich garments, seemed a 

 person of consequence in the province, looked like a print of a hundred years ago. She 

 was riding with a caballero and the long skirt of her green silk habit almost swept the 

 ground. Shading her piquant face was a large soft-brimmed Panama. 



He wlio longs for the picturesque must go to the country for such touches of local 

 color, and the person who, having visited only Havana and Matanzas thinks he has seen 

 Cuba as she really is fmds himself vastly mistaken, for the old-time spirit and langourous 

 atmosphere has almost entirely departed from these busy seaport towns, driven out 

 by the active rush of northern enterprise. 



As we rolled on toward the east the country became more level, and the palms, 

 while showing a greater variety, were stunted in their growth. Ten o'clock brought us 

 to Ciego de Avila, where everybody piled out for a wonderful breakfast served in an 

 oblong shack by one Ah Chong, an alert and canny Chinaman, who having been drawn 

 to that part of the country by the fortunes of war, was far-seeing enough to realize that 

 since the Cuban Company did not run a buffet car in connection with their train he could 

 do a thriving business with its ravenous passengers, and for the sum of 75 cents serve 

 with the utmost expedition a delectable meal of chicken and rice a la Chinese. Chong 

 and I were old acquaintances, so when we again boarded the train he rushed after us, 

 his arms full of sweet oranges and those spicy little red bananas from Baracoa, crying, 

 "vclly good — you likee — Chong give you — goo-by."' 



Made drowsy by our satisfying meal and the increasing heat of the day, we dozed 

 for a time, enjoying after our sleepless night a well-earned siesta, and at one o'clock 

 found we had reached our objective point, 

 Camagiiey, that quaint old city situated thirty 



miles inland from the port of Nuevitas and the M 



commercial queen of all the interior towns of 

 the island, and growing every month greater in 

 importance. 



CUBA— 



"GAN EDAN- 



THE 



GARDEN 



OF 



DELIGHT." 



