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what elevation it is above the level of the sea, as up to the present 

 time no one had been up, and its height was only supposed to be 

 7,ooD odd feet. 



When we first spoke of it, a great many people said they 

 would go, but as soon as we began to make definite plans, and 

 the affair seemed likely to come to pass, nearly every one drew 

 back under some pretense or other, so that we found our numbers 

 reduced to five, and in consequence of this were unable to go 

 down the coast in the steamer as at first intended, but had to 

 charter a small sailing vessel, as the steamer would have been 

 too expensive. 



I did not at all like the idea of a sailing vessel, as my time is 

 not my own, and I knew we were as likely to be ten days as one, 

 on the passage — but sooner than not go at all, I agreed to it. 



Everybody then began to discourage the idea, which is another 

 indication of the Creole character — we were either going to die 

 of fever, caught by sleeping out, or fall down a precipice, or get 

 killed by the wild boars or runaway negroes, and it was certain 

 that we should never get to the top, however we paid no attention 

 to what they said, and as the result proved, they were all wrong. 



On Saturday evening 31st Mar. at 7 o'clock we all assembled 

 — viz. Enrique and Agustin Sagebien — civil engineers — Ernest 

 Despaigne — Gent. — Carlos Jenneret — a Swiss watchmaker, and 

 myself — the two last very fond of natural history — and three 

 negroes to carry our things. As soon as we arrived at the wharf, 

 where we were to embark on board the "Ygnacia" (a small 

 schooner of about 40 tons) Capt. Jose de los Santos — it began to 

 rain, so we waited a little in a tienda near. While there Jenneret 

 managed to knock down our instrument for taking the height 

 (a hypometer) and broke it. He and Enrique went back to 

 Cuba* and borrowed another one smaller and not so tender. 

 So that we were not ready for sea before 10.30. Nearly every 

 night here we have a "terral" or wind off land, which enables 

 the vessels to get out of the bay, but that night as if we were 

 doomed to meet with every possible obstacle, there was none, 



* Many people still speak of Santiago de Cuba as simply " Cuba," Mr. Rams- 

 den writes that the older generation of Cubans always did so. — Ed. 



