Cigars 1 8 1 



occasion of both French and English adopting the 

 cigar from the Spaniards. The importation of cigars 

 into England was prohibited, and for many years 

 they could be obtained from ship captains only. After 

 the peace of 1815, cigars were admitted at the duty 

 of 1 8s. a pound. So little were they smoked, how- 

 ever — smoking then being under the ban of society — 

 that in 1823 only 26 pounds of cigars were imported. 

 The duties were reduced, and by 1830 the import of 

 cigars had reached 253,882 pounds for the year. 

 They were then strictly an aristocratic luxury, and 

 their importation was an important factor in the 

 renascence of smoking, beaux who scorned the 

 plebeian pipe readily puffing the courtly cigar. 



To make a reputation is easy ; to keep it is the test 

 of greatness. Hence Cuba is not so famous for 

 having given tobacco to Europe as for retaining, not 

 only undimmed, but actually increased during the 

 flight of centuries, the good name of her tobacco. 



As every smoker knows, the finest cigars in the 

 world are made of tobacco grown in the Vuelta 

 Abajo, or Lower Valley, about five miles north-west 

 of Havana. Here no artificial fertilizers are needed, 

 as the river enriches the land with an alluvial deposit 

 every year. This land, combining all the elements 

 essential to the cultivation of the finest tobacco, is 

 only 100 miles in length by 25 miles in breadth. 

 Tobacco has been grown here since 1580, the manu- 

 facture of cigars being a Government monopoly until 

 181 5, when this and other restrictions on the tobacco 

 industry were removed by Spain. 



The vegas, or tobacco farms, are situated principally 



