268 CUBAN CIGARS. 
root or middle of the leaf. One elaborate process follows 
another for the perfection of a work of art—for as such we 
must regard a cigar.” 
Hazard, in his admirable work on Ouba, devotes consider- 
able space to cigars, their manufacture, varieties, and use, in 
which he speaks of the various brands as follows :— 
“The brands known as ‘ Yara Mayau, and the ‘ Guisa,” 
are perhaps the most celebrated made upon the Island. Of 
the ‘ Yara,’ which has some considerable reputation, partic- 
ularly in the London market, I confess I cannot speak favor- 
ably. Cigars that I smoked made from this leaf, and which 
are much smoked in the vicinity of Santiago de Cuba, I 
found had a peculiar saline taste which was very unpleasant, 
as also a slight degree of bitterness ; many smokers, however, 
become very fond of this flavor. When I state that in 
Havana alone there are over one hundred and twenty-five 
manufacturers of cigars, it will readily be understood there 
must be a great many inferior cigars made even in Cuba. 
Havana may be called the ‘City of cigars,’ from its reputa- 
tion and the immense number of factories there are in it for 
the manufacture of cigars, from the smallest shop opening 
on the street, employing three or four hands to the immense 
fabricos erected expressly for this purpose, and employing 
five or six hundred. 
“Let not any one imagine, then, that because he is in 
Havana he will get no poor cigars, for a greater mistake can 
= 3 _¢ not be made, for 
just as vile trash 
can there be pur- 
chased asany 
where; and it 
appeared to me 
that in’ buying, 
from time to time 
in different 
Sabricos, a few 
cigars it was 
rarely I found a 
really good one. 
~It behooves, 
then, every lover 
of a good cigar 
ee é to make himself 
familiar with the best makers and brands, and to purchase 
CUBAN CIGAR SHOP, 
