138 GRANADA. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



GRANADA. 



Departure from Granada — The Lake — River San Juan — San Juan del 

 Norte — Sailing from San Juan del Norte — At Sea — Arrival in New 

 York — New York in 1853- 1854 — International Exhibition of New 

 York — Adelina Patti — Natural History of New York — Humming 

 Birds — The English Sparrow — Population — Climate — Industry 

 Commerce. 



EFORE leaving Granada, I may say a few words about 

 its inhabitants. I found them always sociable and 

 sympathetic to strangers. Once admitted in a family, you 

 could depend on a hearty welcome, and soon was considered 

 as one of the family. Distractions being scarce, it was the 

 custom to make frequent visits one to another, principally at 

 night. Chocolate and cigarettes were usually offered to the 

 guests in the course of these visits. It is there that I saw, for 

 the first time, ladies smoking cigarettes. Among the people, 

 who were a mixture of Indians and Negroes, with all their 

 half-breeds, women used to smoke cigars. 



One of the most extraordinary objects which attracted 

 my attention during the passage of a religious procession was 

 to see Jesus Christ represented black. The majority of the 

 inhabitants being of that colour, hence the probable reason of 

 such a thing. 



On the 1 8th of May, 1853, I embarked in a large boat 

 waiting for me on the lake. Excepting a small covering of 

 palm leaves, erected at the back part of the boat, it was open 

 on all sides. It was crammed with goods, forming an elevated 

 floor. On each side was a large board on which the water- 

 men walked, when pushing the boat with palancas (long 

 poles). The boat was manoeuvred by ten rowers and one at 

 the helm, all of them black and totally naked. 



On that day, they only rowed to some small islands close 

 by, where they usually make their provisions of plantains, 

 which is their principal and sometimes sole food. 



The plantations were in the midst of the primeval forests 

 which cover these islands. It was a grand sight, quite 



