GENERAL VIEWS. 



107 



lately there has been a marked improvement in the 

 cleanliness of the streets. The houses are well ven- 

 tilated, and the street de los Mercaderes presents a 

 beautiful view. There, as in many of our older cities 

 in Europe, the adoption of a bad plan when laying 

 out the city can only be slowly remedied. 



There are two good promenades ; one, the Ala- 

 meda, inside the walls, between the theatre and the 

 hospice of Paula ; and the other outside the walls, 

 running from the Punta fort to the Muralla gate. 

 The first was ornamented with much taste by Peru- 

 ani, an Italian artist, in 1803 ; and the second, 

 known as the extra-mural paseo, is a delightfully 

 cool resort, and generally after sunset is filled with 

 carriages. Its construction was commenced by the 

 Marquis de la Torre, who, of all the governors sent 

 to Cuba, was the first to give an impulse to the im- 

 provement of the police and the municipal regimen of 

 Havana. Don Luis de las Casas, whose memory is 

 also held in high esteem by the inhabitants of 



Havana, and the Count de Santa Clara, have both 

 i. 



improved these grounds. 1 



The botanical garden, near Cam/po Marte, is wor- 



1 A third beautiful paseo, with gardens, was added to these in 

 1836, by General Tacon ; and subsequent governors have improved 

 the old roads and opened several new ones around Havana ; so that 

 its vicinity now affords many delightful drives. 



