232 



iiumboldt's cub a. 



CHAPTER VII. 



RACES. 



But two now in the Antilles — Indians have disappeared — Confusion 

 of early historians relative to their numbers — Character of 

 estimates by early voyagers — Why Cuba might not have been 

 as populous as represented — Cruelties of first settlers — Early 

 mode of computing population — Movement of colonization in 

 Cuba — Law of proportion of races — Havana — Cuatro Villas — 

 Puerto Principe — St. Jago de Cuba — Density of population 

 — Populous and uninhabited districts — Impossibility of the mili- 

 tary defence of the island — Intellectual culture — Intelligence 

 of the Habaneros — Apparent distance from Europe diminished — 

 Declining influence of the old Spaniards — Admirable institutions in 

 Havana — The necessity of reform. 



As the primitive population of the Antilles has 

 entirely disappeared (the Caribbean zambos, a mix- 

 ture of natives and blacks, having been removed 

 from the island of San Vicente to Ratan, in 1796) 

 we must consider their present population (2,850,000), 

 as being entirely of European and African blood. 

 The pure blacks form nearly two-thirds of it, the 

 whites one-sixth, and the mixed races one-seventh. 

 In the Spanish colonies on the continent, we find 



