srBunus of thf city. 
159 
closing and dilatation of the petioles, contrasts with the 
rest, which is whitish and lendilated. It appears like two 
columns, the one surmounting the other. The palmaroal of 
I'oe island of Cuba has leathery leaves rising perpendicularly 
towards the sky, and curved only at the point. The form of 
this plant reminded us ot the vachjiai palm-tree, which covers 
the rocks in the cataracts of the Orinoco, balancing its long 
points over a mist of foam. Here, as in every place where 
the population is concentrated, vegetation diminishes. Those 
palm-trees round the ITavnnnah, and in the amphitheatre 
of Rcgla, on which I delighted to gaze, are disappearing by 
aegrees. The marshy places which I saw covered with 
bamboos, are cultivated and drained. Civilization advances ; 
^od the soil, gradually stripped of plants, scarcely offers any 
trace of its wild abundance. From the Punta to Sau Lazaro, 
from Cabana to Regia, and from Itogla to Atares, the road is 
Covered with houses, and those that surround the bay are of 
bgbt and elegant construction. The phm of these houses is 
traced out by the owners, and they are ordered from the 
United States, like pieces of furniture. Wlien the yellow 
lever rages at the llavannali, the proprietors withdraw to 
Uiose country houses, and to the hills between Regia and 
'd'^^navaeoa, to breathe a purer air. In the coolness of 
bight, when the boats cross the bay, and owing to the phos- 
phorescence of the water, leave behind them long tracks of 
bght, these romantic scenes afford charming and peaceful 
Votreats for those who wish to withdraw from the tumult of 
b populous city. To judge of the progress of cultivation 
*‘’avellers should visit the small jdots of maize, and other 
miinentary plants, the row.s of pine-apples (ananas) in the 
nelds of Cruz de Piedra, and the bishop’s garden (Quinta 
beJ^Ohispo), which of late is bccorac a delicious spot. 
, The town of the llavannah, properly so called, surrounded 
by Walls, is only 900 toises long, and 500 broad ; yet more 
j 'Hji 11,000 iniiabitants, of whom 20,000 are negroes and 
bulnttoos, are crowded together in this narrow space. A 
population nearly as considerable occupies the two great 
suburbs of .Tesu-iMaria and La Salad.* The latter place does 
ot Verity the name it bears ; the temperature of the air 
* indeed lower than in the city, but the streets miglit 
• Salud signifies Health. 
