A Sojourn in Cuba 
rain in tepid plashing bucketfuls, accompanied 
with high wind. This was followed by a short 
space of calm, half-cloudy sky, delightfully 
fragrant with flowers, and again the air would 
become hot, thick, and sultry. 
This weather, as may readily be perceived, 
was severe to one so weak and feverish, and 
after a dozen trials of strength over the Morro 
Hill and along the coast northward for shells 
and flowers, I was sadly compelled to see that 
no enthusiasm could enable me to walk to the 
interior. So I was obliged to limit my re- 
searches to within ten or twelve miles of 
Havana. Captain Parsons offered his ship as 
my headquarters, and my weakness prevented 
me from spending a single night ashore. 
The daily programme for nearly all the 
month that I spent here was about as follows: 
After breakfast a sailor rowed me ashore on the 
north side of the harbor. A few minutes 5 walk 
took me past the Morro Castle and out of sight 
of the town on a broad cactus common, about 
as solitary and untrodden as the tangles of 
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