A Sojourn in Cuba 
I found to be well watered, well cared for, well 
planted, and full of exceedingly showy and in- 
teresting plants, rare even amid the exhaustless 
luxuriance of Cuba. These squares also con- 
tained fine marble statuary and were furnished 
with seats in the shadiest places. Many of the 
walks were paved instead of graveled. 
The streets of Havana are crooked, laby- 
rinthic, and exceedingly narrow. The sidewalks 
are only about a foot wide. A traveler experi- 
ences delightful relief when, heated and wearied 
by raids through the breadth of the dingy yellow 
town, dodging a way through crowds of men 
and mules and lumbering carts and carriages, 
he at length finds shelter in the spacious, dust- 
less, cool, flowery squares; still more when, 
emerging from all the din and darkness of these 
lanelike streets, he suddenly finds himself out 
in the middle of the harbor, inhaling full- 
drawn breaths of the sea breezes. 
The interior of the better houses which came 
under my observation struck me with the pro- 
fusion of dumpy, ill-proportioned pillars at the 
1 i55 1 
