86 THE STANDARD GUIDE. 
water supply from the Almen- 
dares River. As an illustration 
of the tremendous rainfall which 
occurs at certain seasons of the 
year, it may be noted that the 
Almendares at Vento has been 
known to rise 24 feet above the 
normal level. 
In Havana it is the custom to 
buy household supplies for the 
day only; and in addition to the 
market trade there is a large 
traffic in vegetables and fruits, 
carried on by hucksters and 
street venders. In the early morn¬ 
ing the roads leading to the city 
are filled with countrymen (mon- 
teros) bringing in the products of 
the farms, laden on horses and 
donkeys in large panniers. Not 
infrequently the animals are in 
trains, the leading horse being 
ridden, the second one tied to the 
tail of the first, the third to the 
tail of the second, and so on for 
ten or a dozen, with a dog at- 
THE shoe seller. tached to the tail of the last horse 
for a rear guard. The panniers 
are filled with plantains, oranges, pineapples, melons, sweet potatoes, 
sugar cane, and other commodities. A characteristic sight in Havana 
streets is a mass of green advancing without any visible means of pro¬ 
gression, until closer view reveals that it is a stack of green corn fodder 
covering and enveloping and concealing the animal bearing it. This 
fodder, which is. the staple food of horses, consists of the corn stalks, 
leaves and tassels; it is grown the year round and is brought into town 
in fresh supplies daily. Milk cans are carried in panniers on the backs of 
horses; the old custom of driving cows through the streets and milking 
them at the door has been discontinued. The poultry dealer brings in his live 
chickens and turkeys slung head down from the shoulder; and live pigs 
are carried in the same manner. The rule is to buy chickens alive, for 
they are cocked immediately after killing, which is the reason that the 
flesh of fowls is tough when brought to the table. 
The open grille windows are of course favorable to the street venders 
of all classes, and their musical cries are heard everywhere, Our illus- 
