To the Gentlemen of the Saturday Club, this narrative of a short absence from home and from their society, is dedicated....

Saturday, the twelfth day of February, 1859, is a dull, dark day in New York, with visitations of snow squalls, as the United States Mail Steamer Cahawba swings at her pier, at the foot of Robinson St...

Sunday, February 13.⁠—It is cold and rough, though not at all stormy, and those who are on deck wear thick coats and caps. There is no clergyman on board, and we have no religious service. Capt. Bullo...

Thursday, February 17.⁠—Again a beautiful, warm day. I wake, and the first glance out of my stateroom window shows the sea and sky flushed with the red of a bright sunrise. Awnings are spread; straw-h...

Friday, February 18.⁠—We are to go in at sunrise, and few, if any, are the passengers that are not on deck at the first glow of dawn. Before us lie the novel and exciting objects of the night before. ...

To a person unaccustomed to the tropics or the south of Europe, I know of nothing more discouraging than the arrival at the inn or hotel. It is nobody’s business to attend to you. The landlord is stra...

If mosquito nets were invented for the purpose of shutting mosquitoes in with you, they answer their purpose very well. The beds have no mattresses, and you lie on the hard sacking. This favors coolne...

Breakfast, and again the cool marble floor, white-robed tables, the fruits and flowers, and curtains gently swaying, and women in morning toilets. Besides the openness to view, these rooms are strange...

Tomorrow, I am to go, at eight o’clock either to the church of San Domingo, to hear the military mass, or to the Jesuit church of Belen; for the service of my own church is not publicly celebrated, ev...

Monday, February 2.⁠—Rose before six and walked as usual, down the Paseo, to the sea baths. How refreshing is this bath, after the hot night and close rooms! At your side, the wide blue sea with its d...

As there are no plantations to be seen near Havana, I determine to go down to Matanzas, near which the sugar plantations are in full tide of operation at this season. A steamer leaves here every night...

Took the train for Limonar, at 2:30 p.m. There are three classes of cars, all after the American model, the first of about the condition of our first-class cars when on the point of being condemned as...

At some seasons, a visit may be a favor, on remote plantations; but I know this is the height of the sugar season, when every hour is precious to the master. After a brief toilet, I sit down with them...

When I came out from my chamber this morning, the elder Mr. C⁠⸺ had gone. The watchful Negress brought me coffee, and I could choose between oranges and bananas, for my fruit. The young master had bee...

If the master of a plantation is faithful and thorough, will tolerate no misconduct or imposition, and yet is humane and watchful over the interests and rights, as well as over the duties of the Negro...

Instead of the posada by the waterside, I take up my quarters at a hotel kept by Ensor, an American, and his sister. Here the hours, cooking, and chief arrangements are in the fashion of the country, ...

Saturday, February 28.⁠—At eight o’clock this morning, I take my leave of Matanzas, by the railroad for Havana. Although the distance to Havana, as the bird flies, is only sixty miles, the railroad, w...

The warm bath round the corner, is a refreshment after a day’s railroad ride in such heat; and there, in the front room, the man in his shirt sleeves is serving out liquor, as before, and the usual co...

At break of day, I am in the delightful sea baths again, not ill-named Recreo and Elíseo. But the forlorn chain gang are mustered before the Presidio. It is Sunday, but there is no day of rest for the...

Drove out over the Paseo de Tacon to the Cerro, a height, formerly a village, now a part of the suburbs of Havana. It is high ground, and commands a noble view of Havana and the sea. Coming in, I met ...

A bullfight has been advertised all over the town, at the Plaza de Toros. Shall we go? I would not, if ’twere only pleasure that I was seeking. As I am sure I expect only the contrary, and wish merely...

The people of Cuba have a mode of calling attention by a sound of the tongue and lips, a sort of “P⁠—s⁠—t!” after the fashion of some parts of the continent of Europe. It is universal here; and is use...

Tuesday, March 1.⁠—Rise early, and walk to the sea baths, and take a delightful float and swim. And refreshing it is, after a feverish night in my hot room, where I did not sleep an hour all night, bu...

To an American, from the free States, Cuba presents an object of singular interest. His mind is occupied and almost oppressed by the thought of the strange problems that are in process of solution aro...

When the liberal constitutions were in force in Spain, in the early part of this century, the benefits of them extended to Cuba. Something like a provincial legislature was established; juntas, or adv...

No religion is tolerated but the Roman Catholic. Formerly the church was wealthy, authoritative and independent, and checked the civil and military power by an ecclesiastical power wielded also by the...

It is difficult to come to a satisfactory conclusion as to the number of slaves in Cuba. The census of 1857 puts it at 375,000; but neither this census nor that of 1853 is to be relied upon, on this p...

Cuba contains more good harbors than does any part of the United States south of Norfolk. Its soil is very rich, and there are no large wastes of sand, either by the sea or in the interior. The coral ...

All day there have been earnest looks to the northwest, for the smoke of the Cahawba. We are willing and desirous to depart. Our sights are seen, our business done, and our trunks packed. While we are...

Thursday, March 3.⁠—The open sea, fine weather, moderate breeze, and awnings spread, as it is still hot in the sun. The young gentleman who was at Mrs. Almy’s, Mr. G⁠⸺ survived to be brought on board....

I have no right to introduce the public to the house of Mr. C⁠⸺. But that has already been done. Many tourists, and last and most unreservedly of all, Miss Bremer, in her Homes of the New World, have ...