nce it
would issue in a minute or more, from nose, eyes, ears, and even through
the pores of her mahogany-colored skin, as it appeared to us.

We touched at many little ports, all of them very pretty and
picturesque; little quiet basins of blue water, with the houses
scattered about along the hill sides, and half hidden by foliage; the
white surf thundering outside, and the surface, inside, glassy smooth.
Our last port in Cuba was Santiago, since made memorable as the scene of
the murder of the gallant and unfortunate Fry, and his companions in
misfortune. Should these lines ever meet the eye of any of his old
friends and comrades in the United States Navy, they will bear witness,
that a brave and noble gentleman was there cruelly done to death. He had
lost everything by our war, and dire poverty, with the responsibility of
a family to support, forced him to the desperate venture of running the
blockade in Cuba. _Morally_ he was not more criminal than the British
naval officers, who engaged in the same hazardous pursuit during our
struggle.

FOOTNOTE:

[8] The educated Cubans must be exonerated from this charge. Many of
this class have been at the schools and colleges in the United States;
and admire our republican institutions. They are even now, and have been
for years, maintaining a desperate struggle for the establishment of
these institutions among themselves.

CHAPTER VI.

San Domingo.--The Island of Hayti and its Inhabitants.--St.
Thomas.--General Santa Anna.--The Mail Steamer Atrato.--Arrival at
Southampton.--English Scenery.--The Major fails.--The Giraffe
Purchased.--A Claim against the Confederate Government.--The Hon.
J. M. Mason.--Credit of the Confederate Government Abroad.--An
improper Agent.--Captain Bullock.--The Giraffe Ready for
Sea.--Glasgow.--Our last Dinner.--Our Scotch Landlady and Head
Waiter.--We part with the Major.--Hot Punch and Scotch Babies.--A
Reminiscence.

We touched at the little port of San Domingo in the island of Dominica
on our way to St. Thomas; and lay at anchor there long enough to allow
the passengers to visit the shore for a few hours. It was once a
prosperous town, but is now in ruins, and hovels stand upon the very
sites where once arose magnificent palaces; for it was at one time the
chief seat of the Spanish Empire in the New World, and the place of
residence of Columbus himself. Cortez, the Conqueror of Mexico, on