hape of dinners is looked for from
the Captain-General, and when I as a stranger suggested the possibility
of such a thing as an invitation happening to me, my companion assured
me that I need not be in the least alarmed. We were introduced into a
well-proportioned hall, with a few marble busts in it and casts of Greek
and Roman statues. Aides-de-camp and general officers were lounging
about, with whom we exchanged distant civilities. After waiting for a
quarter of an hour we were summoned by an official into an adjoining
room and found ourselves in his Excellency's presence. He was a small
gentlemanlike-looking man, out of uniform, in plain morning dress with a
silk sash. He received us with natural politeness; cordiality was
uncalled for, but he was perfectly gracious. He expressed his pleasure
at seeing me in the island; he hoped that I should enjoy myself, and on
his part would do everything in his power to make my stay agreeable. He
spoke of the emancipation of the slaves and of the social state of the
island with pardonable satisfaction, enquired about our own West Indies,
&c., and finally asked me to tell him in what way he could be of service
to me. I told him that I had found such kind friends in Havana already,
that I could think of little. One thing only he could do if he pleased.
I had omitted to bring a passport with me, not knowing that it would be
required. My position was irregular and might be inconvenient. I was
indebted to my letter of introduction to his Excellency for admission
into his dominions. Perhaps he would write a few words which would
enable me to remain in them and go out of them when my visit was over.
His Excellency said that he would instruct the Gobierno Civil to see to
it, an instruction the meaning of which I too sadly understood. I was
not to be allowed to escape the fine. A fresh shower followed of polite
words, and with these we took ourselves away.

The afternoon was spent more instructively, perhaps more agreeably, in a
different scene. The Marques M---- had been a pupil of the Jesuits. He
had personal friends in the Jesuit college at Havana, especially one,
Father Vinez, whose name is familiar to students of meteorological
science, and who has supplemented and corrected the accepted law of
storms by careful observation of West Indian hurricanes. The Jesuits
were as well spoken of in Havana as the Moravians in Jamaica. Everyone
had a good word for them. They alone, as I have said