t time, and become Don Benigno's guest once more.
Our destination is La Socapa, a small fishing village three miles
distant from town. The only way to reach La Socapa (which is situated at
the narrow entrance of the Cuban Bay, and faces the Morro Castle which
stands on the opposite bank) is by water. We therefore hire a heavy
boat, and after an hour's sail along the sinuous harbour, we are landed
at La Socapa.

There are no 'apartments to let' at this favourite watering-place. When
a Cuban gentleman proposes to rusticate with his family at this
locality, he hires an empty house and fits it up with some furniture
brought by his slaves from his residence in town. Not more than a dozen
cottages are available as lodging-houses at La Socapa; the village being
occupied by fishermen and their families. Don Benigno's temporary abode
is isolated from the village and stands on an eminence looking seawards.
It is a single-storied habitation and provides the usual accommodations
of a Cuban country-house.

There are no bathing machines at La Socapa. Those who are inclined for a
dip in the sea betake themselves to secluded spots on the coast, and
disrobe themselves behind rocks and bushes. 'Tiburones,' or sharks,
occasionally visit this neighbourhood, and as these voracious creatures
have a strange partiality for human limbs, the bathers are careful not
to venture beyond certain stones which have been placed for the purpose
of keeping out the greedy invaders.

Sometimes we indulge in a little fishing off the banks of the harbour,
or the gentlemen of our party take their sporting guns to an adjacent
wood where wild pigeons, partridges, quails and guinea-fowl abound. This
sport may be varied by a hunt after wild deer, small specimens of which
are to be obtained in these parts. Our favourite evening amusement is
lobster-hunting. For this sport, a big barge is procured, and, after
having been furnished with carpets and rugs for the ladies'
accommodation, we proceed to navigate the shores and creeks of the
harbour. Three or four black fishermen accompany us and bear long
torches of wood, by the light of which the ground beneath the shallow
water is visible. Our prey is secured by throwing a net, in the meshes
of which the lobster becomes entangled; but should this prove
ineffectual, a long pole forked at one end is thrust over the creature's
hard back, and as he struggles to free himself from the pronged embrace,
a nimble negro dives i