occasionally prevails upon me to oblige the company with some of my
reminiscences of popular European airs.

The productions of such foreigners as have been inspired to compose
pieces founded on Cuban music, are also included in Don Laureano's
repertory. Ravina's far-famed 'Habaneros,' Gottschalk's 'Ojos Criollos'
and Salaman's 'Spanish Caprice,' are favourites with a Cuban audience.
But, like all Cuban and Spanish music, they require to be played with a
certain local sentiment, and it is for this reason that the most
accomplished European performers often fail to satisfy the Cuban musical
appetite. Under the practised hands of a Cuban player, however, every
justice is done to the compositions I have quoted.

Don Laureano's piano does not differ from any other piano, save that its
mechanism is in some way adapted to suit the requirements of a tropical
climate. Pianos of American manufacture are popular in Cuba; but
Pleyel's instruments are preferred by some, on account of their soft
tone and durability. A piano is an expensive luxury in the West Indies;
its intrinsic value being comparatively small when the cost of its
transfer from Europe or America, and the duty charged thereon, are
considered. Pianos, moreover, do not last as long in the tropics as they
do in colder climates, and great care is accordingly taken of their
delicate machinery. To ensure against any moisture which may ascend from
the marble or brick floor of the chamber in which the instrument is
lodged, small glass cups are placed as insulators under the castors. It
is considered highly detrimental to the tone of a piano to use it during
damp or wet weather; so, on a rainy day, the instrument is locked up and
the key carefully concealed by its owner.

Among the coloured community are many accomplished performers on every
instrument except the piano; for, somehow, the dark digits of these
gentlemen do not adapt themselves to the white and black ivories.

Veritable 'negro minstrels' are, in Cuba, as plentiful as blackberries;
but, as they 'never perform out of' the island, their renown is purely
local. The mulatto, Urriola, is famous for his performances on the
cornet-a-piston and the double-bass, and his young son is a favourite
flute-player. Lino Boza is the name of a distinguished negro performer
on the clarionet. He is also a popular composer of Cuban dance music.
These musical geniuses are all free, and reside in La Calle del Rey
Pelayo--a quarter