ll-fight. The stores are
open as usual, the same cries are heard on the streets, and the
lottery tickets are vended on every corner. The individuals who devote
themselves to this business are in numbers like an army with banners.
They rend the air with their cries, promising good luck to all
purchasers, while they flourish their scissors with one hand, and
thrust the sheet of printed numbers in your face with the other, ready
to cut any desired ticket or portion of a ticket. The day proves
equally propitious for the omnipresent organ-grinder and his
ludicrously-dressed little monkey, a la Napoleon; the Chinese peddler;
the orange and banana dealer; and the universal cigarette purveyor.
Still, the rough Montero from the country, with his long line of
loaded mules or ponies, respectfully raises his broad Panama with one
hand while he makes the sign of the cross with the other as he passes
the church door. The churches of Havana look very old and shabby
compared with those of peninsular Spain, where the splendor of church
ornamentation reaches its acme.

In and about the commercial part of the town, the out-door gambler
forms a conspicuous feature of the Sabbath, seated upon a cloth spread
upon the ground, and armed with cards, dice, cups, and other
instruments. With voluble tongue and expressive pantomime urging the
passer-by to try his luck, he meets with varying success. Many who are
drawn into the net are adroitly permitted to win a little, and
afterwards to lose much. Sailors on shore for a day's liberty are
profitable game for these thimble-riggers, as they are called with us.
Both Spaniards and Creoles patronize them, and occasionally a negro
tries his luck with a trifle. In open squares, or at the intersection
of several streets, one sometimes sees a carpet spread upon the
ground, upon which an athlete accompanied by a couple of expert boys,
dressed in high-colored tights ornamented with spangles, diverts the
throng by exhibiting gymnastics. At the close of the performance, a
young girl in a fancy dress and with long, flowing hair passes among
the spectators and gathers a few shillings. Not far away is observed
Punch and Judy in the height of a successful quarrel to the music of a
harp and a violin. The automatic contestants pound and pommel each
other after the conventional fashion.

The city abounds in well-arranged squares, often ornamented by the
royal palm, always a figure of majesty and beauty, with here an