ught to the surface by divers, who descend with a leather
bag, the mouth of which being opened over the bubbling spring is
quickly filled and closed again, being drawn to the surface by those
who are left there to assist the diver, who hastens upward for air. In
descending his feet are weighted with stones, which being cast off at
the proper moment, he naturally rises at once to the surface. This
operation is repeated until a sufficient quantity of fresh water is
procured. There is no mystery, however, as to the source of these
springs. The rain first falls on the distant mountains, and finding
its way downward through the fissures of rocky ledges, pursues its
course until it gushes forth in the bed of the gulf.

CHAPTER II.

Among the Islands. -- San Salvador. -- A Glimpse at the
Stars. -- Hayti. -- The Gulf Stream. -- The Caribbean Sea. --
Latitude and Longitude. -- The Southern Coast of Cuba. -- A
Famous Old Fortress. -- Fate of Political Prisoners. -- The
Oldest City in Cuba. -- The Aborigines. -- Cuban Cathedrals.
-- Drinking Saloons. -- Dogs, Horses, and Coolies. -- Scenes
in Santiago de Cuba. -- Devoured by Sharks. -- Lying at
Anchor. -- Wreck of a Historic Ship. -- Cuban Circulating
Medium. -- Tropical Temperature.

After leaving Nassau we stood northward for half a day in order to get
a safe and proper channel out of the crooked Bahamas, where there is
more of shoal than of navigable waters, leaving a score of small
islands behind us inhabited only by turtles, flamingoes, and sea
birds. But we were soon steaming due south again towards our objective
point, the island of Cuba, five hundred miles away. San Salvador was
sighted on our starboard bow, the spot where Columbus first landed in
the New World, though even this fact has not escaped the specious
arguments of the iconoclasts. Nevertheless, we gazed upon it with
reverent credulity. It will be found laid down on most English maps as
Cat Island, and is now the home of two or three thousand colored
people. San Salvador is nearly as large as New Providence, and is said
to claim some special advantages over that island in the quality of
its fruits. It is claimed that the oranges grown here are the sweetest
and best in the world, the same excellence being attributed to its
abundant yield of pineapples and other tropical fruits.

There are so many of these small islands in the Bahama group