experienced in Typhoon Bay, below Hong Kong,
a few years since.

In the harbor, next morning, a sunken wreck was pointed out to us,
which was partially visible at low tide, not far from the shore. Only
the ribs and stanchions are still held together by the stout keel
timbers and lower sheathing. This wreck has lain there unheeded for
years, yet what a story these old timbers might tell, had they only a
tongue with which to give voice to their experience!--literally the
experience of ages. We refer to the remains of the old St. Paul, one
of the ships of the great Spanish Armada that Philip II. sent to
England in 1588, being one of the very few of that famous flotilla
that escaped destruction at the time. What a historical memento is the
old wreck! After a checkered career, in which this ancient craft had
breasted the waves of innumerable seas and withstood the storms of
nearly three centuries, she was burned to the water's edge here in the
harbor of Santiago a few years since, and sunk, where her remains now
lie, covered with slime and barnacles,--a striking emblem of the
nation whose flag she once proudly bore. During the last years of her
career afloat she was used for transporting troops from Europe, and as
a Spanish guard-ship in these seas by the local government. It is
doubtful if it is generally known that this relic of the Spanish
Armada is in existence. Curio-hunters, once put upon the scent, will
probably soon reduce these ancient timbers to chips, and a crop of
canes and snuff-boxes, more or less hideous and more or less
counterfeit, will ensue.

Here we got our first experience of the present currency,--the
valueless circulating medium of Cuba. When one has occasion to visit
the island it is best to take American funds, either in bank-bills or
gold, sufficient to meet all ordinary expenses. Our bank-bills and our
gold are both at a premium. This will also save all necessity for
drawing on home through any local bankers, who have a way of charging
for the accommodation quite after the style of everything Spanish. The
hotel-keepers will require their pay on the basis of Spanish gold, but
will cheerfully allow a premium of six per cent. on American gold or
American bank-bills. As to the banks in Cuba, all are shaky, so to
speak; several have lately failed, and the others might as well do so.
It is not long since the president of the Havana Savings Bank placed a
pistol at his temple and blew his brains out. Mer