a goodly outside; but you tap it, and
find it a shell. Their approaches, too, are by covered ways. When going
from one piece of wood to another, they construct a covered way, very
small and low, as a protection against their numerous enemies, and
through this they advance to their new labors. I think that they may sap
the strength of a whole roof of rafters, without the observer being able
to see one of them, unless he breaks their covered ways, or lays open
the wood.

The course of life at the plantation is after this manner. At six
o'clock, the great bell begins the day, and the Negroes go to their
work. The house servants bring coffee to the family and guests, as they
appear or send for it. The master's horse is at the door, under the
tree, as soon as it is light, and he is off on his tour, before the sun
rises. The family breakfasts at ten o'clock, and the people--la gente,
as the technical phrase is for the laborers, breakfast at nine. The
breakfast is like that of the cities, with the exception of fish and the
variety of meats, and consists of rice, eggs, fried plantains, mixed
dishes of vegetables and fowls, other meats rarely, and fruits, with
claret or Catalonia and coffee. The time for the siesta or rest, is
between breakfast and dinner. Dinner hour is three for the family, and
two for the people. The dinner does not differ much from the breakfast,
except that there is less of fruit and more of meat, and that some
preserve is usually eaten, as a dessert. Like the breakfast, it ends
with coffee. In all manner of preserves, the island is rich. The almond,
the guava, the cocoa, the soursop, the orange, the lime, and the mamey
apple afford a great variety. After dinner, and before dark, is the time
for long drives; and, when the families are on the estates, for visits
to neighbors. There is no third meal; but coffee, and sometimes tea, is
offered at night. The usual time for bed is as early as ten o'clock, for
the day begins early, and the chief out-door works and active
recreations must be had before breakfast.

In addition to the family house, the Negro quarters, and the
sugar-house, there is a range of stone buildings, ending with a kitchen,
occupied by the engineer, the mayoral, the boyero, and the mayordomo,
who have an old Negro woman to cook for them, and another to wait on
them. There is also another row of stone buildings, comprising the
store-house, the penitentiary, the hospital, and the lying-in room.