cks at 200,000, and the whites at 700,000.
Havana is flooded with lottery-ticket vendors. They infest every
eating-house and public way, and vex you at dinner, in your walks and
rides. They sell for one grand lottery, established and guaranteed by
the government, always in operation, and yielding to the state a net
revenue of nearly two millions a year. The Cubans are infatuated with
this lottery. All classes seem to embark in it. Its effect is especially
bad on the slaves, who invest in it all they can earn, beg, or steal,
allured by the glorious vision of possibly purchasing their freedom, and
elevating themselves into the class of proprietors.
Some gentlemen at Le Grand's have been to a cock-fight. I shall be
obliged to leave the island without seeing this national sport for which
every town, and every village has a pit, a Valle de Gallos. They tell me
it was a very exciting scene among the spectators. Negroes, free and
slave, low whites, coolies, and men of high condition were all
frantically betting. Most of the bets were made by holding up the
fingers and by other signs, between boxes and galleries. They say I
should hardly credit the large sums which the most ordinary looking men
staked and paid.
I am surprised to find what an impression the Lopez expedition made in
Cuba--a far greater impression than is commonly supposed in the United
States. The fears of the government and hopes of sympathizers
exaggerated the force, and the whole military power of the government
was stirred against them. Their little force of a few hundred
broken-down men and lads, deceived and deserted, fought a body of eight
times their number, and kept them at bay, causing great slaughter. The
railroad trains brought the wounded into Havana, car after car; rumors
of defeat filled the city; artillery was sent out; and the actual loss
of the Spaniards, in killed and wounded, was surprisingly large. On the
front wall of the Cabana, plainly seen from the deck of every vessel
that leaves or enters the port, is a monument to the honor of those who
fell in the battle with the filibusteros. The spot where Lopez was
garroted, in front of the Punta, is pointed out, as well as the slope of
the hill from the castle of Atares, where his surviving followers were
shot.
XXI.
A SUMMING-UP: Society, Politics, Religion, Slavery, Resources and
Reflections
To an American, from the free states, Cuba presents an object of
singular interest.
|