e as closely wedded to national
prejudices as the Chinese. Spain is, at this moment, the most
old-fashioned country of Christendom, and it is only when pressed upon
by absolute necessity that she reluctantly admits of innovation.

Tacon, during his rule in the island, erected outside the city walls,
and near the gate of La Punta, on the shore, a spacious prison, capable
of accommodating five thousand prisoners. It is quadrangular, each side
being some three hundred feet long and fifty high, enclosing a central
square, planted with shrubbery and watered by a cooling and graceful
fountain. The fresh breeze circulates freely through its walls, and it
is considered one of the healthiest spots in the vicinity of the
capital, while it certainly presents a strong contrast to the neglected
precincts of the Campo Santo, hard by.

The fish-market of Havana affords probably the best variety of this
article of any city in the world. The long marble counters display the
most novel and tempting array that one can well imagine; every hue of
the rainbow is represented, and a great variety of shapes. But a curse
hangs over this species of food, plenty and fine as it is, for it is
made a government monopoly, and none but its agents are permitted to
sell or to catch it in the vicinity of the city. This singular law,
established under Tacon, is of peculiar origin, and we cannot perhaps do
better than tell the story, as gathered on the spot, for the amusement
of the reader.

FOOTNOTES:

[25] "Can it be for the interest of Spain to cling to a possession that
can only be maintained by a garrison of twenty-five thousand or thirty
thousand troops, a powerful naval force, and an annual expenditure, for
both arms of the service, of at least twelve million dollars?
Cuba, at this moment, costs more to Spain than the entire naval and
military establishment of the United States costs the federal
government."--_Edward Everett, on the tripartite treaty proposition._

[26] "Doors and windows are all open. The eye penetrates the whole
interior of domestic life, from the flowers in the well-watered court to
the daughter's bed, with its white muslin curtains tied with
rose-colored ribbons."--_Countess Merlin's Letters._

CHAPTER VIII.

THE STORY OF MARTI, THE SMUGGLER.

One of the most successful villains whose story will be written in
history, is a man named Marti, as well known in Cuba as the person of
the governor-general himself. Form