Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. III.djvu/173

Rh grief occasioned by the sight of so much flogging, and of the many cruelties, which, in many cases, a kind and serious word might have prevented the necessity of! The negro nation is wonderfully susceptible to kindness and indulgence when they are judiciously used. They are capable of becoming the best and the most devoted of servants and friends.”

The German overseer of a plantation, La Sonona, belonging also to Mr. P., made the following remarks regarding negro slaves:—

“They are not at all difficult to manage, if they are treated, at the same time, with firmness and kindness. They love regularity and decision in their masters, and obey without difficulty when they are treated with equanimity and reason. It will not do to be remiss; neither is there any necessity for severity and cruelty.” This I believe to be the truth; and well would it be if many gentlemen would believe so too, and then treat them according to this belief; but a despotic temper and passion are often the masters' master, and the slaves suffer in consequence.

The most remarkable occurrence that has happened to me, since I last wrote, is my having seen the Southern Cross, and the cuculio, or “the Cuban firefly,” which now begins to make its appearance; but which is not a fly but a beetle, which in form and appearance resembles our Thor-beetle, only somewhat longer and narrower. It flies in the same manner, but more slowly and much higher, and produces during its flight a still louder and more buzzing sound. It emits light in two ways, when it creeps along, or is still, from two round, small shining points immediately behind the eyes, and I read by the light thus produced with great ease last evening, by conducting the cuculio along the lines like a little lamp; and, secondly, when it flies, it emits from an opening in the stomach, a strong clear light, now quickly shining