Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. III.djvu/235

Rh ladies of the second and third class are also fond of smoking their cigaritos, and it is asserted that, of the population of Cuba, one-third is occupied in the preparation of the cigars, and that the other two-thirds smoke them.

Two different styles of physiognomy are very evident among the population of the city. The one has refined features, an oval countenance, a proud and often gloomy expression; this belongs to those of Castilian descent. The second has a round countenance, flat, broad features, a jovial but plebeian expression; this marks the Catalonian; the former is spare in form, the latter stout. The Castilian is generally met with among the government officials; the Catalonian among the tradespeople. The latter form themselves into guilds and corporations, and are not on good terms either with Castilians or Creoles. The Creoles are good people, and seem to inherit from the delicious climate of the island, a mild and inoffensive temperament.

I had wished to see in Jamaica the negroes who govern themselves as a Christian community; and though I have not been able to do so, I have obtained a tolerably clear idea of their condition from the elder Mr. F. and two of his acquaintance from that island. It appears that the Christianised negro remains very faithful to his African turn of mind. There have been built for them, in Jamaica, large houses, with convenient rooms, kitchens, and gardens, in which they might possess all the advantages of the domicile and the workshop, private life and the life of association combined; but in vain! The large, convenient stone house stands empty. The negro likes neither stone-house nor association. The highest aim of the negro is to be able to purchase his own little plot of ground, a “mountain,” as it is called, where he can erect for himself a birch-bark hut thatched with palm-leaves, plant his native trees, and grow sugar-cane, or maize and edible roots. He labours to gain for himself