Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. III.djvu/81

Rh promenade; from the white wall of this monument a jet of clear water is thrown, which falls into a basin.

At ten o'clock, I am again at home, and eating a second breakfast, with a large company, in the light marble hall at an abundant table, but where I take merely coffee, my beloved Carolina rice and an egg. After that I go to my room, write letters, and draw or paint till dinner. After dinner, one or another of my new friends here call in their volante, such being the name of the carriages of Cuba, to drive me out upon one of the beautiful and magnificent public roads beyond the city. In the evening, after tea, I go up to the roof of the house, which is flat, as are all the roofs here, and is called azoteon, surrounded by a low parapet, upon which stand urns, which are generally grey, with raised green ornaments, and little gilt flames at the top. Here I walk alone till late into the night, contemplating the starry heavens above me, and the city below my feet. The Morro-light, as the lofty beacon fire in the fortress of Morro is called, is kindled, and beams like a large, steadily gleaming star with the most resplendent light over the ocean and city. The air is delicious and calm, or breathes merely like a slumbering child; and around me I hear on all sides the sweetest, most serene little twitter, not unlike that of sparrows with us, but more serene, or with a softer sound. I am told that is the little lizards, which are here found in such abundance, and which have the gift of voice.

The city has a most peculiar aspect. The houses are low, and for the most part of but one story, never above two; the streets are narrow, so that in many cases the linen cloth, which serves as a shade to the shops, is stretched over the street from one side to the other. The walls of houses, palaces, or towers, are coloured blue, yellow, green, or orange, and frequently adorned with fresco-painting. The glare of the sunlight on white walls is feared, as injurious to the sight, and hence they are all tinted. No smoke is visible, nor