CHAPTER XXVI.....399

Distances from Cienfuegos to Havana--Railroads--Three classes of passenger-cars--Smoking--Rain-drops--Harvest--Lo! the poor ox--Goads--Sugar-cane in bloom--Cattle-herders--The war--Arabian stock of horses--Devastations by the insurgents--Vegetation and variety--Depots and drinking--Flowers--Fences from vegetation--Royal palm and its uses--Slaves gathering palm-fruit--Great variety of growth--Cactus family--Sugar and sugar-makers--Negro slaves and coolies--Their miserable quarters--Chicken-fighting--Inhuman treatment of the poor fowls--Matanzas--A Pentecostal illustration--"English and French spoken"--Dinner and its condiments--Matanzas Bay at night--The tough old tars--Their families on shore--The phosphorescent lights on the water--The plaza and hotel--Our French _valet de chambre_--_Siesta_--My _café_--_El volante_--Up the mountain-side--_El Cueva de Bellamar_, being a remarkable subterranean temple--Stalactites and stalagmites--Names given to the different formations inside the cave--Return to Matanzas.