Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/550

546 CUBA abound. The cedar (cedrela odorata, Linn.) furnishes the material of the cigar boxes. The cocoanut palm, the palma real, and the African palm (the Portuguese Parra counted 41 varie- ties of the palm tree), the sour orange, and the lemon are indigenous. Humboldt says : a We might believe that the entire island was origi- nally a forest of palms and wild lime and orange trees. These last, which have a small fruit, are probably anterior to the arrival of the Eu- ropeans, who carried there the agrumi of the gardens, which rarely exceed 10 or 15 ft. in height." The fruits are those common to the tropics. The pineapple is indigenous. Of the alimentary plants, the banana is one of the most important. When the island was dis- covered there were six varieties of the sweet potato cultivated by the natives, as well as the yuca or cassava, and Indian corn. Though the forests are extensive and almost impenetra- ble, they are inhabited by no wild animals larger than the vild dogs which are occasion- ally met with. They resemble wolves both in appearance and habits, and are very destruc- tive to young cattle and poultry. They sprung from the domestic European dog, the change in their size, appearance, and habits having been effected by their wild life through many generations. The jutia is an animal of the size of the muskrat, and resembles in its habits the porcupine and the raccoon of the United States, living in trees and feeding on leaves and fruits. More than 200 species of indige- nous birds, exclusive of the domesticated kinds, are known, many of them remarkable for the beauty of their plumage. Of migratory birds, the ducks of Florida, or del norte, are the most numerous. The indigenous Jiuyuyo is a minia- ture of the English duck, and is of splendid plumage. Birds of prey are few. The list of fishes, according to Poey, contains 641 species. Oysters and other small shellfish are numer- ous, but of inferior quality compared with those of more northern latitudes. The reefs and shallows abound in turtle, which the In- dians bred in large enclosures on the coast to supply their lack of meat; they dried their flesh and thus preserved it for a long time. The alligator, cayman, and iguana are common. There are few snakes : the maja, the largest, sometimes 12 or 14 ft. long, is harmless ; the juba, about 6 ft. long, is venomous. The in- sects are numerous, but none are properly venomous. The bite of the tarantula produces fever, but the scorpion is less poisonous than that of Europe. Among the noxious insects are the mosquito, of which there are 12 varie- ties ; the sand fly ; the nigua or jigger ; the anolium 'bibliotJiecarium, which destroys not only books, but every article of vegetable origin, ^boring through the obstacle which covers it ; and the libijagua, an ant which destroys all living vegetable matter. The latter afforded to ,he Indians a delicious mor- sel in its honeycomb of eggs. The varieties of the butterfly are estimated at 300, and there are as many kinds of flies. The cocuyo, or firefly, is celebrated for its jewel-like beauty, and is often worn by ladies to ornament their dresses. The Florida bee, which is exotic, is similar to the European variety. The indige- nous bee is not classified by Poey as apis melli- fica, but as a trigona fulmpeda. It is much smaller than the Florida bee, and its honey is whiter, but its wax is almost black. The inhabitants of Cuba are mostly of Spanish and of African descent. For a time after the con- quest in 1511, none but Castilians were al- lowed to settle there ; but after the prohibition was removed, colonists from all the provinces, and even from the Canary islands, came thith- er. All these classes of Spaniards are now represented in the island. The Biscayans hire out as mechanics ; the Catalans, who are nu- merous, devote themselves to hard labor ; the Asturians, Castilians, and Andalusians occupy clerkships and pursue the learned professions. In the Eastern department traces still exist of the French emigration from Santo Domingo, and in Cardenas the influence of- North Amer- icans is visible even in the shape of the build- ings. The Germans in Havana devote them- selves to commerce, and they speak Spanish better than most foreigners. The offspring of foreigners, whether black or white, are called criottos, or Creoles ; the children of Creoles are called riollos ; and the country people are known as guagiros, an indigenous term which is also in use on the South American continent. Of the aborigines some families still exist in the Eastern department, as at Caney, near Santiago. They intermarry like the Jews, and their appearance is, as Columbus described it, " not as dark as Canary islanders." The whites consist principally of Spaniards and Creoles, whom political hatred keeps ever apart ; the hatred is not so much personal as collective, on account of their class relations. The Creoles are distinguished by their intelli- gence, conscientiousness, and hospitality. They own sugar estates, houses, and other real estate, while the Spaniards, who are only occasion- ally planters, monopolize most of the trade. The retail trade is almost entirely carried on by Catalans, so much so that in the interior all Spaniards are known as Catalans. All the offices are in the hands of Spaniards, being the rewards generally of political services. Of the negroes, those who speak Spanish are called ladinos ; those who do not, lozales. Africans are called negros de nacion, and their progeny become criollos. The cross of a white man with a black woman, and vice versa, produces a mulatto ; the offspring of a mulatto and a black, a cJiino ; all others are known as quad- roons. All the numerical reports of the popu- lation have been incomplete, the slaves in par- ticular having been generally underestimated. The latest trustworthy census was taken in 1862, those of 1867 and 1872 being merely official estimates. The following is a synopsis of the census of 1862 :