domestic European dog, changed in habits and appearance by his independent life in the woods. The best authorities inform us that there are more than two hundred species of birds, many of them of brilliant plumage, that fly through these flower and fruit forests and 641 kinds of fish swim in the rivers of the island. Although one may be annoyed by the numerous insects that are painfully in evidence during certain months of the year, none are venomous, with the

THE LEE ORPHANAGE, HAVANA.

Now Containing over 150 Helpless Orphans.

exception of the tarantula and scorpion, which are not as poisonous as elsewhere; and snakes are seldom seen.

Cuba has a mongrel population. For some time after the conquest in 1511, none but Castilians were permitted to settle here; but for three hundred years colonists from every Spanish province have come hither, and consequently Spaniards of all classes are represented on the island. The word Creole is applied to the offspring of foreigners, whether black or white, and the children of Creoles are known as riollos. Although the size of Cuba is nearly equal to that

of Pennsylvania, on account of the sand keys, the swamps and the unknown mountainous lands, all of which embrace at least one-fifth of the island, its population is hardly equal to one-third of the Keystone State. It is thought that one-fifth of the inhabitants of Cuba are "Peninsulars," or natives of Spain, who control all remunerative offices. The number of white persons who are not of Spanish blood is estimated to be not more than ten or twelve thousand; and the negro population, which ten years ago was nearly five hundred thousand, has been on a gradual decrease, which the mongrel element has greatly increased. In 1502, when Ovando was sent by the Spanish government to Cuba, he brought with him African slaves, and although the gradual emancipation act was passed by the Cortes in 1870, slavery was not absolutely abolished until 1886.

In 1847 two ships from the Philippines reached Havana with 679 Asiatic coolies; others soon followed, and at present it is supposed that there are forty thousand of these Oriental laborers on the island. ' The following table gives the most recent census of the population by provinces:

These six provinces form the political division of Cuba; the name of the province and that of its most important city are invariably the same; several judicial districts are established in each province, and attached to each town is a tract of country which is known as a township.

Pinar del Rio is world-renowned for its fine tobacco; Havana, besides its fertility, is the chief manufacturing centre of the island; Matanzas, perhaps the richest province of all, produces the cereals in abundance, but is especially noted for its great sugar plantations; Santa Clara, one of the first parts of the land to be settled, is a famous

sugar region, and its mountains are said to be rich in gold, silver, copper and asphalt; Puerto Principe is a mountainous region and its vast forests contain celebrated building and cabinet woods; and Santiago de Cuba owes its wealth to a combination of characteristics. Its fields are fertile; its woods are full of valuable trees; its mountains are rich in minerals and its commerce, when not blighted by war, enliven distant ports.

On January 9, 1879, the Spanish Cortes passed an act giving Cuba a representation in

that body, and allowing Havana to send three senators to Madrid, each of the other provinces two, the archbishopric of Santiago one, the University of Havana one and the Society of the Friends of the Country

one.

The thirty deputies sent to the House of Deputies are elected by popular ballot in the ratio of one representative to every 50,000 of the population. From the fact that, in a recent election, twenty-six out of thirty deputies were natives of Spain, it is not hard to imagine what influences are at work The captain-general, appointed by the Spanish Crown usually for a term of three to five years, is at the head of the military government; and, indeed, is the supreme power in civil, ecclesiastical, military and naval affairs in the island, his administration council composed of thirty members, being completely under his authority. While the Crown appoints fifteen of the members of this council of administration, and the other fifteen are supposed to be elected by the

BEHIND THE WINDOW BARS IN A CUBAN HOMF

provinces, according to population, the government always manages to have a majority of twenty-five to five. What is known as the council of authorities is composed of the archbishop of Santiago; the bishop of Havana; the commanding officers of the army and navy; the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Havana; the attorneygeneral; the chief of the department of finances; and the director of the local administration.

Besides this general government, each province has a governor, appointed from Madrid, who has the rank of major-general or briga

dier-general in the army, and in each province there is also an elective. assembly of not less than twelve, nor more than twenty members, according to population. Nominally there is a judicial system in Cuba embracing two superior courts, one sitting at Puerto Principe, for the Eastern

provinces and the other at Havana, for the four Western provinces; but as under a decree of June 9, 1878, the governor-general has authority to overrule any decision of this or any other court, the deliverances of the judiciary may mean very little.

Catholicism, the religion of the island, being an affair of the State, is maintained from the general revenues; and according to the budget of 1893-94, $385,588 were spent for this purpose.

The governor-general and the rector of the University of Havana have direction of the educational system of Cuba. It is worthy of note that as early as 1721 a university was established at Havana; but the corner-stone of the new university building was not laid until January 4, 1884. Each of the six provinces has a collegiate institute; and according to the budget of 1893-94, $137,760 were expended for educational purposes, no part of which went to the aid of the common schools. By a law of 1880, education was made compulsory; but we learn from the best authority that the children attend the common schools at the rate of one to forty.