The Mayor then

Later on we were

proper course for a responsible officer like the Mayor to take up the suggestion of Director Crawley. Finding that the Mayor was in a delicate situation, Prince Victor came to his rescue and said that he was not in favour of these sports and that the Cuban Government did well in stopping them. breathed a sigh of relief. invited to a cock-fight in San Juan y Martinez. The cocks were provided with iron spurs, and were dosed with stimulants to make them fight more savagely. The prices The prices of the tickets varied from 25 cents or 12 annas to two dollars or six rupees. The gathering was a large one. People were betting on each side, and excitement was at a high pitch. The shouting of the crowd reminded one of the noise in the baseball games of the States.

Cricket and Football are played in Cuba, but Jai Alai which is similar to Real Rackets is the national game. We had an opportunity of seeing this game played in Havana. It is one of the most weird and wonderful games I have ever seen in my life. The peculiarity

about Jai Alai is that instead of a racket, a curved basket is attched to the arm from the elbow. The basket is shaped in the form of a semicircle, and has a groove 2 to 3 inches deep. One side of the court is left open; there are walls on the other three sides. The counting is the same as at Real Rackets or Fives, viz., I to 15. In place of a net as used at Real Rackets, there was a wooden board about 3 feet high. The court must have been quite 80 to 100 feet in length. The balls used were hard, and I should think a little bigger than a golf ball. It is a very fine game indeed, but I do not think many would be proficient in it. We heard that General Wood of the United States Army was a great enthusiast. While we were watching the game, betting was going on fast. Special bookmakers attended, and as each game was drawing to a close, these bookies were in a state of feverish excitement, once laying, I remember, even 100 to 1 against the party who eventually lost. The instinct of gambling is quite predominant among the Cubans, and the stakes are often very high.

We learnt that lots of people spent their whole patrimony in gambling.

A good deal may be said about the agriculture and industries of Cuba, especially about the tobacco and the sugarcane, but they are not likely to be of any interest to the general readers; so I think it proper to close here and bid good-bye to the readers.

CHAPTER XVI.

MY TRIP TO AMERICA.

(Victor N. Narayan).

The voyage to England-The S.S. Oceana-Declaration by passengers-The S.S. Mauretania-The reporters "Head-neckties"-Cornell sports-Cornell Cosmopolitan Club-The Niagara Falls-The Tanners -The sinking of the S.S. Republic-Tom LongboatCuba-The Phipps.

Before I proceed writing about my voyage to the United States and my impressions of that country, it would not be out of place, I think, to begin with a few words on the object of my trip. My father about the year 1905 decided to experiment on growing American tobacco (the yellow leaf of Virginia) in Cooch Behar. In the sub-divisional districts of Cooch Behar indigenous tobacco has been grown for centuries. This crop is mostly bought by Burmese merchants, who ship the leaf to Burma, and generally put it on the market as cheroots. The price paid by the

merchants to the cultivators hardly ever reaches Rs. 15 (not quite 5 dollars) per standard maund, which is calculated at 80 lbs. During 1905 and 1906 a few acres were put under Virginian tobacco, and the result was satisfactory. In 1907 my father one day said to me that he would be pleased if I would go to the United States with a view to study agriculture and specialize in tobacco, so that I might improve the resources of the State of Cooch Behar on my return; and that as I was the third son of the family it was time I should think of a career. He spoke very warmly on the subject, and I agreed. Like Robinson Crusoe, I had a hankering for seeing a little of the world, especially the new. After having studied at Eton and Ajmere, and served in the Imperial Cadet Corps, I was having my holiday, and killing time by shooting big game with my father for a few months, and playing cricket, polo, football, etc. So I rejoiced at the idea of going to the States, about which country I read and heard so much, and whose people I frequently came across in India.