Rambles by Land and Water; or, Notes of Travel in Cuba and Mexico. Benjamin Moore Norman
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Benjamin Moore Norman
Rambles by Land and Water; or, Notes of Travel in Cuba and Mexico
Published by Good Press, 2019
EAN 4057664579010
Table of Contents
VOYAGE FROM NEW ORLEANS TO HAVANA. DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPITAL OF CUBA.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS OF HAVANA, AND THE TOMB OF COLUMBUS.
THE SUBURBS OF HAVANA, AND THE INTERIOR OF THE ISLAND.
GENERAL VIEW OF THE ISLAND OF CUBA, ITS CITIES, TOWNS, RESOURCES, GOVERNMENT, ETC.
DEPARTURE FROM HAVANA.—THE GULF OF MEXICO.—ARRIVAL AT VERA CRUZ.
SANTA ANNA DE TAMAULIPAS, AND ITS VICINITY.
CANOE VOYAGE UP THE RIVER PANUCO. RAMBLES AMONG THE RUINS OF ANCIENT CITIES.
FURTHER EXPLORATION OF THE RUINS IN THE VICINITY OF THE RANCHO DE LAS PIEDRAS.
VISIT TO THE ANCIENT TOWN OF PANUCO. RUINS. CURIOUS RELICS FOUND THERE.
DISCOVERY OF TALISMANIC PENATES.—RETURN BY NIGHT TO TAMPICO.
EXCURSION ON THE TAMISSEE RIVER. CHAPOTÉ, ITS APPEARANCE IN THE LAKES AND THE GULF OF MEXICO.
GENERAL VIEW OF MEXICO, PAST AND PRESENT. SKETCH OF THE CAREER OF SANTA ANNA.
LIST OF EMBELLISHMENTS.
PAGE.
Vignette title page. Moro castle, havana. 27 Peak of orizaba. 90 Castle of san juan de ulloa, vera cruz. 91 Indian man and woman. 117 Female head. 128 Colossal head. 130 The american sphinx. 132 Curiously ornamented head. 136 A situation. 139 A road side. 140 Sepulchral effigy. 145 A pair of vases. 150 Travelling by night. 161 Talismanic penates. 164 Fragments of idols. 178
RAMBLES BY LAND AND WATER.
CHAPTER I.
VOYAGE FROM NEW ORLEANS TO HAVANA. DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPITAL OF CUBA.
Introductory remarks.—Departure from New Orleans.—Compagnons de voyage.—Their different objects.—Grumblers and grumbling.—Arrival at Havana.—Passports.—The Harbor.—The Fortifications.—The City.—Its streets and houses.—Anecdote of a sailor.—Society in Cuba.—The nobility.—"Sugar noblemen."—Different grades of Society.—Effects upon the stranger.—Charitable judgment invoked.—Hospitality of individuals.—General love of titles and show.—Festival celebration.—Neatness of the Habañeros.
Who, in these days of easy adventure, does not make a voyage, encounter the perils of the boisterous ocean, gaze with rapture upon its illimitable expanse, make verses upon its deep, unfathomable blue—if perchance the Muse condescends to bear him company—plant his foot on a foreign shore, scrutinize the various objects which are there presented to his view, moralize upon them all, contemplate nations in their past, present and future existence, swell with wonder at the largeness of his comprehension—and return, if haply he may, to his native land, to pour into the listening ears of friends and countrymen, the tale of his ups and downs, his philosophic gatherings, with undisguised complacency? Whose history does not present a chapter analogous to this? We might almost write one universal epitaph, and apply it to every individual who has flourished in the present century.—"He lived, travelled, wrote a book, and died."
And, seeing that in this auspicious age, when the public mind is alive
"To every peril, pain and dread of woe,
That genius condescends to undergo—"
when