On Each Side Grew The Coffee Shrubs, Hung With Flowers Of
Snowy White, But Unpruned And Full Of Dry And Leafless Twigs.
In every
direction were ranks of trees, prized for ornament or for their fruit, and
shrubs, among which were
Magnificent oleanders loaded with flowers,
planted in such a manner as to break the force of the wind, and partially
to shelter the plants from the too fierce rays of the sun. The coffee
estate is, in fact, a kind of forest, with the trees and shrubs arranged
in straight lines. The _mayoral_, or steward of the estate, a handsome
Cuban, with white teeth, a pleasant smile, and a distinct utterance of his
native language, received us with great courtesy, and offered us
_cigarillos_, though he never used tobacco; and spirit of cane, though he
never drank. He wore a sword, and carried a large flexible whip, doubled
for convenience in the hand. He showed us the coffee plants, the broad
platforms with smooth surfaces of cement and raised borders, where the
berries were dried in the sun, and the mills where the negroes were at
work separating the kernel from the pulp in which it is inclosed.
"These coffee estates," said he, "are already ruined, and the planters are
abandoning them as fast as they can; in four years more there will not be
a single coffee plantation on the island. They can not afford to raise
coffee for the price they get in the market."
I inquired the reason.
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