Little Folks of North America Part 15

Your little Cuban friends may tell you with much pride that their island home is the largest sugar market in the world and that the hogsheads of sugar you have just seen will be sent to the city of Havana not far away and there be loaded on s.h.i.+ps which will carry the sugar to the United States and other countries.

No doubt the little Cubans will ask you if you have seen the big fortress called Morro Castle which defends the harbor of Havana. It is so strong they feel quite sure that enemies would be afraid to pa.s.s it.

Before you leave the plantation your friends take you to visit the homes of the Negro workmen, which are only small huts. Many of them have small gardens where melons and sweet potatoes are sure to be found. Although the huts are small, the families who live in them are large, and groups of little "darkies" some of whom are quite naked, are playing about and smile as you pa.s.s them, showing broad rows of white teeth, and rolling their eyes in such a funny way that you laugh in spite of yourself.

The children of the West Indies have good reasons to be happy and loving. The people do not need to work hard; a little food and a few clothes, a simple home and a hammock to swing in, are enough to make anyone comfortable in the hot lands. How different such a life is from the toiling and struggle of the people of the far north, who meet danger and trouble every day in their search for the wild animals which furnish them with all they have,-food, fuel, and clothing.