At the time of my visit, Jamaica was still celebrated for its rum, and my father had charged me not to forget to bring him a barrel, a commission I did not fail to execute.  But a lamentable accident happened in connection with that same barrel.  It was brought back to France and duly placed in the cellars at Neuilly, and had been forgotten for ever so long, when one fine day the King, recollecting it, ordered some of the contents to be handed round at the end of dinner.  All the guests smacked their lips before-hand; but disappointment awaited them, and the first taste was followed by a general grimace of horror.  It was simply beastly.  Enquiries were set on foot and here is their result!  A distinguished mental specialist, who had been ordered to take a sea voyage for the benefit of his health, which had broken down, had got leave from the Minister for Naval Affairs to sail on board the Hercule.  Deeply interested as he was in his own special subject, he had occupied himself during all our stays in port in collecting brains, both human and animal, which he immediately labelled and shut up in a barrel of alcohol, which was exactly like my barrel of rum.  The two barrels had got mixed and my father and his guests had been drinking rum flavoured with brains!

Our squadron dispersed on leaving Jamaica.  The admiral, I think, was to go to San Domingo, we ourselves to Havana.  One of our ships, a beautiful despatch boat, the Fabert, bore us company the first day.  In the evening, the weather being calm, her commander, a lieutenant, M. de Pardeillan, came on board us to dine.  Little did we think, as we accompanied him to the head of the companion, that we were bidding him an eternal farewell.  The ship, the crew, and their young captain all disappeared, and have never been heard of again.  The sea swallowed them all up, and the sea has kept the secret.

As we entered Havana, I was struck by the sight of a whole fleet of strange-looking ships which lay at anchor under the Morro citadel.  They were long boats, built for speed, with immense sloping spars, like racing yachts.  They were not warships, though they were heavily armed.  They were slavers, for the negro trade was still in full swing in Cuba.  The demand for black labour being constantly on the increase, the slavers went to fetch it from Africa, and brought it back at all risks, in spite of the British cruisers.  But this importation of black cattle, which had been humane and kindly enough while it was free, had grown frightfully barbarous since the successful landing of each cargo had been exposed to every chance imaginable.  The trade, nevertheless, fed the extraordinary prosperity of the fair Spanish colony, Queen of the Antilles, and especially that of her capital town, the Havana.  The stir in the port itself was prodigious, and how shall I describe the animated appearance of the streets, the splendid houses, and the innumerable churches that met my gaze, and the evidence of luxury betrayed everywhere, and by everything 1 saw?