A Cuban Expedition. By J. H. Bloomfield. (Downey and Co.)
—As it will probably be some time before we shall get an authentic story of the fighting now going on in Cuba from a combatant on the Spanish or the Cuban side, we may take Mr. Bloomfield's story as giving us some idea of what such a war is likely to be. It refers to a time long past. The date is not exactly given, except by saying that it was " seven years after the shooting of Colonel Crittenden and his companions." But it cannot be far from 1860. The barque Darthula ' sailed from New York with two hundred and eighty-five men, a mixed crew, among whom the genuine sympathisers with the cause of Cuban freedom were probably a small minority. Some of them were bent on " loot," many, it is probable, on adventure. Of loot there was little to be got, of adventure a reasonable abundance, pur- chased, however, at the price of considerable hardship. The war- fare was of the most savage character, no quarter being given. The insurgents won some successes ; in fact, according to our author, they generally had the best of it when they crossed bayonets with the Spaniards. After one of the engagements, we read :—" As for the enemy, I could not tell his loss,—there were no prisoners [for the same reason that a famous Spanish General had no enemies] and no wounded." But the successes came to an end; disease and hunger disposed of some of the patriots ; not a few were killed in action. In the end Mr. Bloomfield was glad to say " Good-bye " to Cuba. He worked his way home in an English ship, and now relates in a modest way the story of his adventures.
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