they have a government to direct their movements, and an army of
veterans to protect them.

Were this not enough to make his task a difficult one, he will find to
his cost that the soldiers of Spain on whom he must rely are ill, poorly
fed, and angry with the Government because it does not even pay them the
pittance due in return for their services and sufferings.

It is true that General Blanco is to take twenty thousand fresh troops
with him. But sickness and disease are ravaging Cuba, and the
new-comers, unused to the climate, are likely to be the first to fall
victims to the fevers and plagues that are turning the beautiful island
into a pest-house.

It is said that Sagasta has ordered General Blanco to continue the war
as long as there is an insurgent in arms against Spain, but that he does
not intend to conquer the people by force of arms alone.

The soldiers are to punish the Cubans if they will not obey the
Government, but Señor Sagasta means to try and win the friendship of the
people by giving them a kind and liberal form of government under which
they may prosper and be happy. With this policy he hopes to bring the
war to a speedy end.

General Blanco's first act is to be to repeal some of the cruel laws
made by Weyler, especially those which have driven the unfortunate
peasants into the towns to starve, while their ungathered crops lie
rotting in the fields.

Whether these efforts to secure the friendship of the Cubans will be