houses. Some
  of them had houses of stone, the blackened walls of which are all
  that remains to show that the country was ever inhabited.

  The first clause of Weyler's order reads as follows:

  "I order and command:

  "First--All the inhabitants of the country now outside of the line
  of fortifications of the towns shall within the period of eight days
  concentrate themselves in the town so occupied by the troops. Any
  individual who after the expiration of this period is found in the
  uninhabited parts will be considered a rebel and tried as such."

  The other three sections forbid the transportation of provisions
  from one town to another without permission of the military
  authority, direct the owners of cattle to bring them into the towns,
  prescribe that the eight days shall be counted from the publication
  of the proclamation to the head town of the municipal districts, and
  state that if news is furnished of the enemy which can be made use
  of it will serve as a "recommendation."

  Many doubtless did not learn of this order. Others failed to grasp
  its terrible meaning. Its execution was left largely to the
  guerillas to drive in all that had not obeyed, and I was informed
  that in many cases a torch was applied to their homes with no
  notice, and the inmates fled with such clothing as they might have
  on, their stock and their belongings being appropriated by the
  guerillas.

  When they reached the town they were allowed to build huts of palm
  leaves in the suburbs and vacant places within the trochas, and were
  left to live if they could. Their huts are about ten by fifteen feet
  in size, and for want of space are usually crowded together very
  closely. They have no floor but the ground, and no furniture, and
  after a year's wear but little clothing, except such stray
  substitutes as they can extemporize.

  With large families or with more than one in this little space, the
  commonest sanitary provisions are impossible. Conditions are
  unmentionable in this respect.

  