Hayti, or, the Black republic

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Hayti, or, the Black republic.

3 1924 021 174 564

HAYTI

THE BLACK REPUBLIC.

■SaHantEite Jprtsg

BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
EDINBUKGH AND LONDON

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A MAP OF VC\feJ4i

1889.

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H AYTI

THE BLACK REPUBLIC.

SIR SPENSER ST. JOHN, K.C.M.G.

FORMERLY HER MAJESTY'S MINISTER RESIDENT AND CONSUL-GENERAL

IN HAYTI, NOW HER MAJESTY'S ENVOY EXTRAORPINARY

AND MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY TO MEXICO.

' Haiti, Haiti, pajtjde barbares."
■^ Napole

APOLEON III.

SECOND EDITION.

NEW YORK:
SCRIBNER & WELFORD,

743 AND 745 BROADWAY.
i88q.

CONTENTS.

CHAP.

vyi.
1. III.

l^IV.

A

/ VI.

t'VII.

\/viii.

IX.
X.
XI.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION- OF HATTI

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE .

THE POPULATION OF^HAYTI

VAUDOUX-WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM

CANNIBALISM ....

THE GOVERNMENT

RELIGION, EDUCATION, AND JUSTICE.

THE ARMY AND POLICE

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, AND FINANCE

y

PAGE

I

28

76

130

187^

258 z'
277/
308-/
340/

358-

INTRODUCTIOK

Whilst living in Port-au-Prince, Don Mariano Alvarez,
my Spanish colleague, remarked to me, " Mon ami, if
we could return to Hayti fifty years hence, we should
find the negresses cooking their bananas on the site
of these warehouses." This judgment is severe, yet
from what we saw passing under the Salomon Ad-
ministration it is more than probable — unless in the
meantime influenced by some higher civilisation — that
this prophecy will come true. In fact, the negresses
are already cooking their bananas amid the ruins of
the best houses of the capital. My own impression,
after personally knowing the Haytian Eepublic above
twenty-five years, is, that it is a country in a state of
rapid decadence. The revolution of 1843 that upset
President Boyer commenced the era of troubles, which
have continued to the present day, and the people have
since been steadily falling to the rear in the race of
civilisation.

The civil war (1867- 1869) during the Presidency of
General Salnave destroyed a vast amount of property
and rendered living in the country districts less secure,
so that there has been ever since a tendency for the
more civilised inhabitants to agglomerate in the towns
and leave the rural communities to fetish-worship and

VIU INTRODUCTIOIT.

cannibalism. Fires, most of them incendiary, have
swept over the cities; in the commercial as well as
in the residential quarters of Port-au-Prince it would
now be difl5cult to find any houses which existed in
i860, and the fortunes of all have naturally greatly
suffered.

When I first arrived in Hayti (January 1863) the
capital possessed several respectable public and private
buildings. The palace, though without any architec-
tural beauty, was large and commodious and well
siiited to the climate; the Senate, the House of Ee-
presentatives, the dwellings occupied by several of
the Ministers, the pretty little theatre, were features
which have now disappeared, and nothing equal to
them has taken their place.

The town of Pdtionville or La Coupe, the summer
and health resort of the capital, where the best families
sought a little country life during the great heats, was
almost entirely destroyed during the revolution of 1868,
and the proprietors are still too poor to rebuild.

Society also has completely changed. I saw at balls
given in the palace in 1863 a hundred well-dressed,
prosperous families of every shade of colour ; now
political dissensions would prevent such gatherings,
even if there were a building in the city which could
receive them, and poverty has laid its heavy hand
more or less on all. It is the same in a greater or
lesser degree in every other town of the republic.

Agriculture in the plains is also deteriorating, and
the estates produce much less than formerly, except of
their staple product, rum, to stupefy and brutalise the
barbarous lower orders.

INTRODUCTION. IX

Toreigners, nearly ruined by their losses during the
constant civil disturbances, are withdrawing from the
republic, and capital is following them ; and with their
withdrawal the country must sink still lower. The
best of the coloured people during the Salomon regime
also left, as they shunned the fate reserved for them
by those who had already slaughtered the most pro-
minent mulattoes.

In fact, the coloured element, which is the civilising
element in Hayti, is daily becoming of less importance ;
internal party strife has injured their political standing,
and constant intermarriage is causing the race to breed
back to the more numerous type, and in a few years
the mulatto section will have made disastrous ap-
proaches to the negro. The only policy which could
have saved the mulatto would have been to encourage
the whites to settle in their country ; yet this course of
action the coloured men have blindly resisted.

In spite of all the civilising elements around the
Haytians, there is a distinct tendency to sink into the
state of an African tribe. It is naturally impossible
to foretell the effect of all the influences which are now
at work in the world, and which seem to foreshadow
many important changes. We appear standing on the
threshold of a period of great discoveries, which may
modify many things, but not man's nature.

The mass of the negroes of Hayti live in the country
districts, which are rarely or never visited by civilised
people; there are few Christian priests to give them
a notion of true religion ; no superior local officers to
preyent them practising their worst fetish ceremonies.
And that these are not confined to the lower classes is

X INTKODUCTIOK.

testified by La VdriU of October i6, 1886, the Haytian
religious journal published in Port-au-Prince. In an
article on the country districts near the capital it
says : — " We have many well-to-do people (jgens ais6s),
but les services, les harriboulas (ceremonies connected
with the Vaudoux), and above all the manner of trans-
mitting property, joined to concubinage, do not permit
great fortunes to be accumulated. But these well-to-
do people, in what do they employ their capital ? In
amusing themselves in the orgies of the Vaudoux"
This is Haytian testimony.

In treating of the black and the mulatto, as they
appeared to me during my residence among them, I
fear I shall be considered by some to judge harshly ;
such, however, is not my intention. Brought up under
Sir James Brooke, whose enlarged sympathies could
endure no prejudice of race or colour, I do not remem-
ber ever to have felt any repugnance to my fellow-
creatures on account of a difference of complexion.

I have dwelt above forty years among coloured
people of various races, and am sensible of no prejudice
against them. Por twelve years I lived in familiar
and kindly intercourse with Haytians of all ranks and
shades of colour, and the most frequent and not least
honoured guests at my table were of the black and
coloured races.

All who knew me in Hayti know that I have no
prejudice of colour; and if I place the Haytians in
general in an unfavourable light, it is from a strong
conviction that it is necessary to describe the people as
they are, and not as one would wish them to be. The
black and coloured friends who gathered round me

INTEODUCTION. XI

during my long residence in Port-au-Prince were not
free from many of the faults -which I have been obliged
to censure in describing these different sections of the
population, but they had them in a less degree, or, as
I was really attached to them, I perhaps saw them in a
dimmer light.

I have read with the deepest interest Proude's " Eng-
lish in the West Indies," and I can but join with him in
protesting against according popular governments to
those colonies. I know what the black man is, and I
have no hesitation in declaring that he is incapable of
the art of government, and that to entrust him with
framing and working the laws for our islands is to con-
demn them to inevitable ruin. What the negro may
become after centuries of civilised education I cannot
teU, but what I know is that he is not fit to govern
now. There are brilliant exceptions doubtless, as the
black Chief -Justice of Barbadoes, but we must judge
them as a race, and as a race they are incapable. Our
colonies should remain crown colonies, and then, with
due encouragement from home, they would again lift
their heads.

The most difficult chapter to write was that on
" Vaudoux- worship and Cannibalism." I have en-
deavoured to paint them in the least sombre colours,
and no one who knows the country will think that I
have exaggerated ; in fact, had I listened to the testi-
mony of many experienced residents, I should have
described rites at which dozens of human victims were
sacrificed at a time. Everything I have related has
been founded on evidence collected in Hayti, from
Haytian official documents, the press of Port-au-Prince,

Xll JNTEODUCTION.

from trustworthy officers of the Haytian Government,
my foreign colleagues, and from residents long estab-
lished in the country, — principally, however, from
Haytian sources.

It may be suggested that I am referring to the past.
On the contrary, I have been informed on trustworthy
testimony that in 1887 cannibalism was more rampant
than ever. A black Government dares not greatly inter-
fere, as its power is founded on the goodwill of the masses,
ignorant and deeply tainted with fetish-worship. A
Haytian writer lately remarked in print, " On se plaisit
beaucoup de ce que le Vaudoux a reparu grandiose et
s^rieux." The fetish-dances were forbidden by decree
under the Government of General Boisrond-Canal, but
on his fall that decree was repealed, and high officers
attended these meetings, and distributed money and
applauded the most frantic excesses.

General Salomon, who was in power until 1888, lived
for eighteen years in Europe, married a white French-
woman, and knew what civilisation was. He pro-
bably, on his first advent to the Presidency, possessed
sufficient infiuence in the country to have checked the
open manifestations of this barbarous worship ; but
the fate of those of his predecessors who attempted
to grapple with the evil was not encouraging. It was
hoped, however, that he would make the attempt, and
that, grasping the nettle with resolution, he might
suffer no evil results ; but many doubted not only his
courage to undertake the task, but even the will ; and
they, I fear, judged correctly.

Whether General Salomon was or was not a member
of the Vaudoux sect has been much discussed ; he was

INTEODUCTION, xiii

accused by the New Ym-h World's correspondent of
having, during a visit to Fort Libert^, joined in the
fetish practices of the sect ; ^ and M. Laroche, a Haytian,
in a letter to the Paris Tem;ps of February 21, 1885,
after declaring that the details published in the first
edition of this work were absolutely correct, adds, that
General Salomon gave this sect " an open and culpable
protection," and forwarded an extract from the Haytian
paper Le Feuple of September 24, 1884, showing that
the Vaudoux dances were openly permitted in Port-au-
Prince.

It is too soon to decide this question, but it is highly
probable that General Salomon, seeing how infected
his people and army were with Vaudousism, did not
attempt to discourage it.

As my chapters on Vaudoux-worship and canni-
balism excited considerable attention both in Europe
and the United States, and unmitigated abuse in Hayti,
I decided again to look into the question with the
greatest care. The result has been to convince me that
I underrated its fearful manifestations ; I have there-
fore rewritten these chapters, and introduced many new
facts which have come to my knowledge.

" Out of thy own mouth will I condemn thee, thou
wicked servant," might well be addressed to the people
of Hayti, as it is principally to Haytian sources that I
can now appeal to prove the miserable state into which
the republic has fallen. Whether it be the spread of
Vaudoux-worship among the well-to-do people (j/ens
ais6s) of the country, or cannibalism, or the brutality
of the police, or the infectious state of the prisons, I

1 The World, December 5, 1886.

XIV INTRODUCTION.

have but to quote the Haytian papers to prove that I
had written my first account with rose-water instead
of with black indelible ink.

The practice of eating young children and digging
up freshly buried corpses for brutal ceremonies or for
food increased so greatly that even General Salomon's
Government was forced to interfere, and a few men
and women received trivial punishments. The Hay-
tians endeavour to excuse these peculiar practices by
quoting horrible crimes committed in France and else-
where. Doubtless horrible crimes are committed in
other countries, but in what country nominally Christian
would they find a hundred men and women assemble
for the express purpose of killing one of their own
children and deliberately cooking and eating its flesh
in what they consider savoury dishes ? " And who had
a better right to eat them ? Did I not beget them ? " as
the Petionville prisoner exclaimed.

I think it important to quote the opinion of an
impartial observer who came to the West Indies with
the full belief that I had misstated the facts relating
to Vaudoux-worship, or that I had drawn wrong con-
clusions. However, Mr. Proude is a man of experience
and observation, and not likely to allow a preconceived
opinion to influence his judgment. This is the result
of his inquiries as published in 1888: — "But behind
the immorality, behind the religiosity, there lies active
and alive the horrible revival of the West African
superstitions ; the serpent - worship, and the child-
sacrifice, and the cannibalism. There is no room to
doubt it." ^

^ The English in the West Indies, Chap. xx.

INTRODUCTION. XV

Whenever all the documents which exist on this
subject are published, my chapter on cannibalism will
be looked upon as but a pale reflection of the reality.

With regard to the history of the country, materials
abound for writing a very full one, but I do not think
it would prove interesting to the general reader, as
it is but a series of plots and revolutions, followed
by barbarous military executions. A destructive and
exhausting war with Santo Domingo and civil strife
during the Presidency of General Salnave did more
to ruin the resources of the country than any amount
of bad government. The enforced abandonment of
work by the people called to arms by the contending
factions introduced habits of idleness and rapine which
have continued to the present day ; and the material
losses by the destruction of the best estates and the
burning of towns and villages have never been fully
repaired.

From the overthrow of President Geffrard in 1867
the country has been more rapidly going to ruin
("Depuis 1868 I'abaissement commence"^). The fall
was slightly checked during the quiet Presidency of Nis-
sage-Saget ; but the Government of General Domingue
amply made up for lost time, and was one of the
worst, if not the worst, that Hayti had seen ; with the
Sectaries of the Vaudoux in power, nothing else could
have been expected.

In the first edition I brought my sketch of the
history of Hayti down to the fall of President Boisrond-
Canal in 1879, and did not touch on the rule of the
President of Hayti, General Salomon, a black ; events

1 La ViriU, October 16, 1886.

XVI INTEODCrCTIOlT.

are too recent for me to do so now. I may say, how-
ever, that he was the determined enemy of the coloured
section of the community; was credited with being
the chief adviser of the Emperor Soulouque in all his
most disastrous measures ; and the population is said
to be now sunk into the lowest depths of poverty.
" The misery (of the people) is great, immense, intense.
There are families who are literally dying of hunger.
If one wishes to know it, one has but to walk through
the streets at night, as one is certain to be approached
by the shame-faced poor, who from under a shawl hold
out the hand. Eemove this shawl and you will see
people but lately fortunate."^ Probably the widows
and orphans of those shot under the late despotic
rule.

The civil war which devastated the country during
1883 and 1884 was marked by more savage excesses
than any previously known in Haytian history, the
black authorities hesitating at no step to gain their
object, which was utterly to destroy the educated
coloured class. They cared not for the others ; as they
say, " Mulatte pauvre, li n^gue."

A few months after the publication of this work I
met a young married coloured Haytian lady, who said
to me, "I hear you have written a book about my
country and called it a ' pays de barbares ; ' " she paused,
and continued with much emotion, "I do not know
what you have written, but nothing you can have said
will have done us any injustice." I was struck by her
earnest yet sad manner, and wrote to my friend, William
Maunder, at Port-au-Prince for an explanation. He

^ Le Peuple, August 12, 1887.

INTRODUCTION. XVU

answered, " During the late insurrection, Salomon deter-
mined to awe the capital, and sent his soldiery and the
rabble to attack the houses of the principal mulattoes.
After firing grape-shot into one, the soldiers rushed in
and dragged out the proprietor, his wife, daughter, and
son-in-law. The proprietor they murdered before his
family, the daughter they stripped naked, and she was
violated several times by the negroes in the presence of
an approving and grinning staff of Salomon's officers."
This was the civilised government which this black
President introduced into his country. These horrors
were only stopped when the foreign agents threatened
to land men from their ships of war and attack the
rabble.

A few words as to the origin of this book. In
1867 I was living in the hills near Port-au-Prince, and
having some leisure, I began to collect materials and
write rough drafts of the principal chapters. I was
interrupted by civil war, and did not resume work
until after I had left the country. It may have been
the modifying effects of time, but in looking over the
chapters as I originally wrote them, I thought that I
had been too severe in my judgments on whole classes,
and I have therefore softened the opinions I then
expressed ; and the greater experience which a further
residence of seven years gave me enabled me to study
the people more and avoid too sweeping condemna-
tions.

In my Preface to the French edition of this work,
I mentioned the way in which it had been received in
Hayti ; by the press with an outburst of wrath, simu-
lated, 'tis true, in order to please the black Government ;

h

XVm INTRODUCTION.

but by the upper classes, whose opinion is of value,
it -was judged to be "la dure v^rit(5, mais la vdritd."
Gradually violent anger has been followed by reaction ;
the book has been quoted in the Senate without pro-
test, and some of the papers already begin to allow
that it contains much which is true, whilst the best-
informed Haytians promised to send me corrections of a
few errors, but they have failed to find them.

Since even this Introduction was rewritten, Salomon
has been driven from power, and is dead. The time
has not yet arrived when one can fairly judge of the
effects of his eight or nine years' rule, but I can do
his memory no injustice when I say, that one of his
principal objects was to wreak his vengeance on the
coloured class. An incident in his youth raised his anger
against them, and various occurrences which took place
during his long life inflamed his passions, and when
he seized despotic power he proceeded to exercise it.
Under various pretexts he arrested the most prominent
mulattoes, sent them before an abject tribunal, and had
them shot. Many of the most meritorious and gallant
young men of the capital and principal cities suffered
this fate, whilst others sought refuge in exile, until,
maddened by the news of the execution of their friends,
they threw themselves, sword in hand, on their enemies,
and ultimately perished almost to a man. The gallant
stand made by this noble band of patriots, defending an
open town for many months against the whole army of
Hayti, may well be considered to atone for their pre-
vious political errors.

In truth, I may well repeat that, like the well-known
Spanish Marshal, Salomon on his deathbed could have

INTRODUCTION. XIX

Lad but few enemies to forgive, for lie had already shot
all who had come within his reach.

Ever since the reign of Soulouque the Haytian
Government has engaged French writers to publish
rose-coloured accounts of the Black Eepublic, but
twenty-four hours in any one of its towns would
dissipate any illusions which might be entertained.
Let those who doubt read Froude's graphic description
of his landing in Port-au-Prince.

A series of very interesting articles on Hayti appeared
in the Science Sociale, the last of which, January 1887,
devoted to the present state of negro society, is especi-
ally worthy of attention, as it compares the life led by
the blacks in Hayti with that of their brethren on the
western shores of Africa. The author of these articles,
M. A. de Pr^ville, finds " une ressemblance saisissante "
between these dwellers "des deux cot^s de I'Atlantique."

Those who cannot visit the West Indies should read
Froude's book,^ as then the picture of those beautiful
islands will remain for ever engraven on their memo-
ries. And I would recommend also the chapters which
Captain Kennedy has devoted to Hayti,^ where the
reader will find reference to horrors connected with
cannibalism of which I was formerly not convinced,
but which recent trials and incidents in Hayti have
fully proved.

It is scarcely worth while to notice what the ignorant
writers of the French press may say about England,
but whilst the English Government was demanding a
settlement of the claims against Hayti, several articles

' The English in the West Indies.

2 Sport, Travel, and Adventures, by Captain Kennedy, R.N.

XX INTKODUCTION.

appeared in Paris journals which exceeded their usual
license. One under the title of " La Grande Voleuse "
came out in L'autoriU; it was remarkable for its
ignorance and stupidity, accusing the English of seeking
to seize a strategic point on Haytian territory. The state-
ment would not be worth noticing had not this absurd
accusation been repeated in every republic in America,
and did not people continue to repeat it even to the
present day. When M. de Cassagnac says : — " Tout le
monde pense que I'Angleterre est essentiellement in-
solente et lS.che," we smile at his presumption and
think that he appears to have forgotten history ; it is
almost comic to hear a Frenchman calling the English
cowards. He continues, " Cette nation detestable et
detestee ; " it is a pity he was not in Madrid during the
Eranco-German war, or he would have heard shouts
which would have wounded his delicate sensibilities.

Although Haytians, like others, are hurt by any
reflection on their conduct, I will express a hope that
if a really enlightened coloured or black man succeed
to the Presidency, he, supported by the public opinion
of the civilised world, will attempt a radical reform
in the habits of the lower orders, and thus render
unnecessary any further reference to their peculiar
institution.

Mexico, October iS88.

P.S. — In my Introduction I have stated tliat no
Haytian had come forward to answer any of the
charges contained either in the first edition of this
work or in the Erench translation. Yesterday, how-

INTEODUCTION. XXI

ever, I received, presumably from the author, a
pamphlet entitled " line conference sur Haiti. En
r^ponse aux d^tracteurs de ma race , notamment k Sir
Spenser St. John, Ministre Pldnipotentiaire de S. M.
Bau Mexique. Par Arthur Bowler, . Avocat. Paris,
Dentu, (Septembre) 1888."

I was very pleased to receive this brochure, which,
instead of being an answer, confirms by its silence all
my important statements, that remain still uncontra-
dicted by any one, as my readers will notice when I
refer to the trifling objections which M. Bowler makes
to a few paragraphs. I may remark, however, that, as
far as I can remember, I had never previously heard of
this gentleman, who, if a Haytian, is evidently not
familiar either with his own country or its press, and
but lightly skims over a few paltry details with a poor
attempt at persiflage.

M. Bowler's first correction is, that I am mistaken
in stating that La Selle, &c., are the highest mountains
in Hayti, as there are higher in Santo Domingo, about
which republic I was not writing.

2. He refers to a story told at page 164 of a mother
teaching her son to cheat. In answer to his doubt, I
may inform him that I overheard the conversation
myself. In his comments on this anecdote he shows
how little he knows of the value of paper money.

3. " That the negro has a great propensity for pilfer-
ing." That is what the blacks say of each other, and
my thirteen years' experience of Hayti confirms the
saying. It was an old sojourner in Hayti, M. Faton,
who declared, in joke we will suppose, " that no negro
ever left a room without looking round to see that he

XXll INTKODUCTION.

had not forgotten something." This story was told me
with great glee by a black President of the municipality
of Port-au-Prince, who added, that those who had
plantations in the hills suffered much from this pro-
pensity. Let M. Bowler ask the peasantry why they
never allow their fruit to ripen on the trees. It would
be as well for M. Bowler not to quote the testimony of
French authors paid by the Haytian Government to
give a rose-coloured picture of the Black Eepublic.

4. I am afraid that M. Bowler's knowledge of either
English or French is defective when he translates,
" God spoilt them, and God will repair them " — " Dieu
I'a salie, Dieu la nettoiera." Another proof of his
want of familiarity with Hayti is the remark that no
native would address a foreigner in Creole, when nine-
tenths of the inhabitants can speak no other language,
and in familiar intercourse the upper classes seldom
speak French.

5. M. Bowler objects that I have not introduced into
my book any reference to a certain banquet given to
me in Port-au-Prince, but I have as far as possible
avoided anything which might be considered personal
to myself, or I should have had many a story to relate-
The principal idea of the book was to depict the
manners of the popular and the untravelled classes, as
those of the upper are much the same in most countries.
My impression is, that the civilised portion of the in-
habitants, although annoyed at the necessary publicity,
were pleased that some one had the courage to expose
the barbarous customs of the people, in the hope that
the hostile criticism would rouse the governing classes
to an effort to improve the customs as well as the

INTRODUCTION. XXlll

education • of- Jjhe people. It was left to a narrow-
minded " avocat " to put down to hate the performance
of a duty which would be considered sacred by any
enlightened lover of mankind.

6. M. Bowler protests against my assertion that, as a
rule, the mulatto detests the white. Not always the
individual, but the race. That he despises the black,
and in return is disliked by him, is too true. This does
not prevent individual friendships. The lower orders,
however, consider a rich, well-educated black as a
mulatto, whilst a poor mulatto is looked upon as a
negro. The popular saying runs : —

" Nfegue riche, 11 mulatte ;
Mulatte pauvre, 11 nfegue."

Probably M. Bowler never heard that saying. If
the history of Hayti under Soulouque, Domingue, and
Salomon, with all its blood-stained incidents, will not
convince him of the detestation with which these two
sections of the community generally regard each other,
nothing will. When I wrote my description of the
population of Hayti, I described what I knew to be
true.

7. M. Bowler had better consult Blackstone's Com-
mentaries before he ventures again to state what the
old common law of England was, and to aid his re-
searches I will direct him to Book I. Chapter xv. : —
" Any contract made, per verba de prsesenti, or in
words of the present tense, . . . between persons able
to contract, was before the late Act deemed a valid
marriage," &c., &c.

And these are all the supposed erroneous statements

XXIV INTRODUCTION.

which M. Bowler has been able to find in this work,
and I may add not one of them is in the least erroneous.
He does not even hint a denial of the Vaudoux-worship,
or the cannibalism which accompanies it, the eating of
children, the digging up of corpses for food or fetish
rites, the professional poisoners, or the child-stealers ;
nor does he say a word to disprove my account of the
brutality of the police, the fearful state of the prisons,
the corruption of the judges, or the cruelties practised
on, and by the soldiers, and the barbarous military
executions.

Knowing how useless it was to deny the truth of
these statements, acknowledged as true by all the best
of his countrymen, M. Bowler has let judgment go by
default, and he has been wise in his generation.

Mexico, November 13, 1S88.

HAYTI

OB,

THE BLACK KEPUBLIC.

CHAPTEK I.

GENERAL DESCEIPTION OF HAYTI.

Standing on one of the lofty mountains of Hayti, and
looking towards the interior, I was struck with the
pertinence of the saying of the Admiral, who, crumpling
a sheet of paper in his hand, threw it on the table
before George III., saying, " Sire, Hayti looks like
that." The country appears a confused agglomeration
of mountain, hill, and valley, most irregular in form;
precipices, deep hollows, vales apparently without an
outlet ; water occasionally glistening far below ; cottages
scattered here and there, with groves of fruit-trees
and bananas clustering round the rude dwellings. Gra-
dually, however, the eye becomes accustomed to the
scene ; the mountains separate into distinct ranges, the
hills are but the attendant buttresses, and the valleys

2 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI.

assume their regular forms as tlie watershed^ of the
system, and the streams can be traced meandering
gradually towards the ocean.

If you then turn towards the sea, you notice that
the valleys have expanded into plains, and the rushing
torrents have become broad though shallow rivers, and
the mountains that bound the fiat, open country push
their buttresses almost into the sea. This grand variety
of magnificent scenery can be well observed from a
point near Kenskoff, about ten miles in the interior
from the capital, as well as from the great citadel built
on the summit of La Perri^re in the northern province.
Before entering into particulars, however, let me give
a general idea of the country.

Tlie island of Santo Domingo is situated in the West
Indies between i8° and 20° north latitude and 68°
20' and 74° 30' west longitude. Its greatest length is
four hundred miles, its greatest breadth one hundred
and thirty-five miles, and is calculated to be about the
size of Ireland. Hayti occupies about a third of the
island — the western portion — and, pushing two great
promontories into the sea, it has a very large extent of
coast-line. It is bounded on the north by the Atlantic
Ocean, on the east by the republic of Santo Domingo,
on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by
the passage which separates it from Cuba and Jamaica.

Its most noted mountain ranges are La Selle, which
lies on the south-eastern frontier of Hayti ; La Hotte,
near Les Cayes; and the Black Mountains iu the

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI. 3

northern province; but throughout the whole extent
of the republic the open valleys are bounded by lofty
elevations. In fact, on approaching the island from
any direction, it appears so mountainous that it is diffi-
cult to imagine that so many smiling, fertile plains are to
be met -with in every department. They are, however,
numerous. The most extensive are the Cul-de-Sac, near
Port-au-Prince, the plains of Gonaives, the Artibonite,
Arcahaie, Port Margot, Leog§,ne, that of Les Cayes, and
those that follow the northern coast.

Hayti has the advantage of being well watered,
though this source of riches is greatly neglected. The
principal river is the Artibonite, which is navigable for
small craft for a short distance ; the other streams have
more the character of mountain torrents, full to over-
flowing during the rainy season, whilst during the dry
they are but rivulets running over broad pebbly beds.

The lakes lying at the head of the plain of Cul-de-
Sac are a marked feature in the landscape as viewed
from the neighbouring hills. They are but little visited,
as their shores are marshy, very unhealthy, and unin-
habitable on that account, while the swarms of mos-
quitoes render even a temporary stay highly disagree-
able. The waters of one of them are brackish, which
would appear to indicate salt deposits in the neigh-
bourhoiid.

There are a few islands attached to Hayti, the prin-
cipal. La Tortue on the north, Gonave on the west,
and L'lsle-k-Vache on the south coast. Some attempts

4 GENERAL DESCRIPTION' OF HAYTI.

have been made to develop their natural riches, but as
yet with but moderate success. The first two named
are famous for their mahogany trees, and at La Gonave
fish abound to so great an extent, that a very important
industry might be established there.

The principal towns of the republic are Port-au-
Prince, the capital, Cap Haitien in the north, and
Les Cayes in the south. Jacmel, J^r^mie, Miragoane,
St. Marc, and Gonaives are also commercial ports.

Port-au-Prince is situated at the bottom of a deep
bay, which runs so far into the western coast as almost
to divide Hayti in two. It contains about 20,000 in-
habitants, and was carefully laid out by the French.
It possesses every natural advantage that a capital
could require. Little use, however, is made of these
advantages, and the place is one of the most unpleasant
residences imaginable. I was one day talking to a
French naval officer, and he observed, " I was here as
a midshipman forty years ago." "Do you notice any
change ? " I asked. " Well, it is perhaps dirtier than
before." Its dirt is its great drawback, and appears
ever to have been so, as Moreau de St. Mery com-
plained of the same thing during the last century.
However, there are degrees of dirt, and he would pro-
bably be astonished to see it at the present day. The
above paragraph was first written in 1867; since that
it has become worse, and when I last lauded (1877), I
found the streets heaped up with filth. It does not
appear to have improved, as the following extract from

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI. 5

" The English iu the West Indies " by Froude (chap.
XX.) -will prove : —

"After breakfast we landed. I had seen Jacmel, and
therefore thought myself prepared for the worst which I
could find. Jacmel was an outlying symptom ; Port-au-
Prince was the central ulcer. Long before we came to
shore, there came off whiffs, not of drains as at Havana,
but of active dirt fermenting in the sunlight. Calling
our handkerchiefs to our help, and looking to our feet
carefully, we stepped up upon the quay and walked
forward as judiciously as we could. With the help of
stones we crossed a shallow ditch, where rotten fish,
vegetables, and other articles were lying about promis-
cuously, and we came on what did duty for a grand
parade. We were in a Paris of the gutter with boule-
vards and places, fiacres and crimson parasols. The
boulevards were littered with the refuse of the houses
and were foul as pigsties, and the ladies under the
parasols were picking their way along them in Parisian
boots and silk dresses. I saw a fiacre broken down
in a black pool, out of which a blacker ladyship was
scrambling."

The capital is well laid out, with lines of streets
running parallel to the sea, whilst others cross at right
angles, dividing the town into numerous islets or blocks.
The street are broad, but utterly neglected. Every
one throws out his refuse before his door, so that heaps
of manure, broken bottles, crockery, and every species
of rubbish encumber the way, and render both riding

6 GEKEEAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI.

and walking dangerous. Building materials are per-
mitted occasionally to accumulate to so great an extent
as completely to block up the streets and seriously
impede the traffic. Mackenzie, in his notes on Hayti,
remarks on the impassable state of the streets in 1 826 ;
torn up by tropical rains, they were mended with refuse
(generally stable-dung to fill up the holes, and a thin
layer of earth thrown over), only to be again de-
stroyed by the first storm.^ Ask Haytians why they do
not mend their streets and roads ; they answer, " Bon
Dieu gat^ li ; bon Dieu pare li " (God spoilt them, and
God will mend them). Then, as now, the roads were in
such a state in wet weather that only a waggon with a
team of oxen could get through the muddy slough.

On first entering the town, you are struck with the
utter shabbiness of the buildings, mean cottages and
grovelling huts by the side of the few decent-looking
dwellings. Most of the houses are constructed of
wood, badly built, with very perishable materials, im-
ported from the United States or our Northern colonies.

" II est un systfeme detestable chez nous pour la reparation des
rues. XTne voie publique, est-elle defonc^e ? Vite de la paille du fumier
et des detritus de toutes sortes pour la combler. Le niveau des rues,
est-il altere ? On essayera de la r^tablir en jetant quelques brouettees
de paille h I'endroit inoins eiev^. Enfin, I'eau d'une rigole, ohange-t-
elle son lit et envahit-elle la voie ? On ne trouvera rien de mieux pour
en arreter le coulement que de mettre dans la marre des tas de furaier.
Qu'arrive-t-il ? Au moindre grain de pluie, toutes ces paiiles entrent
en decomposition et comme elles sont mdiees avec des matieres ani-
nnales, il s'y degage outre I'aoide carbonique, des acides, des odeurs de
toutes sortes qui ne sont pas predsement f aJtes pour donner de la sante."
— La Verity, June iS.

GENERAL DESCEIPTION OF HAYTI. 7

The idea that originally prevailed in the construction
of the private houses was admirable ; before each was
a broad verandah, open to all passers, so that from one
end of the town to the other it was intended that there
should be cool, shady walks. But the intolerable stupi-
dity of the inhabitants has spoilt this plan ; in many
streets the level of the verandahs of each house is of a
different height, and frequently separated by a marshy
spot, the receptacle of every species of filth ; so that you
must either walk in the sun or perform in the shade a
series of gymnastic exercises exceedingly inconvenient
in a tropical climate.

On either side of the street was a paved gutter, but
now, instead of aiding the drainage, it is another cause
of the accumulation of filth. , The stones which for-
merly rendered the watercourses even have been either
removed or displaced, and the rains collecting before
the houses form fetid pools, into which the servants
pour all that in other countries is carried off by the
drains. In a few of the more commercial streets, where
foreigners reside, some attention is paid to cleanliness,
but still Port-au-Prince may bear the palm away of
being the most foul-smelling, dirty, and consequently
fever-stricken city in the world.

The port is well protected, but is gradually filling up,
as the rains wash into it not only the silt from the
mountains, but the refuse of the city, and no effort
is made to keep it open. As there is but little tide,
the accumulations of every species of vegetable and

8 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI.

animal matter render the water fetid, and when the sea-
breeze blows gently over these turbid waves, an efflu-
via is borne into the town sickening to all but native
nostrils.

The most remarkable edifice of Port-au-Prince was
the palace, a long, low, wooden building of one storey,
supported on brick walls : it contained several fine
rooms, and two halls which might have been rendered
admirable for receptions ; but everything around it was
shabby — the stables, the guard-houses, the untended
garden, the courtyard overrun with grass and weeds,
and the surrounding walls partially in ruins. This spa-
cious presidential residence was burnt down during the
revolutionary attack on Port-au-Prince in December
1869, and no attempt has been made to rebuild it.^

The church is a large wooden building, an over-
grown shed, disfigured by numerous wretched paint-
ings which cover its walls ; and, as an unworthy con-
cession to local prejudice, our Saviour is occasionally
represented by an ill-drawn negro.^

The senate-house was the building with the most
architectural pretensions, but its outer walls only re-
mained when I last saw it, fire having destroyed the
roof and the interior wood-work. There is no other
edifice worthy of remark ; and the private houses, with

1 President Salomon built a smaller residence near the former site
of the palace.

"^ " Above the market was the cathedral, more hideous than even
the Mormon temple at Salt Lake." — Froude, chap. xx.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI. 9

■perhaps a score of exceptions, are of the commonest
order.

The market-places are large and -well situated, but
ill-tended and dirty, and in the wet season muddy in
the extreme. They are fairly supplied with provisions.
I may notice that in those of Port-au-Prince very
superior meat is often met with, and good supplies of
vegetables, including excellent European kinds, brought
from the mountain gardens near Fort Jaques.

The supply of water is very defective. During the
reign of the Emperor Soulouque a bright idea occurred
to some one, that instead of repairing the old French
aqueduct, iron pipes should be laid down. The Emperor
had the sagacity to see the advantage of the plan, and
gave orders for the work to be done. As an excep-
tion to the general rule, the idea was to a certain
extent well carried out, and remains the only durable
monument of a most inglorious reign. Had the iron
pipes been entirely substituted for the old French
work, the inhabitants would have enjoyed the benefit
of pure water ; but when I left, in i ^iTJ, the people in
the suburbs were still breaking open the old stone-
work to obtain a source of supply near their dwell-
ings ; and pigs, children, and washerwomen congregated
round these spots and defiled the stream.

The amount of water introduced into the town is still
most inadequate ; and though numerous springs, and
one delightful stream. La Eiviere Froide, are within easy
distance of the port, no sufficient effort has been made

10 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI.

to increase the supply. La Eivi^re ]Froide — name redo-
lent of pleasant reminiscences in a tropical climate —
could easily fill a canal, which would not only afford
an inexhaustible supply for the wants of the town and
shipping, but, by creating an outward current, would
carry off the floating matter which pollutes the port.
Since my departure an Englishman commenced some
works to afford the town a constant supply of water,
but these, I understand, have as yet only been partially
carried out. I am informed, however, that the spring
at Marquessant has also been utilised, and now aids the
inadequate amount which flows from Tourjeau.

The cemetery is situated outside the town. I never
entered it except when compelled to attend a funeral,
and hastened to leave it as soon as possible, on account
of an unpleasant odour which pervaded it. It is not
kept in good order, though many families carefully
attend to the graves of their relatives, and there are
several striking tombs. People of all religions are
buried here ; but it is on record that a brawling Irish
priest once attempted to disinter a Protestant child.
His brawling subsequently led to his banishment.

I noticed on my first arrival in Port-au-Prince two
marble cof&ns, very handsome, lying neglected on the
ground outside the palace. I was told they had been
brought from abroad in order that the remains of Petion
and Boyer, two of their best Presidents, should repose in
them ; but for many years I saw them lying empty on
the same spot, and I never heard what became of them.

GENERAL DESCEIPTION OF HAYTI. 11

The curse of Port-au-Prince is fire. Every few years
immense conflagrations consume whole quarters of the
town. Nothing can stop the flames but one of the
few brick-houses, against which the quick-burning fire
is powerless. During my residence in Port-au-Prince
five awful fires devastated the town, and on each occasion
from two to five hundred houses were destroyed. And
yet the inhabitants go on building wretched wooden
match-boxes, and even elaborate houses of the most in-
flammable materials. Companies should be carefal how
they insure property in Port-au-Prince, as there are some
very well-authenticated cases of frauds practised on
them both by Europeans and natives.

Port-au-Prince, on my first arrival in 1863, was
governed by a municipality, over which presided a very
honest man, a Monsieur Eiviere, one of those Protes-
tants to whom I have referred in my chapter on reli-
gion. As. a new arrival, I thought the town suSiciently
neglected, but I had reason to change my opinion.
It was a pattern of cleanliness to what it subsequently
became. The municipality, when one exists, has for its
principal duties the performance or neglect of the regis-
tration of all acts relating to the "etat civil," and to
divide among its members and friends, for work never
eflieiently carried out, whatever funds they can collect
from the city.

At the back of the capital, at a distance of about five
miles, is the village of La Coupe, the summer resi-
dence of the wealthier families. As it was situated

12 GENERAL DESCEIPTION OF HAYTI.

about 1 200 feet above the level of the sea and was
open to every breeze, it afforded a delightful change
from the hot, damp town ; but during the civil war of
1 868 the best houses were destroyed and never recon-
structed. There is a natural bath there, the most
picturesque feature of the place; it is situated under
lofty trees, that cast a deep shade over the spot, and
during the hottest day it is charmingly cool.

Cap Haitien is the most picturesque town in the
republic ; it is beautifully situated on a most com-
modious harbour. As you enter it, passing Fort Picolet,
you are struck by its safe position — a narrow entrance
so easily defended. My first visit was in H.M.S.
Gcdatea, Captain Macguire; and as we expected that
we might very possibly be received by the fire of all
the batteries, our own crew were at their guns, keeping
them steadily trained on Fort Picolet, whose artillery
was distant about a couple of hundred yards. Having
slowly steamed past forts and sunken batteries, we
found ourselves in front of the town, with its ruins
overgrown with creepers, and in the background the
rich vegetation sweeping gracefully up to the summit
of the beautiful hill which over-shadows Cap Haitien.

Cap Haitien never recovered from the effects of the
fearful earthquake of 1842, when several thousands of
its inhabitants perished. To this day they talk of that
awful event, and never forget to relate how the country-
people rushed in to plunder the place, and how none
lent a helping-hand to aid their half-buried country-

GENERAL DESCRIPTION' OF HAYTI. 13

men. Captain Macguire and myself used to wander
about the. ruins, and we could not but feel how little
energy remained in a people who could leave their pro-
perty in. such a state. It was perhaps cheaper to build
a trumpery house elsewhere.

One of those who suffered the most during that
visitation wrote, before the earth had ceased trembling,
" Against the acts of God Almighty no one com-
plains," and then proceeded to relate how the dread
earthquake shook down or seriously injured almost
every house; how two-thirds of the inhabitants were
buried beneath the fallen masonry; how the bands
of blacks rushed in from mountain and plain, not to
aid in saving their wretched countrymen, whose cries
and groans could be heard for two or three days, but
to rob the stores replete with goods ; and — what
he did complain of — how the officers and men of the
garrison, instead of attempting to keep order, joined
in plundering the small remnants of what the surviving
inhabitants could save from the tottering ruins. What
a people !

The most striking objects near Cap Haitien are
the remains of the palace of Sans Souci, and of the
citadel constructed by King Christophe, called La
Ferrifere. It requires a visit to induce one to believe
that so elaborate, and, I may add, so handsome a struc-
ture, could exist in such a place as Hayti, or that a
fortification like the citadel could ever have been
constructed on the summit of a lofty mountain, five

14 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI.

thousand feet, I believe, above the level of the sea.
Some of the walls are eiglity feet in height and six-
teen feet in thickness, where the heavy batteries of
English guns still remain in position. All is of the
most solid masonry, and covering the whole peak of
the mountain.

"We were really lost in amazement as we threaded
gallery after gallery where heavy fifty-six and thirty-
two pounders guarded every approach to what was
intended to be the last asylum of Haytian inde-
pendence. Years of the labour of toiling thousands
were spent to prepare this citadel, which the trem-
bling earth laid in ruins in a few minutes. "What
energy did this black king possess to rear so great a
monument ! But the reverse of the medal states that
every stone in that wonderful building cost a human
life.

It is a popular idea in Hayti that the superiority of
the northern department, and the greater industry of its
inhabitants, date from the time of King Christophe, and
some express a belief that his iron system was suitable
to the country ; but the fact is that Moreau de St. Mdry,
writing in the last century, insists on the superior ad-
vantages of the northern province, its greater fertility,
the abundance of rain, and consequently the number of
rivers, as well as the superior intelligence and industry
of the inhabitants, and their greater sociability and
polish. They are certainly more sociable than in the
capital, and people still seek northern men to work

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI. 15

on their estates. As for Christophe's system, no
amount of increase of produce could compensate for
its brutality.

Gonaives is a poor-looking town, constantly devas-
tated by revolutions and fires, with a few broad, un-
finished streets, and some good houses among the
crowds of mean buildings. This neighbourhood is
famous for what are called white truffles, which are
dried and sent to the different parts of the republic.

St. Marc, though not so scattered as Gonaives, is a
small place. It was formerly built of stone, and a few
specimens of this kind of building still remain. Jacmel
has a very unsafe harbour, but possesses importance as
one of the ports at which the royal mail-steamers call,
and has a large export trade in coffee. Les Caves,
J^remie, and other smaller ports I have only seen at
a distance, but I hear they are much like the other
cities and towns of the republic. Maclienzie says that
the city and environs of Les Cayes are described as
" tr^s riantes," and that in his time it was kept in better
order than the capital. Tliis is said still to be the case.
My last long ride in Hayti was from Cap Haitien
to Gonaives, and nestling in tlie hills I found some
very pretty villages, planted in lovely sites, with cool,
babbling streams, and fruit groves hiding the inferior-
looking houses. The place I most admired was, I think,
called Plaisance. There was a freshness, a brightness,
a repose about the village that made me regret it was
situated so far from the capital.

16 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI,

Wherever you may ride in the mountains, you can-
not fail to remark that there is scarcely a decent-look-
ing house out of the towns. The whole of the country
is abandoned to the small cultivators, whose inferior
cottages are met with at every turn, and, as might be
expected from such a population, very dirty and devoid
of every comfort, rarely any furniture beyond an old
chair, a rickety table, a few sleeping-mats, and some
cooking utensils. There is no rule, however, without
an exception, and I remember being much struck by
seeing at Kenskoff, a small hamlet about ten or twelve
miles direct from Port-au-Prince, a good house, where
there were some chairs, tables, and bedsteads, and
around this dwelling several huts, in which the wives
of our host lived separately.

Now and then a peasant will build a larger house
than usual. We met with one, the last we slept in ou
our ride to the mountain La Selle, whose proprietor
had really some ideas of comfort, and before whose
dwelling coffee-bushes were growing, trimmed to the
height of six feet, placed separate from one another,
perfectly clean, and covered with indications of an
abundant crop. They had been planted there in former
days by an intelligent proprietor, and the peasant had
the merit of not neglecting them.

The plain qf Cul-de-Sac, adjoining the north side of
Port-au-Prince, was one of the richest and most cul-
tivated during the time of the French; and as all
regular cultivation depends on the amount of water

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI. 17

available, their engineers had constructed the most
careful system for the storage and distribution of the
supplies. Properly managed, all the large estates could
receive the quantity necessary for their lands ; but for
many years the stone- work was neglected, and the grand
barrage was becoming useless, when President Gef-
frard placed the affair in the hands of an able French
engineer, who efficiently restored the main work, but
had not funds to complete the canals for distribut-
ing the waters. As usual in all enterprises in that
country, the money voted had to pass through so
many hands, that before it reached the engineer it
had diminished to less than half.

The soil of the plain is most fertile, and only appears
to require water to give the most promising crops of
sugar-cane. There are some very extensive estates,
that could afford work for a large population, but
the ever-increasing disturbances in the country render
capital shy of venturing there.

As might readily be supposed, the roads are greatly
neglected, and during the rainy season are almost
impassable. They are composed simply of the sur-
rounding soil, with a few branches thrown into the
most dangerous holes. The bridges are generally
avoided; it is a saying in Hayti, that you should go
round a bridge, but never cross it, and the advice is
generally followed. For the main streams there are
fords. An attempt was once made to bridge over La

18 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI.

Grande Eivifere du Cul-de-Sac, but the first freshet
washed away all the preliminary work.

In the mountains there are only bridle-paths, though
occasionally I came across the remains of old French
roads and good paths. On the way to Kenskoff there is
a place called L'Escalier, to escalade the steepest side
of the mountain. The horses that are used to it manage
well, but those from the plains find the steps awk-
ward. On the road from Gonaives to the northern pro-
vince there is a very remarkable paved way, the work so
well done that it has resisted the rain during a hun-
dred years of neglect. Some of the bridle-paths in the
north are exceedingly good, and are admirably carried
up the sides of hills, so as to avoid the most difficult
spots.

In the range above Tourjeau I came across a very
pretty grassy bridle-path, and near it I found the remains
of a large French country-house, evidently the residence
of some great proprietor. The tradition in the neigh-
bourhood is that there was an indigo-factory adjoining,
but I could scarcely imagine the site suitable. Wher-
ever you may go in Hayti, you come across signs of
decadence, not only from the exceptional prosperity of
the French period, but even of comparatively recent
years. After the plundering and destruction of 1868
and 1869, few care to keep up or restore their devas-
tated houses, and it is now a hand-to-mouth system.

Cul-de-Sac is a glorious plain, and in good bands
would be a fountain of riches ; and the same may be

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI. 19

said of the other splendid plains that abound through-
out the island. Every tropical plant grows freely, so
that there would be no limit to production should the
country ever abandon revolutions to turn its attention
to industry. About three-fourths of the surface of the
plains are occupied by scrub, a prickly acacia, that
invades every uncultivated spot.

The mounta,ins that bound these plains and extend
to the far interior present magnificent sites for pleasant
residences ; but no- civilised being could occupy them
on account of the difficulty of communication, and the
doubtful character of the population. Up to the time
of the fall of President Gefifrard it was possible ; now
it would be highly imprudent. In one of the most
smiling valleys that I have ever seen, lying to the left
whilst riding to the east of Kenskoff, a friend of mine
possessed a very extensive property. The place looked
so beautiful that I proposed to him a lengthened visit,
to which he acceded. Delay after delay occurred,
and then the civil war of 1865 prevented our leaving
Port-au-Prince.. In 1869, there were arrested in that
valley a dozen of the worst cannibals of the Vaudoux
sect, and the police declared that the whole popula-
tion of that lovely garden of the country was given
up to fetish-worship. It was probably a knowledge
of this that made my friend so long defer our pro-
posed visit, as the residence of a white man among
them might have been looked upon with an evil
eye.

20 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP HAYTI.

I have travelled in almost every quarter of the
globe, and I may say that, taken as a whole, there is
not a finer island than that of Santo Domingo. No
country possesses greater capabilities or a better geo-
graphical position, or more variety of soil, of climate,
and of production, with magnificent scenery of every
description, and hill-sides where the pleasantest of
health-resorts might be established. And yet it is
now the country to be most avoided, ruined as it has
been by a succession of self-seeking politicians, without
honesty or patriotism, content to let the people sink to
the condition of an African tribe, that their own selfish
passions may be gratified.

The climate of Hayti is of the ordinary tropical
character, and the temperature naturally varies accord-
ing to the position of the towns. Cap Haitien, being
exposed to the cooling influence of the breezes from
the north, is much more agreeable as a residence than
Port-au-Prince, which is situated at the bottom of a
deep bay.

In summer, that is, during the months of June, July,
August, and September, the heat is very oppressive.
The registered degrees give one an idea of the disagree-
ableness of the climate. In my house at Tourjeau, near
Port-au-Prince, 600 feet above the level of the sea, I
have noted a thermometer marking 97" in the drawing-
room at 2 P.M. in July, and 95° in the dining-room on
the ground-floor ; and in a room off a court in the town

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI, 21

I have heard of 103" — no doubt from refraction.^ At
the Petit S^minaire the priests keep a register, and I
notice that rarely is the heat marked as 95°; generally
93.2° is the maximum; but the thermometer must be
kept in the coolest part of the college, and is no criterion
of what is felt in ordinary rooms. The nights also are
oppressively warm, and for days I have noticed the
registering thermometer seldom marking less than
80° during the night. In August the heat is even
greater than in July, rising to 97° at the Petit S^mi-
naire, whilst in September the maximum is registered
as 91.5°; and this heat continues well on into
November, the maximum being the same. I have
not the complete returns, but generally the heats of
September are nearly equal to those of August. In
what may be called winter, the thermometer rarely
marks over 84°, and the nights are cool and pleasant.
In fact, I have been assured of the thermometer having
fallen as low as 58° during the night, but I never
saw it myself below 60°. It is a curious fact that
foreigners generally suffer from the heat, and get ill in
consequence, whilst the natives complain of the bitter
cold of the winter, and have their season of illness
then.

Port-au-Prince is essentially unhealthy, and yellow-
fever too often decimates the crews of the ships of
war that visit its harbour. In 1 869, on account of the

^ Mackenzie states that he noticed the thermometer marking 99°
every day for considerable periods.

22 GENERAL DESCEIPTION OF HAYTI.

civil convulsions, Prench and English vessels remained
months in harbour. The former suffered dreadfully;
the Zimier, out of a crew of io6 men and eight
officers, lost fifty-four men and four officers, whilst
the D'Udr^ and another had to mourn their captains
and many of their crew. Who that ever knew him
can forget and not cherish the memory of Captain De
Varannes of the B'EsMs, one of the most sympa-
thetic of men, a brilliant officer, and a steady upholder
of the French and English alliance? De Varannes
was an Imperialist, an aide-de-camp of the Empress,
and thoroughly devoted to the family that had made
his fortune. When the medical men announced to
him that he had not above two hours to live, he
asked the French agent if he had any portraits of
the Imperial family ; they were brought and placed
at the foot of the bed where he could see them. He
asked then to be left alone, and an hour after, when a
friend crept in, he found poor De Varannes dead, with
his eyes open, and apparently fixed on the portraits
before him. I should add that both these vessels
brought the fever tp Port-au-Prince from Havana and
Martinique.

The English ships suffered less, as our officers are
not bound by the rigid rules that regulate the French
commanders, who would not leave the harbour without
express orders from their Admiral, though their men
were dying by dozens. Captain Hunter of the Vestal
and Captain Salmon of the Defence knew their duty

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI. 2',i

to their crews too well to keep them in the pestilential
harbour, and as soon as yellow-fever appeared on board,
steamed away ; and the latter went five hundred miles
due north till he fell in with cool weather, and thus
only lost three men. A French officer told me that
when the sailors on board the Limier saw the De-
fence steam out of harbour, they were depressed even
to tears, and said, " See how the English commanders
are mindful of the health of their men, whilst ours
let us die like flies." Captain Hunter of the Vestal
never had due credit given him for his devotion to his
crew whilst suffering from yellow-fever. He made a
hospital of his cabin, and knew no rest till he had
reached the cool'harbours of the north.

Merchant seamen in certain years have also suffered
dreadfully from this scourge, both in Port-au-Prince
and in the neighbouring port of Mirago§,ne. Two-
thirds of the crews have often died, and every now and
then there is a season in which few ships escape with-
out loss.

Yellow-fever rarely appears on shore, as the natives
do not take it, and the foreign population is small and
mostly acclimatised. The other diseases from which
people suffer are ordinary tropical fevers, agues, small-
pox, and the other ills to which humanity is subject.
But although Port-au-Prince is the filthiest town I
have ever seen, it has not yet been visited by cholera.
In the spring of 1882 small-pox broke out in so viru-
lent a form that the deaths rose to a hundred a day.

24 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF HAYTI.

This dreadful visitation continued several months, and
it is calculated carried off above 5000 people in the
city and its neighbourhood.

If Hayti ever becomes civilised, and if ever roads are
made, there are near Port-au-Prince summer health-
resorts which are perfectly European in their climate.
Even La Coupe, or, as it is ofttcially called, P^tionville,
about five miles from the capital, at an altitude of 1200
feet, is from ten to twelve degrees cooler during the
day, and the nights are delicious ; and if you advance
to Kenskoff or Furcy, you have the thermometer
marking during the greatest heats 75" to Jj", whilst the
mornings and evenings are delightfully fresh, with the
thermometer at from 57° to 68°, and the nights cold.
On several occasions I passed some months at P^tion-
ville, and found the climate most refreshing after the
burning heats of the sea-coast.

The regular rainy season commences about Port-au-
Prince during the month of April, and continues to
the month of September, with rain again in November
under the name of " les pluies de la Toussaint." After
several months of dry weather one breathes again as the
easterly wind brings the welcome rain, which comes with
a rush and a force that bend the tallest palm-trees till
their branches almost sweep the ground. Sometimes,
whilst dried up in the town, we could see for weeks
the rain-clouds gathering on the Morne de I'Hopit'al
within a few miles, and yet not a drop would come
to refresh our parched-up gardens.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OE HAYTI. 25

During the great heats the rain is not only welcome
as cooling the atmosphere, but as it comes in torrents,
it rushes down the streets and sweeps clean all those
that lead to the harbour, and carries before it the
accumulated filth of the dry season. In very heavy
rains the cross streets are flooded ; and one year the
water came down so heavily and suddenly that the
brooks became rushing rivers. The floods surprised a
priest whilst bathing, swept him down to the Champs
de Mars, and threw his mangled body by the side of a
house I was at that moment visiting.

That evening, as I was already wet, I rode home
during the tempest, and never did I see more vivid
lightning, hear louder thunder, or feel heavier rain.
As we breasted the hill, the water rushing down the
path appeared almost knee-deep ; and to add to the
terror of my animal, a white horse, maddened by fear,
came dashing down the hill with flowing mane and
tail, and swept past us. Seen only during a flash of
lightning, it was a most picturesque sight, and I had
much dif&culty in preventing my frightened horse
joining in his wild career.

The rainy season varies in different parts of the
island, particularly in the north. I am surprised to
observe that the priests have found the annual fall of
rain to be only 117 inches. I had thought it more.
Perhaps, however, that was during an exceptionally
dry year.

The great plain of Cul-de-Sac is considered healthy.

26 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP HAYTI.

although occasionally intensely warm. It is, however,
freely exposed not only to the refreshing sea-breezes,
but to the cooling land-winds that come down from
the mountains that surround it. There is but little
marsh, except near La Eivi^re Blanche, which runs
near the mountains to the north and is lost in the
sands.

On the sugar-cane plantations, where much irrigation
takes place, the negro workmen suffer somewhat from
fever and ague, but probably more from the copious
libations of new rum, which they assert are rendered
necessary by the thirsty nature of the climate.

I had often read of a clap of thunder in a clear sky,
but never heard anything like the one that shook our
house near Port-au-Prince. We were sitting, a large
party, in our broad verandah, about eight in the even-
ing, with a beautiful starlight night, — the stars, in
fact, shining so brightly that you could read by their
light, — when a clap of thunder, which appeared to
burst just over our roof, took our breath away. It was
awful in its suddenness and in its strength. N"o one
spoke for a minute or two, when by a common impulse
we left the house and looked up into a perfectly clear
sky. At a distance, however, on the summits of the
mountains, was a gathering of black clouds, which
warned my friends to mount their horses, and they
could scarcely have reached the town when one of the
heaviest storms I have known commenced, with thunder
worthy of the clap that had startled us. Though all of

GENEKAL DESCKIPTION OF HAYTI. 27

US were seasoned to the tropics, we had never been so
impressed before.

In the wet season the rain, as a rule, comes on at
regular hours, and lasts a given time. Though occa-
sionally it will continue through a night and longer,
rarely does it last above twenty -four hours without
a gleam of sunshine intervening.

( 28 )

CHAPTEE IT.

HISTOEY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

I DO not doubt but the discovery of America by
Columbus was good in its results to mankind; but
when we read the history of early Spanish colonisation,
the predominant feeling is disgust at the barbarities
and fanaticism recorded in almost every page. We
generally pass lightly over this view of the subject,
being dazzled by pictures of heroic deeds, as set forth
in the works of Prescott and Eobertson — heroic deeds
of steel-clad warriors massacring crowds of gentle,
almost unresisting natives, until despair, lending energy
to their timid natures, forced them occasionally to turn
on their savage persecutors.

In no country were the Spaniards more notorious' for
their cruelty than in the first land in America on which
Columbus established a settlement. The population
was then differently estimated, the numbers given vary-
ing between 800,000 and 2,000,000, the former calcu-
lation being the more probable. They were indeed a
primitive people, the men moving about entirely naked,
and the women wearing but a short petticoat. They are
said to have been good-looking, which, if true, would

HISTORY BEFOEE INBEPENDENCB. 29

mark them as a people distinct from any other in the
New World, as the Indians, who still remain by millions
in North and South America, are as a race the most
ill-favoured natives I have seen in any portion of the
globe. That was my impression when I travelled in
their country, though I have seen among the young
women who followed the Indian regiments to Lima a
few who might almost be considered handsome, but these
by their appearance were probably of mixed breed.

Columbus only stayed two months in Santo Domingo,
but left behind him forty of his companions in an
entrenched position, who immediately after his de-
parture began to commit excesses; and hearing that
a cacique in the interior had a large store of gold,
penetrated to his town and robbed him of his riches.
This roused the population against them ; they were
pursued and killed in detail.

In the meantime Columbus had revisited Spain, been
received with honour, and seventeen vessels, laden with
every kind of store and domestic animal, as well as a
lai^e force, were placed at his disposal. On his arrival
his first thoughts were for gold, and he marched in
search of the mines, which being pointed out to him,
were soon in full work, the Indians by force being
compelled to this task. The conduct of these white
men appears to have been so wantonly cruel, that the
population rose en masse, and a hundred thousand of the
aborigines are said to have marched to attack the
Spaniards, two hundred and twenty of whom put this

30 HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

crowd to flight without the loss of a single man. These
are the heroic deeds we are called upon to admire. It
has often been declared impossible that such, on one
side, bloodless encounters could take place ; but I am
well-assured that two hundred well-armed Englishmen
could in the present day march through any number
of the Land Dyaks of Borneo, and defeat them with-
out loss.

It is not necessary to trace in detail the history of
the island; but I may notice that in 1 507 the population
was estimated at 60,000, which shows that the original
reckoning must have been greatly exaggerated, as not
even these early apostles of the religion of charity
could have thus wiped out the people by millions.
The story of what are called the early exploits of the
Spaniards in Santo Domingo has been so often related
that it is useless to tell it over again, especially as it
would present but a sequence of sickening events, of
murders, executions, robbery, and lust, with but few
traits of generosity and virtue to record.

These foreign settlers soon saw that the island would
be useless to them without population, so they early
began to introduce negroes from Africa, as well as
families from the neighbouring isles. The local Indians
were not, however, spared, and the Spanish historians
themselves are the chroniclers of this record of infamy.
Now not a descendant of an Indian remains.

Santo Domingo, deprived of population, with its
comparatively unimportant mineral wealth, for want of

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDEXOE. 31

hands, no longer available, and agriculture neglected,
rapidly degenerated, and little was left but the city of
Santo Domingo and in the interior a population of
herdsmen. Then the famous buccaneers appeared to
inflict on the Spaniards some of the misery tliey had
worked on the Indians. Notwithstanding every effort
to prevent them, the French adventurers gradually
spread through the western end of the island, and began
to form towns and settlements.

In 1640 Levasseur was sent from France as governor
of these irregularly acquired possessions, and from that
time the French may be said to have established them-
selves firmly in the western part of Santo Domingo —
which hereafter I may call by its present name, Hayti,
to simplify the narrative — but their rule was not recog-
nised by Spain until the year 1697.

From this date to the breaking out of the French
Eevolution the colony increased in prosperity, until it
became, for its extent, probably the richest in the world.
Negroes were imported by thousands from the coast
of Africa, and were subjected to as harsh a slavery as
ever disgraced the worst system of servitude.

Two events occurred during this period of prosperity
which were worthy of being noted: first, the fearful
earthquake which destroyed Port-au-Prince in 1770,
when for fifteen days the earth trembled under repeated
shocks, and left the city a heap of ruins.^ The second

^ It is a well-known fact that the noise of the approach of an earth-
quake is generally heard ; but in Port-au-Prince there is a curious

32 HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

■was the war in whicli France engaged to aid our Worth
American colonists to acquire their independence. To
increase their forces the French commanders permitted
the free blacks and mulattoes to enlist, and they did
good service ; but when they returned to their country,
they spread widely a spirit of disaffection, which no
ordinances could destroy.

When England in 1785 was forced to acknowledge
the independence of the United States, how despotic
France and Spain rejoiced over the downfall of the
only country where liberty was known ! The results
were, for France, the Eevolution, which, with all its
crimes, did unspeakable good, and deprived her of the
finest colony that any country ever possessed. To
Spain it brought the loss of world-wide possessions, and
a fall in power and prestige which until lately she has
shown but few signs of recovering.

On the eve of the great Eevolution, France possessed,
as I have said, the finest colony in the world. Her
historians are never weary of enumerating the amount
of its products, the great trade, the warehouses full
of sugar, cotton, coffee, indigo, and cocoa; its plains
covered with splendid estates, it hillsides dotted with
noble houses ; a white population, rich, refined, enjoy-

phenomenon which I have never known explained. A subterranean
noise is frequently heard approaching from the plains, and appears to
pass under the town without any movement of the earth being per-
ceptible. The Haytians call it "le gouffre," or "le bruit du gouffre,''
and many fancy the whole of that portion of the island to be under-
mined, «nd predict a fearful fate for the capital.

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 33

ing life as only a luxurious colonial society can en-
joy it; the only dark spot, then scarcely noticed, the
ignorant, discontented mass of black slavery, and the
more enlightened disaffection of the free mulattoes and
negroes.

It has often been a subject of inquiry how it was
that the Spaniards, who were the cruellest of the cruel
towards the Indians, should have established negro
slavery in a form which robbed it of half its terrors,
whilst the French, usually less severe than their
southern neighbours, should have founded a system
of servitude unsurpassed for severity, cruelty, nay,
ferocity. To this day the barbarous conduct of the
Marquis of Caradeux is cited as a justification for the
savage retaliation of the insurgent negroes. I think
that the explanation of the different conduct of the
Spanish and French slave-owner may be, that the
former is indolent and satisfied with less, whilst the
latter, in his fierce struggle to be rich, cared not how
he became so, and worked his negroes beyond human
endurance, and then, to keep down the inevitable effects
of discontent, sought to terrorise his slaves by barbarous
punishments.

The true history of Hayti commences with the
French Eevolution, when, amid the flood of impracti-
cable and practicable schemes, a few statesmen turned
their generous thoughts towards the down-trodden
African, and firing assembled France with their enthu-
siasm, passed laws and issued decrees granting freedom

c

34 HISTOEY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

to the black ; but before these had any practical effect,
Hayti had to pass through scenes which have left
blood-stains that nothing can wash away.

When reading the different accounts which have
been written of the state of Hayti when France was
upsetting the accumulated wrongs of ages, I have often
desired to disbelieve them, and place to exaggerated
feelings of sympathy the descriptions of the prejudices
of the planters and the atrocities committed under
their influence. But I have lived long in the West
Indies, and know that there are still many whites born
in our colonies, even among the clergy, who not only
look upon the negro as of an inferior species — which he
may be — but as fit only for servitude, and quite un-
worthy of freedom, and on an alliance with a coloured
person as a disgrace which affects a whole family.
They speak of a mulatto as they would of one affected
with leprosy. If in these days such sentiments exist,
we can readily believe that they existed even in a
greater degree before, awakened to a feeling of justice,
civilised nations formally abolished slavery, and let the
black and the coloured man have an equal chance in
the struggle of life.

For some years before the meeting of the States-
General in France, philanthropists who had inquired
into the condition of the slave had had their compas-
sion aroused, and, to give direction to their efforts to
ameliorate it, had founded in Paris a society called
" The Friends of the Blacks."

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 35

The summoning of the States- General in Prance
created much enthusiasm throughout Hayti ; the plan-
ters now thought that justice would be done, and that
a share would be accorded them in the government of
the colony; the lower class of whites had a vague
idea that their position must be improved, and hailed
the movement as the promise of better times — though
in truth these two Classes had little of whicli to com-
plain ; the former were rolling in wealth, and the
latter were never in want of highly-paid employ-
ment. Another class felt even greater interest — that
of the free black and coloured men ; they thought that
no change could occur which would not better their
condition, which was one of simple toleration ; they
might work and get rich, have their children educated
in France, but they had no political rights, and the
meanest white considered himself, and was treated, as
their superior. The slaves, although discontented, were
only formidable from their numbers.

Exaggerated expectations were naturally followed by
disappointment. The planters, finding that the French
Government had no intention of employing them to
administer the colony, began to think of independence ;
whilst the lower whites, passionately attached to the
dream of ec[uality, thought that that should com-
mence by an apportionment among them of the
estates of the rich. A third party consisted of the
Government employes, whose chiefs were Eoyalists
under the leadership of Penier, the Governor-General,

36 HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

and Mauduit, colonel of the regiment of Port-au-
Prince.

The Colouial party, or rather that of the planters,
in order to increase their power, which had hitherto
been disseminated in local assemblies, determined to
have the law carried out which authorised a General
Assembly. This was elected, and held its first meet^
ings in St. Marc in March 1790. The leaders soon
commenced to quarrel with the Government autho-
rities, and dissensions rose to such a height that both
parties began to arm ; and on the Assembly decreeing
the substitution of another Governor for Penier, he
was roused to resistance, and in a brief struggle he
forced the General Assembly to dissolve, a portion of
the members seeking refuge on board of a ship of war,
whose crew they had induced to mutiny and sail with
them to France.

The white population thus set the example of inter-
nal strife, and in their struggle for mastery called in
the aid of the freedmen, and then after victory insulted
them. These, however, began gradually to understand
the advantages they possessed in being able to support
the climate, and the persecutions and cruelties of the
French made them feel that those who would be free
themselves must strike the blow.

Among the educated and intelligent mulattoes who
had gone to France to urge on the National Assembly
the rights of their colour was Ogd. He naturally
thought that the time had arrived for justice to be

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 37

done when the President of the " Constituant" had
declared that " aucune partie de la nation ne r^cla-
mera vainement ses droits aupres de I'assemblee des
representants du peuple fran^ais." He visited the
Club Massiac, where the planters held supreme sway,
and endeavoured to enlist their sympathy, but he
was coldly received. He then determined to return to
Hayti to support the rights of his caste, which, though
ambiguously, had been recognised by the Legislature ;
but unexpected obstacles were thrown in his way by
the Colonial party, and an order to arrest him was
issued should he venture to embark for his native
land. By passing through England and the United
States he eluded these precautions, and landed privately
at Cap Haitien. When the news of his arrival on
his property at Dondon reached the authorities, they
endeavoured to capture him ; then he, with some
hundreds of his colour, rose in arms ; but after a few
skirmishes they dispersed, and Og^ was forced to seek
refuge in the Spanish settlement of Santo Domingo.
There he was arrested, and, on the demand of the
Governor of the French colony, handed over to his
enemies. He was tried as a rebel and broken on the
wheel, together with three companions; others were
hung, the rest sent to the galleys.

Oge's armed resistance had encouraged the men
of colour in the south to demand their rights; but
they were easily dispersed, and their chief, Eigaud,
taken prisoner. These isolated and irresolute outbreaks

38 HISTORY BEFOEE IXDEPEIfDENCE.

rendered the division between the coloured and the
white population more marked than ever; the latter
despised the former for their wretched resistance,
while the coloured men were indignant at the cruel
and unsparing executions which marked the close of
Oge's career.

Monsieur Blanchelande was then Governor, a weak
man at the head of the Eoyalist partj^, who had not
the courage to follow the energetic counsels of Colonel
Mauduit. By his vacillation all discipline was lost both
in the army and in the fleet, and the revolutionary
party rose in arms in Port-au-Prince, murdered Colonel
Mauduit, and drove tlie pusillanimous Grovernor to seek
refuge in the plain of Cul-de-Sac. Thus the whites
were everywhere divided, but were still strong enough
to disperse any assembly of the freedmen.

The news of the troubles in Hayti produced a great
effect in Paris, and the Constituent Assembly deter-
mined to send three commissioners to restore tran-
quillity ; but they prefaced this measure by decreeing
(May 15, 1791) that every man of colour born of free
parents should enjoy equal political rights with the
whites. On the planters declaring that this would
bring about civil war and the loss of the colony, the
famous phrase was uttered, "Perish the colonies rather
than a principle," which phrase has not been forgotten
by those amongst us who would sacrifice India to the
perverse idea of abandoning our high political status
in the world.

HISTORY BEFOEE INDEPENDENCE. 39

When the substance of this decree reached Hayti, it
roused to fury the passions of the whites ; all sections
united in declaring that they would oppose its execu-
tion even by force of arms, and a strong party was
formed either to declare the independence of the
colony, or, if that were not possible, to invite England
to take possession. The coloured men, on the other
hand, determined to assert their rights, and held secret
meetings to bring about an accord among all the
members of their party; and when they heard that
Governor Blanchelande had declared he would not
execute the decree, they summoned their followers to
meet at Mirebalais in the western department.

The whites in the meantime determined that the
second Colonial Assembly should be elected before the
official text of the dreaded decree of the 1 5th May should
arrive ; and so rapidly did they act, that on the ist
August 1 79 1 the Assembly met at Leogane, and was
opened under the presidency of the Marquis de Cadusch,
a Eoyalist. They called Governor Blanchelande to the
bar of the House, and made him swear that he would
not carry into effect the law giving equal rights to
the freedmen. As Cap Haitien had become in reality
the capital of the colony, both the Governor and the
Assembly soon removed there.

The Eoyalist party, headed by the Governor, found
their influence gradually declining, and, to strengthen
their hands against both the Colonial Assembly with
its traitorous projects and the violence of the lower

40 HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

part of the white population, are accused of having first
thought of enlisting the blacks to further their schemes
and to strengthen their party. It is said that they
proposed to Toussaint, a slave on the Breda estates, to
raise the negroes in revolt in the name of the King.
This account I believe to be a pure invention of the
coloured historians, and the conduct of the blacks
clearly proved that they were not moved by French
officers. Whoever was the instigator, it is certain that
the negroes in the northern province rose in insurrec-
tion, put to death every white that fell into their
liands, began to burn the factories, and then rushed en
masse to pillage the town of Cap Haitien. Here, how-
ever, their numbers availed them little against the
arms and discipline of the French troops, and they
were driven back with great slaughter, and many then
retired to the mountains. It would naturally be sus-
pected that the coloured people were the instigators
of this movement, were it not certain that they were
as much opposed to the freedom of the blacks as the
most impassioned white planter.

The insurgent slaves called themselves " Les Gens du
Eoi," declaring that he was their friend and was per-
secuted for their sake ; they hoisted the white flag, and
placed an ignorant negro, Jean Francois, at their head.
The second in command was a Papaloi or priest of the
Vaudoux, named Biassou. He encouraged his followers
to carry on the rites of their African religion, and when
under its wildest influence, he dashed his bands to the

HISTOEY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 41

attack of their civilised enemies, to meet their death
in Hayti, but to rise again free in their beloved
Africa. The ferocity of the negro nature had now full
swing, and the whites who fell into their hands felt
its effects. Prisoners were placed between planks and
sawn in two, or were skinned alive and slowly roasted,
the girls violated and then murdered. Unhappily some
of these blacks had seen their companions thus tor-
tured, though probably in very exceptional cases. De-
scriptions of these horrors fill pages in every Haytian
history, but it is needless to dwell on them. On either
side there was but little mercy.

The Governor at length collected 3000 white troops,
who, after various skirmishes, dispersed these bands
with much slaughter ; but as this success was not fol-
lowed up, Jean Francois and Biassou soon rallied their
followers.

In the meantime the coloured men at Mirebalais,
under the leadership of Pinchinat, began to arouse their
brethren ; and having freed nine hundred slaves, com-
menced forming the nucleus of an army, that, under
the leadership of a very intelligent mulatto named
Bauvais, gained some successes over the undisciplined
forces in Port-au-Prince, commanded by an Italian
adventurer, Praloto. The Pioyalists, who had been
driven from the city by the mob, had assembled at " La
Croix des Bouquets " in the plains, and to strengthen
their party entered into an alliance with the freedmen.
This alarmed the inhabitants of Port-au-Prince, and

42 HISTOKY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

they also recognised the existence of Pinchinat and
his party by entering into a regular treaty with them.
Tlie Haytians, as I may call the coloured races, began
now to understand that their position must depend on
their own courage and conduct.

When everything had been settled between the chiefs
of the two parties, the Haytians returned to Port-au-
Prince, and were received with every demonstration of
joy; they then agreed to a plan which showed how
little they cared for the liberty of others, so that they
themselves obtained their rights. Among those who
had fought valiantly at their side were the freed slaves
previously referred to. For fear these men should
excite ideas of liberty among those blacks who were
still working on the estates, the coloured officers con-
sented that they should be deported from the country.
In the end, they were placed as prisoners on board a
pontoon in Mole St. Nicolas, and at night were for
the most part butchered by unknown assassins. And
Bauvais and Pinchinat, the leaders and the most intel-
ligent of the freedmen, were those that agreed to this
deportation of their brethren in arms who had the
misfortune to be lately slaves ! I doubt if the blacks
ever forgot this incident.

The coloured men gained little by this breach of.
faith, as shortly after news arrived that the French
Assembly had reversed the decree of May 15, which
gave equal rights to the freedmen ; and then dissensions
broke out, and the coloured men were again driven from

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDEJS^CE. 43

Port-au-Prince with heavy loss. This was the signal for
disorders throughout the whole country, and the whites
and the freedmen were skirmishing in every district.
Praloto and the rabble reigned supreme in Port-au-
Prince, and soon made the rich merchants and shop-
keepers feel the effects of their internal divisions, They
set fire to the town, and during the confusion plundered
the stores, and exercised their private vengeance on
their enemies.

The whole country was in the greatest disorder when
three commissioners sent by the Prench Government
arrived in Hayti. The Colonial Assembly was still
sitting at Cap Haitien and the insurgent negroes were
encamped at no great distance. The three commis-
sioners were Mirbeck, St. Leger, and Eoume ; they im-
mediately endeavoured to enter into negotiations with
the revolted slaves, which had little result, on account
of the obstinacy of the planters. Finding that their
influence was as nought, the former two returned
to Prance, whilst Eoume went ultimately to Santo
Domingo.

The state of the colony may be imagined when it is
remembered that the whites were divided into three
distinct sections. Tlie coloured men, jealous of each
other, did not combine, but were ready to come to blows
on the least pretext ; while the blacks, under Jean
Pranqois, were massacring every white that fell into
their hands, and selling to the Spaniard every negro or
coloured man accused of siding with the Prench. The

44 HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

planters wanted independence or subjection to England j
the poorer whites anything which would give them the
property of others ; the coloured were still faithful to
France, whilst the blacks cared only to be free from
work ; yet among them was Toussaint, who already had
fermenting in his brain the project of a free black
State.

It would interest few to enter into the details of
this history of horrors, where it is difficult to feel sym-
pathy for any party. They were alilie steeped in blood,
and ready to commit any crime to further their ends.
Murder, torture, violation, pillage, bad faith, and treach-
ery meet you on all sides ; and although a few names
arise occasionally in whom you feel a momentary inte-
rest, they are sure soon to disgust you by their utter
incapacity or besotted personal ambition.

The ISTational Assembly in Paris, finding that their
first commissioners had accomplished nothing, sent three
others, two of whom, Sonthonax and Polverel, are well
known in Haytian history. They had full powers, and
even secret instructions, to do all they could to give
freedom to the slaves.

These two commissioners were of the very worst
kind of revolutionists, talked of little- but guillotining
the aristocrats, and were in every way unsuited to
their task ; they dissolved the Colonial Assembly, and
substituted for it a commission, consisting of six whites
of the stamp suited to them and six freedmen. Tliey
decided to crush the respectable classes, whom they

JIISTOEY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 45

called Eoyalists, because they would not join in re-
volutionary excesses, and the massacre commenced at
the Cape.

Polverel appears to have had some idea of the re-
sponsibility of his position, though both cruel and faith-
less; Sonthonax, however, was but a blatant babbler,
with some talent, but overwhelmed by vanity. He
caused more bloodshed than any other man, first setting
the lower white against the rich, then the mulatto
against the white, and then the black against both.
Well might the French orator declare on Sonthonax's
return to France that " il puait de sang." The third
commissioner, Aillaud, thinking, very justly, that his
.companions were a couple of scoundrels whom he
could not control, embarked secretly and left for home.
Whilst these commissioners were employed in destroy-
ing the fairest colony in the world, France, in a moment
of excited fury, declared war against the rest of Europe,
and a new era opened for Hayti.

Many of the more influential and respectable inha-
bitants of all colours, utterly disgusted by the conduct
of the different parties, thought that the war between
England and France would give them some chance of
rest from the excesses of the insurgent blacks and from
the factious freedmen, supported by that foii furieux,
Sonthonax, sent to Jamaica to invite the Governor to
interfere and take possession of the colony.

England did interfere, but in her usual way, with
small expeditions, and thus frittered away her strength ;

46 HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

but the resistance made was in general so contemptible,
that with little effort we succeeded in taking J^r^mie
in the southern province, and then St. Marc, and subse-
quently Port-au-Prince. Had we sent a large army, it
is equally possible that we should not have succeeded,
as the intention was to reimpose slavery. As the
garrison of Jamaica could only furnish detachments,
the British authorities began to enlist all who wished
to serve, irrespective of colour, and being supported by
those who were weary of anarchy and revolutionary
fury, were soon able to present a very respectable force
in the field. The Spaniards, aided by the bands of re-
volted negroes, overran most of the northern province ;
in this they were greatly aided by Toussaint L'Ouver-
ture, who now began to come to the front. Sonthonax,
■whose idea of energy was simply to massacre and
destroy, ordered that every place his partisans were
forced to evacuate should be burned. At the same
time he thought that a little terror might be of service,
so he erected a guillotine in Port-au-Prince ; and having
at hand a Frenchman accused of being a Eoyalist, he
thought he would try the experiment on him. An
immense crowd of Haytians assembled to witness the
execution ; but when they saw the bright blade descend
and the head roll at their feet, they were horror-stricken,
and rushing on the guillotine, tore it to pieces, and no
other has ever again been erected in Hayti.

Curious people ! they who never hesitated to destroy
the whites, guilty or innocent, or massacre, simply

HISTOEY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 47

because they were white, women and children, down
to the very babe at the breast, who invented every
species of torture to render death more hideous, were
horrified because a man's head was chopped off instead
of his being destroyed in a fashion to which they were
accustomed, and this at a time when white, coloured,
and black were vying with each other in acts of blood-
thirsty cruelty !

The whole country was in terrible confusion ; the
French had not one man who had the talent or influ-
ence to dominate their divided factions ; the coloured
were represented by such respectabilities as Pinchinat,
Bauvais, and Eigaud, but without one of incontestable
superiority; the blacks were as yet led by such men
as Jean Frangois and Biassou, who must even make
respectable negroes blush to acknowledge that they
were of the same race ; yet, as I have said, there was
one man coming to the front who was to dominate all.

Amid the many heroes whose actions the Haytians
love to commemorate, Toussaint L'Ouverture does not
hold a high rank ; and yet the conduct of this black
was so remarkable as almost to confound those who
declare the negro an inferior creature incapable of
rising to genius. History, wearied with dwelling on
the petty passions of the other founders of Haytiau
independence, may well turn to the one grand figure
of this cruel war. Toussaint was born on the Breda
estate in the northern department, and was a slave
from birth ; it has. been doubted whether he was of

43 HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

pure negro race. His grandfather was an African
prince, but if we may judge from the portraits, he was
not of the pure negro tvpe. Whether pure negro or
not, there is no doubt of the intelligence and energy
of the man. Though but a puny child, by constant
exercise and a vigorous will he became as wiry and
active as any of his companions, and, moreover, gave
up much of his leisure time to study. He learned to
read French, and, it is said, in order to understand the
Prayer-Book, a little Latin ; but he never quite mastered
the art of writing. He was evidently trusted and
kindly treated by his master's agent, who gave him
charge of the sugar-mills. There is an accusation con-
stantly brought against Toussaint, that of being a
religious hypocrite, but his early life shows that it is
unfounded. Whilst stUl a slave, his principles would
not allow him to foUow the custom of his companions
and live in concubinage; he determined to marrv,
though the woman he chose had already an illegitimate
son named Placide, whom he adopted. It is pleasing to
read of the happy domestic life of Toussaint, and it
is another proof of that affectionate disposition which
made those who served him devoted to him.

When the insurrection broke out in the northern
province, Toussaint remained faithful to his master, and
prevented any destruction on the estate: but finding
ultimately that he could not stem the tide, he sent his
master's family for safety into Cap Haitien, and joined
the insurgents. He was at first appointed surf^eon to

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 49

the army, as among his other accomplishments was a
knowledge of simples, which had given him great in-
fluence on the estate, and was now to do so in the
insurgent forces. He liked this employment, as it
kept him free from the savage excesses of his com-
panions, who were acting with more than ordinary
barbarity.

The three leaders of the insurgents were then Jean
Francois, a negro, about whom opinions differ. St.
Eemy says he was intellectual, though the general idea
is the more probable one, that he was an energetic
savage. Biassou was sensual and violent, as cruel as
man could be, and an avowed leader of the Vaudoux
sect, and apparently a Papaloi; but the vilest of the
three was Jeannot. He loved to torture his white
prisoners, and drank their blood mixed with rum ; but
he was as cowardly as he was cruel, and the scene at
his execution, when he clung to the priest in frantic
terror, must have afforded satisfaction to the friends of
those whom he had pitilessly murdered. Jeannot was
also a great proficient in Vaudoux practices, and thus
gained much influence with the ignorant slaves ; it was
this influence, not his cruelties, which roused the anger
of Jean Fran9ois, who seized and summarily shot him.

It is curious to read of the projects of these negro
leaders. They had no idea of demanding liberty for
the slaves ; they only wanted liberty for themselves.
In some abortive negotiations with the French, Jean
Frangois demanded that 300 of the leaders should be

50 HISTORY BEFOEE INDEPENDENCE.

declared free, whilsfc Toussaint would only have bar-
gained for fifty. The mulattoes, however, were most
anxious to preserve their own slaves, and, as I have
related, gave up to death those blacks who had aided
them in supporting their position ; and a French writer
records that up to Le Clerc's expedition, the mulattoes
had fought against the blacks with all the zeal that the
interests of property could inspire.

The blind infatuation of the planters prevented
their accepting Jean Frangois' proposition; they even
rejected it with insult, and savagely persecuted the
negroes who were living in Cap Haitien. Biassou then
ordered all his white prisoners to be put to death ; but
Toussaint, by his eloquent remonstrances, saved them.
Other negotiations having failed, Biassou attacked the
French lines, and carried them as far as the ramparts
of the town. The planters had brave words, but not
brave deeds, with which to meet their revolted bonds-
men. All the black prisoners taken by the insurgents
were sent over the frontiers and sold as slaves to the
Spaniards. Toussaint remonstrated against this vile
traffic, but never shared in it. The new Governor,
Laveaux, at this time nearly stifled the insurrection,
dispersing all the insurgent forces ; but, as usual, not
following up his successes, allowed the negroes again
to concentrate. No strength of position as yet enabled
the blacks successfully to resist the white troops.

When the negro chiefs heard of the death of
Louis XVI., they thought they had lost a friend, and

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 51

openly joined the Spaniards in their war on the French
Eepublic.

At this time Sonthonax and Polv^rel acted as if
they intended to betray their own country, by remov-
ing the chief white officers from command and in-
trusting these important posts to mulattoes. It was
not, however, treachery, but jealousy, as such a man
as General Galbaud could not be made a docile instru-
ment in their hands. Then finding that power was
slipping from them, they proclaimed (1793) the liberty
of all those slaves who would fight for the Eepublic.

In the meantime Toussaint was steadily gaining
influence among his troops, and gradually freeing him-
self from the control of Biassou, whose proceedings
had always shocked him ; and some successful expedi-
tions, as the taking of Dondon, added to his prestige.
Whilst fighting was going on throughout the northern
provinces, Sonthonax and Polverel were solemnising
pompous fites to celebrate the anniversary of the
taking of the Bastile. It is singular what a passion
they had for these childish amusements.

Eigaud, a mulatto, in future days the rival of
Toussaint, now appears prominently upon the scene,
being appointed by the commissioners as chief of the
southern department.

Toussaint continued his successes, and finding that
nothing could be done with the estates without the
whites, appeared anxious to induce them to return
to superintend their cultivation, and he succeeded in

62 HISTORY BEFORE IXDEPENDEK'CE.

persuading many hundreds to reside in their devastated
homes.

Alarmed by the continued advance of Toussaint,
Sonthonax proclaimed in August 29, 1793, the liberty
of all, which, under the circumstances, may be con-
sidered the only wise act of his administration.

The people of the north-west, however, were weary
of the tyranny of the commissioners, and being pro-
bably privately informed of Toussaint's intentions, sur-
rendered Gonaives to him, and the rest of the neigh-
bouring districts followed. A new enemy, however, now
appeared in the shape of the English, who took posses-
sion of St. Marc with seventy-five men, — so like our
system! In June 1794 Port-au-Prince surrendered to
the English after a faint resistance, the commissioners
retiring to Jacmel, from whence they embarked for
Prance, to answer for their conduct. At that time
Port-au-Prince was in a fair state for defence ; but
Captain Daniel of the 41st took the famous fort
of Bizoton by storm with sixty men, and then the
English advanced on the town. The effect of having
replaced the French officers by untrained mulattoes
was here apparent: though everything had been pre-
pared to blow up the forts, nothing was done ; the garri-
son fled, leaving to our forces 131 cannon, twenty- two
laden vessels, with 7000 tons more in ballast, and all
their stores and ammunition.

At this time Jean Francois, became suspicious of
Toussaint and arrested him, but he was delivered by

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 53

3iassou. Toussaint had for some time been meditating

o

a bold stroke. The procl3,mation by Sonthonax of the
freedom of the blacks probably worked on him, and he
determined to abandon the party of the King of Spain,
which was that of slavery, and join the French Ee-
public. He did so, proclaiming at the same time the
freedom of the slaves. His soldiers sullied the change
by massacring two hundred white planters, who, con-
fiding in the word of Toussaint, had returned to their
estates.

The new general of the republic now acted with
energy against Jean Fran9ois, drove him from the
plains, and forced him to take refuge with his followers
in the Black Mountains. Success followed success,
until Toussaint found himself opposite St. Marc; but
his attack on that town was easily repulsed by its garri-
son in English pay. His activity was incessant, and he
kept up constant skirmishes with all his enemies ; he
appeared ever unwearied, whatever might be the fatigue
of his companions.

Toussaint had naturally observed that, however his
men might succeed against the undisciplined hordes of
Jean Franqois, they could do nothing against a discip-
lined force. He therefore, in 1795, formed four regi-
ments of 2000 men each, whom he had daily drilled by
French soldiers, his former prisoners ; and, I may notice
here, with such success, that English officers were sub-
sequently surprised at their proficiency.

Eigaud had, in the meantime, with his usual boasting,

54 HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

marched on Port-au-Prince, declaring he would expel
the English, but was repulsed. Toussaint assembled all
his army for another attack on St. Marc, and for three
days, from the 2Sth to 27th July 1795, tried by repeated
assaults to capture the town; but English discipline
prevailed, and the small garrison foiled every attempt.

It is noticed by St. Eemy that Toussaint, when once
he gave his word, never broke it, which was a new
experience among these unprincipled leaders ; and it is
added, that he never had any prejudice of colour.

An important event for the French in 1795 was the
peace made between France and Spain, by which Santo
Domingo was ceded to the former.

The year 1796 was ushered in by various English
expeditions and skirmishes, and their failure to take
Leog§,ne. Some of the Haytian accounts are amusing.
Potion defended the fort of ^a-ira against the whole
English fleet until the fortifications were demolished.
Fifteen thousand English bullets were showered into
the place, and yet only seven Haytians were killed. It
looks as if the garrison had quietly retired and left us
to batter away at the earthworks.

One is often surprised, in reading Haytian accounts
of the war, at the defeats of the English, which make
one wonder what could have become of the proverbial
courage and steadiness of our men ; but a little closer
inquiry shows that in most of these instances there
were few or no English present, only black and coloured
men in our pay, or planters who had taken our side in

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 55

the war, none of whom were more than half-hearted in
our cause.

The French were also weakened by internal dissen-
sions. General Vilatte, a mulatto, incited a revolt in
the town of Cap Haitien, arrested the French governor,
Laveaux, and threw him into prison. The latter called
on Toussaint to aid him, and the black general had the
supreme satisfaction of marching into the town and
freeing the white governor. With what curious sensa-
tions must Toussaint have performed this act of autho-
rity in a place that had only known him as a slave !
Laveaux received him with enthusiasm, and promoted
him from the grade of general of brigade, to which the
French Government had named him, to be lieuten-
ant-general of the Government, April r, 1796. This
successful movement confirmed the ascendancy of the
blacks in the north, and Vilatte had shortly to sail for
France, from whence he returned with the expedition
sent to enslave his countrymen.

Sonthonax and a new commission now arrived at
Cap Haitien, to find Eigaud almost independent in
the south, and Toussaint master in the north. Both
■ Laveaux and Sonthonax are accused of endeavouring to
set the blacks against the mulattoes. Laveaux having
returned to France as deputy for the colony, Sonthonax
remained at the head of affairs, and one of his first acts
was to name Toussaint general of division.

Toussaint was in the meantime organising his army
and working hard at its drill: he then started to the

56 HISTORY BEFOEE INDEPENDENCE.

attack of Mirebalais, a post occupied by a French
planter in our service, the Count de Bruges, who
appears to have retired, with numerous forces, without
much resistance, as he probably could scarcely trust his
raw levies. Sonthonax was so pleased with this im-
portant success that he named Toussaint commander-
in-chief of the army in Santo Domingo, which step
displeased Eigaud, who was thus placed under the
orders of a black general.

Toussaint appears to have felt a justifiable distrust of
Sonthonax ; he saw that he desired to set black against
coloured, that he was even talking of the independence
of the island, perhaps only to test Toussaint's fidelity ;
but he had no difficulty in assuring himself that wher-
ever Sonthonax was, mischief was sure to be brewing.
He therefore had him elected deputy, and sent him to
follow Laveaux. Sonthonax did not like this step, and
made some show of opposition, but Toussaint informed
him that if he did not embark immediately he would
fall on Cap Haitien with 20,000 men. This irresistible
argument made Sonthonax give way. As he went down
to the boat that was to take him on board, the streets
were lined by crowds of all colours, but not one said,
" God bless him," as he had betrayed every party in turn ;
and his one wise act of proclaiming the liberty of the
slaves was simply a political expedient, wrung from
him by the circumstances of the hour. He was a boast-
ing, bad man, whose history is written in the blood of
thousands of every colour.

HISTORY BEFOEB INDEPENDENCE. 57

The Directory, alarmed at the growing influence of
Toussaint, sent out General H^douville as pacificator
of the island, and, to produce harmony, gave him
authority to deport Eigaud. On his arrival at Cap
Haitien he summoned the rivals to confer with him,
and Eigaud and Toussaint, meeting at Gonaives, went
together to the capital. Hddouville, jealous of the power
of the latter, gave all his attention to the former, whilst
the newly arrived French ofBcers laughed at the negro
and his surroundings. Toussaint, suspecting a plot to
arrest him and send him off to France, and probably
very jealous of the superior treatment of his rival,
withdrew from the city and returned to his army.

The English had now become convinced that it was
useless to attempt to conquer the island; their losses
-from sickness were enormous, and the influence of the
planters was of no avail. Their black and coloured
mercenaries were faithless and ready to betray them,
as at St. Marc, where the English governor had to shoot
a number of traitorous mulattoes who would have
betrayed the town into the hands of the blacks. They
therefore determined to treat with Toussaint, and after
some brief negotiations evacuated St. Marc, Port-au-
Prince, and L'Arcahaye. He thus gained at one stroke
what no amount of force could have procured for him.

Toussaint, with a greatness of mind which was re-
markable, agreed to allow those French colonists who
had sided with us to remain, and promised to respect
their properties ; and as it was known that this mag-

58 HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

nanimous black ever kept his word, no important
exodus followed our retreat. Admiral Maitland had
arranged for the surrender of the Mole with General
Hedouville, but on finding his hostility to the French
planters, whom he insisted on Toussaint expelling the
country, our naval chief made a new settlement with
the black general and handed the Mole over to him.
]\Iaitland invited Toussaint to visit him, and reviewed
before him the English army collected from the rest
of the country. He was exceedingly pleased by the
treatment he received from our people, and ever after
showed a kindly feeling towards them.

One can scarcely understand why the English gave
up the Mole, which a small garrison could have de-
fended, and the importance of the position in naval
warfare is indisputable. If we wanted to gain Tous-
saint and induce him to declare the island independent,
we should have held it until that desirable event had
happened.^

Toussaint treated the old colonists with distinction,
and left many of them in the commands they had
held under the English. HMouville protested against
this good treatment of his own countrymen, and
annoyed Toussaint so much, that he began to consider

' Our unsuccessful attempt to conquer Hayti does not merit to be
recorded in detail, but it is humiliating to read of the stupidity of
our chiefs at Port-au-Prince, who made our soldiers work at fortifica-
tions during the day and do duty at night. No wonder that we find
a regiment 6oo strong losing 400 in two mouths, and the Sad landing
950 men, to be reduced in six weeks to 350.

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 59

whether it would not be prudent to send Hddouville to
follow Sonthonax.

H^douville was not the only one who objected to
the good treatment of the planters ; his opinion was
shared by the black general Moise, then commanding
in the northern department. To show his displeasure
at Toussaint's humanity, he caused some white colo-
nists to be murdered in the plains near Cap Haitien.
H^douville, frightened by the practical result of his
teaching, summoned Toussaint to his aid ; but doubtful
of his general, he escaped on board a vessel in harbour.
In order to do all the mischief he could before leaving,
he wrote to Eigaud, saying he was no longer to obey
Toussaint, but consider himself the governor of the
southern department, adding that Toussaint was sold
to the English and the dmigrds.

It was H^douville who thus laid the foundation of
that civil war which degenerated into a struggle of
caste. The agents sent by France proved each worse
than the other. Eigaud, with the true spirit of a
mulatto, also wrote to Toussaint to drive out the white
planters, and when his teaching had incited his soldiers
to murder his white countrymen, all Eigaud could say
was, " Mon Dieu, qu'est que le peuple en fureur ? "

On the departure of Hddouville, Toussaint invited
Eoume to leave Santo Domingo and come and reside
at Port-au-Prince, where they met in January 1799.
Eoume appears to have had a profound admiration for
Toussaint. We find him writing to General Kerverseau

60 HISTOEY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

as early as February 1795, and describing the negro
chief as a philosopher, a legislator, a general, and a
good citizen.

Eoume had a difficult part to play. He was most
anxious to bring about concord among the different
generals, and therefore invited Eigaud and Bauvais to
meet Toussaint on the fete of the 4th of February to
commemorate the memorable day when the National
Convention proclaimed full liberty to the slaves. A
little outward concord was obtained, but soon after,
Toussaint, suspecting a plot, arrested some mulattoes.
A slight disturbance among the negroes taking place
at Corail, thirty were captured and died in prison,
from " the effect of the gas created by white-washing
the building." This remarkable excuse did not satisfy
Toussaint, who believed the men to have been assassi-
nated by Eigaud's of&cers.

Toussaint and Eoume had in the meantime left for
Cap Haitien, where they appear to have negotiated a com-
mercial treaty with the Americans, and some arrange-
ment was also, it is said, made with Admiral Maitland.

It was during this year that Captain Eainsford
visited Cap Haitien. As we were at war with France,
our officer passed as an American, and soon after
landing was met by Toussaint in the street, who came
up to him to ask the news. He next saw him at a
restaurant where all classes dined, and he sat down at
a long table with a drummer-boy nest him, and the
general not far off. The latter used to say that except

HISTORY BEFOEE INDEPENDENCE. 61

ou service he did not see the necessity of making dis-
tinctions. In the evening Captain Eainsford played
billiards with Toussaint at the public tables.

Eainsford appears to have been as much struck
with Toussaint as Eoume. He says he was constrained
to admire him as a man, a governor, and a general.
He describes him as perfectly black, then about fifty-
five years of age, of a venerable appearance, and pos-
sessed of uncommon discernment and great suavity
of manners. He enters fully into a description of his
dress. The general wore as a uniform a kind of blue
spencer, with a large red cape falling over his shoulders,
and red cufis, with eight rows of lace on the arms, and
a pair of huge gold epaulettes, a scarlet waistcoat,
pantaloons and half-boots, a round hat with red feather
and national cocade, and an extremely large sword
was suspended from his side. Eainsford adds : " He
receives a voluntary respect from every description of
his countrymen, which is more than returned by the
affability of his behaviour and the goodness of his
heart." The vessel in which Eainsford was a passenger
was next driven by stress of weather into Fort Liberte.
Arrested as a spy, he was condemned to death; but
Toussaint would not permit the sentence to be carried
into effect. He dismissed him with a caution not to
return without passports.

There is much exaggeration in the account given by
Eainsford of what he saw and heard at Cap Haicien.
He talks of 62,000 inhabitants leaving the city after

62 HISTORY BKFORE INDEPENDENCE.

the great fire, and of Toussaint reviewing his army of
60,000 men and 2000 officers. He was a better judge
probably of their manoeuvres. He says that the soldiers
went through their exercises with a degree of expert-
ness he had seldom before witnessed. At the signal of
a whistle, a whole brigade ran forward three or four
hundred yards, and then separating, threw themselves
on the ground, keeping up a heavy fire from every kind
of position. The complete subordination and discipline
astonished him.

Eigaud having evidently decided to carry out Gene-
ral Hedouville's instructions and defy both Toussaint
and Eoume, it became necessary to subdue him. Ten
thousand men were collected at Port-au-Prince, whilst
Eigaud concentrated his army at Mirago§,ne, and com-
menced the war by seizing Petit Goave, and there,
without the slightest excuse, murdered all the white
inhabitants. It is singular to contrast the conduct of
the two generals : Toussaint, without the slightest pre-
judice of colour, and Eigaud, the mulatto, the son of a
Prenchman, showing "how he hated his father and
despised his mother" by murdering the whites and
refusing to obey a black.

Eoume published a proclamation, calling on the
north and west to march against the south to restore
unity of command ; but before entering on the campaign,
Toussaint had to return to the north to repress some
movements, and on his journey back almost fell into
two ambuscades, from which he was saved by the fleet-

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 63

ness of his horse. Toussaint shot those who were con-
cerned in these conspiracies, whether black or coloured ;
but the stories told by St. Eemy of his ordering i8o
young mulatto children to be drowned at L'Arcahaye,
is so contrary to everything we know of his character,
that we may set this fable down to caste hatred. That
he was severe with his enemies is no doubt true.

Then began the wearisome civil war in the south by
Dessalines driving back Eigaud's army, and by the
siege of Jacmel, which lasted four months. Pdtion
greatly distinguished himself in the defence, and con-
ducted the evacuation. It appears unaccountable that
while the main body of Toussaint's army was thus
engaged, Eigaud remained passive; it can only be
explained by mean jealousy, which was his character-
istic to the last year of his life. But his principal
fault was boasting, shown by his proclamation, saying,
" Let the enemy appear and I'll slay them," which was
answered by another from Toussaint offering pardon
and peace.

Toussaint's army in the south was commanded by
Dessalines and Christophe, or, in other words, by two
ferocious blacks, to whom pity was unknown. Dessa-
lines soon forced the strong position near Miragoane, and
defeated Eigaud and Potion, driving them before him
towards Les Cayes. Eigaud ordered his officers to burn
and destroy everything in their retreat, which naturally
roused the inhabitants against these measures of defence,
and they became clamorous for peace.

64 HISTOEY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

In the meantime the Consular Government at Paris
sent out officers to Hayti, among whom was Colonel
Vincent. Toussaint was confirmed in his position as
general-in-chief, but the war in the south was dis-
approved. Colonel Vincent was enabled to tell him of
all the changes that had taken place in France, but the
black chief could readily see that he was suspected by
the French Government. He, however, sent Vincent
and other officers to Les Cayes to offer peace. It is
amusing to read the account given of Eigaud. He went
to see the French officers, a blunderbuss on his shoulder,
pistols in his belt, a sword on one side, and a dagger on
the other. On hearing that his conduct did not meet
with the support of the French Government, he drew
his dagger as if to stab himself, but did not do so ; he
preferred making a truce and embarking for France,
together with his principal officers.

Toussaint entered Les Cayes on the ist August 1800,
and showed the grandeur of his character by impli-
citly carrying out his original decree. He again pro-
claimed union and peace, and pardoned aU those who
had been led into rebellion against him; and, to the
astonishment of his enemies, he kept his word and
behaved with great magnanimity. Even his worst
opponents were then constrained to allow that, when
once given, he never broke his word.

If Toussaint was clement, Dessalines was the re-
verse ; and the mulattoes declare that he killed upwards
of ten thousand of their caste, which is probably

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 65

more of that colour than the southern province ever
contained.

Whilst this campaign was at its height, Eoume com-
mitted the indiscretion of trying to raise a revolt in
Jamaica, His agents were taken and hung ; and as a
punishment the English captured one of Toussaint's
convoys destined for Jacmel. The General, very angry
■with Eoume, sent for him ; he refused to come, upon
which Toussaint went to Cap Haitien, and after re-
proaching him, insisted on his giving him an order to
invade the eastern end of the island. He refused at
first, but ultimately yielded to the menaces of General
Moise.

When the southern campaign was over, Toussaint
began to prepare for the occupation of Santo Domingo,
but finding that Eoume was inclined to withdraw his
permission, he arrested him and sent him back to
Trance. Toussaint's prestige was now so great in the
island, that little resistance was made, and he occupied
the city of Santo Domingo almost without a shot being
fired, and established his brother Paul as governor.

The whole of the island being now under one chief,
Toussaint decided to put into execution a constitution
which he had already promulgated. It was certainly
a model of liberality. It placed all colours equal before
the law ; employments might be held by black, white,
or coloured ; as much freedom of trade as possible ; a
governor to be named for five years, but on account of
the eminent services of Toussaint, he was to occupy

6Q HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

that post for life, with power to name his successor.
He sent this constitution to Buonaparte for approval ;
but evidently it was too much or too little. Had
he boldly proclaimed the independence of the island,
he might have saved the country from great misfor-
tunes.

Peace being now re-established over all the island,
Toussaint began his civil administration. All accounts
are unanimous in declaring that he himself governed
admirably, but the instruments he had to employ
were too often utterly unworthy. He organised the
country into districts, and appointed inspectors to
see that all returned to their work, and decreed that
a fifth of the produce should be given to the labourers.
Dessalines was appointed inspector-in-chief; and if
a man without any sentiment of humanity was re-
quired for that post, surely Dessalines was a good
choice, as he was ready to beat to death any man,
woman, or child whom he chose to accuse of idleness.
Toussaint, looking to difficulties ahead, continued to
pay the greatest attention to his army, organised it
with care, and preserved the strictest discipline. The
stick appears to have been as popular in that day as
it is now.

Toussaint was very friendly to the whites, and was
most anxious to encourage them to aid in developing
the country. This excited the jealousy of some of his
generals ; among others, of Moise, his nephew, who to
thwart his uncle's projects incited a movement in the

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 67

north to massacre the French. Several having fallen
victims, Tonssaint hastened to the spot, and finding
that Moise was the real instigator of the murders, sent
him before a court-martial. He was sentenced to death,
and very properly shot on the 26th November 1800.
Had Toussaint connived at these crimes, he would
Lave upset all confidence in his trusted word.

All was now progressing on the island ; the govern-
ment was regularly administered, the finances were
getting into order, and agriculture was beginning to
raise its head, when Buonaparte, having secured peace
in Europe, determined to recover the Queen of the
Antilles and restore slavery. The story of this attempt
may be told in a few words. General Leclerc started
with 30,000 men to subdue the island, and although
the evident intention of the French Government was
to restore slavery, the principal mulatto officers accom-
panied him, chief among whom were Eigaud, Petion,
and Vilatte. It is true the mulattoes had not yet
frankly accepted the full freedom of the blacks.

General Leclerc did all he could to cause an armed
resistance, as a peaceful solution would have given him
no military glory ; therefore, instead of sending Tous-
saint his children and the letter he bore from Buona-
parte, he tried to surprise Cap Haitien. But General
Christophe, before retiring with its garrison, set fire to
the town and almost destroyed it ; and Toussaint gave
instructions to his other generals to follow this example.
Leclerc, mortified by the result of his first attempt, now

68 HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

thought of writing to Toussaint, and sent him his two
boys. Toussaint behaved with great nobility of char-
acter, and asked naturally, " Why words of peace but
acts of war ? " Finding that he could not circumvent
his black opponent, Leclerc published a decree in
February 1802, placing both Toussaint and Christophe
"hoTs la loi." This was followed by the burning of the
towns of St. Marc and Gonaives, and a retreat of the
black troops towards the interior.

Whenever you see a fortress in Hayti, you are sure
to be told that it was built by the English; among
others thus known was La Crete k Pierrot. The French
general Debelle, treating with contempt these negro
troops, attacked this fort with an inefficient force and
was beaten ; then Leclerc made an assault in person,
but he also was beaten, and was forced to lay siege to
it. The attack and defence were conducted with sin-
gular courage, particularly the latter, considering the
quality of the men, who had never before been mea-
sured with real white troops; however, after having
repulsed several assaults, the garrison evacuated the
forts. Petion commanded a portion of the French
artillery in this attack on his countrymen struc^lin"
for freedom. If he loved France but little, he hated
Toussaint more.

Even the enemies of the great black general are
full of admiration of the courage displayed by him
during all this important struggle, and especially dwell
on his devotion to his wounded officers. I may here

HISTOEY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 69

remark that the French general Eochambeau distin-
guished himself for his cruelties, and shot every
prisoner that fell into his hands ; which fully justified
the retaliation of the Haytians.

Discouraged by a series of reverses which followed
the loss of La CrSte k Pierrot, where it was amply
proved that negro soldiers, even among their moun-
tains, were no match for the disciplined troops of
France, some of the black generals, as Christophe,
began to make terms with the French ; and Toussaint,
iinding himself thus abandoned, wrote to Leclerc
offering submission. As it was accepted, he went to
Cap Haitien to meet the commander-in-chief, and was
received and treated with much distinction. He then
returned to the village of Marmalade, and there issued
orders to all his officers to cease opposition and acknow-
ledge the French authorities, and peace was established
throughout the island.

General Leclerc was but temporising with these
black leaders ; his secret orders were, not only to arrest
Toussaint, Dessalines, and Christophe, but to re-establish
slavery. He found, however, the last two so zealous
in carrying out his instructions to disarm the popula-
tion, that he preserved them in their commands.

Toussaint himself, having ever kept his word, could
not believe that the French commander-in-chief would
not keep his, and therefore, in spite of all warnings that
treachery was meditated, stayed quietly on his estate
at Ennery. He there received a letter from General

70 HISTORY BEFOEE INDEPENDENCE.

Brunet, asking for an interview at a certain spot;
Toussaint went, and was immediately arrested under
circumstances of the greatest treachery. He was bound
■with cords and embarked on board the French ship
Creole; then put on board the Heros with all his
family and sent to France. When received on board
by Savary, chef de division, he said to him, "En me
renversant on n'a abattu k Saint Domingue que le
tronc de I'arbre de la Uberte des noirs ; il repoussera,
parceque les raeines en sont profondes et nombreuses."
When reading this account bf the capture of Toussaint,
we can scarcely credit that we are recording the acts of
Trench officers, wliose plighted word was thus broken.^:

On Toussaint's arrival in Trance he wrote to the
French Chief Consul; but he might as well have
written to Dessalines as expect either mercy or justice
from the despot who then ruled France. He was
separated from his family and hurried off to the
Chateau de Joux in the Alps, where his rival Eigaud
was already confined. Here he died from cold and
neglect, under circumstances which raised the suspi-
cion that the close of this illustrious life was hastened
by unfair means. It is some satisfaction to remember
that his executioner died also a prisoner in exile,
though surrounded by every comfort that the generous
English Government could afford him.

We have all heard or read something of Toussaint

^ St. Eemy, speaking of Toussaint's capture, sajs, " Embarquement
ar les blancs." How like a mulatto not to say "par les fran9ais !"

HISTOEY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 71

L'Ouverture, and been taught to think well of him. I
■was therefore the more surprised, on my arrival at
Port-au-Prince, to hear his memory so depreciated. I
do not remember any Haytian having voluntarily
spoken of him, though they never wearied of talking
of Dessalines, Christophe, and Eigaud. I at first
thought that Toussaint's never having unnecessarily
shed the blood of the whites, whilst the others may be
said to have rejoiced at the sight of it, was one of
the chief causes ; but the real reason why the histo-
rians and biographers of Hayti would lower Toussaint's
memory is the energy with which he acted against the
rebellious mulattoes, and his firm determination that
all colours should be equally respected by the law, and
that all should have equal rights.

It is impossible not to be struck with almost the
unanimous opinion favourable to Toussaint which has
been recorded by all parties, even by his enemies. The
Marquis d'Hermonas says that " God in this terrestrial
globe could not commune with a purer spirit ; " the
French general Pamphile Lacroix records that "Nul
n'osait I'aborder sans crainte, et nul ne le quittait sans
respect." We have seen the opinion of Eoume and
Eainsford, that Toussaint was " a philosopher, a legis-
lator, a general, and a good citizen," and that the latter
was compelled to admire him as '' a man, a governor,
and a general."

He was personally brave, and being a splendid rider,
loving from his earliest childhood to be on horseback,

72 HISTOEY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

he never appeared fatigued even after the greatest
exertions. As a general he is thought to have shown
much skill; and, what proves his sense, but does not
add to his popularity among Haytians, he did not
believe that his men were fitted to cope with the
trained bands of France. He constantly said that they
must trust to climate and yellow-fever as their best
allies. As an administrator, he had much capacity,
and his influence being unbounded, he would probably
have restored its old prosperity to Hayti, had not
Leclerc's expedition arrived to throw the whole island
into confusion.

Toussaint's personal qualities appear to have been
equal to his public : his word was sacred, he was
humane on most occasions, yet with a firmness and
decision which astonished his enemies. In his family
relations he showed the most tender affection for wife
and children ; his fine nature was apparent on all occa-
sions in his solicitude for his wounded officers and
soldiers, and the thoughtful care of the prisoners that
fell into his hands. His affectionate treatment of ani-
mals was also greatly noticed, and whenever he came
upon fugitive women and children of any colour, his
first thought was for their comfort.

Our Consul-General Mackenzie (1827) often talked
to the black officers of Toussaint ; they described him as
stern and unbending, but just, and intimately acquainted
with the habits of the people and the best interests of
his country.

HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE. 73

The one mistake of his life appears to have been his
refusal, when urged to do so by England, to declare the
independence of Hayti. Had he accepted the English
proposals and entered into a treaty with us and with
the Americans, it is not likely that Buonaparte would
have ever attempted an expedition against him, and
the history of Hayti might have been happier.

There is one fact which strikes the reader of the
histories of these times, and that is, the soldiers are
described as veritable sansculottes, without pay and
without proper uniforms, and yet all the chiefs, as
Toussaint, Dessalines, and Christophe, were living in
splendid houses in the greatest luxury. Toussaint is
recorded to have lent the Trench Treasury 600,000
livres, an enormous sum for a slave to possess after a
few years of freedom. Gragnon-Lacoste, who published
a Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture in 1877, founded on
family papers, says that this general had a marble
house in Cap Haitien, elegantly furnished, and that he
kept up the same style in all his plantations. His
descendants in late years claimed about the fourth of
Hayti as the estates of the black general.^

^ This biography, as well as the others I have seen, is full of absur-
dities ; talks of Toussaint advancing with an imposing army, which
turns out to be of 950 men. At the battle of Verretes 1500 blacks
drive 3500 English troops from their entrenchments, and then 6000
English are defeated and cut to pieces by a few squadrons. As far as
I can learn, Brisbane had eighty English soldiers and some untrust-
worthy black and coloured allies, mixed with Erench planters. Even
a moderately sensible Haytian could not accept so absurd a biography.

74 HISTORY BEFORE INDEPENDENCE.

Toussaint was also a fervent Roman Catholic, and
was greatly attached to the priesthood ; he did all he
could to repress the Vaudoux, and he published a
strong proclamation forbidding all fetish rites.^

The treachery of Leclerc towards Toussaint had its
reward; it could not but excite suspicion among the
black leaders, as the previous deportation of Eigaud
had done among the mulattoes. And now the most
fearful epidemic of yellow-fever fell upon the French
army, and almost annihilated it. Forty thousand are
reported to have been lost during the years 1802 and
1803; among the victims were Leclerc and twenty
other French generals. The Haytians saw their oppor-
tunity, and Dessalines, Christophe, and Potion aban-
doned the invaders, and roused their countrymen to
expel the weak remnants of the French army. War
had now been declared between France and England,
and our fleets were soon off the coasts. The French
were driven from every point, and forced to concen-
trate in Cap Haiten. Eochambeau, who had succeeded
Leclerc, did all that man could do to save his army ;
but besieged by the blacks to the number of 30,000,

' I am glad to be able to notice that M. Robin (mulatto), in his
"Abr^g^ de I'Histoire d'Haiti," remarks in relating Toussaint's sad
death : — " Ainsi fut r^compens^ de ses longs et ^minents services oet
illustre enfant d'Haiti, qui pouvait bieu se dire le premier des noirs,"
&c. &o. Dessalines appears to have encouraged Leclerc to arrest
Toussaint, and then dishonourably betrayed Ch£^^Ies Belair (black),
"ephew to Toussaint, and his wife into the hands of the French, who
shot Belair and hung his wife.

HISTOEY BEFOBE INDEPENDENCE. 75

and blockaded by our fleet, pinched by hunger, and
seeing no hopes of reinforcements, he surrendered to
the English and embarked for Europe.

Thus ended one of the most disastrous expeditions
ever undertaken by France, and ended as it deserved
to end. Its history was sullied by every species of
treachery, cruelty, and crime; but we cannot but admire
the splendid bravery of the troops under every dis-
couragement, in a tropical climate, where the heat is so
great that the European is unfitted for continued exer-
tion, and where yellow-fever and death follow constant
exposure.

^•^Mm— — -"""'^

CHAPTER III.

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

"Que deviendra notre pays quand il sera livre a la
vanity et k I'ignorance," exclaimed Bauvais, one of the
leaders of the mulatto party. I am afraid this sketch
of the history of Hayti since the war of independence
will show what are the results to a country when
governed by vanity and ignorance.

Having driven out the French by deeds of unques-
tionable valour and energy, and with a cruelty which
the infamous conduct of Eochambeau could palliate,
if not justify, the Haytians determined to throw off
all allegiance to Trance and establish an independent
gevernment.

At Gonaives, on the ist January 1 804, General
Dessalines assembled all his military chiefs around
him, and had read to them the Act of Independence,
which terminated with the words, " for ever to renounce
France, and to die rather than live under her dominion."
In a proclamation, Dessalines was careful to declare
that it was not their mission to disturb the tranquillity
of neighbouring islands, but in unmistakable language
he called upon the people to put to death every French-

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 77

man who remained in the island. , This was followed
by a declaration signed by the chief generals choosing
Dessalines as Governor- General of Hayti for life, with
power to name his successor, and to make peace or
war. He was thus invested with arbitrary power, and
proceeded to exercise it.

His first act was the one on which his fame rests,
and which endears his memory to the Haytians. He
in fact officially decreed that all the French who were
convicted or suspected of having connived at the acts
of the expelled army, with the exception of certain
classes, as priests and doctors, should be massacred;
and this applied not only to those suspected of guilt,
but to their wives and children. Fearing that some of
his generals, from interest or humanity, might not fully
carry out his decree, he made a tournie through the
different departments, and pitilessly massacred every
French man, woman, or child that fell in his way. One
can imagine the saturnalia of these liberated slaves
enjoying the luxury of shedding the blood of those in
whose presence they had formerly trembled ; and this
without danger ; for what resistance could those help-
less men, women, and children offer to their savage
executioners? Even now one cannot read unmoved
the records of those days of blood.

Dessalines, like most of those who surrounded him,
was in every way corrupt ; he is said to have spared no
man in his anger or woman in his lust. He was avari-
cious, but at the same time he permitted his friends

78 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

to share in the public income by every illicit means.
His government was indeed so corrupt, that even the
native historians allow that the administration was
distinguished " for plunder, theft, cheating, and smug-
gling." Dessalines, when he appointed an employ^,
used to say, " Plumez la poule, mais prenez garde qu'elle
ue crie," — the rule by which the Government service is
still regulated.

The tyranny exercised by Dessalines and his generals
on all classes made even the former slaves feel that
they had changed for the worse. There were no courts
to mitigate the cruelty of the hard taskmasters, who
on the slightest pretext would order a man or woman
to be beaten to death.

In the month of August 1804 news arrived that
Buonaparte had raised himself to the imperial throne ;
Dessalines determined not to be behindhand, and im-
mediately had himself crowned Emperor. His generals
were eager that a nobility should be created, but he
answered, "I am the only noble in Hayti." As the
eastern portion of the island was still occupied by the
French, he determined to drive them out ; but he was
unable to take the city of Santo Domingo, and retired
again to the west.

In June 1805 he published a constitution, which
had been drawn up without consulting his generals,
and which created great discontent. A conspiracy was
organised ; a rising in the south followed a visit from
Dessalines, where he had given full scope to his brutality.

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 79

and the insurgents marched forward and seized Port-au-
Prince. When the Emperor heard of this movement,
he hastened to the capital, fell into an ambuscade, and
was shot at Pont Eouge, about half a mile from the city.

The only good quality that Dessalines possessed was
a sort of brute courage ; in all else he was but an
African savage, distinguished even among his country-
men for his superior ferocity and perfidy. He was
incapable as an administrator, and treated the public
revenue as his own private income. He had concu-
bines in every city, who were entitled to draw on the
treasury to meet their extravagance ; in fact, the native
historians are in truth utterly ashamed of the conduct
and civO. administration of their national hero.^

The death of Dessalines proved the signal of a long
civil war. A National Assembly met at Port-au-Prince,
voted a constitution prepared by General Potion, by
which the power of the chief of the state was reduced
to a minimum, and then elected Christophe as first
President of the republic. He in some respects was
another Dessalines, and resented this effort to restrain
his authority. He marched on the capital of the west
with twelve thousand men, but after various combats
failed to capture the city ; then retired to Cap Haitien,
and there had a constitution voted by a local congress,
and he was proclaimed President of Hayti.

The Senate again met in Port-au-Prince in 1806 to

^ It waa left for General Salomon to raise a statue to this favourite
of the Haytian people.

80 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

elect a President, and their choice fell on Potion, who,
of all the influential men in the west and south, cer-
tainly appeared the most deserving. He had scarcely
been installed, when his generals hegan to conspire
against him, and the war with Christophe absorbed
most of the resources of the country. No event, how-
ever, of any great importance occurred till the year
1 8 lo, when Eigaud, having escaped from France, arrived
in Hayti, and was received with much enthusiasm.
Potion apparently shared this feeling for his old chief,
and imprudently gave him the command of the
southern department. Eigaud was too vain to remain
under the authority of Potion, his former subordinate,
and therefore separated the south from the west.
The President would not attempt to prevent this by
war, and accepted the situation, so that the island was
divided into five states, — Christophe in the north, the
old Spanish colony in the east, Potion in the west,
Eigaud in the south, and Goman, a petty African chief,
in the extreme west of the southern department.

Christophe in i8ii proclaimed himself King and
created a nobility. Eigaud died, and soon after the
south rejoined the west, which was menaced by a new
invasion from the north. In 1812 Christophe's army
advanced to besiege Port-au-Prince ; but finding their
attacks frustrated, the soldiers, weary of the war, be^an
to desert to Potion, and had not the King hastened to
raise the siege, it is probable his army would have gone
over to the enemy.

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 81

King Henry I., as he was called, appears then to
have abandoned himself to his savage temper, and his
cruelties might be compared to those of Dessalines,
and prepared the way for that union of the whole
island which followed. Potion, though rather an in-
capable ruler, was not cruel, and attached the people to
his government.

In 1 8 14, the fall of Napoleon brought about peace
in Europe, and the French Government hastened to
send agents to Hayti to claim submission to the mother
country. Pdtion refused, whilst offering an indemnity
to the colonists; but Christophe, having secured the
secret instructions of the French agent, did not hesitate
to shoot him. These proceedings of the French made
the rival chiefs forget their own dissensions and pre-
pare to receive another French expedition. Orders
were given that on its appearance off the coast every
town and village should be burnt down, and that
the inhabitants should retire to the mountains. The
old planters were urging their Government to destroy
all the inhabitants of Hayti and repeople it from Africa ;
but a discovery of their projects produced so great an
effect in England, that public opinion forced the Con-
gress of Vienna to declare that the slave-trade was for
ever abolished.

In 18 16 Pdtion named a commission to revise the
constitution ; the principal alterations were to elect a
President for life and to add to the Senate a Chamber
of Deputies. Pdtion, however, did not long enjoy his

82 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

new dignity; he died in 1818, at the early age of forty-
eight, it is said of fever, but the opinion is still prevalent
in Hayti that he died of weariness of life, brought on
by the loss of all his illusions and the constant public
and private annoyances to which he was subjected.
During his illness he is said to have refused all restora-
tives, and even to have rejected food. Potion, though
not a great man, sincerely loved his country, and
devoted his energies to govern it well; but he was
feeble in his measures, and from love of popularity
allowed every kind of abuse to flourish in the financial
administration. M. Eobin, however, says truly that he
was " the most popular and humane chief that Hayti
ever possessed."

Boyer, through the energetic intervention of the
military, was unanimously chosen by the Senate Pre-
sident of the republic, and commenced his long career
as chief of the state in March 1818. Though he com-
mitted many faults, he appears to have been the most
energetic and honest of the series of Haytian rulers.
His first care was to establish order in the finances ; and
if his only errors were not to have erected a statue to
his predecessor or founded an hospital for beggars, with
which M. Eobin appears to reproach him, his friends
may still be permitted to admire him. Fortune, or
rather his energy, everywhere favoured him. In 18 19
he put down the long-neglected insurrection of Goman
in the far west, and then prepared to move against
King Henry, whose sayage rule had alienated the

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 83

affection even of . his own guards. Struck down by
apoplexy, tlie chief of the northern department was
deserted by all, and sought refuge from anticipated
indignities in suicide.

The north almost unanimously determined to rejoin
the rest of the republic, and Boyer marched on Cap
Haitien, to be received there with enthusiasm as the
first President of United Hayti.

Christophe was no doubt a very remarkable man,
with indomitable energy, who saw the necessity of
developing his country, but whose despotic nature cared
not for the means, so that the end was attained. In
spite of many admitted atrocities, however, there is
no doubt he acquired a marked ascendancy over the
minds of the people, which even to this day is not
completely lost. Discussions still continue as to the
rival systems of Potion and Christophe, but if to secure
the greatest happiness to the greatest number be the
object of the government, the laisser-aller system of
the former was more suited to Haytian nature than the
severity of the latter. As far as material prosperity
was concerned, there was no comparison between the
two departments, though the productiveness of the
north was founded on the liberal application of the
stick. On many of the large estates, a certain number
of lashes was served out every morning as regularly as
the rations.

Boyer's fortune continued. In 1822 Santo Domingo
separated from Spain and placed herself under the

84 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

command of the President of Hayti, who was welcomed
in the Dominican capital with every demonstration
of joy.

In the next important event of his Presidency, Boyer
was not so fortunate. From the year 1814 France had
been continually tormenting the Government of Hayti
with the claims of her colonists, and negotiations were
carried on by the two parties without much success till
1825, when Baron de Mackau was sent with a fleet to
enforce the acceptance of French terms. Though the
wording of the royal ordinance was mortifying to the
Haytians, and the indemnity demanded (;£^6,ooo,ooo)
out of the power of that little country to pay, yet
Boyer and the senate thought it better to acquiesce, to
avoid the evils of a blockade which would have fol-
lowed refusal. The indemnity was so enormous, that
although it was subsequently reduced to ^3,600,000, it
has not yet been completely discharged. The terms of
the royal ordinance created great indignation amongst
the people, and the French Government acting evasively
added to the excitement, and a plot was formed to
overthrow Boyer. But he showed his usual energy;
arrested four conspirators and sent them before a court-
martial, which, with thorough Haytian disregard of
justice, allowed no defence, as a pure waste of time,
and condemned them to death. They were shot under
circumstances of even unusual barbarity.

These negotiations with France continued to un-
settle the country until 1838. M. Dupetit Thouars

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 85

had visited Port-au-Prince, and being convinced that
Hayti was really unable to pay this great indemnity,
induced his Government to reconsider the matter ; and
a fresh mission was sent, consisting of Baron de Lascases
and Captain Baudin. Two treaties were negotiated —
one political, by which Prance acknowledged the com-
plete independence of the republic ; the second financial,
by which the balance to be paid of the indemnity was
reduced to ;^ 2,400,000. As thirty years were allowed
for this payment, in annual instalments on an average
of ;^ 80,000, no doubt Hayti could have paid it had
the country remained tranquil. The acknowledgment
of ihis debt, however, was seized on by the political
enemies of Boyer to undermine his position, and the
cry was raised that he had sold the country to the
whites. The continued necessity of sending Prench
naval expeditions to enforce the payment of the arrears
of this debt has been injurious to the interests of all
Europeans, has increased the unpopularity of foreigners,
and helped to support the policy of those who wish to
keep the white man out of the country. Among the
people, the popular song

"Blancs francais viennent demander Targent,"

implies that they have unfairly made use of their naval
strength in order to extract money which was not due
to them from a people incapable of effectual resistance.
This wretched debt to Prance has been the cause of half
the misfortunes of Hayti.

86 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

The Government of General Boyer had certainly the
merit of preserving tranquillity, and if ever population
should have increased in Hayti, it "was during this tran-
quil epoch, when for above twenty years no blood was
shed in warlike operations, and very little in repressing
conspiracies. In 1825 England formally acknowledged
the republic of Hayti by entering into relations with
her, sending Mr. Mackenzie as Consul-General. His
reports and writings drew considerable attention to the
country.

In March 1836 Dr. England negotiated a concordat
by which the Pope was acknowledged head of the
Haytian Church, with the power of confirming the
nomination of bishops. However, this arrangement had
little practical effect, as the clergy remained without
control, and were a scandal to every true Catholic.

I am quite unable to reconcile the reports made of
the state of affairs in Hayti at this time. After a
twenty years' peace, the country is described as in a
state of ruin, without trade or resources of any kind ;
with peculation and jobbery paramount in all the public
offices; an army supposed to consist of 45,000 men,
according to the Budget — in reality, few soldiers, but
many officers, among wliom the appropriations were
divided. I feel as if I were reading of more modern
times instead of the halcyon days of Haytian history.

Another of the evils which arose from the indem-
nity question was the special position which it gave to
French agents, who, even after the independence of the

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 87

republic had been recognised, affected to treat Hayti
as a dependency until all the debt should have been
paid. The most conceited of these agents at this time
threw the whole country into commotion on account
of an article in a newspaper, and continued to harass
the Government on every possible occasion with his
absurd pretensions.

The close of Boyer's career was as unfortunate as its
commencement had been the reverse. To the humilia-
tions inflicted by the French Consul-General was now
added the necessity of saluting the Spanish flag under
threat of bombardment. Throughout Haytian history
these affairs are continually recurring; no people are
more ready to insult foreigners, nor more humiliated by
the necessary reparation.

The greatest calamity, however, was the earthquake
of 1842, which injured every :city in the northern de-
partment, and almost annihilated Cap Haitien. I have
referred to this event in a previous chapter, when the pea-
santry from the plains and mountains, and the officers
and soldiers of the garrison, vied with each other in
plundering the city, whilst 5000 of their countrymen
were buried in the ruins, the cries of many of whom
could for days be heard imploring that help which
might readily have been afforded, but whose supplica-
tions were unheeded by the brutal populace.

This calamity in the north was followed by another
in Port-au-Prince, where a large portion of the city
was burnt down. These extensive fires appear to be

as HISTOKY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

incendiary, as they almost always occur at moments of
political excitement.

The humiliations inflicted on President Boyer by
the French and Spaniards, and the discontent that
followed the great losses in the northern department,
encouraged the ill-affected, and early in 1843 an insur-
rection broke out in the south under Herard-Eiviere, a
fair mulatto. After a brief show of resistance, Boyer
abdicated in March, thus closing a Presidency of twenty-
five years.

General Boyer showed considerable talent during bis
administration, but he was essentially narrow-minded,
and full of prejudice against foreigners. During the
last ten years of his rule he had conceived the project
of expelling them from Hayti in a legal manner by
refusing any fresh licenses to trade; but though he
in some measure succeeded, he increased the discon-
tent against him, as his countrymen are only capable
of conducting with success a retail business, and re-
quire foreigners for the larger operations of commerce.
Boyer had the rare quality of being honest, and left
in the treasury, on his departure, the sum of ;£'20O,00O,
the first and last chief who was ever guilty of so un-
accountable a weakness. His time is still remembered
as one of repose, and the troubles which followed his
departure soon made even his enemies regret his fall.
Her Majesty's corvette Scylla had the honour of con-
ducting General Boyer and his family to Jamaica. It
will be noticed hereafter that almost every President

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 89

has died prematurely, or claimed the hospitality of a
foreign ship of war to bear him into exile.

When the popular army entered Port-au-Prince, it
was hailed as the precursor of better days, but scarcely
had a Provisional Government been organised than the
blacks began to conspire, as they wanted a President
of their own colour. General Dalzon went so far as to
propose that they should put to death every mulatto.
However, the latter had now the upper hand, and the
General was taken, and disappeared from the scene.

The most serious result of the overthrow of General
Boyer was the separation of the eastern end of the
island and its formation into a distinct republic. The
brutality of the Haytian ofiScers and soldiers who gar-
risoned that part of the country no doubt hastened this
secession. I have often listened to President Geffrard
when he was describing his own conduct and that of
others towards the Dominicans, and my only wonder
was that they did not separate before.

On December 30, 1843, the Constituent Assembly
finished their new constitution, and then elected Gene-
ral Herard-Eivi^re President of Hayti; contemporary
accounts say " with much enthusiasm." He soon
found it was not a bed of roses. M. Barrot arrived
with the object of obtaining a monopoly of the Hay-
tian trade for Prance, by relieving the Government
of the immediate payment of the instalments due on
the indemnity. But the President was more anxious
to subdue the Dominicans than to negotiate, and on

90 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

their proclaiming their independence in February 1844,
he collected an army, it is said of from 24,000 to 30,000
men, and marched to attack them. The numbers must
be greatly exaggerated ; but whatever they were, they
did nothing, and after many skirmishes they only pene-
trated as far as Azua, and there the President halted,
complaining that he was harassed by French intrigues
in favour of the Dominicans.

How Boyer must have smiled when he heard, within
a twelvemonth of his departure, that the Government
of his successor was considered more arbitrary and was
more unpopular than his own. In April, after four
short months of power, H^rard-Eivifere was deposed,
amidst even greater enthusiasm than marked his acces-
sion, and banished. General Guerrier was elected in
his place, and died after twelve months of debauchery.
In his political acts he appears to have managed fairly
well, and he had to contend against the French agents,
who were working for either a protectorate, or, if that
were not possible, exclusive commercial advantages for
their country. They made themselves so unpopular
that their naval officers and men were insulted in the
streets, and their almost open support of the Dominican
revolt rendered them obnoxious to the Government.

As the popular wish for a black President had been
unmistakably expressed at the election of Guerrier, an
incapable black of the name of Pierrot was chosen to
succeed him ; but his Government was upset in less
than a twelvemonth, and President Rich^, another

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 91

black, was chosen by the troops at St. Marc, who did
not wish to march against the Dominicans (March i,
1846). In almost every encounter the Haytian troops
had been defeated by a handful of their enemies ;
they had no heart in the war, and the exaggerated
stories of the peculiarly objectionable mutilations from
which their prisoners suffered, and the arrival of some
of these unfortunates, spread a panic in the Haytian
army, and the soldiers would not march.

Eiche has left a very good reputation as a President,
which may partly be accounted for by his judicious
choice of Ministers. He had Celigny-Ardouin and
Dupuy among them, and both these men were con-
sidered capable administrators, and both will again
appear upon the scene.

The black mob in the south rose in arms against
Eichd, but after some resistance the movement was
suppressed. Unfortunately for the country, this Pre-
sidency did not last a twelvemonth, as Eichd died on
the 27th February 1847. He was sincerely regretted,
as, although an ignorant man, he was capable of choos-
ing good advisers. He left the country perfectly tran-
quil, with reduced expenditure, order in the finances,
and his firm hand had been felt throughout the republic.
He protected foreigners, without whom he saw there
was no prosperity possible. During the time of Guerrier
and Pierrot there was a perfect mania for public em-
ployment, and every officer appeared to wish to live in
luxury at the expense of the state ; but Eiche's prudent

92 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

management checked this infatuation. His Govern-
ment restored the constitution of 1816, which, though
it included Article 7, directed against foreigners acquir-
ing real property, yet assured freedom of worship. He
too is said to have died at an advanced age from the
effects of debauchery.

On March 2 the enlightened Ministers of the late
General Eich4 chose as President of the republic a
black captain of the guards of the name of Soulouque.
He was an ignorant, stupid man, completely unfit for
any public employment, but it is said that he was
chosen as an instrument that could be easily handled
by his Ministers. He was known to be given up to
fetish-worship, and soon after his election he began to
fear that some wanga or poison might be given him.
He put aside Eich^'s Ministers, to supply their places
with nonentities, and advanced to the first rank the
most ignorant blacks of the army. He excited hatred
against the men of colour, whom he feared for their in-
telligence ; but, alarmed by his growing unpopularity,
he dismissed his incapables and restored Dupuy and
others to power.

Soulouque had placed in command of his guards a
general of the name of Similien, who was the black the
most notorious for his hatred of the mulattoes that he
could find. During the absence of the President in the
north, this man refused to obey the orders pf the Govern-
ment, seized the palace, and threatened to massacre the
mulattoes, but this result was deferred for a short time.

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 93

A curious affair occurred towards the end of 1847.
A senator of the name of Courtois had written an article
in a newspaper at which the President took offence ;
though Courtois was a scurrilous writer who had been
previously tried for an insolent article, but who had
been triumphantly acquitted when it was found he
only insulted the foreign community, had on this last
occasion written some reasonable comments on the atti-
tude assumed by General Similien and his followers.
The Senate, to please the President, sentenced Courtois
to a month's imprisonment. But when Soulouque
heard of this, he went into one of his ungovernable
passions, assembled his generals, called out his troops,
and condemned Courtois to death, and ordered the
immediate execution of the culprit. The sentence
would certainly have been carried into effect, had not
our agents. Consul Ussher, Vice-Consul Wyke, and the
Trench Consul-General Eaybaud interfered, and per-
suaded Soulouque to pardon him ; he was, however, ban-
ished. And Senator Courtois owed his life to foreigners,
whom he had spent his best energies in abusing !

Throughout the spring of 1849 an uneasy feeling
appears to have pervaded the country that some cala-
mity was about to take place. On the 9th April the
rabble assembled round the palace and demanded that
the respectable Ministry then in power should be dis-
missed. As this movement was evidently encouraged
by Soulouque, they resigned; but all were assembled
at the palace on the i6th April, when suddenly the

94 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

guards, who had been drawn up before it, opened fire
upon the crowd in the galleries and rooms, and a sauve
qui peut followed. General Dupuy told me that in
a moment he comprehended that a massacre of the
mulattoes was meant ; he sprang on a horse, and dashed
for the high iron railings that surrounded the palace
gardens, jumped down, and although closely pursued,
managed to get over these high rails, how he knew
not, and escaped. Celigny-Ardouin, less fortunate, was
severely wounded, and as he lay on a sofa was reviled
by the President, who said he should be shot. Consul
Ussher was present in the palace during this scene, and
acted admirably, with his colleague of France, in trying
to save those who had not been able to put themselves
under their direct protection. He ran the greatest
personal dangers, and narrowly escaped being shot by
the excited soldiery.

From the palace the massacring passed on to the town,
where every mulatto who showed himself was murdered;
many assembled in groups to defend themselves, but
only hastened their fate, whilst hundreds ran for refuge
to the Consulates. The news spread to the southern
department, and murder and plunder followed in every
district, and the property of the mulattoes was given to
the flames. A few black generals who tried to preserve
order were shot as accomplices of the mulattoes in their
supposed conspiracy. The President was delighted with
the energy of his supporters in the south, and went in
person to thank them. On his return he pardoned six

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 95

innocent men, and thus gained a little popularity among
his cowed adversaries. It is pleasant to know how our
Acting-Consul Wyke ^7orked to save those menaced
with death. But even he had little influence over
the faithless President, who would grant a pardon at
his intercession, and then shoot the pardoned prisoner.
After General Desmaril and Edmond Pelix had been
executed in 1849 in the market-place, and died after
receiving twenty discharges, Soulouq^ue went with his
staff to inspect their mangled bodies and gloat over the
scene. Naturally Celigny-Ardouin did not escape ; he
was shot, but Wyke was enabled to save many others
and send them out of the country. In fact, the chiefs
of the mulatto party who escaped death had all to go
into exile.

In 1849, I may notice, Soulouque abolished the
Ministry, and named as Secretary-General Dufrfene, and
as Minister of Finance Salomon, until lately President
of Hayti ; and in April, invigorated by his massacre of
the mulattoes, invaded Santo Domingo with a numerous
army. He had some success at Azua and St. Jean, but
he was surprised at Ocoa by General Santana, and the
whole Haytian army fled before 500 Dominicans. And
these were the descendants of the men who fought so
bravely against the French. It was after this defeat
that Soulouque returned to his capital, and, full of anger
at his discomfiture, committed the judicial murders pre-
viously recorded.

All black chiefs have a hankering after the forms as

96 HISTOKY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

well as the substance of despotic power, and Soulouque
was no exception to the rule. He therefore decided to
foUow in the footsteps of Dessalines, and was elected
Emperor, August 26, 1 849. A fresh constitution was
naturally required, and this was a strange medley of
republican and aristocratic institutions. Soulouque did
not disappoint his generals, and created a nobility : four
princes and hfty-nine dukes headed the list, followed
by innumerable marquises, counts, and barons. This
contented the chiefs, and quiet reigned for a short time.
In 1850, England, France, and the United States
united to oppose diplomatically the war with Santo
Domingo ; during these long negotiations the Haytian
Government appeared influenced by the conviction
that to concede independence to Santo Domingo would
introduce the foreign element into the island, and, by
the development of the eastern province, end in rob-
bing Hayti of its independence. A year's truce was
obtained, however, in October 185 1. The negotiations
were admirably conducted by our agent, Consul-General
Ussher. One of the difficulties against which the diplo-
matists had to contend was the personal feelings of the
Emperor, which had been outraged by the Dominicans
calling him a rey de farsa, an opera-louffe king. There
is no doubt but that they really did look for assistance
abroad, owing to the poverty of the country arising
from their eight years' war with Hayti, and the inter-
nal dissensions which always follow national financial
pressure.

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 97

Oa the 1 8th April 1852 Soulouque was crowned
Emperor under the title of Patistin I. He had no fear
of exciting discontent by lavish expenditure. He paid
;£'2000 for his crown, and spent ^30,000 for the rest
of the paraphernalia. He was liberal to his nobility,
and had few internal troubles after he shot his Grand
Judge Francisque and four companions for supposed
conspiracy, and had condemned Prince Bobo for some
imprudent words.

Soulouque, it is fair to say, gained the good opinion
of many of our countrymen on account of the protec-
tion which he generally accorded to foreigners, and a
supposed predilection for the English, which the manly
and conciliatory conduct of our agents had greatly
fostered, and which contrasted with that of the French
agents, who brought a fleet to Port-au-Prince under
Admiral Duquesne to threaten to bombard the capital
(1853). No events occurred worthy of record, except
the interminable negotiations to induce the Emperor to
conclude peace with Santo Domingo, which occupied
1853 and 1854.

The year 1855 was enlivened by a very comic quarrel
between the Haytian Government and the Spanish
agent. The Emperor had decided that every one that
passed the palace should show his respect for his of&ce
by raising his hat. It appears that a Spanish employ^
did not observe this formality, and was stopped by the
guard, who insisted on his complying with it. The
Emperor, attracted by the altercation, .put his head out

98 HISTORY SIKCE INDEPENDENCE.

of a window of the palace and cried, " Qui moun-qa

sacr^ f blanc qui veut pas saluer mou palais>

f ? " The Spanish agent had a long discussion

with the Haytian Foreign Office, and would not accept
the denial by the Emperor of his having used these
words ; in fact, there was much ado about nothing.

In spite of all the efforts of the foreign Consuls,
Soulouque in December 1855 marched with all his
forces to attack the Dominicans — those under his
personal command numbering, it is said, 15,000 men.
But in January 1856 he was disgracefully beaten by
the enemy. His ti'oops fled at the first volley, and
losing their way in the woods, fell into the hands of
their enemies, who did not spare them. The Emperor,
furious at his defeat, shot several superior officers for
treachery or cowardicpi, and then returned with the re-
mains of his army to his capital, where he was received
in mournful silence, amid the scarcely-concealed mur-
murs of the people ; the muttered curses of the women at
the loss of their relatives being particularly remarked.

This dissatisfaction could not escape the notice of the
Emperor, and to assuage his outraged feelings he shot
sixteen men in Les Cayes, amid such circumstances of
barbarity that even Haytians of all classes were moved
by feelings of indignation and disgust. But Soulouque
cared not ; he shot three others and condemned 'above
fifty to his dungeons, where little more was heard of
them; in fact, they are said to have been beaten or
starved to death.

HISTOKY SINCiE INDEPENDENCE. 99

After renewed efforts on the part of foreign agents,
a truce of two years was negotiated with. Santo Do-
mingo. The fall of the empire was now a mere matter
of time. The people were disgusted with the losses
incurred during the last invasion of the eastern pro-
vince, which had been more disastrous than all the
former attacks ; the finances were in the greatest dis-
order ; peculation and pillage were the order of the day ;
a great incendiary fire in Port-au-Prince occurred in
1857, and in 1858 heavy commercial failures followed
a wild speculation in bills and coffee. Discontent was
rife, and all turned their eyes to General Geffrard as
the only man who could rescue them from this disas-
trous condition of affairs. He had gained great popu-
larity in the army during the last invasion of Santo
Domingo, when he commanded the rear-guard during'
the retreat, and it was acknowledged that liis bravery
and devotion had saved the remnants of the troops from
destruction. The Haytians had had four black rulers
in succession, and thought they could not be less pros-
perous under the rule of an intelligent mulatto.

The Emperor kept a watch on Geffrard, but he be-
haved with so much prudence that there was no excuse
to imprison him. At last, in December 1858, the order
for his arrest was given; but warned by a friend, he
embarked during the night in an open boat with a few
followers, and on his amval at the town of Gonaives
proclaimed the deposition of the Emperor and the re-
establishment of the republic. He was received " with

100 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

enthusiasm," and in a few days all the north and
north-west adhered to the revolution, and he began his
march on Port-au-Prince with an army of about 6000
men.

On hearing of this insurrection, the Emperor moved
out to meet his opponent, but with only 3000 discon-
tented soldiers, who, after a skirmish with the in-
surgents, retreated, and Soulouque re-entered Port-au-
Prince with his forces reduced by desertion to 1500.
Finding that the whole country had declared against
him, the Emperor abdicated on the 15th January 1859,
and retired for safety to the French Legation.

On his re-entry into the city on the loth, Soulouque,
furious with his rival, ordered Madame Geffrard and her
daughters to be put to death, but yielded to the inter-
cession of our agents. However, the populace of all
colours were so united against the ex-Emperor and some
of his chiefs, that fears were entertained that they would
break into the French Legation and kill all the refu-
gees. The attitude of the tumultuous crowd became
so menacing, and the indifference of the Haytian guard
so marked, that M. Mellinet appealed to our acting
Consul-General Byron for protection.

Hearing of the danger to which all foreigners were
exposed in Port-au-Prince, the captain of an English
transport, the Melbourne, with the consent of Captain
M'Crea, who commanded a detachment of artillery on
board, steered for the capital and arrived at a critical
moment. Seeing that the French Legation was about to

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 101

be invaded, Byron took the bold resolution of calling oil
Captain M'Crea to land his artillerymen and protect
the refugees. This they did, and, strange to say, the
mob, instead of resenting this armed interference, were
delighted at the magnificent appearance of the men
and their perfect discipline, and cheered them more
than ever they cheered one of their own regiments.
This movement saved the Emperor ; he and his fol-
lowers were subsequently embarked on board the
MelhouTTie, and followed Boyer and Hdrard-Eivifere to
Jamaica.

Too much credit cannot be given to this bold pro-
ceeding of Mr. Byron and of Captain M'Crea ; it had
an admirable effect, and for years after, the landing
of these fine men was a subject of conversation among
the people. All felt that more had been saved than
the French Legation and the lives of the refugees, as
once pillage had commenced it would have been diffi-
cult to prevent its spreading through the town.

Thus closed the ignoble reign of Soulouque, one of
the most contemptible rulers that ever existed even in
Hayti. Peculation on the one hand, and cruelty and
cowardice on the other, marked almost every event of
these disastrous twelve years of misgovernment. As
a trait of Haytian manners, I may notice the curious
way in which his sable Majesty acquired a wife. There
was in Soulouque's regiment a private soldier who was
"placi" with a good-looking negress who took the
officer's fancy, so the latter sent a sergeant to represent

102 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

to the husband the desirability of his giving up his
wife to his superior iu rank. This he did, and when
this lady became Empress she did not forget him, and
often sent him into the imperial kitchen to be sup-
plied with a plentiful meal. Her child was adopted by
Soulouque, and was afterwards called the "Princess
Olive," a lady-like pleasant woman, who was popular
with all who knew her.

When ignorance ceased to govern, vanity appeared
to follow. Judging after the events, it seems clear that
General Geffrard might have avoided many of the dif-
ficulties of his Presidency had he called good men to
his councils and listened to their advice. He, however,
would do all himself, and treated his Ministers as if
they were but head-clerks. He really thought he knew
more than any of those who surrounded him, and per-
haps he did.

The revolution was conducted with exemplary mo-
deration, and the great and small plunderers of the
preceding reign succeeded in securing their ill-gotten
wealth ; for though the properties of certain persons
were sequestrated, it had little practical effect. I have
seen a trustworthy paper of the amounts taken by
the Emperor and his followers, and they were so enor-
mous as to surpass belief.

Geffrard's difficulties were great, as he had to conci-
liate the black party and appoint as Ministers certain
foremost generals of that colour, and their ignorance
and stupidity were almost beyond anything that can be

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 103

conceived ; and this is the President's best excuse for
having tried to govern himself. And yet the extreme
section of the party was not satisfied, and soon after
Geffrard's advent to power began to conspire against
him, and to raise the cry that lie was about to sell the
country to the whites. As soon as a coloured chief
displays the slightest desire to modify any legislation
hostile to foreigners, this cry is raised, and prevents
many improvements.

To show of what a negro conspirator is capable, I
must enter into a few particulars of what was called
the conspiracy of General Prophete. In September of
1859, the year of Geffrard's advent to power, a section
of the blacks determined to murder him. They knew
that he was a most affectionate father, and accustomed
to visit every evening Madame Blanfort, his newly-
married daughter; they therefore laid an ambush for
him behind a ruined wall that skirted the street that
led to her house. The usual hour having passed for
the evening visit, the conspirators began to fear that
their project might fail that night and be discovered,
so they moved quietly towards Madame Blanfort's
residence, and looking through the window, saw the
young bride seated reading, evidently awaiting her
father's arrival. The conspirators held a hurried con-
sultation, and decided to murder the daughter, in the
expectation that Geffrard, on hearing of what had
occurred, would rush out. They therefore returned to
the window, and a negro named Sarron raised his

104 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE,

blunderbuss, fired at the girl, and killed her on the
spot. Geffrard heard the shot, and rushing to the palace
door, would have fallen into the ambush had not some
friends seized and detained him.

Fortunately these conspirators were as stupid as they
were brutal, and the whole of them were taken. The
chief of the political conspiracy was allowed to depart,
whilst the others, to the number of sixteen, were executed.
It was stated at the time that too many suffered, but
they were all equally guilty, for although all had not
been consulted as to murdering the daughter, all meant
to assassinate the father. These conspirators were most
of them aides-de-camp to the President, and belonged
to what are called the best families of the capital.
What is a President to do with such people ?

In ]\Iarch i860 a concordat was signed with the
See of Eome, an account of which, as amended, is given
in another chapter. In September there was a fresh
conspiracy to murder Geffrard, in which a man named
Florosin was implicated, and therefore the plot was
called after him. In the following year Hayti reaped
the fruit of her obstinacy in refusing to acknowledge
the independence of the eastern province. Discouraged
by the continual state of tension in their relations with
the black republic, the Dominicans decided to return
to their allegiance to Spain, and in March 1861 Santo
Domingo was declared a Spanish colony, with the
Dominican General Santana as first Governor-General.
Geffrard thus found himself face to face with a new

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 105

danger, as every question remained unsettled, including
the important one of boundaries.

The annexation to Spain had been brought about by
Santana and his party, but was opposed by another
faction, who crossed over into Hayti, and there being
secretly furnished with arms and money by the autho-
rities, invaded the Spanish colony and commenced a
guerilla warfare. They were beaten, and twenty-one
being taken, were summarily shot by Santana.

Proofs having then been obtained of the coinplicity
of the Haytian Government in this movement, Spain
determined to punish these intermeddlers. A fleet
was sent to Port-au-Prince, with orders to demand an
indemnity of ;£'4o,ooo to be paid in forty-eight hours,
and a salute, which was not to be returned. The
money was not to be had at so short a notice, and the
discontented blacks threatened to upset the Govern-
ment and massacre the whites if a salute were fired first.

At that time the chief representative of the foreign
powers was Mr. Byron, our acting Consul-General, and
on him fell the sole responsibility of effecting an
amicable arrangement and preventing the threatened
bombardment. He saw the Spanish Admiral Eubal-
cava, of whom he ever spoke in the highest terms,
explained the difficulties of Geifrard's position, and
obtained important concessions — first, as to the pay-
ment of the indemnity, which was ultimately reduced
to ;£'5000, and, second, that the Haytian salute should
be returned. He then went to the palace, smiled at

106 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

their fears of the rabble, and gave the resolute advice
to brave them and fire the salute. This was done, and
all passed off as well as he had predicted. Throughout
their history, the Haytians have been thus beholden
to the agents of England and France.

In November 1861, General Legros fk.re conspired
to upset the Government, but these mild plotters were
only banished or imprisoned. This abortive move-
ment was followed (1862) by an attempted insurrec-
tion of the Salomon family in the south. This conspi-
racy, the third in which they were accused of being
engaged, was a complete fiasco, but it cost the lives of
fourteen of the plotters.

One of the promises made by the new Government
was a reform in the finances and a reduction of useless
expenditure ; but Geffrard's incapable or corrupt Minis^
ters had not fulfilled that promise. The Chambers
were naturally curious as to the disappearance of mil-
lions of dollars (paper) without any explanation being
forthcoming, and forced two incapables to resign, and
General Dupuy, the Minister of Eiche, was summoned
from London to take charge of the finances. He was
a very intelligent man, quite worthy of the post, and
his appointment inspired confidence; but the Opposi-
tion in the Chambers continued their attacks on the
Government, and at last Geffrard was forced to dis-r
solve and order fresh elections. There can be no
doubt that so many abuses were protected as to justify
much discontent, but the Opposition might have beeii

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 107

more moderate considering the difficulties of the situa-
tion, the insurrection in the east against the Spaniards,
and the continued conspiracies of the blacks.

Geffrard and Dupuy were both anxious to modify
Article 7 of the constitution, aimed against foreigners,
but the proposition was so badjy received that it was
withdrawn.

Another rising (May 1 863) of the Legros family fol-
lowed in Gonaives. As they had been the principal
instruments of the revolution in favour of Geffrard,
their defection can only be accounted for by unsatisfied
ambition and the desire to secure the spoils of office.
It failed, and eight were shot.

In September 1863 Monseigneur Testard de Cosquer
was named Archbishop of Port-au-Prince. He was one
of the most agreeable men I have ever met, remarkably
eloquent, and of fine presence; he did not, however,
arrive at the capital until June of the following year.
Disgusted with what was passing in his country,
General Dupuy resigned his position as Minister of
Finance and Foreign Affairs, and was succeeded by
M. Auguste Elie, than whom a better choice could not
have been made.

The year 1864 was distinguished for its conspiracies.
In May a Colonel Narcisse denounced four coloured
men of the best position in the capital as being en-
gaged in a plot. The proofs of an active conspiracy
were wanting. As I have given details of the trial
jn another chapter, I need only say that they were

108 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

condemned to death, but their sentence was commuted
at the intercession of the diplomatic corps. In July
there was- a conspiracy at Cap Haitian by General
Longuefosse, but the people not joining, he was taken
and shot, with three of his companions. This was
followed by another, in which Salnave, afterwards a
revolutionary President of Hayti, first made liis appear-
ance in rather an interesting manner. General Philip-
peaux. Minister of War, had been sent by Geffrard
to Cap Haitien to restore order after Longuefosse's
abortive "plot, when a conspiracy was formed in an
■artillery corps to murder Philippeaux, and Salnave was
chosen to carry it into execution. One evening the
Minister of War was sitting playing cards in a ver-
andah, when Salnave, ensconced behind a neighbour-
ing tree, raised Ids carbine and fired at him ; the ball
struck Philippeaux above the temple and glanced off.
Not even the solid skull of a black could have resisted
the bullet, had not the Minister, at the moment when
Salnave fired, slightly turned his head.

I may notice that in 1865 Spain abandoned Santo
Domingo, and the Dominican republic was restored.
If ever the true history be written of that temporary
resuscitation of a colony, Spaniards themselves will
be astonished at the revelations of iniquity and fraud
that brought about the revolution against them.

The year 1865 was an unfortunate one for Hayti.
First a great fire burnt down three hundred and fifty
houses in the best part of the capital ; then there was

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE, 109

a movement in the soutli ; then one in the north, where
Sulnave, invading that department from Santo Domingo,
found all ready to receive him. The regiments in the
northern garrisons joined him or dispersed; but the
rapid movement of Geffrard's troops under Generals
Morisset and Barth^Iemy, both of whom were killed
fighting, disconcerted the conspirators, and they were
soon driven from the country districts and forced to
take refuge in Cap Haitien. Had not many of the
chiefs of Geffrard's army been traitors to his cause, the
whole affair might have been over in a month. A
siege commenced, which appeared likely to endure long,
when an incident occurred which forced on foreign inter-
vention.

Salnave was a bold, unscrupulous man, who had been
put forward by some discontented deputies and others
to do their work ; but his main reliance was on the mob.
Those of Geffrard's friends who could not escape from
the town took refuge with the Consuls, and the English
and American naval officers had constantly to interfere,
even by landing men to prevent the violation of the
Consulates. Captain Heneage, of H.M.S. Lily, con-
spicuously distinguished himself. At last Geffrard left
the capital to command the army, but he found he could
do little among his intriguing officers: he, however,
certainly showed want of dash on this occasion.

Then came the Bulldog incident. Captain "Wake
had excited the ire of the insurgents by protecting a
British vessel; and to show their anger, under the

no HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

direction of Delorme, Salnave's principal adviser, they
rushed down to our Consulate, and took by force
certain persons who were under the protection of our
flag. The Bulldog steamed into harbour to obtain
redress, and ran aground. A combat ensued, and find-
ing he could not get his vessel off. Captain Wake blew
her up, and retired with the crew in his boats.

All the persons taken from our Consulate had in
the meantime been murdered. On hearing of these
transactions, I went up in H.M.S. Galatea with the
Lily, and being unable to obtain any adequate satis-
faction, the outer forts were bombarded. Geffrard's
army rushed in, and the insurrection was at an end.
Salnave and his followers escaped in the United States
ship Desoto, after leaving orders to burn down the
town, which his men only partly effected.

I may notice that the right of asylum under foreign
flags is considered so sacred in Hayti, that it was once
introduced as an article of the constitution. All parties
are equally interested in its observance, as only thus
can they hope to escape the first fury of their adver-
saries, and give time for passions to cool.

If 1865 was a disastrous year for Hayti, 1866 was
worse. A great fire broke out in Port-au-Prince, and
eight hundred houses are said to have been destroyed,
I again noticed the apathy of the negroes, whether official
or otherwise. They came and looked on, but did nothing
either to check the flames or arrest the incendiaries.
Whilst we were working to save our Legation from the

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. Ill

fire, which was already scorching its walls, my porter
called my attention to some negroes that had entered
with torches ill concealed under their coats. I had
to seize a revolver and hold it to a man's head before
I could force them to retire. Had our brick house taken
fire, they knew the rest of the town' must go. Few
except the Europeans cared to exert themselves, and
when they brought out a fire-engine, the mob instantly
cut the hose and gave themselves up to pillage. The
French chargi d! affaires asked a man why he did not
assist in putting out a fire burning before him ? His
answer was, " My house is already burned : why should
I aid others ? "

Geffrard could not but notice, in his opening speech
to the Chambers, that the northern insurrection had
created so great an expenditure that all progress was
checked ; but it had no effect. Another effort at revolu-
tion was made at Gonaives, where the mob plundered
and burnt about fifty houses, to be followed by further
troubles and incendiary fires at Cap Haitien, Port-au-
Prince, and St. Marc. The arsenal in the capital was
blown up in September; two hundred houses were
overthrown, and the guard killed, besides many of the
inhabitants. One little boy whom I knew had one of
his ears taken off by a piece of shell without further
injury. During these occurrences, bands of negroes
were wandering through the south burning and pillag-
ing, unchecked by the local authorities. It was asked,
how could a people exist under such circumstances ?

112 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

But people must eat ; the majority do not join in these
disorders, and all the women and children work. The
following years showed to what a country can submit
from the perverse conduct of interested politicians.

It was now evident that Geffrard must give up
power, as, rightly or wrongly, people were dissatisfied
with him, and wanted a change. In February 1867
there was a hostile movement on the part of some com-
panies of Geffrard's favourite troops, the tirailleurs, the
only disciplined battalions that I ever saw in Hayti;
and though this was suppressed by their companions,
the Government was irretrievably shaken. The com-
paratively bad provision crops of 1865 and 1866 were
said to be the fault of the authorities, and no amnesties
or changes in the Ministry could satisfy the discon-
tented. Geffrard determined therefore to abdicate, and
on March 13, 1867, he embarked for Jamaica. He had
convoked the Senate for the i6th in order to give over
the reins of power to them, but his timid friends per-
suaded him to go at once, as the north was in insur-
rection. The Spanish charg6 d'affaires was with him
throughout these scenes, and Geffrard's last words were,
" Poor country ! what a state of anarchy will follow my
departure ! "

In my chapter on the Mulattoes, I have given a
sketch of Geffrard, and I need not repeat it here. I
was not blind to his faults, but of all the rulers of
Hayti, he was certainly the most enlightened, and the
most thoroughly devoted to his country. Had he been

HISTOEY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 113

as perfect a ruler as the world could produce, he
would never have satisfied his countrymen. The blacks
wanted a black, the mulattoes wanted any one else, so
that there was a change. And yet I believe the mass
of the people cared little except for tranquillity.^

A committee was formed to revise the constitution,
but Salnave had landed in Cap Haitien, assumed power,
and proceeded to exercise it. He arrested some chiefs
of the negroes dwelling in the Black Mountains, and
instantly shot them ; their friends took up arms, and,
under the name of the " Cacos," were a thorn in
the side of the new rdgime. He then marched on
Port-au-Prince, seized the government, and arrested
General Montas, who had commanded in the north
under Geffrard. Tired of the delays of a Constituent
Assembly, he sent a mob to frighten them. They took
the hint, voted the constitution the next day, and,
I'epie a la gorge, elected Salnave President of Hayti,
June 1 6, 1867. In July a treaty was signed between
Hayti and Santo Domingo, thus ending the long war.

The Chambers met in the autumn, and Madame
Montas presented a petition on the subject of the
imprisonment of her husband. On some deputies in-
sisting on an explanation, Delorme, the Chief Minis-
ter of Salnave, sprang on the table and denounced

1 During the next three years I held a most difficult position.

Having by the action of our navy expelled Salnave and his partisans

from Cap Haitien in 1865, they, on their return in 1867, treated me

as their deadliest enemy.

H

114 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

these deputies as enemies of Government. Pistol-
shots were fired; Salnave advanced at the head of his
guards, and the assembly dispersed. Eiots followed.
The Government attempted to arrest five prominent
members of the Opposition, but they escaped and re-
turned home to their constituents, and constitutional
government ceased to exist. Soon after General Montas
died in prison, under most suspicious circumstances.^

The movement of the Cacos in the Black Mountains
now began to alarm the Government, and Salnave
started for the north to put himself at the head of the
army operating against the insurgents. There were
many skirmishes, that at Mombin Crochu being the
most important, where Salnave lost heavily.

I do not think it necessary to do more than briefly
notice the events of Salnave's Presidency of thirty
months. It was one- long civil war. Disgusted at the
treatment of their deputies, the towns began to de-
clare against the Government. The uprising was accele-
rated by the meeting of the Chambers being postponed
and Salnave being declared Dictator. In April 1868,
Nissage-Saget took up arms in St. Marc; the south
was in movement, and the insurgents marched towards
the capital, where a crowd of young men armed with
swordsticks and pocket-pistols made a feeble attempt
at insurrection, but dispersed at the first fire. In the

^ "lis passferent ensemble et discuterent c6te-?i-c6te la mort de
Leon Montas, mort ^toufie, affirrae-t-on dans la prison du Cap." — Le
Pevple, Avril 21, 1888.

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 115

midst of this commotion Salnave came into the harbour
with five hundred men, to whom he gave permission
to plunder the Eue de Erontsforts, where the princi-
pal retail dealers live. The phrase of their colonel on
this occasion has become a proverb : " Mes enfans,
pillez en bon ordre." Only the vigorous remonstrances
of the diplomatic corps prevented further outrages. De-
lorme, accused by Salnave of having shown weakness
whilst in charge of the Government during his absence
in the north, retired from office and left the country.

The insurgent armies closed in round Port-au-Prince,
but as the town did not capitulate at their martial
aspect, they did nothing, whilst the garrison was only
waiting for the excuse of an attack in order to disperse.
This delay was fatal ; the chiefs, instead of confronting
the common enemy, were quarrelling as to the choice
of the future President, each thinfcng himself the most
worthy, when the negroes of the mountains, encouraged
by the Government, rose in arms to attack the towns,
and forced the besieging army to retire to protect their
own families and property. These bands of negroes,
under the name of "Piquets," were only formidable
from their numbers, but the destruction they committed
in the south has not been repaired to this day. The
insurgents raised the siege of the capital in August;
and in September, to prevent further dissensions, Kis-
sage-Saget was chosen President for the north at St.
Marc, and Domingue at Les Cayes for the south.

The year 1869 was the most disastrous I have

116 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDE^^CE.

known in Haytian history. Fighting was going on
in every district. In the north the insurgents were
besieging Cap Haitien ; in the south the Government
was vainly attacking Jacmel, Jeremie, and Les Cayes.
In the beginning of the year President Salnave had
the advantage of commanding the seas with his
steamers, and, surrounding Les Cayes on every side,
he vigorously pressed the siege. When it was about
to fall. General Monplaisir-Pierre assembled a small
force, cut his way through the besieging army, and
arrived just in time to save Domingue and his Govern-
ment, who were preparing to embark for Jamaica.
This was one of the few dashing actions of the war.

Another was General Brice's splendid defence of
J^remie when attacked by superior forces and bom-
barded by vessels purchased by Salnave in America.

In July 1869 the insurgents obtained a couple of
steamers, and the aspect of the war changed. They
were enabled thus to relieve the south by capturing
the vessels that blockaded Les Cayes ; and then,
returning north, excited the fears of the Government
partisans. Gonaives surrendered to the insurgents
under conditions, and General Chevalier arrived with
its garrison to increase the confusion at the capital.
The Ministry resigned under his tlireats, and only the
sudden arrival of Salnave from the south prevented
Chevalier from usurping his place.

From this time forward the fortunes of Salnave
paled. Cap Haitien surrendered to the insurgents;

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 117

the President's army under Chevalier besieging Jacmel
went over to the enemy; and suddenly, on the i^th
December 1870, the insurgents made the most gallant
dash of the whole war. Before daylight, two vessels
laden with troops steamed quietly into the harbour,
surprised a new gunboat belonging to the Government,
and then immediately landed about a thousand men.
The leaders of this expedition were Generals , Brice
and Boisrond-Canal. It was a splendid coup, as Sal-
nave's garrison consisted of over three thousand soldiers.
Some sharp fighting occurred, and the insurgents could
just hold their own, when General Turenne-Carrid
arrived by land with strong reinforcements, and ren-
dered the combat more equal.

Whilst the fighting was going on, an urgent appeal
was made by the chiefs of both parties to the diploma-
tie corps to interfere and try to save the town, which
was menaced with destruction. The representatives of
France, England, and the United States therefore went
to the palace, but could do no more than effect a truce
till the next morning.

Salnave, however, hoping to take his enemies off
their guard during this truce, made a sudden onslaught
on them ; but after about two hours' fighting, his men
were repulsed with heavy loss. Early in the morning,
the gunboat that had been surprised in harbour opened
fire upon the palace under the direction of the in-
surgents, and its heavy shell falling in the courtyard
-began to disperse the garrison, when another pitched

118 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

on the main building, ignited a small powder-magazine,
and a severe explosion took place. As great stores of
powder existed in the burning palace, every one near
fled. Salnave and his troops retired to the moiintains
via La Coupe, and soon after another terrific explosion
shook the town, followed by one still more severe.
Fortunately the fire did not reach the great magazine,
or few houses would have resisted the concussion.

Before leaving, Salnave ordered fire to be set to the
capital to retard pursuit. Our men were disembarked
from H.M.S. Defence under the present Admiral, Noel
Salmon, and greatly contributed to prevent the spread
of the flames ; but it was calculated that at least a
thousand houses and huts were destroyed.

I have passed rapidly over the events of this year,
but it was certainly the most trying I have ever known.
The diplomatic corps was continually forced to inter-
fere to check the arbitrary conduct of the authorities,
who seized our ships, arrested our subjects, insulted
us in the streets, and to awe the disaffected employed
bands of villanous negroes and negresses to parade
the town, who murdered those selected by their
enemies, wantonly killing a young Frenchman and
many others.

Nothing was safe from them, neither our mail-bags
nor our property. Fortunately we were well supported
by our naval of&cers, and we were thoroughly well
backed by the French marine. Admii-al Mequet and
Captain De Varannes of the D'Estres were con-

HISTOKY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 119

spicuous for their friendly feeling ; and as Admiral
Phillimore was at that time commodore in Jamaica,
the English were sure of receiving all the support that
it was in his power to give. I think we owed our lives
to the aid we received from the presence of our ships,
commanded by Captains Kelly, M'Crea, Glynn, Murray
Aynesley, Carnegie, Lowther, Hunter, Alington, and
many others.

I may conclude my account of Salnave by saying
that he attempted to reach Santo Domingo city, but
was stopped on the frontiers by the Dominican insur-
gent Cabral, who took him and his followers prisoners,
and sent them to Port-au-Prince. Six chiefs were shot
as insurgents taken with arms in their hands, whilst
Salnave was brought into the capital, tried by a mili-
tary commission under General Lorquet, condemned
to death for incendiarism and murder, and shot that
same evening at sunset. He behaved with consider-
able coolness and calmness, and when he heard the
sentence pronounced, asked for a quarter of an hour's
respite, and then wrote his wishes as to the disposition
of his property, and a few words to his family.

Salnave was in every respect unfitted to be a ruler ;
he was ignorant, debauched, and cruel; loved to be
surrounded by the lowest of the low, who turned the
palace into a rendezvous where the scum of the negresses
assembled to dance and drink, so that no respectable
person ever willingly entered it. He attended the
meetings of the Vaudoux, and is accused of joining in

120 HISTOEY SISCE INDEPENDENCE.

their greatest excesses. He first brought himself pro-
minently forward by attempting to murder General
Philippeaux, and during his Presidency shot his enemies
without mercy. I do not think that he had a redeem-
ing quality, except a certain amount of determination,
ond perhaps bravery, though he was never known to
expose himself to personal danger.

General Nissage - Saget was elected President of
Hayti on the 19th March 1870, and four years of peace
followed. The country was so exhausted by the long
civil war, that although there was some discontent
among the followers of Salnave and the extreme black
party, no movement had a chance of success. The
Chambers occasionally quarrelled with the executive,
but their title to esteem rests on their efforts to restore
the currency. They decided to withdraw the depre-
ciated paper notes and introduce silver dollars, and in
this they completely succeeded. It caused some suffer-
ing at first, but on the whole it was a sound measure,
wisely carried out.

Nissage-Saget, though incapable in many respects,
generally adhered to the constitution. However, in 1872
he created some commotion by pardoning all political
prisoners at the demand of the army, though legally
such a measure required the previous assent of the
Chambers ; but Hay tians like their Presidents to show
authority.

In 1873 there was a formal qiiarrel in the Chambers
which led to all the subsequent disasters. A question

HISTORY SINCE IKDEPENDENCE. 121

arose as to the validity of the election of Boyer-
Bazekis, deputy for Port-au-Prince. It was decided in
his favour by forty-four to twenty-one, upon which the
minority retired, and left the House without a quorum,
As the Government sided with the minority, no steps
"were taiven to fill vacancies, but a session was called
for the month of July.

The real question at issue was a serious one. The
Opposition wished to elect as the next President Gene-
ral Monplaisir-Pierre, a respectable black, whilst the
Government favoured General Domingue, an igno-
rant and ferocious negro, born in Africa, whose party
had rendered itself notorious by the massacre of all
the political prisoners confined in the jail in Les Cayes
in 1869.

The Senate and Chambers met in July, and it was
evident that a great majority were hostile to the
Government. Boyer-Bazelais, rendered imprudent by
the strong party he led, passed a vote of want of
confidence in two Ministers, and refused to receive
their Budgets, upon which the President adjourned the
session to April 1874. He did this to prevent the
public discussion of the scandalous jobbery of his Mini-
sters and to aid Domingue in his candidature.

When the Congress met in April 1 874, there was no
doubt as to the feeling of the people being hostile to
Dominigue and his nephew, Septimus Eameau, the most
grasping and unpopular jobber that the country had
ever seen. The Government had used all its influence

122 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

and had employed the military to support Domingue
candidates, but in spite of this pressure his opponents
had been returned. But the Government persevered,
and Nissage retired May 15, handing over power to
a Council of Ministers that named Domingue com-
mander-in-chief. A Constituent Assembly was called
for June 10, which was q^uite unconstitutional, and
under violent military pressure Government nomi-
nees were chosen, who unanimously elected General
Domingue President of Hayti.

As soon as this Government was in power, it was
clearly seen that all the constitutional leaders had
better go into exile, as their death was certain if they
remained. Many prudently retired to the neighbouring
islands, but the three gallant leaders of the war against
Salnave, Monplaisir-Pierre, Brice, and Boisrond-Canal
remained, and turned their attention to industrial
pursuits. I could not but warn Brice that I knew for
certain that if they remained they would fall victims,
but they had a better opinion of their rulers than I
had.

Naturally a new constitution was voted, by which
the President was chosen for eight years ; the Senate
was to be selected from a list sent in to Government ;
the executive had power to dissolve the Chambers and
to establish a Council of State to aid the Government.
Power was also given for one year to change the judges
and magistrates, thus to fill the bench with their own
creatures.

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 123

The Government was not slow to show its intentions.
The first was to endeavour to render the residence of
foreigners impossible by passing a law of license to
trade which would have been prohibitive ; but through
the interference of the diplomatic corps the application
of this law was postponed. At the head of the Ministry
was Domingue's nephew, Septimus Eameau, who con-
sidered that " the whites had no rights which the blacks
were bou'nd to respect." His own friends had foretold
an age of peace and enlightenment when Septimus came
to power, but of all the narrow-minded negroes with
vast pretensions to superiority, none equalled this man.
As a rule, the abler a negro is, the more wicked and
corrupt he appears. But we could never discover this
much-vaunted ability, though the wickedness and cor-
ruption were manifest to all.

The only wise act by which Domingue's Govern-
ment will be known was the signing of a treaty of
peace, friendship, and commerce with Santo Domingo ;
and this was brought about by English aid, which
smoothed down the difficulties raised by the intolerable
pretensions of the Haytian Ministers.

As usual, when there was political discontent, the
year 1875 was ushered in by a great fire at Port-au-
Prince. On May i, taking advantage of an assembly of
troops to celebrate the " Fete de V Agriculture," Eameau
ordered an attack to be made on the three rivals he
most feared. General Brice was sitting writing in his
office when the soldiers sent to murder him appeared ;

124 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

bis bravery, however, was so well known, tbat tbey
dreaded to approach bim, but firing at a distance, gave
bim time to seize bis arms and defend bunself. But
having only revolvers, he thought it prudent to en-
deavour to take refuge in the English Legation. He
was wounded fatally in doing so, and died, notwith-
standing the care bestowed upon bim by the Spanish
Consul Lopez and his wife, who were then residing
there.

Monplaisir- Pierre was also attacked in his own house,
but being better armed, he made a long defence ; he
killed seventeen soldiers, wounded thirty-two, mostly
mortally, and could only be subdued by the employ-
ment of artillery. Then finding he could do no more,
as, severely wounded, it was not possible to escape, he
put an end to his existence. General Lorquet com-
manded this attack of the garrison of Port-au-Prince
on two veritable heroes.

The third destined to death by the Government was
Boisrond-Canal. Whilst defending himself Brice had
thought of his friend, and had sent his clerk to warn
him of his danger. On the approach of the soldiers he
and his friends readily put them to flight, but then
were forced to disperse. Canal taking refuge with the
American Minister, Mr. Bassett, who, after five months
of tedious correspondence, was enabled to embark him
in safety.

Decrees followed banishing forty-three eminent citi-
zens, and later on seventeen were condemned to death

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 125

for a pretended conspiracy. Thus Eameau thought to
clear the country of his enemies or rivals.

The Government finding that the amount received in
taxes would not satisfy their cupidity, decided to raise
a loan in Paris of about ;^2,Soo,ooo. The history of
this scandalous transaction is about the worst of its
kind. A portion of the money was raised and divided
among the friends of the Government; but the details
are not worth recording.

The murder of Brice and Monplaisir-Pierre made
a profound impression on the country, as it justified
all previous apprehensions; and the conduct of the
Government was such, that it appeared as if it were
guided by a madman. Decrees against the trade
carried on by foreigners, hatred of the whites shown
by Domingue, Eameau, and Boco, then insults in the
ofiBcial journal, in which even foreign agents were not
spared, followed by the illegal expulsion of Cuban
refugees, at length roused the country, and a general
movement commenced.

Domingue and Eameau were furious : an order was
given to murder all the political prisoners confined in
the prison, but the chief jailer escaped with them to a
Legation, and leaving the gates open, three hundred
and fifty malefactors got away at the same time. Then
the Government tried to rouse the masses, and issued
orders to fire the town and pillage it, and murder the
whites and coloured; but even the lowest negroes
felt that these were the decrees of a madman. Find-

126 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

ing that the Government cpuld not hold its own in
Port-au-Prince, Eameau determined to retire to Les
Cayes; but being unwilling to leave behind him the
money destined to form the capital of a National Bank,
he sent it down to the wharf to be embarked. This
at length roused the population, and a tumult ensued.
Abandoned by all, Domingue abdicated, and the French
Minister De Verges and the Spanish Consul Lopez
went to the palace to try and save the President and
his Chief Minister. The crowd was large and threat-
ening, but the two brave diplomats took these despi-
cable chiefs under their protection and endeavoured to
escort them to the French Legation; but the crowd
was so excited against these murderers, that Eameau
was killed in the streets and Domingue was seriously
wounded.

Geheral Lorquet had been sent at the head of a force
to check the advance of the northern insurgents ; but,
as might have been expected, he joined them and
marched at their head to take possession of the Govern-
ment. But no sooner had he entered the town than a
murmur arose. The friends of those whom he had
murdered, as Monplaisir-Pierre, Brice, and Chevalier,
began to collect. Lorquet fled to his house, but was
pursued and attacked, and killed whilst trying to hide
in a closet.

Thus fell the very worst Government that even Hayti
had ever seen. Cruel and dishonest, it had not a re-
deeming quality. Domingue, brutal and ignorant, was

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 127

entirely dominated by his nephew, Septimus Eameau,
whose conduct has been only excused by his friends on
the ground of insanity. There was too much method in
his madness for that plea to be accepted. His hatred
of foreigners may be partly accounted for by his being
a member of the Vaudoux ; it is even asserted that he
was a Papaloi or priest of the sect.

When Domingue fell there was a struggle for the
succession between Boisrond-Canal and Boyer-Bazelais,
but the former was preferred on account of his energy
and courage. He had a difficult task, as the dilapida-
tions of the late Government had ruined the finances,
and France insisted that the Domingue loan should
be recognised before she would acknowledge the new
President.

Boyer-Bazelais, although, like Boisrond-Canal, a man
of colour, bitterly resented his rival being chosen
President, and created every difficulty possible for the
new Government. These events, however, are too
recent for me to dwell on them. I may, however,
notice that the principal attention of both Govern-
ment and Opposition was directed to the finances, and
that in 1879 the French Government forced Hayti to
acknowledge the Domingue loan.

In July 1879 a disturbance took place in the House
of Eepresentatives, and it was adjourned amidst much
tumult. Boyer-Bazelais and his party retired to his
house and took up arms, they said, to defend them-
selves. Their opponents attacked them, and a desperate

128 HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

fight ensued. Fire was put to the adjoining houses,
and amidst this fierce conflict our acting Consul-
General Byron and the French Chancellor Huttinot
intervened, and at the greatest personal risk rescued
the ladies from the burning houses and took them to
a place of safety. A sauve qui pent soon followed,
and Boyer-Bazelais' party was dispersed with heavy
loss, two of his brothers being killed in the fight.

The insane ambition of what was called the Liberal
party thus ruined the most honest Government that
Hayti had seen since the days of Boyer., These dis-
orders in the capital were followed by others in the
provinces; and Boisrond-Canal, disgusted with the treat-
ment he had received from those who should have
supported him, resigned, and left the country with his
chief Ministers, July 17, 1879. Great sympathy was
shown him by the people, who cheered him as he left
the wharf. As usual, he was embarked by a foreign
officer, Commander Alington of H.M.S. Bcxer. What
would these exiled Presidents do without the foreign
element ?

Boisrond-Canal, though not a brilliant ruler, was
thoroughly honest, and if. he had been supported instead
of being opposed by the Liberal party, his four years'
Presidency would have been a happy one. His coloured
opponents used to call him a. patate or sweet potato — in
fact, a King Log. They soon had a chance of comparing
his Government with that of a King Stork.

Boyer-Bazelais' party now thought that they would

HISTORY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. 129

have all their own way, but they soon found that the
country would have none of them. The blacks were
again in the ascendant, and after some feeble attempts
at revolution, the Liberal chiefs had to take the path of
exile, and be thankful that it was no worse.

The mob of Port-au-Prince, wearied by the long
debates, forced the Assembly to close its discussions,
and General Salomon was elected President of Hayti,
October 23, 1879, and in December of the same year a
twelfth constitution was promulgated, by which the
chief of the state was chosen for seven years.

Illegal military executions, murder, and pillage, en-
couraged by the authorities, were the principal episodes
of the history of the next few years.

After reading this narrative, can we be surprised at
the mot of a distinguished English diplomatist. Sir
Charles Wyke, once banished to Port-au-Prince ?
Walking up and down the filthy wharfs, he was heard
to exclaim, " Confound Christopher Columbus ! if he
had not discovered America, I should not have been
here."

( 130 )

CHAPTEE IV.

THE POPULATION OF HAYTI.

The amount of the population in Hayti is not accu-
rately known, as no census has been taken since the
country became independent. At the close of the
last century the inhabitants were found to consist of —

Whites 46,000

Freedmen, black and coloured . . . 56,666
Slaves of both colours . . . . 3091642

612,308

In giving these figures, Mr. Madiou adds ("Histoire
d'Haiti," vol. i. p. 29) that the planters, in order not
to have to pay the full capitation-tax, omitted from
their return of slaves all the children, as well as those
over forty-five years of age, so that at least 200,000
should be added to those in servitude, among whom
were 15,000 coloured of both sexes. Up to 1847
Mr. Madiou considered that the population had neither
increased nor decreased. Deducting the whites, there
would remain about 750,000.

Mr. Mackenzie, in his "Notes on Hayti," voL ii.,
discusses the question of population, but the tables he

THE POPULATION. 131

inserts ia his work vary so greatly tliat no reliance
can be placed on them. In one, the population in
1824 of the French portion of the island is stated to be
351,716; in another, given in fnll detail as to each
district, it is put at 873,867, whilst he adds that
Piacide Justin had previously estimated the population
at 700,000, and General Borgella, a good authority,
stated it at a million. It is evident that no one had
very precise data on which to found an estimate.

During tlie struggle between the French and the
coloured races, the whole of the whites were either
driven out of the country or killed, and some slaves
were exported to Cuba and the United States. What
remained, therefore, of the two other sections consti-
tuted the population of the empire of Dessalines.

During the Presidency of General Geffrard (1863),
I heard him remark, that, from the best official infor-
mation he could obtain, the population had increased to
over 900,000. This estimate must be largely founded
on conjecture. The negro race is undoubtedly prolific,
and in a hundred years ought to have more than
doubled — nay, in so fertile a country, with unlimited
supplies of food, more than quadrupled its population.
The losses during the war of independence were con-
siderable, as there was no mercy shown by either side,
and the sanguinary strife lasted many years. The
long civil war between Potion and Christophe was
kept up during the whole reign of the latter, but
probably did not cost the country so many lives as

132 THE POPULATION.

the building of the great mountain-fortress of La
Ferriere and the handsome palace of Sans Souci. Dur-
ing the Presidency of Boyer, lasting twenty-five years,
there was peace, and ample time was given for the
population to make up for all previous losses ; but after
his departure came the wars with Santo Domingo and
civil strife.

All these causes, however, would only have slightly
checked population. If you ask a Haytian how it
is that his country remains comparatively so thinly
peopled, he will answer that the negresses take but
little care of their children, and that at least two-
thirds die in infancy. After reading tlie chapter on
Vaudoux-worship and cannibalism, I fear some of my
readers may come to another conclusion. I cannot,
however, think that these fearful excesses can be car-
ried to the extent of greatly checking the increase of
population. That the negresses are careless mothers
is highly possible, and in the interior there are few, if
any, medical men to whom they can apply in case of
need.

After carefully examining every document on the
subject which came before me, and noting the state
of those portions of the country through which I have
passed, and comparing all the information I received
during my twelve years' stay, I have come to the
conclusion that the population has greatly increased,
probably doubled, since 1825. All the old residents
appear to be of the opinion that the Haytian is lazier

THE POPULATION. 133

thaa ever, and many intelligent natives decidedly hold
that view ; and yet we find that the exports and imports
have doubled in quantity during this period, which
can only be accounted for by a very great increase in
the population. It is possible, however, that the aug-
mentation is much less than it should have been.

Either on account of losses from warlike operations,
or more probably by diseases produced from the greater
excesses of the men, the female population is much
larger than that of the male. Some go so far as to say
there are three women to one man ; others, two-thirds
females. I am myself inclined to fix it at about three-
fifths. The great disproportion in the amount of the
women has often been observed among the negro tribes
on the coast of Guinea. In Hayti there is no emigra-
tion to account for the disproportion ; in fact, the move-
ment of population has been the other way, and many
male recruits arrive from the United States and the
European colonies in the West Indies.

The population is generally supposed to consist of
at least nine-tenths black to one-tenth coloured, and
that the coloured is decidedly more and more approach-
ing the black type. It is natural that, continually
breeding in and in, they should gradually assimilate to
the more numerous race. As a rule, the coloured popu-
lation may be said to reside chiefly in the towns and
villages.

Mackenzie speaks of some Maroon negroes who lived
in the mountains near La Selle in the south-eastern

134 THE POPULATION.

distiict of Hayti, and held no intercourse ■with the
other inhabitants, but fled at their approach. They
•were doubtless the descendants of fugitive slaves.
When vce paid a visit to tlie mountain above referred
to, we heard tlie peasantry speaking of these people,
but it appeared more of a tradition than an ascertained
fact. They call them the Vien-viennent, from their
cry on seeing strangers. Trom what is told of their
being seen in the deep woods at midnight dancing and
going through certain ceremonies, it is probable that
these strange people were only sectaries of the Vau-
doux-worship practising their African rites.

The vexed question as to the position held by the
negroes in the great scheme of nature was continually
brought before us whilst I lived in Hayti, and I could
not but regret to find that the greater my experience
the less I thought of the capacity of the negro to hold
.in independent position. As long as he is influenced by
contact with the white man, as in the southern portion
of the United States, he gets on very well. But place
him free from all such influence, as in Hayti, and he
shows no signs of improvement ; on the contrary, he is
gradually retrograding to the African tribal customs,
and without exterior pressure will fall into the state
of the inhabitants on the Congo. If this were only my
own opinion, I should hesitate to express it so positively,
but I have found no dissident voice amongst experienced
residents since I first went to Hayti in January 1863,

I now agree with those who deny that the negro

THE POPULATION. 135

could ever originate a civilisation, and that with the
best of educations he remains an inferior type of man.
He has as yet shown himself totally unfitted for self-
government, and incapable as a people to make any
progi'ess whatever.' To judge the negroes fairly, one
must live a considerable time in their midst, and not
be led away by the theory that all races are capable
of equal advance in civilisation.

The mulattoes have no doubt far superior intelli-
gence, and show greater capacity for government, but
as yet they have had no marked success. It is pitiable
to read their history, and see how they are almost ever
swayed by the meanest impulses of personal interest
and ambition, and how seldom they act from patriotic
motives. During the twenty-six years which have
elapsed since I first became acquainted with the
country, what a dreary succession of meaningless con-
spiracies, from the abortive attempt of General Legros
in 1863, to the disastrous civil strife between two
sections of the mulatto party, led by Boisrond-Canal
and Boyer-Bazelais, when the latter completed the ruin
of those of his own colour, and let in their enemies, the
worst of the blacks, who had dreamed for twenty years
of their extermination (1879).

Scarcely one of these plots and insurrections, by which
the country has been bathed in blood, but was founded
on the hope of office and the consequent spoils. The
thoughts of the conspirators are concentrated on the
treasurv and the division of its contents. " Prendre

136 THE POPULATION.

I'argent de I'etat ce n'est pas vole," is the motto of all
parties, of every shade of colour.

Politically speaking, the Haytians are a hopeless
people, and the most intelligent and best educated
among them are more and more inclined to despair of
the future of their country when they see the wreck
that follows each wave of barbarism which every few
years passes over their republic. President Geffrard,
on going into exile in 1867, remarked to my Spanish
colleague, that, putting aside all personal feelings and
regrets, he could only foresee for his country a disas-
trous series of convulsions. He spoke prophetically ;
for Hayti has never recovered from the effects of the
civil war which followed his expulsion, and he must
have observed, from his secure retreat in Jamaica, how
the leaders of every section of his enemies were, one
by one, executed, killed in battle, or sent into exile.

I will now attempt to examine some characteristic
traits of the Haytian negro and mulatto.

THE NEGEO.

A French admiral once asked me, " Est-ce que vous
prenez ces gens au s^rieux ? " And at first sight it is
impossible to do so in Hayti ; but after the eye becomes
used to the grotesque, the study of the people is both
interesting and instructive. To a foreigner accustomed
to regard the negro as he is depicted by our latest
travellers, a half-naked savage, brutal and brute-like.

THE NEGEO. 137

it is not possible to contemplate as otherwise than
incongruous a black general with heavy gold epaulettes
and gorgeous uniform galloping on a bedizened steed,
surrounded by a staff as richly apparelled, and fol-
lowed by an escort of as ragged a soldiery as ever
Falstaff was ashamed to march with. The awkward
figure, the heavy face, the bullet head, the uncouth
features, the cunning blood-shot eyes, seen under the
shade of a French officer's cocked hat, raise the hilarity
of the newcomer, which is not lessened when he dis-
covers that this wretched imitation of a soldier declares
himself the most warlike of a warlike race. But put-
ting aside the absurdities which appear inherent to the
blacks, you soon discover that there is something sym-
pathetic in that stolid being.

In treating of the Haytians, one must carefully sepa-
rate the lower-class negro as he appears in a large
commercial town from the black who lives in the plains
or mountains. The former, brought into constant con-
tact with the roughest of the white race, as represented
by an inferior class of merchant seamen, is too often
insolent and dishonest, whilst the countryman, who only
sees a select few of the whites, appears to have an innate
idea of their superiority, and almost always treats them
with respect and deference, and with a hospitality and
kindness wliich is not found in the cities.^

^ There is a, law in Hayti that no peasant may enter the town
except on market-days, or to fulfil his military duties. A brea«h of
this law may send him to prison.

138 THE POPULATION.

Whilst the civilised Haytian is essentially inhospi-
table towards foreigners, the contrary is sometimes the
case among the country population. They have the
virtues as well as the vices of wild races ; and although
their long intercourse with their more civilised com-
patriots has given them a species of Prench varnish,
yet they are essentially an African people removed
from their parent country.

Circumstances, however, have naturally modified their
character. After the departure of the French, their
estates ultimately fell into the hands of the coloured
freedmen and enfranchised slaves. Many of the latter
squatted among the coffee plantations, regardless of the
nominal proprietor, and there gathered, and sold the
crops without paying much attention to the rights of
the owner. With the thirst, however, to he the real
possessor of the land, so characteristic of all peasantry,
as soon as the negro acquired a little capital from savings,
his first thought was turned to secure the tenure of his
household, and in many parts the land has been mor-
selled out amonsr them. President Petion encouraged
this system by the action of Government.

The popular stories current in Hayti of the dif-
ference between the races that inhabit it are rather
characteristic. It is said that a white man, a mulatto,
and a negro were once admitted into the presence of
the Giver of all good gifts, and were asked what they
wished to possess. The first-named desired to acquire
a knowledge of the arts and sciences ; the second

THE NEGEO. 139

limited his pretensions to fine horses and beautiful
■women ; the third, on being asked, shuiSed about and
said that he had been brought there by tlie mulatto,
but being pressed to answer, replied he should like a
bit of gold lace.

They say again, Mark the difference of the three
when arrested and thrown into prison : the white man
demands paper and ink in order to draw up a protest ;
the second looks about for the means of escape; whilst
the third lies down and sleeps twenty-four liours at a
stretch ; then waking up, he grumbles a little, but soon
turns on the other side and sleeps a second twenty-four
hours.

Another curious saying among them is : —

" Nfegue riche li miilatte,
Mulatte pauvre li iiegue.''

These trifles indicate the opinion the different sections
of the people have of eacli other, and there is much
truth in the estimation.

The politeness of the country negro is very remark-
able, and you hear one ragged fellow addressing another
as monsieur, fr^re, or compere ; and this civility is very
pleasing, as it gives promise of better things whenever
education sliall be extended to the country population.

The town negro rarely, however, equals the peasant
in manners, though among each other there is not much
left to be desired. Both classes, at the same time, are
infinitely superior in this respect to our colonial

140 THE POPULATIOJr.

negroes, who are in Port-au-Prince proverbial for their
insolence.

Every one who mixes in Haytian society is struck by
the paucity of black gentlemen to be met with at balls,
concerts, or the theatre, and the almost total absence
of black ladies. At some of the largest parties given
by the late President Geffrard, I have counted but three
black ladies to perhaps a hundred coloured; and although
the gentlemen were more numerous, it was evident that
their presence arose from their official positions, and not
from a desire to mix with the society.

There is a marked line drawn between the black

and the mulatto, which is proba bly the most disastrous
circumstance for th e future prosperity of the coun trj.
A faithful historian, after carefully studying past events,
can come to no other conclusion than that the low
state of civilisation which still obtains in the island
arises principally from this unmeaning quarrel . The
black hates the mulatto, the mulatto despises the
black ; proscriptions, j udicial murders, massacres have
arisen, and will continue to arise as long as this
deplorable feeling prevails. There is no sign of its
abatement ; on the contrary, never was it so marked as
at the present day. A black Minister once said to
me, "We blacks and whites like and respect each
other, because we are of pure race, but as for those

mulattoes "

I remember, on my arrival in Port-au-Prince in 1863,
having a conversation with a young mulatto lady, no

THE NEGRO. 141

longer in the freshness of youth, on the subject of
intermarriage ; and having faintly indicated that I
thought she had been unwise in refusing the hand of
one of the best-mannered, best-educated, and richest
blacks in the country, I received a reply which com-
pletely surprised me, " Sir, you insult me to imagine I
■would marry a black. No, I will never marry any one
but a white." I soothed her as well as I could, but
looking at her faded charms, her unhealthy-looking
skin, and her heavy under-jaw, I thought with reason
that she might wait long ; and, poor girl, she waited in
vain till death released her.

This contempt of the black is felt by nearly every
coloured girl, and is bitterly resented. I have seen
young mulatto women refusing to dance with blacks
at a ball, and the latter, in fury, threatening to call out
the father or brother of the offending beauty. Yet
\yhat can be more absurd that such a pretension or
prejudice, when, but two generations removed, their
mothers were African slaves ! I have heard coloured
women talking about their families and their aristo-
cratic connections, when I have known that in a back-
room, slowly fading away, was some black " mamselle,"
the grandmother of the proud beauties.

The blacks naturally feel and resent this childish
insolence, and when they get the upper hand, as in the
time of Soulouque and Salomon, they unfortunately
quench in blood their outraged feelings.

Towards the white man, whatever jealousy he may

142 THE POPULATION.

feel on account of former political questions, the blagk
is usually both respectful and cordia l, and in return is
liked by them. I heard a black magistrate say, " My
father came from Africa. He was apparently a respect-
able man in the kingdom of Congo, because he was not
only treated with distinction by his countrymen on
board the slaver, but on landing was taken into confi-
dence by a white planter, who ultimately made him his
partner. That is the history of my family." Certainly
as respectable as any other in Hayti;

Notwithstanding all the interested denials of the
mulattoes, there is no doubt but that the lower-class
negro, in particular, respects the white man as a superior
being, and therefore respects his religion as superior
to his own; but, as I shall show in my chapter on
the Vaudoux, although he follows the white man's re-
ligion to a certain extent, he does not in consequence
forsake his serpent-worship, which appeals to his
traditions, to the Africa of his nursery-tales, and, above
all, to his pleasures and his passions. The Vaudoux
priest encourages lascivious dancing, copious drinking,
and the indiscriminate intercourse of the sexes, but he
at the same time inculcates the burning of candles in
the Eoman Catholic churches. He keeps a serpent in
a box in his temple, whilst the walls are covered with
the pictures of the Virgin Mary and the saints. 'No
other brain but that of a negro could accept such a
juxtaposition of opposing beliefs.

Occasionally a negro will say to a white in an in-

THE NEGRO. 146

Solent manner, "Nous sommes tous dgaux ici;" b,ut
he does not believe it, and shows he does not believe
it by soon sneaking away with his invariable oath,

"F ." The crowd may grunt acquiescence, and

though they may appear amused by the fellow's insol-
ence, they are still more amused by his slinking off.
Burton, speaking of the people on the coast pf, Arica,
says that a negro will obey a white man more readily
than a mulatto, and a mulatto more so than one of his
own colour.

Among the black gentlemen you find some of polished
manners and cultivated minds, as my friend Alexander
Delva and the late M. Paul, or a genial companion
like Lubin, the son-in-law of the late Emperor Sou-
louque. Yet, notwithstanding these exceptions, and
the more remarkable ones I have noticed in my his-
torical chapters, there can be no doubt that the blacks
have not yet arrived at that state of civilisation which
would enable one to compare them favourably with any
other civilised race, or to say that they are competent
to govern a country.

During the reign of Soulouque, Chancellor Delva
and General Salomon were considered great statesmen,
but between them they managed to exhaust the country,
and no monument remains of their rule. Bat when an
example is required of a man who applies his of&cial
position to his own benefit, it is said, " He will become
as rich as Chancellor Delva."

Another negro who was expected by his own party

144 THE POPULATION.

to show himself a great statesman was Septimus
Eameau, of Les Cayes. i When, however, he obtained
unlimited power under his doting uncle, President
Domingue, he proved himself a mere visionary, incap-
able of a single sensible measure, and turning every
^project into a fresh means of plundering the State.
Whilst the people were sinking daily into greater
poverty, and the public service was starved for want
of funds, he ordered an expensive Pantheon to be con-
structed, in which should be erected statues to Hayti's
famous men ; and for fear posterity should be oblivious
of his own merits, he ordered a statue of himself, which,
however, was never erected, as before it arrived he had,
by a violent death, paid the penalty of his crimes.

During my twelve years' residence in Hayti, no black
statesman appeared who was capable of managing with
credit any important official position, with the exception
of General Lamothe, a talented and agreeable man ; but
I fear that the charity which beings at home so pre-
dominated in him, that the interests of his country
were sometimes forgotten.

Though very unwilling to meet death on the field of
battle when a loophole to escape is at hand, yet no one
faces it more courageously than the Haytian, both black
and coloured, when at the place of execution. He
stands dauntless before the trembling soldiers, who,
shutting their eyes or turning away their heads, fire at
random, and who too often only wound, and have to
charge and recharge their muskets before their prisoner

THE NEGRO. 145

dies. The soldiers have a superstitious dread of shoot-
ing any particular man in cold blood, and fancy that
his spirit will haunt that individual whose bullet has
sent him into the other world.

The black in his family relations is in general kindly,
though few of the lower orders go through any civil
or religious marriage ceremony ; in fact, it was at one
time the custom of all classes to be "flaci" and only
since the priests have regained some of their ancient
influence have those who are considered respectable
consented to go to church. The first daring innovators
were almost stoned by the people, and even such men
as Presidents Pdtion and Boyer were only "placed,"
the latter succeeding to the authority and " placi"
of the former. Yet the children of these unions are
by Haytian law legitimate, as the agreement to live
together, as in our old common law, was considered
equivalent to marriage.

In the interior a well-to-do black lives openly with
several women as wives,^ and I have seen the patriarch
sitting at the door of the central house, with huts all
around in which his younger wives lived, as they could
not be made to dwell under the same roof. On Friday
evenings he descends to market on a horse or mule, per-
haps holding in his arms the latest born, while follow-
ing in his train are a dozen women and sturdy children,

1 " On nous ^orit de Port-de-Paix, qu'il est mort derni^rement un
commandant d'arrondissement non loin de lb,, qui avait de 14 ii 15
femmes, concubines, un peu partout." — La Viriti, Juillet 16, 1887.

K

146 THE POPULATION.

either carrying loads or driving beasts of burden. No
one is mounted but himself. The French priests
attempted to alter this state of things, but they did not
succeed, as the wives, surrounding the intruders, asked
them what was to be their position if the husband
selected one among them and abandoned the rest. The
priests have for the most part wisely decided not to
meddle with the present, but rather endeavour to act
upon the minds of the younger generation. They can
hardly expect success as long as the number of women
greatly exceeds those of the men.

The blacks, though in general kind to their children,
neglect them, and the mortality is said to be great.
They are, however, very passionate, and in their anger
they use in correction the first thing that comes to
hand. A Spanish friend with a tender heart was riding
one day in the country when his attention was drawn
by the piercing shrieks of a child. He turned his head,
and saw a black woman holding a little boy by the arm
and beating him with a broomstick. He rode up, and
catching the next blow on the handle of his whip, said,
" Don't beat the child in that manner." The woman
looked up surprised at the interference, and coolly re-
plied in their patois, " Consite, li nfegue ; li pas fait li
mal" (" Consul, it is a negro ; it will do him no harm ").
Another day he saw a gigantic black beating with
his club an interesting-looking young negress, giving
blows that only a black could stand without being
maimed. Again he interfered, but both set upon him.

THE NEGRO. 147

first with foul words, and then with such menacing
gestures, that he was too glad to put spurs to his horse
and gallop away. He found he had been interfering
in a domestic quarrel.

The brutal use of the cocomacaque or club is uni-
versal, as I shall have to notice when describing the
police. Under Toussaint's regulations the use of the
whip, as an unpleasant memento of slavery, was abo-
lished, but the club was introduced. Dessalines, as
Inspector-G-eneral of Agriculture, brought it into vogue.
At Les Cayes he one day ordered a woman to be beaten
for neglecting some agricultural work ; she was far
advanced in pregnancy, and her child was prematurely
born whilst the punishment was being inflicted. When-
ever Dessalines' name is mentioned, it is associated with
some act of fiendish cruelty.

As might be expected, few marriages take place
between the whites and blacks ; the only instance of
which I heard was a German clerk who married the
daughter of a Minister in the hope of making his for-
tune through the contracts he expected to obtain from
his unscrupulous father-in-law ; but within a fortnight
of the marriage the Minister was expelled from office.
Contrary to general expectation, the German boldly
faced his altered prospects, and the marriage appeared
to have turned out more happily than could have been
anticipated from so ill-assorted a union.

Whilst travelling in Hayti one is often surprised at
the extraordinary difi'erence in the appearance of the

148 THE POPULATION.

population, many being tall, fine men with open counte-
nances, whilst others are the meanest-looking gorillas
imaginable. Then their colour : some have shiny skins,
that look as if blacking and the blacking-brush had
been conscientiously applied, whilst others have the
skin completely without lustre, looking almost as if
disease were there. Again, others are of the deepest
black, whilst their next neighbours may be of a reddish
tinge.

During my residence in Hayti I only saw one very
handsome negress, and she was a peasant girl of La
Coupe near Port-au-Prince : her features were almost
perfect, and she might well have said —

" Mislike me not for my complexion,
The shadowed livery of the burnished sun,
To whom I am a neighbour and nigh bred."

She was not misliked, but she apparently stood the
test of every temptation that her white admirers could
offer. She had soft pleasant ways and a sweet voice,
and talked her jargon of a language in so pretty a
manner as almost to make one inclined to admit the
Creole into the list of things civilised. But such a girl
must be rare indeed, for I saw no other. In general
they are very ugly, having no point of beauty. The
marked, difference in the appearance of the negroes in
Hayti doubtless arises from their origin, as they were
brought from every tribe in Africa, not only from those
freq^uenting the coast, but also as prisoners from' the

THE NEGRO. 149

interior. From all I have read of the African negro,
the Haytian must be far advanced from that low type.

It is a curious trait that the negro has a shy dislike
of monkeys ; he has an uneasy feeling that the whites
imagine that there is no great difference between a
very ugly negro (and there are ugly ones) and a hand-
some gorilla. The first evening I went to the theatre
in Port-au-Prince, I was startled by the exclamation
of my companion, " Qui est ce monstre africain ? " I
turned, and saw in the President's box a perfect horror;
but use reconciled me even to this man. An Italian
once came to the capital with a dancing-monkey.
Crowds followed him everywhere. One day he stopped
before a German merchant's, and a fair little girl came
out. The monkey would not dance, whereon the dis-
appointed child said to her father in Creole, " Faut-il
batte petit n^gue 1^." The mob were furious at the
mistake, and the father was too glad to hurry in with
his daughter to escape a shower of stones.

There are still many negroes in Hayti who were born
in Africa, being principally the remains of certain
cargoes of slaves which English cruisers captured and
landed among their free brethren. One whom I knew,
had been taken, then freed by an English officer, sent to
England, and educated at the expense of our Govern-
ment. When of age he was asked what he would
desire to do. He replied, "I should wish to go to
Hayti." When I knew him he was an old man, and
had risen to occupy the position of Minister of Justice.

150 THE POPULATION.

The principal trouble to the female negro mind is her
unfortunate wool. How she envies her more favoured
sisters their long tresses! how she tries to draw out
each fibre, and endeavours to make something of it by
carefully platting it with false hair ! Even the smallest
negro servant will spend hours in oiling, brushing, and
tending this poor crop, whose greatest length will only
compass three or four inches. It is only when women
are more than half white that the wool turns into
hair, and even then it has sometimes a suspicious
crispy wave, which, however, looks well. Of late years
chignons have been a regular importation from France,
and the little negresses are delighted with them.

The negroes have a very curious habit of talking
aloud to themselves. You will hear them in the
streets or in the country roads carrying on apparently
a long conversation, repeating all they have said or
intended to say on a certain occasion, and in a very
loud voice ; every other sentence is varied by a grunt
or guttural ejaculation. Sometimes they are evidently
excited, and are enacting a violent quarrel. They are
apparently oblivious that all their remarks are heard ;
or may be, they are delighted to take so many people
into their confidence. It is a general observation that
in nine cases out of ten the subject of which they are
treating is money. Another curious habit is that
noticed in " Tom Cringle's Log ; " a negro seldom points
with his finger ; almost invariably it is with his chin.

It has often been remarked what curious names are

THE NEGRO. 151

affixed to negroes, as Casar, Lord Byron, Je-crois-en-
Dieu. This doubtless arose from a rule which existed
during the French occupation, that no slave could be
given a name which was used by their masters, so that
the latter were driven to very curious expedients to
find appellations for their bondsmen ; this rule applied
in a lesser degree to the freedmen.

Blanc pas trompi n&gue is the name given by the
Haytians to common blue shirting.

I may notice another peculiarity of the negresses.
They object to carrying anything in their hands — they
will invariably poise it on their heads. I have often
seen them carrying a bottle thus, talking, laughing, run-
ning, without having the slightest fear of its falling.

The negroes have very singular words of insult, and
I remember seeing a man roused to fury by a little
black servant of mine, who, after exhausting every
offensive word in her vocabulary, suddenly said in
Creole, " Nfegue mangd chien." The black fellow
darted at her, and had she not made a precipitate
retreat into the house, she would have felt his club
on her shoulders.

It is an offensive custom among people of all classes
in Hayti to repeat, as a sort of ejaculatory oath, a
rather dirty Creole word. Men educated in a former
generation cannot get rid of the habit, and many of
the lower orders appear to use it at the close of every
sentence. When Soulouque was Emperor he often
consulted our Acting Consul-General, the present Sir

152 THE POPULATION.

Charles Wyke, lately Minister in Lisbon, as to the
usages of the Courts of St. James's and Hanover, and
it is said that our agent gave him a hint that habitual
swearing was certainly contrary to courtly usages.
Soulouque took this hint in good part, and thought
that he would try his hand on an old General notorious
for this habit. So the Emperor watched his oppor-
tunity, and the first time his victim swore, he called
him up and said, " General, I have decided that no one
who comes to court can be permitted to use that offen-
sive word with which you interlard your conversation."
The General looked surprised, and answered, " Emperor,

f , of course I will obey, f , your commands,

f ." " There, you see," replied his ' Altesse,' " you

have used the forbidden word three times." The poor
General now completely lost his head, and answered,

" F , Emperor, f , if, f , I am not allowed,

f , to use the word f , I will cease, f , from

coming to court, f ." The Emperor could not but

laugh, and troubled the General no more, for the habit
was too engrained. I should have treated this story
as an exaggeration had not I myself heard an old
officer equally profuse in his ejaculations.

The Emperor Soulouque was a very ignorant man,
and a good story is told in illustration. The French
Consul-General, Eaybaud I believe, went once to plead
some cause before his Majesty, and wound up by say-
ing that if he did what was required he would be con-
sidered " plus grand qu'Annibal." " Comment, Consite,"

THE NEGRO. 153

replied the startled Emperor," inou4 cannibal ! " And it
required all the Frenchman's tact to explain his refer-
ence. As Soulouque was known to be affiliated to
the Vaudoux sect, the illustration was not happy in its
sound.

The negroes and mulattoes are very fond of queer
expressions, and their odd noises in conversation quite
disconcert a stranger. Assent, dissent, anger, playful
acquiescence, are all expressed by the variety in which
'ng-'ng are sounded, though a modified or even a musical
grunt can scarcely be expressed on paper. The un-
travelled ladies in Hayti are very proud of thus being
able to express their sentiments without having re-
course to words.

The negroes of the lower orders are, like all other
inhabitants of hot countries, very fond of bathing, but
they are careless as to the cleanliness of their clothes.
This I also noticed among the Malays and Dyaks of
Borneo; they would bathe several times a day, and
then return to their dirty garments. The dress of the
peasantry in Hayti is often but an imitation of their
European neighbours, though the females generally keep
to a long white chemise, covered over with a blue
cotton dress that reaches to their bare feet, and is
drawn in round the waist. They wear a coloured
handkerchief on their heads. On feast days and other
gala occasions the young negresses dress in white,
which makes a pleasant contrast of colour.

Markets used formerly to be held on Sundays.

154 THE POPULATION.

When this custom was abolished the. female peasantry
hegan to frequent the churches, and the comparison
between their blue cotton gowns and the silk dresses
of the ladies created envy. But when, in 1863, the
price of cotton trebled, the peasantry had the means
placed at their disposal to vie with the rich in Gonaives
and St. Marc, and many availed themselves of it to go
to church richly dressed. This fashion, however, lasted
but a short time, and certainly did not survive the
great fall in prices which followed the conclusion of
the civil war in the United States.

The upper classes dress exactly like European ladies,
but they never look well in fashionable Parisian hats,
while their tignon, or handkerchief tied gracefully
round the head, is most becoming. A white tignon is
a sign of mourning. There is nothing of which a
Haytian lady is more proud than the amount of her
personal and household linen. Her armoires are gene-
rally full of every kind, and the finer in quality, the
more they are esteemed; and the blacks are, if any-
thing, more particular than the coloured in securing the
most expensive underclothing. How they plume them-
selves on the condition of their best bedroom. It is
fitted up expensively, in order that people may see it,
but it is very seldom used, except when they receive
their lady friends. Then they bring out with great
pride the treasures of their armoires, and show how
well supplied they are with that of which they do not
make a general use.

THE NEGRO. 155

There is one thing for which all Haytians are equally
remarkable — their love of "rem&des." For every-
thing, from a toothache to yellow-fever, they have a
variety of prescriptions, which are probably well suited
to the country, but which a foreigner should be wary
in taking. I have not yet forgotten a remide, consist-
ing partly of the juice of the sour orange, which a good
old lady gave me on my first arrival in the country.
It was my first and my last experience. The natives
like being physicked, and apothecary shops appear
to thrive in every town and village. I remember a
Haytian doctor, educated in Paris, telling me how he
lost his patients when he first commenced practice by
not dosing them enough.

The lower orders in Hayti have been accused of great
incontinence, and the higher classes have not escaped
the same accusation ; but in no tropical country are the
lower orders continent. People affect to say that it is
the effect of climate, but I have never thought so. You
have bnt to put your hand on the skin of a negro or of
any tropical race, to find it as cold as that of a fish,
and their blood is but little warmer. Their food of
vegetables would alone prevent their having the fiery
blood of a well-fed people.

The fact is, that continence is not considered a
virtue by the lower orders in the tropics, and love-
stories are told by mothers before their young daughters
in all their crudest details, and no effort whatever is
made to keep the minds or bodies of the young girls

156 THE POPULATION.

chaste.^ The consequence is, that in early life,
particularly among relatives', intercourse is almost
promiscuous. As amusements are very scarce, young
and old give themselves up to gallantry; but it is
constant opportunity and the want of occupation and
amusement which are the causes of incontinence, not
their warm blood.

There are two things on which both negroes and
mulattoes pride themselves : their fine ear for music
and their proficiency in dancing. A talented French
bandmaster told me, that if taken young, he thought
he could train his Haytian pupils to be excellent
musicians ; and as they are fond of the study and
practice, he had no difficulty whatever in keeping them
to their classes; and many of the military bands in
Port-au-Prince played fairly well, though, from ineffi-
cient and irregular instruction under native teachers,
much was still to be desired. The drum, however, was
a very favourite instrument, and the noise produced

^ " Nous ne croyons pas nous tromper de beaueoup en affirmant que
la regrettable promiscuity qui existe malheureusement dans tant de
families est una des causes de ce profond relSchement de nos moeurs.
Les enfants, le p&re, la rahre couohent le plus souvent pele-mele dans
la m^me piece. Les parents parlent de tout, tiennent les propos les
plus testes devant les miuches qu'ils ne croient pas en mesure de com-
prendre oe qui se dit ou se fait. Cependant I'enfant est un grand
observateur." — La YiriU, Avril 30, 1887.

When friends or relatives arrive at a house, and there are not bed-
rooms enough for the whole party, mattresses are spread on the floor,
ofte'ii of the drawing-room, and father, mother, children, female servants
and others retire to rest pell-mell together. I have seen this myself on
many occasions.

THE NEGRO. 167

was sometimes startling. The travelled wife of a
President used to say that she thought no music in
Paris equal to the Haytian, especially the dmms.

The dancing of the upper classes is much the same
in all countries, though in Hayti the favourite dance is
a special one called " Carabinier." Among the people,
however, are still to be observed the old dances they
brought from Africa.

Moreau de St. Me^ry, in his admirable work on Santo
Domingo during the French colonial days (new edition,
p. 52), has described the dances of the slaves as he
saw them previous to 1790, and his words might be
used to depict what occurs at the present day.

With the negroes dancing is a passion, and no
fatigue stands in the way of their indulging in it. The
announcement that a dance will take place brings
people from surprising distances, and the sound of the
drums acts like a charm, and all fatigue is forgotten.
Young and old, although they may have walked twenty
miles, with heavy burdens for the next day's market,
join in it with enthusiasm.

But the most interesting dances are those performed
by the professionals. Generally they consist of a couple
of men to beat the drums, a very fat woman as trea-
surer, and three or four younger women noted for
their skill. Soon after President Salnave came into
power I was a guest at a picnic at a place where some
famous dancers had summoned the young men of the
district to come and meet them.

158 THE POPULATION.

Our hosts had heard of this affair, and invited us to
go down to the spot, where a large space was covered in
with the leaves of the palm tree, as even these seasoned
performers could not stand the burning mid-day sun.
The two men with the drums were there, coarse instru-
ments made out of a hollowed piece of wood, one
end open, the other closed with the skin of a goat or
sheep, on which the men play with their knuckles,
one slowly and the other faster; calabashes with
pebbles or Indian-corn in them are shaken or stricken
against the hand, and the spectators intone a chant.
Then the master of the ceremonies and the chief of the
band calls out a name, and one of the professionals
stands forth and begins to perform. Any man from the
crowd may come and dance with her, holding his hand
raised over his head with a small sum in paper money,
worth perhaps a penny. When she wishes a change she
takes this money in her hand, and one of the impatient
lookers-on cuts in and supplies the place of the first ;
other performers arise, until the whole shed is full. As
the excitement grows, some of the young girls of the
neighbourhood also join in. I noticed that every note
collected was religiously handed to the treasurer, to be
employed in supporting the b&,nd and paying for the
dresses, which, however, did not appear expensive, as
the women were clothed in white gowns, coloured head-
dresses, and handkerchiefs always carried in their right
hands. I remarked, however, that what could be seen
of their under-linen was remarkably fine.

THE NEGRO. 159

The dance itself is not striking or interesting, but
they keep time very exactly. To show how African
it is, I may mention that an officer from our West
Coast squadron was one day passing near these per-
formers, when he was suddenly seized with a desire to
dance, and struck in before the prettiest negress of the
band. His dancing was so good that gradually all the
blades sat down, and left these two performers in the
midst of an interested crowd, who by shouting, clapping
their hands, and singing urged on the pair to renewed
exertions ; and I have heard several who were present
say that never had they seen anything equal to this
dancing in Hayti. Our friend had learnb the art on
the coast of Africa, and was as strong as a lion and
as active as a gazelle; he was called "the pocket
Hercules."

To return to our party. After some very insigni-
ficant dancing, a new tune was struck up, and the
performers began to go through something more attrac-
tive to the crowd. This dance was called Chica, but
popularly I have heard it named Bamhoula, from the
drum, which often consists of a hollow bamboo ; so
it is said. This lascivious dance is difficult to describe.
I think I wiU let Moreau de St. Mery do it for me : —

" Cette danse a un air qui lui est sp^cialement con-
sacrd et ou la mesure est fortement marquee. Le
talent pour la danseuse est dans la perfection avec
laquelle elle pent faire mouvoir ses hanches et la partie
inf^rieure de ses reins, en conservant tout le reste du

160 THE POPULATION.

corps dans une espece d'immobilite, que ne lui font
meme pas perdre les faibles agitations de ses bras qui
balancent les deux extr^mites d'un mouchoir ou de son
jupon. Un danseur s'approcbe d'elle, s'elance tout-a-
coup, et tombe en mesure presque k la toucher.
II recule, il s'elance encore, et la provoque k la
lutte la plus seduisante. La danse s'anime, et bientot
elle offre un tableau dont tous les traits, d'abord
voluptueux, deviennent ensuite lascifs. II serait im-
possible de peindre le chica avec son veritable carac-
tere, et je me bornerai h, dire que I'impression qu'U cause
est si puissante que TAfricain ou le Creole de n'importe
quelle nuance, qui le verrait danser sans emotion,
passerait pour avoir perdu jusqu'aux dernieres ^^tin-
celles de la sensibilite."

I matched its effect on the bystanders of all colours,
and St. Mery has not exaggerated ; the flushed faces,
the excited eyes, the eager expression, the looks of ill-
concealed passion, were fuUy shared by all No modest
woman ■would be present at such a scene ; but the
young females of the neighbourhood were delighted.
Drink was flying freely about, and all the performers
appeared half -intoxicated : the dance grew fast and
furious ; as night came on a few candles were Ut, and
then all are said to give themselves up to the most
unreserved debauchery. I ought to add that few
respectable girls of the peasant class even would care to
be seen at one of these dances, where the professionals,
without shame, perform regardless of appearances.

THE NEGRO. 161

The hamhoula, as practised among the peasantry, is
more quiet, but sufficiently lascivious.^

I was once witness of a rather curious scene. A
French opera company arrived at Port-au-Prince with
a couple of ballet-girls. On the opening night of the
theatre they commenced dancing; the pit, crowded
with negroes, was at first quiet. The untravelled Hay-
tian could not at first understand it ; but shortly the
applause became uproarious; shouts filled the house;
the unaccustomed sight of two white girls thus exhibit-
ing themselves provoked the sensuality of the negro
nature to such a degree that it was almost impossible
to keep them quiet, and their admiration was so warmly

1 The remark has been again and again made, " You are describing
the past, not the present." The following is from the Haytian uewn-
paper ie Peuple ot August 20, 1887 : — "Dimanche, 14 Courant. — La
ville ^tait presque d^serte, et tout le monde avait gagn^ la campagne
afin de passer deux jours au frais, qui sous un manguier prfes d'uue
source limpide et claire, qui au bord de la mer aux ondes onduleuses et
bleutt^es, qui dans un bamboula d'autant plus anim^ que n^gresses,
mulatresses et griffonnes par leur souplesse lascive y ajoutaient un
charme rdel. Les unes arrivaient pimpantes et fibres au devant d'un
cavalier qui tenait k la main un sou de cuivre, et au moment oh il croy-
ait saisir la main de la fifere orijole, celle-ci pirouette sur elle-mSme et va
tendre la main au galant qui avait 20 ou 50 centimes entre les doigts.
Una autre tapait de la pointe du pied le gazon mouvant et appelait k
elle les beaux cavaliers accourus de la ville pour se distraire et les deux
s'enlagant dansaient avec un entrain le plus entrainant. On prenait
force cocktails et grogs, et plus les vapeurs montaient au cerveau des
danseurs, plus la danse s'animait et plus on dansait licencieusement.
Cela durait tant que les forces des danseurs les leur permettaient, alors
on se jettait sur des nattes et prenait le repos n^cessaire, et gros bouillon
avec force piment ravivait les convives qui se jetaient de nouveau dans
les tourbillons de ces bamboulas charmants,"

L

162 THE POPULATIOSr.

expressed as even to frighten the girls, who turned pale
with astonishment mingled with fear. This kind of
applause made the foreigners feel uncomfortable, and
we were not sorry when the ballet ended.

I have not noticed any particular ceremonies at the
birth of children, nor at marriages. In the latter, some
are striving to imitate the upper classes, and have the
ceremony performed in church, but the mass of the
people are still not regularly married. I have noticed,
however, their great fondness for a display of jewellery
on these occasions, and if they do not possess enough
themselves, they borrow among their friends, and every
one who lends is sure to attend the wedding, as much
to keep an eye on their cherished property as to join in
the amusements inherent to these occasions.

Though I have attended many funerals of the upper
classes, I have had no occasion to be present at one
of the peasantry, though I have seen the body being
carried at night from the town to the house of the
deceased in the hills. One evening, at about ten, we
heard a roar of voices in the distance; presently we
saw torches flashing in the road, and soon after a crowd,
perhaps of a hundred people, swept by at a running
pace, all screaming, yelling, or shrieking at the top of
their voices. Those who led this awful din were hired
mourners, who pass the night near the corpse, making
it hideous with their professional lamentations. These
are regular wakes, at which eating and drinking are
permitted, and drunkenness not prohibited. All classes

THE NEGRO. 163

in Hayti, like their brethren on the Guinea Coast, love
pompous funerals, and it is quite a passion among the
female portion of the community to attend them, as it
is only at funerals and at church that the ladies can see
and be seen in their most careful toilettes.

The most curious wake I ever saw was at Santo
Domingo city. . I was walking about after dark, when
my attention was drawn to a house where music and
dancing were going on. I approached, and looking
through a window, saw a most singular sight. In a
high chair was placed in a sitting position the corpse
of a child, dressed up in its very best clothes, as if a
spectator of the scene. The music was playing briskly,
and a regular ball appeared to be going on, in which
the mother of the child took the principal part. I
inquired of my companion what this meant, and he
said that the people explained it thus : — The priests
had taught them not to weep, but rather rejoice, at
the death of a child, as it passed directly to heaven.
They took this teaching literally, and danced and made
merry.

" Whom the gods love, die young."

The negroes, as a rule, live to a good old age, and
bear their age well ; they also keep their magnificent
white teeth to the last, which they ascribe to diligent
cleanliness and the crushing of the sugar-cane under
their strong grinders : their hair also preserves its
colour much later than that of the white. In fact,
it is difficult to guess the age of a negro.

164 THE POPULATION.

The negro is rarely seriously ill, though he often
fancies himself so; he suffers most from his indul-
gences and the indifferent skill of those who under-
take his cure. He bears pain exceedingly well, which
may partly arise from his nerves not being highly
strung. The negro is distinguished for his (for want
of a better word I may call) insouciance. _ It is a most
provoking characteristic, and one of the causes of his
want of progress.

The general impression is that serious crime is rare
in Hayti, except that which is connected with the
Vaudoux-worship. This, however, is a mistake ; crime
is treated with too much indifference, and professional
poisoners are well known to the police. Before the
civil war of 1868 and 1869 crimes of violence were
more rare ; that civil strife, however, demoralised the
population. Pilfering is their great failing, and it is
said a negro never leaves a room without looking round
to see that he has not forgotten something.

They have much superstition with regard to zomlis,
revenants, or ghosts, and many will not leave the. house
after dark; yet the love of pleasure often overcomes
this, and the negro will pass half the night hieing to
his trysting-place.

Of their pleasures, smoking is one equally enjoyed
by every class, and quietly by most women after a
certain age. The cheapness of tafia or white rum has
an evil effect on the male population, who as a rule
drink to excess.

THE NEGRO. 165

The black Haytians resent being spoke of by foreigners
as negroes, though they use the word freely among them-
selves. They prefer being called gens de couleur, as both
the expressions ndgres and muldtres are considered as
implying contempt. During the tiresome quarter of an
hour before dinner, my friend Villevaleix (coloured)
turned round to a Minister of State (black) and said,
"What do you think the French charge d'affaires re-
marked when he first saw you ? — ' Quel beau n^gre ! ' "
The blood rushed to the face of the Haytian, and his
cheeks became of a deeper black; and we were all
thankful that at the moment dinner was announced.
I doubt whether the Minister ever forgave the author
or the repeater of the remark. Froude in his "Eng-
lish in the West Indies " relates the following : — " The
American Consul told me a story of a ' nigger ' officer
with whom he had once got into conversation in Hayti.
He had inquired why they let so fine an island run
to waste ? why did not they cultivate it ? The dusky
soldier laid his hand upon his breast and waved his
hand. ' Ah ! ' he said, ' that might do for English or
Germans or Franks ; we of the Latin race have higher
things to occupy us ! '"

The negro has the greatest, in fact, an almost super-
stitious, reverence for the flags of foreign nations. A
well-known partisan chief, Acaau, came once to the
English Consulate at Les Cayes, and demanded that all
the refugees there should be given up to him to be
shot. Our Acting Vice-Consul, Charles Smith, refused,

166 THE POPULATION.

and as Acaau insisted, the Vice-Consul took up tlie
Union Jack, and placing it on the staircase, said to
the chief, " If any of you have the courage to tread on
that flag, he may go upstairs and seize the refugees."
Acaau looked at the flag a moment, and then said,
" Not I," and walked away, followed by his men. This
■was not from fear of material consequences, although
there were two English ships of war in harbour, as,
when one of the captains threatened to bombard the
town if foreigners were molested, Acaau answered,
" Tell me with which end you will begin, and I will
commence to burn the other." He was a mountaineer,
who would have been delighted to have seen the whole
place destroyed. Many years afterwards, to avoid being
executed by the Government, he perished by his own
hand. ~

I must add an anecdote to mark the respect shown
by the negro to the white. In April 1866, on account
of a quarrel between an officer on board a steamer and
some blacks, the mob determined to revenge them-
selves. Watching their opportunity, they seized an
English sailor belonging to the ship and bound him
to a log. Hundreds of excited negroes surrounded
him with drawn razors and knives, threatening to cut
him to pieces ; when Mr. Savage, an English rnerchant,
happening to be passing by, inquired the cause of the
disturbance, and hearing what had happened to his
countryman, forced his way through the mob, and
when he reached the sailor, drew a penknife from his

THE MULATTOES. 167

pocket, and, despising the yells and threats of the
crowd, cut the cords, freed the man, and walked him
down to the steamer's boat. The cool courage shown
hy Mr. Savage perfectly awed the mob. As the
Haytian police who were present had not interfered
to prevent this outrage, a hundred pounds indemnity
was demanded of the Haytian Government, which was
paid, and subsequently transmitted to the sailor.

I will conclude with noticing that the description of
the apathy and listlessness of the Haytians, given by
Mackenzie in 1826, might apply to the present day,
as well as his reference to the lean dogs and leaner
pigs which infest the capital. He heard an English-
man say, "D these Haytians; they can't even

fatten a pig."

THE MULATTOES.

"They hate their fathers and despise their mothers," is
a saying which is a key to the character of the mulatto.
They hate .the whites and despise the blacks, hence their
false position. That they are looked down upon by
the whites and hated by the blacks is the converse
truth, which produces an unfortunate effect upon their
character. They have many of the defects of the two
races, and 'but few of their good qualities. Those who
have never left their country are too often conceited,
and presumptuous to a degree which is scarcely cre-
dible ; whilst many who have travelled appear but little
influenced by bright examples of civilisation, or by

168 THE POPULATION.

their intercourse with European nations, retaining but
the outward polish of a superficial French education.
Foreigners who casually meet Haytians are often only
struck by their agreeable manners, but to understand
their real character one must live among them, hear
their talk among themselves, or read the newspapers
published for local circulation.

Travel, indeed, has little outward effect on the majo-
rity, and they return to their own' country more pre-
sumptuous than ever. It has struck many attentive
observers that this outward parade of conceit is but
a species of protest against the inferior position they
occupy in the world's estimation, and that with their
advance in civilisation and education they will rise in
the opinion of others, and thus lose the necessity for
so much self-assertion. I believe this to be highly
probable, but until the mulattoes are convinced of
their present inferiority, the improvement must be
slow indeed.

. It may be remarked, however, that those who have
been educated in Europe from their earliest years show
few or none of those defects which are implanted in
them by their early associations. I have known coloured
men whose first real knowledge of their own country
was acquired in manhood, who were in every respect
equal to their white companions, as manly and as free
from absurd pretensions, and naturally without that
dislike of foreigners which is instilled into home-
educated mulattoes. These men, knowing the con-

THE MDLATTOES. 169

sideration ia which they were held by all, had no
necessity for any self-assertion.

The early training in Hayti is much at fault ; their
mothers, generally uninstructed, have themselves but
few principles of delicacy to instil into their children's
minds. I will mention a case in illustration. A lady
was asked to procure some article for a foreign visitor.
She readily undertook the commission, and sent her son,
a boy of ten, to seek the article. He returned shortly
afterwards and said to his mother, " Our neighbour has
what you want, but asks twenty-seven paper dollars
for it." " Go and tell our friend that you have found
it for forty, and we will divide the difference between
us." A mutual acquaintance heard of this transaction,
and subsequently reproached the lady for the lesson of
deceit and swindling she had taught her child ; she only
laughed, and appeared to think she had done a very
clever thing. The subsequent career of that boy was
indeed a thorn in her side.

Their financial morality is very low indeed. A friend
of mine expressing his surprise to one of the prettiest
and most respectable girls in Port-au-Prince that such
open robbery of the receipts of the custom-house was
permitted, received for answer, "Prendre I'argent de
r^tat, ce n'est pas vole " (" To take Government money
is not robbery ")} With such ideas instilled into the

1 "TJn juge d'instruct.ion nous disait qu'il ftait effray^ du nombre
de plaintes qu'U avait regues centre les employ& publics pour escro-
querie, abus de confiance, stellionat, &c. Jamais le niveau moral du

170 THE POPULATION.

minds of all from their earliest youth, if is scarcely
to be wondered at that the Haytians grow up to be
completely without financial honour. Truth is an-
other virtue which appears to be rarely inculcated by
parents, and this perhaps may be accounted for by
their origin. Slaves are notoriously given to false-
hood, and this defect has been inherited by succeeding
generations, and can scarcely be eradicated untH a
higher moral teaching prevails.

I was struck by an anecdote told me by a French
gentleman at Port-au-Prince : it is a trifle, but it shows
the spirit of the Haytian youth. A trader, in very
moderate circumstances, sent a half-grown son to finish
his education in Paris, and as the father had no friends
there, he said to my informant, "Will you ask your
family to pay my son a little attention ? " In conse-
quence, a lady called at the school and took the youth
for a walk in the Luxembourg Gardens. Approaching
the basins, she said, " I suppose you have none like
these in Hay ti ? " " Oh," was his reply, " my father
has finer ones in his private grounds ; " the fact being,
that he had nothing there but a bath a few feet square.
This miserable pretence is one of the causes of the slow

peuple n'a 6t6 si abaiss^ et le vol en redingote si commun. .
cureurs qui doivent d^fendre les int^rSts publics ; des g^^S^de, 1%
justice qui doivent maintenir I'ordre; des instituteurs qtd dl^veut^
la jeunesse, n'h&itent plus k sacrifier leur honneur et leur repu-
tation. . . . Les h6nnetes gens n'ont plus la foi et les coquins
n'en sent que plus audacieux et plus dangereux." — La Viriti, Octo-
bre i6, 1886.

THE MULATTOES. 171

improvement in Hayti; they cannot or they will not
see the superiority of foreign countries.

A late Secretary of State was present at a review in
Paris, when ten thousand splendid cavalry charged up
towards the Emperors of Trance and Eussia. " It is
very fine," he said ; " but how much better our Haytian
soldiers ride ! " Another gentleman, long employed as a
representative at a foreign court, returning home, could
find nothing better to say to President Geffrard than,
"Ah ! President, you should send some of our officers to
Paris, that their superiority of tenue may be known in
Europe.'' I wish I could present some photographic
illustrations of a Haytian regiment in support of this
assertion.

I am, in fact, doubtful whether travel as yet has
done much good to the general public, as they see their
young men returning from Europe and America, after
having witnessed the best of our modern civilisation,
who assure them that things are much better managed
in Hayti.

Their self-importance may be illustrated by the
following anecdote of another ex-Secretajy of State.
He went with a friend to see the races at Longchamps.
They had their cabriolet drawn up at a good spot,
when presently an acquaintance of the driver got up
on the box-seat to have a better view. " I must tell
that man to get down," said the ex-Minister. " Leave
him alone," answered his French friend. "It is all
very well for y.ou, a private individual, to say that ; but

172 THE POPULATION".

I, a former Secretary of State, what will the people say
to my permitting such familiarity?" and he looked
uneasily around, thinking that the eyes of the whole
Parisian world were bent on their distinguished visitor.
I once saw some hoxes addressed thus : — " Les demoi-
selles , enfants de M. , ex-SecrMaire d'Etat."

Of the profound dislike of the genuine coloured
Haytian for the whites I will relate an instance. "We
were invited to a school examination given by the
Sisters of Cluny, and naturally the official guests were
put in the front rank, with the officers of a French
gunboat, from which position we assisted at a distribu-
tion of prizes, and some little scenes acted by the
pupils. The next day a Haytian gentleman, one who
was an ornament to his country for his extensive
knowledge and legal erudition, made this remark-rr
" When I saw those whites put into the front row, it
reminded me of the time when the ancient colonists
sat arms akimbo watching the dances of their slaves."
As he said this before a party of white gentlemen, we
may imagine what were his utterances before his own
countrymen.

Moreau de St. M4ry gives a table of the different
combinations of colour among the mixed race, amount-
ing to one hundred and twenty, which produce thirteen
distinct shades between the pure white and the pure
black. Each has a name, the most common of which
are : " Quateron, white and mulatto ; mulatto, white
and black; griffe, black and mulatto. These were

THE MULATTOES. 173

the original combinations, but constant intermarriages
have produced a great variety of colour, even in the
same families, some breeding back to their white, others
to their black forefathers. It appears as if the lighter
shades of mulatto would die out, as many of this class
marry Europeans, and leave the country with their
children, and the others marry Haytians more or less
dark, and the tendency is to breed back to their black
ancestors. There are too few whites settled in the
country to arrest this backward movement. In Santo
Domingo, however, the stay for a few years (1859-64)
of a large Spanish army had a very appreciable effect
on the population.

The personal appearance of the coloured Haytians is
not striking. Being in general a mixture of rather a
plain race in Europe with the plainest in Africa, it is
not surprising that the men should be ugly and the
women far from handsome. Of course there is a
marked distinction between the men who have more
dark blood in their veins and those who approach tlie
white ; in fact, those who are less than half-European
have in general the hair frizzled like a negro's, the
forehead low, the eyes dark in a yellow setting, the
nose flat, the mouth large, the teeth perfect, the jaw
heavy; whilst as they approach the white type they
greatly improve in appearance, until they can scarcely
be distinguished from the foreigner, except by the dead
colour of the skin and some trifling peculiarities.

Of the women it is mgre difficult to speak ; they are

174; THE POPULATION.

rarely good-looking, never beautiful. As they approach
the white type, they have long, rather coarse hair,
beautiful teeth, small fieshless hands and feet, deli-
cate forms, and sometimes graceful movements, due
apparently to the length of the lower limbs. Their
principal defects are their voices, their noses, their
skins, and sometimes the inordinate size of the lower
jaw. Their voices are harsh, their skins blotchy or of a
dirty brown, their noses flat or too fleshy, and the jaw,
as I have said, heavy. Occasionally you see a girl
decidedly pretty, who would pass in any society, but
these are rare. In general they are very plain, par-
ticularly as you approach the black type, when the
frizzled hair begins to appear.

There is one subject necessary to mention, though it
is a delicate one. Like the negroes, the mulattoes have
often a decided odour, and this is particularly observable
after dancing or any violent exercise which provokes
perspiration, and then no amount of eau de cologne or
other scents will completely conceal the native perfume.
The griffes, however, are decidedly the most subject to
this inconvenience, and I met one well-dressed woman
who positively tainted the air.

With the exception of those who have been sent
abroad, the Haitiennes have had until lately few
chances of education, and are therefore little to be
blamed for their ignorance. This want of instruction,
however, has an ill effect, as time necessarily hangs
heavy on their hands, and they can neither give those

THE MULATTOES. 175

first teachings to their children .which are never for-
gotten, nor amuse themselves with literature or good
music.

It is the fashion in Hayti to vaunt the goodness and
tenderness of their women in sickness ; but what women
are not good and tender under similar circumstances ?
I have received as much kindness in suffering from the
Malays when wandering in Borneo as any one has
perhaps ever received elsewliere. The fact is, that these
qualities are inherent to women in general. Perhaps
the greatest praise that can be given to the Haytian
ladies is, that they do not appear inferior to others who
reside in the tropics in the care of their children, or in
the management of their households, or in their conduct
towards their husbands.

They have their ways in public and their ways in
private, but their greatest defect is their want of clean-
liness, which is observable in their houses, their chil-
dren, and their own clothes. Without going so far as
to say, with the naval ofiScer, that " their customs are
dirty, and manners they have none," I may say that
they have habits which are simply indescribable ; and
when not dressed to receive company they are veritable
slatterns, sauntering about their houses all day in dirty
dressing-gowns, and too often in unchanged linen.
Their bedrooms have a close stuffy smell, the conse-
quence of the above referred to indescribable habits^
which is highly displeasing to a stranger, and induced
an American gentleman to remark that their rooms had

176 THE POPULATION.

the smell of a stable. They are also very careless in
another way, and will go into their kitchens even in
their silks, and aid in preparing sweetmeats ; and the
stains on their clothes from this cause reminded me of
a young Malay lady cooking a greasy curry whilst
dressed in a rich gold brocade, and upsetting half of it
over her dress in an endeavour to conceal herself or
her work.

The conduct of the Haytian ladies who are married
to foreigners is much to their credit, as rarely a case
occurs to draw the attention 'of the public to their
private life ; and almost the same may be said of their
married life in general, and this in defiance of the de-
bauchery of their Haytian husbands. This virtue was,
perhaps, unfairly ascribed by a French diplomatist to
their slugglish temperaments and their want of imagi-
nation. But, whatever may be the cause, it appears to
exist to a considerable extent.

The habit of having no regular hours for meals
appears to prevail in most tropical countries; and in
Hayti, though there are fixed times for the husband and
the other males of a family, who can only return from
business at certain hours, yet the ladies of the family
prefer cakes, sweetmeats, and dreadful messes at all
periods of the day, and only sit down to the family
meal pro formd. ISTo wonder they are ever complaining
of indigestion, and taking their wonderful remkdes.

From my own observation, and that of many of my
friends, I may assert with confidence as a general pro-

THE MULATTOES. 177

position, that the Haytian black or mulatto is more
given to drink, and to a forgetfulness of his duty to
his family, than any other people with whom we were
acquainted. With some marked, and I should add
numerous exceptions, after his early coffee the Haytian
-begins the day with a grog or cocktail, and these grogs
and cocktails continue until, at mid-day, many of the
young men are slightly intoxicated, and by night a
large minority at least are either in an excited, a sullen,
or a maudlin state.

It appears also to be a rule among them, that,
whether married or not, a Haytian must have as many
mistresses as his purse will permit him ; these are
principally drawn from the lower classes. This practice
is not confined to any particular rank ; from the Presi-
dents downwards, all are tainted with the same evil.
The mistresses of the first-named are always known, as
•they are visited publicly, often accompanied by a staff
or a few select officers. I have met them even at
dinner in respectable houses, and have been asked to
trace a resemblance between their children and the
reputed father. Wo one seeks to conceal it, and the
conversation of married ladies continually turns on
this subject. One excuse for it is that many of the
ladies whom you meet in society were only married
after the birth of their first children. However, accord-
ing to French law, that ceremony renders them all
legitimate.

Some of those admitted into society are not married

M

178 ' THE POPULATION.

at all, but their daughters being married, prevents notice
being taken of the false position of the mother.

An excuse has been made for the debauchery of the
Haytians. It is said that there are three women to
every two men, which is probably true, and that there-
fore the latter are exposed to every kind of temptation,
which is also true.

I have already referred to the want of financial
honour observable in Hayti ; but what is equally per-
nicious is their utter forgetfulness of what is due to
their military oath. As I shall have to notice in my
remarks on the army, scarcely a single name can be
cited of a superior officer who under President Geffrard
did not forget his duty, and either conspire against him
or betray him to the enemy. This was particularly
observable during the siege of Cap Haitien in 1865.
And yet were these officers who were false to their
military honour looked down upon by their country-
men ? On the contrary, their only title to considera-
tion was their treachery to their former superior, who
in turn is accused of having betrayed every Government
he had served.

A Frenchman once wittily said, that when Geffrard
was made President, being no longer able to conspire
against the Government, he conspired against his
own Ministers. It .is the whole truth in a few
words. No encouragement is given to those who
hold firmly to their duty; and an officer who did not
desert a tottering Government would be sure to be

-THE MULATTOES. 179

neglected, perhaps even punished, by those who suc-
ceeded to power.

One reason for the dislike entertained by the mulatto
for the white man is the evident partiality of their fair
countrywomen for the latter. It is well known that
the first dream or heau idial of the young Haitienne is
a rich, and if possible a good-looking European, who
can place her in a respectable position, give her the
prospect of occasional visits to Europe, with the ulti-
mate expectation of entirely residing there. Few young
girls lose the hope of securing this desirable husband,
particularly among those who have received their
education in Europe, until their charms begin slightly
to fade, when th'ey content themselves with the least
dark among their countrymen. It is unfortunate
that this should be the case, as those who are most
enlightened among the Haytian ladies are thus with-
drawn from the civilising influence they would other-
wise naturally exert. This preference for the white
to the coloured man was also very conspicuous during
the French occupation ; and all things considered, it is
not to be wondered at, as the whites make much better
husbands.

The young mulatto, seeing this evident partiality for
the foreigner, naturally resents it, but instead of trying
to put himself on an equality of position with his rival
by the exercise of industry and by good conduct, ex-
pends his energies in furious tirades in the cafds or by
low debauchery.

180 THE POPULATION.

The Haytians are distinguished for what the Trench
call jadance, a better word than boasting. Mackenzie
tells the story of a mulatto colonel saying to him,
" Je vous assure, monsieur, que je suis le plus brave de
tous les mul^tres de ce pays-ci." He was lost in admi-
ration of his own noble qualities. At the fortress
of La Ferri^re, during Mackenzie's visit, a Captain
Elliot said about some trifle, "N'ayez pas peur ?" Imme-
diately the ofiScers of the garrison clapped their hands
■to their swords and talked five minutes of inflated
nonsense.

My friend D. was not free from this failing. He
said one day, " If a revolution broke out, I and half-
a-dozen of my companions would sally forth into the
streets with our carbines and put it down." Fighting
in the streets did commence, but my friend D. was not
there with his carbine, but in the innermost room of
his house, green with emotion and fright.

I remember a Haytian general once calling upon me
in London, and asking me to get inserted in the daily
papers a long account of the battles in which he had
been engaged, and of his personal exploits. He was
anxious that the English people should know what a
hero they had among them. As he was really a brave
fellow, and a man whom I liked, I was very desirous
that he should not make himself ridiculous by publishing
a pompous account of battles which were but skirmishes
among the peasantry. I therefore gave him a letter of
introduction to an editor, who, I was sure, would explain

THE MULATTOES. 181

to him that the English public would not be interested
in the affair. I heard no more of it, but my friend was
persuaded that since Napoleon no greater general than
he had arisen.

As an ideal type of the better class of mulatto, I
would take the late President Geffrard ; he had all the
qualities and defects of the race, and was one whom I
had the best opportunity of studying. In a report
which for some reason I never forwarded, I find myself
thus sketching his portrait when almost in daily inter-
course with him (1866) : — "I am loth to analyse the
character of President Geffrard, but as he is the Govern-
ment itself, it is necessary to know him. In manner
he is polished and gentle, almost feminine in his gen-
tleness, with a most agreeable expression, a winning
smile, and much fluency in conversation. But the im-
pression soon gains possession of the listener that, with
all his amiable qualities, the President is vain and
presumptuous, absorbed in himself and in his own
superiority to the rest of mankind. He imagines
himself a proficient in every science, although he is as
ignorant as he is untravelled. There is not a subject
on which he does not pretend to know more even than
those whose studies have been special, as lawyers,
doctors, architects, and engineers. He seriously assures
you that he discovered the use of steam by inde-
pendent inquiries, and that he is prepared to construct
a machine which shall solve the problem of perpetual
motion ; and he, who has not ridden anything larger

182 TJSE POPULATIOJT.

than a middle-sized pony, imagines he could give hints
in riding to our Newmarket jockeys."

Geffrard, like many other coloured men, was much
distressed by the crispness of his hair and his dark
colour, and having a half-brother very fair, he per-
sisted in assuring us that he had been born nearly
white, with straight hair, but that having unfortunately
bathed in the streams of Sal Trou during many months,
the water, being deeply impregnated with iron, had
curled his hair and darkened his skin. In any other
man I should have suspected a jest.

One of the things which contributed to the unpopu-
larity of the Emperor Soulouque was the waste of the
public finances and the extravagance of his court.
General Geffrard, who lived in penury before becom-
ing President, promised to reform this ; but instead of
doing so, he gradually raised his own allowance to
;^ 10,000 a year; he also had the sole control of ;^'4000
a year for secret service, and another ;^40OO a year for
the encouragement of the arts and sciences. The grate-
ful country had also presented him with two large
estates, the expenses of which were largely borne by
the State, whilst the profits were Geffrard's.

As nearly every one of his countrymen would have
acted in the same manner if he had had the oppor-
tunity, Geffrard's conduct excited envy rather than
blame. Even in the smallest details of the household
there was a mean spirit; the expenses of the meat of
the family were put down to the tirailleurs, whilst

THE MULATTOES. 183

some exquisite champagne purchased of a colleague
was charged to the hospital. Geffrard was certainly-
one of the most distinguished of his race, yet he sullied
his good name by all these patty meannesses. I once
asked a Haytian friend why she and others were
always running down Geffrard and his family. She
answered, " Because when I knew them intimately,
they were as poor as myself, but now Madame Geffrard
insults me by calling on me in a carriage. What right
has she to a carriage more than I ? "

Geffrard was personally brave, which characteristic
is not Aoo common among his countrymen, who are
rather wanting in martial qualities. He had no idea of
true liberty, nor of freedom of discussion. A son of a
black Minister wrote a pamphlet in favour of strict
protection for the manufactures of Hayti, in order to
encourage native, industry. A young mulatto replied,
demolishing with ease the absurd idea that manufac-
tures could be readily established in a tropical country,
which could only be made to prosper by encouraging
agriculture. The father was offended by this liberty,
and, to soothe his wounded feelings, Geffrard had the
young mulatto arrested, put as a common soldier into a
regiment, and set to work to carry on his head barrels
of powder to a village five miles in the mountains. The
argument was unanswerable, and it is no wonder that
the pamphleteer became a protectionist, though I be-
lieve that subsequently, when he was made a senator,
he was inclined to return to his primitive views.

184 THE POPULATION.

If I wished to describe a clever mulatto of the most
unscrupulous type, I should have selected the late
General Lorquet, but I have already referred to him.

There are among the mulattoes men eminently afjree-
ablCj and perhaps the one who best pleased me was
Au<Tuste Elie, at one time Minister for Foreicrn Affairs.
He had been brought up in France, was highly edu-
cated, and had an astonishing memory. My Spanish
colleague and myself used to visit him almost every
evening, and pass a pleasant hour in varied conversa-
tion. One day my friend remarked, " I am often sur-
prised at the knowledge shown by Auguste Elie, and
the elegance of the language in which it is expressed."
I replied, " This evening turn the conversation on agri-
culture in the South of Trance." He did so, and he
was again struck by the minute knowledge shown and
the manner in which it was conveyed. On our return
home, I opened the last number of La Revue des
Deux Mondes, and showed him paragraph after para-
graph which Auguste Elie had repeated almost word for
word. I knew that he read the review regularly, and
was persuaded he had not missed reading the article
on the agriculture of that part of Erance which inte-
rested him most, and his memory was so exact that
he had forgotten nothing. I had often remarked his
quotations, but he could digest what he read as well as
remember. A few men like Auguste Elie would have
given a better tone to Haytian society.

A strong desire to appear what they are not is a

THE MULATTOES. 185

defect from which the best-known Haytians are not
free. A French colleague once called upon a Secretary
of State, whose writings have heen compared to those of
Flato, and found him, book in hand, walking up and
down his verandah. " Ah ! my friend, you see how I
employ my leisure hours. I am reading Demosthenes
in the original." But the sharp Frenchman kept his
eyes on the volume, and soon found that it was an
interlinear translation.

Every Haytian appears fully persuaded that his
countrymen never seek office except for the purpose of
improving their private fortunes, and the most precise
stories of official robbery were falsely made against
Auguste Elie and M. Banco, both Secretaries of State.
At Auguste Elie's death there was little left for the
family, and Madame Bance declined the succession to
her husband's effects, as the debts were not covered
by the inheritance. Liautaud Eth^art and M. Darius
Denis, though long Secretaries of State, afterwards
honourably supported their families, the one in retail
trade, the other by keeping a school.

Perhaps, as a rule, the accusation is well founded,
and nearly all, black and coloured, believe in the say-
ing, " Prendre I'argent de I'dtat, ce n'est pas \o\L"

When I first arrived in Port-au-Prince a small club
was formed among the foreigners, and one of the first
rules was, " ISTo Haytian to be admitted." I asked why,
and was answered, that they introduced politics into
every place they entered. I soon found, however, that

186 THE POPULATIOK'.

the real reason was that their society was disliked ; and
one day, after listening for an hour or two to the criti-
cism on the people — and be it remembered that half
those present were married to Haytian ladies — I could
not help remarking, " If I had such an opinion of this
race, I would not have sought my wife among them."
The married men looked foolish ; the bachelors laughed,
and one of the former observed, " The women are so
superior to the men."

The following story shows some delicacy of feeling ;
it is told by Mackenzie, and I have heard it repeated.
When the decree was issued by Dessalines that mulatto
children should inherit the estates of their white fathers,
two young men met, and one said to the other, " You
kill my father and I will kill yours;" which they
accordingly did, and took possession of their estates.
On another occasion, the Emperor Dessalines said to
a young man who claimed to be a mulatto, " I don't be-
lieve it, but you can prove it by going and poniarding
your French friend." The man did not hesitate, and was
accepted as a Haytian citizen. . A negro general, grand-
father of a lady I knew in Hayti, went to Dessalines
after the appearance of the decree to murder all the
white French left in the island, and said, " Emperor, I
have obeyed your decree : I have put my white wife
to death." "Excellent Haytian," answered he, "but
infernal scoundrel ! If ever again you present yourself
before me, I will have you shot," — the only saying of his
that I have seen recorded showing any human feeling.

( 187 )

CHAPTER V.

VAUDOUX-WOKSHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

When the uews readied Paris of the massacres ia
Port-au-Prince of the mulattoes by orders of the black
President Soulouque in April 1S49, it is related that
Louis Napoleon took the opportunity of saying in pre-'
seuce of the sable representative of the republic, "Haiti,
Haiti ! pays de barbares." Had he known all the par-
ticulars relating to Vaudoux-worship and cannibalism,
he would have been still more justified in so expressing
himself.

There is no subject of which it is more difficult to
treat than Vaudoux-worship and the cannibalism which
too often accompanies its rites. Few living out of the
Black liepublic are aware of the extent to which it is
carried, and if I insist at length upon the subject, it is
in order to endeavour to fix attention on this frightful
blot, and thus induce enlightened Haytians to take
measures for its extirpation, if that be possible.

It is certain that no people are more sensitive to
foreign public opinion than the Haytians, and they
therefore endeavour to conceal by every means in their

188 VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CAKNIBALISM.

power this evidence of the barbarism of their fellow-
countrymen. It is, however, but the story of the
foolish ostrich over agaiij ; every foreigner in Hayti
knows that cannibalism exists, and that the educated
classes try to ignore instead of devising means to
eradicate it.

The only Governments which endeavoured to grapple
with the evil were those of President GefFrard and Presi-
dent Boisrond-Oanal, and probably they in some mea-
sure owe their fall to this action on their part.

The first question naturally asked is, " Who is tainted
by Vaudoux- worship ? " I fear the answer must be,
"Who is not?" This does not imply that they are
tainted with cannibalism or have any sympathy with
its practices or belief in its rites. But all fear it, and
have an uneasy feeling that some of those about them
may be affiliated to the sect. Hence mothers of the
upper classes keep their little children ever near them,
and are uneasy when they are out of sight, unless under
the care of some old trusted follower.

W^hat do the Haytian journals say ? " We have many
well-to-do people {gens aises), but the services, the
bamboulas (Vaudoux rites), and above all, the method
of transmitting property, joined to concubinage, prevent
great fortunes from being formed. But our well-to-do
people, in what do they employ their capital ? In
amusing themselves in the orgies of the Vaudoux,
&c."

' Za Vcrite, October l6, l8S6.

VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 189

" Your readers must not for one moment fancy that
the Vaudoux-worship is confined to the rabble ; on the
contrary, generals high in official rank, together with
their families, and well-to-do folks -belong to the lot;
but their worshipping is done privately, while the lower
classes, not caring a fig for public opinion, do it openly,
their actions being connived at." ^

As far as my experience enables me to judge, no
mulatto in a respectable position, except Generals Sal-
nave and Therlonge, was ever accused of being mixed
up with the cannibalism of the Vaudoux, nor yet any
black educated in Europe. But it is notorious that the
Emperor Soulouque was a firm adherent, and that the
mulatto general, Therlonge, was one- of its high priests,
and in his younger days used to appear at night in a
scarlet robe performing antics in the trees. The credu-
lous serpent-worshippers believed that he could fly like
some foul bird of darkness. A late Prime. Minister,
whose bloody deeds will be an everlasting reproach to
his memory, was said to be a chief priest of the sect,
and many others now in power whom I will not at
present indicate.

If persons so highly placed' can be counted among
its votaries, it may readily be believed that the masses
are given up to this brutalising worship. As more
extensive inquiries are now made, the truth is becom-
ing better understood, and it will yet be found that

^ Correspondent (eye-witneas) of Danish paper, St. Thomas Tidende,
of September 14, 1887.

190 VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

almost every Haytian of the lower orders is more or
less connected with one or other of the Vaudoux sects.
During the reign of Soulouq^ue a priestess was arrested
for havingi performed a sacrifice too openly. When
about to be conducted to prison, a foreign bystander
remarked aloud that probably she would be shot. She
laughed and said, " If I were to beat the sacred drum
and march through the city, not one from the Emperor
downwards but would humbly follow me." She was
sent to jail, but no one ever heard she was punished.

President Salnave, at first inclined to court the sup-
port of the educated classes, kept clear of the Vaudoux.
But when he found his advances repulsed — for the gross
■debauchery at the palace prevented any respectable
person from ever willingly entering it — and when the
fortunes of the civil war that then raged began to turn
against him (1869), he, from some motive or other,
whether superstition, or the desire to conciliate the
mass of his ignorant troops, went to consult a well-
known Papaloi (priest) living near Marquissant, in
the neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince, and there went
through all the ceremonies that were required. He
bathed in the blood of goats, made considerable pre-
sents to the priests and priestesses, and then feasted
with the assembly, who all gave themselves up to the
lowest debauchery, and kept up these festivities so
long that even the iron frame of the President gave
way, and he was confined to his bed for many days
after.

vaudoux-worship and cannibalism. 191

The fortunes of war still continuing adverse, Salnave
again consulted the Papaloi, who insisted that he must
now go through the highest ceremony; that the goat
without horns must be slain, and that he must be
anointed with its blood. If he agreed to this, then
the priest assured him of certain victory over his
enemies. Whether Salnave gave way or not I cannot
say positively. His enemies of all classes declared he
did ; his friends among the lower orders confirmed the
story, but the few respectable people who adhered to
his cause denied the truth of the accusation. I think
the weight of evidence was more against him than
for him.

After the civil war was over and Salnave had been
executed, we visited the little hamlet where these
orgies had taken place. I never in my life had seen
a more villainous set of negroes and negresses collected
together, among whom we recognised several Papaloi
by their knotted hair. They scowled at us as we
passed their cottages, and would probably have liked
to have stoned us; but as their protector was dead,
they contented themselves with muttered curses. The
Papaloi's house was in the midst of cultivated gardens
and embowered in a beautiful grove of fruit trees, not
far from the spring (Source Plaisance) which fed the
bath where Napoleon Bonaparte's sister, Madame Le
Clerc, used formerly to __b athe her lovely limha ancl
hold high revel with he r_faYO urite follower s. When
I first arrived in Hayti in 1863, there still lived an

192 VAUDOUX-WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

old negro who had watched from the thick bush the
gambols of these French naiads. And from Pauline's
bath, now in ruins, the Vaudoux-worshippers took
the water used in cooking the flesh of their human
victims.

To explain the use of the phrase " the goat without
horns," I must notice that there are two sects which
follow the Vaudoux-worship — those who only delight
in the flesh and blood of white cocks and spotless white
goats at their ceremonies, and those who are not only
devoted to these, but on great occasions call for the
flesh and blood of "the goat without horns,'' or of
human victims. It is a curious trait of human nature
that these cannibals must use a euphemistic term when
speaking of their victims, as the Pacific Islanders have
the expression of " long pig."

When Hayti was still a Prench colony Vaudoux-
worship flourished, but there is no distinct mention
of human sacrifices in the accounts transmitted to us.
In Moreau de St. Mary's excellent description of the
island, from whose truthful pages it is a pleasure to
seek for information, he gives a very graphic account
of fetishism as it existed in his day, that is, towards the
close of the last century.

After describing certain dances, Moreau de St. M^ry
remarks that the Calinda and the Chica are not the
only ones brought from Africa to the colony. There
is another which has been known for a long time,
principally in the western part of the island (Hayti),

VAUDOUX-WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 193

and whicli has the name of Vaudoux.^ But it is not
merely as a dance that the Vaudoux merits consi-
deration; at least it is accompanied by circumstances
which give it a rank among those institutions in which
superstition and ridiculous practices have a principal
part.

According to the Arada negroes, who are the true
sectaries of the Vaudoux in the colony, who maintain
its principles and its rules, Vaudoux signifies an all-
powerful and supernatural being, on whom depend all
the events which take place in the world. This being
is the non-venomous serpent, and it is under its aus-
pices that all those assemble who profess this doctrine.
Acquaintance with the past, knowledge of the present,
prescience of the future, all appertain to this serpent,
that only consents, however, to communicate his power
and prescribe his will through the organ of a grand
priest, whom the sectaries select, and still more by that

^ On the African coast the word is Vodun. Burton mentions that
the serpents worshipped at Whydah were so respected that formerly
to kill one by accident was punished by death. Now a heavy fine is
inflicted. Bosman states that the serpent is the chief god in Dahomey,
to whom great presents are made. They are harmless ; white, yellow,
and brown in colour, and the largest was about six feet long, and as
thick as a man's arm. !Fergusson, in his introductory essay on " Tree
and Serpent "Worship in India," mentions that at a place called Sheik
Haredi, in Egypt, serpent-worship still continues, and that the priests
sacrifice to them sheep and lambs. On the West Coast of Africa, women,
when touched by the serpent, are said to become possessed ; they are
seized with hysteria, and often bereft of reason ; they are afterwards
considered priestesses. The whole essay of Tergusson is exceedingly
interesting.

N

194 VAUDOTJX-WORSHIP AND CAA^NIBALISM.

of the negress whom the love of the latter has raised
to the rank of high priestess.

These two delegates, who declare themselves inspired
by their god, or in whom, in the opinion of their
followers, the gift of inspiration is really manifested,
bear the pompous names of King and Queen,^ or the
despotic ones of Master and Mistress, or the touching
titles of Papa and Mama. They are during their whole
life the chiefs of the great family of the Vaudoux, and
they have a right to the unlimited obedience of those
that compose it. It is they who decide if the serpent
agree to admit a candidate into the society, and who
prescribe the obligations and the duties he is to fulfil ;
it is they who receive the gifts and presents which the
god expects as a just homage. To disobey them, to
resist them, is to disobey God himself, and to expose
oneself to the greatest misfortunes.

This system of domination on the one hand and of
blind obedience on the other being well established,
they at fixed dates meet, and the king and queen of
the Vaudoux preside, following the forms which they
probably brought from Africa, and to which Creole
customs have added many variations, and some traits
which betray European ideas ; as, for instance, the
scarf or belt which the queen wears at these assemblies,
and which she occasionally varies.

The reunion for the true Vaudoux-worship, for that

' Papa and Maman Roi, corrupted by the Haytians into Papaloi and
Mamanloi.

VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 195

■which has least lost its primitive purity, never takes
place except secretly, in the dead of night, and in a
secure place, safe from any profane eye. There each
initiated puts on a pair of sandals and fastens round
his body a number, more or less considerable, of red
handkerchiefs, or of handkerchiefs in which that colour
predominates. The king of the Vaudoux has finer
handkerchiefs and in greater number, and one that
is entirely red with which he binds his forehead as a
diadem, A girdle, generally blue, gives the finishing
stroke to the tokens of his resplendent dignity. The
queen, dressed with simple luxury, also shows her pre-
dilection for the red colour,^ which is generally that of
her sash or belt.

The king and queen place themselves at one end of
the room, near a kind of altar, on which is a box where
the serpent is kept, and where each adept can see it
through the bars of its cage.

When they have verified that no curious stranger
has penetrated into the place, they commence the cere-
mony by the adoration of the serpent, by protestations
of being faithful to its worship, and entirely submissive
to its commands. They renew, holding the hands of
the king and queen, the oath of secrecy, which is the
foundation of the association, and it is accompanied by
everything horrible which delirium could imagine to
render it more imposing.

When the followers of the Vaudoux are thus pre-
' Red, the royal colour at Mdra. — Bosman.

196 VAUDOUX- WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

pared to receive the impressions which the king and
queen desire them to feel, they take the affectionate
tone of a tender father or mother ; vaunt the happiness
of those who are devoted to the Vaudoux ; exhort them
to have confidence in them, and to give the proofs of it
in all the most important circumstances of their lives.

Then the crowd separates, and each one who may
desire it, and according to his seniority in the sect, ap-
proaches to implore the aid of the Vaudoux. Most of
them ask for the talent to be able to direct the conduct
of their masters. But this is not enough ; one wants
more money ; another the gift of being able to please an
unfeeling one ; another desires to reattach an unfaithful
lover ; this one wishes for a prompt cure or long life ;
an elderly female comes to conjure the god to end the
disdain with which she is treated by the youth whose
affection she would captivate; a young one solicits
eternal love, or she repeats the maledictions that hate
dictates to her against a preferred rival. There is not
a passion which does not give vent to its vow, and crime
itself does not always disguise those which have for
object its success.

At each of these invocations, the king of the Vau-
doux appears absorbed in thought; the spirit seizes
him ; suddenly he takes hold of the box in which the
serpent is confined, places it on the ground, and com-
mands the queen to stand on it. As soon as the sacred
ark is beneath her feet, the new Pythoness is filled by
the spirit of the god ; she trembles, all her body is in a

VAUDOUX- WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 197

state of convulsion, and the oracle speaks by her mouth.
Now she flatters and promises happiness, now she bursts
into reproaches ; and according to her interest, her wishes,
or her caprice, she dictates as decrees without appeal
everything which she is pleased to prescribe in the
name of the serpent to this imbecile crowd, that never
expresses the slightest doubt of the most monstrous
absurdity, and that only knows how to obey what is
despotically dictated to it.

After all the questions have received some kind of
an answer from the oracle, many of which are not
without ambiguity, they form a circle, and the serpent
is again placed on the altar. Then his followers bring
as tribute the objects they think most worthy ; and that
no jealous curiosity should raise a blush, the offerings
are placed in a covered hat. The king and queen then
promise that the offerings shall be accepted by their
god. It is from this collection that the expenses of
the meetings are paid, that aid is afforded to absent
members, or to those present who may be in want, or
to others from whom the society may expect something
in favour of its glory or renown.

They now propose and settle their future plans, they
consider what is to be done, and all this is declared by
the queen as the will of the god. Often these plans
have not for their object either good order or public
tranquillity. A fresh oath, as execrable as the first,
engages each one to be silent as to what has passed, to
aid in what has been settled ; and sometimes a vase in

198 VATJDOTJX-WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

■which there is the blood of a goat, stUl warm, seals on
the lips of those present the promise to suffer death
rather than reveal anything, and even to inflict it on
any one who may forget that he is thus so solemnly
bound to secrecy.

After these ceremonies commences the dance of the
Vaudoux.

If there be a new candidate for admission to the
order, it is by the following ceremony that the f&te,
commences. The Papaloi with some black substance
traces a large circle, and in this the novice is placed ; a
packet of herbs, horse-hair, pieces of horn, and other
trifling objects is put into his hand. Then lightly
touching him on the head with a wooden wand, the
Papaloi thunders forth an African song, which is re-
peated in chorus by those who stand around the circle ;
then the new member begins to tremble and to dance,
which is called to practise Vaudoux. If unhappily
excess of excitement makes him leave the circle, the
song immediately ceases, and the king and queen turn
their backs on him to avert the evil omen. The dancer
recollects himself, re-enters the circle, trembles, drinks,
and arrives at length at so convulsive a state, that the
priest orders him to stop by striking him lightly on
his head with a wand, or, if that signal be not attended
to, with a heavy kourbash. He is then taken to the
altar to swear secrecy, and from that moment he
belongs to the sect.

This ceremony over, the king places his hand or his

VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 199

foot on the box in which the serpent is confined, and
soon becomes agitated. This impression he communi-
cates to the queen, and from her it gains the whole
crowd, and every one commences certain movements,
in which the upper part of the body, the head, and
shoulders, appear to be dislocated ; the queen above all
is a prey to the most violent agitation. From time to
time she approaches the serpent in order to add to
her frenzy; she shakes the box, and the hawk-bells
attached to it sound like a fool'sjbauble, and the excite-
ment goes on increasing. This is augmented by the use
of spirituous liquors, which the adepts do not spare.
With some, fainting fits follow ; with others, a species of
fury; but a nervous trembling seizes them all, which
they appear unable to master. They go on spinning
round, and in their excitement some tear their clothes,
others bite their own flesh; then again many fall to
the ground utterly deprived of consciousness, and are
dragged into a neighbouring dark apartment. Here in
the obscurity is too often a scene of disgusting prostitu-
tion. At length lassitude puts a end to these demo-
ralising scenes, to be renewed again at a date which is
carefully settled beforehand.

In studying this account, freely taken from Moreau
de St. M^ry, I have been struck how little change,
except for the worse, has taken place during the last
century. Though the sect continues to meet in secret,
they do not appear to object to the presence of their
countrymen who are not yet initiated. In fact, the

200 VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AMD CANNIBALISM.

necessity of so much mystery is not recognised, since
there are no longer any French magistrates to send
these assassins to the scaffold.

Notwithstanding their efforts to keep white men far
from their sacrifices, two Frenchmen and one American
succeeded in being spectators on different occasions.

At a dinner at the Episcopal palace in 1869, where
I and my Spanish colleague were guests, I sat by the
side of Monseigneur Guilloux, the Archbishop of Port-
au-Prince, and heard him give the following account
of what had occurred the preceding week. A French
priest (pointing to a young cur^ who was sitting on
the other side of the table), who had charge of the
district of L'Arcahaye, had a strong desire to witness
the Vaudoux ceremonies, and he persuaded some of his
parishioners to take him to the forest where a meeting
of the sect was to be held. They were very unwilling
to comply with his request, saying that if discovered,
he and they would be killed ; but he promised faithfully
that, whatever happened, he would not speak a word.
They blacked his hands and face, and disguising him
as a peasant, took him with them.

During General Salnave's Presidency the Vaudoux
sectaries were so seldom interrupted in their ceremonies
that few precautions were taken against surprise, and
the neighbouring villagers flocked to the scene. With
these the Catholic priest mixed, and saw all that passed.
As in the previous description, the people came to ask
that their wishes should be gratified, and the Mamanloi

VAUDOUX- WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 201

stood on the box containing the serpent. At first
she went into a violent paroxysm, then into a sort of
half-trance, when she promised all that they could
desire. A white cock and then a white goat were
killed, and those present were marked with their blood.
Up to this point, it appeared as if Monseigneur were
repeating some pages from Moreau de St. Mdry, but
it soon changed. He continued : — Presently an athletic
young negro came and knelt before the priestess, and
said, " Oh Maman, I have a favour to ask." " What is
it, my son ? " " Give us to complete the sacrifice the
goat without horns." She gave a sign of assent ; the
crowd in the shed separated, and there on the floor was
a child sitting with its feet bound. In an instant a
rope, already passed through a block, was tightened, the
child's feet flew up towards the roof, and the Papaloi
approached it with a knife. The loud shriek given by
the victim aroused the cur^ to the truth of what was
going on. He shouted, " Oh, spare the child ! " and
would have darted forward, but he was seized by his
friends around him and literally carried away. There
was a short pursuit, but the French priest got safely
back to the town. He tried to rouse the police to
hasten to the spot, but they would do nothing. In the
morning they accompanied him to the scene of the
sacrifice, where they found the remains of the feast, and
near the shed the boiled skull of the child.

The authorities at L'Arcahaye were exceedingly in-
censed with the priest for his interference, and, under

202 VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

pretence that they could not answer for his safety,
shipped him off to Port-au-Prinee, where he made his
report to the Archbishop.

Those who would deny that cannibalism exists in
Hayti are accustomed to say, " You have no proofs ; it
is all hearsay evidence." What could be more direct
than the testimony of this cur4, who was sitting oppo-
site to us, and listening to the Archbishop during the
whole recital ? It is curious that the Haytian newspaper
La VdriU refers to the well-to-do people of L'Arcahaye
amusing themselves in the orgies of the Vaudoux, and
this as late as October 1886, seventeen years after the
French cur^ had witnessed these Vaudoux rites at the
same place.

Another Frenchman, who resided in a village in the
southern department, witnessed the whole ceremony,
and as he remained silent, was undiscovered; but on
its being rumoured that he had been a spectator of the
sacrifice, his wife's Haytian family insisted on his leaving
the district, as his life was in danger.

I should have hesitated to quote the following account,
as being only that of an anonymous correspondent of an
American paper, but having discovered the identity of
the gentleman who was actually present at the human
sacrifice, and whose testimony I am assured on good
authority can be implicitly accepted, I publish it as
another proof of the hideous practices carried on in
the Pearl of the Antilles under the enhs^htened rule of
General Salomon.

VATJDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 203

"Last spring (1886) I spent some weeks in Cap
Haitian, one of the largest and most important cities
in Hayti, and while there I met a number of Dominican
gentlemen, who for various reasons had been compelled
to spend a long time in the sister republic. These
gentlemen talked a great deal about the existence of
cannibalism, and insisted tha4; its existence was not, as
all Haytians claim, merely in the minds of the writers
who desire to publish sensational stories. I had shut
my ears and eyes to the customs of the country-people,
and moreover, I never allowed myself to think it pos-
sible that such horrible practices as these gentlemen
assured me were common existed. Therefore I tried
in every way I consistently could to disabuse them of
the illusions which I thought they entertained. Among
these Dominicans was one who, irritated by my constant
denials, determined to prove to me that his assertions
were true. In April (1886) the workers on one of the
coffee-plantations near Le Cap intended to have some
kind of demonstration in honour of one of their super-
stitious observances, and my friend learnt that, inci-
dental to the Vaudoux-worship (which, by the way,
unaccompanied by human sacrifices no Haytian will
deny exists), there would be a human sacrifice. In
some manner my friend had ingratiated himself with
certain of the negro labourers who were to attend the
sacrifices, and induced them to allow him and me to
be present also. On the evening of April 19, he came
to my house, where both of us dressed ourselves in the

204 VAXJDOTJX-WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

ordinary country working-man's costume, and then had
our hands and faces well blacked by the negro who was
to conduct us to the Vaudoux temple. To reach the
temple we rode out over the smooth waggon-road
which runs to and through the place called Haut-du-
Cap, and when we had gotten about three miles beyond
the little tavern in that place, where everybody stops
for refreshments, our conductor suddenly left the high-
way, and by a little winding bridle-path led us up
the big mountain to a spot about half-way up the
side.

" Here the negroes had constructed a rude wooden
shanty among the trees, and where it could be hardly
noticed by any passer-by, if such there might be in
that lonely quarter. Into this miserable hut we were
ushered by our guide, who, to obtain admittance, uttered
some signal words to the two brawny negroes who
stood guard at the entrance, and who closely inter-
rogated every person who entered. We were appa-
rently a little late. In the single room there was a
motley crowd of negroes, men and women, congregated
round a sort of wooden throne erected in the centre of
the room. On this throne, arrayed in many coloured
long gowns and adorned with much tawdry finery,
there sat on chairs, draped with flaming red cloth, a
man and a woman. They were the Papaloi and
Mamanloi, or priest and priestess, of the order of the
Vaudoux. At their feet was the box which contained
the 'holy serpent,' which was being worshipped by

VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 205

this ungodly assemblage. Behind the throne was
stretched across from wall to wall a red cloth partition,
which divided the room, or rather which made another
and smaller apartment behind it. As we entered, the
people were singing a chant low and monotonous, and
at a sign from our mentor, we, my friend and I, joined
it. When this chant had been finished, there succeeded
an interval of deathly quiet, during which the wor-
shippers appeared to be engaged in prayer. Suddenly
the silence was broken by the priest, who with violent
gestures, and almost shrieking his words, harangued
his audience for ten or fifteen minutes. He told them
there was but one thing to do by which they might
obtain spiritual as well as temporal reward — to adore
the serpent and obey implicitly and without question
its slightest order. The attitude of the people showed
that they comprehended the injunction and would
obey. When he had wrought the crowd to a suffi-
ciently high pitch of enthusiasm, the priest suddenly
dropped his talk, and bursting into the chant again,
was immediately joined by the others. A weird dance
followed, the people singing as they danced, and
gradually becoming almost delirious in their fervour.
The place was soon in an awful tumult, some of the
women, who especially seemed to have lost all control
over themselves, even climbed up to the rafters, wrig-
gling their bodies, hissing, and trying in every way to
imitate the movements of the snake.

" This ghastly dance was continued for two hours or

206 VAUDOUX- WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

more, when silence was again produced by the appear-
ance from behind the red curtain of two men leading
by the hands a little trembling negro boy in white
robes. The child was led to the throne, and mounting
it, he prostrated himself twice before the man and
woman seated there. The Papaloi, holding his hands
over the boy's head, blessed him in the name of the
sacred serpent, and then asked him in pompous lan-
guage what he most desired in the world. The little
fellow, glancing up into the faces of his .two conductors,
replied (and the reply had evidently been taught him),
' That object above all other objects in the world which
I most desire is the possession of a little virgin.'
Hardly had he spoken when from the encurtained
apartment came two women leading a negro girl of
four or five years, also dressed in the purest white.
The second child was led to the throne and stood con-
fronting the boy. Again the boy was asked what he
most desired, and when he repeated his former answer,
both he and the girl were at once thrown down on their
backs and bound hand and foot.

" A burly negro, knife in hand, separated himself from
the crowd, who had been watching the proceedings with
breathless interest, and mounted the throne. Eeaching
the boy, he said something to the men, who with their
hands over his mouth were trying to stop the little
fellow's cries, and they held their victim by the feet
up in the air. With a single slash across the little
throat, the brutal executioner killed the child, and the

VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 207

others held him whilst his life-blood gushed into the
receptacle placed below to receive it.

" At this moment an involuntary exclamation of horror
escaped me, and immediately all eyes were turned
towards me, looking with distrust and suspicion. The
horrible proceedings on the throne were suspended, and
a hasty consultation was held there among the people
on it. Fearing for my life, and obeying a slight signal
from our guide, I somehow got out of the door, mounted
my horse, and rode as hard as I could to the town. The
worshippers did not suspect I was a white man. They
assumed probably that I was a novice and not yet
hardened to the sight. At any rate, I was not pursued,
and my friend was not interfered with. He remained
until the end, joined me that night, or rather morning,
and told me that the little girl had been killed in the
same manner as the boy, and that then the bodies had
been cut up, cooked, and eaten by the wretches. The
whole awful orgie was ended only when every person
present had become helplessly intoxicated." — The New
York World, December 5, 1886.

The American gentleman who wrote the above
account will not, I am sure, object to have his name
published as soon as his business relations with Hayti
have ceased. He gave a full account of what he had
seen to a friend of mine long before he knew that I
had written so fully on the subject.

In the year 1873, an intimate Haytian friend, edu-
cated in France, the proprietor of an estate out on the

208 VAUDOTTX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

plain of the Cul-de-Sac, invited me to spend a fortnight
with him in the country, promising to show me all the
superstitious practices of the negroes. I regret I did
not accept, as at all events I should not have been
called upon to witness a murder, and might have seen
something hew.

The temples of the Vaudoux-worshippers, called
Humfort, are to be found in every district of the
country. They are in general small, though one I
visited in the interior was spacious, and was papered
with engravings from the Illustrated London News, and
the walls were hung with pictures of the Virgin Mary
and of various saints. I may notice that in every one
I found similar adornments.

In the largest temple a Catholic priest had even said
mass during his inland tours ; and though he could not
prove it, he shrewdly suspected that the Vaudoux-
worship was carried on there during his long and fre-
quent absences. He showed me many very curious
polished stones of various forms which he had induced
a disciple to give up to him. One was a stone axe in
the shape of a crescent ; and the negroes said they had
been brought from Africa and formed part of the relics
they worshipped. I believe my informant obtained
these stones from a young negress during the absence
of her husband, who was very indignant on discovering
their loss. The French priest destroyed them to prevent
their falling again into the hands of his congregation.

Besides various Christian emblems, I found in one of

VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 209

the temples a flag of red silk on -which was worked
the following inscription: — " Soci^t(5 des Fleurs za
Dahomian," whatever that may refer to. This flag was
said to have been the gift of the Empress, the consort
of the Emperor Soulouque, a faithful follower of the
sect.

Once whilst strolling with a friend, M. Barthomieux
(since dead), in the mountains at the back of La Coupe,
about six miles from Port-au-Prince, I was shown
another small temple. As the guardian was a sort of
dependent of the Haytian gentleman who was with
me, we were allowed to enter, and were shown a
box under a kind of altar, in which we were told the
serpent was confined ; but we could not induce the man
to let us see it, as he feared the anger of the Papaloi.
My companion, a Haytian, had often seen this slimy
god, but my being a white man was a bar to my being
indulged in a similar privilege. These serpents are fed
on frogs, mice, and other small game.

I have remarked that the temples are generally in-
significant buildings, but to accommodate the crowd, per-
manent or temporary sheds are erected near, and there
is generally the Papaloi's or guardian's house besides, in
which to take shelter from the weather or carry on their
debauch.

The Papalois may be generally distinguished by the
peculiar knotting of their curly wool, which must be a
work of considerable labour, and by their profusion of
ornaments. We noticed the former peculiarity at the

210 VAUDOUX- WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

trial of some sorcerers, whilst the jailors probably had
relieved them of the latter. I have frequently remarked
these knotted-headed negroes, and the attention they
received from their sable countrymen.

When incidents relating to the Vaudoux- worship are
spoken of in Haytian society, native gentlemen will
generally attempt to turn the conversation ; and if
you persist, they say you have been imposed- upon or
the events have been exaggerated. But the incidents
I am about to relate formed the subject of a trial before
a criminal court, and are to be found detailed in the
Moniteur Haytien, the Haytian official journal, of the
months of January, Tebruary, and March 12,64, ^■nd I
was present during the two days the inquiry lasted.

The trial occurred during the Presidency of General
Geffrard, the most enlightened ruler that country pos-
sessed since the time of President Boyer ; it too plainly
proved that the fetish-worship of the negroes of Africa
had not been forgotten by their descendants, and in a
manner not to be denied by any one ; and, in fact, no
one did gainsay the evidence, and the attention of the
whole country was drawn to the subject of serpent-wor-
ship and cannibalism. As the case greatly interested
me, I made the most careful inquiries, and followed it
in its most minute particulars. It is worth while re-
lating the whole story in its disgusting details, as it is
one of the truth of which there is not the shadow of a
doubt.

A couple of miles to the west of Port-au-Prince lies

VAUDOrX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 211

the village of Bizoton, in which there lived a man named
Congo Pelle. He had been a labourer, a gentleman's
servant, an idler who was anxious to improve his posi-
tion without any exertion on his own part. In this
dilemma he addressed himself to his sister Jeanne,
who had long been connected with the Vaudoux, and
was, in fact, the daughter of a true African priestess,
and herself a well-known Mamanloi, and it was settled
between them that about the New Year some sacrifice
should be offered to propitiate the serpent. A more
modest man would have been satisfied with a white
cock or a white goat, but on this solemn occasion it was
thought better to offer a more important sacrifice. A
consultation was held with two Papalois, Julien Mcolas
and Flor^al Apollon, and it was decided that a female
child should be offered as a sacrifice, and the choice
fell on Claircine, the niece of Jeanne and Congo.

This was the ofBicial account as given in court, not to
have the undoubted fact go forth to the world that
every year human sacrifices are offered to the serpent
at Easter, Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, and more
particularly on Twelfth Night or Les Files des Bois.

On the 27th December 1863, Jeanne invited her
sister, the mother of Claircine, to accompany her to
Port-au-Prince, and the child, a girl of about twelve
years of age, was left at home with Congo. Immediate
advantage was taken of the mother's absence, and
Claircine was conducted to the house of Julien, and
from thence to that of Flor^al, where she was bound

212 VAXTDOUX-WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

and hidden under the altar of a neighbouring temple.
In the evening, the mother, returning home, asked for
her child, when her brother Congo told her she had
strayed away. A pretended search was made by those
in the plot, and another Papaloi was consulted. This
man told the mother not to be uneasy, as the Maitre
d'Eau or the spirit of the water had taken her daughter,
but that in a short time her child would be restored to
her. The woman believed or pretended to believe this
story,and by thePapaloi's recommendation burnt candles
before the altar of the Virgin Mary for the prompt
return of her offspring ; — another proof of the strange
mingling of Catholicism and Vaudoux-worship. The
above was the evidence given by the mother in court,
but nobody believed her to be really ignorant of the
fate destined for her daughter, but superstitious dread
of the priests kept her silent.

On the evening of the 31st December a large party
assembled at the house of Jeanne to await the arrival
of the child, who had remained for four days bound
under the altar. When the chief member of the sect
came to the temple to bring her out, she, guessing the
fate reserved for her, gave two or three piercing shrieks,
which were soon stifled, and, gagged and bound, she
was carried to Jeanne's house, where preparations were
made for the human sacrifice. She was thrown on the
ground, her aunt holding her by the waist, whilst the
Papaloi pressed her throat, and the others held her
legs and arms; her struggles soon ceased, as Flordal

VATJDOTJX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 213

had succeeded in strangling her. Then Jeanne handed
him a large knife, with which he cut off Claircine's
head, the assistants catching the blood in a jar ; then
Flordal is said to have inserted an instrument under
the child's skin, and blowing through it, detached it
from the body. Having succeeded in flaying their
victim, the flesh was cut from the bones and placed
in large wooden dishes ; the entrails and skin being
buried near the cottage. The whole party then started
for normal's house, carrying the remains of their victim
with them. On their arrival, Jeanne rang a little bell
and a procession was formed, the head borne aloft, and
a sacred song sung. Then preparations were made for
a feast. This was the evidence given in court by
Eoseide Sumera, one of the prisoners.

Koused by the noise caused by the arrival of the
party, a young woman and girl sleeping in another
chamber looked through some chinks in the wall and
saw all that passed, — Jeanne cooking the flesh with
Congo beans, small and rather bitter (pais congo),
whilst Ploreal put the head into a pot with some
yams to make the soup. Whilst the others were
engaged in the kitchen, one of the women present,
Eoseide Sumera, urged by the fearful appetite of a
cannibal, cut from the palm of the dead child a piece
of flesh and ate it raw. (This I heard her avow in
open court.) Asked which were the nicest pieces of a
young victim, she answered, laughingly, the palm of
the hand and the inside of the leg.

214 VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

The cooking over, portions of the prepared dishes
were handed round, of which all present partook ; and
the soup being ready, it was divided among the assist-
ants, who deliberately drank it. The night was passed
in dancing, drinking, and debauchery. In the morning
the remains of the flesh were warmed up, and the two
witnesses who had watched the proceedings were invited
to join in the repast; the young woman confessed that
she had accepted the proposal, whilst the girl refused.

Not satisfied with this banquet on human flesh, the
priests now put this young girl in the place of Claircine,
and she was bound and kept in the temple to be
sacrificed on Twelfth Night. It came out in evidence
that she had been decoyed to the house for that purpose,
and that the young woman who was sleeping in the
same room was in reality in charge of her.

Fortunately the inquiries which Claircine's mother
had made on the night of the disappearance of her
daughter, and the whispers that a second girl was
missing, roused the attention of an officer of police, and
a search being made, the freshly boiled head of the
murdered child was found among the bushes near
Floreal's house, where careless impunity had led the
assassins to throw it. A further search was then made,
and the other remains of Claircine were found, as well
as the girl bound under the altar.

Fourteen persons were arrested, against eight of
whom sufficient evidence could be obtained, and these
were sent to jail to answer for their crime before a

VAUDOUX-WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 215

criminal court. The trial commeiiced on the 4th of
February 1864, and lasted two days. Incidents were
related in the course of the evidence which showed how
the lower classes are sunk in ignorance and barbarity,
and renewed the proofs, if any fresh proofs were re-
quired, that the Vaudoux-worship is associated by them
with the ceremonies of the Catholic religion, even the
Papalois recommending the burning of tapers in the
Christian churches, and the having crosses as well as
pictures of the Virgin Mary strangely mingled on their
altars with the objects of their superstition.

Some members of the diplomatic corps decided to
attend the trial ; we arrived early, and were placed so
as to command a full view of the court. In the dock
we saw the eight prisoners, four men and four women,
with faces of the ordinary Haytian type, neither better
nor worse. Their names were : — Julien Nicolas, a
Papaloi; Mortal Apollon, another Papaloi; Guerrier
TranQois, and Congo Pell^ uncle to the victim: the
women, Jeanne Pell^, a Mamanloi, and aunt to the
murdered girl ; Eos^ide Sumera, Ner^ide Francois, and
Beyard Prosper. Some had been servants to foreigners ;
others were gardeners and washerwomen.

The French procedure is observed in all trials in
Hayti, and to an Englishman the procedure. as practised
in that republic is contrary to the first principles of
justice. The prisoners were bullied, cajoled, cross-
questioned in order to force avowals ; in fact, to make
them state in open court what they were said to have

216 ■VAUDOUX-WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM;

confessed in their preliminary examinations. I can
never forget the manner in which the youngest female
prisoner, Eos^ide Sumera, turned to the public pro-
secutor and said, " Yes, I did confess what you assert,
but remember how cruelly I was beaten before I said a
word ; " and it was well known that all the prisoners
had at first refused to speak, thinking that the Vau-
doux would protect them, and it required the frequent
application of the club to drive this belief out of their
heads. That prisoners are tortured even unto death is
known to be a practice in Hayti.

However this may have been in the present case,
there on the table before the judge was the boiled head
of the murdered girl, and in a jar the remains of the
soup, the flesh, and the calcined bones ; and the avowals
of the prisoners in court and the testimony of the
witnesses were too clear and circumstantial to leave a
doubt as to their criminality.

As I have mentioned, I was in court during the two
days' trial, and I never was present at one where the
judge conducted himself with greater dignity. His name
was Lallemand, and he was one of the few magistrates
who had the courage to do justice even when political
passion would have condemned victims unheard.

Among those who gave their evidence was the young
girl who had witnessed the ceremonies, and for whom
was reserved the fate of Claircine. The judge called
her to his side and gently asked her to tell the court
what she had seen; but with a frightened look she

VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 217

started and burst into tears, and the judge looking up
sharply, saw the prisoners making the most diabolical
grimaces at the poor child. He then turned to the
jury and said, in view of the intimidation attempted,
he would do what was not strictly regular; the child
should whisper the story to him, and he would repeat
it to the court. He placed her with her back to the
prisoners, and putting his arm round her, drew her
gently to him, and said in a soft voice, " Tell me, chfere,
what occurred." The girl in a very low tone began her
testimony, but the silence in court was so profound
that not a word she uttered was lost, and almost with-
out faltering, she told her story in all its disgusting
details; but her nerves then gave way so completely
that she had to be taken out of court, and could not
be again produced to answer some questions the jury
wished to ask.

Then the young woman, her companion of that night,
was called, and she confirmed the account, and confessed
that in the morning she had joined in the feast. The
mother's testimony followed, and that of numerous
other witnesses.

The guilt of the accused was thus fully established,
when one of the female prisoners, Eos^ide, in the hopes
perhaps of pardon, entered into every particular of the
whole affair, to the evident annoyance of the others,
who tried in vain to keep her silent. Her testimony
was most complete, and confirmed the other witnesses
in every particular. 1 did in consequence suggest that

218 VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

her life should be spared, but President Geffrard re-
minded me that it was she who had confessed in open
court she had eaten the palms of the victim's hands as
a favourite morsel.

Jeanne, the old woman, though she had shown the
utmost coolness during the trial, did at length appeal
for mercy, saying she had only been practising what
had been taught her by her mother as the religion of
their ancestors. " Why should I be put to death for
observing our ancient customs ? "

They were all found guilty of sorcery, torture, and
murder, and were condemned to death.

I asked the public prosecutor whether he thought
the mother was really ignorant of the fate reserved for
her child. He replied, "We have not thought proper
to press the inquiry too closely, for fear we should
discover that she partook of the feast ; we required her
testimony at the trial." After a pause he added, "If
full justice were done, there would be fifty on those
benches instead of eight."

The execution took place on Saturday, February 13,
1864, the authorities wisely selecting a market-day, in
order that the example might have a greater effect.
The following particulars relating to it I received from
the American Commissioner, Mr. Whiddon, who was
present at this last scene. The prisoners, men and
women, were all clothed in white robes and white head-
dresses, the garments reserved for parricides, and were
drawn in carts to the place of execution, and all but one

VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 219

had a sullen look of resignation, and neither uttered a
complaint, nor even a word, whilst the eighth, the young
woman, Bos^ide, kept up a continued conversation with
the crowd around her.

Every effort was made by the Government to give
solemnity to the occasion ; the troops and ISTational
Guard were summoned, for even the word " rescue " had
been pronounced. The principal authorities attended,
and thoiisands of spectators gathered round the spot.
The prisoners, tied in pairs, were placed in a line and
faced by five soldiers to each pair. They fired with such
inaccuracy that only six fell wounded on the first dis-
charge. It took these untrained men fully half an hour
to complete their work, and the incidents were so pain-
ful, that the horror at the prisoners' crimes was almost
turned into pity at witnessing their unnecessary suffer-
ings. As usual, the prisoners behaved with great
courage, even the women standing up unflinchingly be-
fore their executioners, and receiving their fire without
quailing; and when at last they fell wounded, no cry
was heard, but they were seen beckoning the soldiers to
approach, and Eos^ide held the muzzle of a musket to
her bosom and called on the man to fire.

The Vaudoux priests spread the report that although
the deity would permit the execution, he would only do
it to prove to his votaries his power by raising them
again from the dead. To prevent their bodies being
carried away during the night (they had been buried
near the place of execution), pickets of troops were

220 VATJDOTJX-WORSHIP AND CANKIBALISM.

placed round the spot ; but in the morning three of the
graves were found empty, and the bodies of the two
Papalois and the Mamanloi had disappeared. Super-
stitious fear had probably prevented the soldiers from
staying where they had been posted, and as most of the
troops belonged to the sect of the Vaudoux, they probably
connived at rather than prevented the exhumation.

Among those who attended the trial were the Span-
ish charge d'affaires, Don Mariano Alvarez, and the
well-known Admiral Mendez Nunez; but they were
so horrified by the sight of the child's remains on the
judge's table and the disgusting evidence, that they had
precipitately to leave the court-house. For years after
Congo beans were forbidden at our table.

When the trial was over, I asked the public prose-
cutor to give me copies of the depositions made and all
the secret evidence collected, or, if too voluminous, to
allow me to read them over. He agreed to do so, but I
never was permitted to see them. I heard afterwards
that President Geffrard had refused to sanction his
showing them to me, as the President himself confessed
to my Spanish colleague that, much as he had previously
known about the practices of the Vaudoux, the revela-
tions made in private to the police and to the magis-
trates were so revolting, that he was ashamed to place
them before the representative of a Christian country.

President Geffrard behaved with great courage on this
occasion, for though continued appeals were made for
pardon, he remained firm. He was warned that such

VAUDOUX- WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 221

an execution would sap the attachment of the masses,
but he insisted that the condemned should be executed.
The example probably deterred others from openly com-
mitting such crimes, or from committing them near
civilised centres ; but when Geffrard quitted power, the
sect again raised its head, and human sacrifices became
common. We, however, heard little of these dreadful
rites after the fall of Salnave. It can scarcely be said
that civilisation is making progress ; it is more probable
that the authorities, absorbed in their intrigues to main-
tain their power, do not care to inquire too closely into
the disappearance of children. But the natural affec-
tion of parents is often stronger than superstition, and
lately many of these cannibals have been arrested and
punished. " Pressed by questions, Pierrine acknowledged
to have thus poisoned many children ; " ^ that is, she
threw them into a trance, then liilled them, and cooked
their flesh into savoury dishes for her husband and
intimate female friends.

I believe that what I have just stated is the true
explanation, and instead of there having been any im-
provement, the subject is only ignored, as one likely to
create difficulties. Instead of the country advancing in
civilisation since the fall of Geffrard, it has indeed
retrograded. Civil wars and the imbecile government
of Nissage-Saget followed, and then again insurrections
and civil wars. Whilst struggling for a precarious
tenure of power, who was to think of the morals of
1 L'CEil, June i8, 1887.

222 VAUDOUX-WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

the people? It cannot be supposed that under the
government of General Domingue (1874 and 1875)
Vaudoux-worship was discouraged, when it was openly
stated and believed that his principal Minister was a
Papaloi, and head of the sect in the southern province.
His brutal character and love of bloodshed would add
to the suspicion. Under the next President, Boisrond-
Canal (1876-78), a decree was issued forbidding the
Vaudoux dances, as under cover of these other rites
were carried on ; but that decree has, I hear, been since
repealed. During the last few years all these fearful
practices appear to have extended. According to ac-
counts published in the Haytian papers, to which I
shall hereafter refer, people are killed and their flesh
sold in the market; children are stolen to furnish the
repasts of the cannibals ; bodies are dug from their graves
to serve as food, and the Vaudoux reign triumphant.

Don Mariano Alvarez, the Spanish chargi d'affaires,
had a great liking for Haytian society, and lived much
with certain families, and was very familiar with what
was occurring in the country. His friends in intimate
intercourse would tell him what they would not care
to say publicly. I knew that he had sent to his Govern-
ment many official reports on the subject of Vaudoux-
worship, and I therefore requested him to furnish me
with some extracts. He readily consented, and autho-
rised me to publish them in any way I pleased,
shall therefore make use of them, as they confirm my
own inquiries.

VAUDOtJX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 223

Mr. Alvarez's account of the Claircine incident
differs only in a few details from mine, but he had
not the same opportunities that I had fully to investi-
gate it. He says: — "I have previously reported on
the subject of the fetish sect of Vaudoux, imported
into Hayti by the slaves coming from the tribes on tlie
Western Coast of Africa, and mentioning the crimes of
these cannibals. To-day I enclose an extract from the
ofificial Moniteur, in which they have commenced to
publish the process against four men and four women,
who were shot near this capital on the 13th instant,
convicted on their own confession of having eaten,
in Bizoton, near Port-au-Prince, on the night of 31st
December last, a young child of twelve years old, called
Claircine, whose own aunt delivered her to these
anthropophagi, and for having another child that they
were feeding up to sacrifice, and eat on the first days
of January, in commemoration of the feast of the King
of Africa. I assisted at the trial, and there, appeared
to have been no doubt that, if the public prosecutor
had desired to verify the case minutely, not only the
witnesses, but even the mother of the victim merited
the same fate as the cannibals who were proved to
have eaten her.

" President Gefifrard, who is not afraid of the Vau-
doux, although all the mountains and plains of this
republic are full of these anthropophagi, with an
energy which does him honour, has caused the autho-
rities to throw down the altars, collect the drums,

224 VAUDOUX-WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

timbrels, and other ridiculous instruments which the
Papalois use in their diabolical ceremonies, and in the
district of Port-au-Prince has imprisoned many indi-
viduals of both sexes, who, on being interrogated, con-
fessed what had been the fate of other children who
had disappeared from their homes and whose where-
abouts were unknown."

As an instance of what occurred in the time of the
Emperor Soulouque, I may again quote the reports of
the Spanish chargi d'affaires. In 1852, in consequence
of a denunciation, General Vil Lubin, Governor of
Port-au-Prince, arrested in the neighbourhood of that
city about fifty individuals of both sexes. On examin-
ing the house in which human sacrifices were offered,
packages of salted human flesh were found rolled up
in leaves. The authorities threw these into the sea.
During the examination of the prisoners, they declared
that among the members of the best families of the
city were many associates of the society of the Vau-
doux, and that if the authorities desired to be satisfied
of this assertion, let them be permitted to beat the
little drum. They would present themselves even to
the Emperor Soulouque himself, for among the Vau-
doux-worshippers no one under peril of his life would
be wanting to his engagements. Perhaps there were
similar revelations made during the judicial examina-
tions in 1864, which induced President Geffrard to
refuse me the permission to read over the deposition
of the witnesses at the great trial. It confirms also

VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 225

the assertion of the Haytian journal, La Virit^,
that "well-to-do people" (jgens aisis) joined in these
excesses.

In part proof of the above statement, Mr. Alvarez
tells the following story : — One of the principal ladies
of Port-au-Prince, rich, and of what are called the very
best families, was found late at night by General
Vil Lubin stretched out on the steps of the Catholic
cathedral, wearing only the blue dress of the country
negresses, without shoes, and going through certain
incantations called wanga ; the Governor induced this
lady to allow him to accompany her home. I knew
the person to whom Mr. Alvarez alludes very well, and
certainly she was one of the last women whom I should
have suspected to have had anything to do with the
Vaudoux. If this lady could be influenced by the
Papalois, any one else in Hayti might readily be.

I add some further observations of Mr. Alvarez, as
they give the view held by a Catholic who represented
Her Most Catholic Majesty, 1862:— "The delegate
of His Holiness, Monseigneur du Cosquer, has left
much disgusted with this country on account of the
corruption of its customs, the dearth of religion among
the sectaries of the Yaudoux, and the opposition and
want of confidence with which he was met in what is
called in Hayti civilised society. In order that you
may appreciate the accuracy of the incidents which
pass here, a simple relation of some of a very recent
epoch will be sufficient to show the powerful influence

226 VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

exercised on the inhabitants by the sect or the society
of the Vaudoux, so spread throughout the country;
this, with other causes inherent in the race, to which
it would be tiresome to refer, prove that Hayti is, of
all the Eepublics in America, the most backward and
the most pernicious in every point of view. From the
same motive, I will not stop to speak of the origin of
the fetish religion of the Vaudoux, or of the worship of
the serpent imported from the tribes of the west coast
of Africa by the slaves coming from that country, and
I now pass to facts.

"In the month of last August (1862) there died, in the
section called Belair, a negro, and his body was taken
to the Catholic Church. The defunct belonged to the
society of the Vaudoux. The men and women who
accompanied the corpse began to scream in the temple
like those possessed of devils, and they commenced a
scene such as might occur in mid- Africa. The AhM
Pascal tried to re-establish order ; his request that they
should respect the sacred precincts was useless; and
the Abbe having refused, on account of this scandalous
conduct, to accompany the body to the cemetery, the
mourners fell upon him, seized him by the collar, and
he had to fly to the sacristy, the interference of a
foreigner alone saving him from further ill-treatment;
but the tumult was so great, that even the cross which
is used at funerals was broken to pieces. Two women
were taken out fainting, and the rabble marched off to
the cemetery to bury the body ; some arrests were made,

VATJDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 227

but it is not known what punishment was inflicted, as
the tribunals (authorities) always leave unpunished the
misdemeanours of the sectaries of the Vaudoux, as I
am going to prove."

Mr. Alvarez then tells a horrible story, to which I
shall refer in the next chapter.

" In February 1862 a negro was taken prisoner at
Ouanaminthe for having assassinated his father. He
was condemned to death by the tribunals ; but he
defended himself by saying that he had done no more
than follow the orders of the serpent. In a few months
he was set at liberty."

" It is not long since that in one of the streets of
Port-au-Prince was found at early morn the body of an
unknown youth about twenty years of age who had a
weapon piercing his heart, and attached to that a thin
hollow cane. It was supposed that he had been as-
sassinated in order to suck his blood. I might cite
many other facts of which I have taken note, but what
I have related appear sufficient for the object I have
proposed to myself. The disappearance of children is
frequent at certain epochs or seasons, and it is supposed
that they are eaten by the cannibals of this society."

" In the secret ceremonies of the Vaudoux the drink
in use is the blood of animals (and of children) mixed
with white rum ; and the Papalois, either from the im-
moderate use they make of alcohol mixed with blood,
or from handling the poisons they use in their devil-
craft, die in general, although at an advanced age,

228 VAUDOUX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

covered with leprosy and incurable sores." I myself
heard this stated in Hayti, but I fear that a few ex-
ceptions have in this case made the rule.
, " The people endure every possible oppression from
the Papaloi, and if you ask them why they permit these
vexations and the abuses which are committed, they
answer, ' We are indeed obliged, unhappy that we are ;
if we denounced our neighbours, certainly we should
quickly die.' From which it may be inferred that they
tolerate this conduct because they fear, and they fear
because they know each other." This mutual dread is
noticed by all foreign residents in Hayti; it even ex-
tends to the higher classes.

"The society of the Vaudoux, although now (1862,
Presidency of General Geffrard) not so preponderant as
in the time of Soulouque, who was one of its most
believing followers, is very extended in all the Eepublic,
but there are few initiated into its inner secrets ; they
have their signs and symbols, and the society meddle
in the politics of every Government which has existed
in Hayti ; they sometimes sustain them, and in certain
cases will act as a secret police, and the Vaudoux is
looked on as one of the firmest props of the independence
of the country."

I may notice that the Papaloi lead the most debauched
lives. They are feared by all, and the fear inspired
is so great that few, if any, women among the lower
orders would resist their advances. The notice of such
important personages may probably be looked upon as

VAUDOTJX-WOESHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 229

an honour. Unlimited drink is the next idea of hap-
piness to a negro, and in this the offerings of their
followers enable the priests to indulge to their hearts'
content.

After studying the history of Hayti, one is not
astonished that the fetish-worship continues to flourish.
The negroes imported from the west coast of Africa
naturally brought their religion with them, and the
worship of the serpent was one of its most distinguishing
features. St. M^ry writes of the slaves arriving with
a strange mixture of Mohammedanism and idolatry,
to which they soon added a little Catholicism. Of
Mohammedanism I have not myself observed the faintest
trace. When the negroes found the large, almost harm-
less serpent in Hayti, they welcomed it as their god,
and their fetish priests soon collected their followers
around them. The French authorities tried to put
down all meetings of the Vaudoux, partly because they
looked upon them as political, but they did not succeed.
Many of the tribes in Africa are to this day cannibals,^
and their ancestors no doubt imported this taste into
the French colony. It was difficult at that epoch to
indulge in it, as all the children of the slaves were

' " In the fetish-house was found a kind of pie made in a large
brass pan, which, on being examined, was found to contain portions
of two human beings." — British Colony of Cape Coast Castle Times,
December li, 1884.

" In war-time they (the Niam-niams) eat those they have killed.
Any individual, solitary and without relations, who dies is eaten in the
place where he lived. Cannibalism is most prevalent among the tribes
that live nearest the Congo." — Daily News, February 25, 1887.

230 VAUDOUX-WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM.

carefully registered, and their disappearance would have
been immediately remarked ; they may, however, have
made use of the expedients to which I will hereafter
refer for producing apparent death.

The remark I made when I first began to inquire
into this subject may naturally suggest itself to others.
If the majority of the Haytians be tainted by the
Vaudoux, who is it that denounces these horrible
crimes, and how could a remedy be found ? The
answer is : that there are in Hayti, as I have before
noticed, two sects of Vaudoux-worshippers ; one, per-
liaps the least numerous, that indulges in human sacri-
fices; the other, that holds such practices in horror,
and is content with the blood of the white goat and
the white cock. At one time during my residence
in Hayti the police took no notice of the latter, and
permitted them to carry on their ceremonies in Port-
au-Prince in a large courtyard adjoining a house in
which a friend of mine lived. To preserve as much
secrecy as possible, the courtyard was hung round with
cloth hangings, and watchmen were placed to keep
prying eyes at a distance ; but my friend, though not
curious, occasionally obtained a glimpse of the pro-
ceedings. They in no way varied from those described
by Moreau de St. Mery.

In the country districts the Catholic priests say these
fetish-worshippers call themselves " Les MysUres" and
that they mix Catholic and Vaudoux ceremonies in
a singular manner; the name probably refers to the

VADDOUX- WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM. 231

rites they practise. I have been assured by many
officers connected with the Haytian police, that if the
followers of this sect did not secretly denounce to them
the crimes committed by the others, it would be impos-
sible for them to keep the assassin sect in check. It
is probable that, acting in unison with these compa-
ratively harmless savages, the Haytian Government
might be able to do much, if ever they seriously desire
it, to put an end to the shedding of human blood.

I have been informed that, besides the goat and
cock, the Vaudoux priests occasionally sacrifice a lamb.
This idea they have probably taken from the Catholic
Church — the paschal lamb. It is carefully washed,
combed, and ornamented with bunches of blue ribands
before being sacrificed.

( 232 )

CHAPTEE VI.

CANNIBALISM.

Many persons appear to think that cannibalism is a
later importation than Vaudouxism, and came with the
Africans freed by our cruisers. If it were so, the seed
fell on good ground, as the practice has spread to every
district of the Eepublic. This opinion, however, has
no foundation, as Moreau de St. M^ry, in naming the
different tribes imported into Hayti during the last
century, says: — "Never had any a disposition more
hideous than the last (the Mondongoes), whose depravity
has reached the most execrable of excesses, that of
eating their fellow-creatures. They bring also to Santo
Domingo those butchers of human flesh, for in their
country there are slaughter-houses where they sell
slaves as they would calves, and they are here, as in
Africa, the horror of the other negroes."

This is a fitting introduction to this chapter, in which
I shall treat of cannibalism as not connected with
religious rites, and to the great knowledge shown by
the Vaudoux priests of herbs as poisons and antidotes,
which, though possibly exaggerated by some inquirers,
is no doubt very great.

CANNIBALISM. 233

In the following passages from Mr. Alvarez's official
reports the first impression will be that there must be
gross exaggeration. I thought so when I first read
, them, but the more my inq[uiries extended, the less
I was inclined to doubt them, and the facts elicited
during recent trials in Hayti only confirm them. If
not exactly true, it is the firm belief of all classes of
Haytian society that they are so. During thirteen
years I had the best opportunities of hearing the
opinion of Presidents, intelligent Secretaries of State,
the principal members of the medical profession,
lawyers, merchants both foreign and native, as well
as other residents who had passed a lifetime in the
Eepublic, and the testimony was more or less unani-
mous as to the profound knowledge of the qualities
of herbs and of their application possessed by the
Papaloi : —

" The human imagination can scarcely conceive any-
thing more absurd, more barbarous, or more ridiculous
than the acts committed by these ferocious sectaries,
who are called Papaloi, Papa Boco, and other names as
stupid as they are ill-sounding. They produce death
— apparent, slow, or instantaneous — madness, paralysis,
impotence, idiocy, riches or poverty, according to their
will.

" It has happened on occasions that persons have
retired to bed in the possession of their senses to
awaken idiots, and remain in that state in spite of
the aid of science, and in a few days to be completely

234 CANNIBALISM.

cured when the causes which have produced the aliena-
tion have ceased. One individual struck another ; the
latter threatened him with impot&ncj. At the end
of fifteen days he was paralysed in all his members.^
Following the advice of a friend, he consulted a Papaloi,
who had the coolness to confess that he had himself
sold to his enemy the phylter that had reduced him to
that state, but that for the sum of about ;£'20 he would
cure him. In fact, in a short time, by means of the
remedies of the Papaloi, he was completely restored
to health. And if it be doubted that these indi-
viduals, without even common- sense, can understand
so thoroughly the properties of herbs and their com-
binations so as to be able to apply them to the injury
of their fellow-creatures, I can only say that tradition is
a great hook, and that they receive these instructions as
a sacred deposit from one generation to another, with
the further advantage that in the hills and mountains
of this island grow in abundance similar herbs to those
which in Africa they employ in their incantations."

To show how the knowledge of herbs is extended
throughout the population, I will insert here an account

1 Burton, in his " Mission to the King of Dahomey," notices that the
fetish priests are a kind of secret police for the despotic king, and
exercise the same influence as in Hajti. They are supposed to be able
to give health, wealth, length of days, and can compass the destruction
of the applicant's foes, all for a fee. Bosman, in his account of the
slave coast of Guinea, says that a negro who offered opposition to the
priests was poisoned by them, and bp.came speechless and paralysed in
his limbs ; and that if any woman betrays the secrets of the priests, she
is burnt to death.

CANNIBALISM. 235

of an incident brought in evidence at a trial which
took place in Hayti on the 3rd June 1887: — "The
dead child "was carried' to , the house of this officer,
who had it placed in the presence of Pierrine, and who
pressed her to restore it to life. Pierrine gathered some
herbs in the neighbourhood, and made with them a
curious beverage, which she administered to the child,
who immediately recovered consciousness. This act
produced great emotion among the population." I
have taken this extract from an article published in
the Haytian newspaper, L'CEil Of June 18, 1887.

A. case occurred in i860 which was in reality so re-
markable and drew so much public attention at the
time, and was supported by evidence so ample, that
there was no possibility of doubting it. It was first
told me by one of the most eminent Haytian medical
mpn in Port-au-Prince, and confirmed by another of the
same nationality, who had been an eye-witness of some
of the details and pledged his word as to their truth.
I one day mentioned the story in the French Legation,
as I was still somewhat sceptical, when, to my surprise,
I found that it had been made the subject of an official
report. Count M^jan, at that time chargi d'affaires,
offered to give me the extract relating to this crime,
with permission to make any use I pleased of it.

The following are the particulars as received from
my medical friends : — " The police having been informed
that some shrieks had been heard at night in the
cemeteiy of Port-au-Prince, went there in the morning.

236 CANNIBALISM.

and found a grave disturbed, and near it an open coffin,
and lying at its side the body of a lady -who had been
buried on the previous day. A dagger had been thrust
into her bosom, and as blood had flowed from the
wound and covered her burial clothes, it was evident
that she had been buried alive. Many arrests were
made, but the affair was hushed up. It was currently
reported, however, that the husband of the murdered
lady had a mistress, whom he neglected after marriage,
and that this woman had applied to a Mamanloi for
aid. She received a sleeping potion, which she con-
trived to have given to the lady during her first con-
finement, and she was hurriedly buried, to be restored
to consciousness in the graveyard at dead of night, with
her rival armed with a dagger before lier. Her shrieks
drew the attention of some Jamaica negroes, who ran
towards the spot shouting, but whom superstition pre-
vented entering the cemetery. Their shouts, however,
caused the murderers to fly and leave the corpse where
it was found next morning." This is the story told me,
as I have said, by my medical friends, and it was uni-
versally believed to be true ; in fact, it was true, and
was never denied by those in authority with whom I
conversed on the_subject.

The accounts given by my Trench and Spanish
colleagues were more complete, and probably more
exact, as they were both in Port-au-Prince when this
tragedy occurred. My previous French colleague (the
Marquis de Forbin Janson) wrote, 2nd August i860: —

CANNIBALISM. 237

" Two days after my arrival at Port-au-Prince a
woman sent to sleep by means of a narcotic and buried
the same evening in the cemetery of the town was dis-
interred during the night. She still breathed. They
killed her and carried away the brain, the heart, and
the liver of the victim, the remains of the body being
found near the grave. Next day an inquiry was ordered;
several persons were arrested, among others a priestess
of the Vaudoux (a Mamanloi). This woman made
some revelations, and even offered to deliver up to
justice the authors of the murder and the profanation,
drawing them to prison by an irresistible power, by
beating on her drum in a particular manner. But the
judicial authorities, already startled by the number and
the importance of the persons implicated, drew back
before this new test. They ordered the journals to be
silent, and the affair was hushed up. It is thought that
the principal motive of the crime was a sentiment of
vengeance, but they hold for certain that the mutilated
parts of the body were destined for the celebration of
some Vaudoux rite of the African fetishism still prac-
tised, whatever they may say, by the great majority of
the Haytians."

I think this case of so much importance, that at the
risk of repetition I will give the oflScial report made by
Mr. Alvarez : — " In July of i860 there was committed
in Port-au-Prince a horrible, almost an incredible, crime.
A young woman died suddenly, and was buried on the
following (same) day. At night several individuals of

238 CANNIBALISM,

both sexes went to the cemetery, dug up the coffin, and
opened it. What they actually did is not known, but
what is positive is, that the unburied began to shriek
and shout for help. The guard near the cemetery,
composed of Jamaicans, Louisianians, and Creoles,
approached, and saw the woman sitting in the coffin,
and various persons — a torch in one hand and a dagger
in the other — vociferating words they did not under-
stand. The Creole soldiers of the country fled dismayed,
but the Louisianians, as soon as they had overcome the
first feeling of terror, ran to the succour of the unburied.
Already it was too late ; they found her dead from the
stroke of a dagger, and her heart and lungs torn from
her bosom. The assassins escaped, but subsequently
some prisoners were made ; but in a few days they were
at liberty; and it is related that the lungs and the
heart had been cooked and eaten in one of the country
houses at Bizoton."

My friend, Auguste Elie, Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, deplored but could not deny the truth
of this story ; and having no Vaudoux prejudices him-
self, having been born and bred in France, conversed
freely on the subject, and told us many similai" par-
ticulars that had come to his knowledge.

Again I hear my readers say, " It may have been so
in the past, but surely not now." I will therefore give
two accounts of what occurred in 1887, taken from
Haytian journals. This is what the clerical journal.
La Viriti, of August 20, 1887, prints: — "A Geeat

CANNIBALISM. 239

Scandal. — During the night of Sunday, August 7, they
disinterred in the cemetery of Jacmel a certain Tifa,
who had been buried on tlie afternoon of the previous
Saturday ; certain parts of the body were carried away.
By whom and for what purpose no one knows. It
would be as well for the authorities to place a surveil-
lance over the cemeteries to prevent such horrors."

'Now I must quote a journal of opposite politics,
edited by the indomitable Mr. J. J. Audain, whom no
official anger can completely crush : — " A deed of un-.
heard-of savagery occurred in the cemetery of this town
(Jacmel) on the night of Saturday the 13 th (a week
after the disinterinent of Tifa), on the body of the young
L. Maximilien, buried on the afternoon of the same
day ; and on Sunday, at three o'clock in the afternoon,
people passing near the place saw the grave half filled
up, and noticed on the ground a piece of the shroud.
Notice was given to the authorities, who hastened to
the spot with the relatives of the dead, and after having
dug out the grave, they found the cover of the cofiia
broken to pieces, the corpse resting on its side, an eye
and a part of the face and the hair, and doubtless other
parts of the body, carried away. His shoes had also
been removed. This act of abomination and savagery
has produced consternation among those who are anxious
to see the country advance in the path of civilisation,
A second letter from Jacmel informs us that the whole
head was removed, and that the body had received a
wound near the heart. The letter adds: — 'Was his

240 CANNIBALISM.

heart also carried away ? ' " — Le Peuple of August 20,
1887.

Jacmel has a very unsavoury reputation in all matters
relating to Vaudoux sacrifices, the eating of children,
and the digging up of corpses to be used as food.

Of the truth of the following instance of a child
being placed under the influence of narcotics in order
that, by a pretended burial, its disappearance might
not draw attention, I have the testimony of ocular
witnesses. A foreign lady with whom I was personally
acquainted, hearing that a child living near her house
was ill, went down to see it; she found it lying in
a stupefied state in its mother's lap. Her suspicions
were immediately aroused, and she sharply questioned
the mother as to what had been done to the child. Her
answers were so unsatisfactory, yet so mournful, that
my friend determined to keep a watch on the case.
She called in the evening, and was told that the child
was dead. She insisted on seeing the corpse, and
found that though the heart was still and the pulse had
ceased to beat, yet the child did not look dead, and re-
marked this to the by-standers, but they answered as if
in chorus, " Yes, it is dead." She told the mother that
she was not satisfied, and that she would return in the
morning with her husband, and that in the meantime,
the body must not be buried. Next day she and her
husband walked down to the house and asked to see
the body. The mother replied that the neighbours
having insisted, she had allowed them to bury her child.

CANNIBALISM. 241

and pointed out the grave. The French gentleman
called to some of his labourers and had the grave
opened; there they found the coffin, but the child's
body was absent. Arrests were made, but no one was
punished. It will be seen, from the account I propose
to give of a recent trial, that the child must have been
drugged, then probably restored to consciousness to be
used as a sacrifice or as food. It was by these means
that the Papalois probably were enabled to obtain their
victims during the French colonial period.

It would have been useless to multiply instances of
these horrible practices had not the truth of my state-
ments been questioned, not only by some foreign writers,
but even by those who are personally acquainted with
the correctness of every detail. I refer to Haytian
writers who are in the pay of their Government ; there-
fore I may say that out of their own mouths will I
convict them by quoting the accounts published in their
own journals.

What I have related in Chapter V. refers more or less
to human sacrifices as connected with religion, and even
the preceding paragraphs may relate more or less to
fetish customs ; but there is another phase — cannibalism
as practised for the sake of the food which the slaugh-
tering of human beings affords to a vile section of the
community.

In Consul Hutchinson's paper on the traits of African
tribes, published in the " Transactions of the Ethnological
Society," New Series, vol. i., p. 338, he states: — "I

Q

242 CANNIBALISM.

have during the last year seen it stated in a Sierra
Leone newspaper, on the authority of Mr. Priddy, a
missionary of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connection
in the colony, not that he had heard of, hut that he had
seen, hampers of dried human flesh carried about on
men's backs to be sold for eating purposes in the
progress of a recent civil war between the Soosoo and
Tisney tribes." ^ In Hayti it is worse, as they do not
sell the flesh of their enemies as food, but that of their
own neighbours, even sometimes of their own relatives,
if not their own children.

A lady, the widow of a missionary, who was forced to
stay in the interior of Hayti (north-east of Gonaives),
after the death of her husband, on account of the civil
war in the surrounding districts in the years 1868 and
1869, related some horrible incidents which were of her
own knowledge. She declared that human sacrifices
were constant ; that human flesh was openly sold in the
market. One would willingly have believed in exaggera-
tion ; but similar incidents which occurred during the
reign of Soulouque, related to me by one so intelligent
and truthful as Auguste Elie, Secretary of State for

^ Barbot states that the common food of the natives of the kingdom
of Ansiko (west coast of Africa) is man's flesh, insomuch that their
markets are provided with it, as ours in Europe with beef and mutton.
All prisoners of war, unless they can sell them alive to greater advan-
tage, they fatten for slaughter, and at last sell them to butchers to
supply the markets, and roast them on spits, as we do other meat (date
1700). — "Churchill's Collection," vol. v. p. 479. Barbot also notices
that the people of Jagos, Congo, and Angola were also cannibals.

CANNIBALISM. 243

Foreign Affairs, compelled me to accept with firm belief
the horrible stories she told in full detail.

Monsieur Desjardins, an eminent French merchant
in Port-au-Prince, remarked to me that whilst walking
near Cap Haitien he met a party of soldiers beating a
man with their clubs ; he inquired the reason, and they
told their prisoner to open his basket, and there he saw
the body of a child cut up into regular joints.

The following are a few recent cases: — "PoET-AU
Prince, February 1888. — Pteeently the body of a child
was found near this city ; an arm and a leg had been
eaten by the Vaudoux. During Christmas week a man
was caught in the streets here with a child cut up
in quarters for sale. Cannibalism still prevails, despite
all the forced statements to the contrary. President
Salomon, to please the masses, the negro element, allows
them to dance a Vaudoux dance formerly prohibited." ^

" He (the French physician) declared to the World's
informant that in the summer of 1884, whilst in Port
de Paix (north coast), he had, while staying at a board-
ing-house, the leg of a child served him as part of his
dinner. Before discovering the nature of the dish he
ate a small piece of the flesh, but disliking it, did not
eat any more." ^

L'CEil, of Port-au-Prince, of June 18, 1887, gives a
long account of the. trial of two women and one man as
belonging to the society of children poisoners. They

^ The Evening Post of New York, February 25, l888.
' World ol New York, December 5, 1886.

244 CANNIBALISM.

did not poison them unto death, but unto a death-like
sleep, from which they were awakened to be killed and
eaten. One woman, Pierrine Pierre Louis, was made
to restore to consciousness in the presence of the police
a chUd that its mother thought was dead.

In this case the first person who was arrested was a
woman named Laguerre. She withdrew from the trial
by her own act, as, refusing all sustenance, she died of
inanition. The other prisoners were the woman Do
Oastin and her husband, Petithomme Morisset.

Pierrine, after she had restored the child to conscious-
ness, was pressed with questions regarding other chil-
dren, and she then confessed that she had in the same
way poisoned many little ones of the neighbourhood,
among others those of Breville and Muscadin Parraison.

Do Castin was denounced by her own sister-in-law
as forming part of the society of children poisoners ; she
confessed that she was a member of that society, but
that she had never eaten human flesh, as had Madame
Laguerre, Pierrine, and her own husband, Morisset.

The jury brought in a verdict of guilty against the
three prisoners, but with des circonstances atUnuantes.
They were condemned to seven years' hard labour. The
jury were quite satisfied with the testimony brought
forward by the prosecution ; yet, though these prisoners
were proved to be child-stealers, murderers, and canni-
bals, they added the words with " extenuating circum-
stances," to save them from capital punishment. The
deaths of children in Hayti are so numerous that it is

CANNIBALISM. 245

impossible for the population to increase rapidly ; the
revelations made in these and other trials lead to the
supposition that the population is being eaten down by
this society of children poisoners, -which is scattered
through every district of the republic.

This is the matter-of-fact way in which the Haytian
journal, Le Peuple, of June ii, 1887, refers to this
trial: — "CRIMINAL Session. — Petit Homme Morisset,
Pierre (Pierrine) Pierre Louis, et Descatin, accused of
having, by the aid of witchcraft (or sorcery), poisoned
several children of the first rural section of Grand-
Go4ve, particularly those of the citizens Br^ville and
Muscadin, Monfleury, Morisset, d'Exdna, and of CI60-
melie Pierre Louis, — condemned to seven years of hard
labour." Among the children eaten by these prisoners
were those of their sister-in-law, Cleom^lie.

Glancing over the Haytian papers one comes on such
paragraphs as this : — " Numa Laferriere, an officer in
the regiment of Tirailleurs, having lost a child last
Sunday, was persuaded that this child had been taken
and eaten by the woman Ald^, a neighbour of evil
reputation." ^ He fell upon her with his club and
nearly beat her to death.

Or this : — " On Thursday the police arrested, stunned
with blows, and then put in prison a stealer (woman)
of children." ^

This woman was named Dedette. She had stolen a

1 La TiriU, July 16, 1887.
^ Ihid., September 3, 1887.

246 CANNIBALISM.

little boy named Josepli Cambronne, aged from ten to
eleven years, but he managed to escape from her whilst
she was taking him to the woods. In her house the
police discovered " a candle, of which the stench made
them helieve that it was not composed only of wax."^
The same journal in the same number refers to another
child recovered by the police. The practice of child-
stealing is so common that but little attention is paid
to it.

Though the Haytians believe in the mythical " loup-
garou" they have also the fullest faith in his counter-
part among their fellow countrymen and countrywomen.
It is the loup-garou who is employed by the Papaloi to
secure a child for sacrifice in case the neighbourhood
does not furnish a suitable subject ; and they are sup-
posed to hang about lonely houses at night to carry off
children. I have often heard my young Haytian ser-
vants rush into my country-house laughingly saying
they had seen a loup-garou ; their laugh, however,
tinged with a kind of dread. They said that these
human monsters prowled about the house at night, and
that nothing but the presence of my dogs kept them in
respect. I have occasionally seen the object of their
fear. I went down one day to the outer gate, and look-
ing through the hedge, saw one of the most hideous
negroes possible ; he had the face of the proverbial ogre,
with two long upper teeth protruding over his lower
lip. As he stood near the gate, I approached and opened

^ La YiriU, September 17, 1887.

b

CANNIBALISM. 247

it, but the moment he caught sight of the faithful guar-
dians that accompanied me, he shuffled off and dis-
appeared down a neighbouring lane. The negroes have
almost a superstitious terror of strange dogs.

There is no doubt that these loup garous do carry-
off many children, not only for the priests, but for the
eaters of human flesh as food. They generally look
only for native children, and I have only heard of one
instance in which they attempted to carry off a white
girl. She was snatched from the arms of her nurse
whilst on the Champs de Mars by a huge negro, who
ran off with her towards the woods ; but being pursued
by two mounted gentlemen who accidentally witnessed
the occurrence, he dropped the child in front of the
horses to save himself from capture. In this instance
there was little doubt but that the nurse had lent her
co-operation to the Vaudoux or the cannibals. The
little white girl of former years is now a happy wife
in England.

I read the following in a local Haytian paper : — " At
Jacmel, on the southern coast, an old woman, a pro-
fessional midwife, was lying on her deathbed surrounded
by her neighbours, and they were somewhat surprised
at her long struggles and loud groaning. At last she
said, 'I cannot die in peace; lift aside the bed and
dig underneath;' and on doing so, great was their
astonishment to come on numerous small skeletons,
which the old fiend acknowledged were the remains of
children she had eaten. After this confession, they say,

248 CANNIBALISM.

she died quietly. One cannot but be reminded of the
horrible picture in the Wiertz gallery in Brussels of
the woman cutting up and cooking the infant. It must
have been painted under the influence of nightmare."

Whilst I was in Hayti a woman was arrested within
fifty yards of my gate, accused of having eaten the
children of her neighbours. She also was a midwife.

That the practice of midwives slaying children for
the purpose of eating them is an old one in Hayti is
proved by the following account related last century by
Moreau de St. Mdry : —

" They have had in Hayti proof that the Mondongoes
had kept up their odious inclinations, particularly in
1786, in a negress, a hospitable midwife on an estate in
the neighbourhood of J^r^mie. The proprietor, having
remarked that most of the negro babies died within
eight days of their birth, had a watch put upon the
woman ; she was surprised eating one of the children
recently buried, and she confessed that with this design
she had caused it to die."

In 1878 two women were arrested in a hut near
Port-au-Prince ; they were caught in the act of eating
the flesh of a child raw, and on further examination it
was found that they had first sucked all the blood from
its body, and that part of the flesh had been salted for
later use.

I have several times referred to the information
given me by the Secretary of State, M. Auguste Elie.
He told me he knew the following incident as a fact

CANNIBALISM. 249

which occurred during the reiga of Soulouque. A mau
with whom he was personally acquainted was visiting
with his wife in the plains of Oul de Sac, when she
complained of feeling unwell, and they mounted their
horses to return to town. At sunset a violent storm
coming on, they determined to halt at a cottage they
saw near. They entered and found two men and a
woman there. His wife becoming worse, he determined
to seek medical help in the village of Croix des
Bouquets, but was a long time before he could find the
Doctor to accompany him. On their arrival at the
cottage he inquired for his wife, and the people said
that, becoming uneasy at his long absence, she had
followed him. They rode back to the village, and
calling at the police station there, the husband induced
the gendarmes to accompany him ; they surrounded
the cottage, arrested the three inmates, and on search-
ing the premises, found the body of the wife, already
dismembered, in a cask in an outhouse, a thick layer of
salt having been thrown over the remains. The only
punishment these assassins received was that adminis-
tered by the clubs of the police whilst conducting
them to prison. After reading these accounts, how
can we throw doubt upon Captain Kennedy's story of
a barrel of so-called pork being sold to a merchant-
ship at St. Marc, which on being examined was found
to be human flesh ?

In 1 869 the police arrested in that beautiful valley
which lies to the east of Kens Koff, to which I have

250 CANNIBALISM.

referred in my first chapter, about a dozen people
accused of cannibalism, and brought them bound to La
Coupe. They had been denounced by the opposing
sectaries of the Vaudoux, Les Myst^res. From the
time they were taken from their houses till their arrival
at the village they were, as usual, beaten in the most
unmerciful manner, and when they were in prison they
were tortured by the thumbscrew, and by cords tight-
ened round their foreheads, and under the influence of
these they made some fearful avowals, in which, however,
little confidence could be placed. A French priest with
whom I was on very intimate terms, hearing of their
arrest, had the curiosity to go and see them. At first
they would not converse with him, but when they found
him protesting against the inhumanity with which they
had been treated, and threatening the jailor that he
would officially report him should such conduct con-
tinue, they placed more confidence in him. The priest
visited them nearly every day, and had many conver-
sations with them in private. They confessed to him
that their avowals under torture were true ; and when
the priest, horrified by the details, said to a mother,
" How could you eat the flesh of your own children ? "
she answered coolly, " And who had a better right, — est-
ce que ce n'est pas moi qui les ai fait ? " ^ One of these

^ Barbot, in his account of the Ansilio kingdom, says : — " That which
is most inhuman is, that the father makes no difficulty to eat the son,
nor the son the fatlier, nor one brother the other ; and whosoever dies,
be the disease ever so contagious, yet they eat the flesh immediately as
a choice dish." — Barbot, in " Churchill's Collection," vol. v. p. 479.

CANNIBALISM. 251

prisoners died under the torture of the cord tightened
round his forehead.

The one bold Haytian, Monsieur J. J. Audain, editor
and proprietor of Le Peuple, who had fearlessly stood
forward to denounce this very peculiar institution, and
endeavoured to urge the Government to put a stop to
it, as far as lay in their power, nearly became a victim
of his zeal.

In Le Peuple of January 23, 1886, appeared the
following article : — " Last week General Alfred Milord,
commanding the town and commune of Grand-Go§,ve,^
accompanied by the chief of sections, proceeded to the
arrest of ten or twelve men and women who carried
on the business of killing people and selling their
" meat " in the market at Grand-Go§,ve. The citizen
who has informed us of this fact is one of the men
most worthy of belief in that town.

" WhUst conducting these people to prison a woman
who had taken the Communion a few weeks previously,
full of remorse, died on the road, and was buried on the
roadside by the rural guard.^ A second, named Sophia,
was brought into town fastened on a donkey ; she was
recognised by the citizens, and the wife of our informant
addressed her thus, ' How is this. Sister Sophia ? — you
who have been the cook of Father Frehel, you who
have taken the Communion scarcely a fortnight ago,
you also are an eater of human flesh ! Ah ! you should

^ See p. 244, trial of the children poisoners.

^ That is, she died from the blows of the policemen's clubs.

252 CANNIBALISM.

have killed yourself before permitting them to bring
you here in this way.'

"This Sophia, on reaching the police station, about
twenty paces from the house of this lady, was taken
dead from the back of the donkey, and the prisoners
dug a grave and buried her.^

" The other anthropophagi declared that for some time
past they had sold human flesh as pork in the market
of Grand-Goave. They have made revelations which
are of the highest importance, but most incredible, and
which can only be believed if one could see them
carried out or performed before oneself. We think
that the authorities would do well to have a doctor, or
even many of them, to be present when they show what
they can do, see them take the life from a body (we are
transcribing what they af&rm), then put it in a state
of lethargy for thirty or forty hours, then go to the
cemetery at night and restore to consciousness the
apparent dead. These are things that should be seen,
learnt, proved, and studied. We will return to these
statements, which we would investigate thoroughly and
know. These people must positively understand the
properties of a thousand and one plants which could be
employed pharmaceutically, and from which might be
drawn their virtues, and by studying them make some
useful discoveries. For if there are noxious qualities

^ This was a mistake ; it was ITransoise who died another victim to
the club, not Sophia.

CANNIBALISM. 253

in certain plants, there must also be good ones — perhaps
antidotes."

This article raised a storm in official quarters ; every-
thing was promptly denied, except the arrests, which
could not be denied (which were said to be for sor-
cery, practice of magic, anything but murders or canni-
balism). The editor was summoned before a migistrate,
threatened with condign punishment, and ordered to
publish the official contradiction in his paper. But no
one was deceived ; every one knew that the article of
the Peuple was founded on fact, and the very next year
the trial of the children-poisoners was held in Grand-
Go^ve.^

The cause of all this official excitement is thus naively
acknowledged in the last paragraph of the article in
the official Moniteur: — "It is more than astonishing
that a journal belonging to a man, born a citizen of
Hayti, should thus of deliberate purpose, 'de gaiU de
cceur,' give the hand to Mr. Spenser St. John, and add
to the abominable calumnies which have been with
levity spread abroad by this person in a curious language
of hatred, about this Haytian people, so hospitable, so
well-disposed, so ready to follow the good path of reason
and of progress" ^

The fact is, that every effort is being made to cover
this horrible sore, not to cure it. Now and then maternal
affection will defy superstition and appeal to the police,

1 See p. 244.

2 Le Moniteur Officid, February 4, 1 886.

254 CANKIBALISM.

and then some arrests are made ; but how few of these
cannibals are brought to trial, and when they are, how
inadequate is the punishment! But, as LCEil Yeij
justly remarks, Hayti is free and independent, and
the people wiU defend to the death all their peculiar
institutions.^

How few of those who have written about Hayti
have dared to touch this subject at all! One reason
is, that people are so little interested in that country
that books fall fiat unless they amuse their readers by
caricatures of the people. Most works are written by
order of the Haytiau Government, and these are natu-
rally only panegyrics of the rulers, and of their wise
government. I should not have touched this subject
had it not been for the deep impression made on me by
the trial of the murderers of Claircine, and finding on
careful inquiry how Vaudoux- worship and cannibalism
were rampant throughout the island.

One of my Haytian friends, Eugene Nau, who had care-
fully studied the botany of the island, informed me that
the number of medicinal plants, deleterious or not ac- ~
cording to the use made of them, to be found through-
out the republic is very great, and that it was equally
certain that the Papalois made use of them in their
practices. I believe that in some French botanical
works lists of these plants have been published, and
their medical value would appear to merit further
study. It is not more remarkable that the Papalois
i L'(Ea of May 23, 1885.

CANNIBALISM, 255

should be acquainted with the properties of the plants
in Hayti than that the Indians of Peru and Bolivia
should have discovered the virtues of the cinchona
bark and the leaf of the coca-plant.

If it be remembered that the Kepublic of Hayti is
not a God-forsaken region in Central Africa, but an
island surrounded by civilised communities; that it
possesses a Government modelled on that of France,
with President, Senate, and House of Eepresentatives ;
with Secretaries of State, prefects, judges, and all the
paraphernalia of courts of justice and of police ; with a
press more or less free ; and, let me add, ar^archbishop,
bishops, and clergy, nearly all Frenchmen, it appears
incredible that the worship of the serpent, poisonings
for a fee by recognised poisoners, and cannibalism should
continue to pervade the island. The truth is, that ex-
cept during a few years of Geffrard's Presidency, no
Government has ever dared resolutely to grapple with
the evil. If they have not encouraged it, they have
ignored it, in order not to lose the favour of the masses.
Although I am not inclined in any way to shelter
myself behind the authority of others, yet it is pleasant
to find so eminent a man as Mr. Froude converted to
one's views. On leaving England he was a strong
doubter, but wherever he went he found witnesses to
prove that Vaudoux-worship and cannibalism were as
a religion to the Haytians. This is the conclusion at
which Mr. Froude arrived: — "But behind the im-
morality, behind the religiosity, there lies active and

256 CANNIBALISM.

alive the horrible revival of the West African super-
stitions ; the serpent-worship and the child sacrifice and
the cannibalism. There is no room to doubt it." ^

It is quite impossible for any one writing about
Hayti to quote the testimony of those still living there ;
it would render their existence a wretched one. Those
who are best acquainted with what occurs among the
masses both in town and country are undoubtedly the
clergy. It was from the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince,
Monseigneur Guilloux, that I received the most exact
and convincing proofs ; and many other Catholic priests,
still probably working in Hayti, furnished me with un-
doubted testimony on the subject ; and a friend but last
year travelling in the Black Eepublic found the clergy
still convinced of the prevalence of Yaudoux-worship
and cannibalism. I do not suppose that a single mem-
ber of the diplomatic service who stayed any time in
the country was ignorant of these practices ; in fact, I
received most valuable assistance from my Spanish
colleague, Don Mariano Alvarez, and from my Prench
ones, the Marquis de Forbin Janson and Count M^jan ;
whilst the English diplomatist who succeeded me in
Port-au-Prince, Major Stuart, made a special study of
the subject, and probably knows as much about it as any
man living. Every member of the foreign community
is more or less acquainted with the fetish practices of
the lower orders.

^ " The English in the West Indies," by James Anthony Froude,
Chap. XX.

CANNIBALISM. 257

But the best sources of information would naturally
be found among the Haytians, if they would but speak.
During my long residence in the republic I had many
opportunities of inquiry. During the excitement caused
by the trial of the cannibals in 1864 men's tongues
were loosened and they spoke freely ; President Geffrard
and Secretary of State Augusta Elie talked with me for
hours on the subject, but it was from the medical pro-
fession and eminent lawyers that most reliable particu-.
lars could be obtained. Had I so wished I could have
filled a volume with the blackest details, but I think I
have proved enough, and perhaps more than enough, in
the present chapters. Let enlightened Haytians take
these things to heart, and devote more attention to the
education of the people than to their own miserable
political squabbles.

E

( 258 )

CHAPTEE VII.

THE GOVERNMENT.

The government of Hayti^ is in form republican, but
is in fact a military despotism, all power being concen-
trated in the hands of the President, who carries out or
ignores the laws according to his pleasure. There are
Secretaries of State, a Senate, and House of Eepresen-
tatives ; but in General Geffrard's time, and generally
since, the Ministers had no power in their respective
departments, but were simply clerks to register the will
of the chief of the State. The Senate was very humble,
whilst the House of Eepresentatives, when it showed
any signs of independence, as in the memorable ses-
sion of 1863, was summarily dismissed, and a packed
Chamber substituted.

Daring the time of the next President, General Sal-
nave, the civil war prevented the Congress meeting
regularly. The Chambers met once ; but drawn swords,

■* I may here notice that the Haytians have chosen the mountain
cabbage-palm (Palma noiilis) as the tree of liberty in the national
arms. It is in nature a beautiful palm, with its dark-green foliage and
perfect shape. The cap of liberty stuck on the top of it makes it look
rather ludicrous, and the arms around its base are not very appropriate
to so unmilitary a people.

THE GOVERNMENT. 259

pistol-shots, and yelling mobs caused the deputies to
understand that with Salnave as chief of the State con-
stitutional government had disappeared. " In revolu-
tionary times, revolutionary measures," said Salnave's
Chief Minister; "we must return to the immortal
principles of 1793." He talked much of cutting oS"
heads, but, to his credit be it said, whilst Minister he
never shed a drop of blood. Enough had been done of
that during the revolution of 1865.

The Presidency of Nissage-Saget followed. Though
the shooting of General Chevalier showed that he could
act as illegally as any of his predecessors, yet he was a
quiet man, who would have worked with the House of
Eepresentatives if they had connived at some of his
peccadilloes, and been blind to those of his Ministers,
who were often most unhappily chosen. But the Depu-
ties were of more than Eoman sternness with their
friends in power. However, both the Senate and the
Chamber of Deputies certainly influenced the Govern-
ment ; but as the majority was generally in opposition,
quarrels with the executive followed, and Nissage-Saget,
in revenge, connived at the illegal appointment of
General Domingue to the Presidentship in the spring
of 1 874. From this time forward Hay ti has been going
from bad to worse, until revolution after revolution
brouo-ht the old Finance Minister of Soulouque into the
Government, and General Salomon became President
of Hayti.

It may be seen from the above sketch that consti-

260 THE GOVERNMENT.

tutional government is not likely to be favourably
developed in such a soil as that of Hayti. The mass
of the population, being ignorant Africans, wish to be
governed by a despotic chief, and not by what they
irreverently call a " tas de voleurs." No constitutional
checks are sufficiently strong to overcome the popular
will, and as yet few Presidents have been able to resist
the desire of the people for personal government. They
themselves seldom show any disposition to thwart this
national predilection.

I have known Hayti for upwards of twenty-five
years, and I must confess that one by one my illusions
have passed away, and my opinions are very changed
indeed from what they were during my early residence
in that country. I then knew a number of enthusiastic
young lawyers, deputies, and government employes, who
talked admirably of their projects of reform, and of their
desire that their country should advance in civilisation.
I believed in this party, and was eager to see it arrive
at power ; but when it did have a chance of having a
Government united with the Legislature in carrying out
judicious reforms, it proved a most lamentable failure.
Boisrond-Canal was President, a man full of good in-
tentions, honest, who had fought gallantly against the
savage tyranny of Salnave, and whose conduct then
had merited the eulogium passed on him as a man
" sans peur et sans reproche." No sooner was this
chief in power than his former friends, jealous of his
advancement, fell away from him, raised opposition, in

THE GOVERKMENT. 261

the Chambers, thwarted every project of Grovernment,
and at last, by their plots and an appeal to arms,
brought on a revolution, which ultimately swept Bois-
rond-Canal and all his mean plotting and scheming
opponents out of the country, and brought in General
Salomon. Tlie question of " What will he do with it ? "
was anxiously watched; and there were many who
believed that a paternal despotism was the best solu-
tion, and might give the country some years of com-
parative peace.

Tlie Government of General Salomon had its baptism
of blood, and dozens of those whom I well knew were
shot. The Government accused these gentlemen of
having conspired. Their friends declared that General
Salomon wished to revenge private wrongs of old stand-
ing, and imitate General Soulouque in terrifying the
coloured population by wholesale massacres. Septimus
Eameau, under President Domingue, followed this policy.
He selected three of his most formidable adversaries to
murder; succeeded with two, and drove many of the
coloured population into exile. This is what is termed
energetic action. It appears the starting-point for black
Presidents, who say that no sooner are they installed
in power than the coloured population begin to conspire.
How far there is any truth in the charge of conspiracy
against those gentlemen who were then residing in
Hayti I will not at this distance of time attempt to
determine ; but it is probable that their deaths may be
somewhat laid at the door of those who, from their

2G2 THE GOVERNMENT.

secure retreat in Jamaica, launched their pamphlets
against the new Government.

Constitution-making is almost the necessary result
of any change of Government in Hayti. In 1805
Dessalines issued the first constitution, which was re-
vised next year by President Petion. In the northern
province Christophe had his own constitution as Pre-
sident, which he also had to revise in 181 1 when he
became King. In the western and southern provinces
under Potion the constitution was also changed in 18 16,
and had a long life, as it lasted till the expulsion of
President Boyer in 1843, when the successful insur-
gents determined to have a fresh constitution, which,
however, did not last long, as President Eiche returned
in 1846 to that of Potion of 18 16, only somewhat re-
vised. In 1849 Soulouque, becoming Emperor, had a
now constitution to suit the occasion, which lasted till
his expulsion. Gefifrard did not attempt to construct
a new social pact; but the revolution under Salnave
voted one in 1867, which was set aside in 1874 by
Domingue. The last constitution is that which was
prepared in 1879 under General Salomon, and is the
one now nominally in force in Hayti, unless a new one
has followed the late revolution (1888).

On the 23d October 1879 General Salomon was
elected President for seven years, and the constitution
is dated i8ch December 1879. It consists of 205
Articles.

Article i. "The Eepublic of Hayti is one and indi-

THE GOVEENMENT. 263

visible ; its teritory and the dependent islands are inviol-
able, and cannot be alienated by any treaty or con-
vention." Tills is a very favourite formula in America,
and was the pretext for continuing a useless war on
the Pacific coast, as both Peru and Bolivia declared
that their constitutions forbid a cession of territory.
That its territory should remain inviolable depends on
its own conduct and the will of others, and is therefore
rather superfluous.

The articles relating to foreigners and their rights
have been somewhat modified, and are more liberal
than in former constitutions. Article 4 declares that
every African or Indian and their descendants are
capable of becoming Haytians; and a concession is
added, that, on the proposition of the President of
Hayti, any foreigner fulfilling certain conditions may
become a citizen.

Article 6 declares that only a Haytian can become
the possessor of real property. This is less offensive
than the form of the old article : — " Aucun blanc quelque
soit sa nation ne pourra mettre le pied sur ce terri-
toire a titre de maitre ou de propri^taire." It would
be better for their prosperity to allow every one to
acquire property in their country, but one is not sur-
prised that their fear of the interference of foreign
Governments should make them exclusive.

Articles 8 to 13 contain the civil and political rights
of the citizens. Article 8 in the constitution of 1 874
is omitted. It declared the right of asylum (in lega-

264 THE GOVERNMENT.

tions and consulates) to be sacred and inviolable, a
curious subject to mention in a constitution.

Articles 14 to 40 are devoted to public right..

Article 14. Haytians are equal before the la'w, but
a naturalised foreigner is not admissible to legislative
and executive functions.

Article 16. " Individual liberty is guaranteed." This
article has never been attended to by any Government.
Every petty official thinks he has a right to " flanq.u^
en prison" any one he pleases; and the next article
(Article 17), that he must be sent before the judge named
by the constitution is also forgotten, and people have
been kept years in prison without redress. Article 1 8.
Every house in Hayti is an inviolable asylum.

Article 24 declares "en matifere politique elle (la
peine de mort) est abolie, et remplacfe par la deten-
tion perpdtueUe dans une prison." Nothing could
better illustrate the absurdity of Haytian laws and
Haytian constitutions. The pen was scarcely dry that
signed this constitution than political proscriptions
commenced, and there is scarcely a city in Hayti that
is not red with the blood of men accused or suspected
of having conspired agaiust the Government of General
Salomon.^

1 All parties are interested that the death penalty for political
delinquencies should be abolished. Salnave's revolutionary Govern-
ment at Cap Haitien issued the following decree : — " The Provisional
Government, to give satisfaction to the principles of supreme justice
■which signalise the civilisation of the age, declares the penalty of
death for political offences abolished in Haytian legislation. Cap

THE GOVERNMENT. 265

Article 25. "Every one has the right to express his
opinions on every subject, and to write, print, and pub-
lish his thoughts," &c. &c., — full liberty of the press.
This is on a par with Article 24.

Article 26. Liberty of worship. This is carried to
its full extent, and every religion, African and Chris-
tian, is free.

Article 30. "Instruction is free. Public instruction
is free and gratuitous. Primary instruction is obliga-
tory and gratuitous." This is for the future. In Hayti
to decree the establishment of anything is supposed to
.be sufficient for its fulfilment.

Article 31. Trial by jury is established in all criminal
and political cases.

Article 35. "The secrecy of letters is inviolable."
In President Salnave's time the letters were taken to
the Prefect of Police, opened and read, and, then de-
livered without any attempt to close them ; the letters
addressed to foreigners were not respected.

Article 40. " Public debts are guaranteed and placed
under the safeguard of the loyalty of the nation." When
General went to a famous banker in Paris to con-
tract a debt for Hayti, the capitalist asked him what
security he proposed, to ofier. The Minister replied,
" La constitution place les dettes publiques sous la
sauvegarde de la loyaut^ de la nation." The banker

Haitien, May 9, 1865." Signed among others by Delorme and Sal-
nave. Yet within a few months from the publication of this decree,
those men who signed it dragged from the public prisons their political
opponents, and shot them without the semblance of a trial.

266 THE GOVEENMENT.

looked fixedly at him for a moment and then coolly
said, " I have business to attend to, — good-morning."

Articles 41 to 49 are on the sovereignty and the exer-
cise of the powers therefrom derived. Article 41. The
national sovereignty resides in the universality of the
citizens. Article 42. The exercise of that sovereignty
is delegated to three powers. The three . powers are
the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. They
form the government of the republic, which is essen-
tially democratic and representative. Article 44. The
legislative power is exercised by two representative
chambers, — a Chamber of Deputies and a Senate.
Article 45. These two can be united in a National
Assembly according to the constitution.

Art. 46. The executive power is delegated to a citizen,
who takes the title of President of the Eepublic.

Article 47. Affairs which exclusively relate to the
communes are regulated by the communal councils,
under the control of the executive power.

Article 48. The judicial power is exercised by a
court of cassation, civil courts, courts of appeal, of
commerce, and of police.

Article 49. Individual responsibility is distinctly
attached to every public function.

Articles 50 to 56. Eepresentatives are elected by the
primary assemblies of each commune. Eepresentatives
must be twenty-five years of age, and are elected for
five years, and are paid £60 a month, during the
duration of the session.

THE GOVERNMENT. 267

Articles 57 to 66 treat of the Senate : it consists of
thirty members elected for six years. The senators
are elected by the Chamber of Deputies from two lists
of candidates, one presented by the electoral assemblies,
and the other by the executive power. A senator must
be thirty years of age ; the Senate is renewed by thirds
every two years. The Senate can only meet.dUring the
legislative session, save in exceptional cases : on adjourn-
ment it leaves a standing committee composed of five
members. The salary of each senator is £2^0 a year.

Articles 6y to 69 refer to the National Assembly,
or union of the Senate and House of Eepresentatives
in one chamber. The National Assembly meets at
the opening of every session. The prerogatives of the
National Assembly are : — To elect a President, to de-
clare war, to approve treaties, which will have no effect
until so approved, to authorise the contraction of loans,
the establishment of a national bank, to change the
capital of the republic, to revise the constitution, to
give letters of naturalisation.

Articles 70 to 100 refer to the exercise of the
legislative power.

Article 71. The Legislature meets by full right on
the first Monday in April of each year..

Article 73. The President, with the consent of two-
thirds of the Senate, can dissolve the Chambers.

Article yy. Every member takes an oath to main-
tain the rights of the people, and to be faithful to the
constitution.

268 THE GOVERKMENT.

Article 79. Money bills must originate in the Com-
mons. The rest of the articles refer to the duties and
the rights of the members.

Articles loi to 123 refer to the President. He is
elected for seven years, and not immediately re-eli-
gible^ — must be forty years of age and proprietor of
real estate. The President is called upon to swear the
following oath : — " Je jure devant Dieu, devant la
nation, d'observer, de faire observer fidfelement la con-
stitution, et les lois du peuple haitien, de respecter
ses droits, de maintenir Tind^pendance nationale et
I'int^gritd du territoire." I wonder whether any Presi-
dent, when he took that oath, really intended to observe
it. For example —

Article 24. On the non-punishment with death of
political offences. General Salomon must have suffered
greatly on this account.

Articles no and in. The President commands the
forces by sea and land, and confers rank in the army
according to law, and appoints as well all civil func-
tionaries.

Article 112. He makes treaties.

Article 114. He has the right of amnesty and
pardon.

Article 115. Every measure must be submitted to a
council, of Secretaries of State, and (Article 116) every
act countersigned by one of them.

' This article was repealed to enable General Salomon to be re-
elected.

THE GOVERNMENT. 269

Article 120. The Chamber can impeach the. Presi-
dent before the Senate.

Article 122. Salary of President, ;^5000 a year.

Articles 124 to 131 treat- of the Secretaries of State,
who must be thirty years of age ; they form a council
presided over by the President ; they have free entry
into both Chambers, to institute measures or to oppose
others; they can be called before the Chambers to
answer interpellations, which they must answer in
public or in secret session; they are responsible for
all acts they may sign or countersign; their pay is
^1200 a year.

Articles 132 to 135 relate to communal institutions.
Each commune has an elective council, of which the
paid head, under the title of communal magistrate, is
named by the President of the republic.

Articles 136 to 158 refer to the judicial authority.

Article 138 is especially important in Hayti:."]Sro
extraordinary tribunals can be created under any de-
nomination whatever, particularly under the name of
courts-martial." A court of cassation is established
in the capital; five courts of appeal are established,
one for each of the departments. Each commune has
at least a justice of the peace ; civil courts are estab-
lished for one or more arrondissements. All judges
are appointed by the President; they are immovable,
and cannot be transferred without their own consent.
Tribunals of commerce are also established. Ko
political or press offences can be judged in secret

270 THE GOVERNMENT.

session. The other articles relate to the usual functions
of judges.

Articles 159 to 165 treat of primary and electoral
assemblies. Every citizen over twenty-one has the
right to vote, voting being by ballot. At one election
at Port-au-Prince the Government -were very desirous
to defeat the popular candidate, and therefore placed
soldiers round the polling-booth armed with clubs, who
demanded from each elector for whom he was going to
vote. Whenever a known supporter of the popular
candidate approached, he was beaten or hustled away
by the soldiers. The Government finding that, in spite
of these precautions, the election was going against
them, occupied the booth and stopped the voting, under
the plea of disturbance of the peace.

Articles 166 to 178 refer to the finances. No im-
posts can be levied except according to law ; taxes are
voted yearly; no emissions of money without legal
sanction ; no pensions, gratifications, &c., except accord-
ing to law ; no plurality of functions ; every minute
precaution is taken to ensure the most careful manage-
ment of the finances, including audit of accounts ; no
money can be coined abroad or bear any e£Bgy but that
of the republic. I understand, however, that all the
new dollars were coined abroad.

Articles 179 to 188 relate to the armed forces. The
army must not deliberate ; no privileged corps ; no one
but a soldier can be promoted to a military grade. In
my time the majority of of&cers had never been soldiers.

THE GOVEKNMENT. 271

The National Guard is composed of those citizens who
are not in the active army.

Articles 189 to 205 refer to miscellaneous subjects.
The national colours: are blue and red, placed horizon-
tally. The white was long ago banished from the flag..
The arms of the republic are the palm-tree surmounted
by the cap of liberty and adorned by a trophy of arms,
with the motto, " L'union fait la force "

Article 192. " No Haytian or foreigner can claim^
damages for losses incurred during civil troubles!' A
most ridiculous article, to which no foreign Govern-,
ment has paid the slightest attention.

Article 194. The national /^ies are those of the inde-
pendence of Hayti and its heroes, the great hero being
Dessalines, who decreed the massacre of every defence-
less man, woman, or child of white Trench parentage to
be found in the republic, and who was perhaps, with-
out exception, one of the vilest of men. January ist
is given up to his memory, and the Haytians glory in
his bloodthirsty deeds. The second national f^te is to
agriculture — May ist, which is one of the most ludi-
crous imaginable in its surroundings. A few culti-
vators are collected with bunches of bananas and other
products, and prizes are distributed by the President,
surrounded by hundreds of sneering officers. Even
they can but smile at the absurdity called " encourage-
ment to agriculture." .

Article 197. No state of siege can be declared except
during times of civil trouble, and then the decree must

272 THE GOVERNMENT.

be signed by the President and all the Secretaries of
State.

Article 200. The constitution cannot be suspended,
in whole or in part, on any excuse whatever. It can,
however, be revised under certain conditions.

Article 204. This is a very remarkable article. It
suspends those articles for a year which proclaim the
immovability of the judges, in order that the President
may raise the magistracy to the height of its mission.

Although this constitution appears very elaborate
and proclaims great principles, it leaves all details to
be settled by special laws, which are seldom passed,
and never acted on unless it may suit the pleasure of
the chief of the State.

With the habits of the country, the framers of this
constitution must have known that in making the Pre-
sident of Hayti swear to observe it they were forcing
him to commit perjury by anticipation. The President
swore to it, but did not keep it, and probably never
intended to keep it. Article 24, which abolishes the
punishment of death in political cases, has been com-
pletely set aside, and dozens of coloured men of mark
have been sentenced to death and shot.

As the Eussian Government is said to be a despotism
tempered by assassination, so the Haytian Government
may be called a despotism tempered by revolution and
exile, and occasionally by death.

Their first ruler, Dessalines, was shot. Christophe
committed suicide to escape a worse fate. Potion died

THE GOVERNMENT. 273

President after twelve years of power. Boyer was
exiled after a Presidency that lasted for twenty-five
years. H^rard Eivifere was proclaimed President on
December 30, 1843, amid much enthusiasm; but on
May 7, 1844, following he was deposed amid greater
enthusiasm, and exiled, and General Guerrier was
named President. Within less than a year he died,
April 15, 1845, ^^^ General Pierrot was elected by the
Council of State. On March i, 1846, the troops at
St. Marc proclaimed Eich^ President, and Pierrot abdi-
cated. On the 27th February following (1847) Eich4
died, and on the 2d March Soulouque was elected
President. He soon tired of this form of government,
and proclaimed himself Emperor in August 1849, and
held that position till January 1859, when he was upset
by General Geffrard and exUed.

Geffrard restored the republic, and held the Pre-
sidency till February 1867, when he also went into
exile, to be succeeded by General Salnave in April
1867. In January 1870 the latter was overthrown
and shot.

The only President in late years who carried through

his term of office, and was neither exiled nor shot, was

Nissage-Saget. At the completion of his four years, he

retired on a pension to his native city. After Saget,

General Domingue seized the reins of government, but

was expelled in 1876, and sent wounded into exile.

Boisrond- Canal followed. In the third year of his

Presidency he was overthrown and retired from the

S

274

THE GOVERNMENT.

country, and in October of the same year (1879) General
Salomon was elected for seven years.

It will thus be seen that two only of all these rulers
completed their terms of office.

As was natural in an old French colony, the divi-
sions of the country are French. It is divided into
departments, arrondissements, and communes, and the
governing machinery is most elaborate. There is no
lack of candidates [for every post. The general of the
department and the general of the arrondissement are
the officers to whom all power is really delegated, and
they are generally absolute in their districts. The Gov-
ernment often, however, trust more to their general of
arrondissement than to that of the department, as they
fear to render the latter too powerful. They are veri-
table despots as a rule, and ride roughshod over every
law at their pleasure, and are seldom called to account
by the supreme authority.

The republic of Hayti is divided as follows : —

Departments.

Chief Cities.

Arrondisse-
ments.

Commi

North

. Cap Haitian

• 7

18

North-West

. Port de Paix

. 2

5

Artibonite

. Gonaives

. 3

9

West

. Port-au-Prince

. S

14

South

. Les Cayes .

. 6

21

23

67

The department of the north is generally the most
troublesome, from the separatist ideas of the inhabi-
tants. King Christophe carried out that idea, and

THE GOVERNMENT. 275

kept them independent for many years; and in 1865
Salnave tried the same project, but failed. They are,
however, always restless, and dislike the other depart-
ments of the republic.

The department of the south is, on the whole, the
most backward of all, and has been generally neglected,,
but the recent holder of power, being a native of Les
Cayes, may have aided its progress.

All the other departments are jealous of that of the
west, as in it are the capital, the seat of Government,
and the Treasury, to which contributions flow from
the other departments. Their object is always to
divert to local wants as much of the general revenue
as possible, and they think that if they could form
separate republics they would have their whole income
to spend.

To sum up : At the head of the Government is a
President chosen for seven years. He is supported by
four or five Secretaries of State, who, when the chief
is strong, are but his head-clerks. A legislative body
exists, consisting of a Senate of thirty paid members,
generally very tractable ; of a Chamber of Eepre-
sentatives of sixty members, also paid, that, under a
chief who has the power of life and death, give him
but little trouble. His main reliance, however, as also
his main danger, is the army. General Salomon paid
particular attention to that institution ; had it strongly
recruited, and, as long as its chiefs were satisfied, defied
the isolated revolutionary attempts of his enemies. The

276 THE GOVERNMENT.

army is generally composed of blacks, and they look on
a black President as their rightful head. They obey
a coloured chief, but it is not willingly, and murmur
at his punishments, whilst a black general might have
a man beaten to death without exciting any dissatisfac-
tion among his comrades.

( 277 )

CHAPTEE VIII.

KELIGION, EDUCATION, AND JUSTICE.

During the long Presidency of General Geffrard, the
concordat with Eome was carried out in some of its
most essential points. Until then the Roman Catho-
lic clergy in Hayti were a byword and a reproach to
every one who respected religion. There were few
priests who were not the expelled of other countries,
and even adventurers had assumed the clerical garb to
obtain an easy and lucrative living. There was one
priest in the south, who was considered a hon enfant
and inclined to luxurious cheer, who turned his atten-
tion to money-making, and every week he sallied forth
from the town of Les Cayes to forage in the country
districts. So that he was paid his fees, it was imma-
terial to him what he was called upon to bless ; he
would indifferently sprinkle holy water on a new house
or a freshly built temple dedicated to the Vaudoux-
worship. The simple inhabitants would bring out their
stone implements, imported in former days from Africa
and used in their fetish rites, and the priest would
bless them ; then he would return to town in a jovial

278 EELIGION.

mood and chuckle over his gains. In comparatively
a few years that man remitted to Europe through
an English house the sum of twelve thousand pounds
sterling.^

Another, whom I knew personally, lived in a town
not far from the capital, and his amours somewhat
scandalised the Archhishop. He tried in vain to have
him removed from his parish. The priest was popu-
lar, had influence in Government circles, and defied
his superior. He might have defied him to the end
had he not mixed in politics ; but having embraced the
losing side, he was ultimately banished.

In that neighbourhood also there lived another priest
whom the Archbishop had dismissed for living in the
same house with his large family, and for engaging in
commerce ; and Monseigneur also applied to the Govern-
ment to have him expelled from the republic. The
cur6 appealed for protection to the French Legation,
saying that he should be completely ruined if forced
suddenly to abandon the country. The representative
of France, thinking he ought to have time granted him
to settle his affairs, stated the case to the Haytian

' " Nous ne sommes plus aux temps oh quelques rares cur&, repartis
dans les principales paroisses de la rdpublique faisaient d'^normes bfee-
fioes par des moyens souvent h^las reprouv& par la conscience et par
les lois de I'^glise. . . . Qu'ai-je besoin d'^voquer dans le pass^ les
lamentables souvenirs de I'^glise en Haiti. Je suis prStre, et je vou-
drais pour I'honneur du sacerdoce pouvoir laver son opprobre de mes
larmes et de les plonger dans un ^ternel oubli. Mais il ne depend
ni de moi ni de personne d'eu effacer la triste mdmoire." — Monseigneur
A. GniLLOUX, Archbishop of Port-au-Prince.

RELIGION. 279

Minister of Public Worship, who, agreeing with him,
remarked, " II est peut-ltre mauvais prStre, mais bon
p^re de famille."

There was a priest who formerly lived at La Coupe,
the summer resort of the inhabitants of Port-au-Prince
— a dapper Parisian — who was perfectly astonished by
the accounts the peasantry gave of one of his pre-
decessors; and I could gather from him that, short
of being present at human sacrifices, the man would
join in any feast given by the negroes in a district
as full of Vaudoux-worshippers as any in the island,
and his immorality equalled his other qualities.^

Several of these ignoble priests were Corsicans who
had been driven from their country on account of
crime. For fear, however, any one should consider
these statements to be exaggerated, I will add to the
testimony given by the Archbishop an extract from
a speech of M. Valmy Lizaire, Minister of Public
Worship (1863) :—

" N'^prouve-t-on pas un sentiment penible et doulou-
reux en contemplant I'^tat de notre ^glise depuis sa
uaissance jusqu'^ ce jour, en voyant la dignity du
saint ministfere souvent menacde et compromise par
des inconnus sans qualit^s, par quelques moines la plus
part du temps 4chapp^s de leur convents et venant
offrir jusqu'4 chez nous le dangereux spectacle de leurs

^ " Ne suflSt-il pas d'ailleurs de parcourir les villea et les bourgades de
la rdpublique pour rencontrer encore les t^moins vivants d'un libertin-
age sans exemple." — Guilloux.

280 RELIGION.

d^r^glements ? Je ne ferai point I'horreur k plaisir
ea essayant de retracer iqi tout ce que nos annales
religieuses renferment de desordres et d'exc^s. II
suffit de dire que nulle part, peut-etre dans la
chr^tient4 le clerg6 n'a profan^ autant qu'en Haiti
le sacerdoce dont il est revStu."

At length the scandal became so intolerable that
the Government of Hayti determined to negotiate a
concordat at Eome, and after many difBculties had
been overcome, it was signed in i860, and the Pope
sent as his delegate Monseigneur Testard de Cosquer
to bring it into practice. He was one of the most
pleasing of men, handsome, eloquent, and the romantic
but terrible episode related of him as the cause of
his leaving the army and entering into holy orders
rendered him an object of great interest to the fair sex.
He brought with him a body of French clergy, whom
he gradually installed in the different parishes of the
republic, not, however, without a difficult struggle with
those who formerly held possession and disgraced the
Church.

The concordat consisted of seventeen articles and
two additions, which provided first for the special
protection of the Catholic religion ; the establisliment
of an archbishopric at Port-au-Prince, and as soon
as possible other dependent bishoprics, paid by the
State; nomination by the President of three bishops
subject to the approval of the Holy See, — the clergy to
take an oath of fidelity to the Government ; estab-

RELIGION. 281

lishment of seminaries and chapters j nomination of
priests by the bishops of persons approved of by the
Government, and a few other arrangements of lesser
importance.

The Roman Catholic Church, however, although
the religion of the State, has never been popular in
Hayti. Amongst the upper classes disbelief, among
the lower the influence of the Vaudoux, and the
fanatical opposition of the Catholic priesthood to Free-
masonry have combined to prevent the Church from
gaining either the confidence or the afi'ection of the
nation. Even over the women the priests exercise less
influence than in other countries.

Although the Eoman Catholic religion is that of
the State, all others are tolerated, and many Haytian
Ministers have felt inclined to encourage the Protes-
tants, not only to counterbalance any political influence
of the priests, but with the object of creating a rivalry
in the performance of their missionary duties. These
passing fits of enlightenment, however, have been but
of short duration, and little has been done to encourage
any form of religion.

At present Hayti is divided into five dioceses; but
at the time of the last report I have seen, there were
only one archbishop and two bishops ; these were aided
by four vicars-general.

Port-au-Prince, being the capital, is the seat of the
archbishopric, where Monseigneur Guilloux worthily
held sway, and he was aided in his duties by a vicar

282 RELIGION.

and chapter. He had always had a difficult part to
play, and during the civil war of 1 869 ran many risks,
and -was nearly expelled the country.

The budget makes allowance for one archbishop at
;£^8oo a year ; two bishops at £480 a year ; the vicar
of Port-au-Prince at £160 a year; three other vicars
at ;^I20 a year ; and sixty-seven parish priests at
£48 a year.

Besides this regular pay, the Government is bound
to furnish the clergy with suitable residences. The
Archbishop has a very comfortable and spacious house,
sufficiently furnished for the climate, and situated in
the healthiest quarter of the town. The clergy receive
also many fees, the amount for baptisms, marriages,
and funerals having been fixed by arrangement with
the Government. When I was in Port-au-Prince there
was a very warm discussion as to whether the fees were
to be employed towards the payment of salary, each
party accusing the other of wishing to violate the
concordat.

After the expulsion of President Geffrard, the
revolutionary party desired to upset all his arrange-
ments, even to the concordat. Monseigneur Guilloux
published a strong defence of that treaty, taking
very high ground, and claiming a great deal for the
Church.

This pamphlet called forth the following epigram
from General Alibd F6ry : —

EELIGION. 233

Les Deux Ekclos.

C^sar ne doit an Christ rien soustraire k la vigne
Dit notre bon pr61at plus absolu qu'un czar.
D'aocord ; mais ce gardien d'un vdg^tal insigne
Doit-il parfois glaner dans le champ de C&ar 1

This was a much-admired specimen of Haytian wife.

As I have previously observed, Hayti has never
quite reconciled herself to the clergy, and therefore
the influence exercised by the priest is less than iu
other Catholic countries. There are two patent causes ;
first, the hold that the Vaudoux-worship has on the
mass of the people, and, second, the pertinacious opposi-
tion of the Church to Freemasonry.

It is the fashion to extol the intelligence and far-
sightedness of the Church of Eome, but certainly the
opposition shown to Freemasonry, that harmless institu-
tion in Hayti, has done more to injure the influence
of the Catholic clergy among the educated classes
than any other cause. All who know what Free-
masonry is, know that its objects are to promote good-
fellowship, with a modicum of charity and mutual
aid. The exercise of ancient rites, which, though a
mystery, are as harmless, and perhaps as childish, as
the scenes of a pantomime, never deserved the opposi-
tion of a serious clergy.

The Haytians are devoted to Freemasonry, and love
to surround the funerals of their brethren with all
the pomp of the order. I was once invited to a
masonic funeral, and we marched through the town

284 RELIGION".

with banners displayed, each member wearing the
insignia of his rank; but I noticed that as soon as
the church was reached everything pertaining to the
order was removed from the coffin, and the members
pocketed their insignia. We then entered the sacred
building. The funeral was one that greatly touched
us all, as it was that of a young officer who had that
morning been killed in a duel, under peculiarly unfor-
tunate circumstances. The priests came forward, —
suddenly they stopped, and with signs of anger re-
treated up the church. A gentleman followed to inquire
the cause. The abbd answered that until all signs of
Freemasonry were removed he would not perform the
ceremony. What signs ? He replied that all the
mourners had little sprigs in their button-holes, which
was a masonic sign. We had all to conceal the sprigs
until the ceremony was over. It was a trifle, but it
excited the utmost anger among the mourners present.
My deceased friend, Seguy-Villevaliex, wrote me an
account' of what occurred on another occasion. A
general and high officer in the brotherhood died, and
the Freemasons determined to give him a grand funeral,
and President Domingue signified his intention to be
present. A great procession was organised, and was
preparing to start for the cathedral, when a mes-
senger arrived from the vicar to say that he would
not allow the funeral to enter the church unless the
masonic procession was given up. The President was
furious, and being a very violent man, was ready to

EELIGION. 285

order a battalion to force a way for the funeral, when
a prudent adviser said to Domingue, " The Protestants
do not object to Freemasonry ; let ixs send for Bishop
Holly, and ask him to perform the service for us."

Bishop Holly willingly consented, and the procession
started for the Protestant cathedral, where the funeral
service was performed, with banners displayed, and
every other masonic sign in full view. Nearly every
man present was a Eoman Catholic, and probably for
the first time in Hayti had a President, his Ministers,
his aides-de-camp and followers been present in a Pro-
testant church.

The strongest feeling, however, against the Church
arises from the prevalence, not only of the Vaudoux-
worship, but of its influence. There are thousands
who would never think of attending one of its cere-
monies who yet believe in and fear the priests of this
fetish sect. The Papalois, however, as I have stated
in Chapter V., do not disdain to direct their followers
to mix up with their own the ceremonies of the Chris-
tians. They will burn candles before the church doors,
will place on the cathedral steps all the rubbish of hair
and bone which are religious emblems with them, and
will have in their temples pictures of the Virgin Mary
and of Jesus Christ. In former times they would
gladly pay heavily to the degenerate priests of the ante-
concordat days to sprinkle with holy water the altars
of the temples under which their slimy god was held
confined.

28G RELIGION.

When it is remembered how imbued Haytian
society has been with this degrading worship, it is
perhaps not a matter of surprise how small is the
influence of the clergy among the rural population.
The Catholic priests are also comparatively few in
number, dislike heartily the life in the interior, and
are paid by the State. There is also little enthusiasm
awakened by that rivalry which a successful Protestant
Church would have brought forth.^

There is no doubt but that the conduct of the
clergy has been very much criticised in Hayti, and
none, from the Archbishop downwards, escaped the
attention of the teller of merry anecdotes ; but, as far
as I could myself observe, their moral conduct, with
very few exceptions indeed, was all that could be de-
sired. At the same time they showed no enthusiasm,
cared little for their congregations, were inclined to
domineer, and preferred the comfort of their town-
houses to missionary toils in the interior, and were per-

' The Peaple of September lo, 1887, notices a, thesis presented by
M. H^rivel to the Faculty of Protestant Theology in Paris. It was
entitled " Haite au point de vue religieux." The Editor of the Hay-
tian paper remarks : — " M. H^rivel a habits Haiti pendant quelques
ann^es, mais il jette sur la religion catholique le fait de la non-civili-
zation des masses, et il dit : — On y aurait, s'il y avait ^t^ besoin, trouv^
les preuves que la culte du Vaudoux est associ^ dans les esprits plongfe
dans les tdnfebres k 1' exercise de la religion catholique, car il ressortit
des depositions que les Papalois avaient recommend^ de br^er des
cierges dans les ^glises catholiques, et de placer snr les autels les divers
objets de leur superstition h c6t6 des croix et des images de la Vi^rge.
Voilk prfes de quatre sifecles que le catholicisme rfegue dans I'ile d'Haiti.
Oil est sa vertu ? oil sout ses fruits ? "

EELIGION". 287

sistently opposed to every liberal measure. Whilst I
■was in Port-au-Prince, a priest slapped a lady's face in
church for some error in ceremonial.

The priests of the ante-concordat period no doubt
rendered the task of the new clergy as difficult as
possible, first by their pernicious example, and then
by their opposition ; but Archbishop Guilloux com-
pletely cleared the island of them, and established a
respectable clergy in their place. The Catholics say
that their influence is daily increasing throughout the
republic.

The Protestants have not had much success in
Hayti. The Episcopalians are represented by a bishop.
Mr. Holly, a convert from Eomanism and a black,
■was the first representative of that Church whom I
met with in Port-au-Prince. He had many of the
qualities which ensure a good reception. He had
pleasant manners, was well educated, and was thor-
oughly in earnest; but the pecuniary support he
received was so slight that he never could carry »ut
his views. I believe that those who attend the
Anglican services in the whole of Hayti number less
than a thousand, and the majority of these are probably
American and English coloured immigrants.

The Wesleyans had for their chief pastor Mr. Bird,
who was an institution in Hayti. He had a very good
school, and was highly respected. There are several
chapels in different parts of the island, and I notice, in
a recent consular return, that as many as 1400 attend

288 EELIGIOJT.

the services. With other denomiaations combined, the
Protestant population may be considered to amount to
between 3000 and 4000.

When I first arrived in Hayti, and was curious as to
the character of certain individuals, I was often struck
by the reply, " Oh ! he is an honest man, but then he is
a Protestant," — and this from Eoman Catholics !

The Protestants are not yet in any way sufficiently
numerous or influential to be a counterpoise to the
Catholic clergy, and do not, therefore, incite the latter
to exertion. I did suggest that the Protestant clergy
should all join the Freemasons' lodges, and be ready to
perform the religious ceremonies required at funerals.
It would have greatly increased their popularity and
influence in the country ; but I believe my advice was
considered too worldly.

Divorce is another bone of contention between the
Catholic clergy and the people. By the civil law
divorce is recognised, and cases occur every year. The
clergy denounce those who re-marry civilly as living
in a state of concubinage, and much ill-feeling is the
result.

Although, as I have before remarked, the Catholic
clergy have greatly improved in conduct since the con-
cordat, yet, in popular estimation, there is still some-
thing wanting. I have not forgotten the excitement
caused by a song which a young Haytian (black) wrote
on the subject. A very good-looking priest had at all
events been indiscreet, and the Archbishop decided

KELIGIOlSr. 289

to banish him from the capital to a rural district. A
deputation of females, early one morning, waited on
Monseigneur to remonstrate, but he was firm, and then
the song declared : —

" II fallait voir pleurer les muMtresseg,
En beaux peignoirs et les cheveux au vent ;
II fallait voir sangloter les ndgresses
Tout ce tableau par nn soleil levant.
Bon voyage,
Cher petit blanc !
Tu vas troubler I'eglise et le manage.
Bon voyage,
Saint petit blanc !
Que de regrets, O mon saor^ galant ! "

As there was a certain amount of truth in the
scandalous stories afloat, Monseigneur was very irri-
tated with the author, and imprudently applied to
Government to have him arrested. He was arrested,
but his influential relatives soon procured his release,
but under the condition of suppressing the song. Of
course he was the hero of the hour, and his verses had
a greater success than ever.

Although "the complete ascendency of the Church
of Eome is incompatible with liberty and good govern-
ment," yet it is a matter of regret that in Hayti the
Eoman Catholic priests have had so little success.
Their task is no doubt difficult, and, under present
circumstances, almost a hopeless one. They cannot
cope with so vast a mass of brutal ignorance and gross
superstition, and one of the best men among them used

290 RELIGION.

often to complain of tlie little assistance they received
from what might be considered the enlightened classes.
My friend Alvarez, the Spanish chargi d'affaAres, was
very indignant at the idea presented by a French author,
Monsieur Bonneau, that Catholicism was incapable of
contending with the Vaudoux-worship ; but there is no
doubt that as yet nothing has had much influence in
suppressing it.

The Eoman Catholic Church, however, has been
greatly reinforced since I left Hayti iu 1877. It now
counts as many as seventy priests, and had above
64,000 Easter communicants in 1883. How many of
these were in secret followers of the Vaudoux ?

To afford a special supply of priests for Hayti, the
Archbishop Testard de Cosquer established in 1864 a
Haytian seminary in Paris, to the support of which the
Chambers in Port-au-Prince voted 20,000 francs a year.
This allowance being irregularly paid, the seminary was
closed, but was reopened by Moiiseigneur Guilloux,
who obtained a yearly sum of 10,000 francs from the
Haytian Government. It is perhaps needless to say
that even this small amount is generally greatly in
arrear.

There can be no doubt that the Bishops and their
clergy are fighting a good fight in the cause of civilisa-
tion, but with such a Government and such a people
their progress must be slow.

EDUCATION. 291

Education.

The following anecdote aptly illustrates the saying,
Who shall teach the teachers ? It is a custom in Hayti
that in all schools, public as well as private, there shall
be once a year a solemn examination in the presence
of a commission appointed by Government. M. Seguy-
Villevaliex kept the best private school or college that
Port-au-Prince had ever seen, and on the appointed
day for the public examination the official commission
arrived, and having been duly installed in the seats
of honour, teachers and pupils presented themselves,
and the work commenced. All went well till the
exercises in orthography were nearly over, when un-
fortunately M. Villevaliex turned to the president of
the commission, a negro of the deepest dye, but a high
Government functionary, and said, "Would you like
to try the boys yourself ? " " Certainly ; " and various
words were given, which were written dow-u on the
black-board to the satisfaction of all. At last the
president gave the word " Pantalon," and a smart boy
carefully chalked it up. " Stop ! " cried the sable chief,
" there is a mistake in that spelling." The master, the
teachers, and the boys carefully scanned the word, and
could detect no mistake. The black had a smile of
conscious superiority on his lips. At length the master
said, " I see no mistake, president." " You don't ! Do
you not know that it is spelt with an e — ' pentalon ' 1 "

292 EDUCATION.

After a severe glance at his pupils to prevent an ex-
plosion of laughter, my friend, perfectly equal to the
occasion, answered, " It used to he spelt so, president,
hut the Academy has lately changed the mode, and it
is now spelt with an a." The courtesy and gravity of
M. Villevaliex's manner was such that the president
of the commission was quite satisfied ; and pleased
with himself, he wrote a favourable report on the con-
dition of the schooL Had the almost uncontrollable
laughter of the boys burst forth, what would have been
the report ? And yet this man was a leading spirit in
his country, and thought fit for the highest offices,
though he was as stupid as he was ignorant.

I arrived at the college just too late for this scene,
but in time to hear the cheerful laughter of the boys,
who, after the departure of the commission, made the
playground ring with their merry jokes.

President Geffrard, whose term of office extended
from January 1859 to February 1867, did more than
any other chief to encourage education, and yet,
even in his time, not more than one in ten of the
children of school-age attended the educational estab-
lishments.

Major Stuart, in his report on Hayti for the year
1876, gives some statistical tables which show the
state of these establishments in the year 1875, and
little has changed since, so that his figures will suffi-
ciently serve the purpose required. There were —

EDUCATION. 2

4 lyceums

. with 543 pupils

6 superior girl schools

• „ 563 „

5 secondary schools .

• „ 350 »

165 primary schools.

„ 11,784 „

200 rural schools

., 5>939 ,,

I school of medicine

25 „

I school of music

■ „ 46 „

293

19,250 „

To these may be added the pupils in the private
schools and in those of the Christian Brothers and
the Sisters of Cluny.

It is very difficult to test the results attained at
the official schools, but I think, judging from my own
experieui^e in Hayti, that they are small indeed. Some
of the commissions appointed to examine the scholars
report favourably, but, after the example of Monsieur
Pentalon, I put but little faith in these judgments.

In the last official report that I have seen there is
mucli shortcoming confessed, and the feeling after read-
ing it is, that the majority of the teachers are incom-
petent, as all negligently-paid service must be. Good
teachers will not remain in employment with salaries
often six months in arrear, and only those who can find
nothing else to do will carry on the schools. Negli-
gence is the result, and negligence in the masters acts
on the scholars, and their attendance is irregular; and
the means of teaching are often wanting, as the money
voted for the purchase of books goes in this revolutionary
country for arms and powder. Parents, particularly
negro parents, rarely appreciate the value of the know-

294 EDUCATION.

ledge to be acquired in- schools, and are apt to send
their children late and take them away early, in order
to aid in the support of the family.

The best school in the country is the Petit Sdmi-
naire, conducted by priests — Jesuits, it is said, under
another name. The head of the college in my time,
and, I believe, to the present day, was Pfere Simonet,
a very superior man, quite capable of directing the
institution aright ; and I have been informed that the
favourable results of their system of education have
been very marked. In September 1883 this estab-
lishment was directed by fifteen priests of the Con-
gregation of the Holy Spirit, and contained as many
as 300 pupils.

The Sisters of Oluny have also an establishment near
Port-au-Prince, where the daughters of the chief fami-
lies of the capital receive their education, and their
institution is well spoken of. I attended one of their
examinations and school exhibitions, when recitals and
acting by the young girls were the amusements afforded
us. Some of the pupils appeared to be remarkably
bright, and they acquitted themselves of their tasks
in a very pleasing manner. Since I left Hayti, these
establishments for girls have greatly increased in im-
portance. There are now as many as sixty sisters, and
twenty others called " Pilles de la Sagesse," who have
established schools in the chief centres of population,
which were attended by about 3000 pupils.

The Christian Brothers have also many schools dis-

EDUCATIOK. 295

persed throughout the country, principally, however,
in the larger towns, which are fairly well attended.
They are reported to have had also as many as 3000
boys under tuition.

It is generally thought that the teaching in all these
schools is not such as to develop the intellect of the
pupils. As might have been expected, too much time
is given to trifling with religious subjects, as teaching
the girls an infinity of hymns to the Virgin Mary, and
to the study of the lives of the saints. Such, at least,
was the complaint made to me by the relatives of the
girls. Nothing appears to be able to avert the evil in-
fluence of the immodest surroundings of these schools.
A gentleman told me that, entering a room where his
nieces were sitting sewing, he heard them singing a
most indecent song in Creole, probably quite innocent
of the real meaning, and they told him that they had
learnt it from the native servants at the school ; whilst
the pupils at the Petit S^minaire have often suffered
from the utter depravity of some of the lower portion
of the population.

In one of the official reports on the principal lyceum,
the Minister of Public Instruction remarks : — " As re-
gards studies, discipline of pupils and teachers, the
national lyceum has fallen into a shameful state. It
is to the superior direction that this abasement of the
lyceum is in part to be attributed. It so far forgets
itself, as to give to professors and pupils scandalous
spectacles, which attest the disregard of propriety and

296 EDUCATION.

of the most ordinary reserve that a teacher ought to
observe in presence of early age and youth."

By this account it would appear that the pupils have
often but a poor example to imitate. I should have
set down to political feeling this strong censure had I
not known the lyceum in my time to have fallen very
low indeed in public estimation.

Poor, however, as the education is that is given in
Hayti, it is nevertheless an advance; and if ever re-
volutions cease and peace be kept for a few years, the
Government may yet turn its attention to founding
educational establishments on a solid basis. Of this,
however, there is very little hope.

There are several private schools in Hayti. The best,
as I have previously observed, was kept by the late M.
geguy-Villevaliex. He had a very high opinion of the
capacity of Haytian boys to learn, and he turned out
some excellent scholars. His school, however, deterio-
rated in late years from his inability to secure superior
teachers, arising first from parents not paying their
school-bills, and secondly from the Government omit-
ting to settle their accounts with him for the bursars.
I mention the following incident to show what a people
the Haytians are. During the civil war in 1868 and
1869, M. Villevaliex spent all his capital in supporting
some dozens of boarders, whose parents were among
the insurgents, and by his energy saved the lads from
beincr drafted into the armv. Yet when the war was
over, few, if any, paid him what was due, or did it in

EDUCATION. 297

depreciated paper, which was almost equivalent to not
paying at all.

Education in Hayti is too often sacrificed to political
exigencies, and a master of a high school is not chosen
for his capacity, but for his political leanings.

We all noticed what has often been remarked in
Africa, that negro boys, up to the age of puberty, were
often as sharp as their coloured fellow-pupils ; and there
can be no doubt that the coloured boys of Hayti have
proved, at least in the case of one of their number,
that they could hold their ground with the best of
the whites. Young F^n^lon Faubert obtained the " prix
d'honneur au grand concours" at Paris in rhetoric,
" discours latin," and only missed it the next year by
impardonable carelessness.

Some of the Haytian lads have the most extraordi-
nary memories. M. Villevaliex mentioned one to me
who came to his school rather over the usual age. My
friend took up a book on rhetoric and asked him a few
questions, which were answered in the words of the
author without an error ; curious as to the extent
of his proficiency, the schoolmaster kept turning page
after page, and found, to his surprise, that the boy
knew nearly the whole volume by heart. He then
began to converse with him, and soon discovered, that
although he could repeat his lesson perfectly, he did
not really understand the sense of what he was
repeating.

Whilst I was at Port-au-Prince the following affecting

298 EDUCATION.

incident occurred : — Many families who have accu-
mulated a certain amount of wealth by retail trade
are desirous of having their children well educated,
and therefore send them to France. A Haitienne of
this description placed her daughter at the Convent
of the Sacre Coeur in Paris. After seven years' resi-
dence there, she passed a few months with a French
family, and saw a little society in the capital. She
then returned to Port-au-Prince, was received at the
wharf by a rather coarse-looking fat woman, whom her
affectionate heart told her was her mother, and accom-
panied her home. Here she found a shop near the
market-place, where her mother sold salt pork and rum
by retail; the place was full of black men and women
of the labouring class, who were, as usual, using the
coarsest language, and who pressed round to greet her
as an old acquaintance. Traversing the shop, she found
herself in a small parlour, and here she was destined
to live. Her mother was doing a thriving trade, and
was always in the shop, which was a receptacle of
every strong- smelling food, whose odours penetrated
to the parlour. There the young girl sat within ear-
shot of the coarse language of the customers. What
a contrast to the severe simplicity of the convent, the
kindness of the nuns, the perfect propriety ! and added
to this the recollection of the society she had seen
in Paris ! She was but a tender plant, and could not
stand this rude trial, and sickened and died within the
first two months. At her funeral many speeches were

JUSTICE. 299

made, and the doctor who had attended her, whilst
declaring that she died of no special malady, counselled
parents not to send their children to be educated in
Europe, unless, on their return, they could offer them
a suitable home. No wonder, under these circum-
stances, that every educated Haytian girl desires to
marry a foreigner and quit the country.

The well-known lawyer, Deslandes, objected to Hay-
tian children being sent to Paris for their education, as
likely to introduce into the country French ideas and
sympathies, and thus imperil their independence.

At the present time education must be completely
neglected, as the whole attention of the country is
devoted to mutual destruction.

Justice.

My first experience of a court of justice in Hayti
was a political trial. Pour of the most respectable and
respected inhabitants of Port-au-Prince were to be tried
for their lives on a charge of conspiracy against the
Government of President Geffrard. My colleagues and
I decided to be present. On approaching the court-
house, we saw a considerable crowd collected and some
military precautions taken. Forcing our way through
to some reserved seats, we found ourselves in a per-
fectly plain room, — a dock on the left for the prisoners,
opposite to them the jury, and seats behind a table for
three judges, and a tribune for the public prosecutor.

300 JUSTICE.

After a few preliminaries, the trial began with a
violent denunciation of the accused by the public pro-
secutor — a stuggy, fierce-looking negro with bloodshot
eyes, named Bazin, who thought he best performed his
duty by abuse. As one of the prisoners was a lawyer,
all the bar had inscribed their names as his defenders,
and they showed considerable courage in the task they
had undertaken. On the least sign of independence on
their part, however, one after the other was ordered to
prison, and the accused remained without a defender.

The principal judge was Lallemand, of whom I have
elsewhere spoken as combining gentleness with firm-
ness ; but he could scarcely make his authority re-
spected by Bazin, the military termagant who led the
prosecution. He browbeat the witnesses, bullied the
jury, thundered at the lawyers, and insulted the prisoners.
He looked like a black Judge Jeffreys. At last his
language became so violent towards the audience, of
whom we formed a part, that the diplomatic and con-
sular corps rose in a body and left the court. I never
witnessed a more disgraceful scene.

I may add that the prisoners were condemned to
death ; but we interfered, and had their sentence com-
muted to imprisonment, which did not last long ; whilst
their black prosecutor, seized by some insurgents the
following year, was summarily shot.^

1 Military trials have always been a disgrace to Hayti. Even under
their model President Boyer (1827) they were as bad as they were
under the Emperor Soulouque or President Salomon. Mackenzie, in

JUSTICE. 301

This experience of the working of the trial-by-jury
system did not encourage frequent visits to the tribunals,
and afterwards I rarely went, except when some British
subject was interested.

In the capital are the court of cassation, the civil
and commercial courts, and the tribunaux de paix;
and in the chief towns of the departments similar ones,
minus the court of cassation. In fact, as far as pos-
sible, the French system has been taken as a model.
The form is there, but the spirit, is wanting.

The statistical tables connected with this subject
have been very fully worked out in Major Stuart's
very interesting Consular Eeports for 1876 and 1877.
Here I am more concerned in describing how justice is
administered. I may at once say that few have any
faith in the decisions of the courts; the judges, with
some bright exceptions, are too often influenced by
pecuniary or political considerations, and the white
foreigner, unless he pay heavily, has but slight chance
of justice being done him.

In the police courts the whites know their fate before-
hand. During my stay in Port-au-Prince foreigners
tried to keep clear of them, but sometimes they had
unavoidably to appear. An elderly Frenchman was

his notes on Hayti, states that no defence was allowed, as that would
have been waste of time. Four officers were tried and condemned to
death : their arms were tied, and they were led by a police officer to
the place of execution. They showed great intrepidity, though the
soldiers fired a hundred shots before they killed them. President
Geffrard had certainly more respect for the forms of law.

302 JUSTICE.

summoned before a juge de paix for an assault upon a
black. The evidence was so much in favour of the
white that even the Haytian magistrate was about to
acquit him, when shouts arose in different parts of the
court, "What! are you going to take part with the
white ? " and the Frenchman was condemned. So
flagrant an abuse of justice could not be passed over,
and the authorities, afraid to have the sentence quashed
by a superior tribunal, allowed the affair to drop with-
out demanding the fine.

An American black came one day to Mr. Byron, our
Vice-Consul, and said he had been accused of stealing
a box of dominoes from his landlady, and asked our
agent to accompany him to court to see justice done
him. Mr. Byron, knowing the man to be Respectable,
did so. The accuser stated that whilst sitting at her
door talking to a neighbour, she saw her lodger put
the box of dominoes into his pocket and walk off with
it. She made no remark at the time, but next day
accused him. The man denied having touched the box.
The magistrate, however, observed, " She says she saw
you ; you can't get over that," — and had not Mr. Byron
remarked that the prisoner's word was as good as the
accuser's, being at least as respectable a person, he
would instantly have been sent to prison.

A remarkable trial was that of two brothers who
were accused of having murdered a Frenchman, their
benefactor. The evidence against them appeared over-
whelming, and their advocate, a thorough rufiian, was

JUSTICE. 303

at a loss for arguments to sustain the defence. At
last he glanced round the crowded court, and then
turned to the jury with a broad grin and said, " Apr^s
tout, ce n'est qu'un blanc de moins." This sally pro-
duced a roar of laughter, and the prisoners were
triumphantly acquitted by the tribunal, but not by
public opinion; and the people still sing a ditty of
which the refrain is, " Mou^ pas tu^ p'tit blanc-lk," —
" I did not kill that little white man."

In 1869, among about fifty political refugees that
lived for months in the Legation was one of the ac-
cused. I was standing watching him play draughts
with another refugee, who did not know the name of his
opponent, and he kept humming the song about the
murder, and every time he made a move he repeated
the refrain, " Mou^ pas tu^ p'tit blanc-1^." I noticed
his opponent getting paler and paler. At last he pushed
aside the board, started to his feet, and said, " Do you
wish to insult me ? " "We were all surprised, when a
friend called me aside and told me the story of the trial.

Though more attention has since been paid to words,
the spirit of the old saying remains — that the whites
possess no rights in Hayti which the blacks are bound
to respect.^

^ In the Times of December 7, 1886, was published the following : —
"Fkenoh Advocacy. — Will you allow me to call your attention to a
charming piece of French advocacy, in the speech for the defence of
M. Popp, whose acquittal you announce to-day ? ' D'abord,' says the
learned counsel, ' il ne f aut pas oublier que ce sent des strangers, des
Anglais, qui plaident centre un Franfais.' I quote from the Gazette
des Tribunaux for November 25, 1886."

304 JUSTICE.

In civil cases bribery of the judges is notorious,
and the largest or the most liberal purse wins. Most
persons carefully avoid a lawsuit, and prefer submitting
to injustice.

The judges, curiously enough, are rarely selected
from among lawyers. The Government can appoint
any one it pleases, and as these posts are awarded for
political services, those selected consider that the ap-
pointments are given to enable them to make their
fortunes as rapidly as possible. As the pay is small,
their wives often make it an excuse to keep shops
and carry on a retail trade ; but the fact is, that the
Haitienne is never so happy as when behind a counter.

The active Bar of Port-au-Prince is composed of
very inferior men. I often heard my friend Deslandes
address the courts. He was at the summit of his pro-~
fession, and to have him for your advocate was popu-
larly supposed to secure the success of your cause.
And yet 1 heard this eloquent and able advocate, as
he was called, whilst defending an Englishman charged
with have criminally slain an American negro, drop
the legitimate argument of self-defence, and weary his
audience for a couple of hours trying to prove that the
prisoner was an instrument of Divine Providence to
rid the world of a ruffian. Naturally the Englishman
was condemned.

During this trial we had some experience of
oiScial interpreters. The prosecuting lawyer asked
the widow of the American negro if the prisoner had

JUSTICE. 305

ever made improper proposals to her: the interpreter
translated this, "Did the prisoner ever make love
to you ? " The black woman stared, and presently
answered, " How could he ? Why, I am a married
woman ! " The ndivdi of the reply produced a smile
even on the grave countenance of the judge.

Whilst in court the lawyers surround themselves
with heaps of books, and continually read long extracts
from the laws of the country, or — what they greatly
prefer — passages from the speeches of the most cele-
brated French advocates ; whether they explain or not
the subject in hand is immaterial. I have often heard
my French colleagues say that they have tried in vain
to discover what these extracts had to do with the case
in point. Few of these lawyers bear a high character,
and they are freely accused of collusion, and of other
dishonest practices. Unhappy is the widow, the orphan,
or the friendless that falls into their hands. Many of
my Haytian friends have assured me that, though they
had studied for the Bar, they found it impossible to
practise with any hope of preserving their self-respect.
No doubt the Bar of Hayti contains some honest men,
but the majority have an evil reputation.

The laws of Hayti are not in fault, as they are as
minutely elaborate as those of any other country, and
the shelves of a library would groan beneath their
weight. Had M. Linstant Pradine been able to continue
the useful publication he commenced — a collection of
the laws of Hayti — it was his design to have united in

U

306' JtJSTICE.

a regular series all the laws and decrees by which his
country was supposed to be governed.

Though a few young men of good position have,
studied for the legal profession in France, yet the
majority of the members of the Bar are chosen, among
the lawyers' clerks, and others who have studied at
home. A board is appointed to examine young aspi-
rants ; it consists of two judges and three lawyers. If
tlie young men pass, they each receive a certificate of
qualification, countersigned by the Minister of Justice.
After this simple process thej' can open an &ude on
their own account.

One of the greatest difficulties of the diplomatic and
consular officers in all these American republics is to
obtain prompt and legal justice for their countrymen.
Although the juge d'iinstruction ought to finish his work
at the utmost in two months, prisoners' cases drag on,
and as the law of bail is unknown, they may be, and
have been, confined for years before being brought to
trial.

The President of the republic names the justices of
the peace and their deputies, the judges of the civil and
criminal courts, the courts of appeal, and the members
of the court of cassation. All but the first-named
judges are irremovable according to the constitution;
but revolutionary leaders are not apt to respect con-
stitutions, and during President Domingue's time his
Ministers upset all the old legal settlements. The last
constitution, that of 1 879, permitted the President to

JUSTICE. 307

remove judges for the space of one year, iu order that
the friends of the Administration might be appointed
to carry out their destined work.

It would be perhaps useless to describe in detail the
other legal arrangements in Hayti, as they are founded
on French precedents.

( 308 )

CHAPTER IX.

AEMY AXD POLICE.

A LARGE portion of the revenues is spent in keeping
up a nominally numerous army, but in reality the
most undisciplined rabble that ever were assembled
under arms. "With the exception of a few hundred
tirailleurs, who were, in the time of President Geffrard,
disciplined by an intelligent officer, Potion Faubert, a
man who had seen service in the French array, the
regiments have been always composed of the peasantry,
without any discipline, and officered by men as ignorant
as themselves. I have seen a battalion on parade num-
bering thirteen privates, ten officers, and six drummers
■ — the rest of the men thinking it unnecessary to present
themselves except on pay-day.

A French admiral asked permission to see a Sunday
morning's review. On approaching a cavalry regiment
equally low in numbers with the battalion mentioned
above, the President gravely turned to the French-
man and said, "Beaucoup souffert dans la derniere
guerre."

A more motley sight can scarcely be imagined than

THE ARMY. 309

a full regiment marching past. Half the men are in
coats wanting an arm, a tail, or a collar, with a broken
shako, a straw or round hat, a wide-awake, or merelj'
a handkerchief tied round the head; officers carrying
their swords in tlieir right or their left hands accord-
ing to caprice ; the men marching in waving lines,
holding their muskets in every variety of position ;
whilst a brilliant staff, in all the uniforms known to
the French army, gallops by. President Geffrard used
to look on with a smile of satisfaction on his face, and
gravely ask you whether there were any finer troops in
the world. As I have elsewhere related, the Treasurer-
in-Chief, who had passed some time in Paris, assured
him that although the soldiers there were more numer-
ous, they had. not the tenueoi the Haytian, and suggested
that it would be as well for the President to send some
of his officers to France as models for the French army
to ■ imitate. This is no exaggeration, I have myself
heard similar observations. The negro is generally an
ill-made, shambling fellow, who rarely looks well in
uniform, and detests the service ; but in order to render
the work less fatiguing for the poor fellows, the sentries
are provided with chairs !

It was after watching such a march-past as I have
described above that a French naval officer asked me,
" Est-ce que vous prenez ces gens au s^rieux ? " And
yet they look upon themselves as a military nation, and
constantly boast that they drove the English and French
put of the island; forgetting the part taken by their

310 THE AIlMY«

most potent allies, climate and yellow fever; and until
disease had carried off the mass of their oppressors, and
the renewal of the war in Europe enabled the English
to lend their aid, they were crushed under the heel of
the French.

The Haytian army has greatly varied in numbers.
In the early years (1825 to 1830) of General Boyer's
Presidency it was calculated at 30,000 men, with only
a fair proportion of officers. Some months after the
fall of General Geffrard (1867) an account was published
stating that the army, in round numbers, consisted as
follows : —

General officers and staff .... 6500

Eegimental officers 7000

Soldiers 6500

20,000

It is never possible to say what is the exact force of
the army; in a late return it is stated at 16,000, and
among the non-effectives are about 1500 generals of
division. However, the old system continues, and to
most of the battalions the President's observation,
" Beaucoup souffert dans la derniere guerre," could be
aptly applied. As Gustave d'Alaux somewhere re-
marks, " Tout Haitien qui n'^tait pas general de divi-
sion dtait au moins soldat."

The cause of the great superabundance of general
officers arises from nomination to a superior grade bein^
a form of reward for political services which costs little.

.THE ARMY. 311

Every successful revolution brings with it a fresh crop
of generals and colonels, as a lesser rank would be
despised. I know a general who kept a small provision
shop, and have seen him selling candles in full uniform,
A counter-revolution made him fly the country, and for
some time after he was acting as groom in some French
seaport.^ A Minister of War, wishing to please a
courtesan, gave her a commission in blank, which she
sold for about five pounds.

President Salnave raised a common workman to the
rank of general of brigade. As he had no money to
buy a uniform, he began by stealing a pair of gold-
laced trousers from a tailor's shop, but did not do it
unobserved. Chase was given, and the culprit fled to
the palace, and took refuge in Salnave's own room,
who, however, handed him . over to the police. The
stolen trousers were then fastened round his neclc and
a rope secured to one ankle, and in this manner the
new general was led round the town, receiving every
now and then blows from the clubs of the soldiers.
When he was quite exhausted, they mounted him on
a donkey with his face to the tail, a placard with the
word " Thief " fixed on his breast, and the gold-laced
trousers still tied round his neck.

The great majority of the soldiers are in reality
civilians, without any military training whatever, but
they have a hankering for wearing a uniform, which is

1 Mackenzie tells a story of a town-adjutant calling on him in
gorgeous uniform ; he next met him cooking the dinner of his host.

812 THE AEMY.

partly excusable on account of the respect with which
the lower classes regard an officer.

The blacks laugh a little at their own love of gold
lace. One day, whilst entering the cathedral with the
diplomatic and consular corps in full uniform, I heard
a negro say to his companions, " Garde done, blancs
1&, aim6 galon too !"(" Look, the whites also like gold
lace !"), and a grunt of acquiescence showed that they
were not a little pleased to find that the whites shared
their weakness. " Too," by the way, is almost the only
English word which remains to testify to our former
presence in the island.

Military honour has never been a distinguished
feature in the Haytian army, — I mean that military
honour which implies fidelity to the Government that
they have sworn to serve. This was most marked in
the revolution which broke out at Cap Haitien in
1865 under Salnave and Delorme. Nearly every
superior officer appeared more or less to have betrayed
General Geffrard; but as they hated Salnave more,
their treachery consisted in plots, in preventing suc-
cesses, but not in aiding the enemy. Geffrard knew
this, and so put over the army General Nissage-Saget,
an ex-tailor, I believe, who was utterly incapable and
as unsuccessful as the rest. Salnave could not have
held his position a week had the officers done their
duty; but they appeared to think only of how their
personal interests could be best served, and never of
the honour or dignity of the Government and country.

THE ARMY. 313

Some entered into a conspiracy to murder the President,
but being discovered, the most compromised fell on his
knees before Geffrard and pleaded for mercy, which
was somewhat contemptuously granted, with the re-
mark, " You are not of the stuff of which conspirators
should be made."

There was no want of personal courage shown by
the chiefs during the long civil war between civil-
isation and barbarism in 1868 and 1869, and some
ofiScers showed conspicuous dash and bravery, as Mon-
plaisir- Pierre (negro) and Brice (coloured), (who sub-
sequently were foully murdered by order of their then
ally, Septimus Eameau,) and Boisrond-Canal (coloured),
who really merited the epithet of sans peur et sans
reproche which was given him at a banquet at Port-
au-Prince.

Traits of individual courage were constantly occur-
ling, as during the defence of the town of Les Cayes,
when young Colonel Lys distinguished himself. He,
as well as all the bravest and best, has lately fallen a
victim to the ferocity of the negro authorities. The
Haytian, however, is not a fighting animal. Housed to
fury by the excesses of his French masters, the negro
of the time of the Eevolution fought well, but since
then many of his military qualities have departed. He
is still a good marcher, is patient and abstemious; but
Soulouque's ignominious campaigns in Santo Domingo
showed that the Haytian soldier will not fight. There
has been little or no real fighting since; overwhelming

314 .THE akmy;

numbers would sometimes endeavour to capture a post,
but no battle took place during the. civil war of 1869.
Tlie only really daring act performed by numbers was
the surprise of Port-au-Prince in December of that
year, and the chiefs of the expedition were Brice
and Boisrond-Canal, supported by a land force under
Oeneral Carrie.

The ignorance of the officers often leads them into
ludicrous mistakes. A general commanding at Port-
au-Prince saw a boat entering the harbour with the
Spanish flag flying, and he instantly went down to
the wharf. " Who are you ? " said he to the officers.
" Spaniards," was the reply. " Paniols ! " exclaimed he ;
"then you are enemies !" and proceeded to arrest. them,
under the mistaken idea that all Spaniards must be
Dominicans, with whom Hayti was at war. It re-
quired the most vigorous language, and some emphatic
gestures with his foot on the part of the French Consul-
General, to prevent the Spanish officers being thrust into
the common jail. The negro had never heard of Spain,
although Cuba is within sight of Haytian shores.

An English admiral. Sir Eodney Mundy, came into
the harbour of the capital, and President Salnave sent
an officer on board to welcome our naval chief. This
was a black general, who, when he got on board, was
so tipsy that he commenced making formal bows to
the mainmast, under the mistaken idea that it was the
admiral, who, hearing of his maudlin state, came to
receive him on deck, and soon dismissed him. I heard

THE ARMY. 315

that he afterwards declared he had seen two admirals
on board. I knew this man well, and though a tipsy
savage, was entrusted with a most important military
command.

The army is legally recruited by conscription, the
term of service being seven years, though volunteers
serve only four; this, however, is purely nominal.
During my stay, the invariable practice was for a
colonel of a regiment to send out parties of soldiers,
who seized in the streets any man whom they thought
would suit. As this only occurred in times of danger,
or when the President's bodyguard had to be com^
pleted, these captured volunteers had the greatest diffi-
culty in getting free from the clutches of the recruiting
sergeant. I have seen even deputies and senators walked
off to the barracks.

As soon as it is known that the recruiting parties
are about, men begin to stay at home, and only women
come in from the country. This brutal system of
enlistment was one of the causes of the fall of Pre-
sident Geffrard. To punish the inhabitants of Cap
Haitien for their unsuccessful insurrection in 1865,
the President had recruiting parties sent out into that
town, and the respectable young men were captured by
dozens, transferred to Port-au-Prince, and forcibly in-
corporated into the battalions of tiraillexirs. It was
they who in 1867 gave the signal for those revolu-
tionary movements which finally upset the President.
The brutality shown by these recruiting parties is re-

316 THE ARMY.

volting, as the men are armed with clubs, and permitted
to use them at discretion.

General Geffrard used to harangue these unhappy
volunteers as if they were burning with enthusiasm
to join the army, whilst, bleeding, tattered, and torn,
they listened sulkily to his words, all the time care-
fully guarded by their brutal captors. Their chief pre-
tended not to see their state.

This reminds me of an incident which occurred
during the late war between Chili and Peru. Some
hundreds of Indians had been lassoed in the interior,
and brought down to Lima to fill up the vacancies in
some regiments. President Prado was urged to address
them, and they were collected under one of the windows
of the palace. The general approached with liis staff,
and leaning out of window, began — " Noble volunteers,"
when he perceived that the men were tied together,
and that each dozen pairs were secured by a long rope.
He drew back hastily and said, " Noble volunteers in-
deed ! I caimot lend myself to such a farce ; " and no
persuasion would induce him to return to continue his
speech. President Prado has been deservedly criti-
cised for his conduct during this war; but had his
countrymen listened to his advice there would have
been no conflict between Chih and Peru.

The pay of the Haytian army is nominally as
follows : —

General of division ^140 a year

General of brigade 105 „

THE ARMY.

317

Adjutant-general
Colonel

Commandant or major
Captain
Lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant .
Non-commissioned
Private

;£7S a year

40
20
12
]o

7

from ^3 to ^5
£1 10

The rations of a foot-soldier on duty are about two
shillings a week, whilst that of a cavalry-man are three
shillings. As the soldiers not on duty are allowed to
work, they receive no rations. The President's guard,
consisting of several battalions, is composed princi-
pally of the mechanics and respectable labourers of
the town and neighbourhood, who often paid the
colonels so much per week to be exempt from active
service.

The ordinary battalions are recruited among the
country people, and these rarely present themselves
except on pay-day. Even for this there is little encour-
agement, as if they do not present themselves at the
appointed time the officers divide the balance of the
pay amongst themselves. If any man persistently
comes to receive his dues, he is detained to do active
duty for a month or two, which effectually checks his
zeal and his love of dollars.

When the pay of officers is so trifling, it is to be
supposed that the better classes do not enter the army
as a profession. The higher grades are generally
named for political services, whilst the lower are filled

318 THE AKMY.

by men raised from tlie ranks. Except in a few special
cases, it is rare for a man to have gone through all the
grades of officer.

The generals are a power in the State, and have to
be conciliated. ' The most ignorant blacks, as I have
mentioned, are given the most important commands,
from their supposed influence among the lower orders,
whom they perfectly resemble in everything but uni-
form. They supplement their inadequate pay by every
illegitimate means.

President Geffrard had really a desire to form an
army, but the materials at hand were poor. His
lower officers were, as usual, taken" from the ranks, and
inclined to pilfering. A captain was detected in the
act of robbing the custom-house, and as he had charge
of the guard, the President determined to make an
example. I find the anecdote recounted in my journal
written at the time, and as the incidents are very char-
acteristic of ' the people I will tell the whole story.
" The danger of not knowing the connections of those
to whom you are speaking may' be exemplified by the
following: — During the inevitable quarter of an hour
before dinner I was sitting next a charming Hay-
tian lady, educated in England and married to an
Englishman, when she began to tell me the news
of the day. At the parade that morning the Pre-
sident had ordered the epaulettes of an officer to be
torn off his coat on account of a petty theft he had
committed at the custom-house. After he had given:

THE' ARMY, 319

the order, the > President tuTned away his head, but
presently remarked, 'Is he dead yet?' 'Dead!'
your Exoellency,' exclaimed an aide-de-camp. 'Yes,
dead. I thought that an officer of my army so pub-
licly disgraced 'would instantly have put an end to
his existence.' The lady's anecdote produced a hearty
laugh, first at the acting of the President, and then at
the idea of any Haytian officer having a notion of suck"
delicate honour. I reniarked to my companion that the
President would have done better, instead of only punish-
ing the petty thieves, to lay a heavy hand on the great

robbers, as, ; for instance, Mr. . . The lady quietly

turned to me and said, ' I am sure you do not know
that Mr. is my brother.' The start I gave con-
vinced her that I did not ; but I felt uncomfortable until,
during dinner, with a nod and a smile, she asked p^e

to take wine with- her." Mr. had been engaged

with sonie others in a ditournement, as it was deli-
cately called, of about seventy thousand dollars, but
when I knew him afterwards he was Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs, and a more unworthy man it would
have been difficult even for Hayti to produce.

President Salnave had a favourite regiment that he
kept up to its full strength, and the rank and file were
fairly well disciplined. They were the only men in his
pay who really looked like soldiers, but they were most
insolent and overbearing. In order to strike terror into
the capital, Salnave ordered their colonel to march
them down to the "Ptue des Fronts Forts," where the

320 THE POLICE.

retail shopkeepers live, and there gave them leave
to plunder. His little speech on this occasion has
become a proverb in Hayti — " Mes enfans, pillez en
bon ordre." Whenever there were any political ex.ecu-
tions, the shooting squad was chosen from among
them, and they have the discredit of having been
employed to murder all the political prisoners confined
in the jaU at Port-au-Prince in December 1869.

The only battalions which, in time of peace, are
kept up to their full strength are those which are
sent from their own districts to garrison distant towns,
when the men not actually on duty are allowed to
look for work.

The Police.

Of all the institutions of Hayti, the police is certainly
the worst. There are regular commissaries employed
under the prefects, but ordinary soldiers do the work of
constables. In my time they went about the streets
with a thick stick of lieavy wood in their hands, called
a cocomacaque, and they used it in such a way as to con-
firm the remark that cruelty or the utter insensibility
to the infliction of pain on others was part of a negro's
nature. Xever did I see a Haytian of the upper classes
step forward to remonstrate — probably he knew his
countrymen too well — whilst the lower orders simply
laughed and enjoyed the sight of the punishment
inflicted.

Every one arrested accused of a crime is immediately

THE POLICE. 321

treated as if he were guilty and the police were his
appointed executioners, and their cocomacaques are at
once brought to play on his head and shoulders. As
has been observantly remarked : — :" In Hayti no pri-
soner has any right to be considered innocent." A
woman living near my house was arrested, accused of
having killed the child of a neighbour from motives
of jealousy. They said she was a loup-garou, who had
sucked the blood of the child, and as soon as the
soldiers seized her they began to beat her. Before she
reached the prison she was covered with wounds, and a
relative who endeavoured to interfere shared the same
fate.

One day, whilst at the American Consulate, I heard a
disturbance outside. I took no notice at first, but pre-
sently looking . out, saw the police raising a prostrate
man. He had been insolent to his overseer, and a
passing general ordered him to be taken to prison by
the soldiers who were following him ; they fell upon
the man, and in a few moments he was a mass of
bruises, and died before they could drag him to his
destination. A few weeks after, I saw the body of a
negro lying near the same spot; it was that of a thief
on whom the police had executed summary justice with
their clubs.

An English merchant saw two soldiers arrest a man
accused of murder; as he resisted they tied his feet
together and dragged him along the streets, his head

bumping against the stones. Our countryman remon-

X

322 THE POLICE.

strated, but was threatened with the same treatment
if he dared to interfere. A negro arrested for stealing
fowls had his arms bound behind him, and a rope
attached to one anlile, which was held by a policeman,
whilst another kept close to the prisoner to beat him
with his club, and as he darted forward to avoid a
blow the other would pull the rope, and the unfortu-
nate accused would fall flat on his face. And all this
done in public before the authorities, both civil and
military, and no man raising his voice to stop such
barbarous work.

Many charitable persons, unwilling to believe that
the negro police of Hayti could be such brutes as I
have described them, have thought that I founded my
assertion on one or two isolated instances, but to prove
the contrary, I will copy from Haytian journals of a
comparatively recent date a few cases.

"On Thursday the 14th April 1887 a scene as sad
as it was barbarous was enacted by the police in the
midst of this capital (Port-au-Prince). A man named
Icsalin, suspected of having committed a robbery at
Messrs. Chefdruc & Hermantin, was arrested and bound
with ropes. According to the usual custom, he was
trotted about in every corner of the town. He was
surrounded by some epauletted commissaries and sub-
commissaries of the police, some on foot, the others on
horseback, nearly all carrying the traditional cocoma-
caque. The populace followed. The poor suspected one,
beaten, bathed in his blood and sweat, caused cries of

THE POLICE. 323

indignation and commiseration to be uttered on all
sides. Two Europeans, not accustomed to such scenes,
could not but sav, 'What fury of madmen are these
Haytian police ! '

" Icsalin, weak, exhausted, crushed to a jelly under
the weight of this bastonnade, was at length taken to
prison. There he had but time to ask for a glass of
water, when he expired." ^

I will give two more accounts taken from the same
journal : — " A Death in Prison. — Our readers may re-
member that the individual who had tried to pillage
the house of M. Marmont Tlambert had been wounded
by the police ; he was taken to prison in this state.
His leg was horribly fractured. From want of atten-
tion mortification soon set in, and presently the exist-
ence of this unfortunate was in peril. A good woman,
of whom a few are still found amongst us, overcoming
her repugnance, wished to assist him in his last moments ;
she tended as well as she could the putrid limb, and
talked of God to the dying wretch. He was touched,
sent for a priest, and confessed with every sign of
sincere repentance, received extreme unction, and died
quietly shortly after, and imploring Divine mercy."
This is from the Haytian clerical journal.^

A prisoner is beaten so severely by the police that
his leg is broken ; in this state he is dragged to prison,
thrown into a cell, and left to die of gangrene. No

^ La YeriU, April 23, 1887.
2 lUd., August 13, 1887.

324 THE POLICE.

doctor, no care, no one to do aught for the poor wretch
but the charity of a stranger.

Another case from the same journal : ^ — " On Sundav,
about eleven o'clock at night, two countrymen, who
were not sleepy, were amusing themselves playing with
dice or cards under the gallery of a house in Courbe
Street. The patrol arrived. One of the young men
bolted and gained the courtyard where he was accus-
tomed to sleep. The other was not so prompt; he is
caught ; a blow from a cocomacaque stops him ; struck
on the nape of the neck, he fell dead without uttering
a cry. No means of making pass as a thief this un-
fortunate one."

Ashamed of the publicity given to the evil deeds of
the police and smarting under the remonstrance of a
foreign Consul, the authorities did give an order against
the beating of prisoners, but in a most grudging spirit ;
the order is dated June 25, 1887, and the effect it had
on the police agents may be judged by the above in-
stances, which occurred immediately after the issue of
this mandate.

As detectives these soldier-police axe quite useless,
and crime, unless openly committed, is rarely discovered.
Kobbers have continued in their profession for years,
though perfectly well known, and no attempt has been
made to capture them. There was one who was noto-
rious for the impunity with which he had committed a
long series of crimes. When he entered a house he

1 La YiriU, July 1 6, 1887.

THE POLICE. 325

intended to rob, he did so perfectly prepared, stripped
to the skin, his body well smeared with oil, and
crawling like a dog, with a knife between his teeth.
Unluckily for him, one night, being disturbed in his
operations, he stabbed his assailant, who proved to be
a senator. It was all very well to rob and stab common
people, but a senator could not be thus treated with
impunity, and the man, fearing no pursuit, was quietly
captured in bed. The commissary of police, thinking
that the fellow had had rope enough given him, and
being sure that he would again escape from prison if
sent there, had him taken out of town, and he was
promptly shot under pretence of having attempted to
escape — la ley fug a, as the Spaniards call it.

A very curious trait of manners came to light in this
case. The lordly senator was sleeping in the bed, whilst
his wife was reposing on a mat by its side. Awakened
by something crawling over her feet, she said, "Mon cher,
I think there is a big dog in the room." Her husband
lit a match and saw crouched in a corner a black object,
which he sprang out of bed to seize, when the robber
freed himself by a stab with his knife.

General Vil Lubin was, during the reign of the
Emperor Soulouque, in command of the arrondissement
of Port-au-Prince ; he proved efficient in this post, but
he was a hard man, and one day ordered two soldiers
to be beaten. Their comrades carried out the order so
effectually that in a short time two bruised corpses were
lying at the barrack door. Soulouque heard of it, and

026 THE POLICE.

furious at the treatment of these members of his own
guard, bitterly reproached Vil Lubin, and for months
could not meet him without using the expression,
"Eendez-moi mes soldats." Yet how many hundreds
had met their death by his order ! In both the civil
and military administrations brutality is the rule, not
the exception.

There has been for many years much talk of estab-
lishing a rural police to check the pilfering of the
peasants, but nothing effective has been done.

The Government rely for the detection of conspiracies
more upon informers than on the police, and as they
are to be found in all ranks, friendship is often used
for the purpose of obtaining information. President
Gefirard sometimes referred to conversations to which
members of the diplomatic corps had been parties, and
perhaps too often, as on comparing notes they were
enabled to fix on their communicative friends, and were
thus free to let the President hear their real opinion
about his measures, only so far, however, as it suited
their purpose. Under Soulouque the system was car-
ried to a greater extent, and his suspicious mind made
him treat as truth every assertion of a spy. One
day an old beggar-woman, passing before the palace,
asked alms of some officers who were conversing to-
gether ; as they paid no attention to her, she ran under
the Emperor's windows and began shouting, " Emperor,
they are conspiring against you ! " and made so great
a disturbance that the guard turned out. The officers

THE POLICE. 327

were too glad to get rid of the old woman by giving
her money ; she went off laughing, with her hands full
of notes.

There was a man whom I knew very well, who was
considered in society as a secret agent of President
Geffrard's ; the moment he entered a room, people
changed their conversation and began talking of the
weather. Geffrard having at one time a great desire
to prevent any information reaching a member of the
diplomatic corps, ordered this person to invite nay
colleague to his country house, and never let him go
out of his sight ; he was well paid for this service, but
his efforts were all in vain, as, although national in-
terests were concerned, there were plenty of traitors
who were ready to sell their country, even if only for
political revenge.

This secret agent came to a melancholy end ; under
Salnave he was constantly in dread of being arrested,
and perhaps shot, and went about repeating the phrase,
" This revolution is a monster which will devour all its
own children," and so excited himself that at last he
felt assured that the police were after him, and rushed
to take refuge in the English Legation ; but finding me
out, he went to a friend's house, and there drawing a
pistol, blew out his brains.

Under Salnave and Domingue the spy system was
much employed, and it appears likely that under the
Government of General Salomon it was rampant, if we
may judge by the series of military executions which

328 THE POLICE.

marked that Presidency. Society was completely
broken up, as if three met together one was sure to
be a spy. Servants were often engaged to repeat the
conversations of their employers, and I have often been
reminded by a look of the presence of a listener.

The jails, as might be expected in such a country and
among such a people, are filthy places. I often visited
that of Port-au-Prince; it was then a cluster of low
buildings, surrounded by a wall about ten feet in
height, so insecure that no European criminal could
have been kept there a night, except by his own good-
will. The ordinary negro, however, has no enterprise,
and rather liking the lazy life, lies down to sleep out
his sentence.

Prisoners condemned to death, and too often political
suspects, are confined in cells, and are manacled to an
iron bar running from wall to wall. I looked into one
and saw five men fixed to the same bar. As I knew
there were only four condemned to death, I asked what
was the crime of the fifth. " Oh, he is a military
deserter, and we did not know where else to put him."

During General Geffrard's Presidency a little attention
was paid to the cleanliness of the jails, but during Sou-
louque's reign and after the fall of Geffrard everything
was neglected. Our Consul once visited the prison and
found nine negroes manacled to the same bar, lying
naked on the floor on account of the stifling heat, and
the jailer admitted that he had not freed them from the
bar for above a week, nor had lie thought of having the

THE POLICE. 329

cell cleaned out. The horrible odour issuing from the
place when the door vas opened fully confirmed the
latter assertion.

I knew a general, still living, who had been confined
from political motives in one of these cells, I believe,
for seven years, and his manacles were only secretly
removed by the jailer at rare intervals. This was during
Soulouque's brutal reign.

Murderers serving out their sentences, thieves, un-
important political suspects, imprisoned sailors, untried
prisoners, are all indiscriminately confined in large rooms,
opening on a court, and receive their food from friends
or relatives. Unhappy would be the wretch who had
no one to care for him, as the pitiful allowance for the
prisoners, irregularly paid, rarely, if ever, reaches them.

The system of keeping prisoners year after year in
prison without being tried is known to all the Ameri-
can republics of the Latin race. In Hayti it is a very
common practice. I quote a paragraph of Im ViriU
of Port-au-Prince of April 14, 1888: — "The 12th, on
account of the want of a majority of the jury, there
was no court. The case of the accused, who should
have been tried that day, was put off till the next
sessions ; he has already suffered, we are assured, two
years of prison. It is odious."

Horatius Gaston, ten months, awaiting trial.

Murat Bordas, imprisoned April i, 1884, still untried,
September 10, 1887.

Massillon Tardieu, fifteen months, awaiting trial.

330 THE POLICE.

La Viriti of September lo, 1887, promised to pub-
lish a list of these long-detained but untried prisoners,
which I have not seen. Whilst in Peru a German
colleague pointed me out a paragraph in a newspaper
in which it spoke of a prisoner who had been detained
twenty-five years awaiting his trial.

Female prisoners are confined in the same building,
but their rooms open on a separate court. The wife of
a revolutionary general was imprisoned there in 1869;
she was for a long time kept in irons, but at length
heed was given to our remonstrances, and her irons
were removed. She was a handsome negress, who took
the jailer's fancy ; he tried to violate her, but the power-
ful woman thrust him from her cell. He threatened
vengeance ; but a few nights after, some friends aided
her to get over the wall of the prison, and she fled to
our Legation, where she remained over three months,
and it required the vigorous remonstrances of Lord
Clarendon to enable us to embark her for Jamaica. On
the day that we did so, as we approached the wharf we
noticed a crowd of negroes assembling with the object
of insulting their countrywoman, but on my giving my
arm to the black lady, an old negro remarked in their
jargon, " Consite specie negresse-qi-la " ("The Consul
shows respect to that negress '), and allowed us to pass
without a word. The lady was from Cap Haitien, and
I may add that she was the only refugee out of many
hundreds that I can remember who ever showed any
gratitude for the services rendered them.

THE POLICE. 331

All the members of the diplomatic corps, since the
first acknowledgment of the independence of Hayti,
have at various times attempted to persuade successive
Governments to reform their prison system, but never
with much result.

In my first edition I only slightly referred to the
prisons of Port-au-Prince, but even that slight reference
was looked upon as a calumny. I will therefore add
to my description that of a Haytian gentleman who
writes under the signature of Jaques Lourdemain, and
who visited them in 1887: — "We had scarcely passed
the door when a sentinel took the trouble to relieve us.
"We had to give up our canes, umbrellas, all that we
had, whether in our hands or in our pockets : the austere
sentinel did not fail to ask for a slight gratification.
After this exchange of courtesies, let us endeavour
to penetrate into the first courtyard. It is difficult
to enter, as the prisoners (condemned or untried, who
knows ?) arrive from all sides, and press on you, harass
you, beg with a word salted or not. Prom this crowd
there arises an odour that one cannot describe. One
is literally suffocated. Pull of pity, one asks if such a
stench can come from human beings with the faculty
of thought, or from unclean beasts invisibly floating iu
the air: one again asks oneself if such a stench can
come from places which serve as the habitat of men.

"Enter quickly into the first court; there you find
cells in a tolerable state if you compare them with the
rest of the prison. They have a plank floor ! — clean and

332 THE POLICE.

solid ? On the contrary, but at - all events it is a
planked floor. It is in these cells the political prisoners
are kept.

" In this courtyard you see a kind of latrine ; but it
is not an ordinary latrine, and then our Haytian visitor
enters into particulars.

"A filthy passage leads one into the second court.
The dungeons are in a miserable condition. Here are
confined robbers, those condemned to penal servitude,
and — it is difficult to credit it — military defaulters and
peasants who have entered the town without permis-
sion. All this is so repugnant that one cannot remain
long in this place. Let us quickly pass into the third
court, which is analogous to the first, and here also
political prisoners are incarcerated."

After describing the civil prison, he continues: —
" IVom a court at the back there arise putrid and fithy
exhalations fit to give every kind of disease. And
it is in this court that the soldiers were lodged.

" To sura up, the prison of Port-au-Prince is a centre
of infection, a permanent danger not only to the
prisoners, but to the city.

" As to the food, it is a wonder that those detained in
prison do not die of hunger.

" All the prisoners are equally unclean ; one sees every
kind of vermin swarming on them."

I give this abridged account taken from La V6rit6
newspaper of September 3, 10, and 17, 1887, published
in Port-au-Prince.

THE POLICE. 333

My account was mild indeed in comparison to that
of M. Lourdemain, but any long resident in Hayti
would make the same remark concerning every subject
I have treated in this work. I was decided that no
one should ever be able to say with any show of reason
that I had described things that were not, or had
exaggerated them, and therefore I have left untold
many circumstances which I believed to be true, but of
which I had not convincing proof. It is a remarkable
circumstance that neither in the newspapers published
in Hayti, nor in the private correspondence received
from that republic, nor yet in anonymous letters, has a
single error been pointed out. Abuse has been lavished
on me, but no refutation. The training in our service
prevents our accepting as genuine the stories floating
on the surface of society.

Murder is sometimes punished with death, but that
punishment is generally reserved for political opponents.
I remember an instance which is worth relating, as it
displays the Haytian character in the form it assumes
when excited by political passion. In the autumn of
1868 five merchants of the southern province were
captured and brought to Port-au-Prince. As they were
connected with members of the revolutionary party
then in arms, the mob clamoured for their lives, and
they were ordered by President Salnave to be shot.
As we knew that these men were perfectly innocent,
the Prench, Spanish, and English representatives made
an effort to save them, and we called on the Foreign

334 THE POLICE.

Minister to ask him to accompany us to the palace to
see the President. We were told that he was ill in
bed and could not go with us. We insisted upon
seeing him, and found this functionary covered up
in bed and trembling, not with ague, but with fear.
We begged him to get up, but he obstinately refused,
declaring he was too unwell. We could not waste any
more time, as the execution was to take place within an
hour, so we left ; but I could not refrain from saying to
this bedridden gentleman, " In such times as these, sir,
a Minister has no right to be ill." He never forgave
me.

We went to the palace, but were refused admittance,
and only got back to the French Legation in time to
see the five prisoners pass to execution. Presently one
returned whom the President had pardoned.

When the procession arrived at the place of execu-
tion there was a mob collected of several thousand
spectators, principally ferocious negresses. A shout
arose, " We were promised five ! Where is the fifth ? "
and the crowd closed in on the procession with knives
drawn and pistols ready. The cowardly officers replied,
" The fifth is coming," and sent word to President
Salnave. He, unwilling to disappoint his most faithful
followers, looked over the list of those in prison,
and finding that there was a parricide whom he had
pardoned but the day before, ordered him to execu-
tion. In the meantime the four others had been kept
waiting, exposed to the insults of the populace — par-

THE POLICE. 335

ticukrly one prisoner whose long white beard and hair
and fair skin made him particularly obnoxious.

The arrival of the fifth prisoner pacified the crowd.
The five were clumsily shot, and then the spectators
rushed in with their knives and mangled the bodies
under every circumstance of obscenity. Such are the
negresses when excited by political leaders, and such
were evidently the most devoted followers of President
Salomon, if we can place any faith in the accounts of
the fearful atrocities perpetrated by them during the
massacres of September 1883.

The chief of this ferocious band was a young negress
who went by the name of Eoi Petit Choutte, to whom
President Salnave gave a commission as general. She
used to come in front of the Legation with some of
her companions, knife in one hand and pistol in the
other, and utter ferocious threats on account of our
having received some political refugees. One day I was
standing at the door speaking to a Haytian gentleman,
when he whispered, " Take care ; she is going to stab
you." I turned my head and saw Choutte approach-
ing knife in hand. I did not move, but smiled slightly ;
she hesitated, then walked quickly away with her
companions.

These women were used as a high police to keep
down disaiTection, and terrible stories are told of the
murders and cruelties practised by these wretches.
When the revolution triumphed Eoi Petit Choutte
was arrested, but though murder could readily have

336 THE POLICE.

been proved against her, she was soon restored to
liberty.

As every one in the police department is most in-
efficiently paid, its members are generally open to bribes,
and are accused of levying black-mail on the poorer
inhabitants. During the time of Salnave they were
unbridled in their savage acts, and every man they met
in the streets, foreign or native, was liable to be seized
and sent to the forts as a recruit. As regular com-
missaries accompanied these bands of police and soldiers,
the arrests of well-known people were done in a spirit
of wanton mischief ; at other times it was to obtain a
pecuniary recompense for their good- nature in releasing
a foreigner.

To show how ordinary police affairs are managed in
Hayti, I must give an account of an incident which
occurred to the Spanish cliargi d'affaires and myself.
A dishonest servant forced open the window of our
wine-cellar and stole eighteen dozen of claret and then
fled. We gave notice to the police, who were very
energetic in taking up the case, and every now and
then brought us information of their proceedings. At
last they recovered some of the wine, and brought us
back in triumph two dozen and seven bottles, for which
they were duly rewarded. A few days passed, and a
Haytian friend happening to breakfast with us took up
a claret-bottle and saw the mark, " Chateau Giscours,
De Luze, Bordeaux." He laughed and said, " Now I
understand a remark made by the Minister of the

THE POLICE. 337

Interior when he said what capital wine the English
Minister imported." "We pressed him with questions,
and he told us that whilst sitting at table with the
Home Secretary he had been struck by the remark of
his host, and had looked at the etiquette on the bottles,
and had noticed that they all bore the name of " De
Luze," of whose wines we were the only importers.

On further inquiry, we found that the police had
recovered fourteen dozen of our wine (the other four
had been bought of the thief knowingly by a most inti-
mate French friend), and that they had divided eleven
dozen and five bottles among various high officials.
The only observation my Spanish colleague made was,
" Quel pays ! " but I felt inclined to agree with the
people when they say of the governing class, "Quel
tas de voleurs." This Minister of the Interior and re-
ceiver of stolen goods afterwards took refuge in the
Legation, and during my absence was shown into a
strong-room, in which a large amount of De Luze's
wines were stored. I could not but smile as I saw
the fallen Minister, surrounded by reminders of those
happy breakfasts he had given at our expense.

The robber-servant was afterwards arrested for
another offence, and I could not but pity him when I
saw him with his hands tied behind him, bleeding and
stumbling under the blows of a policeman's club.

During the siege of Port-au-Prince in the civil war
of 1868, my French and Spanish colleagues and I were
walking through the town, when we were startled by

Y

338 THE POLICE.

the sound of firing in the next street. On arriving
at the spot we found that the police had arrested a
young Frenchman; as he objected that he was a
foreigner and not liable to conscription, a crowd soon
assembled, and a follower of Eoi Petit Choutte's, a fero-
cious negro, raised his carbine and shot the lad through
the body, and my French colleague had barely time to
catch his last words before he expired.

Nothing that the French representative could say
had any eflFect on the Haytian Government ; the mur-
derer was promoted to be a sergeant, and sent to the
army to get him out of the way; but he soon came
back to Port-au-Prince, to be more insolent than ever.
Had the French representative followed the advice of
his colleagues and of his own naval of&cers, he would
have given the Haytian authorities twenty-four hours
to try the murderer by court-martial (the city was
under martial law), and had the ruffian shot where the
murder was committed.

However, we had the satisfaction of knowing that
when the revolution triumphed this man was con-
demned to death for his other crimes and executed, a
more resolute French colleague taking care to be present
at the final ceremony to see ■ that the sentence was not
evaded. For kilHng a white he would not have been
executed, unless his representative would have been
ready to seize a material guarantee, to be held until
justice had been done; then, and only then, will the
Haytian Government do its duty.

THE POLICE. 339

During the Presidencies of Generals Nissage-Saget
and Boisrond- Canal the police, though as dishonest,
were less insufferable ; but under Domingue and Salo-
mon they were worse than ever, as they always are
under the government of the black section of the
community.

Under the Salomon regime neither the white nor the
coloured man had any rights which the black was
bound to respect.

( 340 )

CHAPTEE X.

LAilGUAGE AND LITEEATUEE.

Theee are two languages spoken in Hayti, French and
Creole. French is the language of public life and of
literature, whilst Creole is the language of home and of
the people. President Geffrard, among other eccentri-
cities, used to extol the Creole as the softest and most
expressive of languages, and his countrymen are unani-
mously of his opinion; but no Frenchman can accept
as a language this uncouth jargon of corrupt French in
an African form.

No doubt African languages, like those of other
savages, are very simple in their construction, and the
negroes imported into Hayti learned French words and
af&xed them to the forms of their own dialects. Mr.
J. J. Thomas of Trinidad has published a very pains-
taking grammar of the Creole language as spoken in
that island. I gather from it that this patois is much
the same as that spoken in Hayti ; but in our colony it
holds the position of the Saxon in the Norman period,
and interpreters are required in our law-courts to explain
the language of the people. It shows also that in the

LANGUAGE AND LITEEATTJEE. 341

French colonies of Martinique and Guadalonpe, as in
our Prench-speaking colonies, wherever the negroes
attempt to express themselves in French, they do so
in the same way that the Creole is spoken in Hayti.
I may add that the patois of the inhahitants of the
interior is so corrupt and African, that those who can
converse freely with the negroes of the coast are often
puzzled when they visit the mountains, and require
an interpreter.

As this Creole language is spoken hy about a million
and a half of people in the different islands of the
West Indies, it merits the attention which Mr. Thomas
has bestowed upon it ; and I would refer those curious
on the subject to this elaborate work, in which
everything possible is done to raise the status of a
patois which remains still, in my opinion, but an un-
couth jargon.

There is naturally no Creole literature, but there are
many songs and proverbs, some of which may serve to
show the kind of language spoken by the Haytians.

The only songs which I can quote are written by
persons familiar with the French language, and there-
fore do not sufficiently represent the pure Creole. The
proverbs, however, are genuine, and are therefore the
reflex of popular ideas.

Moreau de St. Mery, who lived in Hayti during the
latter part of last century, quotes a song written about
the year 1750, which, though often reprinted, I will
insert here, with a translation made by a Creole some

342

LANGUAGE AND LITEEATITEE.

years later. St. M^ry has all Geffrard's admiratioii
for the Creole language, and thinks that the inarticu-
late sounds, which cannot be rendered on paper, are the
most admirable part of the language of the Haytians,
and perhaps it may be so : —

Creole.

Lisette quitt^ la plaine,

Mon perdi bonheur h mon^,

Gie k moin sembl^ fontaine,

Dipi mon pas mir6 toue.

La jour quand mon coupe canne.

Mod. songe zamour k moue,

La nuit quand mon dans cabane

Dans dromi mon quimbe toue.

Si to all^ h. la ville
Ta trouv^ geine candio,
Qui gagnS pour tromp^ fille
Bouche doux pass6 sirop.
To va cr^r yo bin sincdre
Pendant quior yo coquin ho,
C'est serpent qui contrefaire
Cri6 rat, pour tromper yo.

Dipi mon perdi Lisette,
Mon pas souchi^ Oalenda,
Mon quitte bram bram sonnette,
Mon pas batte bamboula.
Quand mon contr^ laut' negresse
Mon pas gagne gie pour li,
Mon pas soucbie travail pi^ce
Tout qui chose k moin mouirL

Mon maigre tant com 'guon souche,
Jambe k moin taut comme roseau.
Mange na pas doux dans bouche.
Tafia m6me c'est comme dyo.
Quand mon song^ toue Lisette,
Dyo toujours dans gi^ moin,
Magner moin vini trop bSte
A force chagrin magne moin.

French.

Lisette tu fuis la plaine,
Mon bonheur s'est envole,
Mes pleurs en doubles fontaines
Sur tous tes pas ont couI4
Le jour moissonnant la canne
Je reve k tes doux appas,
TJn songe dans ma cabane
La nuit te met dans mes bras.

Tu trouveras k la ville
Plus d'un jeune freluquet,
Leur bouche avec art distille
Un m.iel doux mais plein d'apprdt.
Tu croiras leur coeur sincere,
Leur coeur ne veut que tromper :
Le serpent sait contrefaire
Le rat qu'il veut d^vorer.

Mes pas loin de ma Lisette
S'^loigneut du Calenda,
Et ma ceinture k sonnette
Languit sur mon bamboula.
Mon ceil de toute autre belle
N'aper^oit plus le souris,
Le travail en vain m'appelle
Mes sens sont an^antis.

Je p^ris comme la souche.
Ma jambe n'est qu'un roseau,
Nul mets ne plait k ma bouche,
La liqueur se change en eau.
Quand je songe k toi, Lisette,
Mes yeux s'inondent de pleurs,
Ma raison, lente et distraite,
C^de en tout k mes douleurs.

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 343

Liset' mon tarcl^ nouvelle, Mais est-il bien vrai, ma belle,

To compt^ bint6t tourn^, Dans peu tu dois revenir :

Vini done toujours fid^e, Ah ! reviens toujours fidMe,

Mir^ bon, passi tand^. Croire est moins doux que sentir.

N'a pas tard4 davantage, Ne tarda pas d'avantage,

To fair moin assez chagrin, C'est pour moi trop de chagrin,

Mon tant com 'zozo dans cage, Viens retirer de sa cage

Quand yo fair li mouri faim. L'oiseau consume de faim.

It will readily be remarked that every word is a
corruption of a French one, and as no standard of
spelling can exist in what may be called an unwritten
language, every writer has a distinct system of repre-
senting Creole sounds. The seductive beauty of this
language can only be for the initiated, as the beauty of
the native women is rarely remarked except by those
who have made a long voyage, and have almost for-
gotten what beauty is. The versified translation of the
song does not give" an exact idea of the construction of
the Creole sentence ; I may therefore insert one verse
with an interlined literal translation : —

Lisette, quitte la plain e,

lAsette, quitta la plaine,

Mon perdi bonheur a moud,

Je perdis mon bonheur,

Gie k moin sembl^ fontaine

Mes yeux semUaient une fontaine

Dipi mon pas m^ir^ tend.

Depuis je ne te vois pas.

La jour quand mon coupe canne

Lejour quand je coupe la canne

Mon songe zamour k mou6 ;

Je pense d mes amours ;

La nuit quand mon dans cabane

La nuit quand je suis dans ma cabcme

344 LANGUAGE AND LITEEATURE.

Dans dromi mon quimbe tou^.
Dans un songeje te tiens.

It is very difficult to find any very definite rules
of grammar in this song —

Lisette quitt^ (Lisette has left or left),
Mori coup6 canne (I cut the cane), .
Si to alle (if thou shouldst go),
Ta trouv6 (thou wilt find),
Qui gagn6 (who possess).

Past

Present.

Subjunctive.

Future.

Present.

Absolutely the same form is preserved in all tenses
and moods, and in conversation various expedients are
adopted to render the meaning clear.

A. M. L'Herison, a Haytian, has written a song,
which is quotediin Mr. Thomas's grammar, and as it
represents the cultivated Creole of the present day, it is
worth whUe inserting it : —

Badinez bien avec Macaque.

Grand 'maman mom dit : nans Guinee

Grand mouche rassemble youn jour

Toute pepe li contre nan tournee

Et pis li parle sans detour :

Quand zot allez foncer nan raque

Connain cotoient grand moune agi

Badinez bien avec Macaque,

Mais na pas magnie queue k li

Grand 'maman moin, dit nioin bon qui chose

L6 li prend bon coup malavoume.

Li dit moin com ja, " Monrose,"

Nan tout 'grand zaffaires faut dit " Houme "

Mais peut-on flanque moin youn claque

On pildt terminer ainsi ;

Badinez bien avec Macaque

Mais na pas magnie queue h, li

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 345

To get the true ring of popular Creole it is necessary
to examine their proverbs. M. J. J. Audain, a -well-
known Haytian, -whose first literary efforts brought
him into trouble, has published a collection which is
very complete.^ As Hayti becomes older as a nation
and loses its French element, -we may have a distinct
Creole literature. There • are many proverbs in M.
Audain's collection that -would be quite incomprehen-
sible to an untravelled Prenchlnan : —

16. Souffle fatras pou ou bonais d'lo.

17. Bonais d'lo, ranne oouie.

124. Quand digdale vernis piqude, cale basse vide dou^e
priiiga corps li.

The following are easy enough to understand : —

174. Bour6 empile pas all^ avee pite figu.

(Too much, hair does not suit a little face.)
60. Gi ouait, bouche p(5.

(The eyes see, the mouth speaks.)
73. Chique pas janmain respects pi6 grand mouche.
(Jiggers never respect the feet of the gentry.)

Some are so simple that they do not require trans-
lation, as —

Moune qui rond pas capable vini carr^,

Zafaire mouton, pas zafaire cabrite.

Calle poiiesson, pas I'agent (argent).

Toute bois c^ bois, main mapou pas cajou.

C6 Soulier qui connain si chaussons gangnain trou.

Quand ravette fait danse li pas janmain invito poule.

Pas janmain couri deux chimins k la fois.

Toute pou^sson mang^ moune, c^ requin seul qui p6t5 bMme.

La fimee pas janmain 16vde sans difd.

^ Recueil de Proverbes Creoles. Port-au-Prince, 1 87 7.

346 LANGUAGE AND LITEEATTTEE.

M. Audain's collection contains one thousand and
eleven proverbs; they are constantly quoted by the
people, who interlard their conversations with them
as much as ever Sancho Panza did. When speaking
of a very talkative person, they say, "Bouche li pas
gagn^ dimanche " (" His mouth has no Sunday or day
of rest").

It is scarcely necessary to multiply specimens of
Creole proverbs or translations. The former certainly
convey a better idea of the language spoken by the
negroes than the latter, though, as written, it is much
more easily understood than when it is spoken. The
negroes appear often to clip their sentences, and leave
it to the intelligence of the hearer to divine their
meaning.

In the newspaper Le Peuple of May 7, 1887, there is
given a speech in Creole by General Salomon, which
contains not only an excellent lesson in political
economy, but another on marriage and the education
of children. It begins thus : —

" Mes Zaumip, — Tous les ans nou vini fet^ avec moin, fete de
I'agriculture. Annie cil^ li caK montd empile, main ce pas moin.
qui fait li monte-ou tendi. Eicolte cafe manqui Ian toutes pays.
Ici li donnam moin I'annie cili la passi les autes. Ce qh, qui fait
li monti. lodi yo paye ou 20 gourdes pou cent livres. C6 pas
moin qui paye ou 20 gourdes, ni qui fait li monte comprenne 9J1
bien, parceque si moiu pas fait li mont6, moin pa 5a fait li dis-
cenne. lodi yo payi paye cafe cher, demain si li tombi, c6 pas le
moin qui vacause li tombe. Lors cafe empille Ian toutes pays for
li tombi lors li manqu6 comme a I'heur qui Test, for li monti.
Moin pa 5a fait li monte, ni fait li d6scenne, comprenne moin

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 347

bien. Mes Zaumis, zautes va fait bien maii^s parceque si zautes
fait pitites avec deux ou trois manmans, lor zautes va mouri
chaque pitite va vl^ pien pait li. Eh bien gangnain youn bete
yo belle fond^ de pouvoir c& li qui va mang^ tout 5a zautes va
quitt6, tandis que si zautes marids aveo contra mari&,ge, caille
officier I'dtat civil pitites zautes va montrd papi6 Ik, et pi c& yes
seuls qui va b&ities terras et caiUes zautes. Maries tout suite, la
va bon pou zautes.

" Moin I'ouvri IMcole tout patout ou doud voyd pitite ou I'dcole,
parceque si ou fait youn zafaire, yo capable bailie ou youn inauv§
papid ou va prend li, tandis que si pitite ou connain li, li va dit
ou papa zafaire la pas bon. Voy6 toutes pitites zautes I'dcole." —
Le Peuple, May 7, 1887.

Official documents are always written in French,
more or less correct; it is therefore unnecessary to
refer particularly to them; but I may remark that
they have a set stock of phrases which are constantly
repeated. I will, however, quote a short official letter
which amused us.

A Haytian had committed, or was supposed to have
committed, a crime, and instead of being arrested and
tried, he was ordered to be banished. The letter ad-
dressed to him was as follows : —

Libert^, Egalit:^, Frateknit^.

RfiPUBLIQUE D'HaiTI.

No. 392. Q0ARTiER-G:fiN:fiEAL DE Port-au-Princb,

Ze 30 Avril 1867,
An 64' de I'Independance.

Le Gdn&al de Division, Chef d'dxdoution de la volonte du
peuple souvrain, et de ses resolutions, et Vice-Pr&ident du
Gouvernement Provisoire,

348 LANGUAGE AND LITEEATCTEE.

An CiTOYEN Jules C .

MoiJSiEUR, — Des la presente regue, vous aurez a cliercher une
occasion pour les plages etrangeres, afin que vous partiez du pays
qui a reconnu en vous I'homme qui clierche h, pervertir la soci6t^
liaitienne. — Je vous salue.

(Signed) V. Chevalier, G.

This Monsieur Chevalier had been educated in France,
and was shrewdly suspected of having had a hand in
drawing up the Acte de ddchdance launched by the re-
volutionary committee of St. Marc in 1867 against
President Geffrard. Amongst the different articles are
the following : —

" Attendu que le General F. Geffrard assassins et empoisonne
les citoyens les plus eminents d'Haiti : attendu qu'il entretient a
I'etranger untres grand nombre d'espions et d'empoisonneurs d an.
prix exorbitant : attendu que toutes les ecoles de filles de la r^pub-
lique, notamment celles de Port-au-Prince, out pour maitresses
des femmes d'une vie dissolue, afin de faire de ces dtablissements
des niaisons de seduction k son profit," &c., &c.

A Frenchman inc[uired, " Etait-il indispensable pour
incriminer Geffrard sur ce dernier chapitre de faire tort
k toutes les demoiselles du pays ? "

Among the most remarkable works published in
Port-au-Prince may be noticed the " History of Hayti,"
by Thomas Madiou (clear mulatto). As it was written
in the republic by a Haytian for Haytians, it may be
judged from that point of view. I have read it with
great care and with considerable interest, and some of
the descriptions have been much admired, as the de-
tailed account of the attacks of the French on the

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 349

Crete-k-Pierrot. As an historical production it is a
work of considerable value and merit, for although full
of prejudiced statements, and with a strong leaning
against foreigners, there is, as far as local politics are
concerned, an apparent desire to be impartial. This,
however, is not the general opinion. St. E^my, in his
" Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture," speaking of Madiou's
history, says, "Du reste qu'il soit dit en passant que
tout le livre de Monsieur Madiou n'est qu'un tissu de
faits ^rron^s et de fausses appreciations." The French
condemn it as a false account of the war of independ-
ence, and resent the implied defence of Dessalines'
massacres. His partiality may be proved by his assert-
in" that the French Governor Blanchelande was the
instigator of the black insurrection against the whites.
Madiou wrote his history whilst in Hayti, and after
searching for materials among the old survivors of the
war, whose prejudices were still warm. No doubt he
was influenced by them, but the industry shown is un-
doubted. The friends and admirers of Toussaint had,
however, a right to complain of the evident wish to
depreciate the qualities of almost the only black Hay-
tian who rose above mediocrity.

Occasionally M. Madiou's style is very extravagant,
as in the description of a battle (see below ^) which took

' Vol. ii. p. 24 : — "Lea legionnaires au nombre de 800 environ furent
enveloppfe de toutes parts ; ils se trouvaient sans nul espoir ; assures
de leur mort, mais r^solus de se bien d^fendre, ils se retranohaient sous
la mitraille la plus meurtrifere, les uns derrifere des arbres renversi^s,
d'autres derrifere d'enormes pierres ; percds de coups de baionettes,

350 LANGUAGE AND LITEEATUEE.

place between the coloured men of Jacmel and their
hlack antagonists. Never was there such desperate
fighting since the days when —

" For "Witherington. needs must I wayle,
As one in doleful dumps,
For when his legs were smitten off,
He fought upon his stumps."

M. Madiou is a mulatto who has played a prominent
part in the history of his country, and his leanings are
evidently in favour of his own colour, and, as I have
observed, he is severe on Toussaint L'Ouverture for his
endeavours to crush the attempts at independent com-
mand made by Eigaud.

Another work of inestimable value for the students
of Haytian history is the one written by M. Beaubrun-
Ardouin (fair mulatto). It is entitled "Etudes sur
I'Histoire d'Haiti." M. Ardouin attempted to collect
in this work all the documents that could illustrate
the history of his country, and at the time of his
death ten volumes had already been published.' He
was for many years Haytian Minister in Paris, which

cribl^s de balles, ils combattaient toujonrs avec une intrepidity sans
^gale ; plusieurs ayant le bras coup^ se defendaient avec celui qui
leur restait ; ceux qui par la perte de leur sang ne pouvaient plus se
tenir debout se trouvaient sur leurs g^noux, combattaient encore avec
fureur, se faisaient un rempart des corps expirfe de ceux qui ^taient
tomb^s," &c., &C.

As a specimen of style I add the follov?ing from La Veriti of August
13, 1887 : — " Mais arriv^ sur les lieux le Commandant de I'arrondisse-
ment : tout change. II fit battre la charge et entraina le peuple dans
les flammes."

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE, 351

gave him full opportunities for examining the French
archives. I only knew him slightly ; he was evidently
a man of talent and industry, but as he was justly
credited with a prejudice against the whites, he was
generally avoided by them.

A Monsieur St. Eemy of Les Cayes wrote a Life of
Toussaint, which is but a poor production, and is full
of prejudice and virulence against both black and
white.

A. Frenchman, M. Edgar la Selve, has published a
work called " L'Histoire de la Litt^rature Haitienne."
It is a volume of some interest, containing as it does
a collection of poetry written by natives, but it is con-
sidered to be inferior in point of style and extravagant
in its appreciations. When you find M. La Selve
ranking the crude productions of a rude school with
the writings of the most distinguished among ancient
and modern authors, one may readily feel that this
work is an offering to the vanity of acquaintances.

It is to be regretted that a person like M. La Selve
should have undertaken this task, as, instead of real
criticism, which might have proved of value, he puffs
up the vanity and presumption of Haytian writers by
such observations as the following : — " Eapelle I'invoca-
tion de Pindare '' — " La grande Eloquence et la mag-
nificence des images '' — " Sa plume magique " — " La
d^licatesse de Charles Dovalle combinde avec la grace
de Lamartine" — "Le nom modestement glorieux" —
" Esprit vraiment prodigieux et universel " — " Trois

352 LANGUAGE AXD LITERATURE.

g^uies sup^rieurs " — " Get autre Augustia Thierry " —
" Comparer anx dialogues de Platon."

What more could be said of the best classics ? E'o
■wonder this work was unable to command any atten-
tion.^

In the collection of poetry, it wUl be noticed that
although there are some very pretty verses, there are
none of any remarkable merit. It is not a special
literature ; there is seldom much local colouring : it is
rather a reflection of French productions where Lamar-
tine holds the place of honour.

It has been remarked by a French critic that the
further we recede from the time of the Declaration of
Independence the worse the poetry. The expressions
become less exact, the phraseology common, the style
incorrect, with less cadence in the verses. The versi-
fication is seldom accurate throughout any of these
poems. It is but another proof of what I have else-
where stated, that Hayti is in a state of decay.

I may mention a few pieces that have struck a
French friend as being among the best. I prefer his
judgment to my own, as I am one of those who believe
that few can appreciate fuUy the poetry of another

^ It appears that after 11. La Selve left Hayti he published some
■worts on the country which did not please his friends. Had he sus-
pected that authors whom he could only compare to Augustin Thierry
and Plato would thus maltreat him he would^have held his hand : —
"H est difficile de rgver rien de plus idiot, de plus indigeste at de plus
crevant que cette turlupinade," &c. "Ce speculateur en scandales."
"D'une niaiserie k vous d&rocher la machoire." — L'OEil, April 21, 1887.

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 353

nation; but as, in this case, my own opinion agrees
with that of my friend, I can take the responsibility
of the judgment.

Coriolan Ardouin (mulatto) has written a very
charming piece called " Alaida," beginning thus : —

" Sur la natte de jono qu'aucuii souci ne ronge,
Ses petits bras croisds sur uu coeur de cinq ans,
Alaida someille, heureuse, et pas un songe
Qui tourmente ses jeunes sens.''

There is no local colour in this sonnet beyond, per-
haps, the natte de j'onc. Only in the tropics are chil-
dren to be seen sleeping on mats.

Duprd has written a patriotic hymn which might
pass muster among many others of the same kind. It
closes with the following ferocious sentiment : —

" Si, quelque jour, sur tes rives
Osent venir noa tyrans.
Que leurs hordes fugitives
Servent d'engrais h, nos champs."

Pierre Faubert (mulatto) has written several pieces
which might be quoted : —

" La Nj^gresse.

" Je suis fier de te dire, n^gresse, je t'aime,
Et la noir couleur me plait, sais-tu pourquoi ?
C'est que nobles vertus, chaste ccEur, beauts meme
Sont ce qui charme enfin, le ciel a mis en toi."

These lines might have been addressed to the pretty

negress of P^tionville of whom I have elsewhere spoken.

z

354 LANGUAGE ANT) LITERATURE.

Another, " Aux HaitieDS," is an appeal to union
among blacks and coloured.

There is a pretty song by Milscent (mulatto), in the

style of B^ranger, commencing : —

" J'entends en mainte occasion
Precher contre rambition ;
Mon ame en est ravie — (bis.)
Mais oeux qui nous parlent si bien
Regorgent d'honneurs et de biens
Cela me contrarie" — (bis.)

Ignace N"au (mulatto) contributes a very attractive

piece called " Le ' Ttchit ' et I'Orage : "—

" Voici, voici I'orage,
La bas dans le nuage ;
Voici le vent, le vent
Tourbillonnant an cbamp,
Et disant au feuillage
Eepliez votre ombrage.
Au lac, a ses bambous,
' Eoulez, agitez vous.'
Au parfum ses d^Uces
' Refermez vos calioes ; '
Au palmier baut dans I'air,
Gardez-vous, de TeclaiT.'

Pauvre tchit 6gare, chetif oiseau des cbamps !
Le mont a disparu sous les rideaux de pluie.
Hate-toi, cher oiseau ; viens t'abriter du temps,
Deji I'eau du lac est ternie.''

And many more verses equally good.

Perhaps the most poetic piece in the collection
is that written by a Haitienne, Virginie Sampeur.
" L'Abandonnee/' which I will quote entire : —

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. 355

' Ah ! si vous 6tiez mort, de mon ivae meurtrie,
Je ferais une tombe, oti, retraite cli^rie,
Mes larmes couleraient lentement, sans remords :
Que votre image en moi resterait radiense.
Ah ! si vous dtiez mort.^

Je ferai de mon. cceur I'urne melancolique
Conservant du pass6 la suave r^lique,
Comme ces coffres d'or qui gardent les parfums ;
Je ferais de mon S,me une riche chapelle
Oil toujours brillerait la dernifere etincelle
De mes espoirs ddfunts.

Ah ! si vous ^tiez mort, votre dternel silence
Moins Spre qu'en ce jour aurait son Eloquence,
Car ce ne serait plus le cruel abandon.
Je dirais, il est mort, mais il sait bieu m'entendre;
Et peut-gtre en mourant n'a-t-il pent se defendre
De murmurer : — Pardon.

Mais vous n'etes pas mort ! Oh ! douleur sans mesure,
Regret qui fait jaillir le sang de ma blessure :
Je ne puis m'empScher, moi, de me souvenir,
Meme quand vous restez devant mes larmes vraies
Sec et froid, sans donner k mes profondes plaies
L'aumone d'un soupir.

Ingrat ! vous vivez done, quand tout me dit vengeance !
Mais je n'^coute pas ! k defaut d'esperance
Une fantome d'idole est mon unique port,
Illusion, folie, ou vain rgve de femme,
Je vous aimerais tant, si vous n'etiez qu'un ame.
Ah ! que n'etes vous mort."

There is something superior in the tone and senti-
ment of this piece, the only one of the author that

' There is a line wanting in this stanza, which the authoress herself
has not been able to remember.

356 LANGUAGE AND LITJKRATTJEE.

M. La Selve publishes. I may notice that Virginie
Sampeur is a lady of colour. As she is still living, I
will only add that her poem tells her own story. As
a rule, these Haytian poets express fairly well all
tender sentiments, but they are wanting in a careful
literary education, and they have not a very exact
appreciation of the genius of the French language.

In miscellaneous literature there are many publica-
tions of merit. Emile Nau wrote an interesting book
called " Histoire des Casiques," although a critic might
fail to discover in it " une mine immense d'^rudition."
It is seldom that a Haytian writer dedicates himself
to anything useful, so that the efforts of Eugene IsTau
to bring superior agriculture into vogue have a double
merit. He is best known for his two productions,
" L'influence de 1' Agriculture sur la Civilisation des
Peuples " and his " Flore Indienne." I knew Eugfene
Nau very well. He was married to a very charming
woman, a sister of Auguste Elie, and no one who has
passed a few days at their estate in the plains of Cul-
de-Sac will ever forget the pleasant gaiety that reigned
in that house. Civil war has, however, devastated
that portion of the country, and I fear that even the
inexhaustible spirits of Eugfene Nau will scarcely be
able to bear him through such accumulated misfor-
tunes. The small diplomatic corps were ever wel-
come guests at Digneron, and I recall with pleasure
the evenings spent there with my French and Spanish
colleagues. He had a fund of intelligence and good

LANGUAGE AND LITEEATUEE. 357

sense ; and his steady advocacy of a metallic currency
did honour to his perspicacity.

As might have been anticipated, the black portion
of the population has shown no literary aptitudes.
Occasionally an Edmond Paul has written a political
essay which has fallen flat, or a Salomon has indited
a vigorous defence of his policy ; but, as a rule, the
coloured portion of the population has produced the
historians and poets of Hayti.

( 358 )

CHAPTEE XL

AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, AXD FINASCE.

M. Eugene Kau, in his pamphlet on the influence of
agriculture on civilisation, endeavoured to bring his
countrymen to look with favour on the principal source
of prosperity in all tropical countries; but the seed
he sowed fell on revolutionary soil, and agriculture is
more neglected than ever.

And yet in all the wide world there is not a country
more suited to agriculture than Hayti ; not one where '
the returns for labour are more magnificent ; a rich,
well-watered soil, with a sun which actually appears
to draw vegetation towards itself with such energetic
force that the growth of plants, though not actually
■visible to the eye, may be almost daily measured.

The system of cultivation varies greatly. In the
north an effort was made by King Christophe to keep
up large estates, whilst in the west and south Presi-
dent Petion encouraged the division of the land among
peasant proprietors. Large estates still remain, how-
ever, in these provinces, which are cultivated under
different arrangements, to which I will hereafter refer.

AGRICULTUEE. 359

The general rule is that large estates obtain mostly in
the plains, whilst in the mountains the land is prac-
tically in the hands of the peasantry, though many
large estates exist nominally.

In 1877 ^ l^'w ^^^ passed for regulating the man-
agement of the State domains, for selling them or
leasing them for nine years. A longer lease would re-
quire a special authorisation of the Legislature. This
last clause is principally aimed at foreigners, whom
the Haytians desire to keep away from all interest
in land.

The national estates lie in different parts of the
country, and the extent of them in the aggregate is
but imperfectly known, owing to careless administra-
tion. According to an official return published in
1877, there were under lease 2105 farms of national
land, containing about 230,000 acres, let on an average
at the rate of two shillings per acre.

The laws on the tenure of real estate are, with some
modifications, the same as the agrarian laws that were
framed by the French during their possession of the
country, and are remarkable for that minute accuracy
and definition of right which characterise French laws
in general.

For the better elucidation of the subject a few re-
trospective notices are necessary.

Going back to 1804, the year of independence, one
of the first acts of Dessalines was to create a national
domain out of the following elements : —

360 AGRICULTURE.

All the real estate which constituted the State
domains during the French period.

All the real estates of the whites which had not been
legally transferred.

All land without owners.

Confiscated lands.

In furtherance of his project to get the best part of
the land into the hands of Government, Dessalines is
accused of resorting to every kind of arbitrary and cruel
acts, and did not even disdain to encourage forgery in
order to dispossess those proprietors who stood firm to
their rights. This attack on private property was one
of the main causes of the successful plot against his
life.

Of the national estate thus formed a great part was
subsequently parcelled out by Petion in donations to
those who had deserved well in the war of independ-
ence, whilst other lots were sold in fee-simple.

Of the class of large proprietors created under the
republic of Petion but few undertook the cultivation
of their own lands. The usage at once came into
favour of letting them out in small lots to working
men on the Metayer system, the landlord to receive
half the produce, on the condition of furnishing, on
sugar-cane estates, the mill and the other necessary
appliances. With regard to produce, there are two
classes recognised and kept distinct by law, namely,
" la grande culture " (large farming) and " la petite cul-
ture " (small farming). The first consists in the cultiva-

AGEICULTUEE. 361

tion of sugar-cane and similar articles ; the second in
the cultivation of provisions for the market. As under
the " grande culture " system half the produce went to
the proprietor, the tendency has been for some years to
encroach with the "petite culture " on the lands reserved
for the former. Each peasant is allowed a patch of
ground near his portion of the cane-field on which to
grow vegetables, and it has been found that his at-
tention is more directed to this than formerly. As
long as the sugar-cane is reserved for the manufacture
of cheap rum to keep the population in a continued
state of intoxication, the falling off in its culture is
not to be regretted. In fact, the " great " and " little "
culture did very well when anything exportable was
cultivated, but now are of little practical importance,
as they do not so much affect the great stay of the
country, the coffee-crop.^

I may repeat that the first thing in point of im-
portance in Haytian agriculture is the coffee-shrub,
which grows almost wild in every mountainous part of
the country and around the cottages of the peasantry
at elevations of from 500 to 7000 feet above the level
of the sea — ^wild in the sense that the plants appear to
spring from the seeds that have fallen from the parent
trees, though occasionally I have seen them carefully
planted round the cottages.

^ I would refer to Major Stuart's excellent Report for 1877 for de-
tails on these subjects. I have myself partly founded my observations
on this Report.

362 AGRICULTURE.

There is a notion in Hayti that the coffee-crop will
come to an end by the old trees dying out. I was told
this twenty-five years ago, and the story is still re-
peated; but any one who observantly travels in the
interior will find the old trees surrounded by younger
ones that spring from the teeming soil from seeds
scattered by the wind or rain. The idea, also preva-
lent among many foreigners in Hayti, that the coffee
collected now is taken from the original trees planted
by the French is untenable. As soon as the civil war
caused by King Christophe's assumption of power ceased
(1820) a marked progress took place in the production
of cofiee. There is another fact which is also forgotten;
coffee-plants in wet tropical countries generally bear
from twenty to twenty-five years ; therefore their dura-
tion may be taken at about thirty years. If this state-
ment be correct, the trees must have been renewed
three times since the old colonial days. Most of the
coffee-plantations I saw in Hayti contained shrubs that
have seldom exceeded from seven to ten feet in height,
though on the way to Kenskoff I noticed many from
twelve to fifteen feet. At Furcy and at La Selle we
saw some very good plants, properly cleaned and
attended to, and kept at a suitable height for pick-
ing the berries. Mackenzie noticed, in 1827, whole
sides of mountains covered with coffee-trees of spon-
taneous growth, two-thirds of the produce being lost for
want of hands to gather it. So prolific, he says, were
the bushes, that many which were carefully tended

AGEICULTDEE. 363

produced from five to six lbs., and some were known to
give nine lbs.

I have never noticed the peasantry use more than
the manchette, a sort of chopper almost as long as a
sword, whilst cleaning their coffee-plantations. They
simply cut down the weeds and creepers, but never
stir the soil around the roots with a hoe. The use of
manure is unknown.

The only preventable cause for any decline in the
coffee-crop would be the neglect following the with-
drawal of the peasantry to take part in civil wars and
revolutions, and the lazy habits engendered by camp
life. When riding through coffee-plantations after the
civil wars of 1 868 and 1 869 I noticed a marked deterio-
ration from 1864. Creepers of every description were
suffered to grow over and almost choke the plants, and
poor crops were sometimes the result. In Greffrard's
time, though the cultivation was slovenly, efforts were
made to keep the plants clean, and during the quiet
four years of Nissage-Saget's Presidency the peasantry
returned to their old habits.

Notwithstanding this occasional neglect, there ap-
pears no progressive falling off in the crops ; they vary
as before, but on the whole keep up to the average.

The quality of Haytian coffee is excellent, but its
price in the market is low, from various causes. Some-
times the crop is gathered hastily, and ripe and unripe
seeds are mixed; and then it is dried on the bare
ground, regardless of the state of the weather; and

364

AGRICULTUEE.

when swept up into heaps it is too often intermingled
with small stones, leaves, and dirt; and fraudulent
cultivators or middle-men add other substances to in-
crease the weight. I have known carefully selected
parcels sent to France marked Mocha, and there
realising full prices. Nowhere is coffee made bettes
than in Hayti ; it is roasted to a rich brown, ground
and prepared with a sufficient allowance of the mate-
rial, all on the same day, and the result is perfect.

As with other crops in the world, there are good
years and bad years ; but with neglected plants, the
bad come oftener than they would if due attention
were paid to their cultivation.

In 1789, when the French possessed the island,
the amount produced greatly exceeded anything seen
since, with the exceptions of 1863, 1875, and 1876.
In those years above 71,000,000 lbs. passed through
the custom-house, and it is calculated that about
1 5,000,000 lbs. were smuggled.

The variations have been as follows : —

Lbs.

1789 .... . 88,360,503

I8I8

20,280,589

IS24

46,000,000

1835

48,352,371

1845

41,002,571

i860

60,514,289

I86I

45,660,889

1863

71,712,345

IS64

45,168,764

IS73

64,786,690

AGRICULTUEE.

365

Lbs.

1 874 •

54,677,854

1875 .

72,637,716

1876

72,289,504

1877

52,991,861

1878

63,255,545

1879

47,941,506

1880

55,562,897

1885

74,046,371

1886

I 1

58,075,739

This striking increase in the amount of coffee
produced since the great war would appear somewhat
to contradict the theory of the degeneracy and idle-
ness of the Haytians, but it must be remembered that
the women and children are very hard-working; that
the women are in a majority, and that the work is
mostly done by Nature ; the men, also, are not very
light-handed taskmasters. If a space be cleared round
the bushes with a manchette — easy work that a child
can do — the increase in a plantation will continue, as
I have remarked, by the beneficent hand of Nature ;
the heavy rains knock off the ripe berries and scatter
them down the mountain-sides, and give rise to those
matted undergrowths of coffee-bushes whose fecundity
often surprises the traveller. It is not likely that the
produce of the coffee-plants will decrease.

During the French colonial days the principal pro-
duct was sugar, and in the year 1789 they exported
54,000,000 lbs. of white sugar and 107,000,000 lbs.
of brown. As the slaves left the estates, so pro-
duction decreased, and was fast disappearing when

366 AGEICULTUE.E.

Christoplie in the north forced the people by severe
measures to resume its manufacture. He gave the
great estates of the old colonists to his generals and
courtiers, with an order that they should produce a
certain amount of sugar under pain of forfeiture. As
they had the population under their command, and an
unrestrained use of the stick, they succeeded fairly;
but as soon as this pressure was removed the manu-
facture of sugar ceased, and it is no longer found in
the list of exports, except as a fancy article to obtain
bounties.

In 1818 the export of sugar had fallen from
161,000,000 to 1,900,000 lbs., and in 182 1 to
600,000 lbs. ; then it disappeared from the custom-
house lists.

The prejudice against sugar-making is still strong,
though, could the owners of estates prove to their
people that large profits would accrue to them from
its manufacture, it is very probable that the prejudice
would die out. A friend of mine tried to persuade
one of his cultivators to aid him in a sugar-making
project, but the man answered sulkily, "Mou4 pas
esclave" ("I'm not a slave"), and walked away. The
negroes do not like a bell to be used to ring them to
work, as it reminds them of colonial days, but some
bold innovators have introduced and continued the
practice, without producing any other effect than
occasional grumbling.

Sugar-cane, however, is still very extensively culti-

AGEICDLTURE. 367

vated, and succeeds admirably, the soil appearing
peculiarly adapted to it. The cane is now grown for
making tafia or white rum, and for molasses, which
the people use instead of sugar. Most of the factories
built by the French were destroyed, and inferior build-
ings have been erected in their stead. Watermills
are generally used, as being economical, and the never-
failing streams from the hills afford abundant power.
A few proprietors have put up extensive machinery
for sugar-making, but their success has been so doubt-
ful as not to encourage others. A Haytian knows
that during a revolution his property would not be
respected, and, if a defeated partisan, would be either
confiscated or destroyed ; so no encouragement is held
out to agricultural enterprise ; and, what adds to his
difficulties, a dangerous spirit of communism has
spread among the people, and in many districts the
peasantry begin to regard the estates as their own.

Of cotton 8,400,000 lbs. were exported in 1789.
This amount, however, soon decreased under indepen-
dent rule : —

In 1835 there were exported

1,649,717 lbs.

„ 1842 „ „ . .

880,517 „

„ 1853 „ „ . .

557,480 „

„ 1859 „ „ . .

938,056 „

„ i860 „ „ . .

688,735 „

to rise, on the outbreak of the civil

war in the United

States, to —

In 1861

1,139,439 lbs.

„ 1862

1,473,853 „

368 AGEICULTUEE.

increasing until 1865, when the crop was over
4,000,000 lbs. ; but the fall of prices occasioned
by the collapse of the civil war in the States, from
2s. 6d. to I id. in the course of a few months, dis-
couraged the agriculturists, and cotton was again
neglected. In the last commercial reports the amount
of cotton exported from the whole republic is not
given.

During the Great Exhibition held in London in
1862, the report on the cotton exhibited there by
Hayti mentioned very favourably the two bales which
were sent as specimens, and it remarked that England
required at least 2,000,000 bales of each of the quali-
ties exhibited. It has been calculated that there is
suflScient suitable land in Hayti to furnish half the
quantity required. This, however, a.ppears to me an
over-estimate.

President Geffrard was fully aware of the importance
of taking advantage of the opportunity offered by the
civil war in the United States, and supported two
measures to encourage cotton cultivation. The first
was the immigration of free blacks from America, and
the next the offer of bounties.

The immigration was badly managed, as blacks from
the North Avere sent, instead of Southern cultivators.
Most of those who arrived, being unfitted for field-
labour in a tropical climate, added but little to the
production of cotton. A few kept to the work, but
many died, and most of the others either migrated to

AGRICULTURE. 369

the towns or left the country. As might have been
expected, the Haytian arrangements were as bad as
they could be. Settlers were given ground without
any water, but were told that a canal should some day
be cut; food and money were distributed irregularly,
and malversation added to the other difficulties.

Bounties were scarcely required, as the price rose
from 4d. in 1859 to is., is. 2d., and is. 5d. in 1863,
and 2S. 6d. in 1864; and many Haytians tried to do
something in order to win a portion of this harvest.
Field-hands, however, were scarce, and in order to
get in their crops the proprietors had to offer half
the amount to those who would come and gather it
for them. One peasant proprietor, in 1863, managed
with his family to secure 8000 lbs. of cotton, which
he sold for ;^50O, a sum to which he was wholly
unaccustomed. The comparative large amounts to be
received would have had a very great effect on the
prosperity of the country had there been the neces-
sary hands ready to take advantage of the opportunity
offered. The industrious, however, were few, and many
proprietors had to leave a portion of their crop to rot
on the plants.

"When the prices rose to three or four times the

former value, the Government abolished the system

of bounties, and imposed a tax of one penny a pound,

but had to give that up in 1865 on the sudden fall in

prices. The cultivation is again neglected, as Haytian

cotton has returned to its old level of value, and the

2 A

370 AGRICULTTIRE.

land must he more useful for provision crops. Witli
the uncertainty which characterises the supply of labour
in Hayti, it is not likely that cotton will again become
a very important export ; still —

In 1885 ttere were exported . . 2,569,643 lbs.

„ 1886 „ „ . . 2,037,653 „

The French appear to have paid but little attention
to the cultivation of the cacao-tree, and in 1789 only
exported 600,000 lbs. Even this small quantity de-
creased, and the amount that passed through the cus-
tom-house in 1 82 1 feU to 264,792 lbs. The crops have
since much varied, but the export rose gradually, until —

In. 1863 the amount was . . 2,217,769 lbs.

„ 1885 „ „ . . . 3,939,445 „

„ 1886 „ „ . . . 2,037,653 „

Cacao is principally grown near the farthest point
of the peninsula, west of J^remie, amid a population
rarely visited, and reported as among the most barbarous
of the island.

Tobacco is not mentioned in the list of exports
during the French period, and only appears in those
returns which were published when the Dominican end
of the island formed part of the Haytian republic. A
little has been occasionally grown for home consump-
tion, as at the Fonds-aux-Nfegres.

Logwood is found in all parts of the country, and is
a very important article of export.

There is nothing else grown in Hayti which can be

AGRICULTURE, 371

called an article of commerce, but the peasantry culti-
vate large amounts of garden produce, and some rice
and Indian-corn, but they do not do so in sufficient
quantities to supply the market. Bananas for cooking
purposes are a valuable crop, as they take the place of
bread in the daily consumption of the people. Fruit-
trees abound, particularly mangoes, sour oranges, and
the avocado (alligator pear). The last fruit comes to
great perfection, whilst the mango is inferior except
in a few localities, and is not to be compared to the
" number elevens " grown in Jamaica.

The markets of the capital are well supplied with
European vegetables, which are grown in the moun-
tains at the back of La Coupe, the old summer resort
of the people of the capital. When staying there, I
have often walked to the gardens at the foot of Fort
Jaques, where not only vegetables may be found, but
many orchards full of peach-trees — sadly neglected,
however — with their branches covered with long moss,
to the exclusion of leaf and fruit. A few apples and
chestnuts are occasionally brought to market. Fort
Jaques is situated about 6000 feet above the level of
the sea. I may notice that the peaches are usually
picked before they ripen, on account of the pilfering
habits of the people.

There is little to be said about the domestic animals.
The horses are generally small, but strong and full of
endurance, and are of Spanish breed. Mules and don-
keys are plentiful, as no person is satisfied unless he

372 COMMERCE.

possesses some beast of burden. The cattle are sup-
plied from the Dominican part of the island, and are
much used for traction. Good beef may often be found
in the markets. Sheep and goats are plentiful, but of
inferior breeds, whilst pigs wander about untended, and
are generally so lean that they warrant the reproach
that the Haytians cannot even fatten a pig. Poultry
are thought to be getting scarcer than formerly ; they
are generally of an inferior kind.

COMMEECE.

Hayti has for many years carried on a very fair
commerce with Europe and America, though probably
not a quarter of what she might have if her inhabitants
were industrious. In the colonial days, the exports
were valued at from ;^ 6,000,000 to ;^ 8,000,000 a year,
and in 1790 had reached nearly ;^ 11,000,000 with a
less numerous population, whilst the highest since the
independence has probably not exceeded ;£'2,300,ooo.

Notwithstanding foreign wars, civil wars, insurrec-
tions, and those continued conspiracies which have
almost every year disturbed the country, the productive
powers of the soil are so great that nothing appears
permanently to depress the exports, and therefore the
imports.

The export trade of Hayti in 1835, which then in-
cluded the whole island, was as follows : —

COMMERCE.

Lbs.

Value.

Cofifee .

• 48,352.371

$6,812,849

Logwood

• i3.293>737

86,409

Cotton .

• 1,649,717

247,457

Mahogany, feet

• 5,413,316

405,998

Tobacco

2,086,606

125,196

Cacao .

397,321

47,678

373

$7,725,587
At the exchange of the day this represented just
;^ 1,000,000 sterling. The last year in which the
statistics refer to the whole island is 1842.

M. Madiou, in his "History of Hayti," vol. i. p. 31,
gives the amount of the produce exported in the years
1842 and 1845, but does n9t affix a value to them : —

1842.

Coflfee .

Cotton .
Logwood
Tobacco
Cigars .
Mahogany

40,759,064 lbs.
880,517 „

19,563,147 „
2,518,612 „
700,000 No.
4,096,716 feet

and various small amounts of miscellaneous articles.

It will be remarked that in the returns for 1845
tobacco has ceased to appear, as Santo Domingo had
by this time separated from Hayti. M. Madiou states
that about 5,000,000 lbs. of coffee are consumed in the
island, which is probably an under-estimate, consider-
ing the lavish manner in which it is used, and that
20,000,000 lbs. are exported as contraband, to avoid
the heavy duties. This calculation appears too high.
Whilst I was in Hayti the illicit trade was estimated

374

COMMERCE.

to represent from 1 5 to 20 per cent, of the acknowledged
exports. Much, however, depends on the character of
the men in power.

1845.

Coffee 41,002,571 lbs.

Cotton 557,480 „

Logwood and other woods . . 68,181,588 „

Mahogany 7,904,285 feet

The other woods consist of lignum vitse, &c. It is
curious that he makes no mention of cacao.

In the next returns it will be noticed how mahogany
decreased — the cuttings near the coast were beginning
to be exhausted — whilst the exports of logwood were
greatly incresised. This is work that just suits the
negro; it can be done by fits and starts, and never
requires continuous labour. The following tables may
appear superfluous, but they show the effect of com-
paratively orderly government. These six years were
free from any serious civil trouble, and no foreign com-
plications prevented all development that was possible.
The war in the States gave trade considerable impulse.

Coffee .
Logwood
Cotton
Cacao .
Mahogany

Coffee .
Logwood

1859.

i860.

41,712,106 lbs.
88,177,600 „
938,056 „

1.397,364 „
2,690,044 feet

60,514,289 lbs.
104,321,200 „

COMMERCE.

Cotton

668,735 lbs.

Cacao .

1,581,806 „

Mahogany .

1861

2,264,037 feet

Coffee .

45,660,889 lbs.

Logwood

ios>757,oso „

Cotton

1,139,439 „

Cacao .

1,304,561 „

Mahogany .

1862

1,659,272 feet

Coffee .

54,579,059 lbs.

Logwood .

167,005,650 „

Cotton

1,473,853 „

Cacao .

1,743,853 „

Mahogany .

1863

2,441,887 feet

Coffee .

71,712,345 lbs.

Logwood .

116,669,400 „

Cotton

2,217,769 „

Cacao .

2,338,400 „

Mahogany .

1864

2,016,557 feet

Coffee .

45,168,764 lbs.

Logwood

153,235,100 „

Cotton

3,237,594 „

Cacao .

1,399,941 „

Mahogany .

2,369,501 feet

375

No trustworthy statistics could be obtained for tbe
time of Soulouque, on account of the monopolies and
the various interferences with commerce. In 1 865 the
siege of Cap Haitien, and the outbreaks which followed
in 1866, the fall of Geffrard in 1867, and the civil war
of 1868 and 1869, completely disturbed trade, and no
reliable statistics can be obtained.

376 COMMERCE.

The trade return of the year 1880 is as follows : —

CofiFee .

• 55,562,897 Iba.

Logwood .

. 321,729,801 „

Cacao .

2,729,853 „

Cotton

957.962 „

Mahogany .

71,478 feet

Sugar .

2,397 lbs.

The imports of the year 1884-85 were ;^i,oo2,092
The exports „ „ „ 1,311,665

The imports of the year 1885-86 amounted to ^827,542
The exports „ „ „ 1,259,332

Exports of i884-8s-

Quantities of Principal Articles

Coffee .

. 74,046,371 lbs.

Logwood

. 297,548,750 „

Cacao .

3,939.445 „

Cotton

2,569,643 „

Hides .

■ ' • • ■ 436,579 „

Mahogany

118,793 feet

£'a:^orts 0/1885-86.

Coffee,.

• 58,075,733 lbs.

Logwood,

. 282,620,852 „

Cacao .

3,156,957 „

Cotton

2,037,658 „

Hides .

343.051 „

Mahogany

■iir_ -1

95,809 feet

Mr. Mackenzie, who was English Consul-General at
Port-au-Prince during the years 1826 and 1827, gives
a table of the commerce of Hayti in 1825, which in-
cludes the whole island.

COMMERCE.

Imports

Vessels.

Tonnage.

Value of Cargoes

American

• 374

39.199

;£39i,784

British .

• 78

11,952

291,456

French .

• 65

11,136

152,681

German .

• 17

3,i8s

85,951

Others

. 18

1,328

10,162

377

;£932,034
The large amount of American vessels will be noticed,
and the comparative extent of their trade. In 1864
English-saUing shipping rose to 281 vessels (of 41,199
tonnage) and 74 steamers, against those under the
American flag, 88 sailing vessels (of 16,316 tonnage)
and 2 steamers. This, however, was only nominal,
the ravages of the Alabama having induced American
shipowners to transfer their vessels to the British flag.
In 1877 the tonnage of vessels calling at the three
chief ports of Hayti (Port-au-Prince, Cap Haitien, and
Les Cayes) was as follows :

Flag, Tonnage.'

British 184,331

French 91,562

German 80,561

American 22,350

It must he noticed, however, that the English, French,
and German tonnage consists principally of steamers,
which have ports of call on the island, whereas the
Americans have two- fifths of the sailing tonnage.

In 1863 the imports into Hayti amounted to
;^i,743,oS2, and in 1864 to ;^2,04S,333. The United
States then held the first place, having sent ^762,724

378 COMMERCE.

and £gg4,266, their imports, as usual, being princi-
pally provisions and lumber. England occupied the
second position with ;£'so3,630 and £626,624.; France,
£2SS>747 and £273,^78. Both in the years 1863 and
1864 there was a great decrease in the amount of
provisions grown in the country, partly on account
of the increase of cotton cultivation; hence the very
heavy imports of provisions from the United States.

The exports in 1863 and 1864 were valued at
;£■ 2,458,000 and ;£■ 1,895,000, the decrease arising from
the inferiority of the coffee-crop and the fall in the
price of goods. The average value of the principal
articles of export varied as follows : —

Articles. 1863. 1864.

Coffee, per 100 lbs. . £2 9 35 £2 5 o

^ , j^^^ ^^^ , . j^^ -y J.J ^^~ J

Logwood, per 1000 lbs. 129 o 17 10

Cotton, per lb. . .014 02"

Cacao, per 100 lbs. .194 16

Prices have fallen to an unprecedented extent.
During the autumn of the year 1882 coffee was once
quoted as low as i6s. per 100 lbs., but rose after-
wards to 24s., and in 1886 as high as 38s.; and all
other produce was also depreciated in value.

In 1876 the total imports into the island were
;^ 2,1 10,000; the total exports, ;^ 2,200,000.

In 1877 the total imports were ;^ 1,594,200; the
total exports, ;^ 1,694,800, which was below the
average.

In 1877 the imports into the capital were as follows.

COMMERCE. 379

which shows a marked change in the position of the
importing countries : —

Great Britain ;£6i9,9oo

United States no 200

France 103,100

Germany 36,880

In some of the smaller ports the position of the
trade of the United States was relatively better. In
Les Cayes, for instance : —

United States ^119,172

Great Britain 23,692

France 22,030

Germany 1,715

A portion of these imports from the United States
consisted of manufactures in transit from England.
We appear to be holding the first position everywhere
as regards piece goods and iron, whilst five-sixths of
the imports of the United States consist of flour, salt
pork, and other provisions. The Haytians are Prench
in their tastes, but the cheapness of our Manchester
goods enables our importers to hold their own. The
great export, coffee, appears ultimately to reach French
ports, as it is not appreciated in other countries,
whereas its cheapness and good quality recommend it
strongly to the French Government for the use of the
army.

When in Port-au-Prince I drew the attention of the
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the great dis-
crepancy between their published returns and those

380 FINANCE.

of our Board of Trade. In 1865 our exports are set
down at ;£'i, 163,274, and in 1866 at ;^i,425,402,
for the whole island. Santo Domingo takes but a
small quantity, whilst the Haytian custom-house did
not acknowledge more than half the amount of our
returns. Either we over-value our goods in England,
or the smuggling must be large.

The imports from the United States appear to have
greatly fallen off since 1864, which must imply that
the peasantry are planting more food and consuming
a very much smaller amount of imported provisions.

ElNiNCE.

As in most American republics, the income of the
Haytian State depends chiefly on the custom-house.
It is said the people will not bear direct taxation, and
that therefore the Government must rely on import
and export duties. The heavy debt which was imposed
on Hayti by France nearly sixty years ago has been
the principal cause of the financial embarrassments of
the republic.

The mission of Baron Mackau, sent by Charles X.
in 1825, had for object the imperfect recognition of
the independence of the republic of Hayti, on condition
of their paying ;^6,ooo,ooo as an indemnity to the
old colonists — a sum quite out of the power of the
country to raise — and only five years were allowed to

FINANCE. 381

complete the transaction. One is at a loss to under-
stand how President Boyer could have consented to
so burdensome an arrangement. Subsequently the
indemnity was reduced to ^^ 3,600,000, but although
fifty-eight years have passed a balance remained due
in 1884. It was not till 1838 that these arrangements
were concluded, and France definitively recognised the
independence of Hayti. The republic had effected a
loan in Paris in 1825 of ;£■ 1,200,000 nominal to pay
the first instalment due, and even this debt had not
been completely settled. The whole transaction proved
a cruel burden on the country, and, %by introducing
heavy export duties and the curse of paper money,
greatly injured agricultural and every other interest.

In the last statement (1887) I have seen referring
to the debts of Hayti no mention is made of any por-
tion of the old French indebtedness remaining due, so
probably the last instalments have been paid. The
whole exterior and interior debts of Hayti now amount
to about ;£'2,2 50,000.

The import duties averaged formerly about 30 per
cent, on the value, but have now been considerably
increased, whilst the export duties are at so much a
quintal on coffee, and have varied according to the
exigencies of the moment. I propose to give here only
the general results; but I may say that the duties
embrace almost every article, and are as high as they
can bear.

The progress of the revenue collected in Hayti is

382 FINANCE.

another proof to me that the population has greatly
increased.

It is not necessary to examine the budgets of many
years. In 1821, before the union with Santo Domingo,
the income is stated by Mackenzie to have been
$3,570,691, and the expenditure $3461,993. In these
sums must be included some exceptional receipts and
expenditure, as the revenue of the whole island in
1825 was only $2,421,592. The long and quiet Pre-
sidency of Boyer, coupled with his honest administra-
tion, enabled him not only to pay off considerable sums
to France, but to leave a heavy balance in the treasury.
Boyer, however, has the demerit of having introduced
paper currency, and of having put into circulation
$2,500,000 more than he withdrew, thus reducing the
exchange of the doubloon from 16 to i (par) to 40
to I.

After Boyer came the period of revolutions, and con-
sequent deficits and heavy issues of paper money. In
four years they had sent down the exchange to $60 to
one doubloon. But the disastrous period of Haytian
financial history was the reign of Soulouque, when
milHons of paper dollars were issued every year, send-
ing down the exchange to $289 to one doubloon.

In 1849 no less than $4,195,400 were issued to meet
the expenses of the establishment of the empire.

The budget for 1848, the last year of the republic,
is nominally a very modest one (exchange $25 to

FINANCE. 383

■^™y .... $3,232,238 = ;fl29,289

Interior .... 77o,39S = 30,815

Finance and foreign affairs 668,814 = 26,752

Justice, education, public )

worship. . . I 303,393 = 12,135

;£ 1 98,993

But as 2,200,000 paper dollars were issued during
the year, it is probable that this budget was not ad-
hered to.

The budget for the year in which the empire was
established is given as follows (exchange $40 to ;^i) : —

■Aj'my $3,810,216 = ^95,255

Interior .... 735,93/' = 18,398

Finance, &c. . . . 2,237,389 = 55,934

Justice, &c 309,293 = 7,732

17,092,835 = £177,3,19

But these budgets are not to be trusted, and do not
represent the real expenses.

When the accounts were examined subsequent to the
fall of Soulouque, it was found that o£ the coffee mono-
poly alone ;^400,ooo had been abstracted for the use of
the Emperor and some of his Ministers and favourites.
The comparatively large sums of ;^40,ooo, ;£'20,ooo, and
£1 2,000 were taken at a time, without any account being
rendered. During Soulouque's reign over |28,ooo,ooo
were added to the currency.

In June 1863, General Dupuy, Finance Minister
to President Geffrard, published a very clear financial

S84

FIITANCE.

statement. The total debt remaining due to France
was ;£■!, 436,000. The custom duties produced —

In i860 ^511,666

„ 1861 463.333

1862

In 1859
„ i860

„' I86I
• 1862

Minor taxes, ;£26,34i.
Deficits.

566,000

;£30,276
35,904
81,193
81,483

These were calculated on the amount of paper money
signed to meet them, but at the close of 1862 there
was ^79,834 in hand.

The budget of 1863-64 was fixed as follows : —

Expenses.

Beceipts.

Pkiance . . .£67,776

Duties . . ^564,050

Foreign Oifice . 171,828

Minor taxes . 24,725

"War . . . 138,361

Interior . . 171,692

Public instruction 44,825

Justice and public ) _j
worsbip .

;£622,I96

£S»8,775

The deficit was met by adding ten per cent, to the
duties.

During the Presidency of General Gefixard the
finances were better administered than under Sou-
louque, but millions of dollars disappeared, without any
one being found willing to give an account of what

FINANCE. 385

had become of them. One coloured and two black
generals are supposed to have appropriated the prin-
cipal portion. On the Chamber of Deputies venturing
to make inquiries on this interesting point, it was sum-
marily dismissed, and a packed Chamber substituted.

Civil war ended by General Geffrard resigning and
quitting the country. I do not believe, however, that
he carried with him more than he could have fairly
saved out of his salary. He, moreover, -was the only
President that I knew who kept up the position of
chief of the State with any dignity.

No budgets were procurable during Salnave's time,
and the civil war that was carried on during three
years caused. the Government and insurgents to issue
paper money, so that before Salnave's fall this paper
currency was to be obtained at 3000 paper to one
silver dollar. It was withdrawn by the subsequent
Government at 10 to i for their own paper.

The finances under General Nissage-Saget were, for
Hayti, at first decently administered ; but when the
bad black element from the south entered into its
councils malversation became the order of the day.
But during this Presidency a great change was made
in the currency; all paper money was withdrawn at
an exchange of 300 to i, and Am6.rican silver dollars
substituted. This change was much criticised both
before and since, as unsuited to the circumstances of
the country. On the whole, the balance of arguments

was in favour of a metallic currency.

2 B

386

FINANCE.

Under President Domingue there were no honest
financial measures taken. Everything was done to
suit the pleasure of Septimus Eameau, and a loan was
raised in France, and the largest portion distributed
among the friends of the Minister in a manner which
astonished even Haytians. It was a disgraceful trans-
action, that the next Chamber endeavoured to ignore ;
but as it was supported by the French agents, the
Government of Boisrond-Canal had to yield and ac-
knowledge it.

For the years 1876 and 1877 we have the receipts
and expenditure stated in detail. The income from
duties, &c., was ^^805,900; the expenditure,;^ 804,737;
including £202,%']6 to the sinking fund. The army
and navy figure for only ;^ 167,568, and public instruc-
tion was increased to ;^ 82, 245. In Soulouque's budget
of 1849, justice, education, and public worship were
credited with only ;f 7732.

Budget for 1S76-77.

Finance and commerce
Foreign relations
War and marine .
Interior and agriculture
Justice

Public instruction
Public worship .
District chest (communes)
Sinkins fund

The budget of 1S81 is as follows : —

46,714
167,568

111,931
36,09s
82,245
12,586
7S,i6o

202,876

.£824,733

FINANCE. 387

Finance and commerce .... /67610

Foreign relations . . . ^g'g-^

"War

Interior .

Justice . .

Public instruction .

Public worship

214,837
298,913

54,565
115,037

13,875

^813,791

The amount of the income to meet this expenditure is
not stated.

The budget of 1885-1886 is as follows, reducing
dollars into pounds sterling at |6 per pound : —

EXPENDIT0RB.

Foreign affairs . . . .
Finance and commerce .

. .£14,845
. 86,804

War

Interior .
Agriculture .
Public instruction .

. 182,689

• ^63,579

• 42,495
116,356

Justice ...

• 52,700

Public worship . . . .

11,275

/6;o,743

Receipts.

Import duties

.£709,566

Export duties

■

359,276
^1,068,842

Deduct payments of instalments .
of difl'erent debts .

}

.£398,081

.£670,761

The circulating medium in the early days of Hay-

388 FINANCE.

tian independence consisted of foreign gold and silver
coins, and then some fabricated in the country, of infe-
rior quality and appearance, of both silver and copper.
In 1 826 President Boyer, beginning to feel the pressure
of his engagements with France, issued paper notes of
different values. Being irredeemable, they soon fell to a
heavy discount, 2J to i. The succeeding Governments,
as I have noticed, continued the same course, until,
on the accession of Soulouque to power, the exchange
was about 4 J to' i. The unchecked emissions after he
ascended the imperial throne gradually lessened the
value of the paper, until in 1858 it was 18 to i.

Some order having been put into the finances by
General Dupuy, the exchange in 1863 was more
favourable, being 12J to i ; the troubles which suc-
ceeded in 1865 sent it to 17 to i ; and with the
revolutionary Government of Salnave and the civil
war that followed, it went down like the assignats
during the French Eevolution, — in 1867, 30 to i ;
in 1869, 3000 to I.

The issues of Salnave's Government were so dis-
credited that they were at one time exchanged at
6500 paper dollars for one of silver. Until lately
the American dollar and its fractions, with a plentiful
bronze currency, sufficed for all wants. Now, how-
ever, a special Haytian dollar is being coined, with
the object apparently of preventing its export — a very
futile expedient, as experience proves.

A sort of National Bank, managed principally by

FINANCE. 389

Frenchmen, was established a few years since, but its
operations do not as yet appear to have had much
influence on the country. As the bank, however, has
some control over the collection of duties, it may intro-
duce a more honest collection of these imposts ; but I
do not think the managers will find that their lines
have fallen in pleasant places.

THE END.

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