The number of plantations of every kind in the French colony was estimated by Edwards in 1790, at the outbreak of the Revolution, at 8,536; there were over 800 sugar plantations, over 3,000 coffee estates, to mention two such resources. If to these items we add nearly half a million slaves, the total valuation of the movable and fixed property of the French planters and merchants of this period would reach 1,557,870,000 francs. In 1788, 98 slave ships entered the six principal ports on the French side, and landed 29,506 negroes; Les Cayes received 19 of these ships, which delivered at that port 4,590 blacks. These slaves were sold for 61,936,190 livres, or at the rate of 2,008.37 livres each; according to Edwards this was equivalent to £60 sterling, or to about $291.60 in American money, at the rate of 14½ cents to the livre or franc. See particularly Francis Alexander Stanilaus, Baron de Wimpffen, A Voyage to Santo Domingo in the Years 1788, 1789, and 1790, translated by J. Wright (London, 1817); and also Bryan Edwards, An Historical Survey of the French Colony in the Island of San Domingo (London, 1797).
[21] As signed by herself, but variously spelled "Moinet," or "Moynette" in family documents of the period. On August 28, four days after their marriage, they drew up and signed a mutual contract regarding the disposition of their property in case children should be born to them.
[22] The destruction of Le Comte d'Artois is noticed in a document bearing date of January 19, 1782; the name of the town only is given, but it is probable that it refers to the United States.
[23] For repeated reference to this unsettled claim, see his letter of 1805 to Francis Dacosta ([Chapter VIII]), where the name is written "Formont."
The bill of sale of Le Comte d'Artois was drawn on February 21, 1779, when Jean Audubon appeared "before the notaries of the king in the seneschal's court of Saint Louis," and was described as "resident at Les Cayes, opposite the Isle à Vaches." The document, which in my copy is incomplete, reads in part as follows:
"The present M. Jean Audubon, captain-commander of the ship Le Comte d'Artois, of Nantes, armed for war and now laden with merchandise, anchored in this roadstead of Les Cayes, dispatched, and at the point of departure for France; armed by the Messrs. Coirond Brothers, merchants at the said city of Nantes, acting in his own name as one interested in the armament and cargo of the vessel, as well as in his capacity as captain; [he] acting as much also for the said furnishers of arms as for the others interested in the said armaments, and the merchandise, which will be hereafter mentioned, in consideration of the rights of each, promises to have these presents accepted and approved in due time; which said person, appearing in said names, in the quality aforesaid, by these presents has sold, ceded, given up, transferred, and relinquished all his legal rights in the aforesaid ship, to the business-associates Lacroix, Formon de Boisclair & Jacques, three merchants in partnership, living in this town, purchasers conjointly and severally, for themselves and the assigns of each, to the extent of one third; To wit: the said ship Le Comte d'Artois, of the said port of Nantes, of about two hundred and fifty tons, at present anchored in this roadstead of Les Cayes, dispatched, and at the point of departure for France, with all its rigging, outfit, and dependences, which consist among other things of two sets of sail, complete, and newly fitted out, all the tools, and the reserve sets of these, with the munitions of war, consisting of ten cannon, four of them mounted on gun carriages, and all that goes with them...." (Translated from the French original in possession of Monsieur Lavigne.)
[24] The fact that Captain Audubon did not accompany Rochambeau's fleet which assembled at Brest in April, 1780, and reached Newport in mid-July, may account for the omission of his name from the lists that have been recently published. See Les Combattants François de la Guerre Américaine, 1778-1783 (Paris, 1903).
[25] Others interested in this vessel were Messrs. David Ross & Company, with whom Captain Audubon later had financial difficulties (see [Chapter VIII]).
[26] See letter to Dacosta, [Vol. I, p. 121].
[27] The proper name of this seaport town, as given by all French cartographers and writers, is Les Cayes, meaning "the cays" or "keys" (small islands, Spanish cayos); omitting the article it is often simply written "Cayes." French residents on the island, however, when dating or addressing a letter or receipting a bill would naturally write "aux Cayes," meaning of course "at The Cays," where the document was signed or where the person to whom the letter was addressed resided (see the Sanson bill, and bills of sale of negroes, [Appendix I, Documents Nos. 1], [4], [5], and [6]). It was thus an easy step for Englishmen, in ignorance or disregard of the French usage, to call the town "Aux Cayes"; even as early as 1797, Bryan Edwards, though giving the name correctly on his map, which doubtless had a French source, wrote "Aux Cayes" in his text; the corruption has survived, and is occasionally found in standard works, but is too egregious to be tolerated.