In company with Mr. Ellis, formerly minister at Caracas, who brought out the steamer Scourge for the Paez party, I went to visit the old general, who had chosen Curacoa for a residence, that being the nearest point to the Spanish Main. He was alone and somewhat disconsolate, having heard of the capture of two of his sons, who had been sent to Caracas as prisoners of war; his fleet had been mostly taken and destroyed, and the day before we had seen a portion of the Venezuelan fleet beating to windward in passing Curacoa. He is a man of middle stature, of dark complexion, not remarkable in his appearance or manner, though he has at times when animated a fiery expression of the eye, and is said to have been the best lancer of his country; he speaks only Spanish, and has never had the advantages of much education, but is a self-made man. His son, who came in during the interview, and who generally accompanies his father, speaks English and French fluently.
The slave population is small in the island of Curacoa, but the negroes seem to be well treated and contented. The commerce of the town is chiefly in the hands of the Jews; a fair proportion of the small currency is in Spanish dollars, cut in four parts, to prevent its going abroad; while the piece of five francs passes currently there and in Venezuela for a dollar, and is the basis of circulation.
I could find no vessel for Hayti from Curacoa, and Captain Irminger persuaded me to continue with him to St. Thomas, where I could get the English steamer; and finding myself comfortable on board with my every want gratified, I concluded to do so, as I had abundance of time with an ordinary passage, for the arrival of the steamer. But in this I was disappointed, as we had to contend with a violent north-easter for several days, which prevented our making an easterly course, and finding the current strong to the west, and having reached the south side of St. Domingo, we took shelter in a bay near the False Cape, and despatched a boat’s crew ashore in search of wood, who reported that it could be obtained, as also fresh fish from some negro fishermen on the coast. We then ordered the gig of the brig, and with the captain and several of the officers went ashore, where we found two sail-boats and four naked Haytians, who were in want of tobacco and biscuit in exchange for fish. The idea had occurred to me that if I could get to Jacmel by private conveyance, I could cross the island to Port au Prince on horseback, and save much time in beating up against the wind and current to St. Thomas; but I had my misgivings in trusting my life in the hands of these fellows for eighty or a hundred miles along an uninhabited coast; I found also, as far as I could understand the Creole French, that they would not attempt it. We made sail yesterday, but the sea is too strong, and we have taken refuge under the lea of this Beattie Island. The ship would run back to Jacmel and land me, but positive instructions to be in Denmark without delay prevent.
We have just had some fishermen alongside, two of whom appear honest and decently clad, and quite intelligent. For a handsome reward on my safe arrival, they will convey me to Jacmel, so shall leave to-morrow as soon as the weather permits. You will hear from me, if I arrive safe at my destination.
LI.
Jacmel, Republic of Hayti, Feb. 5, 1849.
My last communication was from on shipboard, at anchor under the lee of Beattie Island, where I had every facility for corresponding, as the generous and gentlemanly commander had given me entire possession of the cabin and library on the main deck, from which I had at will a full view of the tactics and manœuvres of a man-of-war vessel, under the most rigid discipline, and manned by the most hardy and fine looking Danish crew I had ever seen; whose health and conduct were the care and pride of the officers, who were intelligent from necessity, as the naval school of Copenhagen obliges its inmates to acquire the English, German, and French languages, in addition to a general education, so that when they are sent abroad as officers they are at home among the great powers.
According to promise the Haytian fisherman came alongside with his boat. The steward had provided my outfit for a three days’ passage, and after exchanging gifts, as souvenirs, with my worthy friend Capt. Irminger, whose kindness I shall not forget, I embarked in the frail vessel, half loaded with dried fish, to make a coasting voyage of upwards of one hundred miles to this place.
Although an old traveller, I had been extremely undecided how to act; if I continued with the brig I could not arrive at St. Thomas in time for the steamer, and would lose a month’s time, and my letters had preceded me. The coast of Domingo and Hayti was quite uninhabited, except by half-civilized negroes, and the exposure was considerable in making the point of False Cape with a rolling sea. I had however decided, and thought my confidence was not misplaced in my boatman. The weather was very warm, with a full moon, and ordinarily a breeze in our favor; so trusting in that Providence which has protected me through so many wanderings, I waved my hat in response to the salutations from shipboard and shot away before the breeze in order to double the cape before nightfall, in which we succeeded, not however without drenching my cloak with the spray. I never saw a boat more skilfully managed than by these fellows, who hold their lives in their hands in passing that point, where it looked as if we should be engulphed every moment. In twenty-four hours we arrived at the residence of my men, a village called Saltrou, of four hundred inhabitants, living in cane and mud houses, with thatched roofs; and I found to my surprise that we had unintentionally created a great excitement. One of the fishermen whom we had first met at False Cape had reported that he had seen a man-of war vessel, and a white man on board who wanted to be conveyed to Jacmel. I was met at the beach by some negro officers in rusty uniform, and bare-footed, who escorted me before the colonel and other officers of this military despotism, whose cognomen of republic is a farce. I was then questioned from whence I came, and the object of my visit. I had my passports en regle, and had taken the precaution to have the visé of the captain of the brig, showing my intentions. The colonel, who could not read, and spoke but little French, began to abuse the boatman in the Creole tongue, for bringing a man from the direction of the Dominicans, with whom they were at war; but his secretary, an intelligent black, and one out of six who could read and write in the village, gave him to understand who I was, and I had taken an independent course in manner and expression, although the only white man or stranger in the place. He was informed, aside, as I learned subsequently, that I might have the village razed to the ground by this vessel of war, if I was ill treated. I then received from the villagers great attention, and the mother of the fisherman, who happened to be one of the élite of the town, provided the best she was capable of. I was detained one day and night, until the formalities of Haytian law were fulfilled in sending information and an escort with me to Jacmel to the authorities of the place.
As good fortune would have it, my boatmen were good and honest fellows, and became much attached to me from my conduct towards them. The colonel wished to separate me from my men, and send me by a barge coming to this place, in company with a group of all sorts of people, to which I demurred strongly, and he finally consented that my boat should convey me, but in company with the other; so I took my departure, and arrived the following day. On my arrival, I was presented to the Commandant du Port, and other authorities, who were in full uniform, and who appeared well, and showed more intelligence than I had yet found. The highest official with whom I conferred relative to crossing the island to visit the capital, Port au Prince, said that he was obliged to send a special messenger to the President, announcing my arrival on the coast from a war vessel, and that he would probably leave about the same time that I did.