Hayti; or, The black republic.

by Sir Spenser St. John

Wherever you may ride in the mountains, you cannot fail to remark that there is scarcely a decent-looking 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 on our ride to the mountain, La Selle, whose proprietor had really some ideas of comfort, and before whose dwelling coffee-plants were growing, trimmed to the height of six feet, planted 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 of Cul-de-Sac, adjoining the north side of Port-au-Prince, was one of the richest and most cultivated during the time of the French; and as all regular cultivation depends on the amount of water, 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 Geffrard placed the affair in the hands of an able French engineer, Mons. Ricard, who efficiently restored the main work, but had not funds to complete the canals for distributing 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 surrounding 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 to be followed. For the main streams there are fords. An attempt was once made to bridge over La Grande Rivière 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 awkward. On the road from Gonaives to the northern province there is a very remarkable paved way, the work so well done that it has resisted the rain during a hundred 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 I found the remains of a large French country-house, evidently the residence of some great proprietor. The tradition in the neighbourhood is that there was an indigo factory adjoining, but I could scarcely imagine the site suitable. Wherever 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 devastated houses, and it is now a hand-to-mouth system.

Cul-de-Sac is a glorious plain, and in good hands would be a fountain of riches; and the same may be said of the other splendid plains that abound throughout the island. Every tropical production 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 wood or prickly acacia, that invades every uncultivated spot.

The mountains 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 Geffrard 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 population 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 proposed visit, as the residence of a white man among them might have been looked upon with an evil eye.

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 geographical position, or more variety of soil, of climate, or 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.