was once usual amongst ourselves. They use against animals, or to make his way frequently go barefoot, or with shoes trod- through the brush-wood. den down at heel. The higher classes The women often carry their children are cleanly, and during the heats change with them when going to market. In these their linen three times a day. Ladies go ing to the promenade wear on their heads cases, they place one leg on the back of a broad white or black felt hat, with a their steed, horse, or ass, so as to form a couple of tassels hanging down to the lap for the infant: a basket, filled with their shoulders: their pace is slow and mea-wares, hangs on each side of the animalsured; they hold up their train with one hand, and carry a parasol in the other. In riding on journeys, they sit like men on horseback. Many of the women, and occasionally amongst the colored, are musical; the guitar is their favorite instrument, which they frequently accompany with a pleasing voice; their songs are French." One of these we must insert as a specimen of the taste of the Haytian fair: "C'est trop long temp(s) souffrir, chere amie, C'est trop long temp souffrir, chere amie, C'est trop long temp souffrir Pour mes premieres amours. Adieu, chere amie, pour toujours, Adieu, chere amie, pour toujours, Adieu, ma chere amie, L'objet de mes amours." "The Haytian black never works till compelled by hunger or force, and, the instant he can cease from labor, he throws himself under the shadiest tree near him, lights his cigar, and delivers himself up to total idleness. It is not unusual to see two negroes sitting on one horse, and a third holding by the tail, to lessen his own proper exertion." The common negroes, in truth, like the inhabitants of all warm climates, have but few wants, and are easily satisfied. A morsel of cassava bread and salt fish, a draught of water with a little rum in it, and an orange or other fruit, is enough to con tent him, and after this simple repast, he sings himself to sleep. The beds of the better classes are often the only good or elegant furniture in their houses, and the bedsteads frequently are of mahogany. In other cases mats supply the place of beds. Amongst the poorer sort, a single iron pot forms the whole of the cooking apparatus of their huts, and suffices to dress the banana, salt fish, &c. &c. In fine weather, of course, they prefer the open air; in foul, they kindle a fire between two stones in the hut. The household work is performed, as amongst savages, by the women; the husband, if not a soldier or a laborer for the government, employs himself in the chase. The common negro never goes out without a short sword (machette) at his side, serviceable either for self-defence, to the child in front, a couple of dozen hens, tied together by the legs, behind, and a pipe in their mouths, they vie with the men in full gallop. They who trudge on foot carry the basket on their heads, and wade through the rivers that cross their course, there being but few bridges in Hayti. Schools and churches are found only in the towns. Both sexes are careful, according to our author, to cleanse their teeth daily, with the jatropha gossipifolia, which they purchase wholesale at market for this purpose, or sometimes with the wood of the orangetree; chewing a morsel of this till the end is as soft as a brush or hair-pencil. Singing and dancing are the usual amusements of the lower classes. They display much agility in the latter, and a note of music sets them in motion at once. Their favorite dance is the African national dance Bambouche, which may be shortly described. The performers stand round a circle in pairs, with their eyes fixed on each other. So soon as the music begins, they place their two hands under their (partners) arms, and with innumerable grimaces and caresses, go round the circle, using nearly the regular Scotch step. At times, they take hands, using a swinging motion, and consists of a cask, the bottom supplied by dancing further apart. Their orchestra a calf-skin: it is placed on a stool, and two heavy sticks produce a sound enough to deafen a European. Others shake a kind of hollow rattle, filled with small stones, by way of accompaniment to the harmony; and, to crown the whole, comes the song or rather hideous howling, raised by both men and women. In superior assemblies, drums and fifes form the orchestra. We give the words of one of their melodies, premising that Amelino is the female name most in favor with the composers time immemorial. from "Amelino, ou pas oublier, titot n'en laisser, Titot n'en laisser, titot n'en laisser ?" There is, undoubtedly, as M. Ritter remarks, little meaning in this ditty, but the "Canadian boat-songs" we remember to have heard in the original, are scarcely more intellectual. 'A lady of rank calls to her maid in a drrwling tone:-Nini! Nini! Arrive, me tonrner la tête, il faut me cracher.” The Haytians are Roman Catholics, and led by similar specimens. We take the in general bigotted; the burial ceremonies former. of the better class resemble thôse of Europe, but the vulgar preserve their African customs, convoking their friends and neighbors so soon as the sufferer expires, and keeping an incessant chant or wail over the body till it is interred, which is generally in from six to eight hours, Their marriages are contracted without any ceremonial whatever, according to our author. The distinguishing trait in the character of this people is the hatred felt by every class towards others. Thus the black detests the colored race, and these reciprocate the feeling towards the blacks, but the Meztizoes, who more nearly resemble the whites in their complexion, are most abhorred of all. short historical and geographical sketch We must now present our readers with a drawn up by M. Ritter, but which we have somewhat condensed, of the island and the revolutions of Hayti since its first discovery down to the year 1820-the period of our author's visit. Columbus, on the 6th December, 1492, landed at Hayti, the original name of the island of San Domingo, and signifying in the Carib tongue, mountain-land. He found the inhabitants a kind and hos for the liberal as well as the mechanical arts. Their conversation is helped out by gesticulation and grimace to an inconceivable degree. The negroes address each other as father, mother, brother, and sister; they even address the whites, especially in the country, by the title of god-father, or gossip (gevatter); or, if to show particular respect, as Bourgeois, or even Monsieur Blanc. The Haytian negro is lively and imagi- pitable race, derived, as their habits and apimagi-pearance native; willingly bearing the severest trials pearance testified, from the ancient Indian native; willingly bearing the severest trials stock: of an elegant, slender form, and pos when interest or ambition prompt him, and showing great aptitude for knowledge, and sessing great agility. Their complexion was copper-colored, their hair deep black, ders. The head was unusually flat, from long, straight, and flowing upon the shoultheir habit of compressing the forehead in infancy. They lived in a beautiful country, upon maize, potatoes, bananas, and other vegetable productions. Their dexterity in furnishing themselves with the common articles of life was great, and their canoes were "The French," says our author, "are hated excessively in Hayti, but less in the South Province than elsewhere." Boyer, however, gave encouragement and protection to the traders of that nation at Port au Prince, which was not the case under Christophe. If treated kindly, M. Ritter observes, the negro makes in general a good servant. He gives an anecdote, by way, we presume, of illustration, though we cannot feel its force in this sense. Happening to break a small twig from a tree that grew near a strange negro's hut, the sable proprietor rushed forward in fury, exclaiming, "White, if thou dost not leave my house, I will kill thee!" But M. Ritter's servant Thomas, a black, interposed, saying, "How now, comrade, who will buy our coffee, or bring us linen, if we kill the whites? Do not you know what our General says:-Negro kill no white, for we use them for our trade." To this novel illustration of humanity, or perhaps of Political Economy, we must add one of purity of language. constructed of the trunks of trees, hewn with flint hatchets. The form of government was an hereditary monarchy, and the island was divided into five independent kingdoms. The monarchs were called cazi ques. The first kingdom was founded in the eastern part of the island, and watered by streams in whose sands gold was foundit was called Magua. The second, named Marien, occupied the northern part, from Cape Nicholas to the river Monte-Christ. The third, Maguana, included the western portion of Cibao to the Artibonita. Xaragua, the fourth and richest portion, comprehended the larger part of the south; and the remainder, from the D'Yacua to the Ozama, formed the fifth state, Hygney. They were constantly at war, and fought with darts: their superstition was gross; and their idols included forms of animals. The oppression of the Spaniards speedily thinned the number of these unbelievers, and the island was recruited with negroes by the care of Bishop Las Casas in 1517; but, the discontent continuing, a part of the natives rebelled, and one of them, Henri, assumed in the interior the title of Cazique "The Haytians speak in general the Creolian, a bad French, but the cultivated of Hayti. classes speak good French." This para- For about forty years the Spaniards regraph is immediately preceded and follow-tained peaceable possession, till the French and English adventurers from St. Christopher, settling in the north, under the name of Flibustiers, or Freebooters, soon from fishing and hunting, turned to ravage the Spanish plantations. Fresh supplies of adventurers arriving, they seized the small island of La Tortue for the sake of its harbor, lived by piracy, and incessantly annoyed the Spaniards, who strove repeatedly, but in vain, to capture the stronghold of their adversaries. At length the French in 1665, under the conduct of Bertrand D'Ogeron, formed a permanent settlement in the island of Hayti. Hostilities continued between the two parties, till, at the accession of Philip V. to the throne of Spain, this (French) portion was formally given up to the new settlers. Count Choiseul Beaupré, in 1707, found the Flibustiers in possession of a flourishing trade with foreign vessels, but this governor dying on his passage to France, they gave up their mode of life for want of encouragement, and became planters and laborers. The colony improved constantly; the free natives vied with the whites in intellectual cultivation; the black soldiery was no way inferior to the white, and several regiments were commanded by native officers. This was the state of the country till the revolution of 1789. The natural diffusion of the novel principles introduced by this event produced a strong effect at Hayti. Pride, selfishness, and vanity,says Vastey in his work, reigned equally over whites and blacks; the rich planters despised the small, or petits blancs, these the colored race and the free negroes, who in their turn domineered over the slaves. By the white and colored races the blacks suffered severely; and the two parties of royalists and republicans sought to bring them over to their respective sides. Generals Fr. Biässaie, Candi, &c. declared for the king; Toussaint L'ouverture, Villatte, Levaillé, for the republic. "We shed our blood," observes Vastey, "without knowing why, and even without a suspicion that we were but the instruments of our own destruction. We were far from imagining that the Whites, equally though in different ways, sought the same object of dividing, and thus enslaving us." Toussaint, as commander-in-chief of the colony, was victorious in the name of the republic, and slavery existed no longer. In 1797 General Hedouville was sent to St. Domingo. Toussaint was satisfied that the colony should remain under French dominion, provided slavery was abolished. Hedouville on his return appointed Richard, a mulatto general, commander of the southern province under Toussaint, but the whites joined to reclaim the original system; they leagued against Toussaint, exclaiming, "Without slaves the colony is only a name."-"We are French subjects," the blacks replied." France has given us freedom-France cannot seek to fetter us again after having broken our chains." In 1801 Toussaint L'ouverture took possession of the Spanish portion of the island, which, since the treaty of July 1795, had properly become French, though circumstances impeded the actual transfer till then. Toussaint made a fearful inroad into the city of San Domingo, and planted the tricolored flag in the name of the French republic in place of that of Spain. Don Garcia gave up the keys of the town and quitted the place. Toussaint was ruler at San Domingo, obeyed alike by whites and blacks, and with an army of 40,000 men. Slavery could no longer exist. The French accordingly fitted out a fleet, and an army of 30,000 picked men under general-inchief Le Clerc, who sailed for the island to restore it to its original state. In February, 1801, Toussaint was still in the Spanish portion of the island, and Christophe was commanding at Cape Town when the fleet arrived. He refused it entrance, under a pretext of having no permission from Toussaint L'ouverture; the fleet entered the harbor nevertheless, and Christophe, in spite of the solicitations of the citizens, set fire to the town. By eleven at night the place resembled a sea of fire, which destroyed every thing but the walls of the cathedral church and of the government-house. Christophe with his army retired to the mountains, and the French landed amongst heaps of ruins. The whole of the southern province, under Richard, submitted at once, and even Toussaint's own brother, Paul L'ouverture, who commanded at St. Domingo, yielded with his troops to their authority. Christophe, Dessalines, and some others, however, remained true to their cause, and fled to the mountains for refuge; but at length both parties, wearied with hostilities, came to terms, and Toussaint with his generals came over and surrendered to General Le Clerc according to the stipulations of the treaty. Subsequently, however, the unfortunate leader was accused of corresponding with the English, who long held possession of St. Nicolas; he was shipped with his family for France, where he-it is not known at Hayti how-perished. The sufferings of Madame Toussaint are described in an Haytian newspaper in 1808. She was at length set free, after displaying considerable spirit and firmness, and lived in | rests on a constitution that secures your Paris till she returned to the new world, ha- rights, you enter into the rank of civilized ving preserved amidst all her privations a nations." diamond ring of considerable value. Slavery was again proclaimed at St. Domingo, but the blacks flew to arms with Dessalines at their head, and Petion and Christophe joined him in 1803, with seve ral others. Thus was renewed a severe and bloody struggle, ending in the complete expulsion of the French from this part of the island; and the death of Le Clerc, on the 28th November of the same year, greatly contributed to the event. The numerous army of France, greatly reduced by casualties, fled to St. Domingo; and, on the 1st of January, 1804, the negroes solemnly proclaimed the independence of Hayti, and erected a free state, with Dessalines, as the oldest general, at its head. Notwithstanding the general massacre of their antagonists, the blacks had had the foresight to preserve some of those of the most necessary professions, as the clergy, schoolmasters, compositors, printers, &c. during the scenes of devastation, by throwing them into prison. The greater part of these purchased their lives now by taking the oath of allegiance to the government, and swearing to resign their native land. Of proclamations, therefore, there was no want, either as to number or ability. On the 8th October, 1804, Dessalines assumed the title of the Emperor Jacob I. An expedition was undertaken against the remnant of the French army at St. Domingo, who were an obstacle to his complete recognition. Details drawn up at the command of the new emperor are in our possession, and from these it appears, that after a two month's siege the campaign terminated in his retreat; the Spanish portion of the island held his talents cheap in consequence of this failure. In this expedition Dessalines put to death a number of whites suspected as spies. He was induced however to issue orders for stopping the execution of some, and the oath of allegiance was taken to the constitution, which was read at the Place d'Armes in presence of the military and civil powers, and a vast crowd of all classes, with due solemnity. The speech of Dessalines is curious, as the first specimen of imperial negro oratory at Hayti. "Haytians! the political events that have laid waste the country seem at an end. After the universal storm a moment of stillness has arrived, and you have resolved that the repose of the warrior shall be confirmed by the influence of the legislator. At this moment, when your eye 7 VOL. XX. The ceremonials ended with a grand entertainment, at which some healths were drunk; but, notwithstanding all his professions, Dessalines retained his hatred to the whites and colored race; many of the former especially were afterwards sacrificed to his revenge. The kingdom fell into an unsettled state, as the Haytian writers delicately term it. The conduct of the tyrant daily increased the anger of his subjects, and produced his overthrow. Baron Vastey, the native historian, gives the following particulars of this event: consisted of the minister of war Gerin, "The combination against Dessalines the general-commandant Petion, with Vavon and other mulatto generals. On the night of the 16th October, 1806, Dessalines rode, with about twenty men for an escort, through Blackfield to Port-au-Prince. the red-bridge near Port-au-Prince, he perWhen he was some hundred paces from ceived troops drawn up in military array on both sides of the road-suspecting no evil, he rode on. "As he came up to the soldiers, he heard the cry of Halt, halt! from a thousand voices. Still feeling no apprehension, he rode between the two lines of levelled musquets, exclaiming, 'Soldiers, do you not know me?" awe and alarm were unwilling to offer The troops from violence; one only of the most daring fired at him, but Dessalines killed him at once with a pistol-shot. At this moment Gerin, Vavon and others, who had concealed themselves behind the bushes, gave the word 'Fire! A volley followed, which stretched both Dessalines and his horse dead on the spot. Thus fell Dessalines amidst his black brethren in arms, after one year, ten months, and twenty-six days of usurped dominion." Dessalines, though married and having children, lived in open polygamy. His mistresses, of whom there were about twenty, cost the state not less than 20,000 piastres yearly. Opinions were greatly divided as to the choice of a successor. Baron Vastey affirms that Christophe assumed the government by general invitation; but as he is notoriously partial to the latter, it may be doubted whether the South Province, numbering so many mulattoes, might not have preferred one of these to a black. No one, however, could impugn Christophe's right as the oldest general-he published an address from Port-au-Prince on the 21st Oc tober, 1806, signed by Gerin, Petion, Va- | the court was placed on a European footing. von, Baval, &c., but remained inactive, and Tranquillity was not disturbed till 1813, contented himself with sending his deputies when dissensions were renewed between the to the meeting at Port-au-Prince. The day of convocation came; the assembly should have consisted of only 60 members, but as they amounted to 78, (the South Province summoning 18 more than the North,) the deputies separated without doing any thing. On the 27th December following, Petion was chosen president of the Republic of Hayti. Christophe refused to acknowledge this proceeding, and marched with all his forces to Port-au-Prince. Near Eibert on the 15th January he met the army of Petion on the march. A fierce encounter ensued, and Christophe was compelled to retreat, though Vatsey asserts that this arose from his reluctance to shed blood. A complete separation of the two states followed: Pe tion, in imitation of North America, founding a pure republic, whilst Christophe instituted a monarchy. The latter summoned a deliberative assembly at the Cape from amongst the oldest general officers, and the constitution of the 17th February, 1807, was formally settled. Christophe, appointed president and generalissimo of the land and sea forces for life, occupied himself peaceably in attending to the cares of the government: in the South Province, however, disturbances prevailed, and one Baptist Duperier Goman, taking refuge in the mountains, set both governments at defiance, and Petion carried on a long war against him. In 1810, Richard, returning from France with proposals for a treaty, was made a general of division by Petion, and soon after seized a portion of the province-several leaders, amongst them Gerin and Vavon, were slain, but the death of Richard from fever relieved Petion of this rival. Meantime Christophe was anxious to extend his authority over the South and West provinces, but failing, he nevertheless, in 1811, assumed the title of King of Hayti, and was, with his wife, crowned by the Archbishop Gonzalez, whom he himself, and not the pope, had appointed. He appeared on this solemn occasion, according to his partial biographer, as calm and frank as usual, and took the oath to maintain the integrity of Hayti, and abolish slavery, and all that was hostile to military and civil rights; to uphold the ordinance of apanage, and the rights of property; and ever to advance the honor and welfare of the great Haytian family. The members of the royal family were to be addressed as royal highnesses, and two states. The blame is thrown by the partizans of each upon their adversaries.---Christophe marching with his whole force against Port-au-Prince, took Eibert by storm. The two armies speedily came to a fierce encounter, Boyer, since president, commanding the republicans. He would have been driven back, but for the timely junction of Richard's successor, Bargella, with Petion himself. Christophe, called away by some tumults, had scarcely quitted his army, when a whole division went over to the enemy. Weakened by the desertion and the insurrections at home, after a campaign of 75 days he returned to his province. Had Petion commenced invader in his turn, a fearful scene of bloodshed must have followed. He was contented, however, with following his antagonist to his own borders. The war ceased here. Christophe rewarding his faithful followers, and ruling the blacks with great severity in revenge for their recent mutinies. On the restoration of Louis XVIII. France was desirous of recovering the sovereignty of Hayti. Negotiations were to be opened with both the chiefs, and Dauxion Lavaysse, Draverman, and Medina, charged with the mission, landed at Jamaica. Montorsier, a French merchant settled at the Cape, going there on business, was instructed by Christophe to ascertain the object of the negotiators. He found Lavaysse ill, gained his confidence, and on his return with a letter for the king, would have proceeded to Sans-Souci, to deliver it in person, instead of the usual form of transmission in such cases, through the minister, Baron Dupuy. Christophe gave Montorsier an audience in the capital, however, and assuming a friendly tone and manner, in order to put him off his guard, "What think you," he inquired, "would be my reward, were I willing to return under French dominion?" majesty might be sovereign lord and ruler of the Island of Tortue; or might live at choice, either in France, the United States of America, or any where else; in all cases, H. M. Louis XVIII. would remember and remain your friend." Christophe artfully replied, I place no value on the throne or crown, and would fain resign them, and all claim to them, durst I flatter myself to pass my days any where with my family in peace.' "That is what is intended," interrupted Montorsier, taking his hand. "It was apprehended, that your majesty might not be so disposed; but now the obstacle is removed. "But," returned Christophe, Your |