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lots or gardens. It is situated on the west side of the harbour, near to
the bottom of the bay, and is open to the sea on the north east. The
entrance into the harbour is apparently several miles wide, but a large
reef of coral rocks extends nearly across it, leaving but a small pas-
sage
for vessels, breaks the impetuosity of the waves, and renders the
moorings secure. This small passage is close in with the land on the
west side of the bay, on the outermost point of which Picolet, a very
strong and powerful fort, is situated, and sufficiently protects the en-
trance. The town is encompassed on the north and west by lofty
mountains, the acclivity of which commences in the very town. On
the south, a plain of flat country as level as a bowling green, extends
-for fifteen miles, and on the east is situated the harbour, on the bank
of which is an extensive battery and parade. At the north east of the
town is the suburbs called carenage, from its being the place appro-
priated for the repairing and careening of vessels. There are but
three wharves: one, at which all the mercantile business is transac-
ted; another, for the accommodation of the country people who at-
tend the market; and the third, called the government wharf, is lit-
tle used all these wharves are guarded day and night by soldiers,
who suffer no one to pass them without examination. The lamps sus-
pended at the corners of the streets are lighted every night at the ex-
pense of the occupiers of the nearest houses, and small parties of
guards patrole the city, to preserve tranquillity and arrest suspicious
persons.

The chapel, the only place of worship in the city, is a very commodious building, situated on the south side of a large hollow square, called Place d'armes. Its external appearance is magnificent: the floor is a brick pavement without pews, and entirely open to the sky, as there has been no roof on the building since the last conflagration of the town. In one corner however of the church is erected a small shed, which serves to shelter the altar and the priests from the weather. The matin service, at which I have more than once attended as a visitor, is performed very early every morning. The church is crowded with devotees, kneeling, and to every appearance perfectly sincere in their religious exercises. They were mostly females, but of every shade of colour, from white to black, promiscuously intermingled. Of men there were few, and these chiefly black, and all very old or mendicants. On one occasion, I observed fifteen, who were blind, standing by the door, counting their beads and asking alms. There are three priests who officiate, two whites and one black. A large fine-toned bell announces the hours of service.

The market-place is a hollow square, known by the name of Place Clugny, of about 400 feet in length, and of the same breadth. On

Sunday, which is the market day, this whole area is covered with merchandize of almost every species, foreign and domestic, spread out upon benches and stalls, and even upon the ground, in such abundance as scarcely to leave room for passengers. Here you will see, meats, fish, poultry, turtle, eggs, fruits, vegetables, coffee, sugar, wood, grass, charcoal, bread, dry goods, and in fact almost every article which agriculture, commerce, and manufactures can collect together. In addition to this, the stores and shops, of which all the houses surrounding this area consist, are opened, and the most lively scene of small trade is carried on. Many thousands of people attend this market, abounding in all the delicate and luxurious productions, which any of the Antiles are capable of furnishing. The peasants bring in the produce of the plantations from the distance of twenty or thirty miles, on mules, horses, and asses, and in return carry away articles of dress, ornament, and convenience. To speak on reasonable grounds of calculation, there must be, some market days, as much as twenty to thirty thousand dollars of specie in circulation.

The number of the inhabitants of the Cape may be estimated at 10,000. Of the population of the whole Island, from the dreadful state of carnage and massacre which has for fifteen years existed here, it is impossible to make any correct computation.* Of the inhabitants of the Cape, about 3000, as stated in a former letter, are whites, and the number of that colour in the whole Island, is about 10,000. The people of colour in the northern parts of the Island bear a small proportion to the blacks, but in the western and southern departments they are a very considerable part of the community. The island may perhaps contain 50,000, including those who were formerly free. The inhabit

* The term Island, as heretofore, is to be understood as relating only to the part formerly French. In the year 1789, prior to the revolution, the population of this division was estimated at 40,000 whites, 24,000 free people of colour, and 500,000 black slaves. Since then the population has been daily decreasing. The cruel conduct of the French, in burning, drowning, suffocating, hunting with blood hounds, and otherwise destroying thousands of these ill-fated people, added to the fortune of war and a very extensive emigration, has in all probability reduced it to 300,000. In this opinion I am in a degree supported by a declaration, made in an official proclamation of Dessalines, in which he states his military force to be 60,000. About one-sixth of the population of a country is usually considered as capable of bearing arms, but as in Hayti, boys are put into the ranks at the age of fourteen, we may fairly conclude that one-fifth are soldiers. Dessalines no doubt swelled his roll to the fullest extent, and from these circumstances we may safely infer that the present population does not exceed that above stated.

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ants are then composed of three distinct classes, viz. whites, blacks, and people of colour, which last I shall generally term mulattoes. The whites consist of about an equal portion of Europeans and Creoles. Of the blacks a great number are Africans, the rest Creoles, and the mulattoes are all Creoles.

The African blacks, though sanguinary and cruel, appear to be a tractable and obedient people, easily managed by proper treatment, but excessively ignorant and slothful. From their employment under the former government in the cultivation of estates in the country, and their consequent seclusion, they are quite barbarous and uncultivated, and are in their intellects little removed from the brute creation. This class composes, with those of the Creole blacks who were formerly also plantation negroes, and who do not much differ from them, the great body of the army, and the present cultivators of the land. The Creole blacks, who have not been bred in the fields, are of a different character. From their former habits of associating with their white masters on the estates and in the towns as domestic barbers, cooks, valets, &c. they have acquired a degree of politeness and urbanity of manners scarcely conceivable. Many of them are even well informed intelligent men. Some indeed have had good educations; and I understand there are a few in the island (free formerly) who have been educated in France. The Creole blacks, from their superior knowledge, address, and talents, were, during the revolution, among the conductors and leaders of it, and are, with some exceptions, those of the blacks who occupy the most important stations under the government, particularly in the civil departments. In the army, courage and military skill have been consulted more than learning, and in several instances, Africans and plantation negroes have held important commands.

The negroes generally appear to be brave, but this is no doubt partly the effect of severe discipline. Christophe, in one instance, where some of his men showed a disposition to give way in battle, had their heads instantaneously struck off, as an example to the rest. They are remarkably polite and civil to cach other. If a quarrel take place, which however is not frequent, they never strike, and if words and epithets will not settle the dispute, they quietly retire to a private place, and determine it with their swords. A glove is thrown by one as a gauntlet, and as soon as the challenge is accepted by the other's taking it up, the duel commences. This system of single combat extends itself even to the lowest classes, and you will scarcely find a boy ten years old, who has not some knowledge of the use of the sword. Though most of the negroes have proved themselves to be remorseless inhuman villains, some few are possessed of morality, virtue, and benévolence. The ignorant negroes speak a language which is called

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Creole, but is a mixture of that language with the African. Those of the better class speak the Creole with some French, generally however very corrupt French.

The mulattoes are composed of people of colour of the various shades between black and white, of which five are defined. Many of these people are the sons of the former wealthy white planters, and have been educated at colleges in France. Classical scholars and men of talents and learning are therefore not unfrequently to be found, and it has generally been the knowledge and abilities of these men that have conducted the revolution. Most of them have some information, and many of them were formerly rich proprietors. A great portion of the important stations, as well military as civil, are supplied by them, principally perhaps, because a sufficient number of blacks of capacity and understanding are not to be found for those offices that require scholarship. The mulattoes possess all the ferocity and sanguinary disposition of the blacks, combined with a superior grade of intellect. They are said to have been the most savage actors on the stage of the revolution, and notwithstanding their affinity to the whites, who were their fathers, they have carried their revenge and cruelty far beyond what was ever practised by the blacks. They are also stated to have been formerly the most severe masters to their slaves, and it appears that the blacks remember it to this day, with the determination of retaliating at some future time. A very perceptible jealousy already begins to manifest itself, and as the government is professedly black, the man who approaches nearest to that colour, feels himself the most independent and safe. The mulattoes who were the instigators of the rebellion in the first instance, when they made common cause with the revolted negroes, little expected to be left in the back ground, when the independence of the island should have been obtained. Their pride, which is excessive, has been greatly mortified, and many of them now regret the destruction of the ancienne regie. But death would be the immediate consequence of such a sentiment, if publicly expressed. As a stranger I have several intimacies with men of colour holding public stations, and have more than once heard dissatisfaction expressed by them, in strong language. On one occasion a well educated mulatto officer observed to me in speaking of Dessalines, that "in point of cruelty and wickedness he was far before Nero."

R.

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TRAVELS. -FOR THE PORT FOLIÓ.

LETTERS FROM GENEVA AND FRANCE,

Written during a residence of between two and three years in different parts of those countries, and addressed to a lady in Virginia.

LETTER LXVII.

If ever I should have the pleasure of reading these letters over with. you, we will spread a map of Paris upon the table, and go on from street to street together, and let me exhort you in the meantime, to do so as far as your patience will let you, and to trace the course, and find out the places I describe, if you wish me to believe that I have afforded you any amusement. A line drawn from the Rue St. Jaques at right angles through the Sorbonne, would soon strike the Rue de la Harpe, where some remains of the Roman domination in Paris may still be traced: they consist of what was probably a large hall and made part of a building, which has long since disappeared, but is supposed to have been the place of residence of Julian, who was extremely attached to Paris for qualities very different from those which characterize its present inhabitants. It was afterwards a sort of state prison, and it was there that Lewis Le Debonnaire confined his sisters. Their irregular conduct may have been deserving of censure, but the severity of the picus Emperor was ill advised and of no avail; it in no degree amended the manners of these frail ladies, while it exposed him to the enmity of their numerous admirers. There are still a great many things worth describing on the south side of the river, but I shall either refer you to books or speak of them hereafter, and will now return to the ancient Convent of the Carmelites at the upper end of the Rue St. Jaques, in order to give you some account of the establishment for the instruction of the deaf and dumb, whom you must hereafter permit me to call the Sourd-muets: I do not like a mixture of the two languages, but the. French appellation in this instance is certainly the most convenient. I perceived by the Encyclopedia, that great and successful efforts were made, even before the commencement of the last century, to instruct such unfortunate persons as were born deaf and dumb; but if we are to suppose, and I think we may, that the Abbe de l'Epee was informed of all that was done before his time, and of the method pursued, the progress made was very small indeed in comparison of what has been since effected. The utmost that the scholars of the Abbe de l'Epee attained to, was the knowledge of some sign by which they could express any word; and of the art of writing down the word required when the sign was made by a person skilled in their mute language; some short and VOL. II.

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