Part 22

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.

The following morning I departed with my guide, on horseback, and at mid-day was overtaken by a black officer in full costume and well armed, who came up at a full gallop, and inquired if I was the individual he was directed to join. I concluded I was to be ordered back, but such was not the case. He had almost ruined his horse in overtaking me.

The distance across from Jacmel to Port au Prince is sixty-six miles, along deep valleys watered by ever-living streams, and only traversed by horses, mules, and donkeys, there being from eighty to ninety fording-places, produced by the windings of the little rivers. The valleys are rich and fertile in the extreme. The mountains to be crossed are very lofty, and covered with a profusion of verdure and forestry; they present one of the grandest scenes in all the West India Islands, and prove the assertion that the blacks have the jewel-island of all the Antilles; but how mortifying the reflection should be to them, that what was once such a source of riches to France, and to the islands, and what with industry might be made a paradise, is now so woefully neglected, and falling back into barbarism.

Agriculture is very much neglected from the want of a disposition to labor, as the blacks will not work for themselves or others, and their wants are trifling and readily supplied. The government is a military despotism, and exhausts the country by its levies of troops, and taxation. It has a standing force of some twenty thousand men, and is now at war with the Dominicans at the east end of the island.

Port au Prince has a population of about twenty thousand, composed of all colors, with perhaps one hundred whites. It has a fine harbor, and is a place of considerable trade, being situated in an agricultural and cultivated country.

The city is mostly composed of frame buildings, although there are many of other materials, covered with slate and shingles, but it has a dull and dusky air for the want of paint. The Government-House, which is occupied by Soulouque, with the grounds inclosed, is quite extensive, and the array of infantry, cavalry, and artillery within the grounds, looks formidable; but instead of the simplicity of a republican government, it has the appearance of the residence of a tyrant.

I arrived quite à-propos on Saturday morning--the market-day--when the inhabitants of the country come in with their products without a permit. They are permitted to do so from Friday night to Monday morning; on the other days of the week a passport must be obtained, which is quite a tax to them; and although it is arbitrary, and helps the government, it may have a good effect in keeping them from idling their time in the city, instead of being at work at home. Sunday was the gala-day, and the great review of the troops by the President, whom I saw in full uniform, attended by a numerous staff, and some of the companies, who were well dressed, and appeared quite militaire. Several of them looked well in the distance, but their rusty uniforms would not bear inspection. The blacks are fond of military display. Chapeaux, feathers, and gold lace give them great importance, and one sees generals and colonels sufficient for a British army.

I passed a day with the Consul General of France, and the English Vice-Consul, at their villas, a few miles from town. I had met the former in my travels, and now obtained much information relative to the massacre of the colored people by the blacks, last April. He had taken a noble stand in their favor, and had protected large numbers under his flag, in his own house; and having a vessel of war in the harbor, he effected, under cover of night, the embarkment of many of the most distinguished and intelligent mulattoes.

The ignorant blacks, jealous of the mixed castes, whose intelligence and wealth were far superior to their own, had resolved on a general extermination and pillage. Since then, however, a French war ship is constantly in port, and there is now a better understanding between the races. The President, who is a black, had lent himself to his own color, but soon saw the error. Monsieur Rebaud, the consul, has just returned from St. Domingo, and effected the release of one hundred and sixty Haytian prisoners, who had been incarcerated three years. This act, with the fearless exposure of his own life in April last, among the mob, for the preservation of families from massacre, and threatening the President to fire upon the town if more blood was shed, has endeared him much to the colored people of the island.

It has been said that confidence in the common people of the country is rarely misplaced, and that strangers heretofore could travel over the country by day or night without being robbed or molested; and I must add, that in most cases I have been treated with great civility.

In the mountains, at night, we met with the sable troops bivouacked around their camp fires, en route for the war declared against the Dominicans. Very little clothing is required in this climate, and scores of women and girls may be seen washing clothes by the side of the streams, with no other covering than a handkerchief; while the little naked urchins are basking like black snakes on the rocks, in the sun’s rays.

I have just returned from the north side of this little continent, whose circumference, by an even line, is about one thousand miles, and am now waiting the arrival of the steamer to proceed to Jamaica. At present, the drought is excessive on the plains, and the heat of the sun almost overpowering; and I can scarcely realize that while I am writing, dressed in light summer clothing, with my unglazed shutters wide open, and the birds singing merrily in the cocoa-nut trees of the garden, that in this month (February) you, at home, are muffled in furs, and have another music in the chinkling sleigh bells. This town, Jacmel, with a population of some eight thousand, stands at the head of a fine bay (the lower town is the commercial portion), and is built along the shore, near which lies the shipping, that takes the products of the country, principally coffee and logwood. The upper town is built on the hill, and in entering the port, presents a pretty appearance; but the effect is soon lost with bad paved streets and indifferent houses. I was pleased to find a number of schools in the towns and cities.

I am gratified in having had an opportunity of seeing a South American Republic, and a Black Republic, both of which are failures, as they have resolved themselves into military despotisms, without the great fundamental principles of religion and education, which I trust we shall always preserve in the United States.

LII.

HAVANA, _March 22, 1849_.

I started for Jamaica in the English steamer, which proved to be our old New York favorite, the Great Western. After landing at Kingston she proceeded to San Jago de Cuba, giving me nearly a week’s sojourn on the island, prior to embarking for the island of Cuba.

Kingston, although quite a large town, was exceedingly dull. The colonists complain bitterly of the mother country; an immense number of estates have been thrown up, the price of labor demanded by the manumitted blacks exceeding the ability of the planter to grow sugar in competition with the slave-holding colonies. Various expedients have been tried by the English to introduce laborers from the East Indies, and have proved a failure. One large planter informed me that the apprentice system was now found to be the best. All captured slaves are apprenticed for a number of years, and not understanding the language of the country, they apply themselves readily to labor, and become attached to the estate on which they are placed, and with good treatment show no disposition to leave. Although Kingston is a quiet and uninteresting town, lying on a slope with wide and unpaved streets, and sandy soil, still many of the houses, constructed of wood or stone, two stories high, setting a little back from the street, with verandas above and below, have an air of convenience for a warm climate. I found a very good and retired hotel, full of English comforts, and kept by an English lady. The hotels generally are only tolerable.

I enjoyed a rest after my fatigues in Hayti, and then made some excursions in the interior. The capital of the island, Spanish Town, offers nothing of interest aside from the public buildings, the House of Assembly, the residence of the governor, and the military barracks for the black troops. The white regiment of English soldiers is stationed at New Castle, an elevated point in the mountains, some fifteen miles from Kingston, where they enjoy better health than they would at the latter place, and can be called upon when needed.

The House of Assembly was in session. It is composed of forty-seven members, a respectable-looking body, the largest proportion of whom are white, though there are some mulattoes and one black among them. The debate was rather interesting, as tending to reduce the burdens of the island, the taxes being enormous for their present reduced resources; but the governor, bishop, and other officials, appointed by the crown, with fat offices, being members of the Council or Upper House of twelve, bolted, I understood, and I suppose had their own way. The Court of Assize was holding its term while I was in the capital. On entering the court-room I found a crowd of blacks and mulattoes, drawn thither by the trial of a negro, who occupied the prisoner’s box, for the murder of one of his race in a night fracas. I made my way through to get a view, and hear the evidence, and could not without difficulty command my gravity. The judges and lawyers were in black robes, agreeably to the English forms; the jury were half white, the balance being negroes and mulattoes. The evidence, on the part of the blacks who were present at the fight, was in such broken language, and so contradictory, that the counsel and judges were at times obliged to give vent to a suppressed laugh, and in which I heartily joined, but was soon stopped by the cry of “silence,” coming loudly from the mulatto criers in regimentals.

Jamaica is a fine island, and has been one of the most productive of the group. The views in the interior are varied, and the mountain ranges present a great variety of magnificent scenery, and a great diversity of climate; but the island in general has sadly fallen off from its ancient prosperity. The distance from Kingston to Havana, seven hundred and forty miles, was made under favorable circumstances, the ship and passengers behaving well. The portion of the latter who had never seen Havana were struck with the cheerful and picturesque views in the distance, as we approached the harbor, on the left of the narrow channel or entrance of which stands the old Moro Castle, with its bastions well fortified, and on the opposite side the Punta, another strong fort, and the immense Tacon prison, with its imposing exterior.

Being already familiar with the island, nothing struck me as new except such innovations as had been made upon old Spanish customs, since my last visit; but I well recollect the impressions made upon me when I first landed upon its shores and could enjoy the surprise of some of my fellow passengers when they beheld the peculiar construction of the buildings, the narrow streets, and the volante, or carriage of the country. I repeat, a stranger is surprised and amused at seeing such things for the first time, and as these vehicles dash along the Paseo or public promenade, in long files with fleet horses, filled with ladies in full dress, with mantillas instead of bonnets, enjoying the balmy air before the setting sun, they cannot but prove attractive to him.

So much has been said and written about Havana that I shall not attempt a description. Suffice it to say, I found that the same causes which extend the suburbs of our cities have here had their effects, for since a line of omnibuses was established, the environs of Cero have been beautified for about three miles out, and there are now many delightful residences there. When passing the country-house where Santa Anna formerly resided, and where I saw him engaged in his favorite sport of cock-fighting three years ago, a crowd of thoughts came in my mind, of the immense conflicts and conquests growing out of his return to Mexico; and now I find him banished again, and living in retirement in the suburbs of Kingston, Jamaica.

The city, in fact the island in general, is enjoying its usual prosperity under the existing institution of slavery, but in a more grateful aspect than formerly, by reason of the suppression of the slave trade to a great extent. In consequence of the drought the sugar crop will be much less in quantity, but the large prices obtained for it will make good the deficiency.

The Habaneros are fond of music, and have been in raptures with the Opera Company who have now left. They have the Tacon Theatre, an immense structure, the interior of which is chastely ornamented, with boxes separated by slight railings, and open gilded trellised work in front; when filled with ladies in full dress it produces a beautiful spectacle. The Ravels are now doing all the business. The steamer for Charleston has taken the family of children called “The Viennese Dancers,” who have done better at Matanzas than here.

The carnival season had ended when I arrived, but having already passed several carnivals here and in different parts of Italy, it was no great loss. The Grand Catalan Benevolent Society Masquerade Ball did not come off as usual in the theatre this year, but was held in three distinct places, on a Sunday evening, according to custom. When held at the Tacon, where I saw it once, with six thousand persons attending it attired in all possible variety of costumes and dances, while outside, the Paseo or public promenade contained many thousands more, under the mild rays of a full moon, dancing to the sounds of banjos, and other discordant music; it was really a novelty, and like all new visitors I enjoyed it, but now I gaze upon it with indifference.

A few days since I met with a travelling acquaintance who had accompanied me, when I was last on the island, to its south side, where we visited the sugar estates, and made ourselves familiar with the whole operation of grinding the cane, and boiling and granulating the extract into sugar. Afterwards we stopped at a small Spanish town at the termination of the railroad, which was exceedingly dull, except on festivals, or to those who take an interest in cock-fighting, for which the Spaniards have a great passion, congregating here in goodly numbers, from town and country, in the arena of a small theatre, twice a week, to exercise this cruel practice, in which one of the combatants must be killed to decide their heavy bets.

On Sunday morning we attended the parish church, where a large number of ladies had assembled, with their flowing white and black lace mantillas, gracefully thrown over the back of the head and shoulders, kneeling and sitting in groups upon their rugs on the stone floor of the church, apparently devout, and watching the changes of the service, while their negro servants in livery were placed beside them. A detachment of cavalry was also upon their knees, and two of the privates in the same position, with drawn swords, were placed beside the priest at the altar. During the several changes of the service the trumpeter of the troops would sound his shrill bugle, and the old walls seemed to shake. Service being done many of the ladies crossed over to the fancy shops, which were all open, to make their purchases. Soon after the country people begin to arrive on horseback, with their game chickens under their arms, and in this way, or in some other diversion, they pass the Sabbath, which to them is considered a festival or holiday.

The steamer Isabel, of the Charleston line, has just left. The evening before her departure her owner, who is from Charleston, gave an entertainment on board which passed off well. The family of the Captain General of the island, and several of the Spanish nobility, with a number of the consuls, and many English, German, and American ladies and gentlemen, to the number of a hundred, after a dance on deck to the music of the band, sat down to a magnificent supper. The steamer lay off in the harbor, and we were taken on board by a steam ferry-boat. The deck of the steamer, which was well lighted up, and a stream of rockets flying in the air, produced a fine effect from the shore.