The Present State of Hayti (Saint Domingo) with Remarks on its Agriculture, Commerce, Laws, Religion, Finances, and Population

It was, indeed, extraordinary to see the people running towards the government-house to congratulate Boyer when the intelligence was first made public, and the respectable citizens congratulate each other with the most happy countenances, as they were likely to be secured in the enjoyment of their properties. That their country would now prosper, and advance in wealth and consequence when recognized by the crown of England, seemed to them certain; and they hailed it as an event of the highest importance to their interests and to their future aggrandizement.

From the moment of its being announced that the British government had come to the determination of sending out a consul-general to Hayti, Boyer’s officers of state and the people in general manifested the greatest solicitude for his appearance; a solicitude, emanating from a great sense of the importance which they attached to it. The president suppressed his feelings, whatever they might have been; but at times he could not resist the temptation of condemning the delay which intervened between the appointment of the consul and his departure from England; and he was often heard to say, that he questioned the sincerity of the British cabinet respecting such intentions, and that he believed it to be only a ruse de commerce. The inhabitants, however, were of a different opinion; they knew the integrity of the British government, and were confident that its commerce would not be neglected, but promoted and extended wherever it could be accomplished. Under this conviction they began to consult each other, and take into consideration in what manner they should best evince their joy, and shew those marks of respect to which a consul from England was so justly entitled.

It was determined by them to receive him on his landing with shouts and acclamations, and to conduct him to his hotel, accompanied by the most opulent and powerful of the citizens, and that the city should be illuminated; but when their plans were communicated to Boyer by the presidential spies, he had it made known indirectly that such manifestations of their pleasure would not only be irregular, but that he should feel it as an insult offered to himself, as he had not been consulted on its propriety, nor applied to for his permission.

On the 25th of May, the consul-general and his suite arrived in his Majesty’s ship Druid, Captain Chambers; but as she did not appear off the harbour till nearly dark, she was not recognised by the government officers, and consequently did not salute before the following morning, when it was returned by the forts, which was the only demonstration of respect offered by the Haytian authorities on his arrival. Nay, President Boyer could not conceal his antipathy, nor restrain his dislike to the English, even though he perceived that the presence of the British mission had a strong tendency to reconcile all classes of his citizens to his impolitic measures. He individually neglected even to congratulate the consul on his arrival; he did not pay him the common civility of sending one of his aides-de-camp to express himself friendly to the object of his visit, as was the case on the arrival of the French consul-general, to whom he sent two of his staff to offer him the assurances of his high consideration and esteem. The consul-general of England was only visited by a subaltern of artillery on the staff of General Inginac, and the general was absolutely precluded paying a higher compliment to him by the positive orders of Boyer; by the express order of that very man who would have been subjected to the animadversions, if not the hatred, of his citizens, had not the British government sent out a representative to give them something like an appearance of protection against the intrigues of France. He would no doubt have set the whole of his citizens in a ferment, had it not been prevented by the timely arrival of the British consul-general, when their animosity and irritation seemed to have been softened by the gratification of seeing the British ensign proudly waving from a British man-of-war.

The consul-general, Mr. Charles Mackenzie, a gentleman of the most refined and accomplished manners, and possessing talents of the highest order, received all this contumely with the most perfect indifference, attributing it to a very just cause. He knew that Boyer was secretly attached to the French, that he cordially disliked the British, that he had arranged with the French for the purpose of giving that nation influence and privileges in Hayti, and that any intercourse with England was forced upon him by his people. He knew also that Boyer was not the individual he was represented to be; that he possessed neither enlarged nor cultivated ideas, and had no correct knowledge of the world; and consequently, from these circumstances, he very judiciously put down all that show of neglect on the part of the government to its proper account, ignorance.

It is necessary now to advert to the proceedings of Boyer after his arrangements with France, and to see what steps he took to provide for the necessities of the government, brought on in a very increased proportion by the improvident measures which he had pursued.

In the first place, he called upon the legislative body to sanction his treaty with France, to admit it to have been both expedient and unavoidable, from the situation into which the republic was thrown by the unlooked-for appearance of the French armament on their shores, and finally, by their entrance into the harbour of Port au Prince, before any preparations for defence could be made. No one entertained any doubt respecting the issue of this question; every person who knew how the legislative body was constituted was aware that it would meet with their acquiescence, that no member would have the temerity to offer his dissent, and that it would pass nem. con. In fact, there was no debate upon the question; the measure was proposed, and passed three times in one day.

Another important question also, submitted by the president, was the indemnity promised to France. He called upon them to declare it a debt of the nation, and to devise such means as would enable him to meet and liquidate it at the periods when the respective instalments became due. This met with some trifling opposition, but was however carried, and immediately promulgated on the plea that the honour of the republic and its credit would be compromised were it not most rigidly and strictly complied with.

When it was known through the country that the representatives of the people had acceded to these two propositions of the president, the inhabitants began to express themselves in language easily to be understood, and to declare that they would not submit to be burthened with the indemnity to France, and that on no consideration whatever would they contribute towards its liquidation, it never having met with their concurrence: that they never wished the recognition of their independence by France, and in fact that the whole of the proceedings of the government, with regard to the negotiations with that power, ought to be universally execrated by every citizen in the republic; and when it was further known that an act had passed to compel each arrondissement to pay its proportion as pointed out under the law, they strongly expressed their determination to resist a levy which they were neither willing nor able to raise.

I had an opportunity of knowing the sentiments of the people on this subject, from a communication made to me by several of the most opulent of the planters in the south-western part of the republic, and it was made without any feeling of hostility entertained on their part towards the government; but they declared that the small cultivators, and others composing the great mass of the population of their district, were so exasperated at the concession of such privileges to their enemy, that they were confident that no force could compel them to pay their quota of the indemnity, and that resorting to compulsory measures would only infuriate them so much more.

The government from every quarter received the most unfavourable intelligence respecting the impression which their measures for raising this indemnity had made, and the irritability which it had excited; it was therefore deemed advisable to try if it were possible to raise one or two of the instalments by voluntary loans, to be redeemed in thirty years, and to bear an interest of six per cent. on the stock at par. If this could have been accomplished, the compulsory measure would not have been enforced, and the law would have remained a dead letter; but the attempt proved unsuccessful. The people had no confidence in the government, and although every officer of the state contributed, and even some British merchants, yet they could not raise three hundred thousand dollars, and even that sum has not been paid into the treasury.

Many citizens, on being applied to, to aid the contribution, declined to render any assistance to a measure which they declared to be pregnant with the most pernicious consequences; for they had, they said, no hesitation in avowing it to be their opinion that the government never intended to repay one shilling either of principal or interest, and that they could not, consistent with their ideas of justice towards their fellow citizens, give their sanction to so unjust and nefarious a proceeding. They observed also, that as to faith in the integrity of the government they had none; that under no consideration would they lend it a dollar, for that it was impossible for it to redeem any loan it might obtain when it was fettered with a debt that was too burthensome for the country; a debt contracted by every species of weakness, and want of energy and courage in those who were placed at the head of the state.

In the eastern part of the republic, the people were much more violent in their opposition, for they openly remonstrated against contributing towards the indemnity, alleging that they had not been an integral part of the French colony at any time, and that they would not be compelled to pay any proportion of the debt contracted by the government for a recognition of independence by France, because they never acknowledged the right of that power to any part of their division of the island. They had voluntarily joined that part of the country under Boyer’s government, but not with the supposition that they were to submit to such an arrangement as to pay any proportion of an indemnity which it was thought proper to give to France for a recognition of the rights of the people of the other extremity. This was but just in the inhabitants of the Spanish end of the island, and it would be unfair to condemn them for thus strenuously rejecting every attempt on the part of the government to allure them into an acquiescence.

It was pretty generally believed also, that this determination of the people of the east was countenanced by the officers who commanded in its several districts, who were not backward in expressing their dissatisfaction at the measures of the president; and the latter found it advisable not to adopt any further means for the raising of a loan in the country, but to try what could be accomplished when the new law for levying the contributions came into force.

Into this dilemma therefore has Boyer thrown his country, and without any ostensible means by which he can extricate it from the difficulties in which it is involved. Oppressed with the weight of an overwhelming debt, contracted without an equivalent – with an empty treasury, and destitute of ways and means for supplying it – the soil almost neglected, or at least but very partially tilled – without commerce and credit, – such is the present state of the republic; and it seems almost impossible that, under the system which is now pursued, there should be any melioration of its condition, or that it can arrive at any very high state of improvement. Any change from the present would in all probability be worth the experiment, but the existing inefficiency of the government precludes the chance of any beneficial alteration being effected. Hence there appears every reason to apprehend that it will recede into irrecoverable insignificance, poverty, and disorder.

It must be manifest to every individual who visits Hayti, and who devotes some little attention to the state of the country, that the leaders in the government mistake the true principle of governing, and that their ideas of the most effectual way to exalt their country are erroneous, wild, visionary, and inconsistent. They are so excessively vain too of their talents and discernment, that they think they have framed a constitution the most pure and unobjectionable of all the modern republics; and they arrogate to themselves the merit of having perfected a system that must eventually excite the admiration and receive the approbation of the world. With such arrogance on the part of her rulers, it is not surprising that Hayti, instead of improving in her condition, should greatly decline, and that her advancement under such circumstances should be exceedingly slow. Whereas, on the contrary, were the president and his advisers to study the best interests of their country, they would look round for information, consult the experienced from every quarter, and court advice rather than shun it. But so long as Boyer is permitted to fill the presidential chair, this cannot be expected; his vanity is too deeply ingrafted to be easily rooted out, and labouring as he does under the most extraordinary infatuation of his infallibility, no good can be anticipated from his government, nor can the people be expected to advance in knowledge, wealth, or prosperity.

The only department of government to which Boyer seems to devote his attention is the military establishment, and in this he is apparently sincere, but without displaying those requisites which constitute the capability of regulating the internal affairs of that branch of the state. The standing force of Hayti exhibits at once the absurdity of his measures, and illustrates the folly of his arrangements with France. It is stated by himself at forty-five thousand men, – I say nothing of the national guards, one hundred and thirteen thousand, – all well armed, well disciplined, and completely found with every article necessary for the soldier. If, therefore, his force were as stated by himself, so powerful and well organized, the only thing that can be said is, that he must have been a most inefficient commander, and in any other country would have been subjected to the strongest animadversions, for not having opposed the French force instead of submitting to such terms as those to which he assented. Whatever may be the numerical strength of the Haytian standing army, its disposition weakens its power, and evidently displays the incapacity of Boyer as a military man, although his egotism, and the adulation of his staff, would wish it to be understood that he is but little inferior to the greatest captain of the age. It is a known fact that he cannot, within any moderate period, concentrate at any given point five thousand men; and notwithstanding their boasted discipline, I have no hesitation in declaring that not one half of such a body would be fit for active service on any sudden call or emergency.

Let us look at the condition of a Haytian regiment with respect to equipment for the field. I have seen several of them in what was represented to be marching order; and what was their state? Some of the men are without even bayonets to their firelocks, many without a cartouch-box, and some without either belts, cartouch-box, or bayonet. Then their uniform, too – that can hardly be described. The coat ought to be of blue cloth, with red facings; a cap similar to the French infantry, with the arms of the republic, in brass, on the front of it, white duck trowsers, and black gaiters. This I say ought to be their uniform, according to the military regulation; but the officers commanding regiments are not quite so nice, not such strict disciplinarians as officers in the British army, for the former are not in the least particular should their men appear either on parade, or in marching order, without many of those articles which, by the latter of their instructions would be considered indispensable. A Haytian commanding officer looks to nothing but his own personal appearance. If that has undergone the survey of his chère amie and his fille de chambre, he stalks forth to the head of his corps in all the majesty of command, with his nodding plumes waving to and fro, not unlike one of those heroes frequently represented in some ballet or spectacle. He has no concern for the appearance of his soldiers, and consequently they exhibit one so extremely outré, that I fear a description would scarcely obtain credibility. Shoes are considered superfluities, for in a regiment of four hundred men you will not find many dozen pairs. Shirts again are not required; as the jacket hides them, they are therefore voted as unnecessary and extravagant. Their caps in colour, – for they deem cleaning to be a labour unbecoming a soldier, – which ought to be black, resemble more the colour of the earth on which they walk, and are generally applied for carrying it when they are ordered on working parties, putting them therefore to a very important use. And their feathers, instead of standing perpendicular, are mostly horizontal, because a soldier generally applies his cap for the purposes of a seat in one instance, and as an utensil for carrying water in the other.

I have heard a great deal about the courage of the Haytian soldiers, and such a thing as bravery in all probability did exist in the early periods of the revolution; but whatever may be said to the contrary, I am inclined to think that they are as deficient in real courage as they are in every other requisite for a soldier. High sounding and vaunting declarations of their character for heroism, fortitude, and resolution, on occasions of a very critical nature, I have often heard from the citizens, but I have known, from my own personal observation, of instances in which they have shewn the most abject cowardice. In ambuscade, or for irregular warfare, bush fighting, or any similar operations, they may be useful; but if they be ever brought in front of an enemy, to contend for any position at the point of the bayonet, or to perform any duty exposed to the menace of even an inferior force, they will shew themselves exceedingly deficient in courage, and quite on the alert to fall back; and it will be seen also, that their officers are not often to be found setting their men any example of disregard of personal danger, or of giving those proofs of innate valour and bravery which are so characteristic of European soldiers.

The naval force of Hayti is inconsiderable. It consists only of a brigantine of six or eight guns, and about three schooners of four guns each, not one of which is capable of leaving their own coast, being badly equipped, worse manned, and the officers quite ignorant of navigation, and they have about five hundred sailors. The government bought a vessel for the purpose of loading her with produce to send to France, to pay a debt it owed there, and they had not a Haytian who could navigate her, and they were obliged to get a British subject of colour to take the command. He went to Havre, and was named “The Haytian.” This affords a fair specimen of Haytian capacity.

CHAPTER X

Topographical sketch. – State of the roads. – Mode of repair by criminals. – How criminals are treated. – Description of inns. – Accommodations at them. – Mode of travelling. – Value of land in several districts, and in towns

Whoever has read the history of St. Domingo, and has been impressed with an idea of its richness, of its varied scenery, and of its fertile condition previously to its feeling the ravages of the revolution, and now contemplates the desolate appearance of Hayti, will be astonished that such a contrast could ensue; that a period of twenty-two years having elapsed since the declaration of independence, there should not appear some symptoms of improvement on the face of the country; and that the people should not have been anxious to restore the plantations to their wonted state of productiveness. In my peregrinations through the island, I was at times struck with the extraordinary difference between what the country was represented to be by the people themselves, and its actual appearance in the different districts through which I had an occasion to pass; and a comparison of its once fertile state with its now sterile aspect only excites a greater astonishment, and confirms my opinion of the indolence and apathy of the inhabitants.

The original French part of the island was always, as I have before observed, the most productive, because a greater degree of industry prevailed among the people. The eastern part of the island was never much celebrated for aught but its pastures, and its mineral productions, its mahogany and dye woods, and its cattle of all descriptions. I shall present a slight view of the present appearance of the country, from my own observations, and from the notes of others who have favoured me with a description, on which every reliance may be placed, because I have had their notes particularly scrutinized by persons who are conversant with the whole of the country, and on whose veracity I can safely rely. I may differ in my detail from others who have gone before me, but I have some hope that the account which I shall give will command the assent even of these persons. I shall commence with the capital, noticing the country and the several places on the coast, inland, and conclude with a few observations on different parts of the interior.

The city of Port au Prince, which constitutes the capital of the republic, is situate immediately at the extremity of the bay of Port au Prince, and in the centre of the department of the west. On its north are the plains of Cul de Sac, environed by a chain of mountains extending from the eastward to the channel of St. Marc’s in the vicinity of L’Arcahaye. To the east are the mountains of La Coupe, the ascent to which commences immediately without the walls of the city. And on the south it is bounded by the plains and the bight of Leogane. It is about a mile from the northern to the southern gate, and from the sea to the eastern boundary about twelve hundred yards. It was formerly encompassed by a wall, and by several forts of great strength; but the wall has fallen to decay, and the forts are partly demolished, and are now so much gone to ruin that they are quite incapable of defence. At present there are forts Petion, in which the bowels of President Petion are deposited, Bazilles, La Croix, Le Marre, Islet, Hospital, Leogane, Government, and one or two of minor note, but they are all in such a state of dilapidation that a salute adds greatly to their weakness. Fort Islet is at the entrance of the harbour, and the weakness of the President leads him to think that its few guns, not more than six, would stop the approach of an invading force; and with this idea he has had it put into a proper condition of defence; but it stands so low, that the guns of a frigate brought to bear upon it would at once make it quite untenable. In fact I am sure that a British officer at the head of fifty men would desire no better amusement than to storm it, particularly when defended by such soldiers as the Haytians. With regard to the others, I do not see that in their present condition they can be defensible, for their batteries are demolished, and not an embrasure is left.

The streets are straight, running from north to south, and from east to west, and are sufficiently wide and commodious; but the roads are in such a state as to be quite impassable for carriages; and although the government levies a heavy tax for repairing them, and the criminals sentenced to work on them are numerous, yet but little is accomplished towards putting them into a state of repair at all suited for vehicles of any description, and after a heavy rain they are totally impassable for people on foot. The members of government are quite unconcerned about any thing tending to improve the appearance of their city, towns, or country; they seem, from the President to the lowest individual, absorbed in vice, living in sloth and sensuality, careless of every thing, so long as they may be permitted to indulge in the indolence and excesses so predominant in the habits of the Haytian people. The houses are merely the remains of such as stood the ravages of the revolution, and those wooden edifices, which were built since the two destructive fires in 1820 and 1822, which consumed one third of the city, containing all the most valuable buildings, with property in them to a large amount. The city therefore, to a stranger approaching it from the sea, has an odd appearance, exhibiting nothing but dilapidation and decay, or as if it had just suffered from the effects of some violent convulsion; and there seems no disposition to repair or improve it. In the time of the French the whole of the streets were paved, but the pavement since then has been mostly destroyed and never repaired. The houses on each side had verandas and trees in front of them, whose foliage, impervious to the solar rays, afforded the inhabitants a promenade, without being exposed to the influence of the sun; but the trees have been all destroyed, and only an occasional veranda is to be seen. The public buildings consist only of the government-house, the arsenal, senate, and communes’ house, and it is no difficult matter to describe them. The first was the residence of the governor during the French régime, and at that period must have been a splendid edifice. It is low, as are all the houses in the West Indies, built so on account of the frequency of earthquakes, but it is commodious, and commands a fine view of the sea. The gardens are represented to have been splendid, and in the front was a fountain (jet d’eau), which had a supply of water sufficient for all the purposes of the governor’s establishment; but they are now a mere waste, the fountain destroyed, and the house externally exhibits more the appearance of a barrack than the seat of government. The arsenal is contiguous to the sea, and might be destroyed by a gun-boat, for it has nothing to defend it but a battery, mounting two or three guns. It contains all the arms, artillery, and ammunition of the government, and shews the folly of the president who established it immediately within the range of an enemy’s guns. The senate-house is a low irregular building, and was formerly used as a dwelling-house, and since that period it has never received either repair or ornament, for it is tumbling to pieces, and has a filthy appearance, for the want of a little attention. The communes’ house has more the appearance of a receptacle for lunatics; and really if one were only to visit it during the sittings of the chamber, it would not be surprising if an impression were made that the lunatics of the republic had congregated in it, instead of reasonable men to deliberate upon the affairs of their country. The cathedral has nothing in its external appearance to point it out as a place appropriated for divine worship; it is a square building, with a single roof, without any steeple, with an ascent to it of about three or four steps on the western extremity. There is but little to attract in the interior decorations and ornaments; the altar is constructed of gew-gaws and tinsel; above it is a painting by a modern artist, representing the union of the blacks and people of colour. The figures are two officers embracing; one is in the uniform of a general of hussars, and the other in that of a general of infantry, one black and the other a mulatto. The back ground represents a field of battle in which the Haytians have just gained a victory over the enemies of the republic. There is an organ, but a small one, and not at all remarkable for either its tones or its structure. There is nothing else in the cathedral, and it is in fact a libel on the name to call it one.