Sr. Some account will be found of this large and fertile island in the Encyclopaedia, under the article Hispaniola, and we shall now add such farther information respecting its climate, natural productions, and recent history, as is contained in later publications on the subject.

This island is, as described in the Encyclopaedia, the largest of the Antilles, or Carribee Islands, extending from 17° 37' to 20° north latitude, and from 67° 35' to 74° 15' west longitude. It was called Haiti, or the Highland country, by the natives, from the mountains with which it abounded, more especially in the northern part. When it was first discovered by Columbus, it received the name of Isabella, in honour of the Queen of Spain, but its most common appellation is St Domingo, from its chief city. The country was formerly divided between the Spaniards, who were the original occupiers, and the French. These last, however, having been expelled by the black population, the division of the island which they formerly occupied is now known under the name of the kingdom of Hayti. The line of demarcation which separates those two divisions commences on the south side from the river Pedernales, or Flint river, and extends in a waving direction to the river Massacre on the north side. The country to the west of this line belonged to the French part, while that on the east side formed the Spanish part of the island. By far the greatest portion of the country was in the possession of the Spaniards; their division being reckoned to be 220 miles in length by 120 in breadth, of which, though a considerable part consists of mountains, these are said to be little inferior in fertility to the champaign country, and to be equally capable of cultivation. The Hayti division is of an extremely irregular figure. The land is deeply penetrated by the Gulf of Gonave, and is in some parts 170 miles in length, while, in others, it is not 30. It is nearly of the same breadth as the Spanish division.

Great part of the coast of this island is rocky and dangerous, affording but an imperfect shelter to vessels overtaken by storms. Many of the shipping places on the southern shore are nothing more than open bays, which lie exposed to the storms and hurricanes of the autumnal months. The harbour of St Domingo, formerly thought so commodious and secure, has become too shallow to admit vessels of large burden. There are, however, besides roads and several small harbours, the bays of Neyba and St Domingo.

Acoa on this coast. Into the first flows the river Neyba, which receives vessels of thirty tons burden; its stream, before entering the ocean, divides itself into various channels, which, annually changing, confound the pilot, and render the navigation difficult. These, if they were collected into one, would afford a deeper and safer channel. Ocoa Bay is a large convenient watering-place, with several small rivers falling into it. The entrance is two leagues across, and it gradually widens to near six. On the east side of this bay is the safe and capacious port of Caldera. On the south-east coast is the great Bay of Samana, which, in point of size and situation, is one of the most important on the island. From Cape Rafael, which forms the southern point of entrance into the Bay of Samana, to the opposite side of the island or peninsula of Samana, the distance is eighteen miles, which is closed in by a bulwark of rocks and sands, the entrance only being left clear, with a safe and deep channel between the shore of Samana and several detached islands. This bay is about sixty miles deep, and is surrounded on every side by a fertile country, suited to all the purposes of trade. Within the compass of this bay, whole fleets might ride at anchor in perfect security. The river Yuma, after being joined by the Cambu, and meandering through the rich plains of La Vega Real, falls into the bay of Samana, after a course of nearly one hundred miles. Bahia Ecossaise, or Scots bay, which is on the north side of the peninsula of Samana, is a dangerous rocky place. From thence to Puerto Plata, the coast extends about sixty miles in a north-west direction, and in this space stands Balsama bay, which has only fourteen feet depth of water, and is of difficult navigation. The harbour of Puerto Plata was first discovered by Columbus; the entrance is narrow but safe, and the neighbourhood is rich in every species of woods. There are several other small harbours and bays on this side of the island; but the coast is in general rocky and dangerous.

A country of such magnitude as St Domingo, containing mountains of great height, with valleys of corresponding extent, necessarily comprises great variety of soil. In general, however, it is fertile in the highest degree, everywhere watered by copious streams, and yielding in abundance every species of vegetable produce which can minister either to the luxury or comfort of man. The soil consists principally of a rich clay, sometimes mixed with gravel, lying on a substratum of rock. That part of the island formerly occupied by the French is mountainous, but fertile and well wooded, and containing mines both of silver and iron. The Spanish part of the island is mountainous in many parts; while in other parts, the country is spread out into extensive plains. These are generally in a state of nature, covered with herbage or with woods of immense growth and the most luxuriant foliage. The mountains intersect the island in two principal chains from east to west. From these, secondary and partial ridges diverge irregularly in different directions, forming beautiful and fertile valleys watered by numerous streams. The highest mountains of the interior, particularly those of Cibao, rise to the height of 6000 feet above the level of the sea. To the north of the capital is St Domingo, the valley called Vega Real, or Royal Field, which is by far the largest and finest in the island. Westward, it extends to the old French line of demarcation, and in this part it is watered by the river Yaque; to the east, where it is watered by the river Yuma for the space of fifty miles, it projects to the head of the bay of Samana, and is watered by numerous smaller streams, which cross it in various directions. This valley may be said to extend in length about eighty leagues, and in breadth from ten to fifteen.

Edwards, in his Account of the West Indies, is of opinion, that this and several other districts would, under proper management, yield a greater return of sugar and other valuable commodities than all the British colonies in the West Indies. Other plains also of less extent, but of equal fertility and of easy access, are everywhere found interspersed among the mountainous tracts. Westward from St Domingo, along the southern coast, is the valley of the river Banis, extending from Nisao to Ocoa. Here the pasture is good; but the country is not so well watered as in the other parts of the island; an inconvenience which is sensibly felt by the cattle during the dry months. In some cases this evil is remedied by the rivulets, which, descending from the mountains, intersect the low lands in various directions, and afford, in the event of drought, the never-failing resource of artificial irrigation. Even the aboriginal inhabitants availed themselves of this advantage for flooding their lands in the dry season, and some of the earlier Spanish settlers appear to have followed their example; as there are many spots now covered with thickets or weeds, on which there appear formerly to have been plantations both of sugar and indigo; and even in its wild and uncultivated state the ground in this tract produces in great luxuriance many valuable plants, such as the cactus, in several varieties, the indigo plant, and a species of cotton of which the wool is reddish, with various others; thus plainly indicating, that the hand of industry is only wanting to quicken into activity the latent fertility of the soil. Farther to the westward and to the north other valleys are found; but where the land, as in this island, is everywhere intersected by ranges of mountains, it is impossible, in any general sketch, particularly to describe that continual succession of hill and dale which diversifies the face of the country. Eastward from the capital are those immense plains called Los Llanos, which stretch out to a vast extent on a dead level. They are covered with herbage, and the eye wanders unobstructed over the wide expanse of waving grass, which is occasionally diversified by a natural clump of trees, that seem planted by the hand of man. These have generally sprung up on the margin of some spring or collection of water, round which they thrive as far as the moisture extends over the ground. Here scattered trees afford shelter to the ranging cattle from the mid-day heat. These plains occupy almost one-sixth part of the island, extending nearly to its eastern coast, to the distance of more than ninety miles by about thirty wide. They form an immense natural meadow, covered with pasture for vast herds of cattle, which belong to more than a hundred dif- These are annually collected, counted, and the young branded at the time when the calf cannot mistake its mother; and it is astonishing with what dexterity the herdsman, with a lance in his hand, contrives to separate one of his master's stock from the rest. In the dry season it is customary to burn all the grass on these extensive plains; and the eastern part of this tract, from which the wind regularly blows, being first kindled, the whole country is soon involved in one general conflagration. During this season the cattle generally take refuge in the forests, in search of the herbage which the sun has not had power to consume; and the burnt grass serving as an annual manure to the soil, a new crop springs up with fresh luxuriance after the parched earth is refreshed by the periodical rains.

St Domingo is of a hot and moist climate; but the heat is mitigated by the regularity of the sea-breeze, and by the contiguity of the mountains. In the plains the thermometer rises to 96°, sometimes to 99°; but in the mountainous tracts it seldom rises above 78°. In the more elevated parts, a blanket is not unwelcome during the nights, and in the highest mountains a fire is frequently necessary. In those situations meat may be kept for several days, and in the morning hoar frost is frequent. The seasons, as in tropical countries, are divided into the wet and the dry. The rains are periodical, and are heaviest in May and June, when the rivers, which at other times can scarcely supply water for a continued stream, overflow their banks, and, with an impetuous torrent, sweep over the neighbouring plains. The climate of St Domingo is unhealthy to Europeans, owing to these violent heats and heavy rains; and hence all metals, however bright their original polish, soon contract a tarnished appearance. This is more observable on the sea coast, which is also more unhealthy than the interior parts of the island. Hurricanes are not frequent, but in the southern parts of the island violent gales of wind, generally preceded by a closeness and sultriness in the atmosphere, frequently occur. These, however, are not attended with such fatal effects as the hurricanes in the Windward Islands.

The island of St Domingo abounds in rivers and smaller streams, which flow from the mountains in the interior, in different directions to the sea. Of these the principal are the Haina, the Nigua, the Nizao, the Ozama, the Neyba, the Ocoa, the Yane, the St Yago, or the river of Monte Christi. The Haina takes its rise at the distance of three leagues from the city of St Domingo, and it falls into the bay of the same name, after flowing through a country which was once covered with plantations of cocoa, sugar, indigo, cotton, &c., but is now overgrown with wild shrubbery. The Nigua, about two leagues northward, rolls over a beautiful bed of sand and pebble, for a distance of nine leagues, in such a meandering course, that it is crossed five times within the compass of five miles. The banks of this river were formerly in a high state of cultivation, but now a muddy aqueduct, reservoir, or rent sugar boiler, seen at intervals through the trees, is all that remains to mark the former seat of European industry. Considerable quantities of wood are still floated down its stream, which in the dry season is very low, and, except when swelled by the rains, is easily fordable.

The Ozama, after being joined by the river Isabella, besides a variety of smaller streams, runs past the city of St Domingo, of which it forms the port. Its shores are thickly covered with woods, and at its mouth it is as wide as the Thames at Chelsea. This stream is of great convenience to the capital, in facilitating the conveyance of provisions and produce from the interior. In the rainy season it overflows its banks, and for some miles tinges the sea with the muddy colour of its water. The Neyba, which empties itself into the bay of the same already described, takes its rise in the mountains, and runs in an unequal stream of about 100 miles, through a beautifully picturesque and woody country. It receives the waters of many inferior streams. The river Yane, or Yuna, which is joined by the Camu, meanders through the rich plains of La Vega Real. It is navigable through a great part of its course, which is stated by Walton to be 200 miles in length, and it receives forty other smaller rivers, that cross the country in different directions, and afford advantages for interior intercourse rarely to be found. The above mentioned rivers fall into the ocean on the south and east parts of the island. The river De Monte Christi, or St Yago, enters the sea on the north shore, in the bay of Manzanillo, after flowing from the inland town of Santiago through a long extent of plains and tobacco lands. Near the south part of the French line of demarcation is the beautiful lake De Henriquillo, which is about eighteen leagues in circumference, and though it is about eight leagues from the sea its water is perfectly salt, and of the same specific gravity as that of the ocean. The same fishes are also found in it, such as the shark, seal, porpoise, &c., and they are of similar size with those found in the ocean. In the centre is a small island, which is described as being a singularly romantic and beautiful spot, containing springs of fresh water, and abounding in wild goats and game.

The fertile soil of St Domingo is distinguished by the variety of its vegetable productions, many of which are exceedingly rare and valuable. The mahogany tree, the wood of which is at present the chief commodity exported, is found in great abundance. It is a tall straight and beautiful tree, hard, and of a close grain, when it grows on a barren soil, but paler, open grained, and more finely variegated on the low and damp lands. The manchineel tree affords a beautiful species of wood, richly veined like marble, with streaks of green and yellow, and susceptible of the finest polish; but in consequence of its containing a poisonous juice, of a white colour and of an acid quality, the smallest particle of its dust falling into the eyes of the workmen when they are sawing it, occasions instant inflammation, and, frequently, total blindness. To avoid this danger, they have their eyes protected by a covering of gauze. Several species of dye-woods are produced in the forests; but none of them have been tried except fustic, which is a handsome tree with a small leaf. There is a tree called the Jagua, the fruit of which is accounted a delicacy by the natives; its juice is as clear as water, while it makes a stain on linen which St Domingo is indelible. Different kinds of lignum vitae are found in the woods which line the coast. The most valuable is that which, when cut, is of a dark green colour, and grows in arid lands. The quebra bacha or iron-wood, which is of a similar species, has the singular peculiarity of petrifying when stuck in the damp ground. There are two kinds of ebony, the green and the black, and several other woods with the same properties, which grow unnoticed, and without even a name, in those unexplored forests. The capa is well adapted for the sheathing of vessels, as it is impervious to the worms, which quickly consume most other woods. On the north side of the island there are extensive forests of pine, which is much used for the purposes of ship-building, but is excluded from domestic use, from its being the favourite lodging of the white ant, one of the most destructive insects in the West Indies. Brazil wood is common along the coast; but owing to the want of encouragement, it has never become an article of general trade. The satin wood, both of the white and yellow species, is abundant. It is heavier than that of the East Indies; has a more agreeable smell, and takes a finer polish. The cotton tree is the largest of all the vegetable productions, and out of its trunk are made the lightest and the most sizeable canoes. It affords a species of down which has been found well adapted for beds, and has also been tried with success in the making of hats. The sand box tree is of no commercial utility; but it is frequently used in hedges, and from its thick and gloomy shade is particularly well adapted for overhanging a road. Its fruit possesses the remarkable property of exploding with a noise resembling the discharge of a pistol, to the astonishment and alarm of the traveller who happens to be riding under the tree. Every variety of the palm tree is found in the woods, of which they form a principal ornament, and are besides useful for domestic purposes; the grains of some serving for the sustenance of birds or fattening of hogs, while the spreading leaves are employed in the thatching of houses, and in the manufacture of baskets or similar articles. The palmetto or mountain-cabbage is an erect and equal tree, which grows to the height of seventy feet, with the cabbage on the top. There is a dwarf tree of the same kind, the juice from the berries of which is reckoned a cure for low spirits. In the congenial soil of this fertile island the sugar cane, cotton and coffee plants, grow in the greatest luxuriance. There is also the calabash, the fruit of which serves as a substitute for earthen-ware—the plantain, the staff of life in the West Indies—vanilla, which is found indigenous in the unfrequented woods—quassia, simarouba, which is a tall and stately plant, waving gracefully in the wind—sarsaparilla, indigo, tobacco, turmeric, ginger and rice plants. The fruits and nutritive roots of St Domingo are nearly the same as those of Jamaica; but they are more abundant, and extremely fine. Of these may be enumerated the choux caraib or Indian kale, with a variety of other vegetables that come under the same denomination, the avocato, or vegetable marrow, the melon, sapadillo, guava, pineapple, bread and jack fruit, mango, nuts, rose-apple, plums, &c. of many different species. Flowers exist in endless variety and splendour, to adorn the wild scenery of the woods, and to exhale their fragrance in the desert air.

In addition to all its other valuable productions, mines this island formerly contained considerable mines of gold, silver, copper, and iron. But the mines of the two former metals have, according to that strange and perverted policy by which Spain has uniformly sought to depress her colonies, been long closed against the industry of the inhabitants, and a military force has been even posted at the different mining stations, to prevent those hidden gifts of nature from being brought to light, and converted into active and productive capital, for the improvement of commerce and the benefit of the world at large. Before these absurd prohibitions were enforced, St Domingo yielded a valuable produce of the precious metals. About eight miles from the capital were situated the mines of Buena Ventura, which frequently yielded large pieces of gold. In the centre of the island other mines are also situated, which were still more productive. The mines of Cibao were extremely rich, and near La Vega, at the source of the Yuna river, and Santiago at the source of the river De Monte Christi, large particles of gold are still washed down by the periodical rains. In the stream of the Yaque river, grains of gold are found, of which some beautiful specimens were seen by Mr Walton. (Account of St Domingo.) In the southern districts of the island are situated the mines of Guaba, Rubio, and Baoruco, where several adventurers are said to have enriched themselves by merely washing the gold from the sand with which it is intermixed. The Maroons, who occupy the hills in the latter place, which extend to the coast of the bay of Neyba, have no other way of procuring the clothing which they are in want of but in exchange for the gold which they extract. According to Herrera, as quoted by Mr Walton, the produce of these mines formerly amounted to 460,000 marcs of gold of eight oz. each, exclusive of what was manufactured and sent away in ornaments. On the road to La Vega, at a place called Garabacoa, is situated a rich silver mine, and another twelve leagues from Santiago, on the margin of two small rivulets. There is also a mine of this metal on the Yaque river; and near the capital, on the Haina river, is an excellent vein that has been worked. There are others in different parts of the island, and on the east coast is one that was formerly known to the Indians. There is a good iron mine about seven leagues from the city of St Domingo, and a finer one still near Cotuy, the produce of which might easily be transported to the bay of Samana by the river Yuna. Quicksilver is found at the source of the river Yaque; also near the gold mines of Cibao; and west from the Haina river there is a barren ridge abounding in this mineral. St Domingo also produces jasper, porphyry, agates, antimony, of which there is a mine yielding pieces of six and eight pounds, mineral copperas, red ochre in globules as large as a pigeon's egg, amethysts of a transparent violet colour, and of an excellent water, and in the Neyba and Hincha rivers; pebbles have been found containing brilliants. The indigenous quadrupeds of this island were confined to four species, which the Indians called Hutia, Quemi, Mohuy, and Cory. Of these, all are extinct except the first. The hutia or agouti cat resembles the squirrel and rabbit; it is of a grey colour, but is not so dexterous as the squirrel in climbing trees, though, like this animal, its movements are assisted by its tail. Another of these four animals resembled a Guinea pig without hair, and a third a dog which did not bark, and which the Indians had contrived to domesticate. St Domingo, however, has procured, by its intercourse with Europe, a new stock of animals, of far more importance than the diminutive species which it has lost. These consist particularly of horned cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, horses, mules, and asses. These animals, after they were brought from Europe, multiplied with such extraordinary rapidity, that, in 1535, forty-three years after the discovery of the island, the skin had become of equal value with the carcass. Those innumerable herds of cattle, running wild in the woods, are in many parts the rightful prey of the huntsman. In some of the grazing districts one farmer will sometimes own 12,000 head of cattle, which he will sell in herds at the rate of from six to eight dollars per head. Hogs are equally numerous with horned cattle, and their flesh is very generally used. The horse, though of a small size, is extremely agile and sure-footed, and goes a gentle ambling pace, well suited to the natural indolence of the inhabitants. The ass and the mule are of an equally good breed. Goats and sheep are bred in great quantities; but the wool has not hitherto become any considerable article of trade. The horses, mules, and asses, at present in the island, are reckoned to amount to 150,000, and the horned cattle to 300,000. There are no deer, and the lama and the vicuna, though abounding in the neighbouring main of South America, have never been transported to the fertile deserts of St Domingo.

Wild fowl are abundant, consisting of ducks of a variety of species, namely, the diver, golding, heron, crane, teal, plover, and snipe. On the plains of Neyba is found the flamingo and the wild peacock, which, in flavour, surpasses the finest turkey. No singing birds are to be met with, excepting the Jamaica nightingale, or mocking bird, and the banana bird, with handsome plumage, black and yellow. The Guinea fowl, which is equal in flavour to the wild peacock, is killed in the plains in such quantities, that they are frequently sold in the markets for a rial each. There are four species of wild pigeons, of which the flesh is savoury, though rather bitter; the parrot is also eaten, and the ortolan is abundant.—The fishes caught in the rivers are similar to those in the other islands. The best are the snook, calapever, various kinds of mullet, the pargo, the grooper, Jew fish, baracooter, craw and rock-fish, besides the smaller fry. The land-crab, which burrows in the sand during the day, and issues out at night, is thought a peculiar delicacy. Turtle of all kinds are taken: also immense quantities of tarapins, a small species of amphibious tortoise, which, when dressed, is a rich and delicate food. The serpents are not dreaded; but the centipedes, which are frequent in old buildings, are large and dangerous. The scorpion is rarely seen; but the venomous crab-spider, which is equally formidable, is sometimes met with. St Domingo is annoyed by swarms of noxious insects, the usual plague of all tropical climates. Of these the white ant is the most destructive, as it attacks all kinds of wood, particularly the pine. Packing-boxes of goods, especially when they are made of this wood, are liable to be destroyed by this insect, which enters at one side, and perforates every fold of goods, until it make its way out at the other. Paper is also quickly consumed by it, insomuch that the French, in order to secure the public records, were in the practice of having them regularly copied, and sent to Europe.

The island of St Domingo was, as already mentioned, divided between the Spaniards and the French; the latter possessing about a fourth part of it, and the remaining three-fourths belonging to the Spaniards. The population of the Spanish division amounted, according to a census taken in 1785, to 152,640. Walton, in his account of the island, estimates the number of inhabitants, in 1810, only at 104,000. He mentions, however, that, when the island was surrendered to France, great numbers of the inhabitants, to the amount he supposes of 25,000, removed to Cuba and other islands. Adding the inhabitants who live in scattered habitations on the mountains, amounting to 8000, and the prisoners and refugees in the neighbouring territories of Hayti, reckoned at 4000, the account of Mr Walton will not be found materially to differ from the original Spanish estimate. Out of the whole population it is calculated that there are 30,000 slaves. The remainder is made up of the mixed races of the white, Indian, and black inhabitants. The European Spaniards are few, and consist chiefly of Catalans, who generally keep shops for the sale of European goods. In 1798, Alcedo, in his Geographical Dictionary, estimates the inhabitants at 125,000, of whom 110,000 were free, and 15,000 slaves.

St Domingo, on its first discovery by the Spaniards, was soon filled with numerous adventurers, who crowded from Europe to the New World, in search of sudden wealth. The industry of those settlers, joined to the exertions of the natives, who were universally reduced to slavery for the benefit of their masters, soon changed the appearance of the country, and, in about twenty years after the first landing of the Spaniards, their settlements were spread over the island; towns and cities were built, and the colony had rapidly increased in prosperity and wealth. But, as St Domingo owed its improvement to the fame of its metallic treasures, which attracted settlers from Europe, it was in its turn abandoned by its inhabitants for other countries of greater reputed wealth. In all the enterprises which were undertaken to the continent of South America, numerous adventurers from St Domingo readily engaged; emigration thus became general, and the mines and sugar works were gradually deserted. From these causes, joined to the misguided and tyrannical policy of the mother country, the colony of St Domingo soon declined; and, in place of yielding, as at first, a revenue to St Domingo, the Crown, it became necessary, a century after its original settlement, to remit annually from Mexico 300,000 dollars, for the support of the local government.

About the year 1700, the establishment and flourishing state of the French settlements on the island began to revive the interest of the Spanish government in this its neglected and oppressed colony. The rigorous monopoly imposed on its trade was relaxed; new settlers were procured from the Canary Islands, of frugal and laborious habits, and well suited to the climate; encouragements were held out to agriculture and commerce; and, under the influence of these wise measures, the state of the colony soon began to improve; the ruined and deserted towns were rebuilt and peopled, and new settlements were formed; the herds of cattle which ranged over the deserts being now more attended to, rapidly multiplied in the fertile plains of the interior, and an advantageous commerce was begun with the French colony, in which cattle was exported in exchange for slaves and European goods.

The cession of this island to France, which was agreed to by the treaty of Basle, in 1795, gave the first blow to its reviving prosperity. It was not till the latter end of 1801 that the surrender of the island took place, to the representative of the French nation, Toussaint L'Ouverture, who came with a considerable force to repel the expected resistance of the Spanish inhabitants. His entry, however, was not marked by any act of violence or injustice; and, when he retired, the government was delegated to his brother Paul, which he retained till the year 1803. Such, however, was the strong aversion of the Spaniards to the French yoke, that about 25,000 of the inhabitants emigrated, with their slaves, to the continent of South America, and to Cuba, and other islands, from which no consideration could afterwards induce them to return.

In the year 1808, when the inhabitants of St Domingo became acquainted with the general resistance of the mother country to the authority of the French, measures were concerted for their expulsion from the Spanish division of St Domingo. These were attended with such success, that the French commander was speedily shut up, with all his troops, in the town of St Domingo. The siege of this place was commenced, but it had continued, without any prospect of a termination, from November 1808 till July 1809, when a British armament, under General Carmichael, arrived to assist the distressed Spaniards. After some correspondence with the French commander, the place was at length surrendered on the 11th, and the Spanish authority was thus completely re-established in this division of the island.

The Spaniards retained undisputed possession of the whole of St Domingo till about the middle of the sixteenth century, at which period the island of St Christopher's was taken possession of by a mixed colony of French and English. But this establishment exciting the jealousy of the Spaniards, they attacked the newly planted colony; and those of whom it consisted were either put to death or compelled to seek safety in flight. The barren isle of Tobago, lying off the north-west coast of St Domingo, afforded a refuge to a small number of those adventurers, who, in process of time, grew formidable, under the name of Buccaneers. They at last obtained a firm footing in St Domingo, into which they were previously in the practice of making predatory incursions; and, by the treaty of Ryswick, that part of the island which was occupied by them, as adventurers or pirates, was ceded to the King of France, who acknowledged these colonies as his subjects. They languished for some time under the galling restraints imposed on their trade by the mother country; but these being removed about the year 1722, the colony flourished, and gradually rose to the highest pitch of prosperity. In the year 1789, its produce landed in France amounted in value, before paying any duties, to above six millions Sterling, while the value of goods exported from France was, for the same year, £4,125,610. Increasing prosperity was visible in the general appearance of the colony; cultivation was every where making rapid advances; the harbours were crowded with shipping, and the towns abounded in all the richest manufactures of Europe.

Such was the state of the French colony in St Domingo, when that memorable revolution commenced, by which such important changes were produced in the mother country. That men were born equal, and were therefore entitled to equal rights, was the great maxim on which the French people founded all their declarations of political freedom; and we may easily imagine, if the propagation of these notions excited a ferment in Europe, what an impression they would make in a community so constituted as that of St Domingo, where every principle of natural right was extinguished in the cruel and degrading bondage of the mass of the people under the tyranny of a few. In St Domingo, as in all the other European colonies, the population is composed of three classes; namely, the whites, the people of colour, and the blacks. Of these the whites were the favoured class, who engrossed all public honours and emoluments, and in whose hands all power centered, both civil and military. No free person of colour was eligible to any public office of trust, honour, or emolument, however insignificant, nor was he allowed to exercise any liberal profession. All naval and military preferments, all degrees in law, medicine, or divinity, were reserved exclusively for the whites. A mulatto could not even follow the vocation of an apothecary or of a schoolmaster, nor, although his father was a white, was he allowed to take his surname, and these disabilities descended in all their rigour to his latest posterity. They were, besides, subjected to military services of an oppressive nature in the militia and other establishments, for which they had neither pay nor allowance of any kind; and if they happened to be aggrieved by any white person, they had no chance of obtaining redress, owing to the partiality with which justice was administered. The free people of colour were in this manner a degraded order; they were marked out by the laws as objects of insult and obloquy, and, as may be easily supposed, they were burning under a sense of their accumulated wrongs. In every West Indian community the slaves naturally form a hostile class, and though they are unarmed, their numbers make them formidable. In St Domingo they outnumbered the whites in the proportion of sixteen to one.

The French colony of St Domingo being in this manner composed of such discordant elements, contained, unfortunately, in its very constitution, the seeds of contention and civil war. The assembling of the States General in the mother country was the signal in the colony for parochial and provincial meetings, which were everywhere convened. The provincial assemblies differed widely on some important questions, and, in the course of their discussions, a general agitation was excited among all classes. The object of the whites was to establish the political freedom of the colony, while the people of colour boldly claimed, as a first principle of political freedom, their emancipation from bondage, and also a participation, along with the whites, in all political privileges. Several concessions were indeed made by the colonial assemblies, but they fell far short of the demands of the mulattoes, who, being incensed at the disappointment, appeared armed and in large bodies in different parts of the colony. As they acted, however, with little concert, they were easily put down by the regular troops. The first general Colonial Assembly met at St Marc, in April 1790, and they soon afterwards issued a decree new-modelling the government of the colony, and assuming, according to the notions of the governor, powers inconsistent with a due subordination to the mother country. A proclamation was immediately issued by the governor dissolving the assembly, and he dispatched M. Mauduit, Colonel of the regiment of Port-au-Prince, with a detachment of troops, to arrest as traitors some members of the provincial meeting. The assembly, on the other hand, prepared for their defence, and the country was on the eve of being plunged into a civil war, when the members of the General Assembly embraced the sudden and extraordinary resolution of proceeding to France for the purpose of justifying their conduct to the King and to the National Assembly. After their departure, the tranquillity of the colony was interrupted by the rebellion of James Ogé, a mulatto, who, on the notion that the men of colour throughout the colony were ready to rise in insurrection against the whites, presented himself as their leader. But effectual measures were speedily adopted for the suppression of this revolt, and the unfortunate Ogé having escaped to the territories of the Spaniards, was afterwards given up and cruelly broken upon the wheel, while twenty of his followers, and among them his own brother, were hanged.

Mean time the members of the colonial assembly, who had sailed for Europe, were coldly received by the national assembly, and a report of one of its committees was presented, containing the proceedings of the colonial assembly, and declaring them illegal and void; proposing that the assembly should be declared dissolved; that the members then in France should be placed in a state of arrest, and that a new colonial assembly should be summoned. This vacillating policy of the assembly produced the most unhappy effects in the colony, as it favoured the views of those who were attached to the abuses of the old system, while it spread alarm and jealousy through the whole body of the mulattoes. It contributed, in this manner, to divide society more and more into two hostile classes, and to inflame those passions, which a wiser and more steady policy might have soothed into peace. Mean time, those in the mother country who assumed the appellation of the friends of the blacks, and who were too warm in their abstract love of freedom to accommodate their views to any practical standard, were active in propagating their notions; and it was under their influence that, in 1791, a decree was passed, giving to the people of colour the unlimited enjoyment of all the rights which were possessed by French citizens; thus at once breaking down all the distinctions which had prevailed in the colony, and which were sanctioned by custom and inveterate prejudice. This decree was received as might have been expected. It excited among the whites loud and general disapprobation, and they immediately adopted the most violent measures. The national cockade, the badge of their attachment to the revolution, and to the mother country, was openly trampled under foot, and the authority of the Governor General and the supremacy of the mother country were equally set at nought. The several parishes proceeded to the election of a new assembly, which accordingly met on the 9th August, under the title of the General Assembly of the French part of St Domingo. The mulattoes, in the meantime, alarmed at these proceedings, were collecting in armed bodies for their defence, and the whites were so intent on the meeting of the new colonial assembly, that they offered no opposition to these assemblages.

Such was the state of affairs between the two hostile classes of the whites and the mulattoes, when a new and more powerful party, whom all united to oppress, now suddenly combined for their own protection and for the destruction of their enemies. On the 23rd August reports reached the town of the Cape, that the negro slaves in the neighbouring parishes were in arms, and that they were destroying the plantations and massacring the inhabitants. This terrible intelligence was confirmed next day in its full extent, by crowds of wretched fugitives from the neighbouring country, who, having abandoned their property, were flying to Cape Town from the fury of their savage enemies. The success of this bold and deep laid conspiracy spread universal consternation among the white inhabitants. The citizens in Cape town were immediately summoned to arms. The women and children were at the same time sent on board the ships in the harbour; the domestic negroes in the town were placed under a strong guard, and the free mulattoes, protected from the hatred of the whites by the timely interposition of the governor and colonial assembly were enrolled in the militia, their wives and children being left as hostages for their fidelity. Other measures were also adopted to secure the place against any sudden attack of the infuriated slaves. These precautions being adopted, several small detachments of troops were sent out to act offensively against the insurgents; but although partial successes were obtained in these encounters, St Domingo.

The general result too fatally demonstrated to the white inhabitants their own weakness, and the strength of their enemies, whose fearful superiority of numbers it was evident would finally decide the contest in their favour. In this destructive war it was calculated, that, about two months after its commencement, upwards of 2000 white inhabitants were massacred; that 180 sugar plantations, and about 900 coffee, indigo, and cotton settlements, were destroyed; and 1000 families reduced from opulence to misery. Of the insurgents, about 10,000 are supposed to have perished in the field, and some hundreds by the hands of the public executioner; and the rebellion, which had been hitherto confined to the northern parts of the island, now began to spread through the western districts, where the blacks were sided by the people of colour, and where, under their united devastations, the country was laid waste for an extent of more than thirty miles. At length they approached the town of Port-au-Prince, with the intention of setting it on fire; and it was with great difficulty that a treaty was concluded, by which this place was saved from destruction. This treaty was ratified by the Colonial Assembly, which also announced its intention of granting an extension of privileges to the free people of colour. But, meantime, the National Assembly at home, under an impression of the ruinous consequences of their rash concessions to the people of colour, had voted a repeal of the law which gave them the same privileges as the whites; and the intelligence of this repeal reached the colonies at the time when the Colonial Assembly were holding out the expectation of general equality and freedom. The mulattoes, therefore, when they heard that the National Assembly had repealed their former conciliating act in their favour, imagining that the offer of the whites was an act of concerted treachery to deceive them into a false security, knew no bounds to their indignation; all thoughts of peace were now abandoned; and it was the general sentiment, that the contest could only be terminated by the final extermination of one or other of the hostile parties. The war assumed a diabolical character of cruelty, each studying to outdo the other in acts of revenge. On both sides all prisoners were either massacred without mercy, or reserved for the more solemn barbarity of a public execution.

To restore peace to the distracted colony, three civil commissioners were appointed by the National Assembly, who arrived in Cape François in December 1791. But their measures were feeble and indecisive, in no respect suited to allay the ferment which prevailed; and, after a short time, their authority fell into general disrepute. Other decrees were now pronounced by the Assembly at home in favour of the people of colour, and new commissioners were appointed, who arrived in the colony with a force of 3000 men, for the purpose of reducing all classes under the authority of the mother country,—the white inhabitants as well as their revolted slaves. If the former commissioners were tame and inconsistent in their measures, the conduct of the new commissioners was sufficiently arbitrary and decisive. Finding the governor at variance with the Colonial Assembly, one of their first measures was to dissolve the Assembly and to send the governor, under arrest, to France, St Domingo, where he soon afterwards suffered on the scaffold. This was followed by other arrests, which spread terror among the white inhabitants; and the commissioners having at length, by means of liberal donations, secured the troops in their interest, became, in the beginning of the year 1793, absolute masters of the colony. They proceeded to appoint an officer of artillery of the name of Galbaud, governor; but having shortly afterwards differed with him, he was dispossessed of his new office, and ordered to embark for France. The brother of the governor, thus arbitrarily deprived of his dignity, having collected a considerable force, it was resolved to resist the authority of the commissioners. With this view, the two brothers having landed with a force of 1200 seamen, and being immediately joined by other volunteers, proceeded to Cape François to attack the government-house, where the commissioners were posted with a force composed of regulars and people of colour. A fierce and bloody conflict now took place, which terminated without any decisive advantage on either side, and next day the fighting was continued in the streets of the town with various success. In the beginning of these disorders the commissioners had sought to strengthen their party by the aid of the revolted blacks; and a body of these auxiliaries, amounting to about 3000, now entered the place, which immediately became a scene of general conflagration and slaughter. Men, women, and children, were massacred by these barbarians without distinction. The white inhabitants, flying to the sea for protection, were met by a body of armed mulattoes, by whom they were put to the sword without mercy; half of the town was consumed by the flames, and the commissioners, themselves affrighted at these disorders, escaped to the sea-shore, whence, under cover of a ship of the line, they viewed with dismay the wide-spreading mischief.

Ever since the commencement of those unhappy disorders great numbers of the white inhabitants had been emigrating to the neighbouring islands, and to the United States of America. Some of the principal planters had repaired to Great Britain, and by their representations the British government, after some hesitation, was at length induced to send an armament to St Domingo, for the purpose of co-operating with such of the inhabitants as were desirous of placing themselves under its protection. At this period the military force in St Domingo consisted, according to the accurate information of Edwards, of from 14,000 to 15,000 effective white troops. To these were joined the free negroes, mulattoes, and slaves, who were in arms, amounting altogether to 25,000 men, well armed, and trained to some degree of discipline, and inured to the climate. About 100,000 blacks had retired into the mountains of the interior, where they enjoyed a savage independence, and in the northern districts 40,000 slaves still continued in arms. The white inhabitants, also, contrary to the representations which had been made, were extremely hostile to the projected surrender of the colony to Great Britain.

To oppose the regular force of the colony, and the disorderly bands of insurgents scattered throughout Arrangement. St Domingo.

In September 1793, in the bight of Leogane, on the east coast of the island, amounting to 677 men, which was the first division of the armament destined for St Domingo; the second division, which was on its way, consisting of about 200 troops. The town and harbour were immediately taken possession of, according to a preconcerted arrangement. The fortress and harbour of St Nicholas was also surrendered to a small detachment of troops, which was afterwards reinforced by the second division of the expedition. The town of St Nicholas continued hostile, and most of the inhabitants joined the republican army. An expedition was now undertaken against the neighbouring fort of Tiburon, which was unsuccessful; and, in addition to this disappointment, disease had begun its ravages among the troops; the season of the year was extremely ill chosen for military operations in a tropical climate; the periodical rains were incessant, which, joined to the extraordinary fatigue and hard duty of the troops, exposed them to the fatal scourge of the yellow fever, which now raged among them with unusual malignity. About the end of the year 1793 some inconsiderable reinforcements, amounting to about 800 men, arrived to their aid; and with these, in the beginning of 1794, the port of Tiburon and the fortress of L'Acul were taken, while in other operations the British failed, with loss. A further reinforcement, received in May 1794, led to the important conquest of Port-au-Prince, whose harbour was crowded with trading vessels richly laden. But all these successes were rendered unavailing from the strength and increasing enterprise of the enemy, and still more from the continued ravages of the fever among the British troops. So rapid was the contagion of this fatal disorder, that, of a body of 500 men, which embarked from the Windward Islands, not more than 300 were landed in St Domingo. Upwards of 100 died in the short passage between Guadeloupe and Jamaica, and 150 more were left in a dying state at Port-Royal. After the arrival of this detachment at Port-au-Prince, 40 officers and 600 men were swept off by the virulence of the infection in the short space of two months. Under such deplorable circumstances all hope of further conquest was at an end; a feeble defensive was the system adopted, while the known weakness of the British force gave new vigour and boldness to the enemy. Partial advantages were gained, and brilliant exploits were performed; but it was now manifest, that the defence of the country rested on the solid basis of an armed population, before which the invading force was gradually wasting away. The colonial troops were commanded by Rigaud, a mulatto, an active and enterprising officer, who, though frequently defeated, never ceased renewing his attacks. In the course of the year 1794, he succeeded in taking the town of Leogane, and towards the close of the same year, the important post of Tiburon was carried, after a desperate defence by the garrison. The object of the British was now to strengthen all their defensive positions, and to wait for reinforcements before resuming offensive operations. About the end of the year 1795, 7000 troops arrived under General Howe. But the time for the conquest of this colony was past. The armies of the new kingdom of Hayti were formidable in discipline and numbers, and their leaders were duly sensible of those advantages; so that even with the large reinforcements received, the British commanders could make little impression on the numerous and well organized bodies opposed to them. They were still reduced to act on the defensive, while the enemy was daily growing more confident and enterprising. His posts extended almost to Port-au-Prince, which was still occupied by the English; and he displayed the greatest activity in erecting batteries and fortifications; nor were the British able to give the slightest interruption to these operations, though carried on within four miles of their head-quarters. In 1797, General Simcoe landed in St Domingo as commander of the British force; and about the same time the French government appointed Toussaint L'Ouverture general-in-chief of the black armies in St Domingo, in whom the British general found an able and indefatigable enemy. During the remainder of the year, hostilities were prosecuted with little vigour on either side. Every prospect of success was now manifestly at an end. The war was, however, protracted till about the middle of the year 1798, when General Maitland, having succeeded General Simcoe in the command, immediately adopted measures for terminating this tedious and destructive contest. He accordingly agreed with the enemy on a month's truce, after which the island was finally evacuated by the English troops.

The first care of Toussaint L'Ouverture, on whom administration of the country now devolved, was to digest a system of civil policy, suited to the new order of things which had arisen in the colony. The ancient state of manners, which was founded on the peculiar distinctions and privileges of the different classes, had been shaken to pieces in the revolutionary tempests to which those odious distinctions had given rise; and society having slowly emerged from this state of anarchy, had now settled upon the entirely new basis of the freedom and political equality of all ranks. But it was of importance that the blacks should make a right use of their newly acquired freedom—that they should be trained to industry and the mechanical arts—and, above all, that they should regularly cultivate the soil. For this purpose, special regulations were found necessary; and while every possible encouragement was held out to industry, idleness was rendered a political offence, and made liable to certain penalties. The cruelties incident to a state of slavery could no longer be resorted to as a stimulus to industry; but other milder correctives were devised, and these, being duly enforced, were followed by the best effects; so that the ravages of war were gradually repaired; the wasted colony began to revive; and about the autumn of 1801, it was rapidly improving in wealth and happiness under the wise administration of its negro chief. But this gleam of prosperity was unhappily of short duration.

The war in Europe between Great Britain and France Le Clerc having been concluded by the peace of Amiens, it was reduces the Negroes. resolved by the chief of the French nation to send out an armament to reduce the revolted colony of St Domingo. A fleet of twenty-six ships of war was collected, into which was embarked an army of 25,000 veteran troops, under the command of General Le Clerc, the brother-in-law of the First Consul. To enter into the details of the barbarous and bloody war now begun against the unfortunate inhabitants of St Domingo, would not be consistent with our limits, nor would they, we are persuaded, be interesting to our readers. It will be sufficient to observe, that the numbers and discipline of the force now landed, joined to the skill of its leaders, overpowered all open resistance in the field; so that the blacks, after several obstinate conflicts, and after burning some of their principal towns, were finally compelled to retire into the inaccessible mountains of the interior, whence they carried on, under their undaunted leader Toussaint, a desultory war against detached parties of their enemies. The negroes and cultivators were either subdued by the terror of the French army, or they were cajoled by the deceitful promises held out by Le Clerc of universal equality and freedom. This general, however, elated by his success, threw off the mask which concealed his real views, and rashly issued an edict proclaiming the former slavery of the blacks. The indefatigable Toussaint was not slow in taking advantage of this error. Having effected a junction with Christophe, who had still 300 troops under him, he descended from the mountains towards the north coast of the island, where there were few French troops, and where the cultivators were numerous. These were no longer deaf to his call, but flocked to his standard in great numbers; and, though badly armed, their numbers and zeal more than made up for this defect. With this collected host, Toussaint poured like a torrent over the whole plain of the north, everywhere forcing the French posts, and driving before him all their detached corps, which were compelled to seek refuge within the walls of Cape François. The town was instantly surrounded; and, to save it from being stormed by the black troops, the French general was compelled to quit his conquests in other parts, and to hasten, by forced marches, to relief. Here he had recourse to his former arts; and having issued a proclamation, containing many fair promises, the black chiefs, who were wearied of the war, agreed to lay down their arms on certain conditions, and to submit to the French authority. The war was in this manner brought to a conclusion; and, by just and liberal measures, the agreement concluded might possibly have been improved into a permanent peace. But the French general, jealous of Toussaint's character and extensive influence, and still suspecting him of being in his heart an enemy to the French, watched his opportunity; and, having privately seized him, along with his family, he was embarked on board a frigate for France, where, being thrown into prison, he languished for some years, and expired in April 1803.

This act of cruel treachery spread universal alarm among the black chiefs, who naturally dreaded a similar fate. Dessalines, Christophe, and Clervaux, were soon found at the head of considerable bodies of troops, and war was renewed with more inveteracy than ever. This last contest for the possession of St Domingo was distinguished by a degree of barbarity which surpasses belief. The whites and the blacks seemed to vie with each other in deeds of cruelty and revenge. Retaliation was the plea still used to sanction every enormity; under which an arrear of vengeance was at length accumulated on both sides, which nothing short of the utter extermination of one of the parties could thoroughly satisfy.

In the course of the year 1802, several actions were fought with various success. Looking, however, generally at the state of the war, it was manifest that the French were losing ground. Their hospitals were crowded with sick, and disease was daily extending its ravages, while the native armies, injured to the climate, were increasing in numbers. In the beginning of the year 1803, the French, exhausted by their losses, were confined within their fortifications, by the vigorous movements of the black armies; and Dessalines, who was now the commander-in-chief, having concentrated his forces in the plain of Cape François, the French general, Rochambeau, was forced to bring together all his troops from every other point, for the defence of the capital. In April 1803, reinforcements arrived from France; but the war, which was about this time renewed between France and Britain, gave the final blow to the French cause in St Domingo. A British blockading squadron soon made its appearance before Cape François; and the French general, thus hemmed in by sea, and closely pressed by his enemies on shore, who threatened to storm the place, had no alternative, but to enter into a capitulation with General Dessalines, by which he agreed to evacuate the whole island. On the 30th November 1803, the standard of the blacks was hoisted on Cape François; and the troops, amounting to about 8000, on evacuating the place, surrendered themselves prisoners of war to the British squadron, by which they were closely watched.

Peace being thus once more restored to the country by the valour of its troops, it became necessary to establish some permanent form of government. On the first day of the year 1804, the generals and chiefs of the army accordingly met, and subscribed a formal declaration of independence; all the European names of the island were at the same time discarded, the ancient aboriginal name of Hayti was revived, and Dessalines, whose military talents were in great esteem, was elected governor-general for life. The sanguinary character of this chief, now raised to the supreme power, soon began to display itself. His first proclamations breathed a spirit of moderation and peace, but these were soon succeeded by others of a more ferocious character; and at length a general massacre was ordered of all the French inhabitants in the island, which was rigorously executed, without any distinction either of sex or age. Dessalines soon afterwards exchanged the simple title of Governor for the more ostentatious one of Emperor, and, on the 8th October 1804, he was crowned with great pomp. In this situation he began to display all the cruelties of a tyrant, and a conspiracy being in consequence formed against him by the troops, he was suddenly arrested at headquarters, and, struggling to escape, he received a blow which terminated his life.

After the death of Dessalines, the two chiefs, Christophe and Petion, assumed the supreme power, and each having a powerful body of adherents, a civil war was the immediate consequence of their rival claims. In this war, which continued for several years, many battles were fought and many lives were lost, but the issue of the struggle was still doubtful; when, in the year 1810, a suspension of hostilities took place; and though no formal treaty was signed, the country has ever since enjoyed all the substantial blessings of peace.

From the year 1811, therefore, the island of St Domingo presents the pleasing picture of domestic prosperity and improvement. Both the chiefs have laboured with the most laudable assiduity for the encouragement of industry and good morals among their subjects. Schools have been established in different parts of the island, where the different branches of education are taught according to the system of Lancaster, and a fund has been appropriated for the erection and endowment of a college, in which professorships are to be established in all the different departments of education and science. The two governments seem to be monarchical in their principles; and Christophe, in imitation of the pomp of other monarchs, has created various orders of nobility, together with numerous officers of state, each of whom has a fixed order of precedence, according to the supposed dignity of their office. Petion, in forming his system of government, rejected the appendage of a titled aristocracy, but he was careful to preserve the gradations of rank, both military and civil; and he was equally intent with Christophe in enlightening his subjects as to their moral duties. It would be very desirable, but it is extremely difficult, to obtain any accurate intelligence as to the cultivation of the island. During the early part of the disturbances, most of the sugar works were consigned to the flames by the infuriated slaves. These have not been since rebuilt, so that very little sugar is now made in the island. The chief produce cultivated is coffee, and, in the year 1805, when the island was under the administration of Dessalines, the crop was calculated at thirty millions of pounds. There was also in the island a considerable quantity of mahogany and other timber. At this period (1805), according to a return made, the inhabitants amounted to 380,000, and the regular army consisted of 13,500 infantry and 1500 cavalry. Since the accession of Louis to the throne of France, various overtures have been made to the governments, both of Christophe and Petion, for the purpose of bringing the colony under the control of the mother-country. But all these overtures, however carefully disguised, and with whatever specious promises introduced, have been rejected with disdain by both the chiefs of this island, who have professed the strongest attachment to their dearly bought independence. It was even proposed to send out a new armament for the purpose of reducing them, when the sudden descent of Bonaparte upon the coast of France interrupted all these measures, and they have never since been renewed.

The blacks have, therefore, at length attained their wished for object of independence. All attempts to subdue them have proved entirely unavailing; they have made good their title to freedom by the valour with which they have defended it; and they now remain a standing example of successful revolt to the other negroes. By increased vigilance and increased humanity in the treatment of slaves, the other colonies may still, however, be preserved from the contagion of insurrection. But it cannot be concealed, that the existence of the independent state of Hayti, in the neighbourhood of the other islands, affords an incentive to revolt against which it will be difficult to guard. Such a state of things operates as a strong argument for the strict enforcement of the act prohibiting the importation of additional slaves, as well as for the gentle treatment of those already in the islands. Humanity is the true policy of the West India planter. It is the only principle on which a society so constituted as that of the West India islands can be securely held together. Terror, indeed, may for a time awe the slaves into an unwilling obedience; but aware, as they must be, of their own strength, it is only by ameliorating their condition, and by thus weakening the motives to revolt, that their obedience can be thoroughly secured.

In 1818, Petion died, and the government was peaceably assumed by General Boyer, whom he was allowed to nominate his successor.