CHAPTER IV.

THE POPULATION OF HAYTI.

The amount of the population in Hayti is not accurately known, as no

census has been taken since the country became independent. At the

close of the last century the population was found to consist of--

Whites 46,000

Freed men, black and coloured 56,666

Slaves of both colours 509,642

-------

602,308

In giving these figures, Mr. Madion adds (“Histoire d’Haïti,” vol.

i. p. 29) that the planters, in order not to have to pay the full

capitation-tax, omitted from their return of slaves all the children,

as well as those over forty-five years of age, so that at least 200,000

should be added to those in servitude, among whom were 15,000 coloured

of both sexes. Up to 1847 Mr. Madion considered that the population

had neither increased nor decreased. Deducting the whites, there would

remain about 750,000.

Mr. Mackenzie, in his “Notes on Hayti,” vol. ii., discusses the

question of population, but the tables he inserts in his work vary so

greatly that no reliance can be placed on them. In one, the population

in 1824 of the French portion of the island is stated to be 351,716;

in another, given in full detail as to each district, it is put at

873,867, whilst he adds that Placide Justin had previously estimated

the population at 700,000, and General Borgella, a good authority,

stated it at a million. It is evident that no one had very precise data

on which to found an estimate.

During the struggle between the French and the coloured races, the

whole of the whites were either driven out of the country or killed,

and some slaves were exported to Cuba and the United States. What

remained, therefore, of the two other sections constituted the

population of the empire of Dessalines.

During the Presidency of General Geffrard (1863), I heard him remark,

that from the best official information he could get, the population

had increased to over 900,000. This estimate must be largely founded on

conjecture. The negro race is undoubtedly prolific, and in a hundred

years ought to have more than doubled--nay, in so fertile a country,

with unlimited supplies of food, more than quadrupled its population.

The losses during the war of independence were considerable, as there

was no mercy shown by either side, and the sanguinary strife lasted

many years. The long civil war between Pétion and Christophe was kept

up during the whole reign of the latter, but probably did not cost the

country so many lives as the building of the great mountain-fortress

of La Ferrière and the handsome palace of Sans Souci. During the

Presidency of Boyer, lasting twenty-five years, there was peace, and

ample time was given, for the population to make up for all previous

losses; but after his departure came the wars with Santo Domingo and

civil strife.

All these causes, however, would only have slightly checked population.

If you ask a Haytian how it is that his country remains comparatively

so thinly peopled, he will answer that the negresses take but little

care of their children, and that at least two-thirds die in infancy.

After reading the chapter on Vaudoux worship and cannibalism, I fear

some of my readers may come to another conclusion. I cannot, however,

think that these fearful excesses can be carried to the extent of

greatly checking the increase of population. That the negresses are

careless mothers is highly possible, and in the interior there are few,

if any, medical men to whom they can apply in case of need.

After carefully examining every document on the subject which came

before me, and noting the state of those portions of the country

through which I have passed, and comparing all the information I

received during my twelve years’ stay, I have come to the conclusion

that the population has greatly increased, probably doubled, since

1825. All the old residents appear to be of the opinion that the

Haytian is lazier than ever, and many intelligent natives decidedly

hold that view; and yet we find that the exports and imports have

doubled in quantity during this period, which can only be accounted for

by a very great increase in the population. It is possible, however,

that the augmentation is much less than it should have been.

Either on account of losses from warlike operations, or more probably

by diseases produced from the greater excesses of the men, the female

population is much larger than that of the male. Some go so far as

to say there are three women to one man; others, two-thirds females.

I am myself inclined to fix it at about three-fifths. The great

disproportion in the amount of the women has often been observed

among the negro tribes on the coast of Guinea. In Hayti there is no

emigration to account for the disproportion; in fact, the movement of

population has been the other way, and many recruits arrive from the

United States and the European colonies in the West Indies.

The population is generally supposed to consist of at least nine-tenths

black to one-tenth coloured, and that the coloured is decidedly more

and more approaching the black type. It is natural that, continually

breeding in and in, they should gradually assimilate to the more

numerous race. As a rule, the coloured population may be said to reside

chiefly in the towns and villages.

Mackenzie speaks of some Maroon negroes who lived in the mountains

near La Selle in the north-eastern district of Hayti, and held no

intercourse with the other inhabitants, but fled at their approach.

They were doubtless the descendants of fugitive slaves. When we paid

a visit to the mountain above referred to, we heard the peasantry

speaking of these people, but it appeared more of a tradition than an

ascertained fact. They call them the _Vien-viennent_, from their cry

on seeing strangers. From what is told of their being seen in the deep

woods at midnight dancing and going through certain ceremonies, it is

probable that these strange people were only sectaries of the Vaudoux

worship practising their African rites.

The vexed question as to the position held by the negroes in the great

scheme of nature was continually brought before us whilst I lived

in Hayti, and I could not but regret to find that the greater my

experience the less I thought of the capacity of the negro to hold an

independent position. As long as he is influenced by contact with the

white man, as in the southern portion of the United States, he gets on

very well. But place him free from all such influence, as in Hayti,

and he shows no signs of improvement; on the contrary, he is gradually

retrograding to the African tribal customs, and without exterior

pressure will fall into the state of the inhabitants on the Congo.

If this were only my own opinion, I should hesitate to express it so

positively, but I have found no dissident voice amongst experienced

residents since I first went to Hayti in January 1863.

I now agree with those who deny that the negro could ever originate

a civilisation, and that with the best of educations he remains an

inferior type of man. He has as yet shown himself totally unfitted

for self-government, and incapable as a people to make any progress

whatever. To judge the negroes fairly, one must live a considerable

time in their midst, and not be led away by the theory that all races

are capable of equal advance in civilisation.

The mulattoes have no doubt far superior intelligence, and show greater

capacity for government, but as yet they have had no marked success.

It is pitiable to read their history, and see how they are almost ever

swayed by the meanest impulses of personal interest and ambition, and

how seldom they act from patriotic motives. During the twenty years

which have elapsed since I first became acquainted with the country,

what a dreary succession of meaningless conspiracies, from the abortive

attempt of General Legros in 1863, to the disastrous civil strife

between two sections of the mulatto party, led by Boisrond-Canal and

Boyer-Bazelais, when the latter completed the ruin of those of his own

colour, and let in their worst enemies, the blacks, who had dreamed for

twenty years of their extermination (1879).

Scarcely one of these plots and insurrections, by which the country has

been bathed in blood, but was founded on the hope of office and the

consequent spoils. The thoughts of the conspirators are concentrated on

the treasury and the division of its contents. “Prendre l’argent de

l’état ce n’est pas volé,” is the motto of all parties, of every shade

of colour.

Politically speaking, the Haytians are a hopeless people, and the most

intelligent and best educated among them are more and more inclined to

despair of the future of their country when they see the wreck that

follows each wave of barbarism which every few years passes over their

republic. President Geffrard, on going into exile in 1867, remarked to

my Spanish colleague, that, putting aside all personal feelings and

regrets, he could only foresee for his country a disastrous series of

convulsions. He spoke prophetically; for Hayti has never recovered from

the effects of the civil war which followed his expulsion, and he must

have observed, from his secure retreat in Jamaica, how the leaders of

every section of his enemies were, one by one, executed, killed in

battle, or sent into exile.

I will now attempt to examine some characteristic traits of the Haytian

negro and mulatto.

THE NEGRO.

A French admiral once asked me, “Est-ce que vous prenez ces gens au

sérieux?” And at first sight it is impossible to do so in Hayti; but

after the eye becomes used to the grotesque, the study of the people is

both interesting and instructive. To a foreigner accustomed to regard

the negro as he is depicted by our latest travellers, a half-naked

savage, brutal and brute-like, it is not possible to contemplate as

otherwise than incongruous a black general with heavy gold epaulettes

and gorgeous uniform galloping on a bedizened steed, surrounded by a

staff as richly apparelled, and followed by an escort of as ragged

a soldiery as ever Falstaff was ashamed to march with. The awkward

figure, the heavy face, the bullet head, the uncouth features, the

cunning bloodshot eyes, seen under the shade of a French officer’s

cocked hat, raise the hilarity of the newcomer, which is not lessened

when he discovers that this wretched imitation of a soldier declares

himself the most warlike of a warlike race. But putting aside the

absurdities which appear inherent to the blacks, you soon discover that

there is something sympathetic in that stolid being.

In treating of the Haytians, one must carefully separate the

lower-class negro as he appears in a large commercial town from the

black who lives in the plains or mountains. The former, brought into

constant contact with the roughest of the white race, as represented

by an inferior class of merchant seamen, is too often insolent and

dishonest, whilst the countryman, who only sees a select few of the

whites, appears to have an innate idea of their superiority, and almost

always treats them with respect and deference, and with a hospitality

and kindness which is not found in the cities.

Whilst the civilised Haytian is essentially inhospitable towards

foreigners, the contrary is the case among the country population.

They have the virtues as well as the vices of wild races; and although

their long intercourse with their more civilised compatriots has given

them a species of French varnish, yet they are essentially an African

people removed from their parent country.

Circumstances, however, have naturally modified their character. After

the departure of the French, their estates ultimately fell into the

hands of the coloured freedmen and enfranchised slaves. Many of the

latter squatted among the coffee plantations, regardless of the nominal

proprietor, and there gathered and sold the crops without paying much

attention to the rights of the owner. With the thirst, however, to be

the real possessor of land, so characteristic of all peasantry, as soon

as the negro acquired a little capital from savings, his first thought

was turned to secure the tenure of his household, and in many parts the

land has been morselled out among them. President Pétion encouraged

this system by the action of Government.

The popular stories current in Hayti of the difference between the

races that inhabit it are rather characteristic. It is said that a

white man, a mulatto, and a negro were once admitted into the presence

of the Giver of all good gifts, and were asked what they wished to

possess. The first-named desired to acquire a knowledge of the arts

and sciences; the second limited his pretensions to fine horses and

beautiful women; the third, on being asked, shuffled about and said

that he had been brought there by the mulatto, but being pressed to

answer, replied he should like a bit of gold lace.

They say again, Mark the difference of the three when arrested and

thrown into prison: the white man demands paper and ink in order to

draw up a protest; the second looks about for the means of escape;

whilst the third lies down and sleeps twenty-four hours at a stretch;

then waking up, he grumbles a little, but soon turns on the other side

and sleeps a second twenty-four hours.

Another curious saying among them is:--

“Nègue riche li mulatte,

Mulatte pauvre li nègue.”

These trifles indicate the opinion the different sections of the people

have of each other, and there is much truth in the estimation.

The politeness of the country negro is very remarkable, and you hear

one ragged fellow addressing another as monsieur, frère, or confrère;

and this civility is very pleasing, as it gives promise of better

things whenever education shall be extended to the country population.

The town negro rarely, however, equals the peasant in manners, though

among each other there is not much left to be desired. Both classes, at

the same time, are infinitely superior to our colonial negroes, who are

in Port-au-Prince proverbial for their insolence.

Every one who mixes in Haytian society is struck by the paucity of

black gentlemen to be met with at balls, concerts, or the theatre,

and the almost total absence of black ladies. At some of the largest

parties given by the late President Geffrard, I have counted but three

black ladies to perhaps a hundred coloured; and although the gentlemen

were more numerous, it was evident that their presence arose from their

official positions, and not from a desire to mix with the society.

There is a marked line drawn between the black and the mulatto, which

is probably the most disastrous circumstance for the future prosperity

of the country. A faithful historian, after carefully studying past

events, can come to no other conclusion than that the low state of

civilisation which still obtains in the island arises principally

from this unmeaning quarrel. The black hates the mulatto, the mulatto

despises the black; proscriptions, judicial murders, massacres have

arisen, and will continue to arise as long as this deplorable feeling

prevails. There is no sign of its abatement; on the contrary, never was

it so marked as at the present day. A black Minister once said to me,

“We blacks and whites like and respect each other, because we are of

pure race, but as for those mulattoes”----

I remember, on my arrival in Port-au-Prince in 1863, having a

conversation with a young mulatto lady, no longer in the freshness of

youth, on the subject of intermarriage; and having faintly indicated

that I thought she had been unwise in refusing the hand of one of the

best-mannered, best-educated, and richest blacks in the country, I

received a reply which completely surprised me, “Sir, you insult me to

imagine I would marry a black. No, I will never marry any one but a

white.” I soothed her as well as I could, but on looking at her faded

charms, her unhealthy-looking skin, and her heavy under-jaw, I thought

with reason that she might wait long; and, poor girl, she waited in

vain till death released her.

This contempt of the black is felt by nearly every coloured girl, and

is bitterly resented. I have seen young mulatto women refusing to dance

with blacks at a ball, and the latter, in fury, threatening to call out

the father or brother of the offending beauty. Yet what can be more

absurd than such a pretension or prejudice, when, but two generations

removed, their mothers were African slaves! I have heard coloured women

talking about their families and their aristocratic connections, when

I have known that in a back-room, slowly fading away, was some black

“mamselle,” the grandmother of the proud beauties.

The blacks naturally feel and resent this childish insolence, and when

they get the upper hand, as in the time of Soulouque and since, they

unfortunately quench in blood their outraged feelings.

Towards the white man, whatever jealousy he may feel on account of

former political questions, the black is usually both respectful and

cordial, and in return is liked by them. I heard a black magistrate

say, “My father came from Africa. He was apparently a respectable

man in the kingdom of Congo, because he was not only treated with

distinction by his countrymen on board the slaver, but on landing was

taken into confidence by a white planter, who ultimately made him his

partner. That is the history of my family.” Certainly as respectable as

any other in Hayti.

Notwithstanding all the interested denials of the mulattoes, there is

no doubt but that the lower-class negro, in particular, respects the

white man as a superior being, and therefore respects his religion

as superior to his own; but, as I shall show in my chapter on the

Vaudoux, although he follows the white man’s religion to a certain

extent, he does not in consequence forsake his serpent-worship, which

appeals to his traditions, to the Africa of his nursery tales, and,

above all, to his pleasures and his passions. The Vaudoux priest

encourages lascivious dancing, copious drinking, and the indiscriminate

intercourse of the sexes, but he at the same time inculcates the

burning of candles in the Roman Catholic churches. He keeps a serpent

in a box in his temple, whilst the walls are covered with the pictures

of the Virgin Mary and the saints. No other brain but that of a negro

could accept such a juxtaposition of opposing beliefs.

Occasionally a negro will say to a white in an insolent manner, “Nous

sommes tous égaux içi;” but he does not believe it, and shows he does

not believe it by soon sneaking away with his invariable oath, “F----.”

The crowd may grunt acquiescence, and though they may appear amused

by the fellow’s insolence, they are still more amused by his slinking

off. Burton, speaking of the people on the coast of Africa, says that a

negro will obey a white man more readily than a mulatto, and a mulatto

more so than one of his own colour.

Among the black gentlemen you find some of polished manners and

cultivated minds, as my friend Alexander Delva and the late M. Paul,

or a genial companion like Lubin, the son-in-law of the late Emperor

Soulouque. Yet, notwithstanding these exceptions, and the more

remarkable ones I have noticed in my historical chapter, there can

be no doubt that the blacks have not yet arrived at that state of

civilisation which would enable one to compare them favourably with any

other civilised race, or to say that they are competent to govern a

country.

During the reign of Soulouque, Chancellor Delva and General Salomon

were considered great statesmen, but between them they managed to

exhaust the country, and no monument remains of their rule. But when an

example is required of a man who applies his official position to his

own benefit, it is said, “He will become as rich as Chancellor Delva.”

Another negro who was expected by his own party to show himself a great

statesman was Septimus Rameau, of Les Cayes. When, however, he obtained

unlimited power under his doting uncle, President Domingue, he proved

himself a mere visionary, incapable of a single sensible measure, and

turning every project into a fresh means of plundering the State.

Whilst the people were sinking daily into greater poverty, and the

public service was starved for want of funds, he ordered an expensive

Pantheon to be constructed, in which should be erected statues to

Hayti’s famous men; and for fear posterity should be oblivious of his

own merits, he ordered a statue of himself, which, however, was never

erected, as before it arrived he had, by a violent death, paid the

penalty of his crimes.

During my twelve years’ residence in Hayti, no black statesman appeared

who was capable of managing with credit any important official

position, with the exception of General Lamothe, a talented and

agreeable man; but I fear that the charity which begins at home so

predominated in him, that the interests of his country were sometimes

forgotten.

Though very unwilling to meet death on the field of battle when a

loophole to escape is at hand, yet no one faces it more courageously

than the Haytian, both black and coloured, when on the place of

execution. He stands dauntless before the trembling soldiers, who,

shutting their eyes or turning away their heads, fire at random, and

who too often only wound, and have to charge and recharge their muskets

before their prisoner dies. The soldiers have a superstitious dread of

shooting any particular man in cold blood, and fancy that his spirit

will haunt that individual whose bullet has sent him into the other

world.

The black in his family relations is in general kindly, though few of

the lower orders go through any civil or religious marriage ceremony;

in fact, it was at one time the custom of all classes to be “_placé_,”

and only since the priests have regained some of their ancient

influence have those who are considered respectable consented to go to

church. The first daring innovators were almost stoned by the people,

and even such men as Presidents Pétion and Boyer were only “placed,”

the latter succeeding to the authority and “_placée_” of the former.

Yet the children of these unions are by Haytian law legitimate, as the

agreement to live together, as in our old common law, was considered

equivalent to marriage.

In the interior a well-to-do black lives openly with several women as

wives, and I have seen the patriarch sitting at the door of the central

house, with huts all around in which his younger wives lived, as they

could not be made to dwell under the same roof. On Friday evenings he

descends to market on a horse or mule, perhaps holding in his arms

the latest born, while following in his train are a dozen women and

sturdy children either carrying loads or driving beasts of burden. No

one is mounted but himself. The French priests attempted to alter this

state of things, but they did not succeed, as the wives, surrounding

the intruder, asked him what was to be their position if the husband

selected one among them and abandoned the rest. The priests have for

the most part wisely decided not to meddle with the present, but

rather endeavour to act upon the minds of the younger generation. They

can hardly expect success as long as the numbers of women greatly

exceed those of the men.

The blacks, though in general kind to their children, neglect them, and

the mortality is said to be great. They are, however, very passionate,

and in their anger they use in correction the first thing that comes

to hand. A Spanish friend with a tender heart was riding one day in

the country when his attention was drawn by the piercing shrieks of a

child. He turned his head, and saw a black woman holding a little boy

by the arm and beating him with the handle of a broom. He rode up,

and catching the next blow on the handle of his whip, said, “Don’t

beat the child in that manner.” The woman looked up surprised at the

interference, and coolly replied in their patois, “Consite, li nègue;

li pas fait li mal.”--“Consul, it is a negro; it will do him no harm.”

Another day he saw a gigantic black beating with his club an

interesting-looking young negress, giving blows that only a black could

stand without being maimed. Again he interfered, but both set upon him,

first with foul words, and then with such menacing gestures, that he

was too glad to put spurs to his horse and gallop away. He found he had

been interfering in a domestic quarrel.

The brutal use of the cocomacaque or club is universal, as I shall

have to notice when describing the police. Under Toussaint’s

regulations the use of the whip, as an unpleasant memento of

slavery, was abolished, but the club was introduced. Dessalines,

as Inspector-General of Agriculture, brought it into vogue. At Les

Cayes he one day ordered a woman to be beaten for neglecting some

agricultural work; she was far advanced in pregnancy, and her child was

prematurely born whilst the punishment was being inflicted. Whenever

Dessalines’ name is mentioned, it is associated with some act of

fiendish cruelty.

As might be expected, few marriages take place between the whites and

blacks; the only instance of which I heard was a German clerk who

married the daughter of a Minister in the hope of making his fortune

through the contracts he expected to obtain from his unscrupulous

father-in-law; but within a fortnight of the marriage the Minister

was expelled from office. Contrary to general expectation, the German

boldly faced his altered prospects, and the marriage appeared to have

turned out more happily than could have been anticipated from so

ill-assorted a union.

Whilst travelling in Hayti one is often surprised at the extraordinary

difference in the appearance of the population, many being tall, fine

men with open countenances, whilst others are the meanest-looking

gorillas imaginable. Then their colour: some have shiny skins, that

look as if blacking and the blacking-brush had been conscientiously

applied, whilst others have the skin completely without lustre, looking

almost as if disease were there. Again, others are of the deepest

black, whilst their next neighbours may be of a reddish tinge.

During my residence in Hayti I only saw one handsome negress, and she

was a peasant girl of La Coupe near Port-au-Prince: her features were

almost perfect, and she might well have said--

“Mislike me not for my complexion,

The shadowed livery of the burnished sun,

To whom I am a neighbour and nigh bred.”

She was not misliked, but she apparently stood the test of every

temptation that her white admirers could offer. She had soft pleasant

ways and a sweet voice, and talked her jargon of a language in so

pretty a manner as almost to make one inclined to admit the Creole into

the list of things civilised. But such a girl must be rare indeed,

for I saw no other. In general they are very ugly, having no point of

beauty. The marked difference in the appearance of the negroes in Hayti

doubtless arises from their origin, as they were brought from every

tribe in Africa, not only from those frequenting the coast, but also as

prisoners from the interior. From all I have read of the African negro,

the Haytian must be far advanced from that low type.

It is a curious trait that the negro has a shy dislike of monkeys;

he has an uneasy feeling that the whites imagine that there is no

great difference between a very ugly negro (and there are ugly ones)

and a handsome gorilla. The first evening I went to the theatre in

Port-au-Prince, I was started by the exclamation of my companion, “Qui

est ce monstre africain?” I turned, and saw in the President’s box a

perfect horror; but use reconciled me even to this man. An Italian

once came to the capital with a dancing-monkey. Crowds followed him

everywhere. One day he stopped before a German merchant’s, and a

fair little girl came out. The monkey would not dance, whereon the

disappointed child said to her father in Creole, “Faut-il batte petit

nègue là.” The mob were furious at the mistake, and the father was too

glad to hurry in with his child to escape a shower of stones.

There are still many negroes in Hayti who were born in Africa, being

principally the remains of certain cargoes of slaves which the English

cruisers captured and landed among their free brethren. One whom I knew

had been taken, then freed by an English officer, sent to England, and

educated at the expense of Government. When of age he was asked what he

would desire to do. He replied, “I should wish to go to Hayti.” When

I knew him he was an old man, and had risen to occupy the position of

Minister of Justice.

The principal trouble to the female negro mind is her unfortunate

wool. How she envies her more favoured sisters their long tresses! how

she tries to draw out each fibre, and endeavours to make something of

it by carefully platting it with false hair! Even the smallest negro

servant will spend hours in oiling, brushing, and tending this poor

crop, whose greatest length will only compass three or four inches.

It is only when women are more than half white that the wool turns

into hair, and even then it has sometimes a suspicious crispy wave,

which, however, looks well. Of late years chignons have been a regular

importation from France, and the little negresses are delighted with

them.

The negroes have a very curious habit of talking aloud to themselves.

You will hear them in the streets or in the country roads carrying

on apparently a long conversation, repeating all they have said or

intended to say on a certain occasion, and in a very loud voice; every

other sentence is varied by a grunt or guttural ejaculation. Sometimes

they are evidently excited, and are enacting a violent quarrel. They

are apparently oblivious that all their remarks are heard, or may be;

they are delighted to take so many people into their confidence. It

is a general observation that in nine cases out of ten the subject of

which they are treating is money.

It has often been remarked what curious names are affixed to negroes,

as Cæsar, Lord Byron, Je-crois-en-Dieu. This doubtless arose from a

rule which existed during the French occupation, that no slave could

be given a name which was used by their masters, so that the latter

were driven to very curious expedients to find appellations for their

bondsmen; this rule applied in a lesser degree to the freedmen.

_Blanc pas trompé nègue_ is the name given by the Haytians to common

blue shirting.

I may notice another peculiarity of the negresses. They object to

carrying anything in their hands--they will invariably poise it on

their heads. I have often seen them carrying a bottle thus, talking,

laughing, running, without having the slightest fear of its falling.

The negroes have very singular words of insult, and I remember seeing

a man roused to fury by a little black servant of mine, who, after

exhausting every offensive word in her vocabulary, suddenly said in

Creole-negro, “Mangé chien.” The black fellow darted at her, and had

she not made a precipitate retreat into the house, she would have felt

his club on her shoulders.

It is an offensive custom among people of all classes in Hayti to

repeat, as a sort of ejaculatory oath, a rather dirty Creole word.

Men educated in a former generation cannot get rid of the habit,

and many of the lower orders appear to use it at the close of every

sentence. When Soulouque was Emperor he often consulted our Acting

Consul-General, the present Sir Charles Wyke, now our Minister in

Lisbon, as to the usages of the Courts of St. James’s and Hanover,

and it is said that our agent gave him a hint that habitual swearing

was certainly contrary to courtly usages. Soulouque took this hint in

good part, and thought that he would try his hand on an old general

notorious for this habit. So the Emperor watched his opportunity, and

the first time his victim swore, he called him up and said, “General,

I have decided that no one who comes to court can be permitted to use

that offensive word with which you interlard your conversation.” The

general looked surprised, and answered, “Emperor, f----, of course I

will obey, f----, your commands, f----.” “There, you see,” replied his

“Altesse,” “you have used the forbidden word three times.” The poor

general now completely lost his head, and answered, “F----, Emperor,

f----, if, f----, I am not allowed, f----, to use the word f----, I

will cease, f----, from coming to court, f----.” The Emperor could not

but laugh, and troubled the general no more, for the habit was too

engrained. I should have treated this story as an exaggeration had not

I myself heard an old officer equally profuse in his ejaculations.

The Emperor Soulouque was a very ignorant man, and a good story is told

in illustration. The French Consul-General, Raybaud, I believe, went

once to plead some cause before his Majesty, and wound up by saying

that if he did what was required, he would be considered “plus grand

qu’Annibal.” “Comment, Consite,” replied the startled Emperor, “moué

cannibal!” And it required all the Frenchman’s tact to explain his

reference. As Soulouque was known to be affiliated to the Vaudoux sect,

the illustration was not happy in its sound.

The negroes and mulattoes are very fond of queer expressions, and

their odd noises in conversation quite disconcert a stranger. Assent,

dissent, anger, playful acquiescence, are all expressed by the variety

in which _’ng-’ng_ are sounded, though a modified or even a musical

grunt can scarcely be expressed on paper. The untravelled ladies in

Hayti are very proud of thus being able to express their sentiments

without having recourse to words.

The negroes of the lower orders are, like all other inhabitants of

hot countries, very fond of bathing, but they are careless as to the

cleanliness of their clothes. This I also noticed among the Malays and

Dyaks of Borneo; they would bathe several times a day, and then return

to their dirty garments. The dress of the peasantry in Hayti is often

but an imitation of their European neighbours, though the females

generally keep to a long white chemise, covered over with a blue cotton

dress that reaches to their bare feet, and is drawn in round the waist.

They wear a coloured handkerchief on their heads. On feast days and

other gala occasions the young negresses dress in white, which makes a

pleasant contrast of colour.

Markets used formerly to be held on Sundays. When this custom was

abolished the female peasantry began to frequent the churches, and the

comparison between their blue cotton gowns and the silk dresses of the

ladies created envy. But when, in 1863, the price of cotton trebled,

the peasantry had the means placed at their disposal to vie with the

rich in Gonaives and St. Marc, and many availed themselves of it to go

to church richly dressed. This fashion, however, lasted but a short

time, and certainly did not survive the great fall in prices which

followed the conclusion of the civil war in the United States.

The upper classes dress exactly like European ladies, but they never

look well in fashionable Parisian hats, while their tignon, or

handkerchief, tied gracefully round the head, is most becoming. A white

tignon is a sign of mourning. There is nothing of which a Haytian lady

is more proud than the amount of her personal and household linen. Her

_armoires_ are generally full of every kind, and the finer they are in

quality the more they are esteemed; and the blacks are, if anything,

more particular than the coloured in securing the most expensive

underclothing. How they plume themselves on the condition of their best

bedroom! It is fitted up expensively, in order that people may see it,

but it is very seldom used, except to receive their lady friends in.

Then they bring out with great pride the treasures of their _armoires_,

and show how well supplied they are with what they do not make a

general use of.

There is one thing for which all Haytians are equally remarkable--their

love of “_remèdes_.” For everything, from a toothache to yellow fever,

they have a variety of prescriptions, which are probably well suited

to the country, but which a foreigner should be wary in taking. I have

not yet forgotten a _remède_, consisting partly of the juice of the

sour orange, which a good old lady gave me on my first arrival in the

country. It was my first and my last experience. The natives like

being physicked, and apothecary shops appear to thrive in every town

and village. I remember a Haytian doctor, educated in Paris, telling me

how he lost his patients when he first commenced practice by not dosing

them enough.

The lower orders in Hayti have been accused of great incontinence, and

the higher classes have not escaped the same accusation; but in no

tropical country are the lower orders continent. People affect to say

that it is the effect of climate, but I have never thought so. You have

but to put your hand on the skin of a negro or of any tropical race,

to find it as cold as that of a fish, and their blood is but little

warmer. Their food of vegetables would alone prevent their having the

fiery blood of a well-fed people.

The fact is, that continence is not considered a virtue by the lower

orders in the tropics, and love-stories are told by mothers before

their young daughters in all their crudest details, and no effort

whatever is made to keep the minds or bodies of the young girls chaste.

The consequence is that in early life, particularly among relatives,

intercourse is almost promiscuous. As amusements are very scarce, young

and old give themselves up to gallantry; but it is constant opportunity

and the want of occupation and amusement which are the causes of

incontinence, not their warm blood.

There are two things on which both negroes and mulattoes pride

themselves: their fine ear for music, and their proficiency in

dancing. A talented French bandmaster told me, that, if taken young, he

thought he could train his Haytian pupils to be excellent musicians;

and as they are fond of the study and practice, he had no difficulty

whatever in keeping them to their classes; and many of the military

band in Port-au-Prince played fairly well, though, from inefficient

and irregular instruction under native teachers, much was still to

be desired. The drum, however, was a very favourite instrument, and

the noise produced was sometimes startling. The travelled wife of a

President used to say that she thought no music in Paris equal to the

Haytian, _especially the drums._

The dancing of the upper classes is much the same in all countries,

though in Hayti the favourite dance is a special one, called

“Carabinier.” Among the people, however, are still to be observed the

old dances they brought from Africa.

Moreau St. Mèry, in his admirable work on Santo Domingo during the

French colonial days (new edition, p. 52), has described the dances of

the slaves as he saw them previous to 1790, and his words might be used

to depict what occurs at the present day.

With the negroes dancing is a passion, and no fatigue stands in the

way of their indulging in it. The announcement that a dance will take

place brings people from surprising distances, and the sound of the

drums acts like a charm, and all fatigue is forgotten. Young and old,

although they may have walked twenty miles, with heavy burdens for the

next day’s market, join in it with enthusiasm.

But the most interesting dances are those performed by the

professionals. Generally they consist of a couple of men to beat the

drums, a very fat woman as treasurer, and three or four younger woman

famous for their skill. Soon after President Salnave came into power

I was a guest at a picnic at a place where some famous dancers had

invited the young men of the district to come and meet them.

Our hosts had heard of this affair, and invited us to go down to the

spot, where a large space was covered in with the leaves of the palm

tree, as even there seasoned performers could not stand the burning

mid-day sun. The two men with the drums were there, coarse instruments

made out of a hollowed piece of wood, one end open, the other closed

with the skin of a goat or sheep, on which the men play with their

knuckles, one slowly and the other faster; calabashes with pebbles or

Indian corn in them are shaken or stricken against the hand, and the

spectators intone a chant. Then the master of the ceremonies and the

chief of the band calls out a name, and one of the professionals stands

forth and begins to perform. Any man from the crowd may come and dance

with her, holding his hand raised over his head with a small sum in

paper money, worth perhaps a penny. When she wishes a change she takes

this money in her hand, and one of the impatient lookers-on cuts in

and supplies the place of the first; other performers arise, until

the whole shed is full. As the excitement grows, some of the young

girls of the neighbourhood also join in. I noticed that every note

collected was religiously handed to the treasurer, to be employed in

supporting the band and paying for the dresses, which, however, did not

appear expensive, as the women were clothed in white gowns, coloured

headdresses, and handkerchiefs always carried in their right hands.

I noticed, however, that what could be seen of their under-linen was

remarkably fine.

The dance itself is not striking or interesting, but they keep time

very exactly. To show how African it is, I may mention that an officer

from our West Coast squadron was one day passing near these performers,

when he was suddenly seized with a desire to dance, and struck in

before the prettiest negress of the band. His dancing was so good that

gradually all the blacks sat down, and left these two performers in the

midst of an interested crowd, who by shouting, clapping their hands,

and singing urged on the pair to renewed exertions; and I have heard

several who were present say that never had they seen anything equal to

this dancing in Hayti. Our friend had learnt the art on the coast of

Africa, and was as strong as a lion and as active as a gazelle; he was

called “the pocket Hercules.”

To return to our party. After some very insignificant dancing, a new

tune was struck up, and the performers began to go through something

more attractive to the crowd. This dance was called _chica_, but

popularly I have heard it named _bamboula_, from the drum, which often

consists of a hollow bamboo: so it is said. This lascivious dance is

difficult to describe. I think I will let Moreau St. Méry do it for

me:--

“Cette danse a un air qui lui est spécialement consacré et où la

mesure est fortement marquée. Le talent pour la danseuse est dans

la perfection avec laquelle elle peut faire mouvoir ses hanches et

la partie inférieure de ses reins, en conservant tout le reste du

corps dans une espèce d’immobilité, que ne lui font même pas perdre

les faibles agitations de ses bras qui balancent les deux extrémités

d’un mouchoir ou de son jupon. Un danseur s’approche d’elle, s’élance

tout-à-coup, et tombe en mesure presque à la toucher. Il recule, il

s’élance encore, et la provoque à la lutte la plus séduisante. La

danse s’anime, et bientôt elle offre un tableau dont tous les traits

d’abord voluptueux, deviennent ensuite lascifs. Il serait impossible

de peindre le chica avec son véritable caractère, et je me bornerai

à dire que l’impression qu’il cause est si puissante que l’Africain

ou le Créole de n’importe quelle nuance, qui le verrait danser sans

émotion, passerait pour avoir perdu jusqu’aux dernières étin celles de

la sensibilité.”

I watched its effect on the bystanders of all colours, and St. Méry

has not exaggerated: the flushed faces, the excited eyes, the eager

expression, the looks of ill-concealed passion, were fully shared by

all. No modest woman would be present at such a scene; but the young

females of the neighbourhood were delighted. Drink was flying freely

about, and all the performers appeared half-intoxicated: the dance grew

fast and furious; as night came on a few candles were lit, and then all

are said to give themselves up to the most unreserved debauchery. I

ought to add that few respectable girls of the peasant class would care

to be seen at one of these dances, where the professionals, without

shame, perform regardless of appearances. The _bamboula_, as practised

among the peasantry, is more quiet, but sufficiently lascivious.

I was once witness of a rather curious scene. A French opera company

arrived at Port-au-Prince with a couple of ballet-girls. On the opening

night of the theatre they commenced dancing; the pit, crowded with

negroes, was at first quiet. The untravelled Haytian could not at first

understand it; but shortly the applause became uproarious; shouts

filled the house; the unaccustomed sight of two _white_ girls thus

exhibiting themselves provoked the sensuality of the negro nature to

such a degree that it was almost impossible to keep them quiet, and

their admiration was so warmly expressed as even to frighten the girls,

who turned pale with astonishment mingled with fear. This kind of

applause made the foreigners feel uncomfortable, and we were not sorry

when the ballet ceased.

I have not noticed any particular ceremonies at the birth of children,

nor at marriages. In the latter some are striving to imitate the upper

classes, and marry in church, but the mass of the people are still not

regularly married. I have noticed, however, their great fondness for

a display of jewellery on these occasions, and if they do not possess

enough themselves, they borrow among their friends, and every one who

lends is sure to attend the wedding, as much to keep an eye on their

cherished property as to join in the amusements inherent to these

occasions.

Though I have attended many funerals of the upper classes, I have had

no occasion to be present at one of the peasantry, though I have seen

the body being carried at night from the town to the house of the

deceased in the hills. One evening, at about ten, we heard a roar of

voices in the distance; presently we saw torches flashing in the road,

and soon after a crowd, perhaps of a hundred people, swept by at a

running pace, all screaming, yelling, or shrieking at the top of their

voices. Those who led this awful din were hired mourners, who pass

the night near the corpse, making it hideous with their professional

lamentations. There are regular wakes, at which eating and drinking

are permitted, and drunkenness not prohibited. All classes in Hayti,

like their brethren on the Guinea coast, love pompous funerals, and it

is quite a passion among the female portion of the community to attend

them, as it is only at funerals and at church that the ladies can see

and be seen in their most careful toilettes.

The most curious wake I ever saw was at Santo Domingo city. I was

walking about after dark, when my attention was drawn to a house where

music and dancing were going on. I approached, and looking through a

window, saw a most singular sight. In a high chair was placed in a

sitting position the corpse of a child, dressed up in its very best

clothes, as if a spectator of the scene. The music was playing briskly,

and a regular ball appeared to be going on, in which the mother of the

child took the principal part. I inquired of my companion what this

meant, and he said that the people explained it thus:--The priests had

taught them not to weep, but rather rejoice, at the death of a child,

as it passed directly to heaven. They took this teaching literally, and

danced and made merry.

“Whom the gods love, die young.”

The negroes, as a rule, live to a good old age, and bear their age

well; they also keep their magnificent white teeth to the last, which

they ascribe to diligent cleanliness and the crushing of the sugar-cane

under their strong grinders: their hair also preserves its colour much

later than that of the white. In fact, it is difficult to guess the age

of a negro.

The negro is rarely seriously ill, though he often fancies himself

so; he suffers most from his indulgences and the indifferent skill

of those who undertake his cure. He bears pain exceedingly well,

which may partly arise from his nerves not being highly strung. The

negro is distinguished for his (for want of a better word I may call)

_insouciance_. It is a most provoking characteristic, and one of the

causes of his want of progress.

The general impression is that serious crime is rare in Hayti, except

that which is connected with the Vaudoux worship. This, however,

is a mistake; crime is treated with too much indifference, and the

professional poisoners are well known to the police. Before the civil

war of 1868 and 1869 crimes of violence were more rare; that civil

strife, however, demoralised the population. Pilfering is their great

failing, and it is said a negro never leaves a room without looking

round to see that he has not forgotten something.

They have much superstition with regard to _zombis_, _revenants_, or

ghosts, and many will not leave the house after dark; yet the love of

pleasure often overcomes this, and the negro will pass half the night

hieing to his lusting-place.

Of their pleasures, smoking is one equally enjoyed by every class,

and quietly by most women after a certain age. The cheapness of tafia

or white rum has an evil effect on the male population, who as a rule

drink to excess.

The black Haytians resent being spoken of by foreigners as negroes,

though they use the word freely among themselves. They prefer being

called _gens de couleur_, as both the expressions _nègres_ and

_mulâtres_ are considered as implying contempt. During the tiresome

quarter of an hour before dinner, my friend Villevalein (coloured)

turned round to a Minister of State (black) and said, “What do you

think the French _chargé d’affaires_ remarked when he first saw

you?--‘Quel beau nègre!’” The blood rushed to the face of the Haytian,

and his cheeks became of a deeper black; and we were all thankful that

at the moment dinner was announced. I doubt whether the Minister ever

forgave the author or the repeater of the remark.

The negro has the greatest, in fact, an almost superstitious, reverence

for the flags of foreign nations. A well-known partisan chief, Acaau,

came once to the English Consulate at Les Cayes, and demanded that

all the refugees there should be given up to him to be shot. Our

Acting Vice-Consul, Charles Smith, refused, and as Acaau insisted, the

Vice-Consul took up the Union Jack, and placing it on the staircase,

said to the chief, “If any of you dare to tread on that flag, he may go

upstairs and seize the refugees.” Acaau looked at the flag a moment,

and then said, “Not I,” and walked away, followed by his men. This was

not from fear of material consequences, although there were two English

ships of war in harbour, as, when one of the captains threatened to

bombard the town if foreigners were troubled, Acaau answered, “Tell me

which end you will begin with, and I will commence to burn the other

end.” He was a mountaineer, who would have been delighted to burn and

destroy the whole place. Many years afterwards, to avoid being shot by

the Government, he perished by his own hand.

I must add an anecdote to mark the respect shown by the negro to

the white. In April 1866, on account of a quarrel between an officer

on board a steamer and some blacks, the mob determined to revenge

themselves. Watching their opportunity, they seized an English sailor

belonging to the ship and bound him to a log. Hundreds of excited

negroes surrounded him with drawn razors and knives, threatening to cut

him to pieces; when Mr. Savage, an English merchant, happening to be

passing by, inquired the cause of the disturbance, and hearing what had

happened to his countryman, forced his way through the mob, and when

he reached the sailor, drew a penknife from his pocket, and, despising

the yells and threats of the crowd, cut the cords, freed the man, and

walked him down to the steamer’s boat. The cool courage shown by Mr.

Savage perfectly awed the mob. As the Haytian police who were present

had not interfered to prevent this outrage on the sailor, a hundred

pounds indemnity was demanded of the Haytian Government, which was

paid, and subsequently transmitted to the sailor.

I will conclude with noticing that the apathy and listlessness of the

Haytians, mentioned by Mackenzie in 1826, might apply to the present

day, as well as his reference to the lean dogs and leaner pigs which

infest the capital. He heard an Englishman say one day, “D---- these

Haytians; they can’t even fatten a pig.”

THE MULATTOES.

“They hate their fathers and despise their mothers,” is a saying which

is a key to the character of the mulatto. They hate the whites and

despise the blacks, hence their false position. That they are looked

down upon by the whites and hated by the blacks is the converse truth,

which produces an unfortunate effect upon their character. They have

many of the defects of the two races, and few of their good qualities.

Those who have never left their country are too often conceited, and

presumptuous to a degree which is scarcely credible; whilst many

who have travelled appear but little influenced by bright examples

of civilisation, or by their intercourse with civilised nations,

retaining but the outward polish of a superficial French education.

Foreigners who casually meet Haytians are often only struck by their

agreeable manners, but to understand their real character one must live

among them, hear their talk among themselves, or read the newspapers

published for local circulation.

Travel, indeed, has little outward effect on the majority; and they

return to their own country more presumptuous than ever. It has struck

many attentive observers that this outward parade of conceit is but a

species of protest against the inferior position they occupy in the

world’s estimation, and that with their advance in civilisation and

education they will rise in the opinion of others, and thus lose the

necessity for so much self-assertion. I believe this to be highly

probable, but until the mulattoes are convinced of their present

inferiority, the improvement must be slow indeed.

It may be remarked, however, that those who have been educated in

Europe from their earliest years show few or none of those defects

which are implanted in them by their early associations. I have

known coloured men whose first real knowledge of their own country

was acquired in manhood, who were in every respect equal to their

white companions, as manly and as free from absurd pretensions, and

naturally without that dislike of foreigners which is instilled into

home-educated mulattoes. These men, knowing the consideration in which

they were held by all, had no necessity for any self-assertion.

The early training in Hayti is much at fault; their mothers, generally

uninstructed, have themselves but few principles of delicacy to instil

into their children’s minds. I will mention a case in illustration.

A lady was asked to procure some article for a foreign visitor. She

readily undertook the commission, and sent her son, a boy of ten,

to seek the article. He returned shortly afterwards and said to his

mother, “Our neighbour has what you want, but asks twenty-seven paper

dollars for it.” “Go and tell our friend that you have found it

for forty, and we will divide the difference between us.” A mutual

acquaintance heard of this transaction, and subsequently reproached the

lady for the lesson of deceit and swindling she had taught her child;

she only laughed, and appeared to think she had done a very clever

thing. The subsequent career of that boy was indeed a thorn in her side.

Their financial morality is very low indeed. A friend of mine

expressing his surprise to one of the prettiest and most respectable

girls in Port-au-Prince that such open robbery of the receipts of the

custom-house was permitted, received for answer, “Prendre l’argent

de l’état, ce n’est pas volé.”--“To take Government money is not

robbery.” With such ideas instilled into the minds of all from their

earliest youth, it is scarcely to be wondered at that the Haytians

grow up to be completely without financial honour. Truth is another

virtue which appears to be rarely inculcated by parents, and this

perhaps may be accounted for by their origin. Slaves are notoriously

given to falsehood, and this defect has been inherited by succeeding

generations, and can scarcely be eradicated until a higher moral

teaching prevails.

I was struck by an anecdote told me by a French gentleman at

Port-au-Prince: it is a trifle, but it shows the spirit of the Haytian

youth. A trader, in very moderate circumstances, sent a half-grown

son to be educated in Paris, and as the father had no friends there,

he said to my informant, “Will you ask your family to pay my son a

little attention?” In consequence, a lady called at the school and

took the youth for a walk in the Luxembourg Gardens. Approaching the

basins, she said, “I suppose you have none like these in Hayti?” “Oh,”

was his reply, “my father has finer ones in his private grounds;” the

fact being, that he had nothing there but a bath a few feet square.

This miserable pretence is one of the causes of the slow improvement

in Hayti; they cannot or they will not see the superiority of foreign

countries.

A late Secretary of State was present at a review in Paris, when ten

thousand splendid cavalry charged up towards the Emperors of France and

Russia. “It is very fine,” he said; “but how much better our Haytian

soldiers ride!” Another gentleman, long employed as a representative at

a foreign court, returning home, could find nothing better to say to

President Geffrard than, “Ah! President, you should send some of our

officers to Paris, that their superiority of _tenue_ may be known in

Europe.” I wish I could present some photographic illustrations of a

Haytian regiment in support of this assertion.

I am, in fact, doubtful whether travel as yet has done much good to the

general public, as they see their young men returning from Europe and

America, after having witnessed the best of our modern civilisation,

who assure them that things are much better managed in Hayti.

Their self-importance may be illustrated by the following anecdote of

another ex-Secretary of State. He went with a friend to see the races

at Longchamps. They had their cabriolet drawn up at a good spot,

when presently an acquaintance of the driver got up on the box-seat

to have a better view. “I must tell that man to get down,” said the

ex-Minister. “Leave him alone,” answered his French friend. “It is all

very well for you, a private individual, to say that; but I, a former

Secretary of State, what will the people say to my permitting such

familiarity?” and he looked uneasily around, thinking that the eyes of

the whole Parisian world were bent on their distinguished visitor. I

once saw some boxes addressed thus:--“Les demoiselles ----, enfants de

M. ----, _ex-Secrétaire d’Etat_.”

Of the profound dislike of the genuine coloured Haytian for the whites

I will give an instance. We were invited to a school examination given

by the Sisters of Cluny, and naturally the official guests were put

in the front rank, with the officers of a French gunboat, from which

position we assisted at a distribution of prizes, and some little

scenes acted by the pupils. The next day a Haytian gentleman, one

who was an ornament to his country for his extensive knowledge and

legal erudition, made this remark--“When I saw those whites put into

the front row, it reminded me of the time when the ancient colonists

sat arms akimbo watching the dances of their slaves.” As he said

this before a party of white gentlemen, we may imagine what were his

utterances before his own countrymen.

Moreau de St. Méry gives a table of the different combinations of

colour among the mixed race, amounting to one hundred and twenty,

which produce thirteen distinct shades between the pure white and the

pure black. Each has a name, the most common of which are: Quateron,

white and mulatto; mulatto, white and black; griffe, black and mulatto.

These were the original combinations, but constant intermarriages have

produced a great variety of colour, even in the same families, some

breeding back to their white, others to their black forefathers. It

appears as if the lighter shades of mulatto would die out, as many of

this class marry Europeans, and leave the country with their children,

and the others marry Haytians more or less dark, and the tendency is

to breeding back to their black ancestors. There are too few whites

settled in the country to arrest this backward movement. In Santo

Domingo, however, the stay for a few years (1859-64) of a large Spanish

army had a very appreciable effect on the population.

The personal appearance of the coloured Haytians is not striking. Being

in general a mixture of rather a plain race in Europe with the plainest

in Africa, it is not surprising that the men should be ugly and the

women far from handsome. Of course there is a marked distinction

between the men who have more dark blood in their veins and those who

approach the white; in fact, those who are less than half-European have

in general the hair frizzled like a negro’s, the forehead low, the eyes

dark in a yellow setting, the nose flat, the mouth large, the teeth

perfect, the jaw heavy; whilst as they approach the white type they

greatly improve in appearance, until they can scarcely be distinguished

from the foreigner, except by the dead colour of the skin and some

trifling peculiarities.

Of the women it is more difficult to speak; they are rarely

good-looking, never beautiful. As they approach the white type, they

have long, rather coarse hair, beautiful teeth, small fleshless

hands and feet, delicate forms, and sometimes graceful movements,

due apparently to the length of the lower limbs. Their principal

defects are their voices, their noses, their skins, and sometimes the

inordinate size of the lower jaw. Their voices are harsh, their skins

blotchy or of a dirty brown, their noses flat or too fleshy, and the

jaw, as I have said, heavy. Occasionally you see a girl decidedly

pretty, who would pass in any society, but these are rare. In general

they are very plain, particularly when you approach the black type,

when the frizzled hair begins to appear.

There is one subject necessary to mention, though it is a delicate

one. Like the negroes, the mulattoes have often a decided odour, and

this is particularly observable after dancing or any violent exercise

which provokes perspiration, and then no amount of _eau de cologne_ or

other scents will completely conceal the native perfume. The griffes,

however, are decidedly the most subject to this inconvenience, and I

met one well-dressed woman who positively tainted the air.

With the exception of those who have been sent abroad, the Haïtiennes

have had until lately but few chances of education, and are therefore

little to be blamed for their ignorance. This want of instruction,

however, has an ill effect, as the time necessarily hangs heavy on

their hands, and they can neither give those first teachings to

their children which are never forgotten, nor amuse themselves with

literature or good music.

It is the fashion in Hayti to vaunt the goodness and tenderness of

their women in sickness; but what women are not good and tender under

similar circumstances? I have received as much kindness in suffering

from the Malays when wandering in Borneo as any one has perhaps ever

received elsewhere. The fact is, that these qualities are inherent

to women in general. Perhaps the greatest praise that can be given

to the Haytian ladies is, that they do not appear inferior to others

who reside in the tropics in the care of their children, or in the

management of their households, or in their conduct towards their

husbands.

They have their ways in public and their ways in private, but their

greatest defect is their want of cleanliness, which is observable in

their houses, their children, and their own clothes. Without going so

far as to say, with the naval officer, that “their customs are dirty,

and manners they have none,” I may say that they have habits which are

simply indescribable; and when not dressed to receive company they

are veritable slatterns, sauntering about their houses all day in

dirty dressing-gowns, and too often in unchanged linen. Their bedrooms

have a close, stuffy smell, the consequence of the above referred

to indescribable habits, which is highly displeasing to a stranger,

and induced an American gentleman to remark that their rooms had the

smell of a stable. They are also very careless in another way, and

will go into their kitchens even in their silks, and aid in preparing

sweetmeats; and the stains on their clothes from this cause reminded me

of a young Malay lady cooking a greasy curry whilst dressed in a rich

gold brocade, and upsetting half of it over her dress in an endeavour

to conceal herself or her work.

The conduct of the Haytian ladies who are married to foreigners is much

to their credit, as rarely a case occurs to draw the attention of the

public to their private life; and almost the same may be said of their

married life in general, and this in defiance of the debauchery of

their Haytian husbands. This virtue was, perhaps, unfairly ascribed by

a French diplomatist to their sluggish temperaments and their want of

imagination. But, whatever may be the cause, it appears to exist to a

considerable extent.

The habit of having no fixed hours for meals appears to prevail in most

tropical countries; and in Hayti, though there are fixed times for

the husband and the other males of a family, who can only return from

business at certain hours, yet the ladies of the family prefer cakes,

sweetmeats, and dreadful messes at all hours, and only sit down to

the family meal _pro formâ_. No wonder they are ever complaining of

indigestion, and taking their wonderful _remèdes_.

From my own observation, and that of many of my friends, I may assert

with confidence as a general proposition, that the Haytian black or

mulatto is more given to drink, and to a forgetfulness of his duty to

his family, than any other people with whom we were acquainted. With

some marked, and I should add numerous exceptions, after his early

coffee the Haytian begins the day with a grog or cocktail, and these

grogs and cocktails continue until at mid-day many of the young men are

slightly intoxicated, and by night a large minority at least are either

in an excited, a sullen, or a maudlin state.

It appears also to be a rule among them, that, whether married or not,

a Haytian must have as many mistresses as his purse will permit him;

these are principally drawn from the lower classes. This practice is

not confined to any particular rank; from the Presidents downwards

all are tainted with the same evil. The mistresses of the first-named

are always known, as they are visited publicly, often accompanied by

a staff or a few select officers. I have met them even at dinner in

respectable houses, and have been asked to trace a resemblance between

their children and the reputed father. No one seeks to conceal it, and

the conversation of married ladies continually turns on this subject.

One excuse for it is that many of the ladies whom you meet in society

were only married after the birth of their first children. However,

according to French law, that ceremony renders them all legitimate.

Some of those admitted into society are not married at all, but their

daughters’ being married prevents notice being taken of the false

position of the mother.

An excuse has been made for the debauchery of the Haytians. It is said

that there are three women to every two men, which is probably true,

and that therefore the latter are exposed to every kind of temptation,

which is also true.

I have already referred to the want of financial honour observable in

Hayti; but what is equally pernicious is their utter forgetfulness

of what is due to their military oath. As I shall have to notice in

my remarks on the army, scarcely a single name can be cited of a

superior officer who under President Geffrard did not forget his duty,

and either conspire against him or betray him to the enemy. This was

particularly observable during the siege of Cap Haïtien in 1865. And

yet were these officers who were false to their military honour looked

down upon by their countrymen? On the contrary, their only title to

consideration was their treachery to their former superior, who in turn

is said to have betrayed every Government he had served.

A Frenchman once wittily said, that when Geffrard was made President,

being no longer able to conspire against the Government, he conspired

against his own Ministers. It is the whole truth in a few words. No

encouragement is given to those who hold firmly to their duty; and an

officer who did not desert a tottering Government would be sure to be

neglected, perhaps even punished, by those who succeeded to power.

One reason for the dislike entertained by the mulatto for the white

man is the evident partiality of their fair countrywomen for the

latter. It is well known that the first dream or _beau ideal_ of the

young Haïtienne is a rich, and if possible a good-looking European,

who can place her in a respectable position, give her the prospect

of occasional visits to Europe, with the ultimate expectation of

entirely residing there. Few young girls lose the hope of securing this

desirable husband, particularly among those who have received their

education in Europe, until their charms begin slightly to fade, when

they content themselves with the least dark among their countrymen.

It is unfortunate that this should be the case, as those who are

most enlightened among the Haytian ladies are thus withdrawn from

the civilising influence they would otherwise naturally exert. This

preference for the white to the coloured man was also very conspicuous

during the French occupation; and all things considered, it is not to

be wondered at, as the whites make much better husbands.

The young mulatto, seeing this evident partiality for the foreigner,

naturally resents it, but instead of trying to put himself on an

equality of position with his rival by the exercise of industry and by

good conduct, expends his energies in furious tirades in the _cafés_ or

by low debauchery.

The Haytians are distinguished for what the French call _jactance_,

a better word than boasting. Mackenzie tells the story of a mulatto

colonel saying to him, “Je vous assure, monsieur, que je suis le plus

brave de tous les mulâtres de ce pays-ci.” He was lost in admiration

of his own noble qualities. At the fortress of La Ferrière, during

Mackenzie’s visit, a Captain Elliot said about some trifle, “N’ayez pas

peur?” Immediately the officers of the garrison clapped their hands to

their swords and talked five minutes of inflated nonsense.

I remember a Haytian general once calling upon me, and asking me to get

inserted in the daily London papers a long account of the battles in

which he had been engaged, and of his personal exploits. He was anxious

that the English people should know what a hero they had among them.

As he was really a brave fellow, and a man whom I liked, I was anxious

that he should not make himself ridiculous by publishing a pompous

account of battles which were but skirmishes among the peasantry.

I therefore gave him a letter of introduction to an editor, who, I

was sure, would explain to him that the English public would not be

interested in the affair. I heard no more of it, but my friend was

persuaded that since Napoleon no greater general than he had arisen.

As an ideal type of the better class of mulatto, I would take the

late President Geffrard; he had all the qualities and defects of the

race, and was one whom I had the best opportunity of studying. In a

report which for some reason I never forwarded, I find myself thus

sketching his portrait when almost in daily intercourse with him

(1866):--“I am loth to analyse the character of President Geffrard,

but as he is the Government itself, it is necessary to know him. In

manner he is polished and gentle, almost feminine in his gentleness,

with a most agreeable expression, a winning smile, and much fluency

in conversation. But the impression soon gains possession of the

listener that, with all his amiable qualities, the President is vain

and presumptuous, absorbed in himself and in his own superiority to the

rest of mankind. He imagines himself a proficient in every science,

although he is as ignorant as he is untravelled. There is not a subject

on which he does not pretend to know more even than those whose studies

have been special, as lawyers, doctors, architects, and engineers.

He seriously assures you that he discovered the use of steam by

independent inquiries, and that he is prepared to construct a machine

which shall solve the problem of perpetual motion; and he who has not

ridden anything larger than a middle-sized pony imagines he could give

hints in riding to our Newmarket jockeys.”

Geffrard, like many other coloured men, was much distressed by the

crispness of his hair and his dark colour, and having a half-brother

very fair, he persisted in assuring us that he had been born nearly

white, with straight hair, but that having unfortunately bathed in

the streams of Sal Tron during many months, the water, being deeply

impregnated with iron, had curled his hair and darkened his skin. In

any other man I should have suspected a jest.

One of the things which contributed to the unpopularity of the Emperor

Soulouque was the waste of the public finances and the extravagance

of his court. General Geffrard, who lived in penury before becoming

President, promised to reform this; but instead of doing so, he

gradually raised his own allowance to £10,000 a year; he also had the

sole control of £4000 a year for secret service, and another £4000

a year for the encouragement of the arts and sciences. The grateful

country had also presented him with two large estates, the expenses

of which were largely borne by the State, whilst the profits were

Geffrard’s.

As nearly every one of his countrymen would have acted in the same

manner if he had had the opportunity, Geffrard’s conduct excited envy

rather than blame. Even in the smallest details of the household there

was a mean spirit; the expenses of the meat of the family were put down

to the _tirailleurs_, whilst some exquisite champagne purchased of a

colleague was charged to the hospital. Geffrard was certainly one of

the most distinguished of his race, yet he sullied his good name by

all these petty meannesses. I once asked a Haytian friend why she and

others were always running down Geffrard and his family. She answered,

“Because when I knew them intimately, they were as poor as myself, but

now Madame Geffrard insults me by calling on me in a carriage. What

right has she to a carriage more than I?”

Geffrard was personally brave, which quality is not too common among

his countrymen, who are rather wanting in martial qualities. He had

no idea of true liberty, nor of freedom of discussion. A son of a

black Minister wrote a pamphlet in favour of strict protection for

the manufactures of Hayti, in order to encourage native industry. A

young mulatto replied, demolishing with ease the absurd idea that

manufactures could be readily established in a tropical country, which

could only be made to prosper by encouraging agriculture. The father

was offended by this liberty, and, to soothe his wounded feelings,

Geffrard had the young mulatto arrested, put as a common soldier into a

regiment, and set to work to carry on his head barrels of powder to a

village five miles in the mountains. The argument was unanswerable, and

it is no wonder that the pamphleteer became a protectionist, though I

believe that subsequently, when he was made a senator, he was inclined

to return to his primitive views.

If I wished to describe a mulatto of the most unscrupulous type, I

should have selected the late General Lorquet, but I have already

referred to him.

There are among the mulattoes men eminently agreeable, and perhaps the

one who best pleased me was Auguste Elie, at one time Minister for

Foreign Affairs. He had been brought up in France, was highly educated,

and had an astonishing memory. My Spanish colleague and myself used

to visit him almost every evening, and pass a pleasant hour in varied

conversation. One day my friend remarked, “I am often surprised at the

knowledge shown by Auguste Elie, and the elegance of the language in

which it is expressed.” I replied, “This evening turn the conversation

on agriculture in the South of France.” He did so, and he was again

struck by the minute knowledge shown and the manner in which it was

conveyed. On our return home, I opened the last number of “La Revue des

Deux Mondes,” and showed him paragraph after paragraph which Auguste

Elie had repeated almost word for word. I knew that he read the review

regularly, and was persuaded he had not missed reading the article on

the agriculture of that part of France which interested him most, and

his memory was so exact that he had forgotten nothing. I had often

remarked his quotations, but he could digest what he read as well as

remember. A few men like Auguste Elie would have given a better tone to

Haytian society.

A strong desire to appear what they are not is a defect from which the

best-known Haytians are not free. A French colleague once called upon

a Secretary of State, whose _writings have been compared to those of

Plato_, and found him, book in hand, walking up and down his verandah.

“Ah! my friend, you see how I employ my leisure hours. I am reading

Demosthenes in the original.” But the sharp Frenchman kept his eye on

the volume, and soon found that it was an interlinear translation.

Every Haytian appears fully persuaded that his countrymen never seek

office except for the purpose of improving their private fortunes, and

the most precise stories of official robbery were falsely made against

Auguste Elie and M. Bauce, both Secretaries of State. At Auguste Elie’s

death there was little left for the family, and Madame Bauce declined

the succession to her husband’s effects, as the debts were not covered

by the inheritance. Liaulaud Ethéart and M. Darius Denis, though long

Secretaries of State, afterwards honourably supported their families,

the one in retail trade, the other by keeping a school.

Perhaps, as a rule, the accusation is well founded, and nearly all,

black and coloured, believe in the saying, “Prendre l’argent de l’état,

ce n’est pas volé.”

When I first arrived in Port-au-Prince a small club was formed among

the foreigners, and one of the first rules was, “No Haytian to be

admitted.” I asked why, and was answered, that they introduced politics

into every place they entered. I soon found, however, that the real

reason was that their society was disliked; and one day, after

listening for an hour or two to the criticism on the people--and be it

remembered that half those present were married to Haytian ladies--I

could not help remarking, “If I had such an opinion of this race, I

would not have sought my wife among them.” The married men looked

foolish, the bachelors laughed, and one of the former observed, “The

women are so superior to the men.”

The following story shows some delicacy of feeling; it is told by

Mackenzie, and I have heard it repeated. When the decree was issued

by Dessalines that mulatto children should inherit the estates of

their white fathers, two young men met, and one said to the other,

“You kill my father and I will kill yours;” which they accordingly

did, and took possession of their estates. On another occasion, the

Emperor Dessalines said to a young man who claimed to be a mulatto, “I

don’t believe it, but you can prove it by going and poniarding your

French friend.” The man did not hesitate, and was accepted as a Haytian

citizen. A negro general, grandfather of a lady I knew in Hayti, went

to Dessalines after the appearance of the decree to murder all the

white French left in the island and said, “Emperor, I have obeyed

your decree: I have put my white wife to death.” “Excellent Haytian,”

answered he, “but an infernal scoundrel. If ever again you present

yourself before me I will have you shot,”--the only saying of his that

I have seen recorded showing any humane feeling.