L.*

DANISH BRIG OF WAR, ORNEN,

ISLAND OF BEATTI, ST. DOMINGO, _January 25, 1849_.

I took the old mountain road from Caracas on mule back to La Guayra to

await the Venezuelan mail schooner, bound to Puerto Cabello. I never

passed over a more rugged road or one where it was more difficult for

a mule to keep on his legs, for rain the day before had rendered the

tortuous and winding way very slippery. I left before sunrise, and

found the city enveloped in a white cloud or mist, but on arriving upon

the summit of the mountain, where commences the descent to the ocean,

the sun had risen in all his majesty, and dispelled the vapors upon

the eminences, while Caracas was yet invisible, and appeared like an

immense misty sea in the valley below.

The rollers or surf at LaGuayra are perhaps worse than any to be found

after a storm, except on the African coast, and the roadstead affording

no protection, most of the vessels had put to sea the day after my

arrival, and I found myself in company at the hotel with the commander

of the Danish brig of war, Ornen, or Eagle, who was separated from

his vessel, as his lieutenant was obliged to put to sea to escape

a lee shore. Being a particular friend of a Danish commander of my

acquaintance, with whom I had travelled, and whose plantation I had

visited at St. Croix, he invited me to join him. After the storm had

abated, with the aid of surf-boats and men, who stripped and forced the

boat forwards, we reached the ship’s boat, and gained our brig, bidding

adieu to the frightful white-caps which had almost entirely destroyed

the breakwater of the port, and produced such a deafening noise that I

could scarcely sleep at night at the hotel which was near the shore.

One day’s sail brought us to Puerto Cabello, a beautiful and safe

harbor, which is resorted to for repairing vessels, and for purposes

of commerce, as well as safety. It is a plain Spanish town, on level

ground, and has nothing remarkable to offer the traveller, except its

beautiful rides in ascending the Cordillera of Mountains that runs

parallel with the coast, and then winds along the banks of a beautiful

small stream to the village of St. Stephen, the resort of the foreign

residents in summer. Our brig had formerly visited this port when the

foreigners had fears of an attack from the blacks of the country, and

as the report of sixteen thirty-two-pounders, and an equipage of one

hundred and two men and officers presents a formidable appearance, all

passed off quietly. We were received with great hospitality on the part

of the German merchants, and the commander and myself had always horses

at our disposal.

I had never yet seen in any country such a luxurious growth of

vegetation as presented itself along the streams in the valley of the

interior. This country produces an abundance of coffee, and cacao, from

which chocolate is made, and my eyes had never beheld such a variety of

tropical fruits and in such profusion, as in winding along the banks

of this little stream on horseback. The coffee plant; the cacao, which

produces a sort of seed resembling a large bean; orange and lime trees

filled with fruit; cocoa-nut trees loaded with fruit, falling in many

instances without being gathered; bananas, which produce the staff of

life in the absence of bread, and which, after yielding fruit, are

cut down to spring up anew without culture; the beautiful and tall,

broad-leafed bread-fruit trees; with the graceful palm, and an immense

variety of wild trees and flowers full of beauty. It seems as if nature

had been too lavish and wished to outdo herself, and that, too, to an

ungrateful people who would not gather through indolence that which was

forced upon them.

The new steamer Venezuela, built at Pittsburg by a New York company,

for the navigation of the Oronoko river, was at LaGuayra a few

days since. At Puerto Cabello I found the officers of the steamer

Scourge, which was captured, and lies in the harbor. I think she was

unlawfully seized under American colors, although brought out for the

revolutionary party.

We sailed from Puerto Cabello to Curacoa in company with the French

brig of war, Le Cygne, and arrived a little before her, taking the

first and only pilot to enter that pretty harbor, with its narrow and

difficult passage, which resembles somewhat, in its fortifications on

each side, the entrance of Havana. We had given our salute and been

responded to by sixteen guns from the fort, when our rival entered. We

were soon visited by the aide-de-camp of the governor, and the officers

of the Dutch transport ship and brig of war on the station, from whom

we received much civility. Through the politeness of Mr. Slaugard,

the governor’s aide, horses were procured for the French and Danish

commanders and myself to visit the curious caves of Hatto, on the

north side of the island, which to me were not very interesting, as I

had seen others of like formation on a more extensive scale in other

countries; but what appeared to me curious was the continual dripping

and formation of stalactites from this volcanic and coral rock,

considerably elevated above the level of the sea, and in a country

where it seldom rains.

The island is generally arid, and has a barren appearance; an insect

has destroyed within a few years almost all the cocoa-nut trees. The

trees generally are of a stunted growth, and where they are exposed

to the trade-winds they lean or shoot their branches in an opposite

direction. The guinea corn is adapted to the soil, and is produced in

large quantities. Within a few years the government has introduced the

growth of the cochineal, and with success; and Mr. Slaugard accompanied

us to the plantations, where we had an opportunity of seeing the

production of the cochineal bug upon the cactus plant. The aloes and

the tamarind fruit also produce well.

The population of the island is about twenty thousand; the town itself

is situated upon both sides of the harbor, which extends back and opens

into a large bay for miles in depth, and in both boroughs contains

some six or eight thousand inhabitants. The houses are well built,

after the Dutch style, and have the external air of freshness of color,

comfort, and cleanliness; but the present race sadly represents its

ancestors. Nature has withheld her bountiful hand, and I could readily

contrast the difference between the people here, and those I had just

left. Stern necessity obliges them to be industrious, and in all parts

women, men, and children are employed in making a sort of straw or

cane, into hats, cigar cases, baskets, &c. The climate is delightful,

perhaps the best in the West Indies or the Spanish Main for invalids.

The expenses of life are very moderate, but the hotels are miserable,

with no reading-rooms or sources of amusement or instruction for a

permanent residence.

The language of the common people is the Curacoa, so called, and is

a composition or patois of African, Dutch, and Spanish. In families

of the best class, and among the officers of government, the language

of the mother country is spoken; many speak English and French. At

a soirée given to the officers of the ships of war in harbor by the

governor, who is a finished gentleman, and much respected, I found

several young ladies quite at home in the English and French languages,

and also quite proficient in music, though they had never left the

island.

One of the sources of revenue of Curacoa, is its salt pans, which we

took occasion to visit, upon the borders of the sea. The water from the

ocean is let in in sufficient quantities; the sluices are then closed,

when the process of evaporation commences, and with the strong rays of

the sun produces an abundant yield.

In company with Mr. Ellis, formerly minister at Caracas, who brought

out the steamer Scourge for the Paez party, I went to visit the old

general, who had chosen Curacoa for a residence, that being the nearest

point to the Spanish Main. He was alone and somewhat disconsolate,

having heard of the capture of two of his sons, who had been sent

to Caracas as prisoners of war; his fleet had been mostly taken and

destroyed, and the day before we had seen a portion of the Venezuelan

fleet beating to windward in passing Curacoa. He is a man of middle

stature, of dark complexion, not remarkable in his appearance or

manner, though he has at times when animated a fiery expression of the

eye, and is said to have been the best lancer of his country; he speaks

only Spanish, and has never had the advantages of much education, but

is a self-made man. His son, who came in during the interview, and who

generally accompanies his father, speaks English and French fluently.

The slave population is small in the island of Curacoa, but the negroes

seem to be well treated and contented. The commerce of the town is

chiefly in the hands of the Jews; a fair proportion of the small

currency is in Spanish dollars, cut in four parts, to prevent its going

abroad; while the piece of five francs passes currently there and in

Venezuela for a dollar, and is the basis of circulation.

I could find no vessel for Hayti from Curacoa, and Captain Irminger

persuaded me to continue with him to St. Thomas, where I could get

the English steamer; and finding myself comfortable on board with my

every want gratified, I concluded to do so, as I had abundance of time

with an ordinary passage, for the arrival of the steamer. But in this

I was disappointed, as we had to contend with a violent north-easter

for several days, which prevented our making an easterly course, and

finding the current strong to the west, and having reached the south

side of St. Domingo, we took shelter in a bay near the False Cape, and

despatched a boat’s crew ashore in search of wood, who reported that

it could be obtained, as also fresh fish from some negro fishermen on

the coast. We then ordered the gig of the brig, and with the captain

and several of the officers went ashore, where we found two sail-boats

and four naked Haytians, who were in want of tobacco and biscuit in

exchange for fish. The idea had occurred to me that if I could get

to Jacmel by private conveyance, I could cross the island to Port au

Prince on horseback, and save much time in beating up against the wind

and current to St. Thomas; but I had my misgivings in trusting my life

in the hands of these fellows for eighty or a hundred miles along an

uninhabited coast; I found also, as far as I could understand the

Creole French, that they would not attempt it. We made sail yesterday,

but the sea is too strong, and we have taken refuge under the lea of

this Beattie Island. The ship would run back to Jacmel and land me, but

positive instructions to be in Denmark without delay prevent.

We have just had some fishermen alongside, two of whom appear honest

and decently clad, and quite intelligent. For a handsome reward on my

safe arrival, they will convey me to Jacmel, so shall leave to-morrow

as soon as the weather permits. You will hear from me, if I arrive safe

at my destination.