_Cape Francois._
The so much desired general Rochambeau is at length here. His arrival
was announced, not by the ringing of bells, for they have none, but by
the firing of cannon. Every body, except myself went to see him land,
and I was prevented, not by want of curiosity, but by indisposition.
Nothing is heard of but the public joy. He is considered as the
guardian, as the saviour of the people. Every proprietor feels himself
already on his habitation and I have even heard some of them disputing
about the quality of the coffee they expect soon to gather; perhaps
these sanguine Creoles may find that they have reckoned without their
host.
However, _en attendant_, the General, who it seems bears pleasure as
well as conquest in his train, gives a grand ball on Thursday next. We
are invited, and we go.
Clara is delighted! for the first time since our arrival her eyes
brightened at receiving the invitation, and the important subject of
what colours are to be worn, what fashions adopted, is continually
discussed. Her husband, whose chief pleasure is to see her brilliant,
indulges all the extravagance of her capricious taste. She sighs for
conquest because she is a stranger to content, and will enter into
every scheme of dissipation with eagerness to forget for a moment her
internal wretchedness. She is unhappy, though surrounded by splendor,
because from the constitution of her mind she cannot derive happiness
from an object that does not interest her heart.
My letter shall not be closed till after the ball of which I suppose
you will be glad to have a description.
But why do you not write to me?
I am ignorant of your pursuits and even of the place of your abode, and
though convinced that you cannot forget me, I am afflicted if I do not
receive assurances of your friendship by every vessel that arrives!
Clara has not written, for nothing has hitherto had power to rouse
her from the lethargy into which she had sunk. Perhaps the scenes of
gaiety in which she is now going to engage may dispell the gloom which
threatened to destroy all the energy of her charming mind. Perhaps too
these scenes may be more fatal to her peace than the gloom of which I
complain, for in this miserable world we know not what to desire. The
accomplishment of our wishes is often a real misfortune. We pass our
lives in searching after happiness, and how many die without having
found it!
_In Continuation._
Well my dear friend the ball is over--that ball of which I promised you
a description. But who can describe the heat or suffocating sensations
felt in a crowd?
The General has an agreeable face, a sweet mouth, and most enchanting
smile; but
"Like the sun, he shone on all alike,"
and paid no particular attention to any object. His uniform was _a la
hussar_, and very brilliant; he wore red boots:--but his person is bad,
he is too short; a Bacchus-like figure, which accords neither with my
idea of a great General nor a great man.
But you know one of my faults is to create objects in my imagination on
the model of my incomparable friend, and then to dislike every thing I
meet because it falls short of my expectations.
I was disappointed at the ball, because I was confounded in the crowd,
but my disappointment was trifling compared with that felt by Clara.
Accustomed to admiration she expected to receive it on this occasion
in no moderate portion, and to find herself undistinguished was not
flattering. She did not dance, staid only an hour, and has declared
against all balls in future. But there is one announced by the Admiral
which may perhaps induce her to change her resolution.
Madame Le Clerc has sailed for France with the body of her husband,
which was embalmed here.
The place is tranquil. The arrival of General Rochambeau seems to have
spread terror among the negroes. I wish they were reduced to order
that I might see the so much vaunted habitations where I should repose
beneath the shade of orange groves; walk on carpets of rose leaves
and frenchipone; be fanned to sleep by silent slaves, or have my feet
tickled into extacy by the soft hand of a female attendant.
Such were the pleasures of the Creole ladies whose time was divided
between the bath, the table, the toilette and the lover.
What a delightful existence! thus to pass away life in the arms of
voluptuous indolence; to wander over flowery fields of unfading
verdure, or through forests of majestic palm-trees, sit by a fountain
bursting from a savage rock frequented only by the cooing dove, and
indulge in these enchanting solitudes all the reveries of an exalted
imagination.
But the moment of enjoying these pleasures is, I fear, far distant.
The negroes have felt during ten years the blessing of liberty, for a
blessing it certainly is, however acquired, and they will not be easily
deprived of it. They have fought and vanquished the French troops, and
their strength has increased from a knowledge of the weakness of their
opposers, and the climate itself combats for them. Inured to a savage
life they lay in the woods without being injured by the sun, the dew or
the rain. A negro eats a plantain, a sour orange, the herbs and roots
of the field, and requires no cloathing, whilst this mode of living is
fatal to the European soldiers. The sun and the dew are equally fatal
to them, and they have perished in such numbers that, if reinforcements
do not arrive, it will soon be impossible to defend the town.
The country is entirely in the hands of the negroes, and whilst their
camp abounds in provisions, every thing in town is extremely scarce and
enormously dear.
Every evening several old Creoles, who live near us, assemble at our
house, and talk of their affairs. One of them, whose annual income
before the revolution was fifty thousand dollars, which he always
exceeded in his expenses, now lives in a miserable hut and prolongs
with the greatest difficulty his wretched existence. Yet he still
hopes for better days, in which hope they all join him. The distress
they feel has not deprived them of their gaiety. They laugh, they sing,
they join in the dance with the young girls of the neighbourhood, and
seem to forget their cares in the prospect of having them speedily
removed.