312 Notes on Haiti. [SEPT. 



some trade in mahogany, although the place has, as a seaport, been 

 ruined by late events. The country towards the coast is beautiful, but 

 the estates, formerly cultivated, are, generally speaking, now in a tate 

 of ruin ; and the labourers, even those who had come as free settlers from 

 the United States, destroyed, or straggling idly in the woods. 



Gold is found in the rivers in the neighbourhood of St. Jago in con- 

 siderable quantity. 



During his stay at that place he heard many sickening accounts of the 

 horrid atrocities committed by the revolutionists. 



He proceeded by Lavega through a country very thinly inhabited, 

 and reached the ancient and interesting city of St. Domingo, on the 6th. 

 He was well received by General Borgella, the commandant, and by the 

 clergy. The preservation, in some degree, of the decencies and usages 

 of civilized society in this part of the island, forms a pleasing contrast 

 to the brutality, licentiousness, and pretensions, prevalent in the French, 

 or negro territory ; and the predictions and assertions of Us amis des 

 noirs, in regard to the rapid rise of the latter, are evidently no longer 

 entitled to the least consideration. 



Mr. Mackenzie gives a clear and distinct account of the recent events 

 which have united this part of the island to the republic, and of the 

 misery and degradation brought upon the inhabitants by their unfortu- 

 nate connection with the black government. 



'.' Their university, say they, no longer exists ; the public schools 

 are destroyed; and they insist that it is a mockery to talk of national 

 schools, the teachers of which are utterly incompetent ; but the greatest 

 grievance (and it is a terrible one) is, that at the very age when their 

 sons require the utmost care of a parent, they are bound by the exist- 

 ing law to become soldiers, and to be initiated into all the profligacy of 

 a guard-house, as privates ; from which scene of degradation no merit 

 can raise them, while the son of the most worthless chief in the west is 

 at once raised to the rank of an officer. They complain, too, that their 

 morals being thus corrupted, there is little chance of the unfortunate 

 individuals ever resuming respectable or decent habits !" These are 

 only a few of the grievances by which, owing to the negro revolution 

 and ascendancy, the unfortunate Spaniards are afflicted and degraded. 



The consul left St. Domingo on the 24th of May, and proceeded by 

 the coast on his return towards Port-au-Prince. On the banks of one 

 of the rivers there was a large accumulation of mahogany, floated down 

 from the upper country. Foreigners and natives were collected toge- 

 ther, preparing and squaring the logs for shipment the wood from 

 this district being peculiarly prized for its beauty and solidity. 



Proceeding along the coast to Azua, there was more than the usual 

 lack of forage and other accommodations, and some of the animals were 

 in consequence left behind. The same privations continued when they 

 proceeded from Azua into the interior. " The country was very much 

 like what I have so often mentioned, rich, luxuriant, and beautiful, but 

 wholly neglected by man." After suffering considerable privations 

 from the badness of the roads, the weather, and the total want of accom- 

 modation, he on the 5th reached Mirebalais, a town which, situated in 

 a defensible country, seems, unless some not improbable external influence 

 restores the ancient relations of the island, intended to be made the 

 capital. 



Mr. Mackenzie reached his cottage in the neighbourhood of Port- 



