278 ' CUBA AND PORTO RICO 



(population 6000), Gros Morne (22,000), and Ennery (6000), 

 the cherished residence of Toussaint, all rich and produc- 

 tive centers of population. 



St. Marc is situated about half-way between Gona'ives 

 and Port-au-Prince, on a horseshoe-shaped bay whose 

 waters are very deep, and at one extremity of the great 

 plain of the Artibonite, Gonaives being at the other ex- 

 tremity. The Artibonite River, the largest in Haiti, flows 

 into the bay between the two cities. This plain faces along 

 the coast for a distance of about fifty miles, and stretches 

 back into the interior for fully sixty miles. It is noted for 

 its great fertility and richness in every tropical production, 

 in which respect it has hardly a superior. There are now 

 on hand projects, pretty well matured, for running a rail- 

 way through it. 



St. Marc was formerly built almost entirely of stone, but 

 the structures of that material have gradually given place 

 to others of wood. It is a town of commercial importance, 

 the population of the commune being estimated at twenty 

 thousand. The largest place behind it and within easy 

 reach is Verrettes (communal population 12,000). 



Port-au-Prince, the capital, is situated at the extreme 

 eastern end of the deep indentation of the Gulf of Gonaives. 

 The ground slopes most gracefully to the water's edge. 

 The streets, carefully laid out at right angles to one another 

 by the original French settlers, are broad, but utterly neg- 

 lected. Every one throws his garbage out of the front 

 door, and heaps of manure, broken bottles and crockery, 

 and every species of rubbish abound. The topographic 

 position of the city, with its environs of mountains and 

 plains, is very beautiful. It contains about sixty thousand 

 inhabitants, and possesses every natural advantage that a 

 capital could require. Little use, however, is made of 

 these advantages, and the place is unpleasant, owing to 

 the lack of sanitation. 



The national palace (of wood), the quartiers ministeres 

 (the offices of the several departments of the government), 



