282 < i BA AND POETO RICO 



Aquin, is an interesting and prosperous place. M. Fortu- 

 nate estimates i lie population at fifty thousand, but in this, 



as in other instances, he undoubtedly includes the whole 

 outlying commune. The city stands at the extremity of a 

 hay whose waters are very frequently boisterous. The 

 steamers of the English Royal Mail line touch here, both 

 on their outward and homeward voyages. The journey 

 from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel overland is by mule-paths 

 through aud over precipitous mountain passes, and between 

 the two cities there is a very winding stream which it is 

 necessary to ford an astonishing number of times, and 

 which, in the rainy season, makes the journey rather dis- 

 agreeable. Couriers, however, are constantly passing from 

 one city to the other. 



In the interior are a number of Other considerable and 

 populous towns. They are mostly to the north and east 

 of the capital, though there are some on the western pe- 

 ninsula, the largest of the latter being Leogane (30,000). 

 The most populous of the interior towns is Mirebalais 

 (25,000), about fifteen leagues northeast of Port-au-Prince. 

 Then there are, in the northern half of the interior, Gros 

 Morne (22,000), Plaisance (25,000), Grande Riviere du Nord 

 (22,000), Limbe (16,000), Frou (10,000), Dondon (12,000), 

 Jean Rabel (9000) ; and to the east of Mirebalais, Las Caho- 

 bas (12,000). In the plain of the cul-de-sac is La Croix 

 des Bouquets (20,000), and five or six miles up the moun- 

 tain-side, near the capital, is the charming summer resort 

 Petionville (15,000). These figures represent communal 

 populations. 



Although these towns and communes, and others not 

 here mentioned, do not always present the well-regulated, 

 pleasing aspect of the cities and towns of the United States 

 or Europe, they nevertheless do suggest important possi- 

 bilities in the future. 



The people of Haiti are almost entirely of African de- 

 scent, with a few of the mulatto or colored class. The 

 comparatively few wdiites engaged in business or diplo- 



