286 CUBA AND POBTO liICO 



ing in Paris that the Haitians arc the only foreign people 

 who speak French withoul an alien accent. This is not 

 surprising, because it is quite the rule for the wealthy and 

 well-to-do citizens to send their sons and (.laughters to 

 France for their education. This class is debarred from 

 the United States by our prejudice against their color. 

 The lower classes speak a Creole patois which almost de- 

 serves rank as a separate language, being to the French 

 what the Jamaican dialect is to the English. As in Jamaica, 

 this peculiar dialect abounds in proverbs and quaint say- 

 ings. 



In their personal traits the Haitians are like the negro race 

 wherever found. They are distinguished for their boast- 

 fulness a habit inherited from both the French aud the 

 negro. They are also given to strong drink and licentious- 

 ness. They pride themselves on their proficiency in dan- 

 cing aud their ear for music. They have fair military bands 

 in the cities, but throughout the island the favorite instru- 

 ment is the African tom-tom. In the country the old 

 African dances are still engaged in, including the sensuous 

 bamboula. Wakes are held for the dead, and burials in the 

 country are of a very primitive nature. Like other negroes, 

 the Haitians have a curious habit of talking to themselves. 

 One is often surprised to hear in the bushes along the road- 

 side an apparently extended conversation, which turns out 

 to be the monologue of a solitary darky. 



The black man in his family relations is generally kind, 

 although few of the lower orders go through any civil or 

 religious marriage ceremony. In the interior, polygamy 

 is common, and a patriarch may be frequently seen sitting 

 at the door of a house surrounded by huts in which his 

 younger wives reside. Though generally fond of their 

 children, they neglect them to an extent that accounts 

 largely for the high death-rate among the young. Toward 

 the white man the black is usually respectful and cordial. 

 The politeness of the country negro is remarkable, and you 

 hear one ragged fellow addressing another as " Monsieur 



