PLANTER AND MERCHANT 41 



he possessed a dwelling, a sugar refinery, and ware- 

 houses or stores at both Les Cayes and Saint Louis. 

 Moreover, his West Indian estate was not completely 

 settled until 1820, two years after his death. 



Slaves were regarded in Santo Domingo as an in- 

 dispensable commodity, as they had been in Virginia 

 and the Carolinas for a century past, and were still to 

 be for three-quarters of a century to come; the "friends 

 of the blacks" as the abolitionists were called, were con- 

 sidered by most planters as the enemies of the whites. 

 Degradation and cruelty, ever attendant upon a system 

 that drew its chief support from the self-interest of a 

 class, were all too common in the island, yet there were 

 many who earnestly strove to soften the lot of their 

 slaves. Though a born fighter, Jean Audubon was hu- 

 mane, and the evidence, so far as it goes, shows that 

 his own slaves were treated with kindness and consid- 

 eration. 



This period in Santo Domingo, particularly from 

 the year 1785 to 1789, not only is important for our 

 story, but happened to mark a crisis in French sover- 

 eignty in America. It will be necessary, therefore, to 

 follow certain events in a history which can serve only 

 as a warning to mankind, for it contains little to satisfy 

 the understanding and nothing to excite the fancy or 

 gladden the heart. It is to be noticed first, however, 

 that according to the accepted accounts, John James 

 Audubon was born of a Spanish Creole mother, in Lou- 

 isiana, in 1780. Shortly after his birth, his mother is 

 said to have gone to Santo Domingo, where she perished 

 in a local uprising of the blacks, when Jean Audubon's 

 plantations and property were totally destroyed; Jean 

 managed to escape with only his two children, a few 

 faithful slaves, and a part of his money and valuables, 



