THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October 1. I^^IZ 



were safely located the pilot came off and climbed aboard. He 

 knew nothing about ships, shipping, or harbors, but was a thor- 

 oughly capable collector of harbor fees. He took the passenger 

 list ashore, to be examined by the proper authorities, and after 

 an interval returned with the information that "passengers 





Primitive Su(j.\r Mill. 



would be permitted to land." Those who had visited the island 

 before did not seem overjoyed; indeed, to a man they elected to 

 stay on board. Some of us. however, chartered a row boat for 

 a "Gourde" (30c.) each and started for the pier. 



The little city, with its red roofed houses and its tropical 

 setting, looked very pretty from the boat. So. too. the big flat- 

 bottomed lighters, each propelled by three sturdy blacks stand- 

 ing side by side at the stern, sculling with twenty foot sweeps, 

 were wonderfully picturesque. French were these boatmen, in 

 their vivacity and wealth of gesticulation, but in appearance 

 African. Some twenty of these lighters swept down upon our 

 vessel, fighting for first place, crowding, casting off each other's 

 moorings, jostling, swearing, threatening even to knife pulling. 

 but never really coming to blows. 



When we started the day was clear, but in a very few min- 

 utes heavy clouds appeared, and the mountain slopes were hid- 

 den by a brisk shower. We did not get it as the sea breeze, that 

 blows all day long, sent it back to the land again, but that night, 

 when the wind turned and the land breeze blew, everything was 

 drenched with rain. .*\s we neared the shore we passed close 

 to the wrecks of several ships, that had been caught by a blow 

 and driven in upon the rocky shore. 



We landed at a tumble-down stone pier, littered with bales 

 of goods, casks, old iron, rotting timber, and half-clad darkies. 



post office — a great bare room furnislicd with a table where 

 letters were stamped and sealed, and a desk for the postmaster. 

 It was only a detail, but some one had stolen the weights from 

 the scales and small stones had been substituted. An oil 

 stove was used for heating the wax and a pewter spoon for a 

 seal, and our attention was called to both several times by proud 

 citizens who were acting as guides and avidly accepting cigars, 

 or indeed anything we could be induced to part with. We 

 bought some stamps, saw the mail for Aux Cayes deposited in 

 a meal bag and thrown in a corner for delivery in the distant 

 future and departed. 



The market came next. Through swarms of beggars, goats, 

 swine and filth that overflowed the gutters and covered the nar- 

 row roadway, we waded to see the place where the city got its 

 food. It was a great rambling building, in which half-clad 

 negroes sold corn, beans, rice, flour by the cup. queer confec- 

 tions, stripped tobacco leaves, and sulphur matches. These 

 last mentioned seemed to be on sale everywhere. 



Then one of the Port officers turned up and claimed he had 

 not seen my passport. That meant a cigar or a tip, so I gave 

 him a Haitian dollar so torn and black and dirty that it hardly 

 held together. But he was afraid of it and declined it ; so we 

 compromised on a nickel and a long black cigar. 



On the crest of a hill in the middle of the town is the city 

 prison. Its huge barred .gate was fastened by a rusty padlock. 



The Ro.^DSTE.^D, J.\cmel. 



A man in rainbow uniform escorted us to a shed, where a dozen 

 oflficials with a copy of the passenger list checked off our names, 

 and after warning us that the harbor was closed after six at 

 night, allowed us to wander about the city. We first visited the 



H.-MTi.\N Lighters. 



the key to which was two feet Jong. The sentry, assisted by a 

 nntscular prisoner, unlocked the gate and admitted us for a con- 

 sideration. The outer court was crowded with the most forlorn, 

 tattered, yet cheerful wretches that I have ever seen. The inner 

 prison, a big room with thick stone walls, was packed with men 

 and w-omen who crowded to the grated door and windows, beg- 

 ging, cursing and quarreling while the guards who kept no sort 

 of order, jabbed at them with their antiquated muskets and 

 cursed back constantly and vociferously. In a pit in one corner 

 of the court yard were two crazy prisoners chained side by side. 

 Everywhere was filth indescribable. It is hardly necessary to 

 say that we did not tarry long in this bedlam. 



Down the dirty, crowded streets with their high-sounding 

 French names, we slipped and waded, and suddenly came upon 

 the one wholesome spot in the city. It was a French Catholic 

 school, run by the Sisters of Charity. Here the children were 

 neat, clean, orderly and very bright. Here lies the hope of 

 Haiti. 



We were very glad to get back to the ship, bathe, fumigate 

 and forget. And then we received another surprise. Off from 

 the shore came a boat rowed smartly, and up the ladder came 

 visitors for the captain — men dark, vivacious, elegant, and ladies 



