758 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



mal, vegetable, and mineral pro- 

 ductioFiS, of wliicli he describes at 

 considerable length. St. Domin- 

 go, or Hispanola (so called, to dis- 

 tinguish it from Haiti, the name 

 given to it by the natives) was dis- 

 covered by the great Columbus ; 

 and is the largest and most fer- 

 tile of all the Antilles. It stands 

 in 18. 19 degrees N. latitude, and 

 from 68 to 74 W. longitude from 

 London, opposite and near the 

 Spanish main. It is situated be- 

 tween Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and 

 Cuba, in the Caribbean sea. Ray- 

 nal and the Spanish authors say it 

 is 200 leagues long, and from 60 

 to 80 wide ; but even our most 

 correct maps are very imperfect, 

 nor is it easy to traverse and sur- 

 vey wilds, trodden only by the 

 huntsman or the fugitive negro ; 

 to the scale of latitude and longi- 

 tude, therefore, we are indebted in 

 great measure forits measurement. 



The French part of the island is 

 not quite a third of the whole ; 

 the remainder, or the Spanish di- 

 vision, isestimatedat3,175square 

 leagues, and contains about 

 104<,000 persons of all ages. The 

 natives are said to be strong, ac- 

 tive, and healthy. 



*' In the year 1790, the French 

 division contained 497,000 souls, 

 of which 38,000 were whites, 

 9,000 people of brown colour, 

 and 450,000 blacks. The wars of 

 Rigaud, Toussaint, and the French 

 destruction, are estimated at near- 

 ly one half, and emigration, and 

 the natural decrease of blacks 

 when left to themselves, may be 

 safely calculated to equal one 

 third; by which it would result, 

 that the present population con- 

 sists of about 100,000 souls, a 

 statement that even exceeds the 



estimate of the most sensible 

 among them ; for the late and 

 existing intestine divisions have 

 greatly thinned their numbers, and 

 a state of continual warfare, with 

 dubious issue, has driven many to 

 seek quiet in other countries. 

 Their onsets are still often san- 

 guinary, and quarter is seldom 

 given by the victor. Thus, in 

 point of population, they are on 

 nearly an equnl footing with their 

 Spanish neighbours. 



"General Petion holds posses- 

 sion of the S. side of the island, at 

 the head of the brown colour; but 

 their line of division varies, as each 

 party advances or recedes, and the 

 seat of government is at Port au 

 Prince. He is of a sensible, hu- 

 mane character : tutored in the 

 schools of Europe, his mind has 

 received an expansion that fits 

 him for the helm of government, 

 and his exterior an address that 

 would distinguish him in a court. 

 Ill suited perhaps to witness scenes 

 to which his station, as a military 

 commander, exposes him in the 

 field of battle, the tear of sensi- 

 bility often bedews his cheek at 

 the sight of slaughter; and though 

 brave, enterprising, and bold, he 

 values more the responsive glow 

 of a humane act, than the crim- 

 soned laurel he has plucked from 

 the brow of his adversary ; he 

 sighs at the purchase of vic- 

 tory with the sacrifice of those 

 subjects he loves : in short, no- 

 thing can be more descriptive of 

 his peculiar virtues than the mot- 

 to of an English artist, at the foot 

 of his portrait : " II n'a jamais 

 fait couler les larmes de per- 

 sonne." 



" Though the diso rganized state 

 and continually threatened inva- 



