7C0 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



fesides at the Cape, the seat of go- 

 vernment, but declines any shew 

 or parade of the rank she once 

 held in the country ; is exemplary 

 in her conduct, and refuses the 

 attendance of a proffered guard, as 

 corresponding to her widowed 

 dignity. The Spaniards seem to 

 incline to Christophe, and think 

 him the most secure neighbour ; 

 but since the new possession of 

 -their country, no treaty has been 

 entered upon, owing to a want of 

 intercourse and approbation from 

 home ; but one on the defensive 

 scale is in agitation, the principal 

 groundwork of which must be a 

 4inion of interests, to repel fo- 

 reign attacks, a general release of 

 all Spanish individuals, free or 

 slaves, and a guarantee that the 

 latter, in desertion, will not be 

 encouraged, but returned. 



" Independent, however, of the 

 two chiefs already mentioned, 

 who at present share, or rather 

 contend for the empire of Haiti, 

 has arisen another, Phillipe Dos, 

 the elcve of the great and unfor- 

 tunate Toussaint, late on the side 

 of Christophe, but now a chief of 

 considerable power, and at war 

 with both rivals. Seated amidst 

 the populous and fertile moun- 

 tains of Mirbalais, in the centre 

 of the island, and bordering on the 

 Spanish limits, hehas been follow- 

 ed by many partizans of the old 

 cause, in which he was equally 

 chief; his numbers have swelled 

 to 6,000 persons, and increase by 

 the coming in of the disaffected 

 from the other competitors; whom 

 he attracts by promises of a ces- 

 sation of toil, and of the horrors of 

 active war ; grounding as the ba- 

 •sis of his government, that they 

 are to act only on the defensive, 



and pledging himself not to call 

 them out but in case his lines are 

 invaded." 



In chapters XII and XIII, Mr. 

 Walton gives, at some length, the 

 history of the Indians, the decline 

 and rise of Hispanola, and the 

 policy of the French in the West 

 indies, and iheir final expulsion 

 by the English and Spaniards : 

 and in the following chapter he 

 details the advantages that will 

 probably result to England from 

 dispossessing the French of His- 

 panola. Tliis chapter contains 

 various interesting particulars, 

 which our limits will not permit 

 us to extract. 



The first volume concludes 

 with an appendix of considerable 

 length, containing various useful 

 documents illustrative of the au- 

 thor's narrative : the following 

 account of Caracas will not be 

 unacceptable to the reader. 



" Caracas is the seat of govern- 

 ment, and is situated in a valley 

 surrounded by mountains, in 10 

 degrees, 31 minutesnorth latitude, 

 and 69 — 3 west longitude from 

 Paris. It was founded in 1567 

 by Diego Losada. The authority 

 of the Captain-General extends 

 over Venezuela, Maracaibo, Vari- 

 nas, Spani:>h Guiana, Cumana, and 

 the island of Marguerita. The civil 

 power of the royal audience and 

 intendancy, are on an equal foot- 

 ing. The temperature is in gene- 

 ral mild, and the weatheragreeable. 



" The valley in which the city 

 of Caracas is built, is of an extent 

 of four leagues, verging east and 

 west, and formed by that great 

 chain of mountains that rise above 

 and range along the coast from 

 Coro to Cumana. On the north 

 and south, it has also elevations. 



