654 



HAYSTACK HAYTT. 



consequently released from all obligation of observ- 

 !ii it on his part, he hastened to the American camp. 

 After serving some time, however, he was made a 

 prisoner, and brought to Charleston, where lie re- 

 mained in cmitincinent until lord llawdon, the com 

 mander of the royal forces in South Carolina, came 

 to the town. He was then taken before a court of 

 inquiry, and condemned to be lianged, " for having 

 been found under arms, and employed in raising a 

 regiment to oppose the British government, though 

 he had became a subject and accepted the protection 

 of that government." This unjust and merciless sen- 

 tence was accordingly put into execution on the 

 fourth of August, 1781. Colonel Hayne met his 

 fate with the greatest fortitude and composure. 

 This act has since been the subject of a controversy, 

 in which lord Rawdon, then earl of Moira, and since 

 marquis of Hastings (see Hastings), endeavoured to 

 justify his conduct. 



HAYSTACK MOUNTAIN, GREAT, or LA- 

 FAYETTE MOUNTAIN, is one of the highest 

 mountains in New Hampshire, situated in the north- 

 east part of the township of Franconia, nearly equi- 

 distant from mount Washington in the north-east, 

 and Moosehillock in the south-west. It has general- 

 ly been known by the name of the Great Haystack 

 mountain; but, in 1824, an attempt was made to 

 change its name to that of Lafayette mountain. The 

 Franconia notch is a deep ravine in the mountains, 

 through which the road from Franconia to Plymouth 

 passes. About the year 1825, a foot path was clear- 

 ed out from this road to the top of the mountain. 

 The point where the path commences in the notch, 

 is six miles from the Franconia iron works, and the 

 length of it, from the road to the summit, is three 

 miles ; and throughout this distance it is almost 

 uniformly steep. The ascent is more difficult and 

 fatiguing than that of mount Washington, on account 

 of the greater and more uniform steepness, and the 

 more rugged state of the path. A person, while de- 

 scending, is more strongly impressed with the almost 

 unvaried steepness, than while ascending. The 

 ascent, for the distance of about two miles, is through 

 a thick forest of hemlock, hackmetack, spruce, and 

 other evergreen trees. Higher up, the mountain is 

 encompassed with a zone, about half a mile in width, 

 covered with small stunted trees, chiefly hemlock 

 and spruce. Above the upper edge of this zone, 

 which is about half a mile from the top, trees and 

 shrubs disappear. The summit is composed chiefly 

 of bare rocks, partly in large masses, and partly 

 broken into small pieces ; and it has less grassland 

 other kinds of vegetation upon it than are found on 

 the higher part of mount Washington. About three 

 quarters of a mile from the top, there is a small pond 

 of cold water. The view from the summit is exceed- 

 ingly picturesque and magnificent. Although it is 

 not so extensive as that from the top of mount Wash- 

 ington, yet, owing to the situation of the Great Hay- 

 stack, nearer the centre of this mountainous region, 

 it is not inferior to it, either in beauty or grandeur. 

 The view to the north-east, east, south and south-east, 

 is one grand panorama of mountain scenery, present- 

 ing more than fifty summits, which, when viewed 

 from this elevation, do not appear to differ greatly in 

 height. Some of these mountains are covered with 

 verdure to the top, while the summits of others are 

 composed of naked rocks ; and clown the sides of 

 many of them may be seen slides or avalanches, of 

 earth, rocks, and trees, more or less extensive, which 

 serve to diversify the scene. At the place in the 

 road through the notch where the path up the moun- 

 tain commences, is exhibited to the view of the tra- 

 veller, on the summit of the mountain opposite to the 

 Great Haystack, a remarkable curiosity, called the 



profile, or old man of the mountain, which Is a singu 

 lar lusus natures. It is situated on the brow of the 

 peak, which rises almost perpendicularly from the 

 surface of a small lake, directly in front, to the height 

 of about 800 feet. The front of this precipice is 

 formed of solid rock ; but as viewed from the point 

 where the profile is seen, the whole of it appears tu 

 be covered with trees and vegetation, except about 

 space enough for a side view of the old man's bust. 

 All the principal features of the human face, as seen 

 in a profile, are exhibited with surprising exactness. 

 The little lake at the bottom of the precipice, is one 

 of the sources of the Pemigewasset river ; and about 

 half a mile to the north of this, there is another some- 

 what larger lake, which is about a mile in length, 

 and surrounded by picturesque scenery. These lakes 

 are both situated in Franconia notch, and very near 

 the road. The northern one is 900 feet above the 

 site of the iron works in Franconia, and the highest 

 point of the road is 1029 feet above the same level. 



HAYTI, or HAITI (the mountainous); the Indian 

 name of one of the Antilles, to which Columbus 

 gave the name of Espanola (Hispaniola, Little 

 Spain), but which was commonly called St Domingo 

 by the French and English, from its capital. It lies 

 south-east of Cuba, (from which it is separated by 

 the Windward passage, eighteen leagues in width), 

 and east of Jamaica, and between latitude 17 43/ 

 and 19 68' N., and longitude 68 25' and 74 35' 

 W. Its greatest length, from east to west, is about 

 390 miles, its breadth from 60 to 150 miles, its 

 superficial area 30,000 square miles. On the west, 

 it forms two remarkable promontories, between which 

 is the gulf of Gonaives. The northern point is cape 

 Isabella, the eastern, cape Engagno. Old cape 

 Frangois forms the north-east extremity of the island. 

 On the northern coast lies the island of Tortugas, 

 separated from the main land by the narrow channel 

 of the same name. The face of the country is, in 

 general, mountainous, and intersected with deep 

 valleys. The Cibao mountains run across the island 

 from east to west. The highest summits are about 

 6000 feet above the level of the sea. Monte-Christi, 

 in the north-east, is the other principal chain. In 

 the south-east part, particularly, there are extensive 

 plains or savannas, occupied by large herds of swine, 

 horses, and honied cattle. That of Los Llanos, 

 which lies east of the city of St Domingo, is eighty 

 miles long, by twenty-five to thirty broad. The Vega 

 Reale is of nearly the same extent, and more fertile. 

 Hayti is well watered by numerous rivers ; the soil 

 is fertile, producing every variety of vegetable for 

 beauty and use. The climate, on account of the 

 inequalities of the surface, and diversity of situation, 

 is various. In the plains, the great heat, joined to 

 the natural humidity, is often fetal to Europeans, but 

 produces a rich vegetation. On the coasts, the 

 regular sea and land breezes are refreshing. On the 

 mountains, the cold is often uncomfortable. As ir. 

 all tropical climates, the year is divided into the dry 

 and the rainy seasons. In May and June, the rain 

 falls in torrents, but hurricanes are less frequent 

 than in the other Antilles. Sugar-cane, coffee, cot- 

 ton, cocoa, are produced in great abundance. Indigo 

 was formerly much cultivated, but is now little at- 

 tended to. The plantain, vanilla, potatoe, manioc, 

 &c., are spontaneous productions of this rich soil. 

 The mountains are covered with valuable timber, 

 oak, mahogany, satinwood, ironwood, &c. Before 

 the arrival of the Europeans, there were but four 

 species of quadrupeds in the island. Of these the 

 agouti only survives. The principal towns are Cape 

 Haytien (q. v.) the capital, the Mole, Port-Republi- 

 cain (Port-au Prince) and St Domingo. The island is 

 divided into five departments, which are subdivided 



