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HISPANIOLA. 



HISPANIOLA. 



KN 



Okpa nrmofkU, and alio on the cout. Peroeiriog that they would 

 be driren away by the Spaniards, they Toluntarily submitted to 

 Franoe, and Louis XIV. sent them a goTcraor. In 1697 the Spaniards 

 w«ra obliged to gire up the western districts, or about one-third of the 

 island, to Francei The French, who oonsidersd their portion of 

 Hispaniola as the most valuable of all their foreign settlemeuta, began 

 to oultiTate it with great care. In 1791 the agricultural pro<luce of 

 the French portion only was Talued at more thui 8,000,00(M. sterling. 

 In 1794 the negro slaves were declared free by the National Con- 

 vention, a declaration which was followed by a general insurrection 

 of the negroes and mulattoes, who massacred a Ui;ge number of the 

 white inhabitants, and compelled the remainder to emigrate. One of 

 their chieft, Touisaant I'Ouverture, established in 1801 a kind of 

 republic, but was obliged to submit to a French army sent out by 

 Bonaparte in 1802. After he had been treaoheroualy taken prisoner 

 and sent to Fiance, the negroes rallied under Deasalines, and expelled 

 the French in 1803. Dessalinea restored to the island the name of 

 Haiti, a name by which it was called by the natives when discovervd 

 by Columbus. In 1804 Dessalinea followed the example of Bonaparte 

 and called himself emperor; in 1806 he was murdered. After bis 

 death the French portion of Hispaniola was divided into two states : 

 the northern coast was formed into a negro republic under Christophe, 

 who in 1811 also took the title of emperor ; the plains alx>ut the Bay 

 of Oonavea became a mulatto republic under Petion. Continual war 

 was carried on between these two republics. After the death of 

 Fetion (1813) he was succeeded as president of the republic by Boyer. 

 Christophe having killed himself on the breaking out of an insurrec- 

 tion in 1820, Boyer united the whole under his authority. In the 

 meantime the Spanish part of Hispaniola bad been ceded to France in 

 1795, but was re-occupied by the Spaniards in 1808. The following 

 year however it declared its independence of the Spanish government, 

 and remained in an unsettled state until 1822, when it was subjected 

 to the authority of Buyer, who thus united the whole island under 

 his government. France recognised the independence of Haiti in 

 1825, the Haitian govcmmeut undertaking to pay the sum of 

 160,000,000 francs (subsequently reduced to 1)0,000,000 francs) as an 

 indemnity for the losses uf the French coloiiists during the revolution. 

 BOTer retained the presidency till 1844, when be was deposed. The 

 following years were spent in a struggle for the supreme power, which 

 was terminated by the election, in March 1847, of Qeneral Faustin 

 Souluque as president. Although nominally republican, the govern- 

 ment of Haiti was really desjiotic, absolute power having been usurped 

 by the president ; and even the name of a republic was at leugtb put 

 an end to by Souluque declaring himself, August 1849, Emperor of 

 HaitL He was crowned as Faustin I. in April 1 S50. 



Meanwhile, however, the eastern or Spanish part of the island had 

 been formed into a separate state. Taking advantage of the weakness 

 of the Haitian government, the inhabitants of Spanish Hispaniola, in 

 Febnutfy 1844, declared themselves independent under the title of 

 the Dominican Republic Their leader. General Sautana, was elected 

 the 6rst president ; and he was succeeded in 1849 by the present head 

 of the republic, Baez. The independence of the Dominican republic 

 was acknowledged by Oreat Britain in 1850, and subsequently by 

 other powers. The Emperor of Haiti however still refuses to reoog- 

 niae the republic, or to withdraw his claim to the sovereignty of the 

 whole island ; although, after many failures, ho appears to have abnu- 

 doned all attempts to reconquer the republican territory. 



Surf cue, Jec — Hispaniola is considertxl to be the most fertile island in 

 the West Indies. Its outline is greatly broken by several promontories 

 and peninsulas and other projecting points of land. Its surface 

 exhibits a great variety on rather a Targe scale. Near the centre of 

 the island, but somewhat nearer the northern than the southern 

 ahorea, is a mountain-knot, called Cibao, the elevation of the highest 

 ■ummits of which are supposed to be not lets than 7000 feet From 

 this point a range runs southward, and t«nninataa on the southern 

 ooaat in a broad and rugged promontory opposite the rooky island of 

 Alta Vela. Three ranges, rising from 2000 to 6000 feet, branch off 

 from the western side of Uiese mountains towards the west. The two 

 northern are immediately connected with the mountains of Cibao. 

 The most northern gradually approaches the northern coast, which it 

 skirls at a short distance from Cap Haltien, and then continues near 

 the shores to Cap St Nicolas. The middle chain proceeds in a 

 westerly dhvction until it nearly attains the Bay of Oonaive, when it 

 runs along the shore to its termmation at Ci^i San Marc, south of the 

 Bay of San Marc The most southern chain is an ol&et of the moun- 

 tain-mass of Mount Bahomoo, which oocupiaa the centre of the 

 peninsula opposite the ialand of Alta Vela. It runs along the south- 

 em shore at a ahort distance from it, through the whole leugtb of the 

 ■outh-wcaton peninsula, as far as Capes Tiburon and Dame Marie 

 These rangei patb^is occupy more than half the surface of the island, 

 but oontsin Dstwaen them two extenaive valleys, or rather plains. 

 The northern plain is called, alter the river which flows through it, 

 the Plain of Artibonite. In its eastern part are extensive savannaua, or 

 natural meadows; but towards the west it a fruitful soiL The 

 southern plain is called Cul de Sac. At it* eastern extremity is the 

 lake called Laguna da Henriquillo, which is 60 miles in circuit The 

 water is salt, and bat no outlet The surrounding country is exceoil- 

 iogly picturesque. Wett of it, at no great distance, is a smaller lake 



of froth water, called Saumaoha, The oountiy round these lakes it 

 not cultivated, and abouudt in game. The western district of this 

 plain, which reaches to Port au Prince, is exceedingly fertile. Betidet 

 theae two great plaint tevaral level tracts occur between the moun- 

 tains and the shores, which are very fertile, but not of great extent 



East and south-eaat uf the Cibao Mountains there is a very rugged 

 and almost uninhabited mountainous tract, which seems to be connected 

 with the range which runs along the northern shores from the bay of 

 Monte Christi, on the west, to Vieux Cap Fraufais, on the east, and 

 descends to the coast with a steep declivity. Between this range and 

 the Cibao Mountains it a wide and very fertile valley watered by the 

 river Tague, and known as the Plain of San lago. The remainder of 

 the eastern part of the island it occupied by two latge plains, lying 

 east and west, with a range of low mountains between them, which 

 issues from the uninhabited mountain tract, and terminates at the 

 most eastern promontory of the island. Cap Bngaho. On the north 

 of this range is a plain. La Vega, 60 miles long and 25 miles wide, 

 noted for its great fertility, though it has never been well cultivated. 

 The rivers Cotuy aud Yuua, which drain it, fall after their union into 

 the Bay of Samana under the latter name. The southern plain, called 

 Los Llanos, extends from the town of San Domingo to that of iliguey, 

 about 80 miles in length, with a width of 30 miles ; but it is only a 

 savannah adapted for pasture-ground, the rank grass of which being 

 burnt in the dry season, whilst the cattle take to the furents or the 

 mountains, serves as a manure to the new grass, which springs up in 

 the rainy season. 



The coast, which is about 1 200 miles in length, hat a great number 

 of harbours, which admit vessels of moderate size : some of them 

 are spacious, deep, and safe. Near Cape St Nicolas, at the north- 

 western extremity of the island, is the port of St Nicolss, which is 

 6 miles long, and capable of holding an immense fleet Ships of the 

 largest size may safely ride at anchor, sheltered from all winds, the 

 harbour being surrounded on every side by mountains of consider- 

 able elevation. The harbour of Cap Haitien, or Frunjais, on the 

 northern coast, is spacious, and though not so well sheltered, ofi°ers 

 good anchorage. At the eastern extremity of the inland is the Bay of 

 Samana, which is very capacious, and oflers excellent anchorage fur 

 the largest fleets, within the reef which blocks a lai^ part of its 

 mouth. The peninsula of Samana, which lies to the north of it, is 

 about 32 miles long, and has au area of 225 square miles. The 

 isthmus which connects the peninsula with the island is low and swampy, 

 but the centra of the peninsula is traversed by a chain of mountains 

 of which the Sugar Loaf Mouutain, near Cape Cabron, 1236 feet, is 

 the highest. The harbuur of the town of San Domingo is a very 

 indifibrent one, being too much exposed to the southern winds ; but 

 the ground is good for holding. In the Bay of Oonaive are the ports 

 of Port au Prince aud Oonaive Port au Prince has two harbours, 

 formed by some islets, which offer good aud safe anchorage. The 

 port of Oonaive is rather laige, and excellent in point of security, 

 being formed by a little island, which leaves a narrow channel, but 

 with sufficient depth of water. The island of Oonaive in this bay has 

 an area of above 200 square miles. 



The geology of the island is but imperfectly known. Mountain 

 limestone appears to be the prevalent formation. Schistose rocks 

 occur in many places, having in Samana veins of calcareous spar. 

 Quartz rocks occur frequently. Mica-elates an met with in the 

 eastern part of the peninsula of Samana; but calcareous rocks are 

 tlie prevalent formation. The most rema r kable geological feature 

 of this peninsula however appears to be the insulated conical lime- 

 stone hillocks described by Sir R. H. Schomburgk (' Geog. Journal ' 

 vol xxiiL, p. 276.) as occurring in the vicinity of the Bay of Sau 

 Lorenzo. These hillocks, of which there is a large number, are from 

 80 to 160 feet high, generally denuded of vegetation to a height of 

 from 10 to 20 feet, and thenoe partially and sparingly overgrown with 

 plants to the top. The action of the sea has undermined many of 

 them, forming caverns in some instances 1 50 feet in extent, aud 60 or 

 70 feet high, in which are numerous stalactites and stalagmites, 

 tome above 20 feet high. These caverns were formerly resorted to 

 as placet of assembly, for the performance of religious rites and 

 for shelter from foes, by the aborigines, who i^pear to have regarded 

 them with great veneration, and to have attached many singular 

 legends to them. Oold in small quantities, copper, and platinum are 

 said to have been found in the isUuid. Iron ore occurs in many places, 

 and in Samana are extensive veins of bituminous coaL 



CUmaU, Productiont, A:c. — The climate of Hispaniola differs con- 

 siderably from that of the other Antilles, the rainy season occurring 

 in different parts of the year on the touthem and northern coasts. 

 On the southern it agrees with the rainy teaaon of Jamaica, begin- 

 ning with gentle showen ftam the south at the end of April Thete 

 thowert continue for three weeki or a month, and are followed by dry 

 weather, which lasts six weeks or two months. In July begin the 

 abundant rains, which continue from August to November. The 

 winter is rather cool, the thermometer rarely exceeding 70° and still 

 mora rarely descending below 60°. The northern coast hat only 

 showers between August and October ; in November the rains ceaae 

 for a short time, but in December and January they descend in 

 torrents : sft^rwatilii th'^y are niudcrate, and cease entirely in April. 

 Tho heat of the summer is m 'Uenilcd by the provailing uoitUcm 



