Dec. 4, 1884] 



NA TURE 



99 



second in size only to Cuba, of which it forms a natural 

 continuation eastwards to Porto Rico. Here the eastern 

 and much larger division, known as Santo Domingo, has 

 been mainly in the hands of a " coloured," that is, negroid 

 or mulatto people, since the expulsion of the Spaniards 

 and French early in the present century. But in Hayti 

 the pure negro has always been in the ascendant, and his 

 policy has persistently been to get rid of the white and 

 coloured elements. The whites disappeared, either exter- 

 minated or driven into exile, during the struggle with 

 France ; and of the present population, roughly estimated 

 at some Soo,ooo or 900,000, not more than one-tenth are 

 mulattoes, and all the rest full-blood Africans. The 

 Haytians may, in fact, be regarded as a section of the 

 negro race transplanted bodily to their present domain, 

 where they have had it all their own way since the close 

 of the last century. Whatever differences may exist, are 

 all in their favour ; for they here find themselves separated 

 from the old baneful associations, and surrounded on all 

 sides by the civilising influences of more cultured peoples. 

 The physical environment is also more favourable, the 

 climate being on the whole decidedly superior to that of 

 the African sea-board, while the well-watered lowlands are 

 described as amongst the most fertile tracts on the globe. 



And what is the outcome of fully three generations of 

 political autonomy under these exceptionally advan- 

 tageous conditions ? Practically a reversion to, or, more 

 correctly speaking, an almost uninterrupted perpetuation 

 of, the African tribal organisation in its very worst aspects. 

 Such is the general conclusion conveyed by a careful 

 study of Sir S. St. John's work, which may be briefly 

 described as a formidable indictment against the negro 

 race as such, and a crushing reply to those sentimental 

 philanthropists who go about preaching the doctrine of 

 the inherent equality of all mankind. In a few well- 

 digested chapters he deals comprehensively with the his- 

 tory, government, trade, industries, and social institutions 

 of the " Black Republic," and on all these branches of 

 the question his verdict is in the highest degree adverse. 

 " I could not but regret," he writes, " that the greater my 

 experience the less I thought of the capacity of the negro 

 to hold an independent position. As long as he is influ- 

 enced by contact with the white man, as in the southern 

 portion of the United States, he gets on very well. But 

 place him free from all such influence, as in Hayti, and 

 he shows no sign of improvement. On the contrary, he 

 is retrograding to the African tribal customs, and without 

 exterior pressure will fall into the state of the inhabitants 

 of the Congo. I now agree with those who deny that 

 the negro could ever originate a civilisation, and that with 

 the best of education he remains an inferior type of man. 

 He has as yet shown himself totally unfitted for self- 

 government, and incapable as a people of making any pro- 

 gress whatever. To judge the negroes fairly, one must 

 live a considerable time in their midst, and not be led 

 away by the theory that all races are capable of equal 

 advance in civilisation" (pp. 131-132). 



This general conclusion is amply supported by over- 

 whelming evidence collected at first hand by a shrewd 

 observer, whose official position enabled him to obtain 

 accurate information regarding every phase of Haytian 

 political and social institutions. That the succes- 

 sive " empires " and " republics " were mere burlesques ; I 



that the administration of justice has always been a 

 farce ; that civic virtues are absolutely unknown ; that, 

 in a word, " politically speaking, the Haytians are a 

 hopeless people" (p. 133), will probably be accepted 

 without demur by the intelligent reader. But that fetish 

 worship, cannibalism in its most repulsive forms, and all 

 the abominations associated with the secret " Vaudoux " 

 rites, are still rampant, and encouraged if not actually 

 practised by the very highest State functionaries, in- 

 cluding Presidents themselves, would certainly be received 

 with a smile of incredulity, were the facts not attested by 

 evidence of the most unimpeachable character. Even so 

 the revelations made in connection with this loathsome 

 subject almost exceed the bounds of belief, and could not 

 be accepted, were we not assured that they are " founded 

 on evidence collected in Hayti, from Haytian official 

 documents, from trustworthy officers of the Haytian 

 Government, my former colleagues, and from respectable 

 residents — principally, however, from Haytian sources " 

 (Introduction). 



To the question, Who is tainted by the Vaudoux ' wor- 

 ship ? the answer is, " Who is not ? " Yet a promin ent 

 feature of this horrible cult is the sacrifice of " the goat 

 without horns," that is, of some human victim, often sup- 

 plied by the parents themselves, who also share in the 

 feast at which their murdered offspring is devoured. At 

 a trial held in 1S64, four women were convicted on their 

 own confession of having killed and eaten a girl, six years 

 old, delivered to them by the aunt, and of feeding up 

 another child to be sacrificed and eaten on the Feast of 

 the " King of Africa." A Spanish official present at the 

 trial reported that, if the public prosecutor had done his 

 duty, " not only the witnesses but the mother of the 

 victim herself would have shared the fate of the cannibals 

 proved guilty of having eaten her." Another woman, 

 reproached with having devoured her own offspring, 

 retorted, " And who had a better right ? Est-ce que ce 

 n'est pas moi qui les ai fait ?" And in 1878 a case came 

 under the notice of the author, in which two women were 

 caught in the act of eating the flesh of a child raw. " On 

 further examination it was found that all the blood had 

 been sucked from the body" (p. 225). 



In common with many other observers, the author 

 noticed " that negro boys up to the age of puberty were 

 often as sharp as their coloured fellow-pupils," adding 

 that " there can be no doubt that the coloured boys of 

 Hayti have proved, at least in the case of one of their 

 number, that they could hold their ground with the best 

 of the whites " (p. 266). But it is equally certain that 

 after reaching puberty further progress appears to be 

 arrested, so that the negro remains intellectually a child 

 1.) the last. This remarkable phenomenon is probably 

 due to the premature closing of the cranial sutures in the 

 negro race, qs suggested by Filippo Manetta, who also 

 noted the sudden arrest of development in adults. " The 

 intellect seemed to become clouded, animation giving 

 place to a sort of lethargy, briskness yielding to indolence. 

 Hence we must needs suppose that the evolution of the 

 negro and white proceeds on different lines. While with 

 the latter the volume of the brain grows with the expan- 



\ parently a corruption of the West African word I'odun, implyi 

 species of ophiolatry, in which the great serpent, an all-powerful supern; 

 being, on whom all things depend, is worshipped by secret rites, no. 1 

 orgies, and human and animal sacrifices. 



