lUl 



of the same name. The population is estimated at about 1,300,- 

 000, all negroes, with the excei)tion of a few mulattos and white 

 men. 



The portion of the island visited by me, a small area in the 

 northwestern corner, is the most inaccessible section. It can 

 only be reached on horseback, and over roads that, at times, ap- 

 pear almost impassable. They were but trails, and led throuL^h 

 valleys, over mountains, and across rivers and brooks, which had 

 to be forded repeatedly, for there are no bridges. It required 

 being in the saddle from daylight to dark, and a day's journey 

 through such rough country made supper and an earl)' bed most 

 delightful. 



We, my assistant and myself, were the guests of my friend, I\Ir. 

 A. E. Casse, at Bayeux, a plantation about eighteen miles ^vest 

 of Cap Haitien, and located near the seashore. An island but a 

 short distance from the shore and a projecting point of the main- 

 land make a very good harbor, and here my friend keeps his 

 motor boat anchored. This boat is used to communicate with 

 the Cape, as Cap Haitien is locally called, and several trips are 

 made each week. The only other means of communication is 

 on horseback, a long and devious journey of about fifty miles, 

 requiring about si.v hours for its accomplishment, if }-ou ride fast. 

 A cable to New York has its terminus at the Cape, but as the 

 toll is iSi.iO per word, including address and signature, any ex- 

 tensive communication by this means becomes rapidly expensive. 

 But having the cable so near at hand, only eighteen miles by 

 boat, about three hours in time, made us feel that we could 

 receive messages from the outside world and communicate with 

 home if we so desired. 



The plantation at Bayeux was made our headquarters, and 

 from this place trips were made into the mountains of the interior 

 occupying several days each — one trip required ten days for its 

 completion. The countr\- at and about the plantation is flat, 

 with a few low hills in the rear, and the flora is, for the great 

 part, that which prevails throughout the W^est Indies. The 

 strand flora was of course that common on such shores. The 

 beach morning-glory i^lpoiiioid Pts-caprdi), the sea-grape (^Coc- 



