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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



ONE OF THE EMPTY TREASURE CHESTS FOUND AMONG THE RUINS OF CHRISTOPHE S 



CITADEL 



Christophe proclaimed himself king in 

 1811, with the title of "Henri I." He 

 established a titled nobility and a rigid 

 court etiquette, which he maintained with 

 much pomp. He even changed the name 

 of Cap Franchise to Cap Henri (now 

 Cape Haitien). 



When, in 1804. Dessalines assigned his 

 military leaders 10 various parts of the 

 country, he instructed them to build 

 strong forts at inaccessible points, where 

 ammunition, arms, and supplies could be 

 stored safely, and where the Haitian 

 forces could hold out against the French, 

 if the latter should try to reconquer the 

 island, which seemed probable at that 

 time. 



Christophe was assigned to the north- 

 ern department, anil at once set about 

 building the citadel on Bonnet a L'Eveque 

 (Bishop's Hat), which was subsequently 

 called "La Ferriere," then "Citadelle 

 Henri." and which is now known as 

 "Christophe's Citadel." 



The zeal and the product of the labor 

 of the commander of the northern de- 

 partment were such as to arouse strong 

 suspicion that from the first he contem- 

 plated not only resisting the French but 

 also overthrowing Dessalines. 



THE CITADEl/S SECRETS GUARDED BY THE 

 MURDER OF ITS DESIGNERS 



It is not known just what length of 

 time was required to build the citadel, 

 but it is evident it was finished some little 

 time prior to Christophe's death, in 1820. 

 Its construction is variously estimated to 

 have taken a toll ranging from ten to 

 twenty thousand human lives. 



It is believed that the plans for the 

 structure were drawn and the work of 

 construction supervised by two captive 

 French officers, who possessed the highest 

 order of technical training. When their 

 work was completed, Christophe. in com- 

 pany with these officer-, is said to have 

 made a thorough inspection of all parts 



