A LITTLE-KNOWN MARVEL OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 



481 



Photograph by Mrs. C. R. Miller 

 A HAITIAN E-ELEE IN PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI 



At the front one sees the remains of a 

 series of beautiful terraced gardens, 

 while to the rear are the ruins of many 

 masonry houses formerly occupied by the 

 black king's numerous retinue, household 

 guards, and stables. 



The name given this palace serves as a 

 very pointed expression of Christophe's 

 barbaric nature and peculiar twist of 

 mind. Some have imagined that the 

 Haitian tyrant borrowed the name from 

 Frederick the Great's famous pleasure 

 palace, after the fashion in which Tous- 

 saint L/Ouverture styled himself the 

 "Buonaparte of St. Domingo," but more 

 practical chroniclers offer this key to the 

 mystery : 



In the war against the French slave- 

 holders, Christophe had one rival by the 

 name of Sans Souci, who rose to com- 

 mand the entire northern section of the 

 island, from Borgne to Fort Ljberte, the 

 territory over which Christophe wished 

 to hold sway. 



After Toussaint L'Ouverture had been 

 exiled, Dessalines succeeded by in- 

 trigue in persuading Sans Souci to join 

 his cause. Soon after this occurred, 

 Christophe inveigled Sans Souci to the 



plantation of Grand-pre and there delib- 

 erately murdered him, thus avenging 

 himself for past bitter experiences and 

 defeat and gaining at the same time con- 

 trol in the northern department. Hence 

 it is assumed that this name applied to 

 his palace served Christophe as an ironic 

 reminder of the whole affair and possibly 

 as an indication of his contempt for his 

 late rival and the manner of the latter's 

 taking-off. 



CHRISTOPHES MELODRAMATIC END 



Christophe's downfall and death were 

 as sudden and melodramatic as the rest 

 of his career. The final act in the drama 

 began with an episode in the church at 

 Limonade, Haiti, twelve miles from Cape 

 Haitien and about fourteen miles from 

 Milot. While attending mass on April 

 15, 1820, he suffered a stroke of apoplexy 

 and fell heavily to the floor alongside 

 the altar in the chapel, paralyzed below 

 the waist. 



One version of the incident is that he 

 slapped a priest at the altar and was 

 smitten in the act ; another, that a priest 

 poisoned him by means of the com- 

 munion cup. Even today, in the vicinity 



