* 



APPENDIX A. 



A Visit to the Emperor of Haiti. 



" On my arrival at Port-au-Prince, my first care was to 

 ask M. Ray baud (the French consul,) to present me to the 

 man who at the present moment, is the centre of attrac- 

 tion, admiration and envy in this remote portion of the 

 globe. After a delay of a few days, M. Raybaud informed 

 me that the desired interview would be granted, and that 

 it had been arranged that it should take place on the fol- 

 lowing day. At the appointed time we went to the Palace. 

 This edifice, which was in former times the residence of 

 the governors of St. Domingo, assumes an imposing and 

 even royal appearance when compared with the wretched 

 hovels of which the rest of the town is composed. In 

 point of fact, however, it would be considered very medi- 

 ocre in any country where architecture has made some 

 progress. The palace is very low, being composed of only 

 one story, raised a few feet from the ground, and approach- 

 ed by four or five steps, which extend all around the edi- 

 fice. A court which is railed in, and in which the Em- 

 peror passes a review of his troops every Sunday, reminds 

 one vaguely of that of the Tuilleries. On entering the palace 

 we were shown into a waiting room, which I examined 



