JHmeral futtgirom.* 
rpiIE existence of immense mineral riches in the Island of 
Hayti is too well substantiated to require any argument to 
prove it. Its possessions of metallic ores were the first that 
stimulated European cupidity soon after the discovery of the 
Western World. Several of these mines, in the Eastern sec¬ 
tion of the Island, have been imperfectly worked in times past, 
but the age was not then sufficiently advanced in scientific 
knowledge, to have been acquainted with the means and appli¬ 
ances necessary for their successful exploration. In Hayti, 
proper, the mineral wealth of the country has been yet still 
more neglected. Their exploration has hitherto been discounte¬ 
nanced. Until very recently, these mineral resources, from 
political motives, were little referred to ; or it was imagined by 
all the governments that have preceded the present one, that by 
allowing their exploration, it would tend to prostrate and annul 
the agricultural spirit and industry of the people. We have no 
opinion to offer for or against the soundness of this idea; we 
only affirm that this is not the principle of the present adminis¬ 
tration of Hayti, which invites laborers of the African race to 
come over and participate in the exploration and the riches to 
be obtained from these mines, which henceforth are no longer 
closed. 
* This chapter is contributed by Dr. Smith, of Port-au-Prince. It is not a 
translation. 
