SANTO DOMINGO, PAST AND PRESENT; WITH A GLANCE AT HAYTL BY SAMUEL HAZARD, AUTHOR OF "CUBA, WITH PEN AND PENCIL. MAPS AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE. 1873. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by HARPER & BROTHERS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. TO THE ORIGINAL OF THIS DISTINGUISHED PRESIDENT OF CORNELL COLLEGE, N.Y IN PLEASANT MEMORY OF DAYS OF AGREEABLE COMPANIONSHIP, AS WELL AS OF SOME ROUGH EXPERIENCES AMID NOVEL AND BEAUTIFUL SCKNES IN SANTO DOMINGO, Efjese Pacjes are Betiicateti BY HIS SINCERE FRIEND, THE AUTHOR. eneral @^HE author of these pages - makes no pretension to be \ the " historian " of St J(3) Domingo ; his only endea vour in making this volume is x -^ to bring together in a continuous and condensed form, for the benefit of the reader, the facts connected with the history of the PREFACE. Island of St Domingo from its discovery by Columbus to the present time, illustrating, as much as possible, its scenes and people by his own sketches, and photographs and en gravings gathered from various sources. At a time when the masses of the people of the United States were watching with interest the action of their repre sentatives in Congress on the question of the admission of St Domingo into the Union, the author was surprised to find how little was really known, either of the present or the past of that historic isle ; and in endeavouring to obtain this information for himself, he was astonished to find the great lack of books (at least accessible, and in the English language) giving connected information of an island that had for so long a time, and in so many ways, played such an important part in the history of the world. Joining afterwards, on the island, the Commission sent out by the United States Government, the author, after almost entirely circumnavigating the island, and traversing its length and breadth, was amazed to find so magnificent a part of the New World so generally uncultivated and even uncivilised, after having been the first chosen spot of settlement of the discoverers from the Old World. Having seen the comparatively advanced condition of affairs in the sister isle of Cuba (which is not nearly so highly favoured by Nature), and comparing it with the present deplorable state of St Domingo, the curiosity of the author was roused to know, if there were not other reasons than the reputed one of climate why an island so attractive and valuable in every way as St Domingo certainly is, should remain for so long a time unsettled and uncivilised. Coming to London, and consulting almost every early - PREFACE. writer of note upon the Island of St Domingo found in the j treasures of the British Museum, the author is satisfied >!> that the past history, especially of the Spanish part of St | Domingo, is little known to the general reader of to-day, jj and that in that history is found ample reason for the pre~^ sent condition of St Domingo and Hayti a condition, he thinks, arising only from the fact that this beautiful island has simply been the " victim of misfortunes," brought upon it by its being successively the battle and disputed ground of the Spaniards and Indians, the Buccaneers, the English, the French, the Spaniards, the Haytians, and, finally, the Dominicans themselves. " The truth is not always to be told," is an old adage, and it is possible that the notes on Hayti may give offence to some ; but the author does not see that anything is to be gained by glossing over the present utterly hopeless condition of this part of the island, simply in consideration of the feelings of a few over-sensitive " patriots," because, even in the definition of this word, they and the writer _ might not agree. He has been surprised, however, to find, on reading over " the accounts of the different writers who have visited Hayti since the expulsion of the French, how perfectly justified are their remarks and experiences by the condition to-day of affairs in that Republic (?}. The author is sure no one more ardently hopes to see a change for the better, as well in the government as in the people of Hayti, than he, feel ing as he does, that not only will the people of Hayti be benefited, but so will be the great causes of humanity and civilisation. As there may be readers who would like to follow out PREFA GE. more in detail the subject treated of in this book, the author has given a list of the most valuable authorities which he has consulted at the British Museum, and to which he shall make little or no further reference in his work, though he confesses he has used them freely, even at times quoting their very language. Notwithstanding the number of these writers, they all go over pretty much the same ground in detached accounts, except some few who give greater de tails, but only in matters peculiarly local, and that would not be interesting to the general reader, who, the author hopes, will find in the present volume all that can interest him. The map accompanying the work is compiled from the one ordered by the Dominican Government in 1858, from the surveys and data of Baron Schomburgh and the French engineer Mendez, the latest and most reliable chart of the entire island yet published. PARIS, October 1872. CHAPTER I. ST DOMINGO. PAGE Its Extent, Location, Physical Peculiarities The Aborigines Their Habits, Customs, &c., . . . . . .1 CHAPTER II. THE CONQUEST. Landing of Columbus First Settlement Columbus s Return on Second Voyage, and Founding of the First Permanent Colony Expeditions to the Interior Settlements there Rapid Advance of the Island Columbus s Hard Treatment Ovando s Rule, . 18 CHAPTER III. THE EARLY SPANIARDS. Their Treatment of the Natives Ovando s Rule Habits of the Spaniards Negro Slaves Rapid Decrease of the Aborigines Sugar-making Diego Columbus and his Successors The War of Enrique, and Final Peace, . . ... .33 xii CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. THE DECLINE OF ST DOMINGO. PAGE Failure of the Mines Expeditions fitted out Depredations on Spanish Vessels Depopulation of the Island Neglect of Spain Its Colo nial Policy Drake s Attack The Capture and Ransom of the Capital, ........ 49 CHAPTER V. THE BUCCANEERS AND EARLY FRENCH. Origin of the Buccaneers Their Manners and Customs Settlement of Tortuga, and their Extension from thence under the Auspices of the French Settlement of St Domingo, . . . .68 CHAPTER VI. THE JOINT OCCUPATION OF THE FRENCH AND SPANIARDS. The Boundary Question Poverty of the Spaniards Advance of the French Successful Agriculture Tobacco and Indigo Culture Cocoa- Trees The Introduction of the Coffee-Plant General Im provement of the whole Island Character of the Inhabitants French Luxury Discontent of the Planters, . .89 CHAPTER VII. THE REVOLUTIONS OF FRENCH ST DOMINGO. Mode of Government of the French Discontent of the Planters Their Desire for Independence Aspirations of the Mulattoes Oge s Attempt at Insurrection The Revolution in France Its Effects on St Domingo Contentions among the Whites Insurrec tion of the Slaves Participation of the English in the Affairs of the Island Their Defeat, and Success of the Blacks Cession of the Island to the French, . . . . . .113 CHAPTER VIII. TOUSSAINT S RULE. The Independence of Hayti Toussaint takes Possession of the Whole Island, giving it a Constitution Affairs under Toussaint Napo leon Attempts to Restore the Island to the French Details of Le Clerc s Expedition Toussaint s Capture Rebellion against the French Cristophe Dessalines Final Failure of the French, and CONTENTS. xiii their Capture by the English Fleet Dessalines Marches against the Spanish Part His Discomfiture His Cruelties in that Part of the Island Becomes Emperor His Cruelties and Butcheries of the Whites Conspiracy against Him His Death, . . 133 CHAPTER IX. THE WHOLE ISLAND UNITED UNDER ONE GOVERNMENT. Dessalines Successors Cristophe and Petion Civil War Peace between the Two Chiefs Troubles in the Spanish Part The Expulsion of the French Co-operation of the English Restora tion of the Authority of Spain Rebellion against her Rule Death of Cristophe and Petion Beyer s Rule Allegiance of the Spanish Part to Him Condition of the Island French Claims Boyer s Decline The Republic of Dominica, . . . .154 CHAPTER X. LAND HO. Arrival in the Tropics First Sight of Land Turk s Island Salt Keys The Haytian Shore The Dominican Coast Arrival off Puerto Plata Its Harbour Funny Method of Going Ashore A Night Visit Historical Notes of the Town Its Bay Situation Trade People, -. . -7~ 172 CHAPTER XI. SAMANA AND THE SOUTH COAST. Cape Samana Balandra Head The Bay of Samana Santa Barbara General Account of Samana Bay The Caves of San Lorenzo Savanna la Mar Voyage round the South Coast, . . . 195 CHAPTER XII. ST DOMINGO CITY. The United States Commission First Impression of the City Visit to Baez and his Cabinet Historical Notes of the City Its Present Condition and Appearance Trade and Future Prospects Schools The Mausoleum of Columbus Dominican Amusements San Carlos and the Exterior of the City The Harbour as a Port Well of Columbus Mahogany Trade Labourers, . . 212 xiv CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. VICINITY OF ST DOMINGO CITY. PAGE Natural Caves The Caves of Santanna The Boundary Line Beata and Alta Vela Islands Neyba Salt Mines Sugar Plantations Azua Ocoa Bay, . . . . ~^. ; " . 235 CHAPTER XIV. THE HISTORY OP THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, INCLUDING THE SPANISH POSSESSION, ..... 247 CHAPTER XV. JOURNEY OVERLAND. Organising a Party Our Route Crossing the Ozama Tropical Forests Lunching " al fresco " First Night Experiences La Tosa San Pedro Natural Farm Bad Roads Apartments The Country People Rough Experiences Grand Scenery Sillon de la Viuda Cevico Ride to Cotuy, .... 274 CHAPTER XVI. Its Appearance, History, and Location The Yuna River An Old Church, and Novel Mode of Advertising A Village Cemetery A First Regular Meeting to Receive the Commissioner Courtesy of the People Swimming a River The " Royal Road " Hu-rnan-i- cu Old Cocoa- Trees Domestic Institutions Woman s Rights Reception at La Vega The Town and its History Hospitable Attentions The only Steam-Engine The " Grand" Cathedral An Official Breakfast The Famous Hill Santo Cerro Superb View of the Vega The Old Town of La Vega The Valley of Constanza A Paradise Arrival at Mocha An Attractive Town Pretty Girls Handsome Cemetery Eloquence of the Commis sioner, and some Plain Talk, ..... 296 CHAPTER XVII. FROM MOCHA TO SANTIAGO. Improved Roads Fine Lands Reception at Santiago First Sight of the Yaqui Description of Santiago and the Gold Regions, . 319 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVIII. FROM SANTIAGO TO MONTE CRISTO. TACK The Puerto Plata Road Fording the Yaqui Its Bottom Lands The Vega again A Dangerous Insect Polite "Guajiro "-^obacco Culture A Dry Country but Fine Climate The Amina and Mao Rivers Some Tropical Habits Swimming the River at Guayubin A Faro Bank and Hotel Multiplicity of Generals A Long Ride through a Sterile Country The Agave Species Monte Cristo Left Alone on the Island Manzanillo Bay The Country South of the Yaqui The Uninhabited Region Crocodiles and Iguanas, ........ 336 CHAPTER XIX. THE NORTH COAST LINE FROM MONTE CRISTO TO PUERTO PLATA. Lack of Water Advantages of Irrigation Tobacco Preparation Dominican Soldiers and Haytian Battles Country Hospitality Used-up Horses Fresh Start The " Puerta de los Hidalgos " Bottom Lands of the Coast Impromptu Cooking Old Isabella Laguna Domestic Economy A Long Ride Played-out Horse The Road from Santiago to Puerto Plata The Requeros Rough Accommodations Bad Road to Puerto Plata Arrival there and Departure, ........ 361 CHAPTER XX. JOURNEY TO HATTI. "Cosa Dominica" Dauphin Bay Poor Accommodations Tropic ISTight at Sea A Cuban Horror Cape Haytian from the Sea First Experiences in Hayti Haytian Officials Value of Haytian Currency Advantage of being Supposed a United States Commis sioner, . ....... 387 CHAPTER XXL CAPE HAYTIAN. The Paris of the West Indies Population, Commerce, &c. Ruins of French Civilisation Beautiful Views Fear of American Encroach ments Duplicity of Officials Arbitrary Government Trip to Millot Scenes on the Road Arrival at Sans Souci Strange Treatment Polite Officials " Taking " the Citadel Cristophe the Emperor Horrible Cruelties Views of the People Return to the Cape, . . . . . .402 xvi CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXII. PAGE HAYTI FROM THE DEPARTURE OF JBOYER IN 1843 TO TEE ADVENT OF SAGET IN 1870, . ... 423 CHAPTER XXIII. COASTING THE ISLAND. Passengers and Tropical Mode of Travel Coast Scenery Port de Paix Tortuga Island St Nicholas Mole Bay of Port-au-Prince The Town Odd Appearance Lack of Hotels Suburbs of Port- au-Prince Pretty Country-Houses Old French Places La Coupe Road-Making Haytian Soldiers Feeling about Annexation Noble Conduct of the United States Minister Aiding the Domi nican Revolutionists Visit to the Interior Sugar Plantations Lake Azuey A Storm in lieu of a Dinner A Long Ride in Bad Weather Departure Gonaives, . . . . .441 CHAPTER XXIV. APPENDATORY. A General View of St Domingo Some Reflections on its Future Views of President Grant Climate Insects Seasons Lands Emigrants The Population and its Character Finances Conces sions and Grants Hints to Emigrants or Travellers Dominican Manifestoes General Statistics Treaty for Fixing the Boundaries Notes on the Mineral Products of the Island, . . . 466 ILLUSTRATIONS. PRODUCTS OF SANTO DOMINGO, ..... Frontispiece. THE NORTH COAST OFF PUERTO PLATA, . . . To face Page 4 OLD SANTO DOMINGO CITY, ...... 62 ENTRANCE TO COFFEE ESTATE, . . . . 108 TOWN AND BAY OF PUERTO PLATA, .... ,, 176 PLAN OF SAMANA BAY, . . . . . 195 A TROPICAL MORNING, ..... 197 SOUTH COAST LOS LLANOS, .... 207 SANTO DOMINGO CITY, . . . . . 212 CAVES OF SANTANNA, ..... 239 PARASITES A ST DOMINGO BROOK, ... 282 VIEW FROM SILLON DE LA VIUDA, .... 287 THE VEGA REAL FROM THE SANTO CERRO HILL, . . 311 MOCHA, ...... 316 THE RIVER YAQUI, .... . 321 SANTIAGO, ...... 324 CACTII COUNTRY, NEAR MONTE CRISTO, ... ., 339 FLOWERING ALOE, . . . . . . 351 MONTE CRISTO BAY, ..... 352 NEGRO HABITATIONS, ..... 368 CONUCO OF PLANTAIN AND TOBACCO, ... 384 TOWN AND BAY OF THE CAPE, . . 402 PALACE OF SANS SOUCI (MILLOT), . . . * 415 PORT-AU-PRINCE, ... 449 2 LIST OF SMALL ENGRAVINGS. PAGE 7 9 10 11 12 13 13, 14 14 15 17 19 20 22 23 26 35 35 38 39 40 45 47 Hatero, 50 An old Street in St Domingo City, Portrait of Columbus, Caribbean Skull, . . Drums, .... Canoe (Oviedo), Huts (Oviedo), AVine-making (Benzoni), . Idols, .... Figures cut in the Rock, . Curing the sick (Hakluyt, after Benzoni), .... Hammock (Oviedo), Sketch by Columbus, The Caravels, .... The Agouti, .... The Coati, .... A Spanish Attack (De Bry), . A Spanish Master (De Bry), . Spaniard in Litter, . Sugar-making (De Bry), . Suicides (Benzoni), . Gold-mining (De Bry), Punishment of Negroes (De Bry), .... House of Don Diego Colum bus, Sir Francis Drake, . A Buccaneer, A Boucan, Merry-making, Sir Henry Morgan, . 60 61 71 72 74 75 PAGE Plan of Tortuga, ... 77 Port de Paix, . . . ,83 Preparing Tobacco, ... 92 Preparing Indigo, ... 93 Old French Sugar Mill, . . 95 Old French Plantation, . . 98 Toussaint L Ouverture, . .134 Jean Pierre Boyer, . . .164 Salt Keys, . . . .173 Going Ashore, . . . .175 Loading Cargo, . . . 175 Street in Puerto Plata, . .177 The Old Fort, . . . .178 Dominican American, . .181 Market Square, . . .183 Washing Clothes, . . .184 Horse, 186 Water-carrier,. . . .186 The Manati, . . . .191 Cabo Viejo (Old Cape), . . 192 Cape Samana, . . . .196 Balandra Head, . . .197 Santa Barbara, . . .198 Donkey, ., ... 202 Meeting in Arsenal Square, . 209 A Weary Traveller, . . .211 The Ozama, Ruins of Colum bus House, . . . 213 President Baez, . . .215 Plan of St Domingo City, . 219 Old Part of St Domingo, . . 220 Business Street, . . . 221 A Dominican School, . . 223 XX LIST OF SMALL ENGRAVINGS. PAGE The Mausoleum of Columbus, . 224 Cathedral Door, . . .226 Old Franciscan Monastery, . 232 St Domingo Ferns, . . . 236 Entrance to Cave, . . .238 Tamarind, . . . .240 Manuel Seybano, . . .242 Crossing the Isabella, . .277 Musician, .... 278 Sand-box Fruit, . . . 278 A Natural Farm, . . .279 Old Negro, . . . .282 A Native Hut, . . .284 Apartments, .... 286 Sensitive Plant, . . .288 Royal Plain, . . . .290 Severino Gonzalez, . . .292 The "Commandante," . . 293 Plaza and Old Church, Cotuy, . 297 Cemetery at Cotuy, . . . 299 Meeting at Cotuy, . . . 300 " Camino Real," . . . 302 " La Fuente," .... 304 The Cocoa, . . . .305 The only Steam-Engine in St Domingo,. . . . 307 La Vega, .... 308 La Vega Cathedral, . . . 309 Mocha Cemetery, . . .317 Vicinity of Santiago, Tobacco Train, . . . .321 Market Square of Santiago . 323 Gold-washing (Oviedo), . . 328 A "Guajiro, . . . .341 The Vega Real, . . .343 Gigantic Cactus, . . .344 PAGE The Cotton Tree, . . .350 Cayman, 355 The Iguana, . . . .358 Lizards, 364 Machete, 367 Primitive Sugar Mill, . . 369 Sugar Boilers, .... 369 Pass of the Cavaliers, . .371 Wild Hogs, . . . .374 Parasitical Vines, . . . 376 Tarantula, . . . .377 Played out, .... 380 On the Bajabonita, . . .381 Point Isabella, . . . 385 Dauphin Bay, . . .392 Cape Haytian from the Sea, . 393 The Nondescript, . . . 394 Haytian Waiter, . . . 398 " Bord de Mer," . . .404 A Mercantile House, . . 405 Old French Place, . . .407 William, 409 Squatters in Ruined Places, . 411 Haytians, .... 420 Haytian Coast, . . . 444 . St Nicolas Mole, . . .445 United States Minister s House, 447 A Street in Port-au-Prince, . 450 Bay of Port au Prince from the House of the United States Minister, .... 451 Countrywoman and " Picca ninny," .... 456 Uncles and Mammies, . . 460 Scorpion, 480 Centipede. .... 480 THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SANTO DOMINGO AND HAYTI. ACOSTA (Joseph de) Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias, 4to, Seville, 1590. Alcedos (Antonio de) Geographical and Historical Dictionary of the West Indies, with large additions from Modern Voyages and Travels, by G. A. Thompson, Lond. 1812. America The History of the Buccaneers of, gathered from several languages into one vol., with copperplates, Lond. 1699. Voyagien de Spanjaarden na West Indien, Johan Lodewyk Gott fried, Leyden, 1727. Encyclopedia des Voyages, par J. Grausset S. Sauveur, Paris, 1796. An Account of the Spanish Settlements in, 1 vol. 8vo, Edin. 1762. L Univers Pittoresque, Paris, 1849. or an Exact Account of the West Indies, especially the Spanish Pro vinces, by N. N. Gent, 12mo, 1655. Annales des Voyages (Malte Brun), Paris, 1808. Anonymous Les Principes de Revolutions en Haiti, privately printed (by General Cinna le Conte, a grandson of Dessalines). Antonio del Monte y Tejada Historia de Santo Domingo, desde su Descubrimiento hasta Nuestras Dias, Madrid, 1860. xxii BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ST DOMINGO. Archenholtz (J. M. Von) History of the Pirates, Freebooters, &c., of America, translated by G. Mason, 1807. Ardouin (B.) Etudes sur PHistoire d Haiti, &c., 11 vols. Paris, 1853-61. Atkins (John) Voyage to Guinea, Brazil, and West Indies, 8vo, calf, 1735. BARBE DE MARBOIS Etat des Finances de Saint Domingue, Paris, 1790. Observations Personelles a 1 Intendant de Saint Domingue, Paris, 1790. Barcia (And. Gonzalez) Historiadores Primitivos de las Indias Occiden- tales, fol. Madrid, 1749. Beard (J. R.) The Life of Toussaint L Ouverture, 1 vol. 12mo, illus trated, Lond. 1853. Beckford Descriptive Account of the Island of Jamaica, with Re- marks upon Sugar-cane Culture, Lond. 1790. Bellin (N.) Description Geographique des Debouquemens qui sont au Nord de PIsle de Saint Domingue, Versailles, 1773. Benzorii (Girolamo) La Historia del Mondo Novo, Venetia, 1565. Bergeaud- Stella Roman Historique d Haiti, Paris, 1859. Berlioz d Auriac (J.) La Guerre Noire, Souvenirs de Saint Domingue, Paris, 1862. Biggs (Wm.) Military History of Europe from the commencement of the War with Spain, Lond. 1755. Bloncourt Des Richesses Naturelles d Haiti, Paris, 1861. Bonneau Les Intere"ts Europeens a Santo Domingo, Paris, 1861. Bonnycastle (Sir R. H.) Spanish America, 2 vols. 8vo, Lond. 1818. Bossi (Luigi) Vita di Cristoforo Colombo, Milan, 1818. Bouvet de Cresse (A. J. B.) Histoire de la Marine de tous les Peuples Paris, 1824. Brasseur de Bourbourg Bibliotheque Mexico, Guatemalienne, 8vo? Paris, 1871. Breton (J. B. J. de la Martiniere) Histoire de PIsle de Saint Domingue, 8vo, Paris, 1802. Browne (Dr Patrick) Civil and Natural History of Jamaica, plates Lond. 1756. CARDERERA Informe Sobre los Retratos de Cristobal Colon, Madrid, 1851. Casas (Earth, de las) Obras del Obispo dela Ciudad Real de Chiapa en las Indias, &c., Seville, 1552. Chanca (Dr Alvarez Diego) Letter addressed to the Chapter of Seville, 8vo, 1859. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ST DOMINGO. xxiii Charlevoix (Pierre Francois Zavier de) Histoire de Tile Espagnol on St Domingue, Paris, 1730. Charolais Les Interets Fran9ais et Europeens, & Santo Domingo, Paris. 1861. Charton (M. Edouard) Voyagers Anciens et Modernes, Paris, 1854. (This is one of the best collections of Voyages and Travels extant, and to which the author of this volume is much indebted. To readers of French it is invaluable.) Churchill (John) Collection of Voyages and Travels, 6 vols. Lond. 1744. Coke (Rev. Dr Thomas) History of the West Indies, 3 vols. Lond. 1811. Collection (A New) of Voyages, 7 vols. 8vo, Lond. 1765. Colombo (Cristofori) Discorso de Cesare Correnti, Milan, 1862. Paesi Nuovamente Retro vati, Vicenza, 1507. Memorials of Columbus, a Collection of Authentic Documents from original MS. at Genoa, Lond. 1823. Zee en Land Reysen, 1707. - Select Letters of C. C., by R. H. Major, Hakluyt, Lond. 1847. Columbus, Lettre de, publiee d apres la rarissime version Latine con- servee a la Bibliotheque Imperiale, Paris, 1865. D ALAUX Solouque et Son Empire, Paris, 1856. Dalmas (M. Antoine) Histoire de la Revolution de Saint Domingue, &c., Paris, 1814. De Bry (Theodore) "Works of, principally the Edition of 1595, Frankfort. De la Gerontocratie en Haiti, Paris, 1860. D Hormoys Une Visite chez Soulouque, Paris, 1859. Descourtilz Guide Sanitaire des Voyaguers aux Colonies, ou Conseils Hygieniques des Europeens destinee a passer aux Isles, 8vo, Paris, 1816. (M. E.) Voyages d un Naturaliste et ses Observations, 3 vols. /\ Paris, 1809. Flore Pittoresque et Medicale des Antilles, 8 vols. Paris, 1829-33. Dessalles (M. Adrien) Histoire Generale des Antilles, 5 vols. in 3> 8vo, Paris, 1847-8. Diez (Juan de la Calle) Memorial y Noticias Sacras y Reales de las Indias Occidentales, 4to, Madrid, 1646. Domingans " Alerta," a political pamphlet, Santiago (St Domingo), 1852. Dorvo Soulastre Voyage par Terre de St Domingo au Cap Francais. Paris, 1809. Drake (Sir Francis) Revived, or a Summary of Foure Severed! Voyages to the West Indies, 4to. Lond. 1653. xxiv BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ST DOMINGO. Drake, Life and Voyages of, by John Barrow, Esq., Lend. 1843. Du Coeur Joly (S. G. ancien habitant de St Domingo) Manuel des Habitans de Saint Domingue, 2 vols. Paris, 1802. Dutertre (J. B.) Histoire Generale des Antilles habitues par lea Francais, 4 vols. Paris, 1667-71. EDWARDS (Bryan) Civil and Commercial History of the West Indies, 3 vols. fol. Lond. 1793, 1801. FRANCE Colonies, Bibliotheque Historique de la Revolution, Paris, 1810-20. Francisci (Erasmi) Ost und West Indischen Lust und Staats Garten, Nuremburg, 1668. Franklin Present State of Hayti, Lond. 1828. Frezier (M.) Relation du Voyage de la Mer du Sud, &c., Amsterdam, 1717. Froger (Le Sieur) Relation d un Voyage fait en 1695-6-7 aux Indes, Antilles, &c., Paris, 1598. GAGE (Thomas) Survey of Spanish West Indies, Voyages, &c., Lond. 1711. Garan Coulon (J. Ph.) Rapport sur les Troubles de Saint Domingue, Paris. An Inquiry into the Causes of the Insurrection of St Domingo. Lond. 1792. Garcia (Jose Gabriel) Compendio de la Historia de Santo Domingo, St Domingo, 1867. Gardyner (George) Description of the New World, &c., as in the Year 1649, Lond. 1651. Gonzalez Carranza (Domingo) A Geographical Description of the Spanish West Indies, Lond. 1740. Goniara (Fr. Lopez de) La Historia General de las Indias, Anvers, 1554. Granier de Cassagnac (A.) Voyage aux Antilles, Paris, 1843. Gryneus Navigatio Novus Orbis, Basle, 1532. Guiliermin (M. Gilbert E.) Precis Historique des derniers Evenements de la Partie de Test de St Domingue depuh!808, &c., Paris, 1811. Guridi (Zavier Angulo) Elementos, &c., de la Isla de Santo Domingo, St t)omingo, 1866. Gurney (Joseph John) A Winter in the West Indies, plates, Lond. 1840. HAKEWELL (James) Picturesque Tour of the Island of Jamaica, 4to, coloured plates, Lond. 1825. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ST DOMINGO. xxv . Rakluyt s (Richard) Voyages, History of the West Indies, &c., Loud. 1812. Hanna (Rev. W. S.) Notes of a Visit to some Parts of Hayti, Loud. 1836. \ Harris Navigantum Itinerantium Bibliotheca (Indies), fol. 1744. ^Harvey (W. W.) Sketches of Hayti from the Expulsion of the French to the Death of Cristophe. 1827. llaytian Constitution, Tariff, &c., Pub. Doc. * Haytian Papers published by authority, to which is a Preface by Pierce Sanders, Agent of the Haytian Government, Lond. 1816. Hazard (Samuel) Cuba with Pen and Pencil, with over 300 illustra tions, Hartford and Lond. 1871. Helps (A.) The Conquerors of the New World, Lond. 1848. Herrera (Antonio de) Description de las Indias Occidentales, 4 fol. vols. Madrid, 1730. Histoire Generale des Voyages par Dumont D Urville, and others, Paris, 1859. Histoire Naturelle du Cacao et du Sucre, Amsterdam, 1720. Historic der Boecaniers op Vreybuyters van America, Amsterdam Nicolaas Ten Hoorn, platas, 1700. Holmes (Abel) American Annals, a Chronological History of America, 2 vols. Humboldt et Bonpland Voyage aux Regions Equinoxiales du Nouveau Continent, Paris, 1825. TNGINAC Secretaire Harden (under Boyer), Memoires, Kingston, Jamaica, 1843. Irving (Yv r ashington) History of the Life and Voyages of Columbus, 4 vols. Lond. 1828. JACKSON (Dr Robt.) Treatise on the Fevers of Jamaica, with Observa tions on the Intermittent Fever of America, 1791. Febrile Diseases, 1820. Jefferys (Thomas) Natural and Civil History of the French Dominions in North and South America, fol. Lond. 1760. A Description of tbfi Spanish Islands, &c., Lond. 1762. Juan (Don George, Capt. in Spanish Navy) A Voyage to South America, translated, Lond. 1807. de y Ulloa Noticias Secretas de America, 4to, Lond. 1826. LA AMERICA Cronica Hispano Americana, Madrid, 1854. Labat (R. P.) Nouveau Voyage aux lies de 1 Amerique, 8 vols. Paris. 1742. xxvi BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ST DOMINGO. La Croix (Pamphile, Lieut. -General Barno) Memoirs pour Servir a 1 Histoire de la Revolution de St Domingue, 2 vols. Paris, 1819. Laet (Joan de) Novis Orbis, Leyden, 1630. La Harpe Histoire Ge"n6rale des Voyages, Paris. Las Casas Eelation des Voyages et des Decouvretes que les Espagnols ont fait dans les Indes Occidentales, avec le Relation Curieuse des Voyages de Sieur Monteauban, Capitairi des Flibustiers, Amster dam, 1698. La Vega (Pedro de la) Cronica de los Frayles, &c., de Sant Hieronymo, Alcala, 1539. (Manuel de) Historia del Descubrimiento de la America, Mexico, 1826. L Espinasse de Langeac (N. de) Colomb dans les Fers, a poem, Lond. and Paris, 1782. Llorente (Juan Ant.) Annales de la Inquisicion, &c., plates, Madrid, 1841. Lyonnet (Le C.) Statistique de la Partie Espagnol de Saint Domingue, Paris, 1800. \ T^MACGREGOR (John) The Progress of America, 2 vols. Lond. 1847. Mackenzie (C., British Consul) Notes on Haiti during a Residence in that Republic, 2 vols. Lond. 1830. Macliou (Thomas, fils) Histoire d Haiti, 3 vols. 8vo, Port-au-Prince, 1847. Malenfant (Colonel) Des Colonies, et particulierement de St Domingue, Paris, 1814. Maries (M. la Croix de J.) Histoire Descriptive et Pittoresque de St Domingue, Tours, 1852. Metral (Ant.) Histoire de TExpedition des Francais & Saint Domingue, Paris, 1844. Metral (Antoine) Histoire de 1 Expedition Militaire des Francais a Saint Domingue, with Notes by Isaac, the son of Pierre Toussaint. portrait, 1841. Monardes Historia Medicinal de las Cosas que se Traen de Nuestras Indias Occidentales que sirven en Medecina, woodcuts, Seville, 1574. Montgomery (James) The West Indies, a poem, Lond. 1814. Moore (J. H.) A New and Complete Collection of Voyages, 2 vols. fol. illustrated, Lond. 1785. Moreau de Saint Mery Description Topographique, Physique, &c., de la Partie Francais de Tile de St Domingue, 2 vols. Phil. 1798. Partie Espagnol, 2 vols. 1796. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ST DOMINGO. xxvii Mosely (Dr Benj.) Treatise on Tropical Diseases and on the Climate ol the West Indies, 8vo, Lond. 1803. Muiioz (J. B.) Historia del Nuevo Mundo, 4to, Madrid, 1793. NAVARRETE (M. Fernandez de) Colleccion ineditos para servir por la Historia de Espana, Madrid, 1842. Navarrete (M. Fernandez de) Colleccion de los Viages y Descubri- mientos, &c., 5 vols. Madrid, 1825. Nicolai (Eliud) Navigationes in den West und Ost Indien der Holland. Engellandischen Compagnien, Munchen, 1619. Nicolaus Syllacias Letter, translated into English by the Rev, John Mulligan, New York, 1859. Nuix (El Abate Don Juan) Reflexiones Imparciales sobre la Hu- manidad de los Espanoles en las Indias, traducida, &e., Madrid, 1732. OEXMELIN (A. 0.) Histoire des Aventuriers des Boucaniers et de k Chambre des Comtes etablie dans les Indes, 2 vols., maps and plates, Paris, 1688. Ogilby s Accurate Description of the New World, with the Remarkable Voyages thither, &c., plates, 1671. Osier (Edward) The Voyage, a poem written in the West Indies, Lond. 1830. Oviedo (Gonzalo Fernandez de) Cronicas de las Indias, various editions ; La Historia General de las Indias, &c., 1547, 1535, 1851-5. PliiLOPONi (H.) Nova Typis, Navigatio in Novum Mundum. Pinkerton (John) General Collection of Voyages and Travels, illus trated, Lond. 1809. Placide Justin Histoire de 1 Ile de Hayti, Ecrite sur les Documents Officiel et des Notes Communiques par Sir Jas. Baskett, Paris, 1826. Poey (Andres) Article on Antiquities of St Domingo in Transactions of the American Ethnological Society, vol. iii. p. 1, New York, 1845. Ponce Recueil des Vues des Lieux Principaux de la Colonie de St Domingue, Paris, 1791, to accompany M. St Mery s work. ^ort-au- Prince Production Historique, Report des Gardes Nationals, / 4to, Port-au-Prince, 1792. Purchas His Pilgrimes, 5 vols. Lond. 1625. RAINSFORD (Marcus) Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti, &c., 4to, maps and plates, 1805. Raynal (G. T.) Histoire Philosophique et Politique des Etablissements xxviii BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ST DOMINGO. et du Commerce des Europeans dans les Deux Indes, 10 vols. Paris, 1820. Relacion Verdadera del Horrible Huracan que Sobrevino a la Isla St Domingo, Aug. 15, 1680, Madrid. Remy (Saint) Solution de la Question Haitienne, Paris, 1854. Petion et Haiti, Memoires pour Servir a 1 Histoire cle Haiti, 1851. L Ouverture, Chef des Noirs Insurge"es & St Domingue, Paris, 1850. Memoirs, &c., 1853. Revue des Deux Mondes (Various Articles), Paris. Robertson (Dr William) History of America, 4 vols. Lond. 1812. - Charles the Fifth, edited by W. H. Prescott, Lond. 1857. Robin (C. C.) Voyage dans Hnterieur de la Louisianne, St Domingue. &c., Paris, 1807. Rochefort (Poincy de Louis) Histoire Naturelle et Morale des lies Antilles, &c., Rotterdam, 1658. Rogers (Samuel) The Voyage of Columbus, a poem, Lorid. 1812. Roselly de Lorgues Vie et Voyages de Cristophe Colomb, 1 vol. 8vo illustrated, Paris, 1862. SAINT DOMINGO CONSTITUTION, St Domingo, 1854. Cuentas Generales, 1848. History of the Island of (attributed to Sir Jas. Baskett), Lond. 1818. Actos Legislatives, &c., de la Republica Dominicana, St Domingo, 1846. Essai sur 1 Histoire Naturelle de 1 Isle, Paris, 1776. Dios, Patria, y Libertad, a pamphlet, St Domingo, 1855. Sanchez y Valverde (Don Antonio) Idea del Valor de la Isla Espanola, Madrid, 1785. San Domingo Annexation of, pamphlet, anonymous, New York, 1870. Santo Domingo Report of the U. S. Commission of Inquiry to, Wash ington, 1871. Schoelcher (M. V.) Des Colonies Franaises, Paris, 1842. Schomburgk The History of Barbadoes, Lond. 1847. Notes on St Domingo, in Proceedings of British Association for 1851. Spain Ordenanzas Reales del Consejo de las Indias, Valladolid, 1603, and Madrid, 1585. (Church of) Historia y Origeii de las Rentas de la Yglesia de Espaiia, Madrid, 1828. TOBACCO Storia Distincta y Curiosa del Tobacco, &c., Ferrara, 1758. Trollope (Anthony) The West Indies, Lond. 1860. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ST DOMINGO. xxix VARNHAGEN (Francisco ad de) La Verdadera Guanahani de Colon, I Santiago de Chili, 1864. Ni^astey (Baron de) Essai sur les Causes des Revolutiones et des Guerres Civiles de Haiti, Sans Souci, 1819. Le Systeme Colonial Devoile, Cape Henry, 1814. Reflexions Politiques sur les Noirs et les Blancs, &c., Sans Souci, * 1817. t WALTON (W.) Present State of the Spanish Colonies, including a par ticular Account of Hispaniola, 2 vols. Lond. 1819. West India Sketch-Book, 2 vols. 12mo, Lond. 1834. - Directory, Lond. 1869. Whitehouse (W. F.) Essays on Sugar- Farming in Jamaica, 1843. WhiUier (John G.) Poetical Works, Lond. 1869. Wimpfeii (Baron de) Reisen nach St Doming Erfurt, 1798. NOTE. There have been at times also innumerable Pamphlets pub lished on Hayti by refugees and others, of which, though glanced at by the author, he does not deem it necessary to include in the above. SANTO DOMINGO. SANTO DOMINGO. CHAPTER I. " Nymphs of romance, Youths graceful as the fawn, with rapturous glance Spring from the glades, and down the green steeps run To greet their mighty guests, the children of the sun. " SANTO DOMINGO Its Extent, Location, Physical Peculiarities The Aborigines -Their Habits, Customs, &c. FIVE days good steaming from New York, or about twelve from Land s End, England, lies in the South Atlantic a famous island famous in ages past, and to be celebrated in the time to come, as the " cradle of the New World" StaDomingo. Notorious for its misfortunes and those of its inhabitants in many decades of years, it had in the past almost lost its existence in the political world ; and the names even of St Domingo and Hayti were held by many intelligent people to be those of two separate countries, until the efforts of the Republic of St Domingo to find a place of safety and pro tection among the United States of America has attracted attention to this almost forgotten yet historic isle. Probably no spot on earth, take it all together, and look ing at it in its natural aspects, can be found more lovely ; and it is safe to say, probably no extent of territory, the 3 2 SANTO DOMINGO. world over, contains within itself, under proper auspices, so many elements of prosperity, worldly success, and happi ness as the Island of St Domingo. Many circumstances serve to render the history of this island peculiarly interesting to every intelligent mind, for here we have realised, in almost every part, the actual exist ence and daily life of Columbus ; here we have the place first colonised in the New World by Europeans the start ing point of that civilisation which, spreading itself out in the New World, is now penetrating to those Indies of which the " Grand Admiral " thought this very island was a por tion ; here we have also the spot where was first inaugurated the beginning of African slavery in the Western World, as well as the real movement that has served to end it. Upon this spot has been wielded the power of almost every European Government, the blood of whose children has been lavishly poured forth upon its soil. Though fire and sword, cruelty, persecution, and blood shed have traversed this noble isle in almost every part, and often hand-in-hand, yet to-day it rests upon the bosom of those tropic seas, as beautiful, majestic, and fruitful in all its natural gifts as when Columbus first discovered it, waiting only the assistance of law and sound government, accompanied by intelligence, industry, and enterprise, to take its place in the political arena as one of the most favoured of states. Lying in the Atlantic Ocean at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, second of the Great Antilles to Cuba in size only, Santo Domingo yet, by its position and natural advantages, ranks first of all the beautiful islands in these waters ; and though to-day impoverished and a beggar, yet she will prove, under proper care, such a pre cious jewel to the power that may be induced to take her under its protection, as many kings would be glad to place in their crowns. The territorial extent of the whole island, from its ex treme eastern point to its most western cape (Tiburon), is ITS LOCATION. about 400 English miles; and the extreme breadth of its widest part nearly 180 miles the area within its bound aries, exclusive of the adjacent isles, being of about the same extent as Ireland, or 25,000 square miles. Of this territory, the negro Republic of Hayti occupies at the western end something less than one-third the whole extent, the remainder being nominally under the control of the Dominican Republic. Situated in 18 20 north latitude, and in longitude 68 40 west from Greenwich, St Domingo has for near neighbours Cuba, from which it is distant about 70 miles south-east ; from Jamaica, 130 miles north-east; and about 60 miles west-north-west of Puerto Rico ; possessing all the advan tages and few of the disadvantages of those three islands. Such is the peculiar formation of this magnificent land, that within its boundaries is found almost every variety of climate ; while in the character of its soils and vegetation, it is equally varied. This fact is due to certain peculiarities of its position, and to the singular manner in which its principal mountain ranges are placed. These consist generally of long chains, of which there are two principal ones, stretching the whole length of the island, their general direction being from east to west. From these principal ranges, which on each side leave a space nearly equal between them and the coast, but which do not always run parallel to one another, go a number of secondary chains, which, running in different directions, divide the land between into valleys as various in depth as extent ; and these valleys are again divided by hills and ridges of dimen sions as various as are the valleys they divide, so that the secondary chains and ridges appear like so many suppor ters given by Nature to the principal mountains. The secondary chains that run from the sides of the prin cipal ones towards the sea, divide the intermediate space into plains of various figures and extent ; and these plains are subdivided and sheltered by other ridges, which, going SANTO DOMINGO. sometimes even to the beach, serve them as a sort of bound aries or ramparts. The two great chains of mountains rise as they advance from the east; but this progressive elevation does not con tinue for more than forty leagues, after which the heights remain the same for a considerable distance. They seem to widen as they approach the west, till, coming to the middle of the narrow part of the island, they narrow again, still preserving their height, until, in fact, towards the western part, the mountains are almost piled on top of each other. For this reason, seen at sea, the whole island appears completely mountainous. But in this mountainous form lies the very secret of its great fertility, for these mountains act as immense reser voirs, whose waters, by means of innumerable rivers, are afterwards borne in every direction. They are the barriers erected by Nature to repel the violence of the winds, to temper the rays of a scorching sun, and to vary the tem perature of the air. With occasional exceptions, all these mountains are covered with vegetation of some sort, but principally of the most valuable kinds of trees, the wood of which is used in commerce ; and though the summits of some raise their rocky peaks bald of trees or vegetation, yet the majority are covered with mould, rich in the accumulated vegetable manure of centuries of decay. For the general reader, it will suffice to make himself familiar with the names of only the two principal ranges of mountains, the longest of which is the most southern ; beginning at the extreme eastern end of the island, and running nearly through its centre, it ends near Dondon in the Haytian part, thus dividing the Dominican portion into two districts, the North and South. This range is familiarly known as the Cordillera or Cibao range. Nearly parallel, and to the north of the Cibao, extends the great range known as the Monte Cristo mountains ; PHYSICAL FEATURES. beginning at the bay of that name, and running almost parallel with the line of the north coast, it finally ends in the peninsula of Samana. Between these two ranges lies probably one of the most fertile, beautiful, well-watered plains or valleys in the world, the famous " Vega Real," or Royal Plain of Columbus. The valleys of the Dominican part are more numerous and of greater extent than those in the Haytian, while the mountains of the former are notably rich in valuable mines and minerals; the climate and soil being equally varied throughout the two portions. Having given thus a casual glance at the general physical peculiarities of the island, we shall be better able to enjoy a journey over it, especially after glancing at some of the principal events of its history. The Dominican Republic having, by a vote of its people, expressed a desire to annex itself to the United States, ap plication to this effect was made by the Dominican authori ties in 1869, and after much discussion in the national halls of legislation, a commission was appointed by the United States Government to proceed to St Domingo, and investi gate the condition of affairs on that island and report thereon. This commission, sailing from the United States in the American man-of-war Tennessee, January 17, 1871, reached the island at Samana Bay, January 24. For his own purposes, as well as to act as an independent newspaper correspondent, the author left New York on the 1st day of February 1871 in the steamer Tybee, the only steam-vessel that keeps up communication between the Re public of St Domingo and the United States. The voyage, begun in the bitter weather of a Northern winter, was with out any event of interest to the general reader, and he can not do better, therefore, than occupy the time in reading over with me a few chapters of the history of the famous island for which we are bound. Those of_ us who had been in the tropics before, looked SANTO DOMINGO. forward to the time when we should once again breathe the delicious air of the balmy clime of the Antilles ; for there seems to be something particularly fascinating about the tropics, as well to Governments as to individuals : and we find it the same with both ; having tasted of the delights of the tropic clime, there remains always a desire to renew either acquaintance or possession once made therein. Looking back to the period when the New World was first discovered, we see, in the histories of the most prominent nations of the time, the intense desire of their rulers to become the possessors of domains described invariably in such glowing terms by the subjects sent out on voyages of discovery to those new and wondrous lands comprised in the general name of " The Indies;" desires which, being fulfilled, gave to the monarchies of the Old World, in almost every case, colonies and possessions in the Western World, some of which to this day, notwithstanding changes in government, domestic trouble, and long and bloody foreign wars, still remain attached thereto. Turning over the pages of the ancient chroniclers, we find they all agree in their descriptions of the flowery lands, uniting as they all do in using the most glowing language, as well as the most highly-coloured hyperbole, in their ac counts of these new countries. Even those adventurers who came from the sunny lands of the South of Europe, and who, it might be supposed, were well familiarised to the charms and novelties of the azure skies, gorgeous colouring, and luxuriant vegetation of the tropics, are in nowise behind their more phlegmatic brethren of the North in their glowing eulogies of the new " Paradise." Reading some of the descriptions of the great Columbus himself, written to his benefactors iinder the influence of his first impressions of the West Indies, we seem rather to be reading the warm and glowing descriptions of romantic youth, than the staid, cautious relation of a man of mature life, such as he is described to have been at this period ; and COLUMBUS. as we scan the outlines of the picture that seems more likely to be a true likeness than many of the others of him, we look in vain in the features of the calm, dignified man before us for the writer of such lines as these concerning St Domingo: " I swear to your majesties there is not in the world a Columbus. (Charton.)* better nation nor a better land ; they love their neighbours as themselves, and their discourse is ever sweet and gentle, * From the portrait in the gallery of Paolo Giovo (born at Como in 1483), who had a beautiful collection of portraits of the distinguished men of his time, aud who always considered this as representing with fidelity the features of Columbus. SANTO DOMINGO. and accompanied with a smile; and though it is true that they are naked, yet their manners are decorous and praiseworthy." When Columbus, traversing, in his first voyage in Decem ber 1492, the narrow channel that separates Cuba from St Domingo, came in sight of the latter island, he found a land even more beautiful in his eyes than that of Cuba, in the description of whose shores he had already almost ex hausted the language of panegyric ; and of the actual supe riority of St Domingo in every respect he gave practical illustration by founding a colony on its north coast, giving to the island the name, it seems, in honour of his adopted country, of HispaSola, or Little Spain, imagining that it resembled the " most favoured provinces of Andalusia." As to the number of the original inhabitants found on this island at the time of its discovery, the authorities of the time differ in placing the total at from one to three millions; but of the appearance, manners, and customs of the natives they all fortunately pretty nearly agree. Columbus himself states, that sending a party of men to one of the villages, now thought to be Grosmorne, in Hayti, they found it to consist of nearly a thousand houses, showing that there were at the time towns of some extent. The original inhabitants were a mild and peaceful race, recommending themselves to Columbus by their " sweet ness of temper;" of rather tall and graceful form, but, on the part of the men, of hideous visage, with nostrils wide and open, and teeth badly discoloured. Their skin was of a yellowish brown colour naturally, but from the habit of anointing their bodies with "roucou," and other extracts of vegetable matter, to protect the skin from the attacks of insects, it had a reddish appearance. The women were considered as rather comely in face as in form, it being related that they took great fancy to the Europeans ; and the Spanish chronicles are filled with romantic episodes of the connections formed between the natives and the adventurers. ABORIGINES. Both men and women were abundantly supplied with long- black hair on their heads. The females of mature age alone wore clothing, consisting of a simple skirt of cotton cloth .around the waist, and extending, to the knees ; while the men, 3 r oung girls, and children were usually perfectly nude. The shape of head peculiar to these people was produced by artificial means, that forced almost entirely away the forehead. This was brought about by the mothers, who took care to hold the head of the child strongly pressed between the hands, or two pieces of flat board, while the children were yet newly born ; " from which," naively says an old writer, " when the children grew up, their skulls became so hard and compressed, that the Spaniards fre- Caribbean skull, after Gall. quently broke their swords in two when they attempted to cut open their heads." They all seemed possessed of a phlegmatic temperament, the men especially inclined to melancholy ; and it is related they ate very little food, and that of the simplest nature, a peculiarity noticed among their descendants to-day. A crab, a few roots or vegetables, sufficed to nourish them ; but they were not endowed with much physical strength, and yet there were many long-lived people among them. They did no work, passing their lives in the greatest idle ness ; they danced a greater part of the day, and when they 10 SANTO DOMINGO. could do that no longer, they slept. They had no hopes, de sires, or ambitions, and some writers say they were without passions ; but the account others give of their habits of in dulgence, of the plurality of wives, and of their fierceness in conflict when roused, show that this was an error. They had no history, no writings, naught but traditions, upon which have been generally conjectured the theories of the authors of the time; their songs alone gave idea of these traditions, and to these they danced, the accompaniment being the noise made by beating on a tambor or drum of peculiar construction, made of a hollow cylinder of wood, entirely closed except an opening, in the side, and this drum was at times beaten by the principal man or chief. The same instrument, somewhat varied in shape, seems to be often used by the Africans to-day in Cuba. These dances were of various kinds; sometimes the men were ranged on one side, the women on the other ; some times they began one by one, until the whole assembly were on their feet. Reading the account of these people in the early writers, one is not surprised to learn that they were a listless energy-lacking people, for they committed the gross est sensual excesses ; they danced until they could dance no more, and falling upon the ground, they intoxicated them selves with the fumes of tobacco, which they produced in a peculiar way. Upon some half-burning branches they spread some leaves of the tobacco -plant not yet quite dry, then they took a tube made in the form of a Y, the foot of which they placed in the smoke, and its two arms in their nostrils, inhaling through it until they were intoxicated by the fumes of the tobacco, when, prostrated upon the ground, they remained in a state of stupefaction, from which they recovered utterly inert and feeble; the Cacique alone being- carried from the scene of these orgies by his women to a bed or hammock. CANOES. 11 Polygamy seemed to be the custom, and the women had charge of the funeral ceremonies of their husbands, having the privilege (?), if they desired, of putting themselves to death on the bodies of their deceased spouses. They seem to have had no implements or tools of any kind, if we except a sort of hatchet, made of stone, with which they dressed their canoes or piraguas, which they made ex clusively out of trees by burning out the trunks, and to get the tree down, a fire was built round the base of it until Canoe. (Oviedo.) it toppled over. These canoes were peculiar in shape, differ ing from those of the Indians of North America, and yet were very serviceable in the usually placid waters of the islands, being propelled by paddles, and occasionally by a small sail of cotton cloth. , The habitations of these people were in accordance with the mild character ol their climate, their houses being sim ply huts of various dimensions, constructed of the bamboo, roofed with thatch, or roofed and walled with the palm bark or leaf. These huts contained usually but one room, and were always only one story in height, though some of 12 SANTO DOMINGO. the better cabins had in front a portico, which seems to have been considered amongst them a mark of wealth or distinction. In the gardens, if they can be called such, of their habi tations, the owners grew a few fruits and vegetables, including the maize or Indian-corn, of which latter Benzoni says they harvested two crops a year, and from . its grain they made, in the rudest manner, a kind of bread, apparently similar to the " corn dodgers " of the southern United States. Benzoni s description of the wine made also from the Indian-corn is not calculated to encourage a taste for that. beverage on the part of the novice ; for, he says, the grain, at one period of the manu facture, was masticated by the women, who, putting it in their mouths, slow ly chewed it, and then, (Hut. Oviedo) with an error t, coughed the material out upon a platter or leaf, from whence WINE-MAKING. 1-3 it was thrown into a jar with, the other mixture, and boiled. Wine-making. (Beuzoni.) Curiously enough, this method of wine-making prevails to-day among some of the islands of the Pacific Ocean. The natives used also another kind of bread, called cassava, made from the manioc or yuca root ; and many of their customs, as described, are similar to those of the people of the interior of the island to-day. The wonderful fertility of the soil, in those early days, may be judged from the fact that the only implement used in its cultivation was a pointed stick, burned hard in the fire, with which holes were Idol SANTO DOMINGO. made in the ground, into which were placed the seeds of the few plants they needed to cultivate. The same products brought forth then by the bountiful hand of Nature are still poured out in lavish profusion, al most unaided by the hand of man. The religion of these islanders was the worship of idols, cut out of stone, in the rudest manner, to represent grotesque animals or human beings, the name of these gods being zemes. One of their traditions was, that the sun and moon came out of a cavern of their isle, and were made to enlighten the world; to this cavern the natives made pilgrimages ; one of these had an entrance, it is related, near Dondon, in the northern part of Hayti ; and St Mery says, when he visited it, as late as 1789, remnants Idol. Figures cut in the rock. RELIGION. 15 of rude sculpture on the walls of the grotto, and idols, were yet to be seen there ; while traces of the offerings brought for the gods have been found in many of the caverns in the island. The special ceremony seems to have been one appointed by the Cacique, calling all the people together on a certain day ; and they, joining in procession, with the Cacique at their head, resorted to the temple, where were the gods and the priests or " butios," being accompanied in their march Curing the sick. (Hakluyt after Benzoni.) by the beating of drums and tambours. Offerings were made of various kinds, often amid the wildest cries and noises; " and others," says Benzoni, " put sticks down their throats when they went before the idols, so that their gods might see that they had nothing bad in their hearts or stomachs when they vomited." The priests acted as doctors, using plants in lieu of drugs, making particular use of tobacco in most cases, which they administered to the patient until he was 4 16 SANTO DOMINGO. stupefied, and upon returning to himself he was considered as cured. The original name of the island was Haiti, which among the natives signified high ground; and in the eastern part they had another name, Quisqueya, signifying mother of the earth ; while, in the western part, it was called Babeque or Bohio, which signified land of many villages or habitations. At the time of its discovery, it was divided into five large divisions, each under the government of a Cacique (a name equally applicable to a chief or a province), and each of these divisions was subdivided into minor provinces. The government was despotic, though it seems to have been mild in its execution of authority, except in extreme cases, as in robberies, where the offender was impaled to death. The government of the principalities was hereditary, but if a Cacique died without children, his estates passed to his sisters rather than his brothers, for the reason, as they held, that the children were more likely to be of pure blood. The following were the five districts, viz. : Magua, in the Indian dialect signifying " realm of the plain," its capital being where was afterwards built the old town of Concepcion de la Vega, in the interior of the island : its chief was Griiarionex. Marien had its capital in the vicinity of Cape Haytien or Francais, its chief being Guacanarie. Higuey had its capital in the present village of the same name, so renowned in the annals of superstition of the island, the Cacique Cayacoa having it under his command. Maguana had its capital where now is San Juan, the Cacique being the famous Caonabo, so celebrated in the sad but romantic history of these people. Xaragua had its capital in the plain of the cul de sac in the Haytian part, where was at one time the old town of the same name. Bebechio was its chief. DIVISIONS. Though the island was thus subdivided, there appears to have been but one race upon it, unless the theory that some authors have raised, that those in the western part, from being more warlike and savage in their manners, were of a distinct race : but the same language, with some varia tions, seems to have prevailed. This language, says Charlevoix, was not rude or uncouth. Hammock. (Oviedo.) but was easy to learn, and some of their words were after wards incorporated in the dialect of the island. From their word canoa came canot (canoe); from cV uracane (hurricane), ouragan ; while not only was the word cVamacha (ham mock) adopted, but the article itself found its way into general use by the new-comers. CHAPTER IT. When first Columbus dared the Western Main, Spanned the broad gulf, and gave a world to Spai: How thrilled his soul with tumults of delight, When through the silence of the sleepless night Burst shouts of triumph ! " THE CONQUEST Landing of Columbus First Settlement- Columbus s Return on Second Voyage, and Founding of the First Permanent Colony Expeditions to the Interior- Settlements there Rapid Advance of the Island Columbus" s Hard Treatment Ovando s Rule. AT daybreak, on the morning of the 6th of December 1492, Christopher Columbus found himself a short distance from the north-west coast of the island of Hayti ; and at vespers of the same day he entered a bay on the same coast, which, in honour of its being the fete day of San Nicolas, he called by that name, and which it has retained up to the present time. A drawing, said to have been made by Columbus, at tempts to give an idea of his first arrival off the island. It suggests, however, but two ideas, that the country was hilly and that the inhabitants went naked ; but his written descriptions give a very accurate idea of the country. In fact, the traveller of to-day, with these in his hand, will need no better guide to the general characteristics of this very same coast. Sailing leisurely along the coast, he entered a port that he called Concepcion ; and there erecting a cross upon the shore, he took possession of the island for the King and Queen of Spain, giving it the name, which it bore for a FIRST SETTLEMENT. 19 long time among the early writers, of " Hispanola," many of whom spoke of it also as " the Spanish Island." The first settlement was temporarily made in the Bay of St Thomas, to-day called Aeul (in Haiti), and originated Sketch by Columbus. through the wrecking of one of the two remaining caravels : for Martin Pinzon had deserted Columbus off the coast of Cuba with the third. From the materials of the wreck a fort or tower- was built, which was called La Navidad. 20 SANTO DOMINGO. Here it was that Columbus first heard of the gold regions of the Cibao; but, natur ally enough, his great aim was now to return safely to Spain, and make known the news of his great dis covery. Having therefore gathered from the Indians many articles rudely work ed in gold, as well as other curiosities, he was anxious to set sail, and convey the grand tidings in person to his sovereigns. He left, therefore, a small party of men with munitions, provisions, and other supplies, to keep them for a year, giving also abundant instruc tions as to their conduct during his absence ; and on the 4th January 1493 he took his leave of them, not one of whom was he ever to see again. Sailing eastward along the coast, and stopping occa sionally, he was joined at Monte Cristo by the missing vessel that he had parted from in Cuba ; and having a favourable wind, he set sail, continuing his voyage. At one of these stoppages, Columbus saw a new sort of creature, which he gravely stated to be sirens or mermaids, but which were the "manati" or sea-cow, which are still found in these waters, and which, from their strange form, their gambols in the water, and the peculiar plaintive cry they emit, might readily, when seen at a distance, be taken by the novice for semi-human beings. Finally, having reached the Bay of Samana, he deter mined to set sail for Spain, which place he reached the 15th The Caravels. SECOND EXPEDITION. 21 of March 1493, entering into the port of Palos, from whence he had sailed the 3d of August in the preceding year. The important results of this great discovery were now to be realised ; for, after the reception of Columbus, and the excitement caused thereby, had somewhat subsided, attention was given to the means to profit by this great discovery, and immediate preparations were made to fit out an expedition on a larger scale. The departure of this second expedition was very different from that of the first, for gathered together in the Bay 01 Cadiz were seventeen vessels of different sizes, two of them being of the largest class ; and upon these were gathered some 1200 men, of every rank and station, from the noble to the humble labourer; there were also skilful pilots, as well as many artisans of various kinds. Stores of all kinds were also put on board, as well for the purposes of existence as for trading, while particular attention was paid to the supplies needed by a new colony in making a permanent settlement. Upon Columbus himself had been bestowed the chief command of the expedition, and to him had been ac corded also unlimited power over the new territory. Among the supplies, one of the most important in the future welfare of the colony was the different animals taken out for breeding purposes ; for, strangely enough, the islands of the Antilles do not seem to have been possessed of quad rupeds of any note, and mention is made of only some four kinds, all of which are to-day extinct except the agouti. Of these, the coati, a sort of cat, and the cories or agouti, a species of hare, are only mentioned as furnishing animal food to the natives, if we except the flesh of the iguana, which still exists, and is considered a great delicacy. On the 25th September 1493, in the presence of a vast concourse of spectators, this second expedition set sail from the Bay of Cadiz, and after a prosperous voyage, touching at various points and islands, the fleet came to anchor in the Bay of Samana, the 22d November 1493. SANTO UOMINGO. On coasting the shore of the north coast for the Bay of ISt Thomas, the Admiral was informed by an Indian of the fate that had befallen the settlers he had left at La Navidad, in that bay, by which every one had perished at the hands of the natives, in revenge for injuries inflicted on them by the Spaniards, and the settlement had been reduced to ashes. The Agouti. Columbus then resolved to establish his new city in a dif ferent place ; and after having sen t some parties into the region about Monte Cristo to explore the country, he continued along the coast, until, deeming it a favourable place, he established, on the banks of a small stream, his new settle ment, which, in honour of the Queen, he called Isabella. EXPLORATIONS. 23 This settlement, with the intention of making it per manent, he laid out in the form of a regular town, with streets at right angles, and constructed there also a sub stantial church of stone, as also some of the officers houses of the same material ; the whole being surrounded by a wall and ditch, as a protection against the Indians. The Coati. Having thus made a starting-point in the island, he began to send out expeditions to the interior, and so favour able were the reports made by these parties on their return, that he determined himself to penetrate into the interior, to the region described to him at St Thomas, which he called Cipangi, celebrated for its gold ; this is the region known then, as now, as the Cibao. 24 SANTO DOMINGO. Elated with these descriptions, and anticipating much for the future, the Admiral determined to send advices to Spain, and on the 2d of February 1494, he despatched the fleet, loaded with gold specimens and other products, send ing by it also glowing accounts to the King and Queen of the advantages that would accrue to Spain by the rapid colonisation of the island. Columbus seems to have been unfortunate in the selection of his first site for a settlement, as the spot chosen was a very unhealthy one ; and is to-day a noted place for fevers, it being in a low marshy situation, and in some degree sheltered from the healthful breezes of the north ; from hence, however, he despatched Ojeda to explore the interior. Many of his people were taken sick, and he himself, worn out with work and care, fell a prey to the attacks of disease, but happily recovering, he made preparations for a journey to the interior, from which he was delayed by the discovery of an insurrection incited by Bernal Diaz and his friends, that had for its object the breaking up of the colony, and the returning to Spain of the colonists, on the plea that the promises of gold were a delusion, as this mineral was only to be found in the smallest quantity, that which was in the pos session of the natives being the accumulation of many years. Columbus having put an end to this mutiny, and punished some of the mutineers, sallied out the 14th day of March 1494, at the head of 400 men, on his expedition to the inte rior ; and following the route taken by Ojeda in his expedi tion, he penetrated with much difficulty into the interior of the region known as the Cibao, where, on the banks of the river Janico, he established a fortress, which he called St Thomas, presumed to be in the now impenetrable region known as the Valla de Constanza. On the completion of this fort, he gave the command of it to Pedro de Margarita, and returned, March 29, 1494, to Isabella, which he had left under the governorship of his brother Don Diego. DISCONTENTME NT. 25 Here he found matters in a very unsettled state, for the inhabitants were discontented and sick, many of them utterly disappointed and desponding over the paradise that had been so glowingly described to them. This state of affairs, in addition to the unhealthiness of the locality, was caused from the fact that many of the settlers were utterly useless, inefficient men, who joining the expedition without the slightest knowledge of any vocation or trade, had ex pected they were simply to pick up gold as they wanted, while leading a life of indulgence and idleness. Columbus receiving at this time news from the fort that he had established in the interior of a threatened attack of the now united Indians against it, he deemed this a good opportunity to rid the town of these fractious spirits, and under the plea of strengthening that garrison, he selected all such men, to the number of 400, and sent them under Ojeda to the interior. Columbus now occupied himself in regulating the affairs of Isabella, which being permanently established, became the first Christian settlement in the New World. He created a council, over which presided his brother Diego, composed of the priest Father Boil and four of the most prominent men, and fondly hoped from this small beginning the greatest results would flow. Columbus, in thus establishing the colony of Isabella, had set up the corner-stone of civilisation in the New World, upon which were to be erected structures that he in his wildest dreams had never pictured ; and as little dreamed he that, within 300 years of his great discovery, his own last resting-place, though within the very walls of a city he himself had originated, would be a matter of doubt, uncer tainty, and neglect ; while the spot which he established in grateful remembrance of the Queen his benefactress, and to which he gave her name, should be a deserted heap of ruins, entirely obscured by the rank vegetation of the land he had described to her in such glowing terms. 26 SANTO DOMINGO. But the tide of emigration, once started for these new lands, ceased not to flow ; and each year, while he himself was prosecuting further voyages of discovery, saw accessions to the numbers of those who, spreading themselves through out the island, managed to gain riches which, in most cases. were acquired not only at the expense of the liberty, but of the lives of the native inhabitants. During Columbus absence on further voyages of dis covery, the Indians had united their forces, and given the Spaniards of the interior much trouble ; so that, on the re turn of the Admiral, on the 4th of September, sick, and worn out with fatigue, he was compelled to take very decided A Spanish Attack. (De Bry.) action against them, the more especially as at Isabella the council and authorities had been occupying themselves in quarrels and dissensions rather than with the necessary cares of the colony. The native chiefs were now, with one exception, united in open arms against the Spaniards, besieging them in their fort of St Thomas ; and therefore, taking with him a strong force, Columbus started, March 27, 1495, from Isabella, on a tour of complete conquest, in which he not only rescued the beleaguered garrison, but forced the Indians to make GOLD-MINES. 27 peace, while at the same time he established another fort in the interior, called Concepcion. These trips of the Spa niards into the depths of a savage wilderness infested with large numbers of hostile Indians seem, as we read their accounts in early writers, or the glowing pages of Irving, like fabled romance; and it is only when we discover that these parties of adventurers, small in number as they were, owed great part of their success to the fact that their armour protected them from the rude missiles of the disproportionate numbers of the Indians, while the effect of the fiery Spanish horses, animals entirely unknown to the natives, added to the use of their arquebusses, actually quelled the Indians into submission, as much by their effect morally as by then- positive use. The success of the Spaniards was followed by the capture of two of the principal chiefs, and by the imposition upon the different tribes of a tribute, to be paid in gold and cot ton ; and from this time forth may be dated the beginning of that servitude of the natives, which, in a very few years, was to sweep them almost entirely from the island, such was the severity of the yoke imposed upon them by the Spaniards. Before the contemplated return of Columbus to Spain, in formation was brought him by one Miguel Diaz of the dis covery of some gold-mines in the banks of the river Jaina, ei:ht leagues from its mouth, towards the southern side of O O / the island ; and such was the enthusiasm created by this news, that Columbus authorised his brother Bartholomew to investigate the fact, and finding the news founded in truth, directed him to establish a fort there, as also to enter into the working of the mines. Meanwhile, as he himself had determined to return to Spain, he appointed his brother Bartholomew to be chief- in-command during his absence, with the title of Adelan- tado or Governor, and designating also, in case of accident, his other brother, Diego, to succeed him. The Admiral 28 SANTO DOMINGO. having sailed for Spain the 10th of March 1496, the Ade- lantado set himself to work to carry out the plans of Colum bus in the working of the mines, and leaving his "brother Diego in command at Isabella, he himself went to Jaina, where were established the works known as those of Buena ventura, still in existence in a ruined condition, north of the town of San Christobal. Here he remained some three months, when he deemed it necessary to visit the town of Concepcion, in the interior, to receive the tribute from the natives. The arrival of reinforcements and supplies at Isabella shortly after brought the news of the safe return of Columbus to Spain, and his honoured reception there, as well as an order from the Admiral for the Adelantado to establish a settlement on the Ozama river, at its mouth, where it emptied into the southern sea. The Adelantado complied with these instructions by going himself to estab lish on the left bank of the river the town, which was at first called New Isabella, but afterwards received the name of Santo Domingo, the first stone being laid there on the 4th August 1496; and with the foundation of this famous city began the career of glory and discovery in the New World destined to render immortal the names of so many Spaniards. The Adelantado seems to have been an earnest, energetic man, and every effort was used by him to further the inte rests of the colony ; and we find him at this time making continual journeys throughout the island, now establishing a new town, now developing a mine, and again making war upon the rebellious natives. Meanwhile, at the first settlement established, the town of Isabella, matters were going from bad to .worse, for affairs there were in a most deplorable state, owing to the general sickness of the inhabitants, and the cessation of agricultural labours, caused by the flight of the Indians, who, driven to a labour to which they were entirely unaccustomed, under ROLDAN. 29 the harshest kind of treatment, sought relief in the woods and mountain fastnesses. Following close upon this state of things came the mutiny, of Roldan, who had been appointed alcalde-mayor, or chief- justice of the town, and who, in his ambitious projects, de sired to have the chief command. Notwithstanding the active efforts of the two Columbuses, this mutiny gained strength and followers among the discontented colonists, and they had even the audacity to sack the public storehouses at Isabella ; a state of affairs that continued until Columbus himself returned from Spain, the 30th of August 1498. Columbus, mortified with the state of affairs in the colony, used every effort to bring about peace and tran quillity among the colonists ; but the power of Roldan had increased to such an extent, that, humiliating as it was to the feelings of the great commander to make terms with the rebel, he, for the sake of the welfare of the colony, com promised with Roldan and his followers, by which the former was reinstated in his office of alcalde-mayor, while those of his followers who wished to remain were each allotted a certain amount of land, and a certain number of Indians to work the same ; the others were permitted to return to Spain. By this act was established that system known as repartimientos, destined to be such a cause, in the future, of quarrels amongst the Spaniards and misery to the aborigines. Columbus, who had established himself at St Domingo, was not, however, destined to remain without further troubles ; for the Indians known as the Ciguayos endea voured to release their captured chief Mayobanex by a rising against the Spaniards; and this affair was hardly quelled when Ojeda attempted to enslave the Indians for the purpose of carrying a number of them to the newly- acquired lands of Terra Firma. In both these affairs, the former rebel, Roldan, acquitted himself with honour, honesty, and bravery in asserting the rights of Columbus. 30 SANTO DOMINGO, ."- -----._ --,-.-- =^^r=rj:rr^^_. ,. .. _-::-,- Matters being however tranquillised, affairs in the colony began to improve : the mines were in profitable working order, and great advances were made in agriculture, while many towns in the island were permanently established: and we find in 1499 among these the names mentioned of Santo Domingo, Isa bella, Concepcionde la Vega, Santiago, Puerto Plata, and Bonao as flourish ing places, while others that had been temporarily estab lished were dying- out. The year 1500 will always be memor able in the annals of the island as that in which the in famous Bobadilhi came out from Spain, arriving at. The Citadel. St Domingo city at a time when Colum bus was in the in terior of the island. Although this officer was sent out from Spain clothed with certain powers and authority to investigate matters on the island, he so far ex ceeded these as to seize upon the persons of Columbus and his brother Bartholomew, and throw them into prison, treat ing them with every indignity, even to sending them to Spain in chains. The cell in which they were confined is ST DOMINGO REBUILT. 31 still shown in the old citadel of St Domingo city, and is a moderate-sized square room, with a grated window in the immensely thick wall, a limited space for a man who had given such immense territories to the world. Happily for the island, the governorship of this man lasted for a short time only, as no sooner did the news reach Spain of his treatment of Columbus, than Nicholas de Ovando was appointed Governor of the island, as also of all the Indies. Going out in great state, with a large number of followers, Ovando took with him a plentiful supply of arms and artillery ; and on the 15th April 1502, he reached the island and relieved Bobadilla of his command. The superstitious might think, in the events that imme diately follow, there was a miraculous intervention of Pro vidence in favour of Columbus, who having been restored to favour, was again in these waters with his fleet on another voyage of discovery, and being desirous of changing one of his vessels, had sought refuge at St Domingo. Ovando, however, declined to allow him to enter the port, and Co lumbus foreseeing and prophesying a storm, took shelter in the Bay of Ocoa. Meanwhile, some of the property of Columbus had been placed upon the vessels of the fleet in which Bobadilla was intending to return to Spain, and in the same fleet was Roldan, and the chief Guarionex. Though Columbus gave warning of the threatened storm, no attention was paid to it, and the fleet had hardly set sail when the storm broke upon it, and the whole of the vessels, with the exception of two, were lost with all their crews. In these two vessels was the property of Columbus. In the same storm the town of St Domingo was utterly annihilated. Ovando the Governor, who seems to have been a man of great energy, resolved, however, to rebuild the city, but upon the other side of the Ozama, on the site of the present city ; and with its re-erection begins a career of unexampled 32 SANTO DOMINGO. prosperity for the island, a career which unfortunately lasted but for a limited period of years. The building of the new city did not, however, prevent Ovando from prosecuting the war for the entire conquest of the island from the aborigines, for he carried on his opera tions against them with such zeal, that it was not long before the two remaining principalities of Jaragua and Higuey were subdued, but not until deeds of treachery, cruelty, and bloodshed were "perpetrated that will for ever cast a blot upon the name of Qvando. The reader of Irving will readily recall some of the romantic passages in these bloody annals, in which the sad story of the Princess Anacoana and the Cacique Cotubanama are related at length. Suffice it to say here, that with their capture may be said to have ended the period of the con quest of the island. CHAPTER III. ; The Spaniard came . . . With toil and woes he crushed his wretched slaves, Till murdered nations sunk into their graves ; Then, to replace his victims, fiercely tore The helpless negro from his native shore." THE EARLY SPANIARDS Their Treatment of the Natives Ovan- do s Rule Habits of the Spaniards Negro Slaves Rapid Decrease of the Aborigines Sugar-making Diego Columbus and his Successors The War of Enrique, and Final Peace. TVTHILE Columbus, on his fourth voyage, after having warred with some furious hurricanes and violent tempests, was obliged to take shelter in Jamaica, the Island of St Domingo was the theatre of several remark able events. This colony, the model and the source of all the later establishments that Spain has founded in the New World, acquired by degrees the form of a society regular and flourishing. The tender care, full of humanity, that the Queen Isa bella had evinced for the protection of the Indians, and the special laws passed, by which was enacted their free dom from oppression and enforced labour, delayed for some time the industrial interests of the island ; because the natives, seeing happiness only in the indulgence of their indolent habits, could not be tempted to physical labour by the doubtful promises and recompenses of the Spaniards, their conquerors ; the result of which was, that the latter 34 SANTO DOMINGO. lacked the necessary labourers for the working of the mines and the cultivation of the soil. Accustomed to the service of the Indians, several of the first colonists abandoned the island when they saw them selves deprived of the instruments without which they could do nothing ; added to this, some maladies peculiar to it, or, perhaps, created by the imprudence of new comers, developed themselves ; and a great number of those who had arrived with Ovando succumbed to the at tacks of disease, and in a short time more than a thousand perished, because, without food and preparation, they had proceeded to the mines, where they died of sickness and starvation. The demand of half the product of the mines required on the part of the sovereigns, seemed such an onerous con dition, that no person was willing to engage in their work ing at this price, and the ruin of the colony from these causes appeared inevitable. In truth, it would not have been able to have sustained itself from the fate that threat ened it, had not Ovando taken upon himself the responsi bility of modifying the royal ordinances. It was the new distribution of Indians he made on this occasion that had brought about the uprising of the natives against this enforced labour; and even he, fearing that he would be accused of having forced the Indians again into servitude, ordered that their masters should pay them a regular sum as legitimate recompense for their labour ; he also reduced the portion of gold intended for the King from one half to a third, and then to a fifth, a tax at which it remained fixed a long time. It is curious, in this connection, to read the accounts of the habits of these early adventurers. Many of them were the very dregs of the population of Spain ; in fact, in order to get recruits at one time, Columbus had induced the authorities of Spain to pardon all such malefactors as would agree to emigrate to the new colony. Again, EARLY SPANIARDS. 35 though many of the emigrants were of the labouring class, accustomed to work for their living in Spain, yet so strong a hold had the thought of finding gold taken upon them, that they had no idea of labouring them selves in the New World ; but constitut ing themselves masters, they sought to force the natives to labour for them, While they exer- A Spanish Master. (DeBry.) cised an easy superin tendence, swinging in a hammock. Others again, sarcas tically observes an old writer, who in Spain had never known Spaniard in litter. even the luxury of riding a mule, were not content, when they had gained some riches in the New World, unless they were conveyed in a luxurious litter, between the poles of which were the native Indians. The Indians, who had been enjoying the privileges of freedom from labour and oppression, already felt in their first servitude, found this new yoke press so heavily upon 36 SANTO DOMINGO. them, that they made several new attempts to recover their liberty. The Spaniards always treated these efforts as rebellion, and took arms against the natives with this idea. It is easy to imagine the result, in a contest between savages, entirely naked, on one side, and, on the other, one of the most warlike nations of Europe, where science, courage, and discipline were pitted against timidity and ignorance. The natives were, from the commencement, treated not as people struggling for their rights and freedom, but as slaves revolted against their masters. No distinction was made by the Spaniards in their treat ment of these poor people ; the Cacique was as brutally punished as his most humble follower, and this in spite of the treaty that had been made between the Spaniards and natives ; and the unjust war made against the people of the province of Higuey had ended in the unwarranted hanging of the chief for having defended his people with a bravery superior to that of his fellow-patriots. It was in such a state of affairs that Columbus, return ing from his fourth voyage of discovery, in which he had been wrecked on the Isle of Jamaica, had stopped at St Domingo city, where he was well received by the Governor. Ovando ; but who offended Columbus sense of dignity by releasing from arrest one of his men, Porras, whom the Admiral himself had ordered to be confined on board one of his ships, in order that he might be sent to Spain to be tried for mutiny while at Jamaica. This shameful humiliation was too much for the feelings of Columbus, and caused him such mortification, that he set sail from the island for Spain, never again to return to the New World alive. This event, in 1504, was soon fol lowed by the death of his benefactress, the Queen Isabella, who died the same year, an event that was fraught with such portentous consequences for the Indians. In memory of her who had been known as the protec- OVANDO S RULE. 37 tress of the Indians, her husband. King Ferdinand, pro posed to liberate them all from a state of servitude and threatened destruction, and for this purpose he sent to Ovando new orders, tending to better the condition of the Indians. As the new plan would destroy entirely the system of the repartimientos upon which the colonists now founded their hopes of future riches, it became the object of the most terrible opposition, and the Indians remained subject to their yoke in spite of the royal order, for they were utterly powerless to help themselves. Intimidated and humiliated by the atrocious treatment that they had re ceived, the inhabitants of the whole island submitted without further resistance ; and the bloody Ovando, ignor ing the royal mandate, and henceforth held by no check, divided the Indians among his friends and creatures. It is, however, due to him to say, that he governed the Spaniards with a wisdom and justice very dissimilar to the barbarity that he exercised over the vanquished natives. He established equitable laws, and executed them with impartiality, and accustomed the colonists to respect them; he founded several towns in different parts, and drew to them inhabitants by conceding various privileges. He sought also to bring the attention of the Spaniards to some branch of industry more useful than the mere work ing of mines, in many cases unprofitable ; and the sugar cane having been brought to the island in 1506 from the Canaries, the richness of the soil and the fertility of the climate appeared so favourable to this culture, that it was soon made an object of speculation. Though the apparatus for its manufacture was of the rudest kind, large plantations were formed, mills estab lished, and in a few years the manufacture of sugar was the principal occupation of the colonists, and the most abundant source of their riches. Though the wise measures that Ovando took were prin- 38 SANTO DOMINGO. cipally seconded by the attention that King Ferdinand, gave to the laws and the police of the island, it was menaced by a quick destruction. Sugar-making. (De Bry.) The natives, upon whose labours the Spaniards had counted for the success of their enterprises, and even for the supplies for their own existence, died so rapidly, that the extinction of the entire race became probable. When Columbus discovered St Domingo, it certainly had, at the lowest estimate, a million of inhabitants ; fifteen years were now elapsed, and they were reduced to 60,000, a result caused by the combination of certain circumstances. The natives, possessing a constitution more feeble than that of the Europeans, could not stand the same amount of labour or fatigue ; and the indolence and inaction in which they had previously passed their lives, as well as the inroads made upon their constitutions by their habits NATIVE DEPOPULATION. 39 of excess, rendered them incapable of any sustained effort? especially when suddenly begun and long continued, as was the case when they were driven to their hard daily labour ; and though their habits were thus materially changed, it does not seem that their food was improved to a more substantial fare. The Spaniards, never relenting in their vocation of taskmasters, pushed these poor people to the utmost ex tremity, until, worn out, without strength or hopes, they put an end in various ways to their unfortunate lives. Benzoni has made this a subject of one of his illustra tions, so well known was this fact among the early chroniclers ; and following him, De Bry has represented a perfect saturnalia of suicide, in which every means is resorted to by the natives to end their own lives and that of their families. Suicides. (Benzoni,) When we read how these poor people were yoked to gether like cattle, how men and women were separated, 40 SANTO DOMINGO. how the men were driven into the mines, while the women slaved in the fields under the burning sun, we can readily put faith in the accounts of the self-destruction of these people, who saw only in this an easy way out of their miserv. Gold-mining. (De 13ry.) The Spaniards, seeing themselves thus deprived by de grees of the arms upon which they were habituated to rely for the culture of their lands, were not able any longer to increase their extent, and, in fact, from this time were not able to continue the work already begun. Alarmed at this state of things, and wishing to remedy promptly this evil, Ovando proposed to his court to trans port to Hispaniola the inhabitants of the Lucayos or Bahamas, a series of numerous small islands lying at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, under the pretext that it would be easy to civilise them and instruct them in the OVANDO S RECALL. 41 Christian religion, when they should be united to the Spanish colony, where they could be supervised by the missionaries. Ferdinand, deceived by the specious promises of Ovando, and perhaps willing to resort to any means to keep up a colony, then the " Pride of Spain," consented. Several vessels were sent to these islands, and with them some persons who spoke the language of the islanders ; and these, giving the simple people the most glowing ac counts of the Spanish island, and the deliciousness of the life there awaiting them, induced large numbers to accom pany them ; the population, it is stated, of Hispaniola being increased to the extent of 40,000 by these deluded people. Notwithstanding this effort to improve matters, these various causes served to discourage the Spaniards ; and their favourite mode of enriching themselves the digging of gold being unprofitable, the more adventurous spirits cast about for new regions to explore, their efforts result ing in a series of most wonderful and brilliant discoveries and explorations, never before or since equalled. The record of these is filled with the names of such bold and brilliant men as Cortes, Balboa, Pizarro, De Soto, and many others. De Ovando had now been in office from 1501, and although he had undoubtedly benefited the island by his government, many complaints had been made against him, to all of which Ferdinand had turned a deaf ear for a long time ; when, with a fickleness said to be a characteristic of this monarch, and sheltering himself under the plea that the Queen Isabella had sworn to chastise Ovando for hav ing put to death Anacaona, the fulfilment of which vow she had confided to Ferdinand at her death, he in 1508 relieved Ovando from his command, and ordered him back to Spain. Don Diego Columbus succeeded him, but did not enjoy the full rights of his father, the Admiral, who had died in 42 SANTO DOMINGO. Spain in 1506 ; and it was strongly suspected that the son was more indebted to the Duke of Alva, whose daughter he had married, and whose influence at court was great, for this recognition of his rights, than to the justness of his claims as being the heir of his father. He was at first only named Governor of the island, not Viceroy of the Indies, according to the patent given to the Admiral. The new Governor came to the island accompanied by his uncle, his brother, and his wife, upon the latter of whom in mere courtesy had been bestowed the title of vice-queen. With them came a numerous cortege of dis tinguished persons of both sexes ; and the splendour and elegance displayed during Don Diego s residence at the capital astonished the people of the New World, while the presence of so much rank and beauty, it is said, had the effect of softening the manners of the colonists, and gave a higher tone to the state of society at the city of St Domingo, which had then reached its highest state of prosperity. The unfortunate natives, however, did not profit by these splendours ; for, strong in his position, Diego awarded fco his friends and followers the Indians, not only in the manner hitherto known as repartimientos^ but by speci fying the exact number to be allowed each person according to his rank. Although the Spaniards were busy in extending their dominions, Hispaniola seems to have been looked upon as their principal colony ; and though Diego Columbus appears to have had the ability to govern it with wisdom, he was not permitted by the changeful Ferdinand to exer cise his authority without much interference and many annoyances, the King even curtailing some of his privileges. Among these was that of assigning the Indians, which privilege he accorded to a courtier named Albuqufepque, who was authorised to apportion out the natives independently of the Governor ; the result of which was, that, in anxious REPARTIMIENTOS. 43 haste to profit from the perquisites of the office he held, Albuquerque entered with eagerness into their apportion ment ; and the first step he took was to obtain the exact number of the natives, from which we learn that these unfortunates had died out so rapidly, that, from having numbered in 1508, 60,000 souls, in 1514 the total number was reduced to 14,000. To the credit of the priesthood be it said, they had almost unanimously declared against the system of the reparti- mientos, and especially had the Order of the Dominicans raised their voices against it, availing themselves of every occasion to speak out against the iniquitous practice, not fearing in the presence of the Viceroy and his suite, when present in the grand cathedral of St Domingo city, to appeal to them in eloquent language to remedy this state of things ; and carrying out these principles, they refused even to absolve those who shared in this division of the natives. This proceeding gave great offence, of course, to the authorities ; and the Franciscans, who were not so deter mined in their opposition, uniting with the Government, two parties were in existence, each of whom made com plaints to the King. We can read with astonishment and indignation now the famous edict of Ferdinand, in which he declares it is a divine and humane duty to hold the Indians in servitude, as thus they can become Christianised ; but at the time this decree gave great satisfaction, as many even of the higher prelates themselves held numbers of the natives in servitude. In spite of this, the celebrated Father Las Casas used every effort to bring about the relief of these people ; and going over to Spain, he reproached King Ferdinand in person, with such effect, that the King, being then near to death, listened to his appeals, and promised -to remedy the state of the Indians, but he died before he could fulfil his promises. 44 SANTO DOMINGO. It has been said, at various times, that Las Casas was the author of the introduction of African slaves into the island, but this is not corroborated by facts ; for as early as 1511, we find that negroes had been brought there, and previous to this Ferdinand had issued orders for their introduction. However, Zimenes, Cardinal and Regent of Castile, in the minority of the new Emperor Charles the Fifth, listened to Las Casas ; and in order to make a beginning in the new programme he had arranged, he sent out to St Do mingo three superintendents of all the colonies, utterly ignoring the rights of the then Governor, Don Diego. These superintendents he selected from the order of Hier- onymite monks, hoping thus to get impartial and upright men. Through them he changed entirely the system of the colonies, as, on their arrival, they declared free all the Indians, a proceeding that occasioned general alarm, fol lowed by appeals to the new authorities, who, on the re presentation that the new conquests of Spain in America would have to be abandoned if these Indian labourers were taken away, found it necessary to tolerate the system of repartimientoS) but endeavoured to arrange for a more genial execution of its workings. From the troubles ocasioned by these proceedings origi nated the introduction permanently of the African; for even Las Casas used his influence to have them brought into the island in larger numbers, in order to lighten the labours of the Indians. This body of priestly governors, although endeavouring to act with justice and impartiality, did not give entire satisfaction to the colonists ; and Cardinal Cisneros de Zimenes dying in 1518, the Emperor Charles the Fifth ascended the throne, and immediately recalled these reverend friars, naming a licentiate, Rodrigo de Figueroa, as Governor, who, manifesting great avarice and rapacity, AFRICAN SLAVES. 45 was carried to Spain in 1521 a prisoner, and Don Diego Columbus was again made Governor. Reference has already been made to African slaves, and it appears that the Indians died out so fast, that it became absolutely necessary to have some reliable mode of getting labourers to work not only the mines, but the land, now become valuable by the culture of the sugar-cane ; and thus, in 1510, a regular form had been given to this traffic in human flesh, by the charging of the Casa de Contracion with its carrying on ; and in addition to this, when Charles the Fifth became Emperor, he, by a patent bestowed upon a Flemish favourite, gave an exclusive right of importing slaves to the number of four thousand annually. This patent was sold by the Fleming to some Genoese for twenty-five thousand ducats, and they were thus the first merchants who brought into regular form the commerce for slaves between Africa and America. So rapidly had these slaves increased in num ber on the island of St Domingo, that we find, in the records of the second term of the gov ernorship of Diego Co lumbus, that in 1522 theyhad strength enough to mutiny on the plan tation of the Governor himself, moved thereto by the cruelty with which they Were treated. Punishment of Negroes. (DeBry.) Some idea may be gained of the cruelties experienced by these poor creatures in the descriptions of many of the old authorities, and of which De Bry has made an illus tration. One of these accounts is curious, as showing that the modern theory of " earth cure " in wounds is not new, 46 SANTO DOMINGO. since it is stated that the slaves were so badly whipped that their backs became raw, and upon their raw wounds brine was poured ; a hole was then dug in the ground, the suffering negro placed therein, and the earth piled up around him, in order, says the chronicler, that his wounds might be healed by the salve in mother earth, and he ren dered fit to do more labour. The insurrection, the first of which there is any record, was, however, soon put down by the troops ; and hardly was this accomplished, when another, much more important, broke out among the few remaining Indians in the island. This had been incited by a chief named Enrique, a savage who had been converted to Christianity, and who, notwith standing the nobility of his birth, had been reduced to slavery in one of the repartimientos. Desiring to avenge an insult that had been offered to his wife by a Spaniard, Enrique called upon his compatriots, and uniting themselves in strong force, they took refuge in the mountains of Bajorucho, where they maintained themselves unconquered. Meanwhile many complaints had been made against the Governor, Diego Columbus ; among these was one that, because he was building a substantial palatial house on the bank of the river, he designed it to be a fortress, and, when finished, he intended to declare himself sovereign of the island, and independent of the authority of Spain. This house still stands, and though in a sad state of decay, gives a good impression of the solidity and grandeur of such buildings in the St Domingo of those days. The accompanying illustration of it is after Guillermin, who saw it about 1801, when it was in a more perfect state than at present. On account of the above complaints, Diego Columbus returned to Spain, and though he completely disproved the charges brought against him, he was not re instated in his command, but died in 1526 while petitioning for his rights. His office meanwhile had been given to the FIGUEROA. Father Luis de Figueroa, who devoted himself especially to the pacification of the Indians, who, under the chief House of Don Diego Columbus. Enrique, had now become formidable from their military organisation. The Emperor, hoping probably to replace their labour, now lost, authorised the Flemings in 1526 to introduce African slaves more freely into the island. By the death of Figueroa the island came under the rule of one of its best Governors, Don Sebastian Ramirez Fuenleal, who immediately took wise and sensible measures for securing the settlement of the affairs of the island, and improving the condition of the loyal Indians. 6 48 SANTO DOMINGO. Although many overtures were made to the insurrec tionary chief, yet such was his want of confidence in the Spaniards, that it was not until Father Las Casas suc ceeded in inducing Enrique to send an envoy to St Do mingo city, that a treaty of peace was signed, in 1533, by which the Indians, 600 in number, under their chief, were permanently established in a village (Boya) by themselves, and land allowed them to cultivate for their own use. With this treaty ended actually the troubles with the abo rigines, which in Dominican annals are known as belong ing to the time of the conquest. Of this race, not one single pure-blooded descendant exists to-day. CHAPTER IV. Let nobler bards, in loftier numbers, tell How Cortez conquered, Montezuma fell ; How grim Pizarro s ruffian arm o erthrew The sun s resplendent empire in Peru." THE DECLINE OF ST DOMINGO Failure of the Mines Expeditions fitted out Depredations on Spanish Vessels Depopulation of the Island Neglect of Spain Its Colonial Policy Drakes Attack The Capture and Ransom of the Capital. now ensues a long period in the history of St -*- Domingo, in which the island, having gained a posi tion brilliant and striking from its sudden rise and pro sperity, as quickly sinks into obscurity, desolation, and misery, the result of manifold causes. St Domingo city, the capital, had become firmly estab lished ; it had been beautified and improved ; in fact, had become noted for the splendour of its houses and the regu larity of its streets, while its port was the most busy one in the New World. In addition to this principal city, there had been estab lished in different parts of the island other towns and vil lages, the most important of which were Azua, Aquin (Yaquimo), Salvatierra de la Savana, Yaguana (Leogane), Puerto Plata, Puerto Real, Monte Cristo, Santiago de los Caballeros, Bonao, Cotuy, Buenaventura, Concepcion de la Vega, BaSica, Hincha, Higuei, and Seybo, to all of which, so important were they considered, had been allowed the use of respective coats of arms. 50 SANTO DOMINGO. Hatero. The number of regularly organised sugar plantations had amounted to nearly fifty, and the products of these, it is related, more than ex ceeded the products of the gold mines in their best days; in fact, so luxu riant and profitable was the cane-crop, that it was a common remark of the time that some of the handsomest palaces in Spain were built of St Domingo sugar. The increase of the live stock originally brought out from Spain had been so wonderful, that the island was literally overrun with the wild cattle, which were left undisturbed, except by occasional visits of the hateros or herdsmen, men who, even at the present day, devote them selves exclusively to the raising of cattle upon the immense plains called " llanos " or savanas. There was then no reason why affairs should not have vastly improved, and the .island itself reached a high state of prosperity, had it not been from a combination of re tarding causes. In the period after the conquest known in its annals as the time of " Old Spain," the island may be said to have reached the very zenith of its prosperity, followed gradually by a series of events which left it almost depopulated, pros trated, and even unrecognised by its parent country ; a period in which we see, in strong contrast to the Spaniards, the French, who had gained possessions in the West Indies, show by their energy and talent, as well as by an encourag ing policy of the home Government, what could be made of ,those beautiful isles generally called the Antilles. SPANISH POLICY. 51 In order fully to understand the condition of St Domingo while exclusively under Spanish rule, it may be as well that we take a glance at the policy of Spain in relation to her colonies ; for what applied to one as a general rule applied to all. And as she was the first to enter the arena of the New World, so was the system she adopted considered the best by the other powers which followed her, and, with some modifications, pretty generally adopted by them. The Spanish Indies, the name given by Spain to its colonies in America, having been by law declared an inalienable part of the Spanish monarchy, the King became the sovereign of those newly discovered countries, and exercised all the authority belonging to that title, enjoy ing to every extent all the rights, powers, and patronage that title gave, and his will became thus the law of the colony, against the exercise of which there was no check or hindrance. In the exercise of this power, the first agent of the King was the " Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies," a name given to a tribunal created by King Fer dinand in 1511 for the control of the American depart ment. The powers of this tribunal were much enlarged by the Emperor Charles the Fifth, in 1524, and his successors; so that it became the depositary of all law, the fountain of all nominations, both ecclesiastical and temporal, and the supreme tribunal where all questions, whether of government or trade, in the colonies, were finally ad judicated. This council, as ancient as the New World itself almost, had always the same limited views, and so far from being moved by great impulses and large ideas fitting to the immense powers bestowed upon it, was, on the contrary, a great drawback to the forward impulses of the youth ful colonies, which, like young children, required the 52 SANTO DOMINGO. most careful nursing and attention from their mother country. In the earliest period, this council had been organised to benefit the colony of St Domingo, by devising means to advance its interests, to send out supplies of provisions, and to furnish seeds and implements for the agricultural de velopment of the island. This council prepared all the laws for the Indies ; it took cognisance exclusively of all matters by land and sea, and of every kind that in any wise related to the Indies. having full authority over viceroys, presidents, courts, com merce, and even of the army and navy. It proposed to the King all persons for office, of what ever grade ; it presented also the officials of the Church : and, in fact, was endowed with such supreme powers, as, says Valverde, " not even the Roman Senate had so ex clusive a jurisdiction," In the early days of Spanish discovery and conquest. St Domingo was the headquarters of the "Royal Audencia, or court established for all the new provinces ; but as the latter grew in extent and number, they also began to have courts of their own. For hundreds of years the chief commands of the island were bestowed on military officers, the Governor being known as Captain- General, and who in subsequent years, became the President of the Royal Audencia. The power of the Governor was almost supreme, and with him rested the appointment of the subaltern officers, such as the commandants. The royal court was surrounded by a great numbei of formalities, laws, and ceremonies ; and at one time, it would appear that St Domingo city was noted for the pomp and display made by the officials in the fulfilment of their duties, which duties were distinctly prescribed in a code made in Spain, known as " The Collection of the Laws of the Kingdoms of the Indies." TAXATION. 53 The establishment of the royal court was the cause, in later years, of much trouble, for to it were carried all appeals from the decision of the Governor of the island, and there were frequent conflicts of authority therefrom. An endless cause of bickering and complaint in the island was the constant interference in secular affairs of the priesthood, whose strength and numbers constantly increased ; and, under Cardinal Zimenes, we have seen the government intrusted to three of their number. As the King paid all the expenses of divine worship, the tithes belonged to him in consequence of a concession of the Pope. There was collected on all vegetable products of importance in commerce one measure in ten; on all annual products, even on milk, lard, wool, and on minor products, such as wax, honey, &c., the King took his share of one-tenth. A percentage there was also on sugar and molasses, even the native bread, cassava, paying duty. The conquerors of the New World, in their desire of making themselves masters of large domains, seized upon immense tracts of land, and held them under what was known as " encomiendas" and by degrees they obtained the privilege of converting these into " mayorasgos" a species of fief introduced into the Spanish system of feudal jurisprudence, which can neither be divested nor alienated, resulting, as we shall see, to-day, in the system known as c communeros." The Church followed the example set by these adven turers, and became the possessors of large tracts ; and, as their revenue was only to be derived by the cultiva tion of these lands, they were leased out in small lots to those unable to buy or to occupy pieces of their own; and in all the jurisdictions of the Church " first-fruits " were exacted and paid. The Church had yet another influence in the island, for the Inquisition has played here, as elsewhere, a memor- 54 SANTO DOMINGO. able part in the history of St Domingo ; for, as early as 1517 inquisitors were sent, to the island, their advent being marked with great pomp and ceremony on the part of the officials and people ; and when we read that the inquisitors were paid from the confiscations made by themselves, we can readily understand the motives that prompted their action in many cases. And it is on record that there was only one printing-office, little used, on the entire island ; and no books of any kind were allowed to be brought in that had not received the sanction of the Inquisition, a proceeding that is seen in its results to-day, not a single book of any value being found for sale. The Inquisition, as is well known, was always opposed to the instruction and enlightenment of the people ; and in no place was this more forcibly manifested than in St Domingo ; and the antipathy of inquisitors against books was only equalled by that against Jews, the results of which are seen to-day in the islands still under the Spanish crown ; for, though the Jews may be found in almost every habitable part of the globe, not one hardly is to be met with in Cuba, Porto Rico, or St Domingo. In fact, the entry of every class of foreigners into the island was discountenanced by the Government, which, with the jealousy peculiar to Spain, looked with sus picion upon the attempts on the part of subjects of any other power to trade with its colonies. Many other of the Church rules and regulations weighed heavily upon the settlers ; and some writers are ill-natured enough to doubt the possibility of the Church, in these times, honestly getting rich, when its servants were so poor. The Jesuits, it is said, managed to carry large sums of gold out of the country in various ways without exciting suspicion, such as sending it as rolls of chocolate, and bones of saints. In addition to the sources of revenue above mentioned, CAS A DE CONTRACION. 55 there was a tax upon the salaries of the officials, consisting of a levy of half the product of the first year, which is suggestive of the honesty with which these offices must have been filled ; while many of the minor positions were publicly farmed out to the highest bidder. There were municipal governments for the different districts, towns, or villages, presided over by an alder man or alcalde, and he named subordinate officers ; and there were besides innumerable fiscal officers, which it- would be tedious to mention. It is, however, from the monopoly created by the organisation of the Casa de Contracion that the colonial interests of Spain have, perhaps, received their greatest injury; for, by an ordinance dated at Alcala, January 20, 1503, a board of trade, with the above name, was con stituted, which, though supposed to be subordinate to the Council of the Indies, became in time almost independent of it. The laws and regulations made by this body, al though nominally created to encourage and protect the commerce of Spain with her colonies, were ultimately the cause of its decay and ruin. It consisted of three officers, bearing the separate titles of treasurer, factor, and comptroller, their residence being appointed at Seville, where they were to hold daily meetings in the building known as the Aleazar, for the transaction of business. This board was instructed to make itself thoroughly familiar with everything pertaining to the colonies, and to furnish the Government with every kind of information concerning their prosperity and welfare. Laws were passed restricting the entire trade of the colonies with the mother country to the port of Seville: and to the Casa de Contracion was intrusted the super vision of all fleets, their destination, the furnishing them with instructions ; and, in the warehouse of the board, at that place., was deposited all the merchandise for ship- 56 SANTO DOMINGO. inent, as well as the return cargoes, for the sale of which the contracts were to be supervised by the board. Seville, therefore, remained the only port for a long time, until the Guadalquiver, which, in the time of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, was navigable up to the town, became, for large vessels, inaccessible, when the port was removed to Cadiz, from whence, at stated times, a fleet sailed for Mexico, and galleons for Porto Bello. This continued in practice until the war of 1732, when register ships were substituted for galleons, which no longer sailed at fixed times, though the " fleet " and these " register " ships continued to sail from Cadiz to Mexico. Porto Bello was the main rendezvous for this fleet from Spain, known in early times as the " galleons," which consisted usually of about eight men-of-war, of the size known as three or four deckers, each mounting fifty guns, and they were nominally assigned to supply the American ports with military stores ; but, in reality, were laden not only with these, but every kind of merchandise, and they also convoyed other ships on private account, to the num ber of fourteen or fifteen. In time of peace, this fleet sailed regularly once a year from Cadiz, according as the King ordered it, or the convenience of the merchants permitted ; the fleet of galleons being regulated pretty much as was the " flota " or fleet, and designed for the exclusive trade with Terra Firma, as South America was then called, and the South Sea. _ The " flota," on the contrary, was destined for New Spain, as Mexico was then called, the port being Vera Cruz, as also the Philippine Islands. It consisted of aji annual fleet, that sailed from Cadiz, leaving there about the last of September, being composed of three men-of- war, and sixteen large merchantmen, of from 500 to 600 tons burden. These were loaded with every sort of goods which COMMERCIAL RESTRICTIONS. 57 Europe could produce for export, and thus every part of Europe was interested in this fleet, as their manufactures were thus distributed in the New World. Spain itself sent out little more than wine and fruit ; this, with the freight and the commission to the merchants, and the duty to the King, was almost the only advantage that the mother country derived from the commerce with the Indies. This is easily accounted for, from the fact that Spain had, at this time, few or no manufactures, and as she had no goods of her own to send to the colonies, she passed such laws and restrictions as made the whole of Europe one vast storehouse for her, to which she acted as broker, charging commission nominally both ways, to the con sumer and the manufacturer; but, in truth, it was the overtaxed consumer, the colonist, who paid the commis sion; and as the colonist began to realise this fact, so gradually did Spain find her colonies seeking to render themselves independent of her. In the early days of the New World colonies, all these fleets made the harbour of St Domingo city their haven, in passing to and from Spain, as at that time this was the only strongly and regularly fortified place belonging to that power in the New World. With the conquest of Cuba, Jamaica. Peru, and Mexico, this arrangement was changed, and the fleets, on their return, almost entirely stopped at the city of Havana, loaded with everything the colonies produced; and here congregated the galleons, the flota, and the register ships, preparatory to their return to Spain. The register ships originated from the illicit commerce that sprang up by Spain s prohibiting all intercourse with strangers ; they were registered, with all the effects em barked in them, in the books of the Chamber of Com merce at Seville. It was this sort of commerce that induced the English 58 SANTO DOMINGO. and the Dutch to step in without waiting for a license : and, with the connivance of the Governors of the different colonies, they all made money. This practice became finally so flagrant and glaring, that the home authorities sent new Governors with precise orders ; and with these came the " guardia costas," or guardships, which, from being established at first for a just and legal purpose, finally made trouble by becoming- privateers, and preying upon the commerce of all nations, ending in open war between the powers. With all these plans to control the trade of the colonies, it would be supposed that every effort would have been made to encourage emigration and increase the value of the colonial lands ; but so far from this being the case, cer tainly, as regards St Domingo, a few years after its dis covery and settlement, restrictions were made, and per mission had first to be asked of the Board of Trade before emigrants could go out there. Almost every article going into or coming out of the island paid a duty, hindrance even being made to domestic trade ; for the principal one of cattle-selling, in the time of the French, had to pay its share of taxes and fees to officials, who occupied their posi tions, not to further the interests of the island, but to look out for their own profit. It is very certain that all these restrictions on emigra tion and commerce had a great deal to do with the decline in the prosperity of St Domingo ; for all these laws being enacted at a time when new countries were being opened up, adventurers thought it more easy to seek rapid fortunes in the conquest of those places, than to await them by the slow and restricted processes of agriculture and trade in St Domingo. In the early period of its history, the population had been increased by the crowds of Spaniards who, in satiable for gold, crowded here from the mother country when expeditions were fitted out for the conquest of EMIGRATION PROHIBITED. 59 Cuba, Porto Kico, Trinidad, and St Marguerite. Yet the very influence that brought such hosts of these ad venturers to this island was the one that assisted more effectually than any other in depopulating it ; for the discovery of the gold mines of Mexico and Peru, the glowing accounts of which had come first to St Do mingo, tempted the largest part of its inhabitants, par ticularly the young and adventurous, to seek in those regions for adventures, glory, and riches, the fabulous accounts of which had fired the hearts of a people who seem to have had as second nature that love of adventure which has tended so much to gild with glory the crown of Spain. Most of the noted expeditions of the time being fitted out from the port of St Domingo, it was not long before the island threatened to become entirely depopulated, such were the numbers who sought a part in these expeditions ; and so alarming did this emigration become, that the Emperor Charles the Fifth issued orders against the emi grating of families as well as the recruiting of men on the island. Means were found by those who wished to evade these commands ; and it is stated that some of the richest families found it to their interest to seek, with their means and capital, larger fields of enterprise in the new countries now opened. Up to 1540, the period when this decline began in the affairs of St Domingo, it seems like romance to read the accounts of the comings and the goings of the immense fleets of vessels which were constantly arriving and de parting to and from the mother country and the settle ments in America, with their products. Some of the mines, when at first worked, had pro duced so much silver, that a mint had been established at the capital, where money was struck off the same as in Spain ; and in the products of the soil, then mostly new to the Old World, such as cotton, sugar, tobacco, 60 SANTO DOMINGO. ginger, &c., additional sources of riches were found; add to which the large number of hides produced by the im mense herds of cattle then scattered over the island, had produced a commerce at that time which at no period since has reached the same extent. The traveller to-day, who traverses the streets of the present city of St Domingo, deserted and decayed as they are, as he looks at the immense structures, the solid walls, and the ruins of former greatness, finds himself wondering what has become of those incentives to enterprise which were the origin of the foundation of such a city. From this period to the time when Drake landed, there seems to be little of general importance occurring in the island, other than a series of misfortunes ; for the labour of the An old street in Si Domingo city. mines was reduced to almost nothing, while the agri culture was followed in detached portions only; for the colonists, seduced away by the reports of famous riches on the continent of America^ still continued to emigrate. DRAKE S EXPEDITION. 61 In 1568 the limited amount of products raised consisted of cotton, sugar, and tobacco, the results of the labours of a few Indians still surviving, as also a few Africans, while the commerce was limited to a few sticks of Brazil wood ; when a trade sprang up with the Dutch, which in time would doubtless have helped the colony much, but just at this juncture the English appeared on the coast, to give a new turn to affairs for a time. Queen Elizabeth of England, being determined to de stroy the preponderance of Spanish power in the West Indies, sent out, in 1586, an expedition under Sir Francis Drake Drake , to do all the harm he could, as well to the com merce, as to the possessions of Spain in that part of the world. Acting under these instructions, Drake landed on G2 SANTO DOMINGO. the shores of St Domingo, and succeeded in getting possession of the town. The subjoined account, being that of an eye-witness, affords, us some quaint infor mation as to the condition of this famous city and the mode of warfare at that time. I give it in the original text. " By the way we met a small frigate bound for the same place ; in her was found one by whom we were adver tised the haven to be a barred haven, and the shore or land thereof to be well fortified, having a castle thereupon, furnished with great store of artillery ; without the danger whereof was no convenient landing-place within ten Eng lish miles of the city, to which the said pilot took upon himself to conduct us. ... " Our general having seen us all landed in safety, re turned to his fleet, bequeathing us to God and the good conduct of Mr Carliell, our Lieut. -General, at which time, being about eight of the clock, we began to march, and about noon-time, or towards one of the clock, we approached the town, where the gentlemen and those of the better sort, being some hundred and fifty brave heroes, or rather more, began to present themselves ; but our small shot played upon them, which were so sustained by good pro portion of pikes in all parts ; as they, finding no part of our troop unprepared to receive them (for you must under stand they viewed all round about), they were thus driven to give us leave to proceed towards the two gates of the town, which were the next to the seaward. " They had manned them both, and planted their ord nance f