Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1859-08-16
HAYTI RE-vTED. -NO. l.

Special Corresponce of the Spy.
Ar PoSr LrARRE, q think /
,July Il. 1859.

the statement of a wern preacher, eI MOI
thar, tharabouts.''
THE FIRST NAyEs WE SAW
Having made the wage from Boston TO
Gonaives, in the schoonFearless, without mis-
hap, four days ago l ready to disembark,
While l was in the can washing, the pilot
came on board. He ce out to us in a boat
rowed by four younfellows, all OF whom
like the pilot himself, we decently and clean
ly clad in coarse sumer clothing. They
were all as black as For bringing IN
vessel, the pilots receila very petty plttance
something like dor and quarter-the
government very cool appropriating the IL
on's share of the legalues.
With the pilot came soldier, whose duty
is to stay on board tilhe vessel sails again
for the purpose of evening smuggling.
This specimen of the tive army was much
better clad than the fit it was my privilege
to see. He was only little dirty and ragged
while the fellow who'll saw at the Cape
six months ago,-wain state OF total ana
irreparable and astouing raggedness.
THE YANKEEss sMUGGLERs.
The laws of the coltry, while they order
the soldiers on deck, aake no provision for
their maintenance The captains, therefore,
compel them to ear their board while aboard
It's a hot climate tis hard work is tiresorne
the consequence S, that, when night comes
on, the soldier iglad enough to fall asleep.
Now for the boats Not the captains boat, of
course; but the naive merchants with whom
they trade. Near every American captain
is a smuggler; f the Haytien tariff is so
high, and the prp of manufactured articles
so exorbitant, thadt pays very well to intro
duce things slylt Does the soldier stir or
hear any noise? hss the things over-never
fear: the rum thai tie captain kindly gave
him, and the worl ire ample securities and,
if they should fail d. you imagine he will be
able to overcome tie laudanum? at takes
Yankees" they sly! That military spy is
harmless institution on board of Yankee
ship.
But it is the duly of an officer on shore to
come out in a boa every night, and stealthily
visit every vesseE-to sail round it, l mean
in order to see if any smuggling is going on.
Here is a true incident which illustrates
how faithful ands thcient this class of officers
are
Gone night" sad captain to me; "this
fellowseame round AMI heard him and hailed
him. 'tLook here,' said "when you get
through visiting the ,ther vessels want you
to come back and trop quietly under tho
stern; I've some thiIgs | want taken ashore
and 1 guess you're tie best man l can get tt
do it! | wanted to Try him, you see"
AHr4ght" says he 'you know me, cap
tain, and may depend on me"
81 told him. tile captain added "that
was only trying o., but would employ hin
next voyage, and Lhaue done it euer since !'
This faithful officer doesn't belong to Con
aives, but he has doubtless double in that tow
aud every other.
The total annual amount of this pet
ty smuggling trade would astonish statisti
Clans, and must be taken into prominent &C
count in estimating the commerce of the Re
public.
CUSTOM HOUSE SMUGGLING.
But this style Of smuggling sinks into lowly
insignificance when one contemplates the semi
official smuggling of the Custom House off
GERS. These prominent officials receive al
annual salary of from sixty to one hundre'
dollars only which,-a large nominal amour
in Haytien currency,-was fixed before the eH
tNI.a2;rr1ditinaTy depreciation, which his lmperis
~ fer Notwithstanding these scant
salaries, the "comptrollers" and "intendants
never fail to make fortune in very fe
years.
How is it done? By compromises! That
what they call it. a merchant has cargo {
goods in the harbor. By paying one-half
the legal duty into the treasury and giving til
officials one-half of the remaining halt, all pal
ties are satisfed-the State being robbed. it
true, but the merchants and officials maxim
money by the operation. A few years ago,
was sometimes known that vessel heavil
laden with highly valued goods from France
was reported to the capital as CARRYING onl
ballast. In order-so extensive are these der
redations,-to arrive at a proximately accurat
knowledge of the exports and imports of Hay
ii, it is necessary to add one fourth to the of
cially declared results
ABOUT wHARvEs, CHIEFLY.
After casting anchor, the custom house off
GERS came on board, and after looking over til
manifest, receiving ship-letters, writing, rec
TAPPING, signing and sealing, we got into til
boat and were roved ashore
There are no auays i'll Hayti-only, as g
GOnaives, low wharf, which receives tn
cargo piecemeal from the lighters In thes
Fighters" every ship discharges its cargo
For the privilege oflanding the goods, fror
the lighters, on The ricketty, old wharf, til
most eXorbitant charges are made They form
so serious an itemIof expense, that one prom
nent merchant few years ago offered to bull
one at an expense of $4,000, and make it
present to the government, for the privilege {
using it without charge, for ten years only
Of course, Faustih refused the offer, as he di
every other proposition OF progress.
WE LAND.
On land again Thank the Lord for the oil
Earth-the stable, generous, motherly land
"Ihe sea is malculine," says Emerson; fc
one, prefer the other sex, then! The ses
shore is covered with piles of mahogany log.
log-wood, and other huge articles of commerce
The custom house, to which we are conducted
is plain, solid looking one-story building
paved with brick slated overhead; the wall
being built Of brikk, plastered over and white
washed. / went to the hospitable house c
MIR. Brooks, the commercial agent OF the Unit
ed States, and IA prominent wholesale mel
chants and there l resided three days
GoNAIvEs.
Gonaives is built on level sandy plain: til
streets are wide and regularly laid out bu
the soil, ike the Professor of whom Kin
James wrote, proves
"Yat sands we're are, yat yet notte steryle be-"
Tor here and there, towering above the houses
one sees the cocoa and few other tropica
trees and vegetation.
Ihls is the rainy season. and the ground wa
so soft and wet when we landed that the street
were difficult to t'svel. But couple of days
sunshine at any time makes the soil as hard a
brick
THE HOUSES OF THE POOR.
The houses are chiefly one story in hight
and are generally built Of wood, which is ofte
whllewashed or yellow-washed. The mahog
any-sh,ingled roofs are long and have a rathe
sTagghng appearance; for the houses ar
quite wide, and the roofinvarialby extends owe
the pavement. The doors are very high
reaching nearly to the roof and opening in tn
centre. The windows also are of amples