New-York daily tribune., 1859-08-09
A VISIT TO HAYTI.~~XiV.
NOTES MADE AT GONAIVES.
S.u.uOse.nee of Tfe r. Trieohs.
N.ynPN Mass Guri1 70


f,o,.ive, has population Of four thousand, or
,..reabou.s; more probably higher, i should Judge
tAas less; although Mr.. Darrell estimated the num-
Aer of inhabitants at between three and four thou
,.pd only. There are only thirty whites IN 'he
,lace; most Of whom are Epglshmen ard Germans.
The town is situated on = level, sandy PLAIN,
which extends for several miles behind II; lts nope
A>v semieireuisr in form, Affords an excei!ent ana
Is.n h.,hoy with 4 natural breakwater OF coral
,s.f Ia the right in looking At the ocean from the
and rae lofty hills; while to the left for many
League eItepds the fiat fertile plain Of GonnIves.
The town is well laid out-the streets both
broad and regular; no traces heie Of earthquakes
or of devastating wars, for although the houses are
generally old, one story high, greatly in need OF
csint, and mere shels--framo houses upholstered
and unceiled-sti there 10 look of civilization
and prosperity which, coming from the Cape with
,ts endless ruins or from Limbe with It's central
African aspect, is exceedingly pleasant and en-
aourasing 10 the friends of Hayti. There are
numbers Of good two-story houses.
THE sOLDrERY.
Here. - in Cape Hsytien, you constantly meet
bands Of the ragged indolent and undneiPnned sol.
aAry, which are at once the curse and the ioly
Of the nation-justly the jest Of all civilized peo'
ME The Haytians are exceedingly sensitive 70
oreigp opinion. Let the IN learn from their friends
that their army s the laughing stock OF the world
q, IL richly deserves 10 be. Hayt Is inpregnaole;
no existing power could permanently hoid nor; eat
her defense is not in her regular army. III consists
Of her mountains, gorges, rivers and feyers; the
bravery and selfsacrfcing spirit OF ner Peo-
rle. the sb,nannce of her minerals, and pOlsons,
And sulphur Mines There is nothing more luol-
erous than the appearance Of Haytan regiment
Such fearfully and wonderfully ragged troops;
such extraordinarily dirty and ununliorm uni
Ems:" 20 many barefooted, or old-slppered, or
old booted, or old -sandaled poor fellows, it s i'm
possible, fancy, to see IN any other country.
At every corner Of the street you see the lszy
fellows louDping their whole dress very frequently
.ot worth a dollar Their arms-nearly all OF
which were purchased by ChristoPhe-too often
are a. sadly in want OF repair as tneir costumes
They are kept under arms and weekly drill, with
ont the slightest need Of their services: for no
foreign power has the remotest idea of conquerlng
fAe Islsnd-all are satisfied with the disastrous ex
pertinent of Napoleon; and, even II America or
France or any other nation had such design, bet.
tor soldiers than the regular army OF Haytl could
Do manufactured from the people OF the mornes Ill
less than q month ut any time.
THE RETAIL STORES.
Here, as at the Cape, there is a large number OF
retail stores the greater portion with maryel0usly
Even the drug stores here, as at the Cape, are
hept by women. Here, too, as at the Cape, there
are not half dozen sign-bOsrds IN town--nor glass
IN the windows uOr that scrupuOusy clean ap-
pearanee, nor that sssiduous tattendance which
eAarseterizes the shops at home.
THE MARKET.
The market place, as at the Cape, is large
paved square, which, on the regular day. is covered
by black women, squatted on the ground, and sur
rounded by the articles they offer for sale. The
shops at ore side of the square are all retail dry
Foods houses; and they display their goods not only
inside of their doors, but alsO cover the pavement
and half Of the street with their stands.
THE CEMETERY, CHURCH AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
The cemetery is truly dreary spot: 1T Is on
the outskirts Of the town, and is neither fenced nor
divided with walks. There are numbers OF tomb
stones, andhead- Stones and ratings around graves;
but the sand, continually drifting over everything,
siyes the burying ground a very sad and desolate
appearance. saw the graves of several American
seamen. 49,
The Catholic Church is large barn.hke struc
ture. very rude, very filthy, and very old 1t has
no floor but the black and unswept earth.
The military buildings did not examine, though
! ,aw them At little distance. / was told that
thew are worse kept than the forts aud arsenal at
Cspe Hsytien, and the latter utterly and de-
plorably dilapidated and ridiculous that did not
care 10 yisit any more like them. was assured
that the arsenal at Gonaives was little better than
. village blachsmths shop in America.
The same style of dress, the same mode OF life,
the same proportion of mulattOes, the same KIND
and character of street cre.tures as breny de-
serbed at the Cape, are daily to be seen at the
town Of Gonaiyes.
IABORERS ON THE BEACH.
There 10 no wharf nor levee; everything must be
discharged by lighters. The water is 80 shallow
near the shore that even lighters cannot come very
near. SO the men who discharge them wade into
the water often up TO the waist and carry out, or
foat and roll out the cargo thus brought for land.
ing. II is amusing to see the laborers working at
the shore. l watched a dozen of them rolling
log out Of the water. They were all undressed
from the loins upwards one of them had only
hreecb- cloth on; none of them, at the time, wore
either shoes or slippers. Instead Of using lever,
n our aborers would do each of them held the log
with both hands and sang After singing verse OF
four lines, they gave half hoist, then sang agan,
and another half turn, and so on, very slowly with
execrable melody and more execrable Incidence,
turning the log over and over until it reached the
land. A couple of lrishmen would have turned 1t
cut in half the time.
STRANGE RIGS.
The wagons one sees are clumsy vehicles, with
uncommonly thick wheels, drawn chiefly by little
oxen, scraggy horses, or shaggy asses. saw one
wagon that rather sstonished me. Ii was drawn
by six asses, which were all abreast. One was IN
the trans, three on one side, two on the other !
A piece of broad, braided rope, made out Of cocoa
bark, served for the collar of each animal; and
their only harness white round rope OF the
same beautiful material "When your mothers
dead" says a Haytan proverb, 'go aud be
80 sucked by your grandmother" This rigging
must have surely been suggested by the quaint
advice
out in the suburbs Of the town saw an equally
IL. stir