New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-02-21


bananas, drinking cocoanut milk, ana SlnoAi"s
dirty pipes. The calaboose consists OF ono
room. amply ventilated, though it has neither uoUi
nor windows There is neither dark CELL nor g.u'
lows: but SANTANA has fine set Of mahogany stochs,
whereof one of the correspondents in our parry wiz
long preserye pleasant recollection, Lake DE- nv
cabocca this nquistive gentleman wanted 10 Aho"
! "how the thing worked" and the guards were ue
lighted Ia show him. He sat down on the grouIu
and placed his ankles carefully in the holes; the
upper bar was let down; and then all the young
genteman's companions sat on IT, to the unspeah-
able amusement of the spectators, until the prisoner
had found out a good deal more about the STOCKS
than he had any desire TO know.
There is no tavern, or hotel or other place OF ac-
commodation for strangers, and so Tar as nave Deeh
able to learn there not more than two OF thfee
bedsteads on the whole Peninsula. Those who nave
no hammocks sleep on rude bamboo frames, OF on
improysed pallets Of leaves and bark 1t Is curl
GUS feature Of SANTANA life that almost everybody
keeps a shop. OF the 80 houses in the place, more
than half are in somo way devoted to trade. HOW
40 shop keepers can be maintained in village of 50
houses is problem in political economy that shall
not attempt to solve, but so it is. All that have
seen sell liquor, and beside this staple OF com
merce one can buy common calicOes groceries, To-
bacco, vegetables, and fruit.
THE PEOPLE.
Where the earth yields so freely OF her store, ana
the artificial wants of civilized life are unknown, "
would be unreasonable to look for very industrious
population /; but / must say tie people OF SANTANA
impress me rs an uncommonly lazy set OF yagaDonds
They are irresistibly gOod-hnmored, and certainty
intelligent beyond their station They have capa-
city for improvement and more general information
than one would naturally expect. But where prop
erty is insecure and fruit always in season. and even
pantaloons not an absolute necessity, what Is
tho use of work The women are moro indus
trious than the men, and what little labor is
performed is nearly all done by them
made little Journey inland yesterday, in company
with one Of my felow-traveers leach of us mounted
on bull, according to the custom of the country
and everywhere we struck by this inversion OF
the sexes. Near the top of long hill we met man
and woman returning from town. They had evil
IDENTIFY been to barter their produce for some family
pecessaries and the wife was staggering under the
load of two heavy bags, while the husband walked
oailv ahead with empty hands. We met several
women Leading bulls TO or from the town, and chli
dren carrying burdens, but not man dong any
thing The lords of creation lounge about the shops
suck oranges and look at strangers; but during our
s ay at this portland have been constantly ashore
have seen hardly man at work, excep.s or eight
handy negroes, who are kept busya on the Meth
odst Church. o-o -, -.
The population Of the village IS about 80, and OF
the whole peninsula about 5000. A maJorlty-at
any rate, of the villagersspeak English There are
very few white men--Mr. Burr, live Maine Yam
kee. Of whom moro hereafter; Mr.. Koran, sort OF
Spanish Pennsylvania Yankee (if you know what
that ISL who has spent many years in New-Iork;
Mr. Price formerly purser Of the Tybee, and now
building UP for himself good business here MI
Mareiaque a French merchant formerly OF New
Orleans but more recently partisan of Salnave In
Hayti These, with three or four more, are all
that | have heard of hr. Fabens Judge
OSullivan, and some Others, spend great deal OF
time here. but can hardly be called inhabitants. All
the colored residents speak Spanish, many speak
French. and certainly majority of all-men, women
and children-speak English. Very few are natives
of the island; indeed | have not thus far, to my
knowledge, met one who was not an immigrant or
the immediate descendant of immigrants. Probably
half of all the blacks or their ancestors, came from
Philadelphia The earliest of the colony settled here
in 1924 under President Boyer and Others have been
sent by Colonization Societies subsequently, or have
fed hither from Hayti.
TRANsPoRTATIo NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. - MODES OF SUB
sIsTENCE.
Az there are no roads there are naturally no wag-
ons, and the only thing approachinga vehicle, that
have SEEM is wheel-barrow, brought from the
United States The only mode of land transporta-
ton is on an OK or bulback The loads of course
are small. They are packed in bags made of bark,
and slunQ across the animals back. Water trans
narration il done by means of clumsy "dug-Outs" or
boats fashioned from the light and soft Trunk OF the
ceiba tree. Rude and awkward as they are, the ne
eroes handle them with great dexterty. and man.
are TO urge them at considerable speed.
The price of labor-such as the labor may be-is
q or 81 % in United States COIN But this standard
of value is entirely the product of the annexation
scheme Before the excitement on this subject
sprana I'D one could hardly say that anything had
| nrice Labor was either borrowed and returned In
labor at some future time repaid in produce OF
store goods. There was no circulating medium
practically speaking. The currency issued by Baez
and his predecessors be bought by the bushel at
| the value of waste paper Gen. Boynton obtained
for one good dollar about $1,000 in Haytlen and DO
minican paper currency. He bought 1ew
| conner coins, also, as curiOsltles, ana the
shop-keeper wrapped them up in $50 bulls OF
| Santo Domingo. Another man said he had possessed
about $1,000 in bills but he had used good deal OF
il for wrapping paper So you see whatever else the
people may expect from the United States, they evil
IDENTIFY don't expect MS to redeem their paper money
Tb nces If fruts vegetables and all products Of the
| country are governed ehtIev ny Iio ni'i ~
| the market depends entirely upon the smps' when
there are no vessels in the harbor the cost OF every
thing is merely nominal AT such times specuiatorS
buy up everything at low rates Tor the people mus,
sell their fruits or see them spoil on their hands, ana
90 soon as cargo is collected it is shipped to anorth-
or, mort Tins when the market is good, coacoa-
nnts sell here for 81 % or go hundred, bananas for
IN cents n bunch each bunch containing from ~ TO
40. pne-appes for cents piece coffee for 20 cents
a pound. sweet potatoes for 81 a bushel, nee
| In tho husk for 50 barrel Wheat