The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-02-23


soldiers, sand a large shanty seen az you
land on the beach-watched by crowd o!
idiers-isa guard-house. They are all he:
groes,. and mostly tall, well-formed, and
capable of enduring fatigue. They wear
cheap blue chintz shirts and pantaloons,
no sleeves, and brfght-colored cloths
wrapped about the head !; and each carries
musket and hideous long serpentine
blade called macbete, with an edge like q
razor: One told me he used it to cut his
wsy,through the underbrush, but he looked
as II ne could put it to worse use. Their
clothing Is ragged and patched, and such
accoutrements as they carry often bearthe
initials q" u. ST." and are a part of those
furnished By our Government for the lease
of SANTANA Bay. They receive, for O week 8
rations bag containing only one very
small loaf Of bread.
AMERICAN sETrTIEMENTs.
While many live on the luscious fruits
which grow wild here in abundance In the
woods, on the peninsula there are several
small farms. In this part Of the island are
the American settlements Of about 300 me-
groes from the "States,o as our country Is
called here, the result Of the colony sent by
the American Colonization Society in 1925.
At that time San Domingo was under the
control of Hayti, and President Boyer al.
lotted about three caros (or nine acres) to
each family. They are satisfied, of course,
with q country yielding so much with 80 lit
tie eXertion, but complain of the frequency
Of war and destruction of property, and OF
being the heaviest sufferers.
a company of us visited some of their
ranches on the mountains, and were very
cordially entertained and treated to cocoa
nuts and oranges. They live in the same
Wretched manner as the natives. There
were those among them who had not seen
! a white face for many years, and az ours
passed for <uch-although they are burned
of beautiful red, gradually deepening at
the end of the nose--they received us hos
Ditably. One old woman was so glad to
: see us that she ran after us quarter OF q
, mile, and breathessly urged us to take O
token of her admiration in the shape o!
three hen eggs, the last the poor creature
had.
The American colored settlers are Yves.
leyan Methodists, and are building on q
hill west of the town, in a workmanlike
manner refreshing to see in this country OF
. wretched houses, large frame church, to
contain four hundred persons, their church
edifice having been destroyed in the war
The kew. Jacob James (colored) is the min
: lister. He has two hundred and fifty regu
l lar members, and. many more hearers
There is large Sunday school connected
with the church, and the Catholic children
of the town are allowed to attend by their
Spanish parents, who show liberality in
this respect hardly characteristic Of Span.
ish institutions.
Such of these negroes as do not own
| ground work for tue small planters in the
vicinity. The price of labor was formerly
about thirty cents per day, but since an
ncXation has been talked Of the price has
risen to one dollar, probably because of the
immigration, and consequent increased de-
mand for workmen.
THE ANNEXATION QUESTION.
' One and all of those with whom have
spoken-and l have Interviewer them
, very extensively in this part of the coun.
: try-eXpre.s but one sentiment upon the
subject of the islands annexation to the
: United States-namely an earnest and
firm conviction that their prosperity de-
/. ponds upon having the protection Of ouI
Government. They all look forward with
hope to the time when our flag will float
over them, and say it will be the only surety
that their unfortunate country is to be lie
= more disturbed by civil wars.
AN INTERVIEW WITH BAEz.
Yesterday morning was fixed upon as the
proper time for visiting President Baez
, who had sent word that he was at the
service of his visitors, and ut II o'clock the
President, accompanied by the members o.
! his Cabinet, entered the saloon in the
national palace, to await the arrival Of the
! commissioners. Mr.. Wade being unwel
: from slight illness, it was nearly 1 O'Clock
; before they arrived, accompanied by Mr.
and General .Sigel. They were severallJ
presented to the President and his officials
, after which Mr.. Wade read the following
short address
MIR. wADE's ADDRESS.
"Mr. President, we have the honor tC
place in your hands an autograph letter Of
the President of the United States, which
will explain to you the object of our mis-
, sion. Your EXcellency will see that it Is c
mission Of peace and good will.
eve come under instructions from the
. Congress of the United States, and sane
!. toned by the President, to make sundry
. inquiries regarding the Republic Of which
you are the Chief Magistrate. These in
stluctions explain themselves. We trus
that we shall be received as friends, anC
afforded such simple facilities for the pros
,, ecution Of our inquiries as may be necessa
i ry. Receive, sir, through us, the most cor
!. dial wishes of the people of the United
States for the peace and prosperity of the
> Dominican Republic"
Z Mr.. White translated it into French
9 and the President responded rs follows
, through the midium OF Mr. Burton:
81 am very glad to welcome the commits
, sion to our country, and am very happy
= that the United States Government ha:
: thought proper to accede to the request o
our people so far. We shall be pleased tt
offer you every facility in our reach. We
hope that on investigating the feeling ant
$ wishes Of the citizens of Santo Domingo
upon the subject of annexation, you vii
! make yOllr search thorOuuhly and will eX
= anime both the friends and foes of the mea
, sure"
The visitors were then conducted tt
seats, and an informal conversation ensued
RICHNESS AND FERTILITY.
A party who have arrived from SANTANA
, overland across the island, report the mos
: beautiful and luXuriant vegetation and evi
!. dences of great mineral wealth. They saw
: mahogany, satin-wood. and lienumvit9 il
, abundance. The latter, which sometime!
sell at 500 per ton, was used for firewooC
at one place. A merchant here showed me
a handful of eold-washings, one piece a.
, large as Lima bean, obtained from the
, bed Of the shallow lima river. 1t is pro
, cured by the natives with the rudest nipple
ments, and sometimes in one day three OF
: four ounces of pure metal are offered fol
= sale in the town, at $l4 in silver per ounce
, There were also shown me pieces of very
rich copper ore, taken from an old aban
doned mine in the mountains only u few
miles from this city. A number of New
York capitalists have now corps of geolo
: gists exploring the island, and there is NJ
doubt that the mineral riches of this re
markable island will be eventually devel
oped. ~ -
THE SAN DoMINGANs. -
The correspondent of the New York Tr,