New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-02-02

! .uipbur-The Yellow BHth-SEmmit 81
a sulphurous Mountain.
Translated for the Republic an
She public interest now tends toward
the equator, and We have translated from
! the Voyage aux Antilles" of Chassaigua
| a description OF Guade Oupe. This, he says,
is the most completely beautiful of the
charming islands which form the arehipel-
/ ago OF the Antilles. ST. Domingo is larger,
| Cuba more rich, st. Thomas more animated
| with foreign commerce, Porto Rico fnOEC
| tbickly wooded; there is no other which,
like GuadelOupe, has extensive plains, lofty
! mountains, volcanoes which thunder, and
| rivers that roar, and especially that which
! snakes visit the most unique in the world,
| reunion of the productions OF the torrld
| and temperate zones, so complete as that
| one can in the same day pant with heat or
| SILVER with cold. 1t must be remarked
that there is singular peculiarly in the
| general appearance of the island. One half
| is as fat as BeauCe, the other as rough as
| Auyergne In the mountainous section all
the rocks are of lava or pumce. In the
! level portion the formation is exclusively
| calcareous. These tive sections of the island
! are separated by an arm OF the sea, several
| toises ia width and some feet deep This
| bayou is known as Salt river. The noun
! tainous part of the island is called Guada-
! lupe, the level portion Grande Terra. The
! principal city OF the first is Pont-a Pitre,
! Of the second Basse Terre. The level
| country is the agricultural, the best cult
| waited and the most fertile part of the
! island. Notwithstanding, oddly enough,
| the finest habitations are found in the more
| mountainous GuadelOupe, neither the dis
tricts of Maule or Canal, in Grande Terre,
however splendid, can boast such a habita-
ton as DumanoiG, at Capes Terre, which is
q fairy domain in grandeur and beauty, not
Withstanding its dilapidation. One of the
most valuable estates of Grande Terre is
that of NJ. Girard D'Albissin, in the Canal
district. 1t had three hundred slaves tor
merly; the DumaGoir estate had eight hun
dred. AS Grande Terre is almost all tflS,
its agriculture is much better developed
than that of GuadelOupe, where the HOuR-
tains, the forest and the rivers OBJ
struct labor. Grande Terro was for
merry covered with forests, but they
have been cut down and cleared away.
Still there remains one fifth of the district
in mber, which may be cleared away by any
emigrant that will. Grande Terre is acces-
sible by many excellent roads, and there
are also two canals. All these works were
executed under the administration of Adj
miral ArnOns Dessaulsays, who ruled after
the style of the governors of Cuba and ia
maica; that.ls to say, Ill proper manner
In general the governor of our colonies are
not Dl6DdFtu WIFI any SNSltul. HtI Apply
perpetualy to the colonial bureau and ask,
What is to be dOne!" To which the Direc-
tory of the colonies is sometimes sufficiently
candid to reply, GLOW the devil should we
know at Paris, when you, who are upon the
spot, are Ignorant One of the canals
mentioned comes from LAnse Bertrand
and traverses the district of Port Louis.
1t is called Eau as canal, name venerated
in GuadelOupe. The other, which connects
the III of SANTA Anne and Mora
Eau, is called Desroreurs canal. This IA
cility of intercourse has contributed greatly
to the prosperity of Grand 1erre, and has
created true public and patriotic spirit,
a spirit of order, dignity and conservatism.
When one arrives at Grand Terre by the
diligence from Moule, he is struck with a
strange spectacle, at which l was forced to
pause with admiration. You pass, i'll leav
ing P0int-a PItre, through about tive
lea CUES of slightly undulating country,
fresh, beautiful, in comparison with which
the most pleasant envirOns of Paris would
appear the frightful abode Of EOlves. Ii is
called Grand Fonds 1t is only necessary
to observe the VIg0r of the trees which
spring up 20 see that the soil is very fertile.
1t would pay the gardeners OF Paris very
well, ant they might have q good bargain
ill these lands Tor they belong TO the pub
lie, or at least those wnO occupy them arc
ignorant of their owners. ( have known
q wag offer, for fifty confines, cCffee
estate in The Grand Ponds, il the
party to whom il was offered
would find it. Nevertheless, these lands are
inhabited by negroes aud free people of color
Yes. the Grand Ponds afford an experiment
OF cultivation by free eOlored people. More
than this, they afford an experiment OF
African colonization, since these blacks
and free people of color are not merely
laborers, but proprietOrs. Every negro and
free man of color who wishes 30 become a
proprietor may go upon tho Grand FOnds
and locate any ground, to any extent, and
establish himself. No one will prevent them
Very well. see what they do. On each side
of this road you see little cabins very
cheap and very miserable. constructed of
boards or wooden slabs. AROUND these
cabins there is from ten to forty PAGES
square. of land in cultivation, sometimes
less, never more. This imperfect culture
produces bananas, papdws. vans, potatoes: |
that is to say, fruits and roots. why"
one might add, do not these cOlorsd peOpl.
who have so many leagues of land behind
them, take more than twenty PAGES square,"
God knows! Perhaps the question might
be answered by the negro prOverb, IraraH !
pas bon. Work is not good So the free
persons of color who. to the number
of twelve thousand occupy Grand Ponds, |
have only built little huts with a garden |
twenty paces square. rs the morning at
six o'clock they are seated GA their bed
smoking. The evening at six o'clock they
are still sitting Oh the bed smoking. 1hey
only GO out twice 70 cut bananas which they |
put gu the fire. This is their life. Some
among them clear q little more isnG. and
tft il. These are :ch. The gardeners o:
Paris. whn never sleep. those men ca rom :
that 10 to say of heart, of honor and %
energy, could hire for two thousand francs .
,lnVNa
-Pitre, from the negroes, and make their !
fortunes, bus these French gardeners DO nor !
use the prOyerb. YruG0H pas ben.
The Grand fonds, Notwithstanding She !
yerdure of their forests and the sOftnes5 81 |
their landscape, weary the eyes and saddcH !
the heart. One feels that these forests ex- !
clude the harvest. and that this shVubbery !
consists of brisrs. The nature OF the |
Atrican-which il not agricuItural-fetIs !
no shame in idleness and desolatiNE. and |
these people of cOlOg to which comfort is .
offered on all hands, love better yrivation |
than Labor. Along the road are found |
many cabins abandoned. The lnUsttGes !
who lived there, finding il toe labprious "a |
repair, have lett Them. have seen in san |
Domingo one old houss y here q beam I
fallen from age, Aad distracted the door !
Very we'll. She negroes who lived there. !;
rather than TtMOv" this obstruction FROM |
the door, had found it less trOStslcso.n. - |
pass Though the windew.
IN leaving rie Grand tonis. the .4Hts -. |.
liberty. we enter the magnificent plain. %: !
fhs Esperance estate, q land "t slavery. !
Here where the:e should reign slesOlatiUn D.!
presides abundance. the consequence %. |
compuIs0r. labor and gocG management.
The steam engines are in operation. 'he !
wagons carry Oft the cane and sugar. she |
negroes work sheiY gardens. Everything
breathes wealth and prosperity
The appearance of Grand Tegre 10 :heiy |
irregular, extensive plains, generally Ter
tile, very few streams, hills Father than |
mnnntains and windmill unnM al .nn