Hayti

Hayti, also Hispaniola or Santo Domingo, is the second largest of the West Indian Islands, only next to Cuba, in the group of the Greater Antilles. It lies midway between Cuba on the West and Porto Rico on the East. Its area, somewhat larger than Scotland, is apportioned between the Republic of Haiti in the East and the mulatto Dominican Republic in the West.

The island is mountainous, and forests of valuable timber abound. A warm, moist climate favours rice, cotton, &c., and minerals are plentiful. However, during the 19th century, under native government, the island had been retrogressive. Agriculture and mining were practically at a standstill, while the natives seemed incapable of self-government. The language spoken is a corrupt French. Port-au-Prince and San Domingo are the chief towns.

Discovered in 1492 by Columbus, the island was soon denuded of its aboriginals, then peopled by imported negroes, joined latterly by French buccaneers. In 1697 the island was ceded to France, but in 1791, under Toussaint L'Ouverture, the blacks, after a bloody revolution, swept the island clear of Europeans.

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