[27] The proper name of this seaport town, as given by all French cartographers and writers, is _Les Cayes_, meaning "the cays" or "keys" (small islands, Spanish _cayos_); omitting the article it is often simply written "Cayes." French residents on the island, however, when dating or addressing a letter or receipting a bill would naturally write "_aux Cayes_," meaning of course "at The Cays," where the document was signed or where the person to whom the letter was addressed resided (see the Sanson bill, and bills of sale of negroes, Appendix I, Documents Nos. 1, 4, 5, and 6). It was thus an easy step for Englishmen, in ignorance or disregard of the French usage, to call the town "Aux Cayes"; even as early as 1797, Bryan Edwards, though giving the name correctly on his map, which doubtless had a French source, wrote "Aux Cayes" in his text; the corruption has survived, and is occasionally found in standard works, but is too egregious to be tolerated. [28] And sometime as _marchand_, more strictly a retailer. [29] Since a colonist's wealth was estimated upon the number of slaves he could afford, and since a slave was regarded as equivalent to a return of 1,500 francs a year, Jean Audubon's income on this basis would have been 63,000 francs. [30] See Sir Spencer St. John, _Hayti, or the Black Republic_, 2d ed. (New York, 1889). [31] Bryan Edwards, Esq., M.P., F.R.S., &c., _An Historical Survey of the French Colony in the Island of San Domingo_ (London, 1797). [32] See Note, Vol. I, p. 31. [33] The Superior Council, sitting at Port-au-Prince, in 1780 fixed the tax for the parish of Les Cayes at the rate of 2 francs, 10 centimes per head, which in this instance was certainly trifling. (Note furnished by M. L. Lavigne.) [34] Baron de Wimpffen sailed from Port-au-Prince for Norfolk, Virginia, in July, 1790, about a year after Jean Audubon had left the island. [35] This was one of the commonest names among the French Creoles of Santo Domingo, and was possibly assumed, though the evidence is inconclusive. See Vol. I, p. 61. [36] For photographic reproduction see p. 54; and for transliteration and translation, Appendix I, Documents Nos. 1 and 1a; for "Fougère" see Appendix I, Documents Nos. 2 and 3; and for "Jean Rabin," Documents Nos. 14, 16, 17 and 18.