When I first arrived in Port-au-Prince a small club was formed among the foreigners, and one of the first rules was, “No Haytian to be admitted.” I asked why, and was answered, that they introduced politics into every place they entered. I soon found, however, that the real reason was that their society was disliked; and one day, after listening for an hour or two to the criticism on the people--and be it remembered that half those present were married to Haytian ladies--I could not help remarking, “If I had such an opinion of this race, I would not have sought my wife among them.” The married men looked foolish, the bachelors laughed, and one of the former observed, “The women are so superior to the men.” The following story shows some delicacy of feeling; it is told by Mackenzie, and I have heard it repeated. When the decree was issued by Dessalines that mulatto children should inherit the estates of their white fathers, two young men met, and one said to the other, “You kill my father and I will kill yours;” which they accordingly did, and took possession of their estates. On another occasion, the Emperor Dessalines said to a young man who claimed to be a mulatto, “I don’t believe it, but you can prove it by going and poniarding your French friend.” The man did not hesitate, and was accepted as a Haytian citizen. A negro general, grandfather of a lady I knew in Hayti, went to Dessalines after the appearance of the decree to murder all the white French left in the island and said, “Emperor, I have obeyed your decree: I have put my white wife to death.” “Excellent Haytian,” answered he, “but an infernal scoundrel. If ever again you present yourself before me I will have you shot,”--the only saying of his that I have seen recorded showing any humane feeling. CHAPTER V. VAUDOUX WORSHIP AND CANNIBALISM. When the news reached Paris of the massacres in Port-au-Prince of the mulattoes by orders of the black President Soulouque in April 1849, it is said that Louis Napoleon took the opportunity of saying at a public reception, in presence of the sable representative of Hayti, “Haïti, Haïti! pays de barbares.” Had he known all the particulars relating to Vaudoux worship and cannibalism, he would have been still more justified in so expressing himself. There is no subject of which it is more difficult to treat than Vaudoux worship and the cannibalism that too often accompanies its rites. Few living out of the Black Republic are aware of the extent to which it is carried, and if I insist at length upon the subject, it is in order to endeavour to fix attention on this frightful blot, and thus induce enlightened Haytians to take measures for its extirpation, if that be possible.[8]