In miscellaneous literature there are many publications of merit. Emile Nau wrote an interesting book called “Histoire de Casiques,” although a critic might fail to discover in it “une mine immense d’érudition.” It is seldom that a Haytian writer dedicates himself to anything useful, so that the efforts of Eugène Nau to bring superior agriculture into vogue have a double merit. He is best known for his two productions, “L’influence de l’Agriculture sur la Civilisation des Peuples” and his “Flore Indienne.” I knew Eugène Nau very well. He was married to a very charming woman, a sister of Auguste Elie, and no one who has passed a few days at their estate in the plains of Cul-de-Sac will ever forget the pleasant gaiety that reigned in that house. Civil war has, however, devastated that portion of the country, and I fear that even the inexhaustible spirits of Eugène Nau will scarcely be able to bear him through such accumulated misfortunes. The small diplomatic corps were ever welcome guests at Digneron, and I recall with pleasure the evenings spent there with my French and Spanish colleagues. He had a fund of intelligence and good sense; and his steady advocacy of a metallic currency did honour to his perspicacity. As might have been anticipated, the black portion of the population has shown no literary aptitudes. Occasionally an Edmond Paul has written a political essay which has fallen flat, or a Salomon has indited a vigorous defence of his policy; but, as a rule, the coloured portion of the population has produced the historians and poets of Hayti. CHAPTER X. AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, AND FINANCE. AGRICULTURE. M. Eugène Nau, in his pamphlet on the influence of agriculture on civilisation, endeavoured to bring his countrymen to look with favour on the principal source of prosperity in all tropical countries; but the seed he sowed fell on revolutionary soil, and agriculture is more neglected than ever. And yet in all the wide world there is not a country more suited to agriculture than Hayti; not one where the returns for labour are more magnificent; a rich, well-watered soil, with a sun which actually appears to draw vegetation towards itself with such energetic force that the growth of plants, though not actually visible to the eye, may be almost daily measured. The system of cultivation varies greatly. In the north an effort was made by King Christophe to keep up large estates, whilst in the west and south President Pétion encouraged the division of the land among peasant proprietors. Large estates still remain, however, in these provinces, which are cultivated under different arrangements, to which I will hereafter refer. The general rule is that large estates obtain mostly in the plains, whilst in the mountains the land is practically in the hands of the peasantry, though many large estates exist nominally.