United States or Algeria ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Arriving at the old town of Cotuy, among the mountains, and returning the vicar's call, after my public reception, I asked him the stereotyped question regarding earthquakes, and was answered that about the year 1840 there had been one of a very terrible sort; that it had shaken and broken his great stone church very badly; that he had repaired the whole structure, except the gaping crevice above the front entrance; ``and, said the good old padre, ``THAT I left as a warning to my people, thinking that it might have a good influence upon them. On visiting the church, we found the crevice as the padre had described it; but his reasoning was especially interesting, because it corroborated the contention of Buckle, who, but a few years before, in his ``History of Civilization in England, had stated that earthquakes and volcanoes had aided the clergy of southern countries in maintaining superstition, and who had afterward defended this view with great wealth of learning when it was attacked by a writer in the ``Edinburgh Review. Certainly this Santo Domingo example was on the side of the historian.
My expedition across the island. Mishaps. Interview with guerrilla general in the mountains. His gift. Vain efforts at diplomacy. Our official inquiries regarding earthquakes; pious view taken by the Vicar of Cotuy. Visit to Vega. Aid given me by the French Vicar. Arrival at Puerto Plata. My stay at the Vice-President's house; a tropical catastrophe; public dinner and speech under difficulties.
Once more he took a survey of the vast fleet, in its two divisions, and then spread his arms in the direction of his chief cities, promising the foe to be ready to meet them there. In another moment he was striding down the mountain. His generals were awaiting him at Cotuy, and the horses of the whole party were saddled. "The French are come?" they asked. "The French are come in great force.
At length, he desired that his generals should be within call from Cotuy, a small town which stood on the banks of the Cotuy, near the western base of the mountainous promontory of Samana promontory at low water, island at high tide.
"They are doing as we supposed they would," said Christophe; "preparing to attack Cap Francais and our southern or western towns at once; perhaps both Saint Domingo and Port-au-Prince." "Be it so; we are ready for them," replied Toussaint. "But now there is no time to lose. To Cotuy, to give our orders, and then all to our posts!"
Word Of The Day