While perusing writings by Thomas Madiou and Victor Schoelcher, I came across the above image of Port-au-Prince from the massive Histoire d'Haiti by the former. It's quite beautiful, with lush, detailed colors and the city of Port-au-Prince in the back. No artist is given from what I can tell, but it depicts Port-au-Prince at the beginning of the second half of the 19th century. Based on descriptions by Moreau de Saint-Mery and Charles Mackenzie, we know Port-au-Prince was not much of a city, at least compared to Cap-Francais or Le Cap, something confirmed by other travelers to Haiti during the first half of the 19th century. Port-au-Prince was, to folks like Mackenzie, lacking any fine architectural or admirable city edifices, and even in the colonial period Moreau de Saint-Mery said the same. Port-au-Prince has also been devastated by fires and other disasters, such as the explosion of the arsenal, which cost several millions to repair (I believe this occurred in the 1820s).
In this image, however, lacking extra detail on the layout and streets of Port-au-Prince, shows a much better-looking city with the scenic mountains in the background and the bay. I don't know, based on this image, Port-au-Prince must have been a relatively interesting place to see in the 19th century, even if, as most Haitian towns, roads were in a state of disarray, ruins of former greatness surround you (assuming you believe old plantations and wealthy homes of French whites in Saint-Domingue are a sign of a great past), and Port-au-Prince was not overcrowded.
I plan on returning to Madiou for a future post, perhaps one focusing on his perspective of the Dominican separatist movement in 1844. Schoelcher will also receive at least one short post, but it's hard tackling old French documents with my elementary French and online dictionaries...
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