The Memoirs of Pere Labat, 1693-1705

First English Translation

Jean Baptiste

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9780714619408
• eBook ISBN: 9781136989612
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

During his stay in the West Indies as a Dominican missionary, pere Labat was able to observe buccaneers and their ships. His adventures in this turbulent period are varied, but it is in the descriptions of the lives of the different races that the value of his memoirs resides.

VOYAGE TO SAN DOMINGO—ST. KITTS—PÈRE CABASSON'S MONKEY

LABAT and Père Cabasson, the Superior-General of the Jacobin missions, left Martinique on the 26th November 1700 to investigate the affairs of the mission in San Domingo which had been badly mismanaged. They sailed in a ship loaded with a cargo of wine from Bordeaux, commanded by a man called Trebuchet, who was “a little drunkard never in his right mind after he had been drinking, and unfortunately never sober a few hours after he had got up in the morning”. They landed at St. Kitts on the 28th, and called on the Governor, M. de Comte de Gennes, and “I took a little walk in the evening through the suburbs of the town. From the ruins of this town it appears that it was well built and of considerable size, but the English have completely destroyed it, and have even taken away the squared corner stones of the houses. The French, however, have already rebuilt many houses, and are re-establishing themselves as if assured of an everlasting peace.”

“M. Lambert, a captain of filibusters and my very good friend, asked us to spend a day or two with him at his plantation.”

While they were staying with M. Lambert they shot three or four monkeys. One of these was a mother whose infant they captured and presented to Père Cabasson, who made a pet of it, and it became very attached to its master. As it was not chained up, it had always to be shut up in a room whenever the priest went to church.

On one occasion, however, it escaped and hid itself above the pulpit, and only appeared when its master started to preach. It then sat on a ledge above the preacher's head and imitated his gesticulations with such grimaces and posturings that no one could help laughing.

Père Cabasson, who could not see what was the cause of this unseemly conduct, reproved his congregation gently enough to start with. But when he saw that their guffaws were increasing and not diminishing he worked himself up into a holy rage, and censured his flock in a most spirited and lively manner for the little respect they showed for the Divine Word. As his gesticulations became more violent so did the grimaces and antics of his monkey and the laughter of the congregation. In the end some one told the preacher to look up and see what was going on above his head, and he no sooner did so and saw what his monkey was doing, than he began to laugh as much as anyone else. There was no means of catching the monkey so he had to abandon the service, as he was in no condition to con-tinue preaching, nor could his congregation pay attention to his sermon.

“St. Kitts is shared between the French and English. The French own the two ends, and the English the centre section. The French lands on the east start at the river Cayonne, and end at the river ‘de la Pente-sote’. Our western portion begins from ‘la Pointe de Sable’ and finishes at a ravine, called, unless I am mistaken, ‘la Ravine a Cabrits’.

“The English therefore have the advantage of a road through the mountains, while the French have no means of land communication between their two quarters, except by a road through English territory. The passes on this road are always open in peace time. But when war is declared, and one of the two nations has to drive the other out of the island, these passes are of course closed.

“At the commencement of the war of 1688 we drove the English out of their quarters, and I do not know why fortune deserted us, but we were driven out in 1690.

“The garrison now only consists of four companies and the French colony, which before the war could put 4,000 men in the field, can now not muster more than 350. The cause of this is that since our defeat here in 1690 the French families have settled in San Domingo, Martinique, Guadeloupe and other islands, as they do not consider it wise to live in a place where they could not remain on the first outbreak of war between France and England.”

After leaving St. Kitts on the 15th December, Labat and Cabasson arrived off “Port du Cap Francois”, San Domingo, at midnight.

“The shore pilots came on board at mid-day, and the captain, having nothing else to do, began to drink more than ever, and did the honours of his ship so well that I had never seen him so drunk before. The pilots were no better than he was, and we came near to being wrecked a hundred times. It was so late when we at last dropped anchor that we decided to sleep on board. We had plenty of leisure to repent our decision, for all through the night the ship was full of people who came one after the other to ask the latest news, or rather to drink, if the truth be known. The captain surpassed himself and gave drinks to all who came on board, and it seemed that he drank himself sober. His sailors followed his good example, all this entertainment being at the expense of the cargo. After tapping a cask they would fill it up again with sea-water and thus ruin the wine that was left in it. The unfortunate people who have ordered the wine have no redress for this pillage and destruction which they have very frequently to endure.”

San Domingo

We at length went ashore at Cap on Saturday ist January 1701, and after leaving our belongings at a cabaret we walked to the church. The Capuchin priest, who was curé of the town, had gone to Limonade, nine miles away, and was not expected back before ten o'clock. The Major told me that it would please the curé and every one if I would say Mass at the usual time, i.e. between eight and nine, and that in this case he would send a special messenger to inform the Père Capuchin and tell him not to hurry back on account of this service.

I asked the Major to tell the curé that I would gladly say Mass on the following day too, and also that he could rely on me to look after his parish if he had any business to do in Limonade.

Cap had been burnt by the English in 1699, but has been rebuilt. This was easily done, for the walls of the houses are simply made of forked poles driven into the ground with a covering of split palmiste, and the roofs are thatched. In the middle of the town there was a square of some 300 paces, surrounded by similar houses to the ones I have described. On one side of the square there is a large store-house which was formerly the King's ammunition magazine, but in these days is the hospital. There are seven streets of sorts leading into the square containing about 300 houses.

The parish church was in a street on the left of the square. It was built like the other houses but roofed with wooden shingles. The walls at the back, and for ten feet on either side of the sanctuary, were of boards. The rest of the walls were open but for a palisade fence four feet high, so that Mass could be heard outside as well as inside the church. The altar was the ugliest, worst decorated, and dirtiest affair one could possibly see. There was an armchair, a prie-dieu, and a footstool for the Governor, and the rest of the church was furnished with benches of different sizes and make. The aisle was as clean as the street, that is to say there was a good six inches of dust on it in dry weather, and an equal amount of mud if it rained.

I cannot help saying that I was much scandalized by the little respect shown by the people for their religion. They came to church laughing and chaffing each other as if they were about to see some show or entertainment. Especially was this the case with those on the outside of the church, who leant on the top of the fence and spoke to each other much louder than I preached, continually introducing the name of God in their conversation in a manner I could not tolerate. I warned them to stop talking three or four times as gently as I could, but as this did no good, I was obliged to complain to some officers, who compelled them to keep silent.

After Mass a good man told me that I must be more tolerant with the people on the coast if I intended to live with them.

All the people we visited returned our call, and then entertained us in their homes one after the other. I had never eaten the real cochon boucanné before, as we do not employ this method of preserving meat in the Islands, and ships coming from San Domingo as a general rule only carry enough of it for their crews.

The town of Cap has no walls or palisade defences, and is not even situated in a place suitable for fortifications as it is very exposed on the south and west. There were only two batteries, one at the entrance of the harbour and the other in front of the town, both ill-placed and badly kept up. The garrison was composed of four Compagnies detachees de la Marine, and in all might total 200 men. This number is more than is required in peace time, but is far too small in times of war. The settlers of San Domingo, however, do not put their trust in troops, but in themselves, for nearly all of them have been either buccaneers or filibusters and know how to fight and defend their families and belongings better than most people.

In our walks we remarked the depth and fertility of the soil, in truth it is a lovely country and should prosper. The settlers are beginning to make sugar instead of indigo which has been cultivated up to this time. Les Religieux de la Charite have started a plantation near the new hospital that they are building. This new hospital is situated in a healthy place and commands a beautiful view.

The Capuchin curé, whose parish I looked after till we went away, did not return till Thursday afternoon, when he came to see us, and we promised to dine with him.

On Friday 7th January we went on board a ship from Nantes bound for Léogane and arrived on Saturday at Port Paix. In former days this town was the most important of the French settlements, and was the first place they seized in San Domingo after establishing themselves in Tortuga. It had already ceased to be the seat of Government before the fort was abandoned and the town destroyed in the war of 1689.

The island of Tortuga was entirely deserted, all the settlers having long ago come over to San Domingo. I wished very much to go over and see the ruins of the “Fort de la Roche”, but no one is allowed to go there on any pretext whatever, lest the animals, which have been left there to multiply and are intended to feed the workmen when they repair the fort, might be destroyed.

So far as I can judge from the ruins and house sites, Port Paix must have been a considerable town before it was burnt in the war. It has not been rebuilt, and I did not see more than twenty houses, all of which were made of forked poles and thatched roofs. The church was built of wood with palisade walls and a shingle roof, and was far better than the church at Cap. A secular priest was in charge of the parish although it belongs to the Capuchins, but as the Order were short of priests they employed any churchman they could find. Apart from this many parishes had no curé on account of their unhealthy climate, and this secular priest had another parish some nine miles away.

The Major sent word to this priest to tell him that we would say Mass in the town church. This would save him a good deal of trouble since he always travelled on foot. He came to see us on Monday morning, and thanked us very much for holding the services and teaching the catechism to the children and negroes on Sunday. This good priest was a Basque, and was making a plantation to which he intended to retire when the Capuchins had priests for all their parishes; but he had chosen his property so badly that I believe he had the worst land in the whole quarter. A half-crazy youth assisted him, and both were rather digging a grave for themselves than establishing a plantation. The settlers begged me to persuade him to abandon it, and after seeing what the place was like, I told him my honest opinion about it. Nothing, however, would induce him to move to another spot and I had to give it up, though I felt sure that the two workmen would, before long, become the victims of their labours.

The fort was attacked by the English and Spaniards during the war of 1689. An officer told me that the enemy had three batteries, the one to the west fired on the fort which was much exposed on that side, but owing to the length of the range it did little damage. Their two other batteries were on the coast and fired on the Governor's house, or citadel, and made a breach in the bastion at the south-west corner of the fort. Our people, who are better at attack than defence, did not make either epaulement, trench, or retrenchment. Panic spread among them when this bastion was destroyed, and they decided to do the worst thing possible, i.e. to abandon the fort.

The secret of their plan was so ill-kept that the enemy knew it almost as soon as our men, and made a trap for them on the road by which they would have to withdraw. They made a mistake, however, by placing their troops behind the hedges on both the sides of the road. Our people blundered into the ambush as they had not reconnoitred the country, and had to bear the enemies' fire. They fought bravely enough and were fortunate, for in the darkness the English on one side of the road, and the Spaniards on the other, became confused and killed each other, and most of our men managed to escape. The enemy entered the fort, blew up the donjon, removed the cannons and ammunition, and then abandoned it without doing any more damage to the fortifications.

We left Port Paix on the 12th January and on Thursday arrived at a place between Cap St. Nicholas and a flat point called le Mole, where it is said that there are silver mines. The country at this point is arid, and there is a well-protected bay near-by which is the retreat of corsairs in times of war, and of forbans (pirates) in times of peace.

These pirates are, as a rule, filibusters, who have grown so accustomed to this free life in times of war when they generally hold commissions, that they cannot make up their minds to return to work when peace is made, and therefore continue their roving. Their meeting is to be feared, especially so in the case of Spanish pirates, as most of these are mulattoes and are cruel and implacable. It is not quite so dangerous a matter to fall into the hands of English or French pirates, for they are more humane, and you can often arrange matters with them and save your life, if you can escape their first fury. These people carry their own sentences about with them, and whoever captures them has the right to hang them from a yard-arm or throw them into the sea. Two or three are not killed on the spot but are reserved as witnesses for the adjudication of their ship, but after this they are served in the same way as their comrades.

We were somewhat afraid of meeting these gentlemen, as we knew that they were in this neighbourhood, and had captured some ships lately. These pirates were, however, French, so we hoped to be quit of the adventure for some casks of brandy should one of these gentlemen meet us.

We arrived at the anchorage off the town of La Petite Riviere a little after midnight on Saturday, and slept on board owing to the lateness of the hour.

The town of La Petite Riviere is in the district called Léogane, which comprises all the country from the river Antibanite to the Jacquin Plain on the south coast. This quarter is said to have been a principality called Léogane, after a natural daughter of Philip III of Spain, and it is also said that this Princess ended her days here. It is still possible to see the remains of her castle, which must have been of considerable size judging from the ruins. It was built on rising ground in the middle of a vast savanne, where the air is very fresh and cool, at a place now called “Le Grand Boucan”, some six miles from Esterre. The plain of Léogane extends for forty miles east and west, and sixteen miles north and south. I saw the ruins of the castle and several vaults made of brick and all well built, but most of the buildings had been demolished by the settlers to get the bricks for their indigo tanks. An aqueduct, some 500 yards long, had been built to supply the castle with water. The aqueduct was in good repair, but no water flowed down it as the dam in the river had been destroyed.

We paid our Capitaine Nantois, with whom we were very satisfied, and came ashore on Sunday. The priests had heard of our arrival at Cap and were expecting us, and Père Bedarides met us on the beach.

I had heard such wonderful accounts of this quarter that I was disappointed to find it so very different to what I expected. It is only possible to see this town from a point in the middle of a wide short road, otherwise it is completely screened by mangroves. The settlers explain that the mangroves have been left following the practic...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction by Philip Gosse
• Foreword by the Editor Translator
• The Departure from France (Summary)
• The Voyage to Martinique (Memoirs)
• The Priests and Nuns of Martinique (Summary)
• Filibusters (Memoirs)
• Père Romanet and two Ladies (Memoirs)
• Père XXX
• A Murder and its Punishment
• A Picnic
• Slaves, Agents, and Interlopers
• The Diablotin
• A Plantation Feud
• Carib Indians
• A Carib Carbet
• Dominica Caribs
• Voyage to Barbados—Grenada, St. Vincent and St. Lucia
• Voyage to San Domingo—St. Kitts—Père Cabasson's Monkey
• Contraband
• Hunters
• Capture of Labat by Spaniards
• St. Thomas
• Saba
• General Codrington
• A Commis du Domaine
• Captain Daniel: Pirate
• Two Incidents in the Fighting at Guadeloupe (Summary)
• L'Abbé Signier
• Captain Daniel: Filibuster
• Labat's Departure from Martinique and Arrival at Cadiz