than two--partly
for the sake of the pleasure of the excursion, and partly to introduce
their friends from Europe to some of the beauties of the most beautiful
island in the world.

Madame L'Ouverture had had presents of European carriages, in which she
did not object to take airings in the towns and their neighbourhood; but
nowhere else were the roads in a state to bear such heavy vehicles. In
the sandy bridle-paths they would have sunk half their depth; in the
green tracks they would have been caught in thickets of brambles and low
boughs; while many swamps occurred which could be crossed only by single
horses, accustomed to pick their way in uncertain ground. The ladies of
the colony, therefore, continued, as in all time past, to take their
journeys on horseback, each attended by some one--a servant, if there
were neither father, brother, nor lover--to hold the umbrella over her
during rain, or the more oppressive hours of sunshine.

The family of L'Ouverture had left the palace early, and were bound, for
an estate in the middle of the plain, where they intended to rest,
either till evening, or till the next morning, as inclination might
determine. As their train, first of horses, and then of mules, passed
along, now under avenues of lofty palms, which constituted a deep, moist
shade in the midst of the glare of the morning--now across fields of
sward, kept green by the wells which were made to overflow them; and now
through swamps where the fragrant flowering reeds reached up to the
flanks of the horses, and courted the hands of the riders, the
inhabitants of the region watched their progress, and gave them every
variety of kindly greeting. The mother who was sitting at work under
the tamarind-tree called her children down from its topmost branches to
do honour to the travellers. Many a half-naked negro in the
rice-grounds slipped from the wet plank on which, while gazing, he
forgot his footing, and laughed his welcome from out of the mud and
slime. The white planters who were taking their morning ride over their
estates, bent to the saddle-bow, the large straw hat in hand, and would
not cover their heads from the hot sun till the ladies had passed.
These planters' wives and daughters, seated at the shaded windows, or in
the piazzas of their houses, rose and curtsied deep to the ladies
L'Ouverture. Many a little black head rose dripping from the clear
waters, gleaming among the reeds, where negro children l