COMMERCE.
CHAPTER
171
VIII.
Commerce and Finances.
COMMERCE.
T H E present chapter may be considered the same as m y Report to H i s Majesty's govern足 ment, printed by order of the House of C o m 足 mons, w i t h very slight modifications. Various circumstances conspire to make i t difficult to draw up any accurate account o f the commerce o f H a i t i , d u r i n g the period o f revolu足 tion and of c i v i l war, w h i c h embraces thirty-one years, beginning i n 1791 and ending i n 1822. We know w i t h accuracy the extent and nature of the trade of the colony under the F r e n c h government, and since the year 1822 its general state may be tolerably defined ; but the i n 足 termediate period is little better than a chaos, in which a few faint glimmerings of l i g h t are