Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/310

 274 milder, there is neither that oppressive heat nor those strong breezes which dry up the air instead of cooling and freshening it. For this reason life in the mountains is more pleasant than in the plains. &hellip; the mountains the thermometer seldom rises above 18 or 20 degrees centigrade, whilst in the plains and in the towns it registers on an average as high as 30 degrees. The nights are sometimes cool enough to necessitate the use of a blanket; in some of the mountains of Saint-Domingue it is often necessary to build a fire. This is not owing to the intensity of the cold, the temperature being only 12 or 14 degrees centigrade, but on account of the contrast of this temperature with that felt during the day and which produces a sensation that is not rightly expressed by the words cold and hot as they are generally understood in a cold country."

All that Moreau de St. Méry wrote about the climate of Haiti is still true of it. Nevertheless, in their frenzy of misrepresentation the detractors of Haiti spare not even her climate; they make it out to be a menace to the life of foreigners. As a matter of fact, these detractors generally know little or nothing of Haiti; after a stay of a few hours or a day or two in one of the cities or towns they take upon themselves to speak ex cathedra about the country, its inhabitants, customs, etc.

Besides the numerous residences in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince, at Turgeau, Peu-de-Chose, etc., which, nestling in their picturesque setting of green, offer a pleasant change from the heat of the city, there can be found in the surrounding mountains several places cool enough to bear comparison with many of the summer resorts in the United States. Pétionville or La Coupe, at an altitude of 500 metres above the sea level, is scarcely an hour's drive from Port-au-Prince; the nights there are always cool and pleasant. Beyond Pétionville, at a distance of 17 kilometres from the capital, is