Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/41

Rh of freebooters they were the terror of the West Indies. They had neither wives nor families. They entered two by two into a kind of partnership, all of whose goods were in common and to be inherited by the survivor. In case of a disagreement, which seldom happened however, blood alone could bring the quarrel to a close. Even in their dress they were wild looking. At their belts could always be seen a sabre, besides several knives and daggers. Any one of them possessing a good gun and twenty -five hunting-dogs considered himself a happy man. Many abandoned their family names and assumed pseudonyms, which remained to their descendants. Continually exposed to the inclemencies of the weather, their lives in constant jeopardy, they had as little fear of death as regard for the laws. They were fierce and desperate in their bravery; they roamed the seas in their small crafts, and would board fearlessly the largest Spanish ships. Nothing could resist the impetuosity of their attacks. The independence of their nature tolerated no restraint; and the authority of their leaders lasted only so long as fighting was going on. Improvident and careless, they would squander in a few days the valuable booty they acquired, their lives being thus continually spent either in the greatest luxury or in the utmost poverty. Want therefore excited their ardor and aroused their courage.

D'Ogeron undertook to discipline these unruly spirits and to interest them in the welfare of their new country. He thought that family ties alone could check their wild dispositions and bind them to their homes. So he requested that some women be sent from the mother country; at first but few arrived. Therefore, to prevent any quarrelling, they were awarded to the highest bidders; the less destitute among the freebooters were thus able to secure female companions. In this manner the first French families were instituted in Saint-Domingue. The freebooters were not to be trifled with; they