Page:Haiti- Her History and Her Detractors.djvu/42

34 were terrible foes. The Spaniards made vain efforts to exterminate them. A new and relentless war began; the island once more became a battlefield. The English thought they had now a good opportunity to take possession of the country. A fleet sent by Cromwell threatened Santo Domingo in 1655. Fortunately for the French the expedition failed and the English proceeded to Jamaica, which they seized, thus depriving Spain forever of that colony. The struggle at Saint-Domingue continued therefore between the French and the Spaniards only; it was a stubborn and bloody contest. The French not only held their own, but even managed to gain a surer footing.

Emboldened by their success they now assumed the offensive; they desired the entire possession of the island. In their first campaign against Santiago they stormed the city, which they afterward abandoned upon receiving a ransom (1669).

At the first opportunity the Spaniards retaliated. They invaded Petit-Goave, which they completely destroyed. In 1691 they took possession of Cap-Français, which they set on fire and whose inhabitants they massacred. On leaving the ruined city they took with them a great number of women, children, and slaves. The French for a while were in a desperate state. Besides the Spaniards, the English also were threatening their settlement. And the black slaves, whose hope of liberty was only slumbering, began to cause some anxiety. In 1678 Padrejean had roused them to rebellion. In 1697, in the Quartier-Morin, 300 Africans took up arms again. Fortunately for the French the timely peace of Riswick put an end to the hostilities. By the treaty signed in 1697 Louis XIV acquired a clear title to the possession of the western part of the island, the limits of which were established from Cap-Rose in the north to La Beate in the south.