The sagacious Jean Francois had initiated cultivation along the
mountain-sides, and in the valleys; and thus secured an unfailing
magazine of supply.

Toussaint, meanwhile, continues his duties with the negro troops.
Steadily and surely, if not rapidly, he gains strength and influence and
knowledge of war. He has measured himself with Jean and Biassou, and is
not wanting. His prudence, patience, silent will, and courage make him
useful to them, and his justice and determination and mercy make him the
idol of the men. The Marquis Hermona, Governor of the Spanish part of
the island, made advances to the negro chiefs. Santhonax, in his
extremity after the destruction of Cap Francois, sent Macayo to propose
an alliance, but they distrusted him.

Meanwhile Louis XVI was beheaded. They said, "We have lost the King of
France, but the King of Spain esteems us and gives us succor." They
declined the proposals of the commissioners, and ranged themselves on
the side of Spain. Toussaint was loyal to the memory of the King, and
followed Francois and Biassou. Hermona saw that Toussaint was a _man_;
and while Jean Francois was advanced to the first rank, Toussaint was
raised to that of colonel in the Spanish army. He at once applied
himself to his duties, and what he did was always well done. His troops
became, as if by a word, the best disciplined in the army. The reason
was plain: he knew what men ought to do and what they can do; and the
men knew that he was upright and wise. So these ragged, ignorant, roving
hordes became efficient troops. Confidence begat confidence: the
commander trusted his men, and they relied on him; together they were
strong. Idleness was not Toussaint's policy. The insurgents under Jean
Francois, Biassou, and Toussaint held strong positions in the mountains
south of Cap Francois. Brandicourt, the general of the French troops,
was at once trapped and compelled to order his troops to lay down their
arms. Grande Riviere, Dondon, Plaisance, Marmalade, and Ennery, the most
important places in the north, quickly fell into Toussaint's hands.

The French commissioners were getting into straits. The Spanish troops
were against them; the blacks were against them. The remaining whites
were divided; some wore the black cockade, others the white; the troops,
and friends of the commissioners, the tricolor; the mulattoes, the red.
War was everywhere, and no man was safe but with arms in his hands and
in the strongest pa