island which,
except for a brief interval, they have ever since retained.

This success was in great part due to the famous leader of the blacks, the
renowned Toussaint L'Ouverture, a man who proved himself one of the
greatest and noblest of his race. Born in Hayti, of negro parents, he was
descended from an African prince, and, slave though he was in condition,
had himself the soul of a prince. He taught himself to read and write, and
also something of mathematics and of Latin, and was taken from the fields
to become coachman for the overseer of the estate of his master, the Count
de Breda.

When the negro revolt began, and the furious blacks were seeking victims
on all sides, Toussaint concealed the overseer and his family in the
forest, took them food at the risk of his own life, and finally led them
to the coast, where they took ship for the United States.

While he was thus engaged, the negroes, led by a gigantic black named
Bouckman, and subsequently by three others, were continuing their course
of butchery and devastation. Toussaint joined them after the escape of the
overseer, and quickly gained an influence over them, largely from his
knowledge of medicinal plants and a degree of skill in surgery. This
influence enabled him to put himself at their head and to mitigate the
ferocity of their actions. His ascendency was due not only to his
knowledge, but also to his valor, and from his courage in opening a breach
in the ranks of the enemy he became known as L'Ouverture, or the opener.

[Illustration: SOUTH AMERICAN NATIVE HUT.]

SOUTH AMERICAN NATIVE HUT.

Under their new leader the revolted slaves held their own against their
enemies, declaring in favor of the king, Louis XVI., and against the
revolutionists. On the other hand, the English came to the aid of the
whites, and the island was thrown into a state of horrible confusion,
increased by the interference of the Spaniards, who held the eastern
section of the island.

In 1794, after the Convention in Paris had issued a decree demanding the
liberation of the slaves, Toussaint and his followers joined the
revolutionary cause, and aided the French general Laveaux to expel the
British and Spanish invaders. In this campaign he won a number of
victories, and showed such military skill and ability as to prove him a
leader of the highest qualities. Beard says of him, "His energy and his
prowess made him the idol of his