and when taken by the l^rench, whether with or without
arms in their hands, they were punished with excessive
rigor — the scaffolds being daily loaded with multitudes ot
victims, who were put to death without distinction of sex
or age. These severities, and the sudden disappearance
of the mulatto general Lamartiniere, the hero of Crete a
Pierrot, furnished a cause for the desertion of Charles
Belair, who mad^ his escape with great numbers of
followers, and succeeded .in reaching the mountains ot.'
Cahos in safety. Desssalines had just been appointed by
Gen. Rochambeau to the command of St. Marks, and
when he was .informed of this movement of Charles Bel-
air he pursued him, equally prepared to capture, or if he
found his resources sufficient, to join him. Charles Belair
had succeeded Geri. Mbyse in the enjoyment of the inti-
mate -confidenoe of Toussaint, whose nephew he also was ;
and it has been asserted that he was the one destined by
Toussaint as his successor in the government of the coun-
try. .That he took the direction of- the mountains ofCa-
hoe, the former pivot of Toussaint's operations, renders
the story probable that he designed to carry on the plans
of that chieflain, to whom be had ever manifested a more
unvarying attachment than any of his other generals.
