HAINANESE LANGUAGE

[s. 302] : Belongs to the Tai group of the Indo-China family of languages, being spoken by the inhabitants of the island of Hainan, South China. The Roman letters have been used in writing it for mi ionary purposes by mi ionaries of the PN. HAI-TAN. See He-tan Island. HAITI, or HAYTI An island of the West Indies, next in size to Cuba, and lying between Cuba on the west and Porto Rico on the east. It is mountainous, with the ranges running from east to west throughout the island. The soil is exceedingly fertile, and mineral wealth is supposed to be considerable. About two-thirds of the island is occupied by the Republic of Santo Domingo. The western part, comprising a little more than one-third of the whole area, belongs to the Republic of Haiti. The island was discovered by Columbus in 1492 and entered by Spaniards in 1493. The western part was occupied by French buccaneers in 1632 and annexed by France in: A century later the slaves revolted 1697. against the French and after bloody wars proclaimed their independence in 1801. The eastern or Spanish part of the island was conquered by the Haitians in 1822-23, but revolted in 1843-44, becoming the Dominican Republic. The western part of the island was ruled by emperors for some years and finally adopted the republican form of government. The area of the whole island is 28,250 square miles. HAITI, or HAYTI, Republic of: An independent territory in the western part of the island of The republic is of the French type and Haiti. has suffered from numerous revolutions and wars. The people are largely blacks (some 10,000 of whom are immigrants from the United States) and a very few whites. The population of the republic was about 950,000 in 1887; a church census in 1901 claims that it is now 1,294,400. The language is a dialect of French, and the religion is Roman Catholic, altho the voodooism of the Africans is extensively mingled with the Christianity of the common people. Protestant mi ions were begun in Haiti by the in 1816. They received a fresh impulse in connection with the emigration of negroes from the United States, in 1824 Many of these were Methodists and others were Baptists. Several preachers were among these American negroes, WMS and a Methodist Conference organized among them in connection with the African Methodist Church of the United States continues to this day. The Baptists also have several churches in Haiti which were established in consequence of this emigration. The American Baptists maintained mi ionaries in three or four places for several years, but gave up the field to the BMS, and, at present, the Jamaica Baptist Mi ionary Union aids some smaller Baptist congregations, the general work being under charge of the Haitian Baptist Union, composed of the pastors of churches which have no financial aid from abroad. Colored Episcopalians from the United States having emigrated to Haiti in 1861, the field was taken up by the PE, and there are now six regular congregations, superintended by a Bishop, and with a theological seminary for training a native ministry. The field is very needy, since the people of the country districts are ignorant and rather to be cla ed as fetish worshipers than as Christians. Justin (J.), Etude sur les institutions Haitiennes, Paris, 1894; St. John (Sir Spenser). Haiti, or the Black Republic, London, 1889; Mi ionary Review of the World, Vol. VIII., n. 179. See also number for September, 1903, Saint Remi, Vie de To us saint L’Ouverture, Paris, 1850. HA A town in Asiatic Turkey, about 30 JIN: miles north of Adana, in the heart of the Taurus Mountains. The population is almost entirely Armenian. Station of the (1880), with (1902) 1 mi ionary and his wife, 3 women mi ionaries, 38 native workers, men and women; 7 outstations, 4 preaching places, 2 village schools, 2 high schools, an orphanage, a Young Woman’s Christian A ociation, and 615 church members. ABCFM HAKA. Halgr Hall, William N. 286 See Fort Haka. 303