Saint-Domingue contained two other provinces—the Western and the Southern. They were separated from the North, and from one another, by high mountain ranges. Only in 1751, when Port-au-Prince—the largest town in the Western Province—became the island's capital, was a passage cut across these mountains. The royal government paid for the road, but slaves built it, carving a 100-foot stairway into the rock. Not until 1787, however, was it possible to travel from Le Cap to Port-au-Prince by carriage.

Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ …, loc. 55