Les Trois Rivières (English: The Three Rivers) is a long river in northern Haiti.
About[]
The river, which leaves the northern slopes of the Plaisance Chain, at Mont Laporte, and is divided into three branches, in the districts of Gonaives, Terre-Neuve, Limbé and Port-de-Paix, and drains into the Tortue canal, four kilometers from the town of Port-de-Paix, after a 130-kilometer route, passing at the foot of the Fort des Trois Pavilions. The river is made up of three streams: from its name; the northernmost one is called La Trouble, named after the rural section where it is located; the one in the middle, La Graix; and further south, La Grande Rivière. The three water courses meet in the general basin of La Trouble, six kilometers from their origin, where they take the name of Trois Rivieres. In its lower course, the bed is sixty meters wide. The shallowest water depth is 0.5 meters and 3 meters. A bridge was built there in 1923.
The places high on the banks of the rivers are: Terre-Neuve, Gros-Morne, Fort des Trois Pavilions, and Port de-Paix. Its overflows are sudden and devastating compared to its rapid slope. Its tributaries are the Laporte River to the west, the Mapou, the Boeuf Blanc, the Baudin-South River, and the Boucan-Champagne, the Margot and Piment Ravines to the north.
History[]
• In 1802, General Humbert was dispatched from au Cap by Captain General Leclerc to Port-de-Paix with a squadron that would operate its landing at the mouth of Trois Rivieres with 1,800 men. They lined up at the Lacorne Guédon habitation, and walked to Port-de-Paix by the main road. Maurepas had sent 400 men to ambush them at the ford of the river. The French, as soon as they discovered the natives, rushed at them with bayonets, entering the water up to their waist, General Humbert at the head. The fight then began with knives with equal fury on both sides. The French, not being able to ford the passage, withdrew in good order, and skirted the left bank as far as the Paulin habitation where there was another ford.
Poetry[]
The poet Tertulien Guilbaud, in his collection: Les Feuilles au Vent, sings the Trois Rivieres river in charming verses, this is the first of three:
(The poem rhymes in French; Translated into English.)
Dear little blue river of my native land,
On your banks perfumed with the scents of sandalwood,
Ah! as our rave flutters freely!
Your washers, especially, while on the bank,
Their bare arms, in the sun, twist the white linen
As one sees them with a faithful eye, sparkling! ...
O the beautiful golden breasts swollen with sap,
That the light rhythm of a gay refrain stirs up! ...
And Love, as an accomplice, has the ray of fire
Which caresses their hip in nonchalant poses.
And their whispering whisper of such disturbing things!
You could tell us how many, in this sweet place,
On the grass he stripped fresh bouquets of roses;
But your waves are discreet, dear little blue river.