Haiti is the only French-speaking republic in the Western hemisphere. It shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. The population is largely African, descendants of slaves brought over in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. With them came their religious beliefs, which survive in the cult of vodoun.

At the rituals the pulsating rhythms of the drums which accompany the sacred songs and dances are heard. Many of the groups reflect strong European influences, for example this lullaby with its words in French patios. That the mosquito is a fact of life is clear from this song, ironically addressed to the unsleeping mosquito and offered subtly as an articulation of the child's restless discontent.

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