A broad and fertile coast plain extends from Puerto Plata some twenty-five miles to the small port of La Goleta. On this plain about twelve miles from Puerto Plata, lies the port of Sosua. La Goleta is a distributing point for the lumber cut in this district. A considerable portion thereof proceeds from the headwaters of the nearby river Yasica, being floated down the river and then along the ocean shore. From the Yasica River, the mouth of which is about 100 feet wide, an uneven rocky stretch of coast extends in a southeasterly direction to Cape Frances Viejo, where there is a new lighthouse. Numerous brooks traverse this region and leap down to the sea from the rocks, in beautiful cascades often twenty and thirty feet in height. Near Cape Frances lies the small town formerly called Tres Amarras and now Cabrera. The Monte Cristi Range terminates here, its foothills forming the promontories of Cape Frances and Point Sabaneta. Travel along this rugged part of the coast is difficult; in order to avoid the troublesome gullies of the shore, the trail often runs far inland through dense jungle. The rocks are of a conglomerate formation, and are worn by the waves into the most fantastic shapes. From the appearance of the cliffs it seems that at remote periods two distinct upheavals of the land took place, the first of which formed the peaks which rise about twelve miles in the interior, the second and more recent one giving origin to the great rocks along the coast. The precipices in the interior, which in ages past were washed by the sea, rise to a sheer height of from two hundred to four hundred feet and are crowned with trees. The rocky masses in the coast forests are full of clefts and caverns which furnish habitation to millions of bees.

The shore now curves southward and becomes low and sandy. There are low coast plains covered with trees, especially groves of palm trees, which extend far into the interior. Four rivers are crossed, which carry comparatively little water, and the mouths of which are obstructed by sand bars caused by the prevailing north and east winds. As a result of these bars the streams flood the country and form large stagnant lakes, that have effectively prevented a settlement of the region. Some seven miles before reaching the mouth of the Gran Estero there is a little town called Matanzas, a kind of headquarters for turtle fishermen and which, though the entrance to its bay is almost closed by a sand bank, is often visited by coasting schooners that call for cacao from nearby plantations. What is called the Gran Estero is a network of bayous and channels, some upon the surface, others subterranean, which extends from the Yuna River to the ocean and traverses the marshy plain forming the neck of the Samana peninsula. It is apparent that the Yuna River centuries ago emptied into the ocean and that what is to-day the Samana peninsula was once an island separated by a broad channel from the mainland, to which it became united by the gradual rise of the land and by the alluvium deposited by the river. The great swamp so formed is in one place as much as 18 miles wide, and is covered with stunted mangrove trees and rank weeds and bushes. The decaying vegetation gives the water of the bayous and stagnant ponds a dirty coffee color and taints the air with malarial miasma. The opening of channels and draining of the swamp would remedy the defects, at the same time providing important means of communication and reclaiming large tracts of the richest agricultural land.

From Matanzas the coast extends due east, closely following the mountain range which beginning near Port Jackson forms the backbone of the Samana peninsula. Spurs of the mountains rise precipitously from the sea which foams at their rocky base, and from the summits to the water's edge the country is covered with luxuriant vegetation. The few rocky coves along the shore were a favorite resort for buccaneers in days gone by. One of them is Port Jackson; the entrance is rendered dangerous by a coral reef, but once within, the deep waters are always tranquil and offer good shelter to the little craft of the turtle fishermen. Though the waters of this region are said to teem with the finest fish but little attention is paid to fishing. Another cove, difficult of access because of the jagged rocks near the entrance, is Port Escondido, or Hidden Port, near the most conspicuous feature of this coast, the lofty promontory of Cape Cabron, or Cabo del Enamorado, Lover's Cape. The easternmost point of the peninsula is the rugged double-terraced headland of Cape Samana, reckoned as the beginning of Samana Bay, though strictly speaking the Bay begins at the majestic cliff known as Balandra Point.

This magnificent bay, one of the great harbors of the world and the finest by far of the West Indies, has ever excited the admiration of travelers. Securely sheltered against storms, of an extent sufficient to accommodate the navies of the world, easily fortified and defended, occupying a highly important strategical position, its advantages cannot be overestimated. Samana Bay, a submerged extension of the great valley of the Yuna River, is thirty-five miles in length and from ten to fifteen miles in width. Looking up the Bay from the entrance no land is descried on the horizon. Columbus, when he first entered, believed he was on an ocean channel dividing two islands. The north coast is protected by the low mountain-range of the Samana peninsula, in places resembling the Palisades on the Hudson, and the southern shore is fringed by a chain of hills, so that the emerald green waters of the Bay are perfectly sheltered against all winds except those from the east. Even here the effect of the wind is modified and it is only during eastern gales that choppy waves oblige small boats to seek the coves along the shore. About four miles from Point Balandra, is a group of five islets, known as the Cayos Levantados. The channel between these Keys and the northern shore of the Bay, 2000 yards in width with a maximum depth of 140 and a minimum depth of 50 feet, constitutes the principal entrance to the Bay, the only one which is available for large vessels. The other channel, known as the Half Moon Channel, lies immediately south of the Keys; but being narrow and shallow, is navigable only by vessels of light draft. The great expanse of water, fifteen miles in width, between this channel and the south shore of the Bay is so dotted with shoals as to be absolutely impassable. It will thus be seen that the actual entrance to the great Bay is quite narrow and could easily be defended by mines or by fortifications on the Cayos and the peninsula. The Bay is like a great bottle with a very narrow neck. The Spaniards, in fact, established a small fort on the headland, its ruins being now hidden by dense underbrush.

It seems surprising that no large and flourishing metropolis should have arisen on the shores of this splendid body of water. Apparently the principal reason why it did not appeal to the Spaniards was that owing to the prevailing easterly breezes their clumsy vessels would have encountered difficulty in leaving. Since the days of steam, of course, this trouble is obviated. The value of the Bay as a naval station has been widely advertised, and France, England and the United States have at various times entertained projects of acquiring it. The American government in 1869 even negotiated a treaty for the lease of Samana peninsula and Samana Bay, but the United States Senate failed to act and the treaty was lost by expiration of time. The Bay would constitute a military and commercial key to this part of the world for any power possessing it.

Near Balandra point is the tiny settlement of Las Flechas, located upon the scene of the first encounter marked by bloodshed between the Spaniards and Indians. A number of Columbus' men having landed here in January, 1493. were attacked by Indians and in the ensuing engagement an Indian was wounded. The occurrence induced Columbus to name the Bay Golfo de las Flechas, Gulf of the Arrows. At the end of the main channel of entrance to the Bay the north shore is indented by the large and commodious basin of Clara, and about two miles further to the west is the harbor of the old city of Santa Barbara de Samana, a tranquil sheet of water, separated from the Bay proper by several small islands, but which can be entered only by vessels drawing less than twenty feet. Beyond Samana the coast becomes a little less steep and the verdure-covered mountains recede sufficiently to give room to narrow coast plains, thickly grown with cocoa-nut palms. Along the beach are landscapes of idyllic beauty. Deep water extends up to the shore and there are half a dozen points which excel for landing places. Some twenty miles from Samana the last offshoots from the mountains encompass the town of Sanchez. Beyond in a large semi-circle, the end of the Bay is skirted by the great swamp which comprises the Gran Estero and the delta of the Yuna River.

The town of Sanchez, the terminus of the railroad from La Vega, is an important outlet for the products of the Royal Plain, but though one of the principal ports of the Republic its situation on Samana Bay is unfavorable. Located where the Samana mountains slope into the Gran Estero, the site is ill adapted for the expansion of the settlement; the vicinity of the great marsh is not inviting, though the prevailing eastern breezes serve to drive back its noxious emanations; and the harbor, even now so shallow that vessels are obliged to anchor a mile from shore, is gradually silting up with sediment from the Yuna River. The story goes that the selection of this unpropitious spot for the terminus of the railroad was due to the passion of a moment. A tract of land at Point Santa Capuza, five miles down the bay, where a level coast plain and deep water up to the very shore invited the establishment of a port, had previously been chosen. The railroad had been extended to this spot and the foundations of the shops were being laid when the principal owner of the road, who was directing the construction work, learned that several of his engineers had acquired a controlling interest in a portion of the site of the projected town. The choleric Scotchman immediately removed his headquarters to Las Canitas, where Sanchez is now located, and though a vast amount of digging and filling was necessary the shops were erected here and the road to Santa Capuza was abandoned. The railroad has since purchased, for a song, almost all the land which caused the trouble, but as it has only recently expended L10,000 in the extension of its wharf at Sanchez from six to ten feet on water, and made other improvements, there is evidently no intention of moving the terminus.

Beginning at Sanchez the entire western shore of Samana Bay is lined by swamp land, interspersed with the sandbanks formed by the various mouths of the Yuna. Turning east, the coast becomes almost inaccessible owing to the reefs and rocks which line it and constitute the beginning of low rocky ridges running into the interior. This region, known as "Los Haitis," continues until the Bay of San Lorenzo is reached. This capacious inlet, the only good harbor on the southern coast of Samana Bay is almost completely landlocked by a peninsula extending across its mouth, and affords good anchorage. The project of establishing a city and free port here was considered in 1883 and a comprehensive concession was granted with this object in view, but nothing was done and the concession lapsed. San Lorenzo Bay is also called Bahia de las Perlas, from the pearls found in its waters in the early-days; it is related that in 1531 five pecks were sent to Spain as the royal fifth. On the western side of the bay are extensive and beautiful stalactitic caves, in pre-Columbian days the abode of Indians, and in the seventeenth century a favorite resort for pirates, who were well acquainted with every nook and inlet along the shores of Samana Bay. Some five miles to the east of the Bay of San Lorenzo lies the village of Sabana la Mar. So shallow is the water here that not even small vessels can approach near to the low and sandy shore. The same condition prevails along the remainder of the southern shore of Samana Bay. Branching from the low hills that skirt the coast is the headland of Cape Rafael at the end of the Bay, forming a fitting counterpart to Cape Samana on the north.

Turning southeasterly along the coast Point Nisibon is reached, where a calcareous rock formation and soil suitable for sugar planting begins. Forty miles of rocky shore intervene between this point and Cape Engano, the easternmost cape of the island, with a new lighthouse, the light of which is visible twenty miles away. The coast now leads southwesterly to Point Espada, shaped like a sword, and but twenty-five miles distant from the Island of Mona, a dependency of Porto Rico. Southwest from Point Espada lies the largest island of the Dominican Republic, the Island of Saona, fifteen miles long by four miles wide, the low hills of which are covered with abundant vegetation. At the time of the conquest it was the home of a numerous Indian population; later when owned by the Jesuits it had well-kept plantations; to-day it is almost uninhabited. Not far away are the smaller islands of Catalina and Catalinita, which possess valuable timber but like Saona are uninhabited. From Point Palmilla opposite Saona Island, the shore-line, fringed with coral rocks, turns northwest and then due west. It bounds the great flat region of Santo Domingo, and to the traveler on passing ships is the most monotonous part of the coast, for in the absence of mountains to break the sky-line, there is nothing to be seen but a low palm-crowned rocky wall with surf beating at its base. The harbors are estuaries of rivers; those of La Romana, Soco and San Pedro de Macoris are of this description.

San Pedro de Macoris is the principal port for the exportation of sugar. Its harbor is commodious, but access thereto is rendered difficult by a bar traversed only by a narrow and tortuous channel. Extensive harbor improvements were here undertaken under a concession which caused considerable litigation and discussion until it was redeemed by the government by means of the 1907 bond issue.

In the forty miles intervening between San Pedro de Macoris and Santo Domingo City, about the only place of interest is the Bay of Andres, midway between the two cities, which is the home of innumerable wild ducks. The City of Santo Domingo is situated on the west bank of the Ozama River, the mouth of which constitutes the city's harbor. Since the town was founded four centuries ago the width of the river here seems to have diminished by fully one-fourth owing to accretion along the shores. A bar across the entrance renders access impracticable for vessels drawing more than fifteen feet of water. This bar has given considerable trouble, for at times it has grown in such manner as to leave a depth of but five feet. It is now kept open by means of jetties and dredging. Within the bar the river is perfectly smooth and vessels can without trouble draw up to the dock, but the roadstead outside is generally very rough and the embarking and disembarking of passengers is attended with experiences more exciting than pleasant. At this place more than one passenger has had an involuntary bath and many a piece of luggage lies at the bottom of the sea. On two occasions on which I disembarked here in stormy weather it seemed an even wager that the boat would be swamped before reaching the river mouth.

The wall of coral rock girding the coast continues as far as Point Palenque, when it is succeeded by sandy beach. This inhospitable shore has been the witness of stirring episodes, for it was near Fort San Geronimo where the American troops came ashore in 1916; at the mouth of the Jaina that Drake disembarked in 1586 to accomplish his bold reduction of Santo Domingo City; at the cove of Najayo where Penn and Venables landed in 1655 in their unsuccessful descent upon the colony; and near Port Palenque where a British force under Carmichael landed in 1809 to assist the Dominicans in retaking Santo Domingo City from the French. Off Point Palenque, too, in 1806 a British squadron under Vice-Admiral Duckworth defeated a French squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Lessiegues, forcing two French ships-of-the-line ashore and capturing several other vessels. The ports are all shallow and unsheltered, but are occasionally visited by coasting sloops in quest of timber and other products of the country.

The lofty mountains which in Santo Domingo City can be discerned on the distant horizon have at Palenque become more distinct and approached nearer to the shore. On the green plain which slopes from their base to the sea, white specks, glittering in the sun, betray the presence of the town of Bani. But little further on, the mountains rise from the very shore, their spurs in the surf, their peaks capped by clouds. The triangular bay of Ocoa, the second largest of the Republic, is now reached. Almost 25 miles in width at its mouth with a length of some 13 miles, its extent earned for it, in olden days, the name of Puerto Hermoso de los Espanoles, the beautiful port of the Spaniards. It has plenty of water and is well protected by high hills on both sides, but on account of its wide entrance becomes very rough in a south wind. There are several good anchorages along its shore, and inlets which are used as harbors by various plantations. At its southeastern entrance is the landlocked body of water known as Caldera or Kettle Bay, claimed to be the best harbor on the southern coast of the Republic. It is separated from the ocean by a long narrow tongue of land, and being securely sheltered from all winds, its surface is always as placid as a lake. Caldera Bay is presumed to be the harbor in which Columbus on his fourth voyage rode out the great hurricane of 1502 which demolished the infant city of Santo Domingo and sunk the gold fleet that had just set sail for Spain. This harbor was a rendezvous for the Spanish war vessels and transports in 1861 when Spain resumed control of Santo Domingo and again in 1865 when she relinquished possession. The extent and depth of Caldera Bay are claimed to be sufficient to accommodate the largest ships, but vessels seldom venture into it, as the charts of this part of the coast are deficient.

At the upper end of Ocoa Bay is Port Tortuguero, the harbor of the city of Azua, affording good anchorage, but very rough in south winds. It. was the scene of one of the few naval engagements in the history of Santo Domingo, for here on April 15, 1844, two Dominican schooners sustained a drawn battle with three Haitian vessels. The surrounding hills appear almost bare of vegetation owing to the aridity of the climate. The only buildings at the port are a small custom-house and several sheds, the city of Azua lying about three miles inland. The former harbor of Azua, Puerto Viejo or Escondido, Old or Hidden Port, is a sheltered inlet on the western side of Ocoa Bay, but is available only for vessels of light draft.

Point Martin Garcia where the western side of Ocoa Bay is regarded as terminating also marks the beginning of another large bay, Neiba Bay, which has the form of a cul-de-sac, with a length of eighteen miles and an average breadth of seven miles. It is open to the southeast, but in all other directions is well protected by high mountains. The water is of ample depth and there are several good anchorages, the best being the port of the small city of Barahona.

From Neiba Bay to Cape Beata the coast waters are shallow and are only visited by small vessels which come to take away lumber or coffee from the neighboring heights. At Cape Beata, the southernmost cape of the Republic, the coast turns northwest, to the Pedernales River, which forms part of the boundary between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Several small bays indent this portion of the shore, the one most favorable for shipping being Las Aguilas Bay, also known as Bahia sin Fondo, or Bottomless Bay. This part of the country, the Baboruco peninsula, is very sparsely inhabited. In the beginning of the nineteenth century it was the abode of maroons, half-savage fugitive slaves and their descendants.

Four miles to the southwest of Cape Beata lies Beata Island, sloping down from an elevation in the south to a long point in the north. Its greatest length is about 7 miles, its maximum breadth 3 miles, and access is difficult as the only anchorage is on the eastern side almost two miles from land. The island is covered with dense forests in which wild cattle abound. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the island was a convenient resort for the pirates that infested the Spanish main; at one time it is said to have contained fine plantations, but at present it is only occasionally visited by Dominican or Haitian fishermen.

Rising precipitously from the sea, at a distance of about ten miles southwest of Beata Island, is a huge bell-shaped mass of rock, 500 feet in height, almost two miles in length and a mile in width. It reminded Columbus of a giant ship under full sail, wherefore he named it Alta Vela, or High Sail, sometimes corrupted to Alto Velo. The valuable deposits of guano on the rock induced a party of Americans in 1860 to take possession of it in the name of the United States as an ownerless guano island, but upon protest by the Dominican authorities the American government promptly recognized the superior rights of Santo Domingo. Visible from far out at sea, with a lighthouse on its summit, the great granite peak stands like a sentinel guarding the southern shore of the Republic.

On the land side the vague boundary has varied constantly, influenced by the conflicting Haitian and Dominican claims, the greater or less energy of the border authorities on each side, and the tendency of the rapidly increasing Haitian population to establish homes in the uninhabited frontier region of Santo Domingo. The absolute lack of correct maps and the rugged character of the country make it difficult, even on the spot, to determine where the boundary line should be considered to run. In riding through the region about Lake Azuei, I noticed some bad dents in the frontier and came to the conclusion that not all the boundary pushing has been done by Haitians.

On the frontier as provisionally fixed by the American government in 1912, the Dajabon, Capotillo or Massacre River constitutes the northern end of the boundary. The lower course of this river is the only part of the boundary line where Haitian and Dominican claimants are able to agree. In the mountains to the west of Restauracion the line jumps over to the headwaters of the Libon River, which it follows to the upper Artibonite, continuing along this river as far as Banica. From here it runs across high mountains between Comendador and Hondo Valle on the Dominican side and Belladere and Savanette on the Haitian side, to the north shore of Lake Azuei, thence across the lake to the headwaters of the Pedernales River—with an indentation to give Haiti the post of Bois Tombe—and along that river to the sea. For the greater part of its extent the line traverses a wild mountainous country, rarely visited on the Dominican side, except by smugglers or an occasional frontier guard.



CHAPTER VIII

TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

Mountains.—Valleys and plains.—Rivers.—Lakes.—Temperature and rainfall.—Hurricanes.—Health conditions.

It is related that an English admiral, in endeavoring to illustrate to George III the topography of one of the West India Islands crumpled up a piece of paper in his hand and laid it on the table before the monarch, saying: "That, sir, is the island." The traveler touring the West Indies finds the story following him from place to place. Among the islands which claim to have given origin to the anecdote is Haiti, and however that may be, such description seems to apply admirably. Rugged irregular mountain ranges interspersed with valleys form the greater part of the surface, while in the southeast a great plain extends from the mountains to the coast.

The mountains of the Dominican Republic may be grouped in five principal ranges, two along the northern coast, one in the center of the island, and two in the southwest. They all extend from east to west and present numerous offshoots, especially the central range which is the most important one and comprises the highest peaks.

One of the northern ranges is the short Samana Range, beginning at Cape Samana, extending the length of the Samana Peninsula, over thirty miles, and ending near the Gran Estero. The greatest altitude is attained by Mt. Pilon de Azucar and Mt. Diablo which are 1900 and 1300 feet in height, respectively. This group at first sight appears to be an extension of the second chain, the Monte Cristi Range, but its geological formation proves it rather to belong to the great central range. It was probably at a remote period an island lying off from the mainland.

The other northern range has its beginning near Samana Bay and extends all the way to Monte Cristi. It is known as the Monte Cristi Range though the eastern portion is also called the Sierra de Macoris. It sends several branches to the coast, the most important one being that which terminates at Puerto Plata. The highest points of the range are Mt. Diego de Ocampo, with an altitude of 4000 feet, Nord Peak 3500 feet, and Mt. Murazo 3400 feet. A notable landmark is Mt. Isabel de Torres, 2300 feet in height, which overlooks Puerto Plata. Its head is usually shrouded in a cap of clouds, and small mists frequently hover about its surface. To Columbus, passing out at sea on his first voyage, the cloudcap appeared shining like burnished silver in the morning sun. He took it to be snow until closer investigation disclosed its true nature, whereupon he named the mountain Monte Plata, or Silver Mount, and the port at the base was afterwards called Puerto Plata. The mountain is said to have been given its present name, Isabel de Torres, in honor of the wife of a prominent settler, Diego de Ocampo, domiciled in Santiago in the early days, after whom the great mountain near that city was named. According to a local legend, this couple, although blessed with worldly goods, was also mutually possessed of such a nagging spirit and ungovernable temper that a separation became necessary, the husband remaining in Santiago, the wife removing to Puerto Plata. When leagues intervened between them their conduct was so charming that the inhabitants of the two cities gave their names to the high mountains near the respective towns. "If you doubt the story," the legend concludes, "there are the mountains to prove it."

The principal mountain range, the Cordillera Central, begins at the extreme eastern point of the island, traverses the center of the Republic, crosses into Haitian territory and sinks into the sea at Mole St. Nicolas to reappear in Cuba, on the other side of the Windward Passage. It constitutes a part of the great ridge which forms the backbone of all the islands bounding the Caribbean Sea on the north. In the eastern part of Santo Domingo the range consists merely of a chain of high hills which rarely reach an altitude of more than 900 feet, but in the center and west of the Republic it assumes much greater magnitude, sending out branches which are important mountain chains in themselves, and several of its peaks are over 6000 feet in height. The highest point in the island and in the West Indies is Mt. Tina, with an altitude of 10,300 feet, a magnificent outpost of that branch of the central range which traverses the south-central portion of the Republic. The next highest point, is Yaque Peak, 9700 feet high, nearly at the center of the island. The dense jungle covering the rugged slopes of these giants has so far baffled the few attempts at exploration of their summits. To the west of Yaque Peak is Mt. Cucurucho, 7400 feet high, and to the northwest Mt. Entre los Rios, 8000 feet and Mt. Gallo, 8200 feet in height. It must be remembered that in the absence of any careful measurements, the altitudes given are mere approximations.

The Cordillera Central is peculiar in its numerous branches which are often more intricate in their ramifications and comprise loftier peaks than the parent range. The most important of these branches are those which extend from Mt. Banilejo to the southern coast, and fill the district between San Cristobal and Azua with a jumble of mountains. Besides Mt. Tina, already mentioned, their principal peaks are Mt. Rio Grande, 6900 feet, overlooking the beautiful Constanza Valley, and Mt. Valdesia, 5900 feet high. One of the best defined ranges on the south is the Sierra del Agua, which runs south from the Central Cordillera to the San Juan River. The branches on the north are even more numerous and cover a greater area. Among them special reference may be made to the Sierra Zamba, which runs parallel to the Yaque del Norte River, the Sierra de San Jose de las Matas, the Santiago Range, the Jarabacoa Range and the Cotui Range.

The fourth principal mountain range of the Republic, the Neiba Range, is sometimes classed as a part of the Cordillera Central. It rises on the western bank of the Neiba River and runs west parallel with the central chain, into Haitian territory. Among its principal peaks is Mt. Panso, 6200 feet high. The fifth principal range, situated in the extreme southwest of the Republic, is known as the Baboruco Range, and sometimes as Maniel de los Negros. It begins at the Caribbean coast south of Barahona Bay and runs west into Haiti, forming an integral portion of the mountain chain that traverses the great peninsula in the south of the Republic of Haiti.

These several ranges and their offshoots divide the country into a number of distinct regions, which, owing to the difficulty of communication, have developed more or less independently of one another. The most important division is that effected by the broad central belt of mountains which, twelve miles wide in its narrowest part, and extending from the shores of the Mona Channel to and beyond the Haitian frontier, constitutes a rugged barrier between the north and the south of the Republic.

The district to the north of the Central Cordillera, comprising the richest portion of the country, still retains its old Indian name "Cibao"—a word which awoke fond hopes in the heart of Columbus who identified it with "Cipango," the Japan he was so eagerly seeking. The Cibao includes the northern slope of the central range with the fertile valleys enclosed by branches of that range, the Samana peninsula, the Monte Cristi Range with its valleys and coastal plains, and particularly the magnificent valley of the Cibao, which lying between the central chain and the Monte Cristi Range, extends all the way from Samana Bay to Manzanillo Bay. The length of this remarkable valley is about 150 miles, its average breadth is 10 miles in the northwestern and 15 miles in the southeastern part, and it comprises the most fertile lands and the most populous interior towns of the Republic. The highest part of the valley is about 600 feet above sea-level and is situated at its middle point, near the city of Santiago, where a line of low hills dividing the valley into two parts forms a watershed for its rivers. The northwestern of these two sections is known as the Santiago or Yaque valley and forms the greater portion of the basin of the Yaque del Norte, while the southeastern half, through which the Yuna River flows, is the superb Royal Valley or Royal Plain.

One of the most beautiful views in the Cibao Valley, and in the world, is obtained from the historic eminence of Santo Cerro, an outpost hill of the central range, situated about three miles from the city of La Vega. From the foot of this hill the great plain stretches into the distance, meeting the azure sky on the eastern horizon, and far in the north skirting the brown slopes of the lofty Monte Cristi mountains, the more remote peaks of which are but faintly perceptible in their envelope of blue haze. A rich carpet of dark green overspreads the plain, where lighter spots indicate patches of tilled land and silver threads betray the presence of streams. The cities of Moca and La Vega are easily distinguished and on clear days even San Francisco de Macoris can be discerned. Clouds or rainstorms moving over portions of the vast expanse, add animation to the landscape. Columbus, gazing out upon the enchanting scene, was so impressed by its magnificence that he gave the great vale the name it still bears—La Vega Real, The Royal Plain.

To the south of the central range the number of plains is greater. The largest expanse of level land on the island is the great plain which forms the southeastern part of the Dominican Republic. It includes almost the entire region east of the Jaina River and south of the central range, being about 115 miles long by 30 miles wide. This Eastern Valley or Seibo Plain, as it is sometimes called, is covered with forests and broad savannas, the most notable of which are comprised in the series of prairies known as Los Llanos, the Plains.

Two smaller and irregular plains are the arid Bani coastal plain, lying between the Nizao River and the Ocoa, with a length of 25 miles and a width ranging from 3 to 12 miles, and the Azua Valley, winding from Mt. Numero, near the Ocoa, to the Neiba River, a distance of 33 miles with a breadth of from 3 to 30 miles.

The Neiba Valley, situated in the southwestern portion of the Republic between the Neiba and the Baboruco Mountains is more regular. It is part of the valley which stretches from Neiba Bay, in Santo Domingo, to Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The Dominican portion is 65 miles long by 12 miles wide, and over one-half of its area is covered by the waters of Lake Enriquillo. The peninsula south of the Baboruco Mountains is an uneven plateau.

In the very center of the Republic, surrounded on all sides by lofty mountains of the central group, is Constanza Valley, rich but to-day almost inaccessible. No less rich, but many times larger, is the other interior plain, known as the Eastern or Central Valley, a succession of fertile valleys, extending from the Neiba River to St. Raphael, almost 115 miles, with a width of from nine to twenty miles. The entire plain is claimed by the Dominican Republic, but more than half is in possession of Haiti.

All these various valleys and plains enjoy the advantage of being watered by a comprehensive network of rivers of greater or less size. Many of the streams are navigable for miles in the lower part of their course by boats and canoes, affording means of communication to which the wretched condition of the land highways gives added importance.

The largest river of the Republic is the Yaque del Norte, some 240 miles in length, which rises on the slope of Yaque Peak, describes a circuitous northerly course, receiving numerous mountain affluents, until it reaches the vicinity of the city of Santiago de los Caballeros, whence, turning northwesterly it flows through the Santiago Valley, being reinforced by scores of tributaries. Its waters are finally discharged partially into Monte Cristi Bay and partly through its many mouthed delta into Manzanillo Bay. Detritus and driftwood brought down by the river, for many years entirely filled the Monte Cristi channel, and still constitute barriers which cause large lagoons to form in the delta and to inundate extensive tracts of rich farmland. Though the bars at its entrance render the river inaccessible for larger boats, it is navigable for canoes over its entire course in the Santiago Valley.

Another large river is the yellow Yuna, which waters the eastern part of the Cibao Valley. Rising in the mountains near the center of the Republic, it directs its course to the Royal Plain where it receives the waters of the rapid Camu, and thence flows eastwardly and enters Samana Bay through a marshy delta, its total length being over 200 miles. Part of its waters find their way through the great swamp, the Gran Estero, into the Atlantic Ocean. Up to its junction with the Camu, a distance of some 30 miles, the Yuna is navigable by boats and barges, and above the junction both the Yuna and the Camu are navigable by canoes for nearly 30 miles more though there are shallow stretches where the streams run rapidly and great care is necessary. In former days, the Yuna was one of the chief outlets of the Cibao; freight and passengers were transported over its course to Samana Bay and on the waters of the Bay to the town of Samana where transshipment to larger vessels took place. With the establishment of the railroad from La Vega to Sanchez, the river has lost much of its old-time importance.

The third largest river is the Neiba or Yaque del Sur, which rises near the sources of the Yaque del Norte and pursues a southerly direction for some 180 miles, emptying into Neiba Bay. The repetition of geographical means is one of the peculiarities of Santo Domingo. Thus there are two rivers and a mountain named Yaque, several mountains named Cucurucho, a mountain-range and two cities named Macoris while in a host of minor instances rivers, mountains and districts in different parts of the country have identical names. The repetition of names seems all the more curious as the Dominicans have not hesitated to change historic names of towns and streets. The Yaque del Sur, or Neiba River, receives several copious affluents, the largest one being the San Juan River. Much of the lumber exported at Barahona is floated down the Yaque and the river is navigable about 20 miles for flat-bottomed boats, though rapids and rocky ledges interpose obstacles.

The other rivers of the southern part of Santo Domingo are much smaller. The principal one is the Ozama, at the mouth of which the capital city is located. This river is about 60 miles in length and carries a surprising amount of water. Being navigable by barges for 9 miles from its mouth and by canoes for 15 miles, it forms an important avenue of supply for Santo Domingo City. In the three miles from its junction with the Isabela to the sea, its depth is about 24 feet, but over the sandbar at its mouth but 15 feet. Two rivers in the southeastern peninsula, the Macoris and the Soco furnish valuable outlets for the products of the sugar estates on their banks. A number of Dominican streams offer peculiarities. In the mountains there are brooks which gush out of the hillside, merrily ripple on for miles and vanish into the ground as mysteriously as they came. A number of coast streams sink into the sand of the beach, just before reaching the ocean. The Brujuelas River, which rises on the edge of the great plains, northwest of Bayaguana, flows south 25 miles through the plains and disappears in the ground a mile from the sea. Most streams ordinarily insignificant and innocent looking, are in a surprisingly short space of time converted by rains into raging torrents. The most formidable of these torrential rivers is the Nizao which flows into the Caribbean Sea near Point Palenque. In the lower part of this river's course its bed is about a mile wide, of which only a small portion is covered by the several branches of the river, the remainder being taken up with sandbanks, gravel beds, marshy tracts and stagnant bayous; and so frequently and erratically does the river change its channels, and to such sudden rises is it subject, that the local authorities are obliged to keep guides stationed on its banks almost continuously, in order to direct travelers across.

The rapids and cascades of Dominican streams are pregnant with possibilities, but up to the present time they have remained in their pristine condition, nor is their energy utilized to drive a single piece of machinery. The largest and most beautiful waterfall of the island is doubtless that of the Jimenoa River, in the mountains some ten miles south of the city of La Vega, where the Jimenoa rushes over a precipice one hundred feet in height, producing clouds of spray and a roar that can sometimes be perceived as far as Jarabacoa, six miles away. Another beautiful fall is that of the Dajabon River, on the Haitian frontier, 30 feet in height, and there are notable cascades also on the Comate River, near Bayaguana, on the great plains; on the Nigua and Higuero Rivers, not many miles from Santo Domingo City; on the Inova River, near the town of San Jose de las Matas; and on the Guaranas River, on the Haitian frontier in the commune of Neiba.

The only lakes of any size are two which lie in the Neiba Valley, the larger one, Lake Enriquillo, being comprised entirely within Dominican territory, while of the smaller one, variously called Etang Saumatre, or Lake Azuei, or Laguna del Fondo, through which the frontier line passes, less than one-fourth is under Dominican jurisdiction. They are both very picturesque, and with the greenish color of their water and their arid mountain surroundings recall portions of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. In stormy weather they become as rough as the ocean. Lake Enriquillo derives its name from the last Indian cacique of the Island, the romantic chieftain Enriquillo, who after fiercely resisting the Spaniards finally in 1533 concluded an honorable peace with them on the island of Cabras in the center of this lake. The lake is over 70 miles in circumference, having a length of about 33 miles and a width ranging from 3 to 9 miles, Cabras Island, 6 miles long by one in width, is the home of herds of goats. Lake Azuei is but 15 miles in length with a width of from 2 to 7 miles.

Though the two lakes are scarcely five miles apart, Lake Enriquillo is 102 feet below and Lake Azuei 56 feet above sea-level. Both lakes receive the waters of several small fresh water creeks, yet they apparently have no outlet and their water is salt, that of Lake Azuei only slightly, but that of Lake Enriquillo more so than the sea. On Cabras Island, however, there is a fresh water spring, and three lagoons to the east and south of Lake Enriquillo also contain fresh water. Lake Azuei often shows the paradox of going down during the rainy season and rising during the dry season; the phenomenon is attributed to the presence of springs at the bottom of the lake, which are unusually copious at the end of the rainy season. Both lakes have at least one variety of ocean fish, though the nearest point of the seacoast is some twenty miles distant; turtles abound in both and there are many alligators in Lake Enriquillo and a few in Lake Azuei.

The climate of Santo Domingo is that of the torrid zone and is characterized by heat and humidity. Yet the heat rarely becomes as intense as it sometimes does in the United States in summer and the nights are always cool and pleasant. The mean annual temperature of Santo Domingo City is between 77 deg. and 78 deg. Fahrenheit, and the variation between the mean temperature of the hottest and coolest month is hardly more than 6 deg.. The highest temperature recorded in Santo Domingo City in a period of seven years was 95 deg.. The average highest temperature in July and August is between 91 deg. and 92 deg.. In the mountainous regions of the interior there is a noticeable difference in temperature; it is necessary to sleep under a blanket every night of the year and the temperature sometimes falls below the freezing point. The pleasantest months of the year are from December to February.

The heat of the climate is tempered and rendered bearable by cooling breezes which are seldom absent. During the day the prevailing breeze is from the east, but shortly after sunset a breeze sets in from the interior, blowing out to the ocean, and continues until after sunrise.

The heavy rains also tend to cool the atmosphere. The island is so cut up by mountain ranges running in different directions that there is no regular rainy season for the whole country. In the south, the west and the interior, the rainy season is generally reckoned as lasting from April to November, while in the eastern section the rainy season is from May to December. These seasons are not absolute, for at times there are heavy rains during what should be the dry season, while occasionally there are many days of drouth during the wet months. The rains are rarely long-continued drizzles, but instead for several hours the floodgates of heaven are opened wide, after which the sky clears and remains serene until the following day. The amount of rainfall varies in different parts of the country, being lightest in the arid districts of Monte Cristi, Azua and Barahona.

The United States Weather Bureau maintained a station at Santo Domingo City for a number of years and from the observations made the following data are compiled:

OBSERVATIONS FOR SANTO DOMINGO CITY

Highest Lowest Mean Average Mean temperature temperature relative Average number temperature recorded recorded humidity rainfall of days deg.F deg.F deg.F per cl. inches with rain

January 74 86 61 85 2.01 11 February 74 88 60 82 .96 8 March 75 87 59 79 2.15 9 April 76 91 59 80 6.86 14 May 78 88 67 83 6.29 13 June 78 90 67 86 7.42 18 July 79 92 67 86 8.34 18 August 80 95 68 84 6.77 17 September 79 93 69 85 7.63 16 October 79 92 67 86 9.63 15 November 78 91 64 85 2.76 11 December 76 89 61 87 2.09 11 ————————————————————————————————— Annual 77 95 59 84 62.91 161

Santo Domingo has at intervals felt the violence of the destructive hurricanes which occasionally ravage the West Indies. They often combine the features of a tornado and a cloudburst, and while the furious whirlwind wrecks houses, uproots trees and strips forests bare of leaves, the accompanying severe rains swell the streams to abnormal height and cause extensive inundations. The hurricane season is reckoned as beginning in July and ending in October and when during this period a sudden fall of the barometer announces the proximity of unusual atmospheric disturbances all shipping keeps to the harbors and the dwellers on shore take measures to guard against the devastating rage of the wind.

The first West Indian hurricane of which we have any record was that of 1502 which destroyed the first city of Santo Domingo and sank a Spanish fleet. More recent storms felt in Santo Domingo were those of 1834, 1865, 1876 and 1883. That of September 6, 1883, desolated the southwestern provinces of the Republic, and the rise of the Ozama River swept away the bridge connecting the capital with the opposite shore. The hurricane of 1899 which laid waste the nearby island of Porto Rico was scarcely felt in Santo Domingo. The latest unusually heavy storm was that which swept over the Republic during the first week of November, 1909, and caused much damage, especially in the Cibao. A sudden storm in the afternoon of August 29, 1916, accompanied by a kind of tidal wave, surprised the American 14,500 ton armored cruiser "Memphis" at anchor in the roadstead of Santo Domingo City and wrecked it against the rocky shore.

With regard to health conditions, the Dominican Republic has been maligned because of the fevers that decimated the English and French armies in the Haitian wars of a century ago. It must be remembered, however, that the French part of the island being shut out from the eastern breezes by high mountain ranges is hotter than the Spanish part, and that the European troops, improperly clad and fed, underwent great hardships and were ignorant of sanitary precautions. Among travelers it is the concensus of opinion that climatic conditions in the Dominican Republic are as favorable as in any other tropical country. Far from presenting dangers to health there are few districts in the Republic which with proper hotel accommodations would not offer delightful refuge to invalids seeking to escape the rigors of the northern winter. The salubrity of the climate is reflected in the sturdy character of the peasantry, and exemplified by numerous cases of unusual longevity. In the towns the death-rate is somewhat higher than in the country regions; but the very fact that in spite of uncleaned streets, reeking garbage heaps, and defiance of sanitary precepts by the majority of the inhabitants, there has been so comparatively little sickness, bears strong witness to the healthfulness of the country. By a law of 1912 boards of health were established, and under American impulse more attention is now being given to sanitation.

As no census of the Republic has ever been taken and data relative to births and deaths have not been collected regularly, it is not possible to compile statistics as to the death rate in the various provinces. The data so far available seem to indicate that the healthiest province is Puerto Plata, followed by Santiago, Azua and Monte Cristi, after which come Santo Domingo, La Vega, Espaillat, Pacificador, Samana and Barahona. The mortality rate is highest in the province of Macoris where the annual number of deaths is reported to average about thirty per thousand.

The most frequent endemic diseases are malaria which is to be feared near marshes and stagnant waters, pulmonary consumption, which, however, is not more common than in the United States, and diseases of the digestive organs. Yellow fever is unknown and the sporadic cases which have occurred were due to the importation of the disease from other countries. The only epidemic in recent years occurred in Puerto Plata in 1901 when ten deaths were recorded.

The hookworm disease is very prevalent, but its ravages are not so apparent as in certain other tropical countries. Venereal diseases are exceedingly common. Evidences of the presence of leprosy and elephantiasis are occasionally seen. The measures taken for the segregation of lepers are far from thorough; the lepers' asylum of Santo Domingo City is situated inside the city walls and is surrounded by habitations of the poor. Cases of typhoid fever are sometimes registered during the hot spell, from July to October, but the victims are usually foreigners who have been careless of climatic requirements. The foreigner who will observe temperance and prudence in all things, who will be careful of what he eats and drinks, who will avoid exposure to rain showers, or to drafts when in perspiration, will easily become acclimated. Realizing that many tropical disorders originate in a foul stomach, the natives upon the slightest provocation have recourse to a purgative, and the custom is one which the stranger should not hesitate to adopt.



CHAPTER IX

GEOLOGY AND MINERALS

Rock formation.—Mineral deposits.—Gold.—Copper.—Iron.-Coal.—Silver.—Salt—Building stone.—Petroleum.—Mineral springs.—Earthquakes.

The geological formation and the mineral wealth of the Dominican Republic have never been thoroughly studied, in part because of the physical difficulties and in part as a result of the civil dissensions. The government has never had money to spare for such objects, and private investigators have suffered much hardship and lost many days in opening paths through tangled underbrush, and in crossing rugged mountain ranges in uninhabited regions. The physical obstacles and the necessarily superficial examination consequent thereon may explain the contradictions of detail in different reports. About the middle of the nineteenth century several studies were published, and three scientists who accompanied the American Commission of Inquiry in the year 1871 made a report on geological conditions.

From such studies as have been published it appears that the rock formations of Santo Domingo correspond to the secondary, the lower and middle tertiary and the quaternary epoch. The most ancient part of the island is the central mountain range, also a series of protuberances in the Samana peninsula, the nucleus of the Baboruco mountains and a single point in the northern coast range near Puerto Plata. The tertiary lands are those forming the entire northern part of the island from the central range to the sea, portions of the Samana peninsula between the older rocks, a large area to the southwest of the Zamba hills, smaller tracts between the Jaina and Nizao rivers, and the region between the salt lakes on the Haitian frontier and between Barahona and Neiba. The modern lands are the coast plains and the small terraces on the south of the central range and on the south of the Baboruco mountains, the Maguana, Azua and Neiba valleys, small areas on the north coast at the foot of the mountains, and the marshes and Yuna River delta at the head of Samana Bay.

In the central mountain range is found a nucleus of eruptive rocks which have raised and twisted sedimentary strata, covering them and forcing them aside. This nucleus is not a regular feature of the whole length of the chain, but is an irregular mass beginning about at the middle, in the region of the Jaina River, and extending in a series of parallel lines obliquely across the backbone of the range to the border of the Republic and on into Haiti. Among these rocks and bent and broken by them are the slates, conglomerates and calcareous rocks which are found in the mountains and over the whole surface of the island. The character of the central range and the inclination of the strata of cretaceous rocks make it probable that the island emerged from the sea in the eocene period, its area being then confined to the extent of the central mountain chain, with a few small islands to the south, one or more islets to the northeast, comprising the older peaks of the Samana range, and a small archipelago to the southeast, where the hills of Seibo now are. During the miocene period these islands became surrounded with coral reefs, the vestiges of which remain in strips of calcareous rock found in the same position in which they were deposited. Towards the end of the tertiary period, after a time of quiet, there was a new rise of the land. While the hills to the south of Samana Bay and the bed of the Cibao Valley from Samana Bay to Monte Cristi rose slowly, there was an upheaval further to the north, and the Monte Cristi Range was formed. Before this period it had been a bar at sea-level, covered with a clayey sediment of chalk. At a later geological period the great plains to the north and east of Santo Domingo City were formed.

Traces of valuable minerals are so general in the Republic that it is said there is hardly a commune where a more or less abundant mineral deposit is not found. The exceptions are the lands of recent coralline formation, such as the municipality of San Pedro de Macoris and the southern portion of the commune of Higuey.

The magnet which attracted the Spaniards at the time of the conquest was the island's mineral wealth, especially the gold deposits. It is a historical fact that large quantities of gold in dust and nuggets were collected during the first years of Spanish colonization. According to the Spanish writers, from 1502 to 1530 placer gold was produced to the value of from $200,000 to $1,000,000 per annum. The fleet which set out in 1502 and was wrecked by a hurricane before leaving the coast waters of Santo Domingo was laden with gold mined in the island. A tribute of a small amount of gold each year was imposed on half the Indians of the country. Much of the gold came from the mountains behind Santiago and La Vega, from the gold-bearing sands of the Jaina River, around Buenaventura, and from the vicinity of Cotui, then called "Las Minas." Ancient pits are still to be found in all these places. At La Vega a mint was established for coining gold and silver. A nugget of extraordinary size was found by an Indian woman in a brook near the Jaina River; her Spanish masters in their exultation had a roast suckling pig served on it, boasting that never had the king of Spain dined from so valuable a table. The Indian received no part of the gold: "she was lucky if they gave her a piece of the pig," remarks Father Las Casas. This nugget was purchased by Bobadilla to send to Spain, and went down with the 1502 treasure fleet.

The gold deposits found by the Spaniards were the surface accumulations of centuries. When these were exhausted and the supply of cheap labor fell off owing to the dying out of the Indians, the mineral production waned. In 1502 labor difficulties caused a temporary cessation in mining. In 1511 many mines were definitely closed because of the scarcity of laborers and because the cultivation of sugar-cane offered surer profits. Then came the discovery of mines of fabulous wealth in Mexico and Peru, and the interest they aroused, as well as the lack of labor in Santo Domingo, caused the mines of the island to be completely neglected. Finally, in 1543, mining work ceased and by a royal decree all mines were ordered closed. Prospecting and desultory mining, especially placer mining, have been kept up, however, until the present day.

The prospecting has generally been confined to the more accessible regions and nothing is known of the mountain valleys in the interior. The mineral deposits discovered have been of sufficient richness to cause the formation of mining companies for their development or further investigation. I do not, however, know of a single case where prospectors or mining companies have ever made expenses. The cause of failure has most frequently been the lack of transportation facilities in the island, on account of which the cost of carrying the ore to a place where it might be reduced became prohibitive. Sometimes enterprises failed because the deposit turned out to be too small, sometimes because the ore did not keep up to the standard, and not infrequently mining companies fell by the wayside because of bad management. Enough evidence of mineral wealth has been found to justify the belief that workable deposits do exist, and to warrant careful further investigation, especially as the means of communication are extended.

The metals most frequently found are gold, copper and iron. Veins of auriferous quartz are found throughout the central chain, the richest lodes being encountered in metamorphic rocks near crystalline formations. The metal is most abundant in placers formed in the river beds. Such placers are common in the Jaina River and its tributaries in the province of Santo Domingo; in Bonao creek in Seibo province; and in the Verde River, the streams of Sabaneta and a number of other streams of the Cibao. On the upper Jaina and on the Verde River there are still persons who make their living by washing gold from the river sands. Hydraulic mining was attempted in Santiago province, but after the construction of an expensive canal the project was abandoned. Under the liberal mining law mining privileges have in recent years been granted for gold mines reported at numerous places in the communes of San Jose de las Matas, San Cristobal, Janico, San Juan de la Maguana, Sabaneta and others. Prof. William P. Black, one of the scientists accompanying the United States Commission of Inquiry in 1871, reported:

"There is a very considerable extent of gold-bearing country in the interior and gold is washed from the rivers at various points. It is found along the Jaina, upon the Verde, and upon the Yaque and its tributaries, and doubtless upon the large rivers of the interior. Some portions of the gold fields were worked anciently by the Spaniards and Indians. There are doubtless many gold deposits, not only along the bed of rivers, but on the hills, which have never been worked, and there probably is considerable gold remaining among the old workings. The appearance of the soil and rocks is such as to justify the labor and expense of carefully prospecting the gold region."

Copper is next to gold in frequency of occurrence. Some of the best deposits have been found in the commune of San Cristobal, province of Santo Domingo. A company working lodes at Mount Mateo on the Nigua River, encountered ore yielding as high as 33 per cent of copper. On the Jaina River near the ruins of Buenaventura, I have seen promising ledges of copper ore. Copper carbonates predominated, the green ore known as malachite and the beautiful blue ore azurite were quite common, and white quartz, which on being broken showed little specks of native copper, was also to be found. The asperity of the region, the absence of roads and the uncertainty as to the extent of these deposits caused the attempts at working them to be but feeble until recently, when extensive works of development were undertaken in the vicinity. Copper veins have also been reported in the mountains of the commune of Bani, province of Santo Domingo; in the communes of Cotui and Bonao, province of La Vega; in the canton of Moncion, province of Monte Cristi; in the commune of San Juan de la Maguana, province of Azua, and at a number of other places.

Iron is reported in large quantities in various parts of the country. The largest deposit so far known is on the banks of the Maimon River in the municipality of Cotui, being a bed of black magnetic oxide of iron, nine miles long. It is said to be excellent in quality and inexhaustible in quantity. The difficulties of transportation in this case could be obviated by the canalization of the river to its confluence with the Yuna River, so as to make it navigable for small boats. Iron ore has been discovered on the slope of Mt. Isabel de Torres behind the city of Puerto Plata, limonite deposits at various places in Santo Domingo province, and a rich black iron oxide on the upper Ozama River. A layer of iron pyrites extending from Los Llanos all the way to Sabana la Mar was believed by its discoverers to be a gold mine. The central ridge of Santo Domingo is part of the same mountain chain which extends through Santiago province in Cuba where enormous quantities of iron are produced, and it is not improbable that some of the Dominican mines will be found to pay.

Coal mines found in the Samana peninsula produced a kind of lignite which proved of little commercial value and gave rise to the belief that the Republic's coal deposits had not emerged from the formative period. Later investigations show that while there is considerable undeveloped lignite, coal suitable for fuel is not wanting. Small coal deposits have been discovered in the Cibao Valley, between the central and the northern mountain chain, in the province of Pacificador and that of Santiago. Anthracite coal found at Tamboril, near the city of Santiago, was used to run a small motor exhibited at an industrial fair in Santiago in 1903. In the commune of Altamira, province of Puerto Plata, lignite and anthracite beds have been discovered, and traces of anthracite have also been found in San Cristobal commune, and in the petroleum region of Azua. In the central mountain chain a valuable coal deposit has been found on the Haitian side and similar beds may be expected in Santo Domingo.

Silver has been discovered at Tanci, near Yasica, in the commune of Puerto Plata. The old chronicles refer to silver mines at Jarabacoa and Cotui in La Vega province, also to others near Santiago, near Higuey and on the Jaina River. Platinum occurs at Jarabacoa, traces of quicksilver have been found near Santiago, Banica and San Cristobal, and tin in Seibo and Higuey.

Rock salt is found near Neiba in inexhaustible quantities, there being several hills of native salt covered with a thin layer of soil. The fact that the waters of Lake Enriquillo are saltier than the sea is attributed by some to a deposit of this kind. The salt is so pure that it does not attract moisture and deliquesce. The isolation of the district has been an obstacle to the development of the salt mines, but there is a project for the building of a railroad to the port of Barahona. Part of the salt used in the island comes from salt ponds near Azua, where salt is obtained from sea water by solar evaporation.

On a hill at the confluence of the Jimenoa and the Yaque del Norte an alum deposit reaches the surface and the natives gather alum which they sell in Santiago City. A deposit of amber having been reported in the Cibao a company was formed several years ago for its development, but as the company did nothing, so far as known, except issue stock, and no part of the untold millions which were affirmed to be within easy reach has materialized, the deposit is not regarded as possessing commercial value.

For building purposes there is a large variety of limestone and lime. The coral rock is easy to quarry and soft enough to shape with the axe, but exposure to the air makes it hard as granite, as is proven by the old buildings and city walls of Santo Domingo City, which have stood for centuries. In the central range, on the Samana peninsula and near Puerto Plata, granite, syenite and other building stones are found, but owing to the absence of transportation facilities they are not utilized. In the Bani region a sandstone occurs from which grindstones are made. Clay of a fine grade, proper for the manufacture of bricks and tiles, is abundant. Clays of various colors, found in the interior of the island, are suitable for the manufacture of paints. Gypsum is found, especially in Azua province, and the presence of kaolin and feldspar in the province of Santo Domingo, south of the central range, offers a possibility of porcelain manufacture.

Petroleum has been found in large quantities in the vicinity of Azua. The presence of the oil is suspected in other parts of the island and it is claimed that a petroleum belt which is believed to extend from Pennsylvania to Venezuela embraces a considerable portion of the Dominican Republic. Near Puerto Plata, during rains, one of the streams flowing down from the mountains in the Mameyes section, is covered with greasy spots thought to be petroleum that has oozed from the subsoil. Traces of petroleum have also been discovered near Neiba, and in the provinces of Pacificador and Seibo.

Borings have been made only in the neighborhood of Azua. A pool known as "agua hedionda," "stinking water," had long suggested petroleum, and an American company known as the West Indies Petroleum Mining and Export Company undertook the development of the field. Oil was struck on November 14, 1904, the well spouting oil to a height of seventy feet and producing about 500 barrels per day. The grade of the oil was 22 Baume gravity with an asphaltum base. It was better than the average of Texas oil and was considered a good fuel and lubricating product. The main difficulty in this field was the presence of salt water above the oil (as is often the case in oil regions), which here came in rapidly at a depth of about 900 to 1000 feet. It was necessary to put a gate valve on the first well, keeping it enclosed for a period of six months, in order to prevent the damaging of the surrounding property from the flow of oil, as there were no storage tanks. During this time the continued agitation of the casing by the gas pressure and the looseness of the upper soils and shales let in the salt water and ruined the well, and, it is to be feared, to some extent affected the surrounding territory. The company sunk four wells more, all but one of which produced some oil, but as the salt water entered in such large quantities they were unable to penetrate below the 1200 feet level and were forced to abandon the wells at just about the depth where they expected to reach the real oil sand. The fifth well showed greater evidence of a genuine oil field than any drilled previously but for the same reason it could not be carried to the desired depth. At this point dissensions arose in the management of the company with regard to the method of drilling, the suggestion being made that a combination drilling machinery comprising what is known as the rotary process be adopted in combination with the old cable rig style. No agreement was reached, and operations were discontinued. Since the beginning of 1917 other interests have made investigations and it is rumored that development work will shortly begin. There are indications that if drilled with the proper appliances the field will yield excellent results. How far the Azua oil field extends is a matter of conjecture, but it has been estimated to cover an area of over 190 square miles.

Thermal springs are also found near Azua. At Resoli, about 21 miles southwest of Azua City, there are hot sulphur springs of very copious flow. Nearby there is one of tepid water, slightly acid and stinging, though pleasant to the taste, and with no trace of sulphur. Within a radius of a hundred yards there are about a dozen springs of different temperatures and medicinal properties, and the place is admirably adapted for the location of a health resort. Mineral springs, especially sulphur springs, abound along the western frontier of the Republic. On the Viajama River, where a sulphur mine is reported, there are cold sulphur springs which are said to have gushed forth for the first time during the earthquake of 1751. To the east of Santiago are the Anibaje springs which contain sulphur and iron. Hot and cold sulphur springs are found in the outskirts of San Jose de las Matas, southwest of Santiago, and hot springs at Banica, and to the east and west of Lake Enriquillo.

While there are no volcanoes on the island, severe seismic disturbances have at times occasioned great havoc and loss of life. One of the first and most memorable was that of 1564 which overthrew the cities of La Vega and Santiago de los Caballeros. La Vega was at that time a good sized town with substantial brick houses, and the masses of masonry strewn about in the thicket which now covers the site of the old city give evidence of the force of the earthquake. In 1654 and 1673 dwellings and churches in Santo Domingo City were damaged by lesser shocks, and in 1751 an earthquake wrecked edifices in the capital, and completely destroyed the old city of Azua and the town of Seibo. The most recent and perhaps the most disastrous earthquake was that of 1842 when a violent commotion in the northern part of the island demolished the cities of Santiago de los Caballeros on the Dominican side and Cape Haitien on the Haitian side, bringing death to hundreds of their inhabitants. Since that date there have been no severe shocks, though, as is the case in other West India Islands, slight tremblings of the earth are not infrequent. I have experienced several of such tremblings in Santo Domingo and have never been able to ward off a kind of creepy feeling when the rattling of windows and doors indicated their approach and passage. Near the ruins of ancient La Vega the natives point out a spot in the woods which they call "tembladera" and where they say the earth quakes at the approach of man. Investigation discloses that while the earth really does tremble when anyone walks at this place the cause is not so deep-seated as many imagine, the phenomenon being caused by the fact that the rich loamy soil is sustained by the interlaced roots of trees, the foundation having been washed away by subterranean waters, and the grassy floor is swayed by every motion upon it.



CHAPTER X

FLORA AND FAUNA

Agricultural conditions.—Land titles and measures.—Wet and arid regions.—Exports.—Sugar.—Cacao.—Tobacco.—Coffee.—Tropical fruits.—Forest products.—Insects.—Reptiles.—Fishery.—Birds. —Cattle raising.

Of all the islands visited by Columbus none impressed him so favorably as Santo Domingo. His enthusiasm is reflected in the glowing description given in his letter to his friend and patron, Luis de Santangel, dated February 15, 1493, of which the following forms part:

"In it (la Espanola) there are many havens on the sea, coast, incomparable with any others I know in Christendom—and plenty of rivers, so good and great that it is a marvel. The lands there are high, and in it there are very many ranges of hills and most lofty mountains, incomparably beyond the Island of Cetrefrey (Teneriffe); all most beautiful in a thousand shapes and all accessible, and full of trees of a thousand kinds, so lofty that they seem to reach the sky. And I am assured that they never lose their foliage, as may be imagined, since I saw them as green and as beautiful as they are in Spain in May, and some of them were in flower, some in fruit, some in another stage, according to their kind. And the nightingale was singing, and other birds of a thousand sorts, in the month of November, round about the way I was going. There are palm trees of six or eight species, wondrous to see for their beautiful variety; but so are the other trees and fruits and plants therein. There are wonderful pine groves and very large plains of verdure, and there is honey and many kinds of birds and great diversity of fruits. There are many mines of metals in the earth, and the population is of inestimable number. Espanola is a marvel; the mountains and hills, and plains, and fields, and the soil so beautiful and rich for planting and sowing, for breeding cattle of all sorts, for building towns and villages. There could be no believing, without seeing, such harbors as are here, as well as the many and great rivers and excellent waters, most of which contain gold. In the trees and fruits and plants there is great diversity from those of Juana (Cuba). In this island there are many species and great mines of gold and other metals."

Columbus' panegyric on the beauty, fertility and resources of the Island has been echoed by every writer and traveler who has since visited the country. The United States Commission of Inquiry to Santo Domingo reported in 1871: "The resources of the country are vast and various, and its products may be increased with scarcely any other limit than the labor expended upon them.... Taken as a whole, this Republic is one of the most fertile regions on the face of the earth. The evidence of men well acquainted with the other West India Islands declares this to be naturally the richest of them all." Yet the country's wonderful resources are to-day in almost virgin condition; in the greater part of the Republic's extent they remain absolutely untouched; in the remainder the beginning of development has scarcely been made.

In the first days of the colony it appeared that agricultural prosperity would quickly be attained. Great plantations were set out and the remains of palaces and convents in Santo Domingo City testify to the wealth they produced. But the prosperity was founded on the basis of slavery. The laughing aborigines soon succumbed under forced labor, the importation of negroes was found expensive, and hopes of better fortune attracted the colonists to the American continent. While the country languished under restrictive trade regulations, stock raising became almost the sole pursuit of the Spanish section of the island. In the meantime the French settled the western coast, and the name of their colony, also founded on slavery, became a synonym for wealth and luxury. The development of the Spanish section had scarcely begun at the end of the eighteenth century when it was blocked by wars, the Haitian occupation, and later by the civil disturbances. The native had no incentive to accumulate property, which would only attract revolutionists, and the foreigner was chary of investing his money in so turbulent a community. What progress has been made is due to the short periods of peace, principally the period of Heureaux's ascendancy, from 1880 to 1899, and the periods from 1905 to date. The rapid and gratifying strides made since the Dominican-American fiscal treaty increased the probabilities of peace are an indication of what the country may and will in time attain. As an English-speaking resident put it, paraphrasing a familiar saying in the United States, "If the people will only raise more cacao and less Hades, the country will soon be a paradise." At the present time the most serious obstacle to rural development is the lack of adequate means of communication—roads and railroads. It is evident that the interior cannot be developed so long as the cost of transportation is prohibitive or the roads are impassable during a great part of the year.

The condition of land titles leaves much to be desired. All titles are supposed to be derived from original grants by the crown or the government of the Republic. As there is no record extant of such grants and as much land has been acquired by adverse possession, the amount of land remaining to the state cannot even be the subject of an intelligent guess. The greater part of such land passed to the Republic as successor to the Spanish crown, another portion was added in 1844 by the confiscation of property belonging to Haitians, but no attempt has ever been made to survey or even to list state lands. According to some estimates the state owns as much as one or even two-fifths the area of the Republic, but it is probable that these estimates are exaggerated and almost the only tracts remaining to the government are situated in the inaccessible mountain region of the interior and along the Haitian border. The income of the Republic is still insufficient to leave money for the investigation of public lands, and every year's delay will permit more of such lands to be absorbed by private persons.

A large portion of the rural land is held in common. Tracts originally belonging to one owner descended undivided among his heirs for generations, individual heirs sometimes sold their shares, and the result is that often the tract belongs in common to many persons, some of them holding very small shares. The shares of the co-owners are known as "pesos de posesion," "dollars of possession," corresponding to the value given them at some remote period. The owner of any undivided portion of such "comunero" property, though he hold only one or two shares or "pesos de posesion," may enter upon and cultivate any part of the land he finds unoccupied by other co-owners, and use anything growing or existing thereon, except certain timber or unless it be the result of the labor of other co-owners. That this peculiar mode of enjoying the comunero property has not resulted in friction and conflicts may be ascribed to the smallness of the cultivated fields, the small population and the enormous expanse of vacant land. For the prospective purchaser the doubts surrounding the title to comunero lands are enhanced by the existence of fraudulent "peso" titles and by the destruction of public offices where title transfers should have been recorded. In recent years much division of comunero land among the co-owners has been going on and such action is facilitated by a law of 1911, but the importance of the matter merits additional laws to cheapen and hasten the division.

All the planting of small crops by the poorer countryman is done in what are called "conucos," cleared spaces fenced by sticks laid tightly against each other in order to keep out the wild pigs which infest the country. The construction of the fences is a laborious task, yet after one or two years they require extensive repairs, and when the repairs are such as to amount to a practical rebuilding, the "conuco" is commonly abandoned, and a new one located elsewhere. This method is wasteful of fence-material and land. The planting is done in the most primitive way, commonly by making a hole in the ground with a machete or by using a forked stick as a plow. There are few hoes, and among the natives no modern steel plows.

A "conuco" is usually about one acre in extent, or to be precise twenty-five varas conuqueras square. Though the metric system is the official system of measurement and is gradually coming into use, many of the older standards still prevail. A common measure of length is the Castilian vara, about equivalent to an English yard; the vara conuquera, about two and a half yards; the tarea, used for measuring fences, twenty-five varas conuqueras in length, and the league, something over three miles. The common units of surface measurement are the tarea, of about one-sixth acre, and the caballeria of 1200 tareas or about 200 acres.

Generally speaking, a line drawn from Cape Isabela on the north coast, through Santiago, to the mouth of the Nizao River in the south, divides the country into two regions of which the eastern one has abundant rainfall and luxuriant tropical vegetation, while in the western one there is little rain, and cactus plants and thorny bushes betoken the aridity of the soil. The two ends of the Cibao Valley seem like different countries, the eastern end covered with palm-trees, ferns and other flora of the torrid zone, and the western portion dry and dotted with giant cacti of fantastic shape. In the country near Azua and Monte Cristi I have imagined myself on the plains of New Mexico, with their scorching heat, their cactus, mesquite bushes and distant violet mountains fading into the azure sky. While arid, these western regions of Santo Domingo are as fertile as the rest of the country and when irrigated give remarkable crops. One of the Dominican government's projects is an extensive irrigation scheme for the Monte Cristi district. The most productive portion of the Republic is undoubtedly the Royal Plain in the Cibao Valley, which is of almost incredible fertility. It is covered with a rich black loam from three to fifteen feet deep, as can be seen wherever brooks have cut ravines into the earth, and is referred to as the Mississippi Valley of the Dominican Republic.

The greater or less elevation of the land has likewise produced different agricultural zones: the lower plains of the southern coast are favored for sugar planting; the slightly higher lands are given over to cacao and coffee, and the highest part of the country, the mountain region, is covered with timber. Broad savannas are a feature of the southern portion of the Republic; on the plains to the east of Santo Domingo City, all the way to the ocean, there are great seas of grass, like the prairies of the United States, with large islands of trees, while to the west they constitute lakes in a continent of forest.

All tropical fruits grow in profusion and many vegetables, fruits and cereals indigenous to countries of the temperate zone are successfully grown. Practically all the vegetables and fruits, as well as the grains and staples of the Middle States of the American Union may be produced, especially in the higher portion of the island. The fact that raspberries and delicious grapes grow wild in the highland indicates the possibilities of fruit culture. With a view to encouraging agriculture the various provinces for years had "boards of development" paid from national funds, but the positions on these boards were regarded as political plums, and while the members drew their salaries, no other result of their activities was apparent. The government has also made spasmodic attempts to establish an agricultural experiment station, but with its limited resources nothing tangible has been accomplished. The establishment and extension of large sugar estates was stimulated by a law of agricultural franchises, enacted in 1911, granting excessively broad privileges and exemptions to sugar, cacao and coffee plantations which registered under that law.

The table on the opposite page shows the quantity and value of the principal exports of the Dominican Republic since 1913 and is the best illustration of the fact that agriculture is the mainstay of the country.

EXPORTS OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

1913 1914 1915 1916 Sugar (raw) kilos[1] 78,849,465 101,428,847 102,800,551 122,642,514 value $3,650,556 $4,943,452 $7,676,383 $12,028,297 Cacao kilos 19,470,827 20,744,517 20,223,023 21,053,305 value $4,119,955 $3,896,489 $4,863,754 $5,958,669 Tobacco leaf kilos 9,790,398 3,705,549 6,235,409 7,925,151 value $1,121,775 $394,224 $972,896 $1,433,323 Coffee kilos 1,048,922 1,831,938 2,468,435 1,731,718 value $257,076 $345,579 $458,431 $316,827 Hides and kilos 541,154 685,042 638,020 616,446 skins value $241,072 $253,832 $270,356 $334,665 Sugar cane value — $62,585 $195,782 $295,622 Bananas bunches 592,804 114,142 327,169 348,560 value $296,368 $57,044 $166,432 $172,615 Beeswax and honey value $206,749 $207,290 $144,579 $176,144 Molasses kilos 12,064,038 17,962,441 15,484,205 18,752,440 value $60,737 $93,787 $100,023 $120,738 Forest value $167,037 $66,464 $64,368 $57,250 products Cotton kilos 242,221 167,123 141,623 91,258 value $85,398 $67,830 $60,600 $31,759 All other value $263,224 $200,211 $240,457 $601,964 exports ———————————————————————— Total value $10,469,947 $10,588,787 $15,209,061 $21,527,873

[Footnote 1: 1 kilo = 2.2 pounds]

Sugar, the leading export, is the principal product of the southern portion of the Republic. In contrast with the cultivation of cacao, coffee and tobacco, sugar planting requires a large outlay of capital. The fields must be carefully prepared, extensive ditching must be done in order to provide irrigation during the dry season; the fields must be cleaned repeatedly while the cane is growing; and when the cane eventually matures, after fourteen to eighteen months of growth, it must upon cutting be immediately transported to the mill, where expensive machinery grinds it and fabricates sugar from the cane juice. The large sugar plantations of the country are all owned by foreigners, principally Americans and Italians, but dependent upon them are many small plots, planted under contract with the central factory by small native owners or contractors. Before the establishment of the first of these plantations near Macoris in the early eighties, the apparatus for making sugar was as crude as that employed by the first colonists, consisting of small presses turned by oxen, and large caldrons to boil the cane. The other West India Islands are dotted with the ruins of old sugar mills erected in the beginning and middle of the last century, but those days were not favorable to investment in Santo Domingo and such buildings and ruins are absolutely wanting in this island.