258 CUBA AND POBTO BIOO 



given area to make it of value. There are many ancient 

 pits which were worked by the Spaniards. Professor W. M. 

 Blake, who accompanied the United States commission to 

 the island, says: "There is no doubt that their j> a gold 

 region of considerable extent and promise in the island, 

 but 1 did not see anything to excite great enthusiasm 

 regarding the deposits, or to encourage expectation of im- 

 mediate large returns for mining operations there. There 

 is enough, however, possibly to justify the labor and ex- 

 pense of carefully prospecting the ground." It is said that 

 many of the country people always have more or less 

 grain gold in their possession, and that the washing of it 

 is a considerable source of minor income. It is a matter 

 of history that the Spaniards in the earlier years of dis- 

 covery remitted over four hundred and sixty thousand 

 dollars in gold per annum to Spain, and that silver- 

 mines also were worked. Furthermore, these mines were 

 abandoned principally on account of the subsequent polit- 

 ical troubles. There is also evidence that copper, similar 

 to that found in Cuba, occurs in San Domingo. Iron ore 

 of excellent quality is found on the Maymon River, about 

 one hundred miles from Samana Bay, but its transporta- 

 tion is still a problem. 



The population of San Domingo in 1888 was six hundred 

 and ten thousand, or about thirty- four to the square mile. 

 It was then and is still mainly composed of mixtures of 

 the early Spanish inhabitants with the aborigines and 

 negroes, resulting in a class of Spanish mulattos. There 

 are some whites of European descent and a few foreign 

 merchants. The Spanish language prevails, although 

 French and English are commonly spoken in the cities. 

 This population is neither savage nor vicious, although its 

 vitality has been greatly sapped by the unfortunate politi- 

 cal events which drove the superior classes from the island. 

 The better people seem to have the same qualities as the 

 Cubans and Porto Ricans, while the peasantry is a harm- 

 less though shiftless class, in no manner to be compared 



