128 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 13, No. 7 
important with regard to present and proposed irrigation projects 
is now being carried out. During the reconnaissance a considerable 
amount of time was spent in studying the underground water resources 
of certain regions. 
As soon as we arrived in Port-au-Prince, Mr. Brown began an 
examination of the geology of the region near Port-au-Prince with 
regard to the public supply of water. The present supply is derived 
from springs and during years of abnormally low rainfall it is inade- 
quate for the rapidly increasing population of the capital. Mr. 
Brown made suggestions for the more effective utilization of some of 
the springs that are controlled by the geologic features. The water 
issuing in the springs falls as rain on the crest and north slope of 
Morne Hopital, and as this mountain is composed wholly of limestone 
the water contains a large amount of calcium bicarbonate. The possi- 
bility of treatment to remove the hardness is discussed in the report. 
Ultimately the city should have a stream-fed supply. The Grande 
Riviere de Léogane (or Riviére Momance) probably contains an 
adequate amount, and as basalt is the surface rock in the greater part 
of its watershed its water should be much softer than the water de- 
rived from the springs near the city. 
Mr. Brown also examined the inadequate spring-fed supply of 
Cap-Haitien. Water of good quality to supplement or replace the 
present supply could be obtained from wells in the North Plain near by. 
In the Cul-de-Sac Plain water derived from flowing and non-flowing 
wells is used to supplement the surface waters in irrigation. The 
possibility of obtaining a similar supply in some of the other plains is 
fully discussed in the report. 
In many regions where limestone is the surface rock there are no 
surface streams, as the water seeps into channels and caverns in the 
limestone. At many places in limestone regions the inhabitants must - 
depend for their supply upon salty springs issuing at the coast. At 
some of these places it is possible to obtain better water at little cost 
by tapping farther from the coast the underground streams feeding 
these springs. 
The Republic contains many types of unusual springs, such as warm 
springs, sulphur springs, and salty springs. The geologic features 
of these springs were examined and samples of water from them 
were analyzed. There are also several interesting lakes, among them 
Etang Saumdtre. Samples of water from the lakes were analyzed. 
In all, 20 samples of water from streams, lakes, springs, and wells 
