150 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



rocks, including coral beds in the vicinity of Loma de Rio Grande 

 south of Constanza. 



The highway across the Cordillera Central from Santo Domingo 

 City by way of the carretera Duarte passes through the town of 

 Bonao, a town of 1,000 inhabitants, and terminates at La Vega. This 

 is a well improved automobile highway and even from the seat of 

 a speeding automobile one obtains a view of the surrounding country- 

 side remarkable for its native and undeveloped beauty. La Vega 

 is reached all too soon and the hunt is begun for a light car to take 

 one on the first lap of the journey into the heart of the Cordillera. 



The goal of the journey is the valley of Constanza, well known to 

 naturalists from the days of Humboldt, Schomburgk, and Gabb. In 

 recent years Abbott, Wetmore, Ekman, and others, including Wythe 

 Cook of the survey party conducting a geological reconnoissance of 

 the Dominican Republic, have carried on investigations in their re- 

 spective fields along the Constanza trail. 



One branch of this trail starts at Santiago de los Caballeros, passes 

 southward along the east side of the Rio Yaque del Norte to the town 

 of Baitoa. Later the Santiago trail is united with the La Vega branch 

 of the Constanza trail which is passable for light automobiles, and 

 trucks as far as Jarabacoa, although much work remains to be done 

 in the way of bridge building and grading. The Rio Yami must 

 be forded, as must also the Rio Jimenoa, before the immediate goal, 

 the town of Jarabacoa, is reached, where the automobile is discarded 

 for pack saddle and mule train. 



After leaving the valley of the Jimenoa and the proximity of 

 Jarabacoa, the climb up the steep and rocky defile of the Arroyo 

 Baiguate brings one to the top of El Barrero. The narrow trail, fol- 

 lowing the crests of ridges that buttress the narrow mountain crest, 

 descends the southern slope and again ascends to El Paso Bajito, 

 once more encountering the Rio Jimenoa which is forded at El Rio. 

 Here, in the narrow flat valley may be seen aboriginal earthworks 

 resembling very much those to be described later from Constanza. 

 After leaving El Rio one must ascend another mountain crest, the 

 Loma del Hato Quemado which marks the watershed between the 

 waters flowing east into the Camu and Yuna Rivers which empty 

 themselves into the Bay of Samana on the Dominican east coast. 



Circling along the crests of ridges in a general southerly direction, 

 the trail descends to the narrow valley of the upper Tireo River, a 

 tributary of the Yuna River, where several aboriginal earthworks 

 of the Constanza type were observed. There were also observed 

 scattered groups of the peculiar natural mounds, resulting from ex- 

 foliation, but which are locally known as Indian burial mounds. 



