GEOGRAPHY. 39 



ENRIQUILLO BASIN. 



The Enriquillo Basin is the eastward continuation of the Cul-de-sac 

 region of Haiti. The two together form a valley about 15 kilometers wide, 

 extending from the Bahia de Neiba, which itself is part of the same physio- 

 graphic province, to Port-au-Prince, in Haiti. This valley, which in late 

 geologic times was a strait, was uplifted so recently that it has been little 

 modified by erosion. The visitor to the Enriquillo Basin has the unique 

 experience of walking dry-shod on the bottom of the sea across shell-strewn 

 sands and of wandering among forests of coral that appear so fresh that 

 the water might have been withdrawn only yesterday. The Enriquillo 

 Basin has been uplifted 35 meters or more, but some depressions in it stil 

 remain considerably below sea level. Lake Enriquillo, a large remnant of 

 the original strait, occupies one such depression. Its surface now stands 

 44 meters below sea level and is gradually being lowered by evaporation. 

 In 1892, according to Wells, 1 the surface of Lake Enriquillo stood practi- 

 cally level with the sea. In 1900, according to Tippenhauer, 2 its surface 

 stood 34 meters below sea level. The water in Lake Enriquillo is much 

 saltier than sea water, owing mostly to its concentration by evaporation 

 and partly to additions of saline matter carried by streams. 



The waters of the Bahia de Neiba are kept out of the depression con- 

 taining Lake Enriquillo by the delta deposits of Rio Yaque del Sur, which 

 has built a dam across the head of the bay. During unusually high floods 

 part of the water from Rio Yaque is diverted westward into Lake Enri- 

 quillo. Some of the flood water of Rio Yaque is stored in the Laguna del 

 Rincon, a large fresh or slightly brackish lake connected with the Yaque 

 by a channel near the village of Cabral. 



The Etang Saumatre, or Laguna del Fondo, occupies another depression 



west of Lake Enriquillo. When visited by Wells, 3 in 1892, its water was 



slightly brackish, but potable, and its surface stood 58 meters above sea 



level. According to levels run in 1900 4 the Etang Saumatrestood 20 meters 



above sea level. 



SIERRA DE BAHORUCO. 



South of the Enriquillo Basin is a range of high mountains, the Sierra de 

 Bahoruco, which forms the eastward prolongation of the south range of 

 Haiti. These mountains come down to the sea near Barahona. The 

 width of the range along the sea front is about 25 kilometers. Several 

 peaks visible from the sea rise more than 1,400 meters above sea level, and 

 one reaches 2,075 meters. The Montagne de la Selle, in the south range of 

 Haiti, is said to be 2,700 meters high. The mountains are clothed with 

 open pine forests and are carpeted with grass that affords pasturage for 



1 Wells, J. W., A survey journey in Santo Domingo, West Indies: Royal Geog. Soc. Sup. Pap., vol. 3, 

 p. 595, 1893. 



2 Tippenhauer, L. G., Beitrage zur Geologie Haitis, V: Petermann's Mitt., Band 47, VII, p. 169, 1901. 



3 Wells, J. W., op., cit., p. 595. 



4 Tippenhauer, L. G., op. cit., p. 170. 



