46 GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 



hulks of wrecks on the reefs bear silent testimony to the perils of navigation 

 in this treacherous spot. On the east rise the time-stained walls of Fort 

 San Felipe, at the top of a low cliff, and on a gentle rise behind the fort is 

 the lighthouse. 



Except along the promontories of East Point and West Point, the bay is 

 bordered by a narrow strip of palm-fringed sandy beach, broken through 

 on the southwest by Rio San Marcos, a sluggish stream that wanders in a 

 swampy alluvial plain. On the south rise the steep sides of Monte Isabel 

 de Torres, a conspicuous landmark from the sea (PI. Ill, A), and on the 

 outwash slopes at its feet is built the picturesque town of Puerto Plata. 

 Along the western skyline rise the jagged profiles of several sharp coni- 

 cal hills. 



Puerto Plata Bay appears to be the drowned mouth of the valley of Rio 

 San Marcos, but a dead coral reef 10 feet above sea level adjoining the living 

 reef at the mouth of the bay shows that there has been emergence as well as 

 submergence in this region. 



PUERTO PLATA TO CAPE SAMANA. 



East of Puerto Plata gentle slopes that extend back several kilometers 

 from the shore give room for farms and plantations between the mountains 

 and the sea. Much of the coast between Puerto Plata and Cape Frances 

 Viejo is bordered by coral reefs through which narrow openings lead to the 

 indentations in the shore forming the ports of Sosua and Cabarete. 



Cape Frances Viejo is a bold, lofty headland that stands less than 6 kilo- 

 meters from the shore and rises 346 meters above sea level. It is visible 

 50 kilometers from the shore. From far out at sea off this cape can be 

 seen Loma Quita Espuela, a peak on the south front of the Cordillera 

 Septentrional overlooking the Vega Real near San Francisco de Macoris. 



From Cape Frances Viejo the coast runs southward past the village of 

 Matanzas to the mouth of the Gran Estero, the swampy area that separates 

 the peninsula of Samana from the mainland. The great bight in the angle 

 between Samana Peninsula and Cape Frances Viejo is known as Escocesa 

 Bay. A submerged bank supporting reefs and a few small cays extends 

 from Matanzas to Cape Cabron and attains a maximum width of about 12 

 kilometers off Puerto Escondido. 



The deep bight between Cape Cabron and Cape Samana, called Rincon 

 Bay, contains several small cays skirted by a reef. The bottom of the bay 

 is a submerged bank that is in most places less than 20 fathoms (37 meters) 

 below sea level. 



SAMANA BAY. 



Samana Bay is justly famous as one of the best and most beautiful har- 

 bors in the West Indies. Ships entering the bay pass first the bold, rocky, 

 southwestward-trending shore between Cape Samana and Ballandra 

 Point, against which the waves spout high in air. Several step-like terraces 



