198 GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 



ranker growth of forest. The change is noticeable in an ascent of only a 

 few hundred meters. Different exposures of the same mountain may not 

 be similarly favored, however, for the clouds generally come from the 

 northeast and lose much of their moisture on the northeastern slopes. 



The vegetation of the coastal plain and low hills of the interior in the 

 more arid part of the two provinces consists largely of a variety of mesquite 

 (cambron) and of logwood, together with lignum vitae (guayacan). (See 

 PI. XVII, A.) The cacti include large, branching trees of the Cereus type 

 (cayuca) and the prickly pear type (taina) ; and a low, branching exceed- 

 ingly troublesome cactus (guazabara) covers most of the ground and pro- 

 tects the scattered clumps of grass from hungry cattle. In the moist 

 river bottoms there are many other trees, some of which grow very large, 

 especially the ceiba. There are also the amacigo, mora, and other trees 

 that are more or less valuable for export. Mahogany (caoba) is one 

 of the most common woods and is used for lumber and fire wood. It 

 generally grows in limy soil in the hills. Many of the higher mountains 

 are timbered with pine, generally of telegraph pole size but here and there 

 60 to 80 centimeters in diameter. It makes an inferior lumber, rich in 

 in resin and so heavy that it hardly floats. When placed in the river for 

 rafting, the logs are said to absorb water and to sink after a short time. 



PRODUCTS. 



Coffee of excellent grade is grown in considerable quantity in the uplands 

 near Barahona. The rice grown on the mountain slopes is nearly sufficient 

 to supply the needs of the two provinces. Tobacco is a standard crop and 

 is shipped in large quantities. Beans are grown in the mountain valleys 

 north of Lake Enriquillo and as much as 1,000,000 pounds is said to have 

 been marketed from that district alone in one year. Bananas, plantains, 

 yams, and yuca, the food of the poor people, are plentiful in every com- 

 munity. The settled political conditions of the last few years have en- 

 couraged cattle raising. The Province of Azua is famous throughout the 

 Republic for its excellent mules, and though these are small as compared 

 with those raised in the United States, few of them being much over 14 

 hands high, they are as hardy and on the whole better tempered. There is 

 no wild game, the largest animal native to the island being no larger than 

 the woodchuck of the United States. Pigs and goats abound in every 

 settlement, and wild pigs that have escaped from domestic stock roam in 

 the mountains. 



Many of the people are engaged in getting out mahogany, lignum-vitae, 

 mora, dye woods, and other valuable timber for exportation, but their 

 efforts are confined largely to small timber of inferior grade, for there are 

 almost no roads over which the lumber can be carried to the sea for ship- 

 ment. 



