660 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



to furnish a family with their food._ The reason they 

 universally assign for not cultivating more is, that, 

 amid constantly-recurring revolutions, it is very un- 

 certain who may reap the crops ; besides, there is no 

 market now for surplus produce. The commission- 

 ers had an opportunity to see the progress which the 

 people of color have made in Jamaica. In that island 

 there is abundant evidence that, in spite of misgov- 

 ment and the social oppression which has lastedlong 

 after the abolition of slavery ? this people are improv- 

 ing and becoming sharers in a higher civilization. 

 The evidence shows that the Dominican people arc 

 not averse to work when certain of a reasonable re- 

 ward, but are good and faithful laborers. An abun- 

 dance of labor can now be had at about ten dollars, 

 or less, per month. Appearances make it probable 

 that the elements necessary to physical persistency 

 exist among the people, especially in that large pro- 

 portion in whom Spanish blood predominates. The 

 decline of these people, in numbers and in enter- 

 prise, is sufficiently accounted for by social and po- 

 litical causes, without the gratuitous assumption 

 that the race is dying out or effete. 



There are few schools in the republic, and conse- 

 quently the great majority of the people are unedu- 

 cated ; but, of all the great number who were exam- 

 ined by the coannissioners and their agents on this 

 point, not one failed to express the desire that some 

 system of general education should be created, and 

 the belief that it would be eagerly embraced. 



The few schools that exist are maintained by the 

 people with little or no support from the govern- 

 ment. School-books prepared in the United States 

 were found in some remote cabins. The basis of 

 original talent is not lacking. The shrewdness of the 

 Dominicans is proverbial among those who are 

 brought into close relations with them. In the 

 schools, few and feeble as they are, may be found 

 abundant evidence to corroborate the assei'tions of 

 the teachers that the average of native ability is 

 good. But one printing-office exists within the re- 

 public, from which newspapers or books are issued. 

 This is at the capital, and is very small and poorly 

 equipped. 



Serious as are these obstacles to general civiliza- 

 tion and to the intelligent exercise of political liber- 

 ties, the condition ot the people is by no means 

 hopeless. Fcr several generations there has been 

 neither slavery nor any caste spirit to deprive them 

 of manliness. The people at large are not degraded. 

 They are willing to work when the result of their 

 labor is made secure. From among them at various 

 times many noble and capable men have arisen men 

 combining statesmanship and generalship with pa- 

 triotism. Many of the people possess very clear ideas 

 of liberty, and show a willingness to make sacrifices 

 for it. The courage and devotion that have been 

 wasted in insurrections and revolutions may yet, un- 

 der better guidance, open into capacity for self-gov- 

 ernment and regular political action. 



The data famished by the authorities as to popula- 

 tion are very meagre. An estimate was recently 

 made by the Ecclesiastical Court, counting by par- 

 ishes, which gave a total_ of 207,000. There are 

 evident signs of error in this estimate. For instance, 

 the capital was set down at 10,000, while it is obvi- 

 ous to the careful observer, who counts streets and 

 houses, that there cannot be over 6,000, if so many. 

 Again, Azua is estimated at 10,000, while an actual 

 count, made a few years ago, showed that it con- 

 tained only 7,750. The present number is apparently 

 still less. Los Llanos are set down at 3,000, but 

 the military governor now estimates that the number 

 of families does not exceed 150, which would indicate 

 a population of not over 1,000, although by a tax-list 

 of 1827, in the possession of the Commission, it had 

 379 rate-payers. The communes of San Juan, Las 

 Matas, Banga, Neyba. etc., are set down at 22,000' 

 but they have been depopulated by revolution and 

 5 nvasion, and their actual number 'is fixed by local 



residents and other competent witnesses at frou. 

 5,000 to 8,000. Comparing ^these figures of the Ec- 

 clesiastical Court with certain known facts, and with 

 all the evidence we can gather from intelligent wit- 

 nesses and personal observation, the commissioners 

 estimate that the actual population of the republic 

 does not exceed 150,000. This does not include the 

 many who have voluntarily expatriated themselves 

 on account of the continual disturbances, nor the few 

 who have been banished. It seems probable that 

 more than nine-tenths, perhaps nineteen-twentieths, 

 are native Dominicans ; the others are, first, colored 

 emigrants from the United States; secondly, Eu- 

 ropean traders, who do not settle anywhere, but so- 

 journ at commercial points. Negro blood prepon- 

 derates very largely in Hayti, but the pure negro of 

 African type is not common even there. White blood 

 preponderates largely in Dominica, but pure whites, 

 in the popular sense of the word, are not numerous. 

 The majority are of a mixed race, much nearer white 

 than black. 



The resources of the country are vast and various, 

 and its products may be increased with scarcely any 

 other limit than the labor expended upon them. 

 There is evidence of mineral wealth in several parts 

 of the island. The geologists of the expedition re- 

 port the existence of the ores of iron, copper, and 

 gold, with deposits of lignite, rock-salt, and petro- 

 leum. Iron-ore is abundant, easy of access, and will 

 doubtless be made available for the cheap^production 

 of pig-iron. The copper-ores are df a fair degree of 

 richness, and the beds have been opened to a slight 

 extent. The reported coal of the Samana peninsula 

 and in the neighborhood of Puerto Plata was exam- 

 ined and found to be lignite, of little value as a fuel, 

 compared with the Pennsylvania or English coal. 

 The gold-region is extensive, and, though worked 

 anciently, is at present but little known. It invites 

 patient exploration by practical miners. The salt- 

 deposits in the mountains near Neyba are believed 

 to be extensive and valuable. The salt can be quar- 

 ried out in large transparent blocks, and a chemical 

 analysis made for the Commission shows it to be of 

 sufficient purity for commercial purposes. 



Summarily and practically vieAved, for agricultural 

 purposeSj there are five classes of lands in St. Do- 

 mingo, viz. : 



1/The mountain slopes and valleys. ^These^are 

 uniformly rich and productive, except in limited 

 regions where rain is deficient, as on the southern 

 slope of the coast-range northeast of Monte Christi. 



2. The extensive prairie region of the Llanos, lying 

 east and north of St. Domingo City, south of the 

 Cibao rang_e, is all admirable pasture-land ; a largo 

 portion of it is capable of profitable cultivation. It 

 is intersected by wooded valleys and groves, con- 

 taining much excellent timber. 



3. The rolling plain of the Vega, which is generally 

 wooded, and is the finest body of agricultural ground 

 on the island. 



4. The Doylands, like a portion of the plain of 

 Azua and the valley of the \ aqui. where rain is partly 

 or wholly wanting from topographical causes. These 

 lands can be made fertile by artificial irrigation. 



5. The red-clay lands, mostly along the coast, un- 

 derlaid by coralline limestone. These are usually 

 covered with timber. They are not generally very 

 rich or deep, but are susceptible of profitable cultiva- 

 tion. The vicinity of St. Domingo City is a fair 

 average specimen of this class of soils. 



Although St. Domingo contains almost every vari- 

 ety of soil, there is very little swampy or sandy land. 

 In this respect it differs widely from Florida and the 

 other Gulf States. The country is varied in surface, 

 unusually well watered, and excels in natural drain- 

 age. There is hardly any portion of the island wh ere 

 the land is not capable of cultivation. The moun- 

 tains support a vegetation widely differing from that 

 of the lowlands ; but they nowhere rise so high as 

 to be covered with snow. Everywhere they are fer- 



