262 COLUMBIAN HISTORICAL EXPOSITION AT MADRID. 



tion, chiefly the different forms of cacti there indigenous, which ren 

 ders exploration somewhat difficult. But the cactus forms are beautiful, 

 and the glimpses through the openings in the clumps of the Bajo-Bonico 

 River, the bay, and the mountains beyond are attractive. 



The ruins of what is known as the u Eoyal Mint,&quot; at Isabella, are 

 just above the bay on the bluff , and there are numerous fragments of 

 pottery shards there, supposed to be of the crucibles in which the gold 

 from the Cibao was smelted, as well a.s of the roofing tiles of the 

 buildings. Much of the structure has tumbled into the sea, but the 

 greater portion, doubtless, has been carried away to Puerto Plata, for 

 building purposes, in recent years. 



The harbor of Isabella is small, and protected from the ocean by a 

 line of coral reefs, the water being shallow, but of sufficient depth for 

 the vessels of Columbus. A river flows into it called the Bajo-Bonico, 

 which is a stream of some volume in the rainy season, but runs nearly 

 dry in the summer. It rises in the mountains of the interior, and large 

 quantities of mahogany logs are floated down its current from the hills. 

 It now enters the bay at a little distance from the site of Isabella, but is 

 thought to have flowed at the foot of the bluff in the time of Columbus. 



There were, also, views of Concepcion de la Vega, Santo Cerro, San 

 tiago de los Caballeros, Jacagua, Santo Tomas, and Vega Yieja, the 

 towns that were established immediately after Isabella in the interior 

 of Santo Domingo. In 1494, after the discovery of gold in the moun 

 tains of Cibao, everything transportable was removed from the old to 

 the new town, including the bell, which was hung in the tower of the 

 chapel at La Vega, and remained there until the place was destroyed 

 by an earthquake in 1564, when the survivors built a third town near by. 



Jacagua, or old Santiago, was founded by Columbus in 1494, and 

 called Magdalena, but was destroyed by an earthquake in 1564. The 

 town had a church and public buildings, and was, at the time of its 

 destruction, a thriving settlement. The church was recently excavated 

 at the expense of the Latin-American department of the Chicago 

 Exposition, and many minor articles of antiquity discovered of the 

 times in which it was built. The ruins are about 4 miles distant from 

 the city of Santiago, the present chief city of the province of the same 

 name, to which the inhabitants of Jacagua removed after the loss of 

 their houses. The proprietor, Seilor Don Ricardo Ovies, is intelligent 

 and hospitable, speaks English fluently, and aided the Commissioner of 

 the Exposition in his excavations, furnishing laborers and guidance 

 and placing the entire property at his disposal. Through him many 

 interesting relics were recovered which throw light upon the early 

 history of the country. 



The Cibao country, of Santo Domingo, of which La Vega and Santiago 

 are the chief towns, and from which most of the antiquities recovered 

 in the island have been obtained, is in the interior and is best reached 

 from the port of Sanchez, at the head of the Bay of Samana. Thence 



