CLIMATE OF SAN DOMINGO. 403 



towards Port-au-Prince Bay. The united reservoir lias then a total lengtli of 

 about 60 miles, with an average breadth of 9 or 10 miles, and is consequently 

 larger than the Lake of Geneva. According to Tippenhauer the Etang Saumache, 

 that is, " Brackish Lagoon,'* scarcely deserves its name, for its water is quite 

 potable with a very slight saline taste. It becomes really brackish, however, 

 during the temporary inundations of the Etang Salé. 



Farther south, in the same depression, but at a somewhat higher elevation, 

 stands the freshwater lake, Icotea de Limon, which is fed by torrents from the 

 Baburuco hills, and probably sends its overflow through underground channels to 

 Lake Enriquillo. There is still another link in the lacustrine chain, the Pinçon, 

 ■which communicates with the Yaqui Chico delta, while the depression is con- 

 tinued to the sea by the so-called " raques," that is, muddy and partly-flooded 

 morasses. 



The San Domingo seaboard is in many places fringed with reefs, but on the 

 whole it is far more accessible than that of Cuba. The coralline structures are 

 developed, chiefly in the interior of the bays, and Samana Bay is thus more than 

 half filled with reefs. Manzanillo Bay is similarly obstructed, while the Monte 

 Cristi range is continued far seawards by a vast " garden " of reefs, banks and 

 islets. The western gulf terminating in Port-au-Prince Bay, has also been 

 invaded by the coral-builders, and Gonave Island is connected, on both sides with 

 the shore by causeways of reefs pierced by a few open passages. The coast 

 facing the Ile-à-Yache is also bordered by a labyrinth of corals, and at the 

 eastern extremity of San Domingo, Saona or Adamanay Island, as well as Cape 

 Engano, are surrounded by fringing barriers 



Climate, Flora, Fauna. 



Resembling that of the neighbouring islands in its main features, the local 

 climate is distinguished chiefly by the contrasts between uplands and lowlands, 

 seaboard and interior, windward and leeward, aspects. More oceanic in its position 

 than Cuba and Jamaica, San Domingo is more exposed to the regular north-east 

 trades, but on the xVzua plateau, and in other districts sheltered by the mountain 

 ranges, the rainfall is very slight, and vegetation is supported chiefly by the 

 copious morning dews. At Port-au-Prince the mean annual rainfall is 62 inches, 

 while the temperature ranges from 58^ to 97° Fahr. 



Hurricanes are rarer than in the Lesser Antilles, and although slight vibra- 

 tions of the ground are frequent, violent shocks occur only at long intervals. 

 In 1564 Conception de la Yega was destroyed ; in 1751 the rising city of Port- 

 au-Prince was converted into a heap of ruins, and the same fate overtook Cap- 

 Haitien in 1842. 



Thanks to its more abundant rainfall and greater diversity of aspect, San 

 DomiuRO is richer in vegetable forms even than Cuba itself. The interior has 

 not yet been cleared, and the forests covering the slopes of the mountains for 

 thousands of square miles contain in abundance such valuable timbers as rose- 



