414 



MEXICO, CENTRAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. 



But fartlier east, tlie Bay of Caves, well protected by fringing reefs (" cayes ") 

 and by the island of La Yache, is indented by several excellent harbours, accessible 

 to vessels of light draught. The town of Les Cayes, not far from the site of 

 Salvatierra, founded in 1505 by Obando, is one of the chief seaports of the 

 republic. But it is a very unhealth}^ place, standing in a marshy district at the 

 mouth of a coast stream subject to frequent inundations. The neighbouring towns 

 of Torhecli, CaraUlon, and farther east Saint-Louis and Aquin, have developed a 

 few industries, especially the preparation of straw hats. It was at the port of 

 Aquin that the English expedition of 1655, sent by Cromwell to reduce San Sal- 



Kg. 199.— Lus Cayes Bat. 

 Scale 1 : 600,000. 



V^'bO 



r/°'it of" breenwich 



75' 2b 



ntolO 

 Fathoms. 



Depths. 



10 to 100 

 Fathoms. 



10{ Fathoms 

 and upwards. 



12 Miles. 



vador, met with the repulse which was avenged by the conquest of Jamaica. Les 

 Cayes was the scene of a still more memorable event in 1816, when Simon 

 Bolivar organised in this place the expedition which led to the overthrow of Spanish 

 rule in South America. 



The Ile-à- Yache, by which the Bay of Cayes is half closed, served at one 

 time as a place of exile for over 450 American negroes. Thousands of slaves set 

 free by the war had taken refuge in 1863 under the walls of Fortress Monroe 

 in Yirginia, and the Washington Government, wishing to get rid of them, sent 

 batches as colonists to various parts of the West Indies and Central America. As 

 many as 5,000 of these freedmen had been destined for the He à- Yache, which 



