HAITI, THE HOME OF TWIX REPUBLICS 



487 



of Haiti) partly arises from a limestone 

 bottom. 



There is a great deal of limestone in 

 the surface formations of Haiti, and this 

 is often revealed in the almost brilliant 

 whiteness of chalk by the heavy rainfall, 

 which sweeps away the humus and re- 

 veals great fissures of white, so that the 

 sides of the mountain peaks appear at a 

 distance to be streaked with snow. In 

 the dry season the beds of the mountain 

 streams are blazing white with their 

 boulders and pebbles of chalky lime- 

 stone. Yet a good deal of the surface in 

 parts is covered with a reddish clay. 



WONDERFUL FLOWERING TREES BEAUTIFY 

 THE ISLAND 



The flat portions of the shores of Lake 

 Azuey (which in other parts looks very 

 much like a Scotch loch) have a thorny 

 growth of mimosa and of "Cashaw" 

 trees, together with an abundance of 

 arboreal cacti — tall Opuntias, with great 

 fat "hands" studded with ruby buds or 

 topaz-colored blossoms ; Cereus cacti, 

 growing in erect columns (or else of a 

 branching habit), with creamy white 

 flowers, or other writhing snake-like 

 forms of Cereus with triangular stem. 



There are also Yuccas, which grow in- 

 differently at sea-level and at 7,000 feet. 

 They are indeed objects of striking 

 beauty in a Haitian landscape, whether 

 silhouetted on the edge of some tremen- 

 dous precipice and standing out against 

 the clear blue background of distant 

 mountain or rising out of the white sand 

 against the purple waters of the lake. 



The Yucca commences with a great 

 mound of lily-like leaves of a vivid green, 

 and from this rises the 30- foot-high 

 flower-stalk — a candelabra of golden yel- 

 low blossoms These clusters of yellow, 

 tubelike flowers are haunted incessantly 

 by birds for the sake of the insects, or 

 possibly the honey, they contain. Conse- 

 quently these immense columns of inflo- 

 rescence are rendered additionally beau- 

 tiful by the bird life that hovers about 

 them so eagerly that it scarcely regards 

 the approach of man. 



There are woodpeckers of black with 

 yellow spots with bright crimson-scarlet 

 heads and rumps ; glossy-black and 

 golden-yellow Icterus starlings, quits of 



smalt-blue and orange. There are also 

 occasionally black-green Lampornis hum- 

 ming-birds ; but these creatures are not 

 so abundant in Haiti as in Jamaica. 



The eastern end of Lake Azuey pos- 

 sesses two or three colonies of the scarlet 

 American flamingo. There are iguanas 

 still lingering on the rocky islands along 

 the northern shores of this lake. Else- 

 where on the mainland they have been 

 almost exterminated by the natives for 

 the sake of their edible flesh. 



The eastern end of Lake Azuey, as al- 

 ready mentioned, is within the political 

 limits of Santo Domingo. Consequently 

 there is a customs station established on 

 the northeast shore to control the road 

 which passes between the two republics. 

 Here I found established a white Amer- 

 ican official of the best type. He had 

 served in the Philippines and in the Far 

 West. He was a typical Anglo-Saxon, 

 with fair hair and blue eyes, but a deeply 

 tanned complexion. 



It was delightful to see what amenities 

 of life he had introduced into the ex- 

 cessively wild region where he was sta- 

 tioned — a sun-baked spot on the southern 

 slopes of 4,000- feet-high mountains, the 

 bush bristling with thorny cacti and 

 mimosas, and the country people — Hai- 

 tians and Dominicans — none too friendly 

 at first and resenting interference with 

 contraband. 



AMERICAN HOME LIFE IN THE WILDS 



In addition to an extremely neat and 

 clean fortified station, he had built a little 

 bungalow near the waters of the lake, 

 where most welcome shade from the 

 fierce sun was obtainable. Here was a 

 gramophone of the latest design, with the 

 newest records, and here, while we dis- 

 cussed the delicious coffee and milk which 

 he provided (milk being a great rarity in 

 the Haitian hinterland), the strains of 

 Caruso, Melba, Scotti, the stirring songs 

 of Harry Lauder and R. G. Knowles 

 pealed over the waters and re-echoed 

 from the gorges of the hills. 



This gramophone was making the 

 American customs officer popular among 

 Haitians and Dominicans alike over a 

 wide area of surrounding country. 



The Dominican frontier guards are 



