58 



GIST THE TOPOGRAPHY AJ(D GEOLOGY 



brute " mired " belly deej) in sloughs, scratched by thorns, cut b}^ the sharp-edged 

 Yahacoa grass, splashed to his eyes with not over-fragrant mud, and worn out 

 between unaccustomed fatigue and hunger, the relief of finally i-eaching at the 

 same time sunlight, a resting-place, and an exceptionally beautiful view, was 

 certainly something to remember. But to continue : from the Laguneta the road runs 

 about three miles through the woods, usually on top of a narrow ridge, almost 

 always very muddy. At the end of this distance is a resting-place of a third of a 

 mile of grassy hill side called the Savana de la Puerta. Here the road again enters 

 the woods, now almost down to the level of the plains, in the valley of a stream 

 called the Guananitos, following this stream to the J aina River. Along the whole 

 distance from the Pueita to the Jaina the road is an almost uninterrupted bog, the 

 wet mud of a river bottom on which the sun never shines ; land which, if cleared 

 and cultivated, would yield crops of such magnitude that no one having a regard for 

 his reputation for veracity would dare describe. 



East of this pass is another but little used; a mere third trail through the woods, pre- 

 ferable for its shortness in very dry weather, though nearly impassable in wet seasons. 

 It has nothing to warrant especial mention except the fact that it winds through very 

 low hills, crosses almost innumerable small ravines, and finally strikes the head- waters 

 of one of tlie branches of the Ozama, reaching Yamasa, on the margin of the southern 

 plains. 



Still another, longer than the two preceding, but much better in every respect, is 

 that by way of Cevico and San Pedro. Although twenty miles longer, and cross- 

 ing rougher hills, this route is almost always selected by persons travelling in a 

 hurry fi'om Santo Domingo to Cibao. Almost immediately after leaving Cevico 

 the road commences to climb the rolling grassy hills that border the range, and at 

 the distance of an hour's ride enters the forest for the first time. It crosses first a 

 ridge, called the Cuesta Blanca, or "White Ridge," with some mud and much rock; 

 thence crosses a pretty level tract pleasantly varied between forest and savana, 

 watered by three good-sized streams ; thence by a gradual ascent climbs a high ridge 

 the main divide here, known as the "Sillon de la Yiuda," or "Widow's Saddle," 

 and leaves it by an equally gradual descent, entering the plains near a now almost 

 deserted grazing station, called San Pedro. From this pass there is no other to the 

 eastward until we reach the vicinity of Samana Bay, when we find the road running 

 south from Savana la Mar to Santo Domingo, a trail that enjoys the unenviable 

 reputation of being, in many respects, the worst on the Island. The mountains in 

 the intervening distance have no features to render them peculiar or worthy of special 

 mention. They are low, inconspicuous, and have here dwindled to a single ridge 

 with a few spui's, all de])sely wooded. 



