OF SANTO DOMINGO. 



G7 



marks exist in this part of the range ; but these are well marked, and, lieing visible 

 from the coast, are of great use to seamen. Silla de Caballo is, as its name implies, 

 a saddle-shaped hill, and Monte Cristi is a table-nionntain, isolated fi'om the range, 

 of which it is the terminal point. It is bnt eight linndred feet high, bnt its solitary 

 position and its pecnliar shape make it the most marked point in the whole range, 

 not excepting Mount Isabella de Torres, back of Puerto Plata. 



It is not to be inferred that the barren, desolate character just described applies 

 to any large part of the Monte Cristi mountains. Even in the neighborhood of the 

 Isabella River a change occurs, and back in the hill, some of the "conncos" (as the 

 farm patches of an acre or two are called) show proofs of good soil and a sufficiency 

 of water. The absence of cactus here, away from the coast, is a corroboration not to 

 be disregarded ; this family of plants growing habitually, only where moisture is 

 very scarce. From Isabella there is a pass across the mountains to Guayacanes, 

 which follows up the Isabella River to Maimon, a flourishing little settlement ; thence 

 climbs a very steep hill to the summit and descends a long caiion to the plain. 

 Many other passes exist through these mountains, the principal of which are the 

 Alta Mira and Palo Quemado routes, between Santiago and Puerto Plata, one from 

 Moca to Batei, one from Macoris to the mouth of the River J obo, and from Macoris 

 to Matanzas. In fact, there is a pass wherever the necessity for one exists, the range 

 being so simple in structure, that the difficulties of finding a practicable route across 

 it, almost anywhere, are not great. The Alta Mira pass starts about nine miles west 

 of Santiago, and after ascending the arroyo of Limon Creek for half a dozen miles 

 to Limon, climbs the range by a very steep trail to the summit, around the west side 

 of mount Diego Campo; thence descend.ing a little to the little hamlet of four or five 

 houses called Alta Mira, it clambers along a muddy ridge, crosses a stream, and 

 winds along another ridge, more muddy than the first, winding around the western 

 flank of Mount Isabella de Torres, and reaches the plain about three miles from 

 Puerto Plata, by a road more muddy still than the mountain pass. It is over this 

 road, bad as it is, that an annual hundred thousand ceroons, of a quintal each, of 

 tobacco have to be carried, on horse, mule, donkey, and bull-back, at an annual cost 

 of about half a million of dollars, and nobody thinks of mending the road. The Palo 

 Quemado pass is shorter, but so much worse that it is rarely traveled. It climbs a 

 high ridge, quite near to Santiago, then descends to the head of the Yasica River, 

 crosses it, then crosses some low hills, emerges into a plain bordering the coast. This 

 road could be easily improved so as to be reasonably good. JSText, east of this, is a 

 trail from Moca to Batei, twenty-seven miles east of Puerto Plata. This is the worst 



