70 



ON TTIE TOPOriKAPTlY ATSTJ) (iEOLOGY 



a good sugai'-couiitry surronnding it, even if the produce of the iiiterioi' should find 

 another outlet, a consummation not likely to be long delayed. 



East of the Puerto Plata, the harbors are small and but little used. Cabarete, 

 the headquarters of the Kinsley colony, is a little bay, of but little v^alue, available for 

 small coasters. But little need be said of Samana. It is a peninsula, or rather island, 

 about thirty miles long and eight or ten miles wide ; separated on the south from the 

 mainland by Samana Bay, and on the west by the Gran Estero, or Big Creek, one of 

 the numerous mouths of the delta of the Yuna. Topographically, Samana is a con- 

 tinuation of the Monte Cristi chain — that is to say, on looking at a map, one would 

 not hesitate to include it all under one general term ; but geologically, it is 

 independent, belonging as it does, both by the contained rocks and by the date of 

 elevation, to the same age as the main central chain. Almost the entire surface is a 

 mass of mountain-land, with innumerable flats, not onl};^ adjoining the coast, but 

 nestling everywhere among the mountains. 



A chain of hills runs throughout the entire length, usually nearer the south than 

 the north coast, and sends out numerous spurs, especially on the north side. One of 

 these, near the eastern end, forms the promontory called Cape Cabron, while the end 

 of the chain reaches to Cape Samana. At the point where the Cape Cabron spur 

 starts off, there is a high, conical peak called the Sugar Loaf, visible in every direc- 

 tion, and a good landmark from the sea. Monte Diablo is a smaller, broader, and less 

 conspicuous peak near the eastern coast, also useful as a landmark. 



The soil in the mountains is often thin and stony, but the valleys without number 

 are exceedingly fertile. Some of the best coffee and cocoa-land in the Kepublic exists 

 on Samana. I found in several places in the woods, perhaps forgotten by the owners, 

 old cocoa plantations, with the trees in fall bearing, despite the forest growth which 

 had sprung up around them. The valley of the little stream called San Juan River 

 is a type of numerous spots on the peninsula. It is a long, not very wide valley, with 

 a rich, deep soil, and so completely shut in from all sunlight by the vigorous vegeta- 

 tion, that it is almost always muddy. Almost the entire course of the stream is 

 bordered by clumps of bamboo, their graceful stalks bending over and interlacing 

 from side to side, so that the river runs, as it were, through a living archway of 

 foliage. Towards its mouth, the land becomes rougher, the caiion narrower, the soil 

 rocky, and its mouth is as wild a spot as can be well imagined ; a long sand-beach, 

 ending abruptly against a high bluff of black rocks, with the broad A tlantic thunder- 

 ing against it with a ceaseless roar. 



At the eastern end, between Puerto Frances and Rincon Bay, there is a broad 



