OF SANTO DOMINGO. ' • 191 



whether thej are in place or fallen from the overhanging precipices. Some of these 

 are doubtless derived from the cliffs, but an occasional ledge or little waterfall shows 

 the rock to be in place. The sides of the canon are usually so overgrown with brakes, 

 trees, and vines, that though very steep the stratification could not be deciphered 

 even if there were lines between the heavy beds ; but at the southern edge the top of 

 the deposit crops out in a low bluff, the strike remaining the same but the dip only 

 15° south. Throughout, this rock is nearly or quite white and shows no signs of 

 fossils, although at this i)oint I obtained from some boulders derived from the beds 

 further up some of my most perfect specimens. South of the limestone the same 

 jaspery slates come in again with varying strikes from east and west to I^. 35° W., 

 and with all dips up to 80° south. At the base of the hill of Pomiel the dip is south 

 50°, while at the summit there is another outcrop of limestone. I have tried ineffectu- 

 ally to connect this with the rock of Tablasas, but its dip is southwest 30°. Between 

 the two exposures there is no corresponding northern dip of limestone, and all of the 

 exposures at the latter place show southern dips, as well as do all of the localities 

 intervening where a reliable measure can be obtained in the slates ; nor could I find 

 any spot where a pi'obable fault by causing a dislocation of the strata again brought 

 the lower beds to the surface. It seems therefore that this is possibly a secoiid 

 deposit and more modern than that of Tablasas, although the rocks of the two locali- 

 ties resemble each other so closely in every respect, that I would prefer considering 

 one a repetition of the other, could I find any reasonable pretext for doing so. The 

 only one would be an enormous fault, but I have examined the interesting space very 

 carefully Avithout finding any trace of it. Another explanation might suggest itself 

 theoretically, but I can find nothing to warrant such a supposition. A reverse folding 

 of the beds would not be incompatible with the appearance of the slates ; but it would 

 imply an amount of elevating force, exercised to the south of this point, which the' 

 configuration of the surface does not permit us to consider probable. There has been 

 an unusual amount of disturbance at and immediately south of Pomiel, but directly 

 beyond that, the Cretaceous finally disappears, hidden by the Tertiary. On top of 

 the hill the strike is N. 45° W., with a southwestern dip of 30°. In the adjoining- 

 low hill of Latoma the limestone strikes N". 40° E., and dips 45° southeast ; while, 

 within a quarter of a mile northeast of this point, it strikes directly north and south, 

 and stands vertically. This is on the edge of the river, and the rock thus forms as it 

 were, a rounded cap, covei-ing a good part of the southern face of the high hill, of 

 which Latoma is only a small spur. Directly across the i-iver in the hill of Calaboso, 

 a little outlier of the limestone again occurs, after which all finally disappears under 

 beds of the Miocene and coast formations. A little deposit of Miocene also forms 



