28 
Geography of Hayti. 
frequently than any other place from this destructive scourge. 
Nevertheless, M. de St. Mery has said, upon this subject: 
“ The man who refers everything to himself, and who is 
exposed to the numberless evils which hurricanes may occasion, 
cannot easily discern their utility. But the philosopher, whom 
observation has convinced of the admirable order that- governs 
the universe, takes for granted that they are useful, though he 
may not understand how, and rather than blaspheme against a 
cause so disastrous in appearance, he is willing to believe that 
these extraordinary movements of nature are necessary crises, 
in harmony with the principles whose workings secure the pre¬ 
servation of the globe, and that without them, perhaps, the 
Antilles would have been uninhabitable, on account of the 
incredible number of insects which cover the earth or flutter in 
the air.” 
Whatever may be the dangers of hurricanes, they cannot be 
compared in this respect to the earthquake. This dreadful 
phenomenon destroyed, in 1564, the town of Conception de la 
Yega, and has been felt more recently at Port-au-Prince, which 
was overthrown in 1770. Since this last epoch, shocks have 
taken place every year, but with much less intenseness. They 
are generally preceded by a deep noise, called in Hayti goufre, 
which is often heard without the shock being felt, and which is 
produced by a cause unknown as yet, but which appears to 
exist in the neighborhood of the lakes of Xaragua and Azuei, 
between Neybe and Port-au-Prince. 
MOUNTAINS. 
Several of these reach to a considerable elevation above the 
level of the sea. The principal range is that of Cibao , which 
forms a considerable group, almost in the centre of the Island, 
and from which diverge several chains in different directions. 
It rises to at least 7,678 feet perpendicular height, and is 
situated in the department of the North-East. 
The Selle, the Mexique , and the Bahoruco or Manitl form 
the same chain which, after stretching from West to East> 
