VI. 
Bail. 
W S. COURTNEY, Esq., in a recent volume on “ The 
• Gold Fields of St. Domingo,” written with the object 
of inducing a white emigration to the Dominican Republic,— 
a purpose which it is impossible to accomplish peacefully, 
— describes accurately the nature of the soil of the Eastern 
part; and, as what he says of it applies equally to Hayti, I 
herewith transcribe and subjoin it': il The soil of the Island of 
St. Domingo is constituted of the debris of the mountains and 
hills and the decayed vegetation of past ages. When we reflect 
that these prodigious mountains differ remarkably and essentially 
in their geological constituents, and that the contrast is truly 
striking, sometimes between mountains and even hills in jux¬ 
taposition, it will appear how endless would be the task of 
speaking definitely and particularly of all the various kinds of 
soil that are to be found on the Island. The soil of the valleys, 
slopes, and plains, partaking of the characteristics of the hills 
and mountains on, beneath, beside, and betwixt which they are 
found, varies as they vary. In one place we find a rich vege¬ 
table mould ) in another, a mixture of this mould with pebbles 
and sand; in another, a-light, loose, spongy loam; in another, a 
loose marl • in another, a clayey marl; in another, a soil formed 
of dissolved or pulverized coral and shells; and in another, of 
pure clay or sand. It differs, also, in color and depth as much 
as it differs in constitution and quality. Sometimes it is yellow, 
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