Soil. 
55 
mercury, gold, cobalt, manganese, salt, and other minerals in 
various combinations and conditions at different'points. The 
gold is of course found pure and diffused in the soil almost all 
over the Island, in some places being only very slightly trace¬ 
able, and in others palpably so. In regard to the productive¬ 
ness of the soil, suffice it to say that, notwithstanding its 
diversity and variety, it is prolific beyond anything found in 
the Antilles, and not excelled by that of the Italian peninsula 
or Sicily, to which it bears a strong resemblance. The sugar¬ 
cane grows the year fbund, and so fast and thick, that by the 
time the laborer has cut over and exhausted a ten-acre field, it 
is ready again to cut where he began. The corn, which is cul¬ 
tivated now by simply making a hole in the ground and drop¬ 
ping in the seed, with no further care or labor, grows to the 
height of from eight to fifteen feet, bearing three to five ears to 
the stalk. The tobacco, which is cultivated with as little scien¬ 
tific skill and care, spreads out the broadest and sappiest leaves 
found anywhere in the Antilles. Other crops indigenous to the 
climate grow with equal rapidity and strength. It is said that 
in some 'districts the melon, the pumpkin, and the squash ripen 
in six weeks from the seed. [At Port-au-Prince radishes ripen 
in three weeks from the time of planting the seed. J. R.] . .. 
Such a thing as a fertilizer , an article of such extended traffic 
and so necessary to the agriculturist here„ is not known nor 
thought of there, nor will it, I apprehend, ever be required. 
The fertility and strength of the soil, containing all the ele¬ 
mentary constituents required to produce and mature the various 
vegetable growths, could not be exhausted even without any 
return to it for generations. Besides, the mountains themselves 
are the great fertilizers of St. Domingo, and will remain so 
until they are devoured by the tooth of time and sink away 
in distant ages. The debris of these mountains, together with 
the decaying vegetation on their sides and tops, brought down 
by frequent rains, supply the soil in the valleys, plains, and 
savannahs, with abundant and incessant recruits. Its fecundity 
is a marvel to the husbandman of these latitudes. 
