Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/563

 HAYTI 549 I fathoms deep. Lakes are numerous ; those of Enriquillo and Azua are salt ; the former, in the valley of the Neiva, is 20 m. long by 8 m. broad, and the latter half that size. S. of these lies the fresh-water lake of Icotea or Limon, about the size of Azua. Near the mouth of the Yuna are extensive salt marshes known by the name of Gran Estero. Mineral springs exist in various parts ; in the east are the hot springs of Banica (temperature 112 to 125 F.), Biahama, Jayua, and Pargatal, and in the west .e chalybeate spring of Sainte-Kose, the saline f Jean Rabel, and the sulphur of Dalmarie. 'he minerals found in the island are various, eluding gold, silver, platinum, mercury, cop- r, iron, tin, sulphur, manganese, antimony, ck salt, bitumen, jasper, marble, and several ds of precious stones. The gold mines have en abandoned, and gold washing is only car- ed on by the poorer classes in the northern reams. Indeed, all the minerals are neglected r want of machinery and capital. On the ores of the bay of Pearls are the remarkable ves of San Lorenzo, similar in character and rmation to those of Matanzas in Cuba. The imate is hot and moist, but generally salu- -rious ; in the north, and especially in the more levated localities, there is a perpetual spring, "he seasons are divided into wet and dry ; in me localities years have passed over without single heavy shower. The rainy season is om April to November in the W., S., and central portions, and embracing the other half " the year in the N. districts. It is only on e southern coasts that hurricanes are com- mon. At Santo Domingo the extremes of tem- perature are 60 and 95, with an annual mean of 78-5 ; and at Port-au-Prince the extremes are 63 and 104, with a mean of 81. The maximum occurs in August and September, but the summer heats are much tempered by the sea breezes by day, and the terral or land breeze during the night. Hayti has on several occasions suffered from earthquakes ; the most lisastrous on record are those of 1564, 1684, 691, 1751, 1770, and 1842. By that of 1751 ort-au-Prince was destroyed, and the coast for m. submerged ; and by that of 1842 many wns were overturned and thousands of lives Vegetation is of a tropical character, except where elevation has a controlling influence, nd for beauty and luxuriance is unsurpassed r any in the world. The mountains are othed with majestic forests of pine, mahog- any, ebony, fustic, satinwood, and lignum vitse ; also the rdble or oak, the wax palm, divi-divi, and numerous other cabinet woods ; while the graceful palma real or royal palm flourishes everywhere in the lowlands. The richest of flowering plants abound ; and the usual tropi- cal esculents, grains, and fruits, including plan- tains, bananas, yams, batatas, maize, millet, oranges, pineapples, cherimoyas, sapodillas, with melons, grapes, and tamarinds, grow in all parts of the islands. There is a species of -ve, Fourcroya Oubense, extremely abun- dant, from the fibres of which is made almost all the rope used in the country. The western or French section has always been the best cultivated and most valuable part of the island, as it is the most populous. The articles chiefly raised for export are coffee, cotton, cacao, sugar cane, indigo, and tobacco. Some of these are now less and others more extensively produced than in colonial times. In 1789, 76,- 000,000 Ibs. of coffee were exported from the whole island ; in 1854-'5 only 50,749,876 Ibs. were exported; in 1855-'6 the quantity was 35,497,724 Ibs. ; and in 1857-'8, 46,699,270 Ibs. The sugar cane was first planted here by Pedro de Atienza in 1520 ; and no country produces it in greater perfection. The other most impor- tant exports are guano and other manures, log- wood and other dyes, and mahogany and oth- er woods. The native quadrupeds are small, the largest being the agouti ; but the animals introduced from Europe, and now in a wild state, have thriven prodigiously, large numbers of cattle, swine, and dogs roaming freely in the savannas ; the cattle of hundreds of owners graze in herds, and are annually collected and counted, and the young branded. Birds are not numerous ; still large numbers of pigeons are annually taken and used as food, and ducks and other water fowl frequent the marshy places. Insects abound, many of them venom- ous, such as scorpions, tarantulas, and centi- pedes. There are many species of snakes and lizards ; the iguana sometimes attains a length of 5 ft., and is then much feared ; its flesh is by the natives considered a delicacy. The lakes and rivers contain caymans and alliga- tors ; in the surrounding sea whales are fre- quently taken ; manatees or sea cows are nu- merous ; and turtles, lobsters of enormous size, oysters, and crabs abound on the coasts. II. A republic, occupying the "W. portion of the island, and divided from the Dominican Re- public on the east by an irregular line drawn from, the mouth of the river Anses-a-Pitre or Pedernales on the S. coast to that of the river Massacre, which flows into the bay of Man- zanillo, on the N. coast. Its territory extends between lat. 17 55' and 19 55' N., and Ion. 71 52' and 74 38' W., and, including the isl- ands of Tortuga, Gonaive, &c., contains 10,204 sq. m. It is divided into six departments, and subdivided into arrondissements and com- munes ; the population is about 570,000. The capital and chief port, Port-au-Prince, situa- ted at the head of the great bay, has a popu- lation of about 21,000 ; and the other ports open to foreign commerce are Cape Haytien, Port de la Paix, Gonaives, Saint-Marc, Mira- goane, Jeremie, Aux Cayes, Acquin, and Jac- mel. In this portion of the island the moun- tains, although relatively more numerous, are of less elevation than in the E. portion ; and between them are beautiful and fertile plains and valleys, well watered, and yielding spon- taneously valuable timber, precious woods, and dyes. Agriculture is imperfectly carried on,