The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-09-06
A VISIT TO THE
NEGRO REPUBLIC
WHERE EVERY PROSPECT PLEAS.
Els BUT MAN rs VILE.
The Old Canine Reel One of the Rough
IL est of Forest and Wild Land Trails
Character of the Inland Towns and
Plantations Primitive Dwellings -
The Royal Meadow Of Columbus. ii
New York Post.

rule the island had good ROADS ana SUD-
stanta bridges and b that n negro eea dom an
roads road a witch the spaniards built still
existent, but they were broad paths
cut a hundred feet wide thru the prim
ever having been anything different
eval + forest They show no D. signs sign OF Of
sun might shine in and dry up the for
est mud. There are no traces of ditch
ing, drainage, macadam, or bridges.
What they were in the days Of the cav
alters they are today-.broad openings
thru whose morasses Of mud wind IN
row footpath is dusty way Of safety
among treacherous logoons. In the
rainy season all is sea of mud in which
you may sink from sight, horse. foot
and dragons.
| The most famous Of these roads is
which stretches from Santo Domingo
city north to Catul, La Vega and Moca,
$50 miles. The first mile or two out OF
the city finds you in the bush, on a
| trail that only horse or mule can ne
! gotiate successfully. A carriage would
| be out of the question. Hardly have
| you passed ten miles further before you
deep, several hundred feet wide, flow,
ing swiftly to the sea. The only method
Of passage is by native dugouts, hol-
lowed from single log of ceiba wood,
thirty feet long and two wide. You
load saddles and packs into these and
swim your horses and pack mules, pad
6ea P 5Yded ada IS hansga like oe
Welded by his ancestors on the Congo.
For forty miles or so this road runs
thru a splendid red clay loan, Of I'M
known depth, formed Of decomposed
coral. which is the foundation Of the
whole island. tropical forests of the
spersed with prairie. It is the savan-
ma country, which stretches eastward
along the southern shore of the island,
hundred miles or SO long, thirty to
fifty broad. Grass grows knee-high,
there is always water, and the tempera-
ture ranges between co. and 80 degrees
F. the year round. A few cattle Craze
on these broad, fertile plains, which
might support herds Of thousands.
President Morales is said to claim
these as government lands. I am told,
however, by Americans who have made
careful study Of the subject in the
interests of their own business that
there are no government lands. All
are held by. original grants from the
scended undivided thru many genera
tions, and a complete title to them is
not easy to get. It is sometimes neces-
sary to buy percentage of title in.
lands.
An Inland Town.
The first inland town is Savanna
Grande. It consists of row of huts
about a broad, green central square,
where there is, a little church. The
huts are Of lone story, of palm wood,
of Mta padnd say a and b hsg
pie go barefooted. Most Of them keep
fire on the hearth the year round
If it goes out, they borrow a brand
Of a neighbor. The women smoke pipes
and the children go naked. The whole
outfit bears Q striking resemblance to
towns of similar size in the Philippines,
and the balance Of civilization is hardly
in favor of San Domingo. -.
This primitive quality of the country
and people was emphasized at our stop
Of the next night, thirty miles farther
On into the interior. Here our poems
told us we should find hospitable enter
tainment at the country home of Don
Emiliano Tehera. The don is a man Of
wealth, a power in the Dominican pol
itics-in fact, he has been dubbed ''the
grand old man Of San Domingo.' Hence
we expected something of an estate,
perhaps one Of the ruined castles of
the early Spaniards. 1t was dusk when
we arrived there, and we looked in vain
for turrets, battlements and towers. We
found instead three good-sized, native
houses, two of them of several rooms
each, with matched roof and dirt floor
The freedom Of these we had. Don
A Emiliano greeted us kindly. But there
4 was no formal dinner-indeed, there
4 were no forks on the estate--and we
4 cooked our picnic meal over the usual
1 three-stone fireplace Of the country
That night I occupied room which was
absolutely bare, had dirt floor; slept
4 in my hammock slung cornerwise.
4 Forty miles or so from the coast the
l great inland trail has traversed the
Foothills i Tie broad Canine Rea
I stretches up hill and down dale, but
/ the narrow footpath 1.-The horse mus
i tread winds at its own will, nov
\ straight along it, now across and int
Seemingly see blocks the Whole way
/ stumps, fallen treetrunks three fee
R thru, twining vines and thorns, -blocl
4 the passage. Gullies cut the trail con
tinually, some Of them fifty to seventy
1 feet deep, now with little brawlin&
q stream at the bottom, now rushing
/ river to ford or swim as best you may
But if the Canine Real Of the ole
= Spanish cavaliers is today, as 1t mus
always have been, the worse trail in tn.
world, it is also the most beautiful
Magnificent trees shade the sides-ma
hogany, satinwood, ceiba, banyan, roya
and cOcoanut palms-some with trunks
four or five feet in diameter, hung will
orchids and festooned with f1oWerins
vines. Mocking- birds, thrushes, and
host Of other birds make the woods a
4 vocal as those of New England in June
The air is rich with the spicy scent O
4 blossoms, and the temperature range
between 70 degrees and 80 degrees T
all day, falling perhaps to 60 degree
I at night, and always an exhilaratio
Il in the air such as one expects only i
northern climate. Exertion is
a pleasure in such air, and you may slee
a in the bush at eight with no fear Q
q fever or noxious reptile or insect.
q The Center Of the Island.
81 When you reach Cotui you are we
g toward the center Of the island. 70
q have passed q hundred miles or SO Of q
Il most uninhabited country, and here yo
q find town built on the same plan 8
81 Savanna Grande. It is larger, tho, MOI
n substantial, has many stores, and
IA more important church. Not far beyon
n Cotui you lop the range, and get yol
IA first glimpse into the fertile lands {
n the IS Cabao,'' the most fertile on cart
n AS you ride into La Vega, you are
IA the Vegal Real, the royal meadow,
"A Columbus. High in the island on IL
d northern limit of this grand valley is
n little hill reverently named by hi
IA Sancts Serro, the holy hill. Standir
n on it's crest he looked thirty miles eas
Is. ward over scene that makes one