but the wars with the Haitians, the War of Restoration with the
Spaniards and the many civil wars have retarded its progress. Only in
the last few years has it received a new impetus. The town is built
about a mile from the shore, with which it is connected by a tiny
horse car. About thirty houses are connected with a private system of
waterworks which supplies water from the Yaque river. Situated as it
is in the arid region of Santo Domingo the city bears much resemblance
to some of the western towns of the United States.

Other towns are _Guayubin_, 24 miles, _Sabaneta_, 36 miles, and
_Moncion_, 46 miles southeast of Monte Cristi; and _Dajabon_, 22
miles, _Restauracion_, 40 miles, and _Copey_, 12 miles southwest of
Monte Cristi. They are all small villages. Dajabon, founded towards
the middle of the eighteenth century, is situated on the east bank of
the Massacre river, which constitutes the Haitian boundary, and is one
of the inland ports of entry. Restauracion is peopled largely by
French speaking negroes from Haiti.



PROVINCE OF AZUA

_Azua de Compostela_, about 83 miles west of Santo Domingo City, was
founded by Diego de Velazquez in 1504 at a point four miles southwest
of its present location. It was first called Compostela after a
Galician official who held some property here, but the Indian name of
the region prevailed. Hernando Cortez, later the conqueror of Mexico,
settled here and for some five years was the notary of the town. At
first prosperous, the city soon suffered a serious decline, but was
beginning to revive when on August 18, 1751, it was entirely destroyed