the Indian queen Anacaona.

_Las Matas de Farfan_, 64 miles northwest of Azua, was established in
1780 and suffered greatly during the wars with the Haitians. Like the
other villages of the Maguana valley its chief industry is
stockraising. _Banica_, 75 miles northwest of Azua, on the Haitian
frontier, was one of the towns established by Diego Velazquez in 1504.
Though an important town in the early days it decayed, and in the
beginning of the nineteenth century was abandoned entirely. During
Haitian rule it was reestablished, but upon the declaration of
Dominican independence was again abandoned for fear of Haitian
vengeance, remaining so until the War of Restoration during which it
was settled anew.

Other villages are _San Jose de Ocoa_, also known as _Maniel_, 18
miles northeast of Azua, founded in 1844 in a picturesque region;
_Tubano_, 34 miles northwest of Azua; _El Cercado_, 12 miles southwest
of Las Matas de Farfan; and _Comendador_, near the Haitian frontier,
13 miles west of Las Matas de Farfan, the seat of one of the inland
custom-houses.

Dominican writers include among the towns pertaining to the Province
of Azua those situated in that part of the territory of the former
Spanish colony which is now held by Haiti. The principal towns in this
territory are _Lares de Guajaba_ or _Hincha_, to-day called _Hinche_,
which was founded in 1504 and was the birthplace of General Pedro
Santana; _Las Caobas_, founded about the middle of the eighteenth
century; _San Miguel de la Atalaya_, to-day called _St. Michel_,
founded about the same time; and _San Rafael de la Angostura_, called
_St. Raphael_ by the Haitians.