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Silver has been discovered at Tanci, near Yasica, in the commune of Puerto Plata. The old chronicles refer to silver mines at Jarabacoa and Cotui in La Vega province, also to others near Santiago, near Higuey and on the Jaina River. Platinum occurs at Jarabacoa, traces of quicksilver have been found near Santiago, Banica and San Cristobal, and tin in Seibo and Higuey.
The largest deposit so far known is on the banks of the Maimon River in the municipality of Cotui, being a bed of black magnetic oxide of iron, nine miles long. It is said to be excellent in quality and inexhaustible in quantity.
Other villages are Jarabacoa, 18 miles southwest of La Vega; Constanza, 30 miles southwest of La Vega and rarely visited by strangers because of its isolation among the mountains, near the beautiful valley of Constanza; Cevicos, also hidden in the mountains, 12 miles southeast of Cotui; and Santo Cerro, 3 miles north of La Vega, on a hill which commands a magnificent view of the Royal Plain.
It is better to take the road from Cotui to La Gina, or that to Pimentel, on the Samana-Santiago Railroad and complete the journey by rail, for though the character of these trails is similar to the La Vega trail, they are only about fifteen miles long. Road from Santo Domingo to the Cibao by way of the Gallinas Pass.
Conspiracies ensued, fomented principally by a Cotui planter named Juan Sanchez Ramirez, who had emigrated in 1803, but returned after four years of exile, and the Spanish flag was formally raised in Seibo in October, 1808. Ferrand immediately set out to quell the uprising and on November 7, 1808, met Sanchez Ramirez at Palo Hincado, about two miles west of Seibo.
Copper veins have also been reported in the mountains of the commune of Bani, province of Santo Domingo; in the communes of Cotui and Bonao, province of La Vega; in the canton of Moncion, province of Monte Cristi; in the commune of San Juan de la Maguana, province of Azua, and at a number of other places. Iron is reported in large quantities in various parts of the country.
The long descent toward Cotui is broken by numerous water-courses. No less than eleven smaller streams are forded, and there are three crossings of the Chacuey River, before the road leading to Cotui from Cevicos and the Widow's Pass is attained near the former town. By this road it is about 65 miles from Santo Domingo to Cotui.
By the year 1730 the entire country held but 6000 inhabitants, of whom about 500 lived in the ruined capital and the remaining urban population was disseminated among the vestiges of Cotui, Santiago, Azua, Banica, Monte Plata, Bayaguana, La Vega, Higuey and Seibo.
Government engineers a few years ago surveyed a route from Santo Domingo City to La Gina, on the Samana-Santiago Railroad, passing through Cotui. The route is 80 miles long, and the estimated cost is about $2,325,000. Such a through railroad would open up great tracts now isolated, afford an easy means of communication between the north and south, and be of inestimable advantage to the Republic.
The main body of the Haitians retreated by way of the Cibao, the others through the south, all devastating the country as far as they could. Azua, San Jose de las Matas, Monte Plata, Cotui, San Francisco de Macoris, La Vega, Santiago and Monte Cristi were reduced to ashes.
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