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The high hill of Piedra Blanca must be crossed and a number of small streams forded before Bonao is reached. From Bonao to La Vega the road is of the same general character. There are many miry places, many ascents and descents and many difficult river passes, the Yuna River, near Bonao, being crossed by ferry.

The engineering problems attending its construction and preservation have been those connected with the crossing of the Gran Estero swamp, and the bridging of numerous small tributaries of the Yuna River, which from modest brooklets in the dry season swell to turbulent torrents in rainy weather.

In former days, the Yuna was one of the chief outlets of the Cibao; freight and passengers were transported over its course to Samana Bay and on the waters of the Bay to the town of Samana where transshipment to larger vessels took place. With the establishment of the railroad from La Vega to Sanchez, the river has lost much of its old-time importance.

Uncle Guy stepped to one side and humbly saluted Judge Morse as he passed, then bore down upon the women who were vigorously discussing the all-absorbing topic. The old man walked out to the edge of the sidewalk, squinted his eyes and came slowly up to where the women stood, comically pointing his index finger at them: "Look yer," said he, "yuna ta'k too much!" raising his voice.

Some twenty miles from Samana the last offshoots from the mountains encompass the town of Sanchez. Beyond in a large semi-circle, the end of the Bay is skirted by the great swamp which comprises the Gran Estero and the delta of the Yuna River.

Another long finger shake. "Yuna Nigger uman tell um, yuna runnin' yuna tongue in de kitchen, yuna runnin' yer tongue in de street. Now, instid ov de bocra bein' in de street in dey nite gown, yuna gwine ter be thar wid nuttin' on. Don't you no dat we ain't bin able ter by er gun er ounce powder in munts, an' de bocra got cannon an ebry ting. See how he'pliss yer is?

Savannas separated by small forests are then crossed and the little town of Cevicos is reached, the halfway place between Santo Domingo and La Vega. Eighteen miles further on, separated from Cevicos by a hard road crossed by numerous deep gullies, sleeps the ancient town of Cotui. The Yuna River near Cotui must be crossed in canoes.

The urgency for the improvement of the eastern portion has been less since the establishment of the railroad from Sanchez to La Vega, and the trail from near the mouth of the Yuna River to San Francisco de Macoris, with the branches from there to Moca and La Vega, is now important only locally.

The northwestern of these two sections is known as the Santiago or Yaque valley and forms the greater portion of the basin of the Yaque del Norte, while the southeastern half, through which the Yuna River flows, is the superb Royal Valley or Royal Plain.

It is apparent that the Yuna River centuries ago emptied into the ocean and that what is to-day the Samana peninsula was once an island separated by a broad channel from the mainland, to which it became united by the gradual rise of the land and by the alluvium deposited by the river.