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Thus, a first-class macadam road has been constructed from Santo Domingo City to San Cristobal, a distance of sixteen miles; the old trail from Santo Domingo to San Pedro de Macoris has become available for automobiles; and the royal road in the Cibao from La Vega through Moca and Santiago to Monte Cristi, a distance of about 100 miles, formerly a horror, has been converted into a fair dirt road.
So rich are the Dominican lands that cane will grow from the same root for ten and even twenty years, while in Porto Rico and the lesser Antilles long cultivation has exhausted the soil and replanting is necessary every three years. Near Macoris the planters have had so much land available that instead of replanting they have often abandoned their old fields and taken up virgin lands instead.
The harbors are estuaries of rivers; those of La Romana, Soco and San Pedro de Macoris are of this description. San Pedro de Macoris is the principal port for the exportation of sugar. Its harbor is commodious, but access thereto is rendered difficult by a bar traversed only by a narrow and tortuous channel.
To-day there are pretty houses, the streets are clean and in good repair, the plaza has a handsome park and the whole city wears a prosperous look. There are busy scenes on the modern docks and in the harbor. Around Macoris, as in other parts of the Republic, there are large numbers of beautiful graceful cocoanut palms and royal palms.
"They are digging your grave," answered Heureaux, and before the general could recover from his consternation a squad of soldiers appeared. He was shot and buried then and there. The governor of Macoris and the minister of war were both powerful men whose influence was feared by Heureaux.
If the railroad is finally built, it will probably be from Seibo to San Pedro de Macoris and not to La Romana.
The busiest time in Macoris is the crop season from November to May. Many laborers are then required, and as native labor is not abundant, large numbers of negroes come from the British West Indies to work on the plantations, returning to their homes when the cane has been cut. Most of the Dominican sugar goes to the United States and a large portion is eventually sold in Canada and England.
The Province of Macoris is small and contains but one other town worthy of mention, namely, San Jose de los Llanos, about 15 miles northeast of Macoris, founded in the plains in the eighteenth century.
In Porto Rico such affairs are decided with the machete and only the immediate combatants are hurt, but revolver bullets are more dangerous to the innocent bystander than to those doing the shooting. In Macoris I was told of a dance where the casualties were fifteen killed more than in the average revolution.
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.
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