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That of September 6, 1883, desolated the southwestern provinces of the Republic, and the rise of the Ozama River swept away the bridge connecting the capital with the opposite shore. The hurricane of 1899 which laid waste the nearby island of Porto Rico was scarcely felt in Santo Domingo.
On the Ozama River opposite the capital is Villa Duarte, formerly called Pajarito. On an adjoining estate is the ruined chapel of Rosario, believed to date from the first city of Santo Domingo and which may have been the church where Bobadilla proclaimed his authority over Columbus. Not far from the town is an interesting cave with three crystal pools called Tres Ojos.
Bartholomew Columbus immediately set out to select a site and on August 4, 1496, laid the first stone of the new city on the left bank of the Ozama, calling it Nueva Isabela, in honor of the queen. The name was afterwards changed to Santo Domingo in honor, so tradition has it, of the saint to whom the day of its foundation was dedicated.
There was a young Spaniard named Miguel Diaz who had got into disgrace in Isabella some time before on account of a duel, and had wandered into the island until he had come out on the south coast at the mouth of the river Ozama, near the site of the present town of Santo Domingo. There he had fallen in love with a female cacique and had made his home with her.
A good bridge has recently been constructed over the Jaina River on the San Cristobal road, and another was completed in May, 1917, across the Ozama River at Santo Domingo City, in place of one destroyed by a freshet some years ago. Bridges, where there are any, are generally rude logs laid across brooks.
A claim of an American citizen against the Dominican Republic for a public bridge over the Ozama River, which has been in diplomatic controversy for several years, has been settled by expert arbitration and an award in favor of the claimant amounting to about $90,000. It, however, remains unpaid, despite urgent demands for its settlement according to the terms of the compact.
It leads due north from Santo Domingo City and after four miles the Isabela River is crossed by ferry near its confluence with the Ozama. A steep ascent follows and the road runs through wooded land until the town of Mella is reached. Small forests and wide savannas follow each other in rapid succession; the Ozama River is forded and a stretch of swampy soil with bad bogs is encountered.
Several streams are forded, among them the upper Ozama, and the country continues of the same general character until the huts on the old cattle ranch of la Guazuma, formerly Las Gallinas, are sighted. Here the road slopes upward as far as the foot of the Demajagua mountain, when a long tedious ascent to the pass begins, followed by a rough ride through the mountains.
Within its enclosure on a bluff at the place where the Ozama empties into the sea, rises the ancient citadel, the "Torre del Homenaje," "Tower of Homage" the enormously thick walls of which were erected not later than 1504.
As he entered the Bay of Cadiz on his return, he met some vessels there, which were bound for Hispaniola, and which contained letters from their Highnesses approving of his suggestion. By these ships, therefore, he sent orders to his brother to make this southern settlement; and the "Adelantado" accordingly proceeded southwards, and fixed upon a port at the entrance or the river Ozama.
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