Santo Domingo, past and present, with a glance at Hayti.

MONTE CRISTO. 353
Although I had intended to investigate the island more
fully than the others, it was not without considerable
regret that I saw my companions take their departure, and
leave me to pursue my journey alone; for the pleasant
intercourse of the Commissioner and the Doctor had made
very agreeable a journey through these tropic wilds, that
would otherwise have been only interesting. But the
Doctor did his best to leave me in a cheerful frame of mind,
as I saw the last of him (shallow water preventing stepping
from shore into boat), perched upon the shoulders of a
stalwart sailor, his pockets filled with fruits of various
kinds, a bundle of native hemp in one hand, while the
other held carefully a superb specimen of the aloe flower,
his umbrella protruding from under his arm.
And so our pleasant party was broken up; the many
days of rough, hard journeying over, and the pleasant
talk we had at our jolly mess all done; and I left to pursue
my further investigations all alone.
Although the present town of Monte Cristo is a place
of comparatively little importance, not being an open port,
and the population only a few hundreds, it has in its time,
as previously mentioned, in the past history of St Domingo
occupied a prominent place, and one, as we have said, likely
again to be occupied, in case of an improvement in its
affairs.
It is stated to have had at one time a population of
26,000, with its houses well built of stone, while upon
the prominent points around were quite considerable forts,
not a vestige of which now remain.
In the time when the Yaqui also emptied its waters into
the bay, there was no difficulty in obtaining fresh water,
whether for the inhabitants or for the shipping that then
frequented the port.
From the fact that this source is now changed, Manzanillo has become more of a place of shelter for vessels,
although there is yet in that bay no town, and it is more