One of the northern ranges is the short Samana Range, beginning at Cape Samana, extending the length of the Samana Peninsula, over thirty miles, and ending near the Gran Estero. The greatest altitude is attained by Mt. Pilon de Azucar and Mt. Diablo which are 1900 and 1300 feet in height, respectively. This group at first sight appears to be an extension of the second chain, the Monte Cristi Range, but its geological formation proves it rather to belong to the great central range. It was probably at a remote period an island lying off from the mainland.
The other northern range has its beginning near Samana Bay and extends all the way to Monte Cristi. It is known as the Monte Cristi Range though the eastern portion is also called the Sierra de Macoris. It sends several branches to the coast, the most important one being that which terminates at Puerto Plata. The highest points of the range are Mt. Diego de Ocampo, with an altitude of 4000 feet, Nord Peak 3500 feet, and Mt. Murazo 3400 feet. A notable landmark is Mt. Isabel de Torres, 2300 feet in height, which overlooks Puerto Plata. Its head is usually shrouded in a cap of clouds, and small mists frequently hover about its surface. To Columbus, passing out at sea on his first voyage, the cloudcap appeared shining like burnished silver in the morning sun. He took it to be snow until closer investigation disclosed its true nature, whereupon he named the mountain Monte Plata, or Silver Mount, and the port at the base was afterwards called Puerto Plata. The mountain is said to have been given its present name, Isabel de Torres, in honor of the wife of a prominent settler, Diego de Ocampo, domiciled in Santiago in the early days, after whom the great mountain near that city was named. According to a local legend, this couple, although blessed with worldly goods, was also mutually possessed of such a nagging spirit and ungovernable temper that a separation became necessary, the husband remaining in Santiago, the wife removing to Puerto Plata. When leagues intervened between them their conduct was so charming that the inhabitants of the two cities gave their names to the high mountains near the respective towns. "If you doubt the story," the legend concludes, "there are the mountains to prove it."
The principal mountain range, the Cordillera Central, begins at the extreme eastern point of the island, traverses the center of the Republic, crosses into Haitian territory and sinks into the sea at Mole St. Nicolas to reappear in Cuba, on the other side of the Windward Passage. It constitutes a part of the great ridge which forms the backbone of all the islands bounding the Caribbean Sea on the north. In the eastern part of Santo Domingo the range consists merely of a chain of high hills which rarely reach an altitude of more than 900 feet, but in the center and west of the Republic it assumes much greater magnitude, sending out branches which are important mountain chains in themselves, and several of its peaks are over 6000 feet in height. The highest point in the island and in the West Indies is Mt. Tina, with an altitude of 10,300 feet, a magnificent outpost of that branch of the central range which traverses the south-central portion of the Republic. The next highest point, is Yaque Peak, 9700 feet high, nearly at the center of the island. The dense jungle covering the rugged slopes of these giants has so far baffled the few attempts at exploration of their summits. To the west of Yaque Peak is Mt. Cucurucho, 7400 feet high, and to the northwest Mt. Entre los Rios, 8000 feet and Mt. Gallo, 8200 feet in height. It must be remembered that in the absence of any careful measurements, the altitudes given are mere approximations.
The Cordillera Central is peculiar in its numerous branches which are often more intricate in their ramifications and comprise loftier peaks than the parent range. The most important of these branches are those which extend from Mt. Banilejo to the southern coast, and fill the district between San Cristobal and Azua with a jumble of mountains. Besides Mt. Tina, already mentioned, their principal peaks are Mt. Rio Grande, 6900 feet, overlooking the beautiful Constanza Valley, and Mt. Valdesia, 5900 feet high. One of the best defined ranges on the south is the Sierra del Agua, which runs south from the Central Cordillera to the San Juan River. The branches on the north are even more numerous and cover a greater area. Among them special reference may be made to the Sierra Zamba, which runs parallel to the Yaque del Norte River, the Sierra de San José de las Matas, the Santiago Range, the Jarabacoa Range and the Cotui Range.
The fourth principal mountain range of the Republic, the Neiba Range, is sometimes classed as a part of the Cordillera Central. It rises on the western bank of the Neiba River and runs west parallel with the central chain, into Haitian territory. Among its principal peaks is Mt. Panso, 6200 feet high. The fifth principal range, situated in the extreme southwest of the Republic, is known as the Baboruco Range, and sometimes as Maniel de los Negros. It begins at the Caribbean coast south of Barahona Bay and runs west into Haiti, forming an integral portion of the mountain chain that traverses the great peninsula in the south of the Republic of Haiti.
These several ranges and their offshoots divide the country into a number of distinct regions, which, owing to the difficulty of communication, have developed more or less independently of one another. The most important division is that effected by the broad central belt of mountains which, twelve miles wide in its narrowest part, and extending from the shores of the Mona Channel to and beyond the Haitian frontier, constitutes a rugged barrier between the north and the south of the Republic.
The district to the north of the Central Cordillera, comprising the richest portion of the country, still retains its old Indian name "Cibao"—a word which awoke fond hopes in the heart of Columbus who identified it with "Cipango," the Japan he was so eagerly seeking. The Cibao includes the northern slope of the central range with the fertile valleys enclosed by branches of that range, the Samana peninsula, the Monte Cristi Range with its valleys and coastal plains, and particularly the magnificent valley of the Cibao, which lying between the central chain and the Monte Cristi Range, extends all the way from Samana Bay to Manzanillo Bay. The length of this remarkable valley is about 150 miles, its average breadth is 10 miles in the northwestern and 15 miles in the southeastern part, and it comprises the most fertile lands and the most populous interior towns of the Republic. The highest part of the valley is about 600 feet above sea-level and is situated at its middle point, near the city of Santiago, where a line of low hills dividing the valley into two parts forms a watershed for its rivers. 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.
One of the most beautiful views in the Cibao Valley, and in the world, is obtained from the historic eminence of Santo Cerro, an outpost hill of the central range, situated about three miles from the city of La Vega. From the foot of this hill the great plain stretches into the distance, meeting the azure sky on the eastern horizon, and far in the north skirting the brown slopes of the lofty Monte Cristi mountains, the more remote peaks of which are but faintly perceptible in their envelope of blue haze. A rich carpet of dark green overspreads the plain, where lighter spots indicate patches of tilled land and silver threads betray the presence of streams. The cities of Moca and La Vega are easily distinguished and on clear days even San Francisco de Macoris can be discerned. Clouds or rainstorms moving over portions of the vast expanse, add animation to the landscape. Columbus, gazing out upon the enchanting scene, was so impressed by its magnificence that he gave the great vale the name it still bears—La Vega Real, The Royal Plain.
To the south of the central range the number of plains is greater. The largest expanse of level land on the island is the great plain which forms the southeastern part of the Dominican Republic. It includes almost the entire region east of the Jaina River and south of the central range, being about 115 miles long by 30 miles wide. This Eastern Valley or Seibo Plain, as it is sometimes called, is covered with forests and broad savannas, the most notable of which are comprised in the series of prairies known as Los Llanos, the Plains.
Two smaller and irregular plains are the arid Bani coastal plain, lying between the Nizao River and the Ocoa, with a length of 25 miles and a width ranging from 3 to 12 miles, and the Azua Valley, winding from Mt. Numero, near the Ocoa, to the Neiba River, a distance of 33 miles with a breadth of from 3 to 30 miles.