The streams must usually be crossed either by fording or by ferry, and not infrequently the horse must swim part of the distance across. Outside the railroad bridges, there are scarcely half a dozen bridges which deserve the name in the Dominican Republic. 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.
When journeying overland it is advisable to take advantage as much as possible of moonlight nights. It is best to rise at two or three o'clock in the morning, ride until about eleven o'clock, then rest for about three hours while the sun is highest, and then continue till evening. Riding at night, however, exposes one to the danger of making too intimate an acquaintance with some mudhole or some low hanging bough or telegraph wire, but these risks can be avoided by vigilance. The hours of dawn are the coolest of the twenty-four, and more distance can be covered with less fatigue than later in the day.
If the traveler takes the precaution to furnish himself with canned food before starting on a journey inland, he will not regret his foresight. Inns do not exist out in the country. In the larger cities, indeed, there are hotels, but all are modest establishments. Perhaps the most pretentious is the French Hotel in Santo Domingo City. In hotels which are located in important seaports or railroad termini and are frequented by travelers, the meals and accommodations are fair. In other localities the food is almost inedible to an unaccustomed palate, and the sleeping accommodations are primitive cots. Even in important towns like Moca and Azua I found the inns kept by poor mulatto women, widows with families, having one room for travelers, divided from the family apartment by a thin partition, through which all the proceedings on the other side could be followed throughout the night.
The difficulty of land transportation explains why, with the exception of three cities in the Cibao, all important towns are located on the seacoast. It also makes plain why water transportation is preferred to travel by land, and the inhabitants of the north and south await the bi-weekly steamer rather than make the trip overland, which in the most favorable cases will take about three days. The roads and trails are used for travel locally or when boat connections are not convenient or feasible, and for mail transportation. The following are the principal highways:
1. Road from Santo Domingo to the Cibao, by way of Bonao. There are three roads from Santo Domingo City to the Cibao, the most westerly one being the Bonao trail, the most easterly one the Sillon de la Viuda and the middle one the Gallinas trail. The Bonao road leaves Santo Domingo by way of Duar Avenue and San Carlos and ascends gently in a northwesterly direction through slightly rolling land to the Santa Rosa plain, which it traverses. As far as Los Alcarrizos it has been improved, but further on it is merely a dirt road without drainage and becomes one long slough in rainy weather. On the Jobo savanna the road divides; the eastern branch runs along a range of hills and the western branch over to the Jaina River, where it passes the site of the old mining town of Buenaventura, of which only a few vestiges of walls remain. Whichever of the two branches the traveler takes, he will be sorry he did not choose the other, for they are equally bad. The branches meet on the plain of Las Nasas, from where the highway continues through wooded lands and natural meadows, crossing the Jaina River three times and the Guananitos River nine times. The soil is a rich, soft loam, pure vegetable detritus, and the frequent rains and the absence of drainage make this part of the road very difficult at all seasons. After crossing a stretch of beautiful savanna, known as Sabana del Puerto, the ascent of a range of the central mountain system begins. The road makes many windings along the mountain side until the heights of Laguneta are attained. 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. On some of the steep descents the horses and mules accustomed to the road put their four feet together and slide, while the unaccustomed traveler feels his hair standing on end. The distance from Santo Domingo City to Bonao is about 65 miles; from Bonao to La Vega some 30 miles.
This seems to have been an ancient Indian trail between Santo Domingo and the Cibao. Bartholomew Columbus, under orders from his brother, founded both Buenaventura and Bonao in 1496 as military posts, as part of the chain of forts stretching across the island. The decay of these towns when the mines were abandoned, the miry soil and the many crossings of streams all caused travel to be diverted to the road of the Sillon de la Viuda. The Bonao road, being the most direct route to La Vega, has been designated by the military government for improvement as a trunk road.
2. Road from Santo Domingo to the Cibao by way of the pass of the Sillon de la Viuda, or Widow's Chair. While the Widow's Chair road is about twenty miles longer than the Bonao road, it is preferable since on the whole it lies over firmer ground. 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. A fine piece of prairie land known as the Luisa savanna is crossed, more natural meadows follow and the ascent of the central mountain range begins. The road becomes so steep that the rider can scarcely keep his seat on his horse. From the summit, the Widow's Pass, which is almost 2000 feet above the level of the sea, a sublime view of mountains, valleys and plains is obtained. The pass itself is a narrow rocky defile where a score of men might hold an army at bay. It is said that there are lower passes in the vicinity by utilizing which the steep grade might be avoided, but the fact could be ascertained only by a more thorough exploration than has yet been made. On the north the road descends through heavy timber, with many miry places. 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. Then follows a road thirty-five miles long to La Vega, which in the rainy season is little more than mud and water, but leads through a beautiful wooded country. It is better to take the road from Cotui to La Gina, or that to Pimentel, on the Samana-Santiago Railroad and complete the journey by rail, for though the character of these trails is similar to the La Vega trail, they are only about fifteen miles long.
3. Road from Santo Domingo to the Cibao by way of the Gallinas Pass. This is also an ancient trail which formerly passed through the town of Yamasá, but was diverted to shorten the distance to the Cibao. Leaving Santo Domingo the same route is followed as in going to the Widow's Pass, as far as Mella, where the road branches off to the left. Small grassy plains and rolling wooded lands are traversed, as is also the wide prairie known as the Maricao savanna. 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. The long descent toward Cotui is broken by numerous water-courses. No less than eleven smaller streams are forded, and there are three crossings of the Chacuey River, before the road leading to Cotui from Cevicos and the Widow's Pass is attained near the former town. By this road it is about 65 miles from Santo Domingo to Cotui.
The three passes described are the only ones suitable, so far as known, for communication between the capital and the Cibao. There are, indeed, lower and more convenient passes farther to the east, but the roads emerge near Samana Bay, too far from the Royal Plain to be available. The middle route of the three, that by way of the Gallinas Pass, is followed by the telegraph line and used by the post. It has been preferred by travelers for it is considered the shortest road to the Cibao and its highest point is reported to be only about 1200 feet above sea-level.
4. Road from Santo Domingo to Sabana la Mar. Since the southeastern part of the Dominican Republic consists of great plains, the roads in this region are all perfectly level and less difficult than those of the mountains, but they are little more than trails and the wide savannas make traveling monotonous. The road which turns northeast from Santo Domingo on the left side of the Ozama passes the sugar estates there situated, continues by a wide path through a lightly wooded country to the town of Guerra and shortly thereafter enters upon the Guabatico prairie, which it crosses in its entire width of over twenty miles. The ascent to the first pass, that of the Castellanos mountain, then begins. The descent is as easy as the ascent, a valley is crossed in which the headwaters of the Macoris River are forded, and then follows a long ascent to the second pass. From the foot of the mountain to El Valle and Sabana la Mar the country is wooded and the road level and wide, but so miry as to be practically impassable during the entire rainy season. The distance from Santo Domingo to Sabana la Mar is something over sixty miles.