On two
occasions on which I disembarked here in stormy weather it seemed an
even wager that the boat would be swamped before reaching the
river mouth.
The wall of coral rock girding the coast continues as far as Point
Palenque, when it is succeeded by sandy beach. This inhospitable shore
has been the witness of stirring episodes, for it was near Fort San
Geronimo where the American troops came ashore in 1916; at the mouth
of the Jaina that Drake disembarked in 1586 to accomplish his bold
reduction of Santo Domingo City; at the cove of Najayo where Penn and
Venables landed in 1655 in their unsuccessful descent upon the colony;
and near Port Palenque where a British force under Carmichael landed
in 1809 to assist the Dominicans in retaking Santo Domingo City from
the French. Off Point Palenque, too, in 1806 a British squadron under
Vice-Admiral Duckworth defeated a French squadron commanded by
Rear-Admiral Lessiegues, forcing two French ships-of-the-line ashore
and capturing several other vessels. The ports are all shallow and
unsheltered, but are occasionally visited by coasting sloops in quest
of timber and other products of the country.
Pages:
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190