Thermal springs are also found near Azua. At Resoli, about 21 miles southwest of Azua City, there are hot sulphur springs of very copious flow. Nearby there is one of tepid water, slightly acid and stinging, though pleasant to the taste, and with no trace of sulphur. Within a radius of a hundred yards there are about a dozen springs of different temperatures and medicinal properties, and the place is admirably adapted for the location of a health resort. Mineral springs, especially sulphur springs, abound along the western frontier of the Republic. On the Viajama River, where a sulphur mine is reported, there are cold sulphur springs which are said to have gushed forth for the first time during the earthquake of 1751. To the east of Santiago are the Anibaje springs which contain sulphur and iron. Hot and cold sulphur springs are found in the outskirts of San Jose de las Matas, southwest of Santiago, and hot springs at Banica, and to the east and west of Lake Enriquillo. While there are no volcanoes on the island, severe seismic disturbances have at times occasioned great havoc and loss of life. One of the first and most memorable was that of 1564 which overthrew the cities of La Vega and Santiago de los Caballeros. La Vega was at that time a good sized town with substantial brick houses, and the masses of masonry strewn about in the thicket which now covers the site of the old city give evidence of the force of the earthquake. In 1654 and 1673 dwellings and churches in Santo Domingo City were damaged by lesser shocks, and in 1751 an earthquake wrecked edifices in the capital, and completely destroyed the old city of Azua and the town of Seibo. The most recent and perhaps the most disastrous earthquake was that of 1842 when a violent commotion in the northern part of the island demolished the cities of Santiago de los Caballeros on the Dominican side and Cape Haitien on the Haitian side, bringing death to hundreds of their inhabitants. Since that date there have been no severe shocks, though, as is the case in other West India Islands, slight tremblings of the earth are not infrequent. I have experienced several of such tremblings in Santo Domingo and have never been able to ward off a kind of creepy feeling when the rattling of windows and doors indicated their approach and passage. Near the ruins of ancient La Vega the natives point out a spot in the woods which they call "tembladera" and where they say the earth quakes at the approach of man. Investigation discloses that while the earth really does tremble when anyone walks at this place the cause is not so deep-seated as many imagine, the phenomenon being caused by the fact that the rich loamy soil is sustained by the interlaced roots of trees, the foundation having been washed away by subterranean waters, and the grassy floor is swayed by every motion upon it. CHAPTER X FLORA AND FAUNA