Fifteen miles to the northeast of Manzanillo Bay is the ancient port of Monte Cristi, discovered by Columbus, in his vessel the Nina, on his first voyage. The great explorer landed here to examine the plain near the shore, and departed at dawn on January 6, 1493. The port of Monte Cristi is a large open bay with a fine roadstead, but the shallow water near the shore obliges vessels to anchor over a mile from land. On the eastern side the harbor is sheltered by a high promontory now known as El Morro, to which Columbus gave the name of Monte Cristi, after a remarkable profile, recalling the pictures of Christ, which is visible in the outlines of the mount to vessels entering the harbor. The isolated, treeless mountain under the usually cloudless sky of beautiful blue strongly recalls the buttes of our Western plains. The range of mountains known as the Monte Cristi Range, forms a background for the entire northern coast of the Republic. From Monte Cristi for fifty miles east, to the bay of Isabela, the shore is bleak and barren, formed of rocks and cliffs with short intervals of sandy beach. Isabela Bay is where the first Spanish settlement in America was laid out by Columbus in 1493. Little remains to mark the site, but the white palm-fringed strand gleams in the sunlight and is caressed by the blue waters just as in Columbus' day. The harbor at the mouth of a stream flowing down from the mountains is small and shallow, but it is occasionally visited by coastwise vessels in search of cargoes of mahogany and other woods from the nearby hills. Thirty miles east of Isabela lies Puerto Plata. The intervening coast possesses a few small ports of little importance, but sometimes visited by coasting schooners. The most important one is Blanco, which during the War of the Restoration with the Spaniards was the insurgents' port of entry and the base of considerable illicit trade with Turks Island. The harbor of Puerto Plata, the most important city on the north coast, is formed by a small bay, enclosed on the sea side by a reef of coral rock. There is plenty of depth within, but little room, and only three or four large steamers can with safety anchor here at the same time. The harbor is well protected except on the north. During gales from that direction it becomes exceedingly uncomfortable, and the narrow entrance channel quite dangerous. Portions of wrecks rising above the foaming water of the reef--the broken bow of one vessel and ship's engine of another--bear witness to the perils lurking there at such times. Near the shore the harbor is shallow, and though there is little tide, the water recedes some distance. To avoid the difficulty there is a long pier for the use of small boats and it is no longer necessary, as of yore, for passengers to be carried ashore from boats in the arms of the boatmen. A fine public dock for large vessels is also nearing completion.