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the mountain. There is a foot path, which makes the climbing very much easier.  We were told that we climbed over 500 feet but it hardly seemed such a climb to me. Philco got pretty tired but he obviously isn't used to such sport. After we reached the highest point over which the path passes we turned off and went a few hundred yards across country to the edge of the slo[[strikethrough]] w [[/strikethrough]] pe from whence we got a view of the [[strikethrough]] f [[/strikethrough]] valley some 2500 feet below.  It is indeed a beautiful view with Port au Prince at our feet (second largest city in the W.I.- so says Mr B) and the bay stretching out to sea, with only the island of La Gonave baring its way. The mountains in which we were walking are called Massif de la Selle.  As I have said, our view of Port au Prince and the small towns up along the bay around Bizoton, (The bay is Port-au-Prince Baie) was excellent, but we did not have as good a view of the Cul de Sac plain.

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It is at the edge of this plain that Mr Barnes has his sisal plantation. Sisal is another type of maguey fiber from which rope is made. The leaves look quite a bit like the Mexican maguey only they are a little finer in texture, not quite so long, and the individual leaves are flatter in shape. The leaves are fed into a machine which has rollers and a few spikes which will tear the leaf but not break the fiber.

The following information is gained from Mr Barnes and in "" quotes from "Sisal" by Hamel Smith Pub. J. Bale, Sons & Danielson Ltd London 1929. Haitian sisal takes 3 years to grow and can be cut for 3 years.  Mexican Henequen takes 5 years to grow and can be cut for 6 years.

After the leaves are cut "the first operation is that of decortication, which is the separation of the fiber (fibre) from the flesh of the leaf.  This is done by a decortica-