The Massif or Chaîne de la Selle (English: Saddle Mountain Range) is a mountain range in Haiti. The Saddle Mountain Range stretches more than Sierra de Baoruco
The range's Pic la Selle is the highest point of Haiti, at a height of 2,680 meters (8,793 feet) above sea level.
Morne de la Selle, the highest point in Haiti
About[]
The highest mountain range in the Southern Cordillera of the Republic of Haiti, it is located to the south of the Western Department. It reaches 2,715 meters (2,346 ft.) above the sea. The masses which adjoin the coasts present buttresses which gradually lower towards the sea. The Selle, the Maxique, the Bahoruco or Maniel form the same chain which, after being directed from west to east, will end in the south at the tip of Béate.
Comfort is found in locals who are clean and industrious but superstitious. The coffee plantations, well maintained, aligned, and pruned to 6 feet in height, offer all the appearances of good maintenance. Much of la Salle is hardly explored.
When the island of Hispaniola appeared above the surface of the sea, a few heads of the Selle floated from the ocean, but it was the higher masses of Cibao Central that came first. In the mountains of the Selle, the traveler cannot sleep because of the cold. The inhabitants of Furcy and Kenscoff tell stories of negres marrons (Viens-Viens) inhabiting the mountain, and of a lake which is there whose waters constantly change color. La Grande Riviere de la Croix des-Bouquets known as the River Blanche, and the Grande Riviere du Cul de Sac take their sources at the Morne la Selle; the first at Boucan-Brou, cross the Cul-de-Sac Plain, and come to flow into the sea at the Port-au-Prince Bay.
Jacmel's Gosseline River emerges from the southern slope of the Selle. The Leogane River is where Momance takes its source in the Black Mountains of the Selle chain.
One of the boundaries of Jacmel County runs north to the crest of the Selle mountain. One of the limits of Port-au-Prince County leaves the source of Bocacachion heads south via a straight line which passes Jimani to come to recognize the crest of the Selle.
At the height of La Chapelle passes a boundary of Mirebalais County which crosses the Artibonite, goes southeast through the Crete de la Selle and west of Grand-Boucan to Fond-Diable. La Selle therefore extends through the municipalities of Port-au-Prince, Pétion-Ville, Marigot and Jacmel. This mountain can be seen from the Platons fortress in Torbeck.
From the heights of La Selle, you can see the vineyards, the harbors and the ports of Jacmel, Port-au-Prince, and la Gonave.
History[]
• In 1799, Lamour Dérance, savage and indomitable warrior, occupied with his bands the mountains of the Saddle in independence of any authority. He was subject to the influence of Beauvais in Jacmel. He welcomed the French until the deportation of Rigaud in 1802.
• In 1802, after the deportation of Toussaint Louverture, many men of color from Port-au-Prince and Croix-des-Bouquets retired to the hills of La Selle near Lamour Derance to flee the fury of Rochambeau. He received them all. Rochambeau was not unaware of his hostile positions against the French. He ordered Lamartiniere, the hero of Crete-a-Pierrot, to enter the retreats of Lamour Dérance and to arrest him by luring him into a trap. Lamartiniere left Port-au-Prince at the head of three battalions of the 3rd Colonial, and arrived at Trou-Coucou, on the Derance habitation, in the center of the high peaks of the Selle. This was Lamour's headquarters, in a place fortified by nature. Lamartiniere could not have entered it if a few cultivators had defended its avenues. Lamour Dérance fled into the woods, but Toussaint Louverture's troops had never reached him. Lamartiniere returned to town where Rochambeau entrusted him with new troops to alter the pursuit of Lamour Dérance. After unnecessary efforts, he returned again to Port-au-Prince, after having made a most painful military race. It was during this Lamartiniere campaign that Lamour Dérance began hostilities against the French.
Mare Jolie[]
This establishment is one of the few public watering sources, a legacy of the foresight exhibited by French settlers. Situated at elevations ranging from 1,600 to 2,000 meters (5,250-6,500 ft.) above Morne la Selle, it serves as a vital resource during the challenging dry season, sustained by underground springs. In January 1898, the commission responsible for defining the Haitian-Dominican border paused at Mare Jolie, located on Morne la Selle, while traveling from Jacmel to Anse-à-Pitre.
