continuous. A dozen or more groups from Nipe in the E. to the
coast N. of Camagüey in the W. are known only by individual
names. The range near Baracoa is extremely wild and broken.
The region between the lines of the two coastal systems is a
much dissected plateau, imperfectly explored. The Cauto river,
the only one flowing E. or W. and the largest of Cuba, flows
through it westward to the southern coast near Manzanillo.
The scenery in the oriental portion of the island is very beautiful,
with wild mountains and tropical forests. In the central
part there are extensive prairies. In the west there are
swelling hills and gentle valleys, with the royal palm the
dominating tree. The valley of the Yumurí, near Matanzas,
a small circular basin crossed by a river that issues through a
glen to the sea, is perhaps the most beautiful in Cuba.
A very peculiar feature of Cuba is the abundance of caverns in the limestone deposits that underlie much of the island’s surface. The caves of Cotilla near Havana, of Bellamar near Matanzas, of Monte Libano near Guantánamo, and those of San Juan de los Remedios, are the best known, but there are scores of others. Many streams are “disappearing,” part of their course being through underground tunnels. Thus the Rio San Antonio suddenly disappears near San Antonio de los Baños; the cascades of the Jatibónico del Norte disappear and reappear in a surprising manner; the Moa cascade (near Guantánamo) drops 300 ft. into a cavern and its waters later reissue from the earth; the Jojo river disappears in a great “sink” and later issues with violent current at the edge of the sea. The springs of fresh water that bubble up among the keys of the S. coast are also supposedly the outlets of underground streams.
The number of rivers is very great, but almost without exception their courses are normal to the coast, and they are so short as to be of but slight importance. The Cauto river in Oriente province is exceptional; it is 250 m. long, and navigable by small vessels for about 75 m. Inside the bar at its mouth (formed by a storm in 1616) ships of 200 tons can still ascend to Cauto. In Camagüey province the Jatibónico del Sur; in Oriente the Salado, a branch of the Cauto; in Santa Clara the Sagua la Grande (which is navigable for some 20 m. and has an important traffic), and the Damuji; in Matanzas, the Canimar; and in Pinar del Rio the Cuyaguateje, are important streams. The water-parting in the four central provinces is very indefinite. There are few river valleys that are noteworthy—those of the Yumurí, the Trinidad and the Güines. At Guantánamo and Trinidad are other valleys, and between Mariel and Havana is the fine valley of Ariguanabo. Of lakes, there are a few on the coast, and a very few in the mountains. The finest is Lake Ariguanabo, near Havana, 6 sq. m. in area. Of the almost innumerable river cascades, those of the Sierra Maestra Mountains, and in particular the Moa cascade, have already been mentioned. The Guamá cascade in Oriente province and the Hanabanilla Fall near Cienfuegos (each more than 300 ft. high), the Rosario Fall in Pinar del Rio, and the Almendares cascade near Havana, may also be mentioned.
Geology.—The foundation of the island is formed of metamorphic and igneous rocks, which appear in the Sierra Maestra and are exposed in other parts of the island wherever the comparatively thin covering of later beds has been worn away. A more or less continuous band of serpentine belonging to this series forms the principal watershed, although it nowhere rises to any great height. It is in this band that the greater part of the mineral wealth of Cuba is situated. These ancient rocks have hitherto yielded no fossils and their age is therefore uncertain, but they are probably pre-Cretaceous at least. Fossiliferous Cretaceous limestones containing Rudistes have been found in several parts of the island (Santiago de los Baños, Santa Clara province, &c.). At the base there is often an arkose, composed largely of fragments of serpentine and granite derived from the ancient floor. At Esperanza and other places in the Santa Clara province, bituminous plant-bearing beds occur beneath the Tertiary limestones, and at Baracoa a Radiolarian earth occupies a similar position. The latter, like the similar deposits in other West Indian islands, is probably of Oligocene age. It is the Tertiary limestones which form the predominant feature in the geology of Cuba. Although they do not exceed 1000 ft. in thickness, they probably at one time covered the whole island except the summits of the Sierra Maestra, where they have been observed, resting upon the older rocks, up to a height of 2300 ft. They contain corals, but are not coral reefs. The shells which have been found in them indicate that they belong for the most part to the Oligocene period. They are frequently very much disturbed and often strongly folded. Around the coast there is a raised shelf of limestone which was undoubtedly a coral reef. But it is of recent date and does not attain an elevation of more than 40 or 50 ft.
Minerals are fairly abundant in number, but few are present in sufficient quantity to be industrially important. Traditions of gold and silver, dating from the time of the Spanish conquest, still endure, but these metals are in fact extremely rare. Oriente province is distinctively the mineral province of the island. Large copper deposits of peculiar richness occur here in the Sierra de Cobre, near the city of Santiago; and both iron and manganese are abundant. Besides the deposits in Oriente province, iron is known to exist in considerable amount in Camagüey and Santa Clara, and copper in Camagüey and Pinar del Rio provinces. The iron ores mined at Daiquiri near Santiago are mainly rich hematites running above 60% of iron, with very little sulphur or phosphorus admixture. The copper deposits are mainly in well-marked fracture planes in serpentine; the ore is pyrrhotite, with or without chalcopyrite. Manganese occurs especially along the coast between Santiago and Manzanillo; the best ores run above 50%. Chromium and a number of other rare minerals are known to exist, but probably not in commercially available quantities. Bituminous products of every grade, from clear translucent oils resembling petroleum and refined naphtha, to lignite-like substances, occur in all parts of the island. Much of the bituminous deposits is on the dividing line between asphalt and coal. There is an endless amount of stone, very little of which is hard enough to be good for building material, the greatest part being a soft coralline limestone. The best buildings in Havana are constructed of a very rich white limestone, soft and readily worked when fresh, but hardening and slightly darkening with age. There are extensive and valuable deposits of beautiful marbles in the Isle of Pines, and lesser ones near Santiago. The Organ Mountains contain a hard blue limestone; and sandstones occur on the N. coast of Pinar del Rio province. Clays of all qualities and colours abound. Mineral waters, though not yet important in trade, are extremely abundant, and a score of places in Cuba and the Isle of Pines are already known as health resorts. Those near San Diego, Guanabacoa and Santa Maria del Rosario (near Havana) and Madruga (near Güines) are the best known.
The soil of the island is almost wholly of modern formation, mainly alluvial, with superficial limestones as another prominent feature. In the original formation of the island volcanic disturbances and coral growth played some part; but there are only very slight superficial evidences in the island of former volcanic activity. Noteworthy earthquakes are rare. They have been most common in Oriente province. Those of 1776, 1842 and 1852 were particularly destructive, and of earlier ones those of 1551 and 1624 at Bayamo and of 1578 and 1678 at Santiago. Every year there are seismic disturbances, and though Santiago is the point of most frequent visitation, they occur in all parts of the island, in 1880 affecting the entire western end. Notable seismic disturbances in Cuba have coincided with similar activity in Central America so often as to make some connexion apparent.
Flora.—The tropical heat and humidity of Cuba make possible a flora of splendid richness. All the characteristic species of the West Indies, the Central American and Mexican and southern Florida seaboard, and nearly all the large trees of the Mexican tropic belt, are embraced in it. As many as 3350 native flowering species were catalogued in 1876. The total number of species of the island flora was estimated in 1892 by a writer in the Revista Cubana (vol. xv. pp. 5-16) to be between 5000 and 6000, but hardly one-third of this number had then been gathered into a herbarium, and all parts of the island had not then been explored. It was estimated officially in 1904 that the wooded lands of the island comprised 3,628,434 acres, of which one-third were in Oriente province, another third in Camagüey, and hardly any in Havana province. Much of this area is of primeval forest; somewhat more than a third of the total, belonging to the government, was opened to sale (and speculative exspoliation) in 1904. The woods are so dense over large districts as to be impenetrable, except by cutting a path foot by foot through the close network of vines and undergrowth. The jagüey (Ficus sp.), which stifles in its giant coils the greatest trees of the forest, and the copei (Clusia rosea) are remarkable parasitic lianas. Of the palm there are more than thirty species. The royal palm is the most characteristic tree of Cuba. It attains a height of from 50 to 75 ft., and sometimes of more than 100 ft. Alone, or in groups, or in long aisles, towering above the plantations or its fellow trees of the forest, its beautiful crest dominates every landscape. Every portion, from its roots to its leaves, serves some useful purpose. From it the native draws lumber for his hut, utensils for his kitchen, thatch for his roof, medicines, preserved delicacies, and a long list of other articles. The corojo palm (Cocos crispa) rivals the royal palm in beauty and utility; oil, sugar, drink and wood are derived from it. The coco palm (Cocos nucifera) is also put to varied uses. The mango is planted with the royal palm along the avenues of the plantations. The beautiful ceiba (Bombax ceiba L., Ceiba pentandra) or silk cotton tree is the giant of the Cuban forests; it often grows to a height of 100 to 150 ft. with enormous girth. The royal piñon (Erythrina
