24- Mr. R. C. Taylor's Notes relative to the Geology of Cuba, 



diorites, and the euphotides which occupy so large an area 

 in the island of Cuba. 



In the vicinity ofSavafia Veija are limestone hills, composed 

 of very thin layers or laminae, dipping to the south from 50° 

 to 75°. This rock is white, occasionally tinged with green, 

 and contains numerous interposed beds, varying from half an 

 inch to 4 inches thickness, of red and flesh-coloured crystal- 

 line limestone. In other situations we observed that this lime- 

 stone is either cream-coloured, or with various delicate tints 

 of yellow, green, or pink. 



The Gibara river is crossed repeatedly by bands of this 

 limestone, which are traversed by a network of quartz veins. 

 In these positions the rock exhibits evidence of having been 

 shattered and broken, the fragments being reunited in a sili- 

 ceous cement, and so distorted that the original arrangement 

 of the laminae or seams of the limestone is obscure and almost 

 obliterated. In general all these traces of original stratifica- 

 tion are absent, which inclines us to the opinion that we see 

 the mass only in a modified form, and that it has been sub- 

 jected to the same influence which has changed the adjacent 

 rocks, and modified the quartz into a substance resembling 

 porcelain, and converted the serpentine almost into a vitreous 

 slag. 



We examined two small conical hills of unstratified white 

 limestone near the Sao Gibara, which seem to be surrounded 

 by greenstone. We may mention here that we have observed 

 greenstone at the base of most of these limestone mountains; 

 among others in that of La Silla, where the greenstone 

 seemed confounded or intermixed with the limestone. We 

 shall advert to this further on, as a fair illustration of a class 

 of mountains which characterizes so strongly the eastern parts 

 of Cuba. The summits of these and other hills of similar 

 character are broken into large masses, and exhibit extensive 

 fissures, affording hiding-places to the numerous wild dogs 

 which infest the country. 



The structure of this beautiful marble is extremely fine and 

 compact, too much so, I am informed, to admit of its adapta- 

 tion to external building purposes, as I had anticipated ; but 

 for finished and more delicate work in the interior, and for 

 the ornamental departments of architecture and sculpture, it 

 appears well adapted. Its fracture is conchoidal ; its colour 

 commonly white or cream-colour, or slightly tinted, and its 

 texture inclined to waxey. The specific gravity is great. 

 Blocks of almost any magnitude may be obtained without a 

 flaw. When struck with a hammer the loose fragments emit 

 a sonorous ringing sound. Upon the mountains all the ex- 



