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



From the midst of the barren savanas and the lower wooded 

 plains arise those lofty detached mountains of compact marble, 

 whose singular forms, and whose white, precipitous, waterworn 

 sides, contrast so remarkably with the rounded, sunburnt hills 

 of the savanas, and give such a peculiarity to the contour 

 of this coast, and furnish to the mariner such conspicuous 

 landmarks. At a little distance, and even at several miles 

 from the base of these mountains, their precipitous faces ap- 

 pear vertically and distinctly striated, like clusters of enormous 

 columns, hundreds of feet in height. We at first attributed 

 this appearance to the possibility of a section of vertical strata 

 being thus presented. But on closer examination we found 

 no such traces of stratification : all sides appeared to possess 

 the same singular, strongly marked vertical lines; and we saw 

 that this remarkable columnar appearance was derived from 

 the erosion of the perpendicular lace of the hard rock, wher- 

 ever exposed to the atmosphere, into deep vertical grooves or 

 flutings, on a large scale. 



On the mountain of La Silla this phenomenon is beautifully 

 exhibited ; and when from its summit we looked down upon 

 the numerous spurs of this mountain, and upon its surround- 

 ing masses, we had the singular prospect of apparently an 

 immense assemblage of groups of enormous crystals of white 

 rock, distributed over a space more than a mile broad and two 

 or three miles long, shooting perpendicularly upwards from 

 the woods below, and contrasting strongly with the dark green 

 foliage of a tropical forest. 



From the bases of the Toro loco, the Llavason, and the 

 Siera alte mountains, particularly the former, an equally grand 

 and singular view is presented, resembling snow-white basal- 

 tic pillars, clear of all vegetation on their sides, except here 

 and there an aloe rooted in some crevice. At this distance 

 the illusion was equally beautiful; when looking to the ir- 

 regular outline of their crests, it seemed as if the entire moun- 

 tains, a thousand feet in height, formed one enormous group 

 of vast crystals. 



Intermediate Valleys and Plains of rich Alluvial Soil. — In 

 close contiguity to, and intermixed with many of the savanas, 

 are extensive tracts of low and comparatively level alluvial 

 land, the richest, the most luxuriant, and the most prolific, per- 

 haps, in the world. A very small portion of this land is other- 

 wise than in its primitive state of nature, and is covered with 

 timber of the most valuable properties. When cleared, its fer- 

 tility is apparently inexhaustible, requiring no manure, and it 

 is capable of yielding two or three crops in one year. 



This singular intermixture, this close approximation of ab- 



