CHAPTER IV 



THE GKEAT ANTILLES 



Their individuality. Distinctness of physical characters from those of the 

 United States. Continental diversity of their configuration as com- 

 pared with the monotypic character of the other islands. The Antil- 

 lean mountain system. Variety of resources. Total population. 

 Diversity of social conditions presented in the four chief islands. 



IX their climate and vegetation, as in their topographic 

 features and geologic history, the Great Antilles have 

 no affinities with conditions with which we are familiar in 

 the United States. Their whole aspect is tropical, yet they 

 possess so many unique individual features, differing from 

 those of other tropical lands, that they belong in a class 

 entirely by themselves. The causes of this individuality 

 are involved in a peculiar and complicated geologic his- 

 tory, which can be dwelt upon here only to the extent of 

 stating that it has produced certain peculiarities of con- 

 figuration and given origin to formations which weather 

 into soils of unusual productiveness. 



Collectively the Great Antilles consist of a disconnected 

 chain of mountains (the Antillean system) protruding 

 above the sea and having an east-west trend directly 

 transverse to that of the axial continental Cordilleras. 

 The highest peaks of this system in Haiti, Cuba, and 

 Jamaica are 11,000, 8000, and 7000 feet respectively. 

 This mountain system, as a whole, is one of the most 

 marvelous works of earthly architecture. Its peculiar 

 origin and history are more fully explained in a later 



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