30 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 



trade, or over five hundred miles, as the Misterosa Bank 

 a wonderful submarine mountain ridge, which, although 

 barely reaching the surface of the water, precipitously 

 rises 18,000 feet above the bottom of the sea. 



The remainder and main body of Cuba, lying north of 

 the Sierra Maestra, is the most northern of the three 

 western branches of the Antilles, and. this is of quite 

 different structure from the others. 



The southern of the Haitian peninsulas stretches out 

 toward Jamaica, but ends in a submarine bank just north- 

 east of that island. Still south of this the Blue Mountains 

 of Jamaica, rising to 7325 feet, trend in a north-of-west 

 direction, and make the most southern of the land ranges of 

 the Great Antillean uplift. Vast areas of the Pedro, Rosa- 

 lind, and Roncador banks, in the western Caribbean, repre- 

 sent still other groups. 



Few people realize the intense rugosity of these moun- 

 tains. When considered relatively to the plain from which 

 they rise, their altitudes are enormous, and they exceed 

 any heights of Europe or North America, and, if their 

 submerged slopes be added, they are among the most lofty 

 of the world. The total altitude above the sea of the Rocky 

 Mountains is greater, but their true altitudes are usually 

 overstated by nearly one half, for they rise from a plain 

 which has already attained an altitude of 5000 to 7000 

 feet, while the Antillean ranges rise straight from the sea. 

 Furthermore, the slopes of the Antillean Mountains con- 

 tinue downward below the watery horizon for enormous 

 depths. The slopes of Porto Rico, for instance, not quite 

 4000 feet of which are exposed above the sea, descend on 

 the northern side of that island to a depth of 24,000 feet, 

 giving a total declivity of more than five miles. In order 

 properly to appreciate the height of the Santo Domingo 

 mountains we must also add to the 11,000 feet projecting 

 above the sea 12,000 feet of precipitous submarine slopes 

 on the north and 18,000 feet on the south. The vertical 

 slope of the Sierra Maestra, 8000 feet of which are exposed 

 above the sea, continues downward for 18,000 feet beneath 



