"> s CUBA AND PORTO ItICO 



fresh watfi- lodges in depressions, or wells up through the 

 porous rocks. Thus the Cayos del Sabinal, Guajaba, 

 Romano, and (Wos, separated by narrow channels, con- 

 stitute almost a continuous outlying island 120 miles in 

 Length. ( Jayo Romano, the largest of these elevated reefs, 

 has an estimated area of 140 square miles, and its flatness 

 is relieved by three hills. 



The chain of keys on the north side from the Sabinal to 

 the Coeos reefs is so regular and pierced by such narrow 

 channels that it might be regarded as a peninsula running 

 parallel with the mainland; but farther west it is con- 

 tinued by a series of smaller reefs which are breached by 

 wider openings and lie close to the shore. Including the 

 western reefs and keys, this outer shore-line has a total 

 length of over 300 miles. West of Havana other fringing 

 reefs extend for about 140 miles from Bahia Honda to 

 Cape San Antonio. 



On the south side of Cuba the reefs and islets are even 

 more numerous than on the north, but they are far less 

 regularly disposed, and are not parallel with the shore. 

 They extend a great distance from the land wherever the 

 relatively smooth water is not exposed to the scouring 

 action of marine currents. These reefs are somewhat rare 

 on the part of the coast adjacent to the Windward and 

 Yucatan passages. Manzanilla Bay, however, is more 

 than half covered with reefs, which are continued west- 

 ward by the so-called Cayos de las Doce Leguas, or Twelve- 

 League Keys. Still westward, the Isle of Pines is connected 

 with a perfect labyrinth of reefs and islets, the best of 

 which are known as the Jardinillos and Jardines, named 

 from the verdure- clad islets strewn like gardens amid the 

 blue waters. In many of these, springs of pure water are 

 said to bubble up from the deep. 



The interior of Cuba has not been sufficiently surveyed 

 to make it possible accurately to map all the details of soil 

 or the relief of the surface, especially of the eastern half 

 of the island. The various commissions named in times 



