44 CUBA and POBTO RICK) 



around the eastern end of the island, where they have 

 their finesl developmenl on the Bouth coast, between Cape 

 Maysi and Ghiantanamo, and form a kind of dado to the 

 Sierra Maestra range along the whole <>t' t lie Santiago 

 coast. 1 



Remnants of these terraces, such as flat-topped summits 

 of circumdenudation, occnr at rare intervals as far west as 

 Matanzas, but with decreasing altitude. The most con- 

 spicuous of these are the Sierra Matahambre and the Pan 

 de Matanzas (1200 feet). To the westward, in the provinces 

 of Matanzas and Havana, the arch of the plateau, which 

 follows the northern side, descends nearer and nearer 

 sea-level, and develops a longer but gentle slope toward 

 the south coast, hence presenting a cliff topography to the 

 north sea, and gradually sloping southward, as the great 

 central plain of Cuba, into the Caribbean. The southern 

 slope produces the extensive cienaga, or swamp, known as 

 the Zapata, on the coast opposite Matanzas, and continues 

 out into the sea toward the Isle of Pines, forming the shal- 

 low foundation of the Jardinillo keys. 



Through the provinces of Puerto Principe and Santa 

 Clara, except where broken by the central mountains of 

 Trinidad, this limestone stretch forms two wide coastal 

 belts, each about a third the width of the island, separated 

 by a central axial strip. West of Santa Clara these two 

 belts unite into the broad plains of Matanzas and Havana, 

 where they constitute the central sugar region of Cuba, 

 the Vuelta Arriba, and again diverge west of the latter 

 city along either side of the central mountains of Pinar del 

 Rio, where they constitute the Vuelta Abajo. These lime- 

 stone districts weather into fertile calcareous soils, red and 

 black in color, and of a quality and depth unequaled in the 

 world, and their extent in the level region is an almost 

 continuous field of sugar-cane. 



At two places throughout the length of the island there 

 are depressions crossing it where the divide is reduced to 



1 The battle of Santiago was fought in the terraced foot-hills. 



