46 CUBA AND POltTO RICO 



this "Happy Valley," so rich in its vegetation, and so de- 

 lightfully is it watered by the river Yuniuri and tributary 

 streams ; so delicious, even on the hottest summer days, is 

 its atmosphere, tempered by the Atlantic breezes. 



The valleys of Santa Clara around Villa Clara, Cienfue- 

 gos, and Trinidad are even more picturesque, surrounded 

 as they are by higher and more pointed mountains. In 

 some of these from twenty to thirty large sugar-estates 

 can be counted from a single point of view. 



By provinces the relief may be summarized as follows : 

 Santiago de Cuba is predominantly a mountainous region 

 of high relief, especially along the coasts, with many in- 

 terior valleys. Puerto Principe and Villa Clara are broken 

 regions of low mountain relief, diversified by extensive 

 valleys. Matanzas and Havana are vast stretches of level 

 cultivated plain, with only a few hills of relief. Pinar del 

 Rio is centrally mountainous, with fertile coastward slopes. 



The rivers of Cuba are frequent, varying in character 

 in different parts of the island. Considering the limited 

 catchment areas, these streams are remarkably copious in 

 volume. In the plains of the central and western prov- 

 inces the streams flow from the central axis toward the 

 corresponding coast, and have opalescent waters, like those 

 of the limestone springs of Texas and Florida. In this 

 part of the island these streams run through widely slop- 

 ing valleys, with only slightly indented streamways, and 

 are remarkably free from lateral ramifications. Canons 

 are not developed until they reach the abrupt plateau edge 

 of the north coast. Many of the southward-flowing streams 

 of this portion of the island do not reach the sea directly, 

 but disperse into vast cienagas, or swamps. Several of 

 the stream valleys, like that of the Yumuri of Matanzas, 

 are accompanied by some of the most restful and beautiful 

 landscapes in the world. The Rio Armendaris, which 

 nearly encircles Havana on the southward and empties 

 into the sea at Chorerra, affords that city an abundant 

 supply of water. In this and other portions of the island 



