CHAPTER VI 



CLIMATE, FLORA, AND FAUNA 



Temperature and precipitation. Native trees and flowers. The royal 

 palm. Scarcity of mammals. Birds, reptiles, and insect life. 



EXTENSIVE cliraatologic records are not available, 

 except for Havana, and these are not applicable to 

 the whole island, where it is but natural to suppose that 

 altitude and position relative to the high mountains pro- 

 duce great variations in precipitation and humidity, such 

 as are observable in adjacent islands. The Sierra Maestra 

 probably presents conditions of temperature very nearly 

 the same as the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, where the 

 thermometer at times falls almost to the freezing-point. 



Everywhere the rains are most abundant in summer, 

 from May to October the rainy season. As a rule, the 

 rains, brought by the trade-winds, are heavier and more 

 frequent on the higher slopes of the eastern end, although 

 these are more arid near sea-level. At Havana the annual 

 rainfall is 51.73 inches, or eight inches less than New 

 Orleans. Of the total, 32.37 inches fall in the wet sea- 

 son. In New Orleans 27 inches fall in the same months. 

 This rainfall is not excessive, being no greater than that 

 of our Eastern States, although somewhat differently dis- 

 tributed. The air at this place is usually charged with 

 eighty- five per cent, of moisture, which under the tropical 

 sun largely induces the rich mantle of vegetation. The 

 average number of rainy days in the year is one hundred 



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