CLIMATE, FLORA, AND FAUNA 55 



One of the peculiarities of the royal palm is the stem of 

 its long leaves. It is semicircular, and embraces the trunk 

 of the tree, holding the leaf in place until it withers and 

 drops to the ground. This stem is called the yagua. It 

 resembles a thin board, often from four to six feet tall, and 

 the Cuban insurgent makes it serve him a variety of pur- 

 poses. For example, in the field it frequently is made to do 

 duty as a plate by simply cutting off a section of it. By 

 soaking in water it is rendered pliable, so that it may be 

 folded almost as readily as a piece of stiff paper. Thus 

 softened, it is folded at the ends, something after the fashion 

 of a baker's paper hat, and fastened with wooden pins. In 

 this shape it is called a catarro, and serves the Cuban 

 farmer as a water-bucket, or a wash-basin, or a receptacle 

 for milk, lard, cheese, eggs, or other products. A group of 

 rebels may often be seen using a yagua thus folded as a 

 kettle in which to cook their breakfast of beef and yams. 

 The water keeps the fibrous wood from burning, and the 

 food thus cooked requires no salt other than that which is 

 extracted from the yagua in the process of cooking. It is 

 also said that in case of absolute necessity salt could be 

 obtained by the simple process of boiling water in a catarro 

 when green, and one enthusiast estimates that a dozen 

 catarros would produce a pound of salt. 



The fauna of Cuba is peculiar. Only two land mammals 

 are known to be indigenous to the island. One of these is 

 a rodent, as large as our domestic rabbit, known as the 

 agouti, which still inhabits the rocks and hills of the east- 

 ern end of the island in great numbers. This animal, which 

 is found only in the West Indies, occurs also in the other 

 Antilles and the Windward Islands, excepting Jamaica. 

 The other land mammal is a peculiar insectivore, soleno- 

 don, belonging to a family of which other representatives 

 arc known only from Madagascar. 



Among the reptiles may be mentioned a species of iguana, 

 in the eastern end of the island. There are also a few 

 snakes, none of which is poisonous or vicious. The na- 

 tives are not a little proud of this fact, and even assert 



