L50 CUBA AND PORTO 1UCO 



various classes, the cocos, the aguacate, oranges, lemons, 

 mango, and mamey. 



There is a great deficiency of native animals of every 

 sort, and especially the entire absence (if our authority 

 can be credited) of those noxious reptiles and insects 

 which seem to inhabit some of the West Indies as their 

 peculiar possession. The island is singularly free from 

 native mammals, with the exception of a single species 

 of agouti, although domestic species, when introduced, have 

 flourished. In the mountains are many birds, including 

 doves and seven other small species ; flamingos and other 

 water-birds are numerous along the coast. 



There are several species of fish in the fresh water, 

 locally known by the names of liza, robalo, dajau, and 

 guavina. The most interesting thing of the Porto Rican 

 land fauna is the gigantic tortoise, differing only in size 

 from the land-turtle still found on the island of Trinidad 

 and adjoining parts of South America. It is closely allied 

 to the large tortoise of the Galapagos and Mascarene 

 Islands, and to the fossil land-turtles found in Sombrero 

 and Barbuda. 



The only geological observations upon the island are 

 those which have been made by P. T. Cleve, a Swedish 

 naturalist. According to him, the hills along the northern 

 coast are fragments of a very thick series of limestone 

 strata which has been cut through by rivulets and by 

 denudation. These are very little inclined, and dip from 

 the axis of the island to the sea at a very low angle. The 

 summits of the high mountains are still covered by the 

 Antillean limestone formations. Near San Juan this cov- 

 ering is soft. In most places it is very hard, and yellowish 

 white in color. These limestones contain fossils which 

 show them io be identical in age with the Tertiary rocks 

 of the other Antilles. Below these limestones there is an 

 older formation visible in the mountainous parts of the in- 

 terior. This consists of conglomerates and metamorphic 

 rock, very similar to the older rocks of Jamaica (the Blue 



