374 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 



well-built roads the ascent is scarcely noticeable. The 

 aspect of the country is that of a beautiful rural landscape, 

 with innumerable sugar-fields, interspersed with groups of 

 neat houses and plantations surrounded by gardens and 

 trees, while ancient Dutch windmills may be seen in every 

 direction cleaving the air with their gigantic arms. 



In geological composition the island is unique. It con- 

 sists of a nucleus of folded and crumpled clays and gravel 

 of Eocene age, like the older sedimentaries of the Antilles, 

 derived from some unknown land of the past, accompanied 

 by thick layers of white marl and radiolarian earth of 

 deep oceanic origin. Over the whole, like the rind of a 

 melon, there is a thick veneering of calcareous coral rock, 

 made up of gigantic coral heads consisting of reefs like 

 those now growing around the island, which have been 

 gradually elevated to their present height above the 

 waters. This old reef rock is everywhere except in the 

 limited. Scotland district on the east side, where it has 

 been worn away. It is never over one hundred feet thick. 

 The highways are cut through these coral reefs ; the stone 

 houses are constructed of them ; the planter plows into 

 their surface to grow his cane. The beautiful natural ter- 

 races everywhere so conspicuous are the edges of these 

 elevated reefs. 



The climate of the island is delicious. The trade-winds 

 blowing across the vast expanse of the ocean bring an air 

 of crystalline purity, which has been fittingly compared to 

 champagne. The rainfall is ample, but not excessive. 



The principal city and only port is Bridgetown, on the 

 leeward or western side; a pretty place, with churches, 

 public buildings, gigantic warehouses, shops, some hand- 

 some residences, clubs, and many neat little houses of the 

 lower classes, besides pleasure-grounds, a handsome mili- 

 tary parade, seaside drives, and exquisite beaches. There 

 is also a good library, an interior view of which is shown 

 in an illustration. 



There is no harbor, although shallow-draft schooners 



