THE CUBA REVIEW 



15 



this table-land isinvaribly cool, and the nights are such that a blanket not only i.s a comfort, but 

 an actual necessity. The cold winds coming from the Atlantic through the Windward Passage 

 between Cuba and Haiti are responsible for this phenomenon and are also responsible for the 

 destructive storms which occasionally visit this regicjn. 



The entire tableland consists of a coraline limestone formation covered with the typical 

 red clay resulting from the decomposing rock. The land, while of course very rocky. Is ideally 

 suited for the cultivation of bananas and coffee, and the agriculture of these parts consists 

 almost solely of these two conunodities. A limited number of horses and cattle are also raised 

 throughout this region and the horses rank among the best that can be found in Cuba. At certain 



Yunque Mountain, Barac-oa. 



times of the j'ear the roads and woods are fairly covered with the ripe guava fruit, so much so, in 

 fact, that the odor of the decomposing fruit becomes offensive. Alligator pears also cease to be 

 a luxury in a land where every tenth tree in the woods bears this fruit and where one has to be 

 careful, when the pears are in season, not to slip on the ripe pears which are scattered underfoot. 

 It will be seen, therefore, that the Maisi district has rich resources and is but awaiting the build- 

 ing of roads and the establishing of a small coastal steamer service to repay whoever goes into 

 the exploitation of this land on an extensive scale. 



From !>abana Grande to the east, the tableland of Maisi is known as La Gran Tierra de 

 Maj-a (the great land of IMaya), named after the Maya River which finds its source here. 

 It is here that extensive plantations are found, where coffee and bananas are raised, and it is here 

 that in aboriginal times the Indians must have had their favorite abode. The Maya River is 

 generally marked on maps as the Maisi River, but is locally only known by the former name. 

 It is only visible in the rainy season, and the natives claim that in the dr>- season it runs under- 

 ground through a series of caves and empties itself in the sea at some distance offshore. While 

 there are in the We.st Indies several instances of underground rivers m the colarlne lime for- 

 mation and also quite a few fresh-water springs which bubble to the surface in the sea itself, 

 the writer is of the opinion that in this particular in.stance the Maya or Maisi River disappears 

 because there is no water in it and not because the water wends its way in subterranean chan- 

 nels towards the sea. The bed of the river forms part of the road from Sabana to Maisi in the 

 dr>- season and in the rainy season offers serious obstacles to the progress of the traveler. 



