No. 1.] MATTHEW — IMPRESSIONS OF CUBA. 33 



tan, without actually closing tlie strait which unites the Carib- 

 bean Sea with the Gulf of Mexico ; but the near coincidence of 

 land expansion here with the Glacial period at the north, is 

 suggestive of a more complete separation. Such a parting of 

 these two seas and the elevation of the mountain chain of which 

 the Windward Isles are the emerged crests, would also account 

 for the meetins; of the two land- shell faunas of the West Indies 

 in the islands furthest to windward, a circumstance difficult of 

 explanation except upon the hypothesis of a continuous terres- 

 trial road from the South American Continent as well as from 

 Mexico. Mr. Bland shews that while the Cuban genera dimi- 

 nish in the number of species as we proceed eastward through 

 the chain of the Greater Antilles, the South American genera 

 are reduced in number as we go northward along the chain of 

 the Windward Isles. Both lines of migration meet in the An- 

 guilla group, the most north-easterly part of the old Caribbean 

 Continent now remaining above the waves. 



But while it would thus appear that the West Indian land area 

 was formerly of much greater extent than now, there are, on the 

 other hand, indications which point to a subsequent reduction in 

 size of some of the Islands, much below their present extent. 

 Of the larger animals which lived on the Anguilla group at a 

 period comparatively recent, none are now to be found ; nor were 

 any existing, either here or on the larger islands, when Columbus 

 discovered the Indies. There are no indis-enous animals of large 

 size in Hayti ; and the largest in Cuba is a small rat-like crea- 

 ture, dwelling in trees, called jutia. From this it may be in- 

 ferred that at some late period the Antillean region had been 

 rendered untenable for large animals. Perhaps nothing would 

 conduce more to this result than the engulfment of the Caribbean 

 Continent, leaving only small isolated patches of land above the 

 ocean. In most cases such islets would be sharp mountain peaks, 

 places where the larger mammals could with difficulty maintain, 

 their existence and propagate their kind. From what has been 

 previously said it will be seen that a submergence of this nature 

 has occurred in Cuba, the largest of these islands, in times which, 

 geologically, are quite recent ; and it is probable that most of 

 the other islands shared in the submersion which took place in 

 the Greater Antilles. In time other movements in the earth's 

 crust led to a re-elevation of this region ; the plants and animals 

 inhabiting it — for a time confined to small areas — again spread 

 Vol. VII. c No. 1. 



