26 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. vii^ 



of the low hills on both sides of the Damuji. Beds of this 

 nature fill the bottom and cover the sides of a small embayment 

 of the land through which Labarinto Brook (the first one north 

 of Santa Lucia) flows to the river. This deposit is not scarped 

 into terraces like the alluvial flats at lower levels in the valley, 

 but is spread with much regularity over the slopes descending to 

 the river. The soils which it yields are called tierra negra 

 (black earth), and are greatly relied upon for the production of' 

 heavy sugar crops ; canes planted on them are less liable to suf- 

 fer from drought than on other soils, and do not require renewal 

 for a great number of years. 



Higher up on the hill sides about the Damuji, a yellow clay 

 may be seen emerging from beneath the tierra negra, and ex- 

 tending upwards — except where denudation has removed it — to 

 the summit ridges on each side of the valley. These clays closely 

 resemble those spoken of in connection with the Post-pliocene de- 

 posits about Cieufugos, and correspond to them also in their re- 

 lation to the overlying beds. They come to the surface at 

 many points in the country around Cienfugos, and are evidently 

 the oldest of the surface deposits in that district. In many re- 

 spects they are analagous to the yellow loam which, according to 

 Prof. E. Hilgard,-'^ " in most cases forms the subsoil of the Gulf 

 States" being spread over a wide area in the basin of the Mis- 

 sissippi. This deposit was greatly eroded and in many places 

 entirely removed when the submerged tract upon which it was 

 thrown down rose again sufficiently high to bring it within the 

 influence of the ocean surf. Large tracts on the ridge westward 

 of the Damuji have in this way been entirely stripped of their 

 surface covering, leaving the subjacent limestone beds exposed 

 to view. These now present a very picturesque appearance,, 

 rising in pinnacles and sharp angular masses above the thin 

 soil : worn as they are by the hot tropical rains which for cen- 

 turies past have coursed down their sides, these marble pyramids 

 have a striking resemblance to the white tents of a military en- 

 campment. 



Elsewhere the sea has left upon this ridge and the shoulders 

 of land projecting from it extensive gravel banks, giving further 

 proof of the sweep of the sea over the low ridge separating the 

 valley of the Damuji from the long dry gently sloping plain. 



* Am. Jour. Sci. Dec, 1871, 



