700 



NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



River from Buff Bay, and by making 

 short excursions from the road into the 

 adjacent valleys. Less accessible but 

 more interesting examples can be seen 

 in Cunhacunha Pass, between the Blue 

 Mountain Peak and the John Crow Mts., 

 reached by road from Bath. More 

 accessible lowland forest of the type 

 covering the central limestone areas 

 may be easily visited on Mt. Diablo, 

 reached by train to Ewarton, driving 

 road to a point between there and 

 Moneague, and by saddle or on foot to 

 Hollymount, a plantation near the sum- 

 mit. The Cockpit Country is best 

 seen by taking a train to Balaclava, 

 and driving thence to Troy. 



The Montane rain-forest may be 

 reached in the saddle from Gordon 

 Town, using Cinchona as a base. Mor- 

 ces Gap and New Haven Gap, on the 

 main ridge, can be easily reached within 

 2 hours from Cinchona, either locality 

 affording typical virgin conditions. 



A few typical remnants of the mon- 

 soon forest may be found along the coast 

 east of Kingston, between the mouth of 

 Hope River and the mouth of the Yal- 

 lahs, being easily accessible by driving 

 road, supplemented by excursions on 

 foot. 



Typical remnants of the savanna may 

 be seen at a number of localities near 

 the railway between Kingston and May 

 Pen. 



The semi-desert is most easily seen 

 by driving to Port Henderson, at the 

 mouth of Kingston Harbor, from Span- 

 ish Town. 



The grassy swamps are most acces- 

 sible along the Black River, by driving 

 from Appleton or Ipswich, on the 

 Montego Bay Branch of the railway. 

 The mangrove swamps are well devel- 

 oped around the western end of Kings- 

 ton Harbor, near the railway station of 

 Gregory Park. 



REFERENCES 



Goose, Philip Henry. Naturalist's So- 

 journ in Jamaica. 



Shreve, Forrest. A Montane Rain- 

 Forest. Pub'n 199. Carnegie 

 Inst. Wash. 



6. PORTO RICO AND THE VIRGIN 

 ISLANDS* 



BY N. L. BRITTON AND GEO. N. WOLCOTT 

 I. GENERAL CONDITIONS 



A. GENERAL GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 



Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands, 

 forming the eastern part of the northern 

 axis of the West Indies, constitute a 

 geographical, geological and biological 

 province with many natural features in 

 common. The region with a total land 

 area somewhat less than that of the 

 State of Connecticut, lies within the 

 geographical area of west longitude 

 67 56' (Mona Island) to west longitude 

 64 16' (Anegada Island) north lati- 

 tude 17 40' (St. Croix); 18 33' (North- 

 ern coast of Porto Rico) and 18 43' 

 (Anegada). 



Porto Rico is traversed from west to 

 east by a mountain chain, composed of 

 highly tilted stratified rocks of cretace- 

 ous age and of great variety, largely of 

 volcanic ashes (tuffs) shales and some 

 hard, sparingly fossiliferous limestones, 

 with many intrusions of eruptive igneous 

 rocks also of many kinds. These moun- 

 tains reach altitudes of some 4200 ft. 

 in the Cordillera Central in the central 

 and western parts and of about 3500 ft. 



i It has been quite accurately studied during the 

 scientific survey of the region by the New York 

 Academy of Sciences, still in progress, in cooperation 

 with the insular government of Porto Rico, the 

 United States Naval government of the Virgin 

 Islands, the American Museum of Natural History, 

 the New York Botanical Garden, the geological and 

 anthropological departments of Columbia Univer- 

 sity and other cooperating institutions and individ- 

 uals. The publication and preparation of the re- 

 sults of this survey, as of July 1, 1925, may be 

 reported as follows: 



Vol. I, Geology of Porto Rico, complete in four 

 parts, with maps and illustrations, pp. 384. Vol. II, 

 Geology of Porto Rico, parts 1 and 2, published, 

 with maps and illustrations; parts 3 and 4 in prep- 

 aration. Vol. Ill, Palaeontology of Porto Rico, 

 parts 1 and 2, published, with illustrations of Ter- 

 tiary Mollusca; other parts in preparation; Vol. IV, 

 Geology and Palaeontology of the Virgin Islands, 

 nearly completed for publication. Vol. V, Botany of 

 Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Spermatophyta, 

 complete in four parts, pp. 626; Vol. VI, Botany of 

 Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands, part 1, Sperma- 

 tophyta, published ; part 2, Spermatophyta, in press ; 



Thallophyta, partly completed for publication; 

 Vol. IX, Zoology of Porto Rico, parts 1 and 2, Mam- 

 malia, with illustrations, in press; parts 3 and 4; 

 Aves, Reptilia, Amphibia, in preparation; Vols. 

 X-XII, reserved for Pisces and Invertebrata. 

 N. L. B. 



