ATLANTIC LOWLANDS OF MEXICO 123 



invasions of Europeans, were primarily agricultural; 

 though the Zapotecs and Mayas amongst others have 

 left stupendous ruins in southern Mexico. . 



Florida and the West Indies. The southern shores 

 of Florida with its Keys, and the low archipelago of the 

 Bahamas, are bathed in the balmy and moist atmosphere 

 created by the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. Under 

 the influence of those favourable conditions, the flora of 

 the warm temperate regions is stimulated to a supreme 

 effort of vigour and beauty ; but the admixture of the 

 more profuse plant types from the south is too limited 

 to admit of the variety and luxuriance of truly tropical 

 vegetation, to many features of which the plant-life of 

 Florida closely approximates. Palms, lianas, and epi- 

 phytes, while indeed pleasantly common, do not reach the 

 lavish diversity and splendour of form of the inter- 

 tropical world. This difference seems due to the isolation 

 of the country, the state of sea- and air-currents, and 

 to its geological history, more than to restrictions of 

 the climate. 



Tropical conditions are fully attained across the 

 channel, in Cuba, Hispaniola (Hayti), Jamaica, and the 

 Lesser Antilles, which, on the east, span the gap between 

 the two Americas. These islands are so situated as to 

 receive the benefit of the trade-winds. The screen of 

 mountains which forms the core of the Antilles is high 

 enough to intercept the atmospheric moisture and leave 

 the leeward slopes fairly dry; hence a marked dis- 

 tinction between the two sides, which is particularly 

 noticeable in the larger islands. Leaving aside minor 

 differences, mainly in the flowering plants, the features 

 of the vegetation of the West Indies so closely approach 

 those of the mainland of Central America as to admit of 

 a common description- Agriculture is the chief industry 



