162 AREA OF THE ISLAND. 



hitherto been believed ; that it is r 3 ^ larger than Ilajti, or 

 San Domingo ; that its surface equals that of Portugal, and 

 within one-eighth that of England without Wales; and that 

 if the whole archipelago of the Antilles presents as great an 

 area as the half of Spain, the island of Cuba alone almost 

 equals in surface the other Great and Small Antilles. Its 

 greatest length, from Cape San Antonio to Point Maysi 

 (in a direction from W.S/W. to E.N.E. and from W.N.W to 

 E.S.E.) is 227 leagues ; and its greatest breadth (in the di- 

 rection 1ST. and S.), from Point Maternillo to the mouth of 

 the Magdalena, near Peak Tarquino, is 37 leagues. The 

 mean breadth of the island, on four-fifths of its length, 

 between the Havannah and Puerto Principe, is 15 leagues. 

 In the best cultivated part, between the Havannah and 

 Batabano, the isthmus is only eight sea leagues. Among 

 the great islands of the globe, that of Java most resembles 

 the island of Cuba in its form and area (4170 square 

 leagues). Cuba has a circumference of coast of 520 leagues, 

 of which 280 belong to the south shore, between Cape 

 San Antonio and Punta Maysi. 



The island of Cuba, over more than four-fifths of its sur- 

 face, is composed of low lands. The soil is covered with 

 secondary and tertiary formations, formed by some rocks 

 of gneiss-granite, syenite, and euphotide. The knowledge 

 obtained hitherto of the geologic configuration of the 

 country, is as unsatisfactory as what is known respecting 

 the relative age and nature of the soil. It is only ascertained 

 that the highest group of mountains lies at the south-eastern 

 extremity of the island, between Cape Cruz, Punta Maysi, 

 and Holguin. This mountainous part, called the Sierra, or 

 Las Montafias del Cobre, (the Copper Mountains) situated 

 north-west of the town of Santiago de Cuba, appears to be 

 about 1200 toises in height. If this calculation be correct, 

 the summits of the Sierra would command those of the 

 Blue Mountains of Jamaica, and the peaks of La Selle and 

 La Hotte, in the island of San Domingo. The Sierra of Tar- 

 quino, fifty miles west of the town of Cuba, belongs to the 

 some group as the Copper Mountains. The island is crossed 

 from E.S.E. to W.N.W. by a chain of hilla, which approach 

 the southern coast between the meridians of La Ciudad de 

 Puerto Principe and the Villa Clara ; while, further to the 



