170 GEOLOGY Or CUBA. 



and in Norway. No volcanic rocks of a more recent period 

 have hitherto been discovered in the island of Cuba ; for 

 instance, neither trachytes, dolerites, nor basalts. I know 

 not whether they are found in the rest of the Great An 

 tilles, of which the geologic constitution differs essentially 

 from that of the series of calcareous and volcanic islands, 

 which stretch from Trinidad to the Virgin Islands. Earth- 

 quakes, which are in general less fatal at Cuba than at 

 Porto Rico and Hayti, are most felt in the eastern part, 

 between Cape Maysi, Santiago de Cuba, and La Ciudad de 

 Puerto Principe. Perhaps towards those regions the action 

 of the crevice extends laterally, which is believed to cross 

 the neck of granitic land between Port-au-Prince and Cape 

 Tiburon, and on which whole mountains were overthrown, 

 in 1770. 



The cavernous texture of the limestone formations (so- 

 boruco) just described, the great inclination of the shelvings, 

 the smallness of the island, the nakedness of the plains, 

 and the proximity of the mountains that form a lofty chain 

 on the southern coast, may be considered as among the 

 principal causes of the want of rivers, and the drought 

 which is felt, especially in the western part of Cuba. In 

 this respect, Hayti, Jamaica, and several of the Lesser An- 

 tilles, which contain volcanic heights covered with forests, 

 are more favoured by nature. The lands most celebrated 

 for their fertility are the districts of Xagua, Trinidad, Ma- 

 tanzas, and Mariel. The valley of Grumes owes its repu- 

 tation to artificial irrigation (sanjas de riegq). Notwith- 

 standing the want of great rivers, and the unequal fertility 

 of the soil, the island of Cuba, by its undulated surface, 

 its continually renewed verdure, and the distribution of its 

 vegetable forms, presents at every step the most varied and 

 beautiful landscape. Two trees, with large, tough, and 

 glossy leaves, the Mammea and the Calophyllum calaba, five 

 species of palm-trees (the palma real, or Oreodoxa regia, 

 the common cocoa-tree, the Cocos crispa, the Corypha mira- 

 guama, and the C. maritima), and small shrubs constantly 

 loaded with flowers, decorate the hills and the savannahs. 

 The Cecropia peltata marks the humid spots. It would 

 eeem as if the whole island had been originally a forest of 

 palm, lemon, and wild orange trees. The latter, which 



