172 CLIMA/TE OF THE HAVANNAH. 



waters which filter by the clefts of the stratified rock, that 

 from the effect of an hydrostatic pressure, fresh water 

 springs far from the coast, and amidst salt water. The 

 jurisdiction of the Havannah is not the most fertile part 

 of the island ; and the few sugar-plantations that existed 

 in the vicinity of the capital, are now converted into farms 

 for cattle, (potreros), and fields of maize and forage, of 

 which the profits are considerable. The agriculturists of 

 the island of Cuba distinguish two kinds of earth, often 

 mixed together like the squares of a draught-board, black 

 earth (negra o prieta) clayey and full of moisture, and red 

 earth (bermeja), more silicious, and containing oxide of iron. 

 The tierra negra is generally preferred (on account of its 

 best preserving humidity), for the cultivation of the sugar- 

 cane, and the tierra bermeja for coffee ; but many sugar 

 plantations are established on the red soil. 



The climate of the Havannah is in accordance with the 

 extreme limits of the torrid zone : it is a tropical climate, 

 in which a more unequal distribution of heat at different 

 parts of the year, denotes the passage to the climates of the 

 temperate zone. Calcutta (lat. 22 34' N.) Canton (lat. 

 23 8' N.) Macao (lat. 22 12' N.), the Havannah (lat. 

 23 9' N.), and Eio Janeiro (lat. 22 54' S.) are places 

 which, from their position, at the level of the ocean, near 

 the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, consequently at an 

 equal distance from the equator, afford great facilities 

 for the study of meteorology. This study can only advance 

 by the determination of certain numerical elements, which 

 are the indispensable basis of the laws we seek to dis- 

 cover. The aspect of vegetation being identical near 

 the limits of the torrid zone, and at the equator, we are 

 accustomed to confound vaguely the climates of two zones 

 comprized between and 10, and between 15 and 23 

 f latitude. The region of palm-trees, bananas, and 

 iborescent gramina, extends far beyond the two tropics: 

 but it would be dangerous to apply what has been observed 

 at the extremity of the tropical zone, to what may take place 

 in the plains near the equator. In order to rectify those 

 errors, it is important that the mean temperature of the 

 year and months be well known, as also the thermometric 

 oscillations in different seasons at the parallel of the 



