CHAP. XIV.] THE NEOTROPICAL REGION. 61 



form an unbroken chain uniting North and South America, 

 in a line parallel to the great Central American isthmus ; yet 

 instead of exhibiting an intermixture of the productions of 

 Florida and Venezuela, they differ widely from both these 

 countries, possessing in some groups a degree of speciality 

 only to be found elsewhere in islands far removed from any 

 continent. They consist of two very large islands, Cuba and 

 Hayti ; ^ two of moderate size, Jamaica and Portorico ; and a 

 chain of much smaller islands, St. Croix, Anguilla, Barbuda, 

 Antigua, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. 

 Vincent, Barbadoes, and Grenada, with a host of intervening 

 islets. Tobago, Trinidad, Margarita, and Curasao, are situated 

 in shallow water near the coast of South America, of which they 

 form part zoologically. To the north of Cuba and Hayti are the 

 Bahamas, an extensive group of coral reefs and islands, 700 

 miles long, and although very poor in animal life, belonging 

 zoologically to the Antilles. All the larger islands, and most of 

 the smaller ones (except those of coral formation) are very 

 mountainous and rocky, the chains rising to about 8,000 feet in 

 Hayti and Jamaica, and to nearly the same height in Cuba. 

 All, except where they have been cleared by man, are covered 

 with a luxuriant forest vegetation ; the temperature is high and 

 uniform ; the rains ample ; the soil, derived from granitic and 

 limestone rocks, exceedingly fertile ; and as the four larger islands 

 together are larger than Great Britain, we might expect an 

 ample and luxuriant fauna. The reverse is however the case ; 

 and there are probably no land areas on the globe, so highly 

 favoured by nature in all the essentials for supporting animal 

 life, and at the same time so poor in all the more highly 

 organised groups of animals. Before entering upon our sketch 

 of the main features of this peculiar but limited fauna, it will 

 be well to note a few peculiarities in the physical structure of 

 the islands, which have an important bearing on their past 



^ This name will be used for the whole island of St. Domingo, as being 

 both shorter and more euphonious, and avoiding all confusion with Dominica, 

 one of the Lesser Antilles. It is also better known than " Hispaniola," which 

 is perhaps the most correct name. 



