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San Diego de los Banos, where we struck a trail going north. 
Crossing over a low shale hill forested with large trees of the 
vening fertile valleys, we reached the shack of friends of the 
guide considerably after dark, and I learned that we were at 
alalon. 
Next morning as considerable of the route over which we 
came the previous evening was retraced, it dawned upon me 
that my guide who was well acquainted and evidently once 
a resident in the neighborhood had used this opportunity of 
scattered shrubbery, observing tree ferns and the ‘‘manaca 
palm in the ravines. Finally we came to the fertile limestone 
valley San Pedro del Caimito, followed the river for some distance 
then crossed a low ridge to near San Jose de Sagua, at the western 
base of the limestone mountain Pan de Guajaibon, said to have 
an altitude of 2,532 feet and undoubtedly the highest point in 
western Cuba. From here we crossed the eastern base of Loma 
Cajalbarra, a flat-topped serpentine ridge nearly as high as the 
neighboring ‘‘Pan”’ and said to be about 15 miles long. uch 
of it is covered by a deposit of earthy red limonite which supports 
a rather dense forest growth of large tall pine-trees, apparently 
identical with the pine-trees of Oriente. This region is unlike 
any other in western Cuba, but resembles the iron ore region of 
Sierra Nipe. We came to a house just before dark where we 
secured food and swung our hammocks in a tobacco barn. 
This was at San Marcos, about two miles from La Mulata, which 
place I had hoped to reach that night. 
Next day, however, I found that it was just as well that it 
had not been reached, for instead of there being a town as 
indicated on the map, there was only a small “tienda” (store) 
at which we could have fared no better. The north coast 
which is of soft limestone and sticky yellow soil was visited, 
