204 
Felton, the seaport and executive center for the Mayari mines, 
is situated on a small cay in an arm of Nipe Bay and has the usual 
limestone formation common to the north coast and apparently 
the same flora. Little time was spent here other than that re- 
quired to get my outfit gathered together, which had been shipped 
to Nuevitas by steamer, and to make arrangements for trans- 
portation to Woodfred. The town of Woodfred is situated on 
the northern edge of the plateau of the Sierra Nipe, at about 
1,800 feet altitude, and is connected with Felton by about sixteen 
miles of standard railroad and two inclined planes, one of these is 
over 7,000 feet long with several grades, some of which are very 
steep. At the time of my arrival these were just passing from 
the constructive to the operative stage. The experience of 
riding on locomotive tender or cowcatcher or on ore cars or the 
“barney”’ of the inclines was novel and at times thrilling, but 
always a great help and convenience. The railroad constructed 
to carry iron ore from the foot of the mountains to the seaport 
traverses the low coastal plain and skirts along the eastern 
side of Mayari Valley, the latter, with its extensive groves of royal 
palms and its fertile fields of tobacco and Indian corn, present- 
ing landscape views which equal if they do not excel those of 
the far-famed Yumuri Valley of Matanzas. The river just as it 
enters the level plain from the hills of the southeast is crossed 
by a large steel bridge. Piedra Gorda, at the base of the moun- 
tains and at the mouth of the cafion of the Arroyo del Medio, is 
the terminus of the railroad, and here the extensive system of 
inclined planes begins. 
Excellent quarters were acale at the Weodined ey pe 
only those having proper 
establishment is fitted up with hot and cold shower baths, al 
the open fire place with its blazing wood fire was a great comfort 
on damp, cool nights and an unexpected novelty for a tropical 
country. This also proved to be an important factor in the dry- 
ing of the collections, as artificial heat was almost constantly 
necessary. e wide verandas afforded magnificent views of 
the fertile Mayari Valley with its many small plantations, the 
rich coastal plain with thousands of acres of sugar-cane of the 
