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fires will eventually exterminate it, as there are many charred 
remains, but very few young plants to be seen. The surrounding 
c 
ring in forest-like abundance, with many spiny shrubs in the 
rocky places. This region has numerous springs and moist 
swales, and along these a very interesting variety of plants, some 
large trees and many shrubs and herbs, thrive in luxuriance. 
t of these were seen in no other place, but some of them occur 
farther along the streams and rich valleys into which the streams 
flow and in which one finds some dense and interesting forests. 
Outlying the eruptive hills and valleys, one encounters |pw lime- 
stone hills with much scrubby vegetation upon them, and barren 
valleys covered with a dense growth of the palm knowp as Da- 
raguana, a silvery-leaved Coccothrinax, the young leaveg of which 
are largely used in this part of Cuba in the manufacturg of rope. 
ibara, a seaport town south of Holguin, was visited for the 
purpose of examining the coastal flora at that point, but not much 
of special interest was discovered there, although some collect- 
ing was done between there and Holguin. 
Cacocum, on the railroad, was visited to secure a palm of 
peculiar appearance seen from the car window. It proved to be 
the Cuban Yaray, a species of Copernicia, the leaf fibers of which 
are woven into hats and baskets ; brooms are also made of it and 
it is commonly used as a substitute for twine, even by American 
settlers. 
Alto Cedro, a miserable railroad junction town, was visited on 
account of the dense forest surrounding it; but it was found that 
the forest could be more comfortably examined at Paso Estancia, 
which also offered an opportunity of examining the vegetation on 
the Cauto River, and proved to be a convenient point from which 
to reach the Pinales of the Sierra Nipe, a range of eruptive and 
limestone hills running north and south and probably the most 
eastern location on the north side of the island for the pine tree 
of eastern Cuba. 
The Pinales were reached by traversing a rough, most 
wooded territory eastward from Paso Estancia for about fifteen 
miles, which proved a very interesting region, but lack of time 
