126 Part II. Chapter ı. 
° The rivers of Santo Domingo are many. The Rio Yaqui, Chico descends 
from the Cibao highlands southward to the Caribbean Sea. The Rio Yaqui 
flows from the same heights northward to the Vega Real and then traverses 
that depression to Manzanilla Bay. The Manai or Yuna River empties into 
Samana Bay. They are exceeded in length and volume only by the Artibonite 
which rises in the central highlands and flows westward through Haiti into 
the Gulf of Gonaives. Smaller rivers drain every portion of the island. One 
of the most copious of these streams is the Ozama upon which the City of 
San Domingo is founded. ! 
The geology of the island is similar to that of Cuba and Jamaica, more 
especially according to Hill, the western ends which are composed of four 
principal formations; the older mountain rocks, of Cretaceous and Tertiary age, 
made up of igneous rocks and clays, mantled by gravels and crystalline lime- 
stone; the white limestones of Tertiary age; recent alluvial formations; and the 
coast limestone of elevated reef rock. No recent volcanic rocks are known. 
d. Cuba. 
The island of Cuba is long and narrow being 730 miles (1170 km), while 
the breadh averages 80 miles (130 km). The Cuban coast is generally low 
and flat, and is surrounded by numerous coral reefs and islands, which shut 
off from the sea a large number of salt lagoons, which are in some cases used 
to obtain salt by the process of evaporation. Its eastern end is mountainous 
with the summits standing high above the adjacent seas extending from Cape 
Maysi to Cape Cruz. These mountains form a chain, known as Sierra Maestra, 
with such prominent peaks as Pico del Turquino: 8400 feet (2560 m, very near 
to the southern shore), Gran Piedra: 5200 feet (1585 m), and Ojo del Toro: 
3500 (5190) feet, to break the general elevation of the range. A much smaller 
ridge of less elevation than the main chain follows westward the central line 
of the island and may be considered as the backbone of it. The central and 
western parts of the island possesses two formations of compact limestone, one 
of clayey sandstone and another of gypsum, while caverns are found in the 
limestone formations. The Sierra Maestra Mountains are composed of non- 
calcareous conglomerates and shales of Mesozoic and Eocene age, intruded, 
says Hill, by great masses of dark-colored mid-Tertiary, igneous rocks, the 
debris of which makes a clay and gravel soil, the whole covered on the 
seaward face by white limestones to an elevation of 2000 feet or more. The 
lower slopes are terraced and represent the successive series of elevations 
which the island has undergone. The Sierra de los Organos occupies the 
western province of Pinar del Rio extending northeast and southwest and 
culminates in the Pan de Guajaibon at an altitude of 2532 feet (772 m). Geo- 
logically, it is composed of deformed sedimentary rocks of supposed Palozoic, 
Triassic, Jurassic and Tertiary age. 
The rivers of Cuba are short, and flow north and south. The Cauto River 
is the largest and empties into the Bay of Buena Esperanza on the southern 
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