142 CRUISE OF THE BARRERA 



until yesterday (geologically speaking), was the 

 northwest extremity of Cuba. To the west of it 

 extended for many miles a shallow sea covering 

 the island shelf. Along the southern part of 

 this shelf a wide coral reef was built. Then a 

 Pleistocene elevation of about forty or fifty feet 

 added this reef to the main island with Cape San 

 Antonio marking the western terminus. This 

 recently acquired territory, as might be expected, 

 presents a very different aspect from that of the 

 older country to the east. It is low and level but 

 not the result of denudation, and on account of its 

 limestone (reef) foundation is heavily forested. 



As we closely passed Points Avalo and Pina- 

 tillo to avoid the shoals of extensive sand flats 

 without, the storm-clouds that had obscured the 

 receding sierras dissolved revealing for a time the 

 north and south range already alluded to which, 

 beginning in Pefia Blanca on the north, traverses 

 the island. This mountain system may be the 

 result of a second warping that elevated the lime- 

 stone mass along an axis at right angles to that 

 of the Organos series. The range, from our pres- 

 ent point of view, seemed to be continuous to a 

 point about Guane near the southern coast where 



