CUBA 199 



standing about 20 feet above the sea, between the bluffs and the 

 water. The coast border on the north presents a low cliff topog- 

 raphy, with a horizontal sky line from Matanzas westward, grad- 

 ually decreasing from 500 feet at Matanzas to 100 feet in the 

 west. The coast of the east end is abrupt and rugged, present- 

 ing both on the north and south sides a series of remarkable 

 terraces, representing successive pauses or stages in the elevation 

 of the island above the sea, and constituting one of the most 

 striking features anywhere to be seen. West of Guantanamo to 

 Cape Cruz the precipitous Sierra Maestra rises immediately back 

 of these terraces. From Cape Cruz to Cape San Antonio, with the 

 exception of a brief stretch between Trinidad and Cienfuegos, 

 the coast is generally low and marshy. 



The cays adjacent to the middle third of the island, on both 

 the north and south sides (the famous Jardines of Columbus), 

 are mostly small coral or mangrove islets which have grown up 

 from shallow, submerged platforms surrounding those parts of 

 the island and in places form barriers to the mainland. They 

 are mainly uninhabited, owing to the scarcity of potable waters, 

 but constitute a formidable obstacle to navigation, except when 

 guided by skillful pilotage. 



THE INTERIOR 



The interior of the island of Cuba has not been sufficiently 

 surveyed to accurately map the nature of the soil or the relief 

 of the surface. The various commissions named in times past 

 by the Captains General to make reconnaissances avow in their 

 reports that the lack of habitation in the greater part of the ter- 

 ritory, the impenetrability of the forests, the insurmountable 

 Cordilleras, and the scarcity of means and time have prevented 

 them from carrying out successfully the mapping of the diverse 

 ramifications of the mountains, the tracing out of their salients 

 and valleys, and the determination of their extent, altitude, and 

 geologic structure. It seems that their observations did not ex- 

 tend east of the 70th meridian, where the most interesting part 

 of the island, from a scientific point of view, is found. Further- 

 more, the results of such investigations as were made were but 

 imperfectly published in fragments. 



MOUNTAINS 



The higher eminences are true mountains of deformation, 

 composed of disturbed sedimentary rocks with igneous intru- 



