Peckharn — Bituminous Deposits of Cuba. 35 



many walls have been made of it to serve the purpose of 

 fences. When in the ground it is soft and easily cut into 

 blocks of any shape for building purposes. Put up in the 

 soft state, it hardens in about a year and resists the elements 

 for a very long time. Along with this limestone are seen out- 

 crops of serpentine — a greenish mineral — soft and easily 

 broken. The surface soil is a red clay and very productive. 

 Among the trees the royal palm predominates, but there are 

 also cocoanut trees, bananas, mangoes and others. 



Looking at the accompanying map, we see this first range of 

 hills directly south of Cardenas. The trip to this range is best 

 made on horseback. Reaching the plateau, it is found to be 

 about four miles wide, covered with wild grass and royal palms. 



i 



2 I !! 



o o // 



1 1 @^ 



7Wk4 0.7?. (J- 



b 



Sketch map of the Alvarez Oil Wells; showing also the ruins of the Sugar Re- 

 finery (S. R.), Oil Refinery (0. R.) and adjoining Stacks (St.) 



Distance between No. 1 (oil and water) and No. 2 (water). 120 meters: between 

 No. 2 and No. 3 (oil, 100,000 gallons), 320 meters; between No. 3 and No. 4, 

 320 meters; between No. 4 and No. 5, 150 meters. 



The hills or low mountains still farther to the south are much 

 higher than the first ascent and covered with trees to within a 

 short distance of the top. To the right spreads an open 

 country formerly cultivated but fast reverting to a wild condi- 

 tion. Directly in front we notice the ruined smoke stacks of 

 two refineries. To the left is spread a broad expanse of this 

 tableland covered with a very peculiar growth of royal palms. 

 These trees, because of some lack of nourishment or deleteri- 

 ous substance in the soil, have been so stunted that they are of 

 all heights, from a mere tuft of leaves sticking out of the ground 

 to fifty or sixty feet ; average height ten to twenty feet. This 

 peculiar growth is indicated on the map by the dotted area. 

 It is about five or six miles long and two broad. 



Figure 2 gives a larger plan of the refineries just mentioned. 

 These were owned and operated by a man named Alvarez, and 



