•10 Pecl'hcun — Bituminous Deposits of Cuba. 



and maltha, with solid asphaltum marking extremes still 

 further removed from the center oil- either side, represents an 

 unusual showing of bituminous deposits. 



I was also told of another oil and water spring at San Miguel 

 near Coliseo, twenty one miles south of Cardenas. As this 

 spring was so full of water as to render it impossible to obtain 

 any of the oil, I did not attempt to visit the place. A Cuban 

 in Cardenas who was familiar with the locality told me that 

 the oil flows out of this spring into the water in such quantity 

 as to cause cattle to refuse to drink the water. 



It has been known for many years that solid asphaltum 

 exists in the bottom of Cardenas Bay. I was given a piece by 

 a man in Cardenas who said he had been mining it for many 

 years and sold it in lew York for from forty to seventy dol- 

 lars a ton. It appears to be a very fine quality. 



The occurrence of yellow fever at Santa Clara City pre- 

 vented me from visiting that locality, but I was told there are 

 large deposits of bitumen there. A sample of oil from a 

 spring in this neighborhood called the " Sandal-wood Spring " 

 was examined by Mr. H. ~N. Stokes in July, 1890, in the labo- 

 ratory of the United States Geological Survey, in Washington, 

 D. C. This examination was quite elaborate, and determined 

 that the oil was closely allied to Russian oil. This gives the 

 oil a value which, while it is a little inferior to the best Penn- 

 sylvania oils, is ranking among the best petroleums of the 

 world, and particularly available for the preparation of lubri- 

 cating oils. 



Although I was unable to ascertain by personal examination 

 the presence of liquid bitumens in the neighborhood of Sagua 

 la Grande, I was assured by one whom I have every reason to 

 believe, that there are very extensive deposits in the neighbor- 

 hood of this town and extending eastward to Caibarien. This 

 territory is fully if not quite as large as the one at Hato 

 Nuevo. 



From all of the information herein recited, obtained from 

 varying and reliable sources, the following conclusions may be 

 drawn : 



That very extensive deposits of solid asphaltum exist near 

 the north coast of Cuba. That springs and wells give indica- 

 tions of the existence of liquid bitumens of varying density, 

 beneath the surface, over an area of some 4500 square miles. 

 That the place in the modern geological series to which the 

 formations in which the bitumens occur has not been deter- 

 mined, a fact of little practical importance, but the occurrence 

 of fluid bitumens associated with serpentine has been before 

 observed both in southern France and in California. The oil 



