PHYSICAL ASPECT. 



129 



between Puerto Principe and Trinidad ; while more 

 to the west, toward Alvarez and Matanzas, the 

 sierras of Gavilan, Camarioca, and Madruga ap- 

 proach the northern shore. While travelling from 

 the mouth of the river Guaurabo to Trinidad, I saw 

 the hills of San Juan, which form peaks more than 

 1,900 feet high, whose slopes incline with great regu- 

 larity to the south. This calcareous group is seen very 

 clearly from Cay de Piedras. The coasts of Jagua 

 and Batabano are very low, and I believe there is no 

 hill exceeding 1,275 feet in height, except the Pan of 

 Guajaibon, west of the meridian of Matanzas. 



The face of the interior of the island is gently 

 undulating, like that of England, and is not more 

 than 280 to 380 feet above the level of the sea. 1 

 The objects seen at the greatest distance, and best 

 known to navigators, are the " Pan of Matanzas," 2 

 which is a truncated cone like a small monument in 

 shape ; the " Arcos de Canasi," which are seen 

 between Puerto Escondido and Jaruco, like small 

 segments of a circle ; the " Table land of Mariel," 



1 The village of Ubajay, about fifteen miles distant from Havana, 

 S. 25° W., is 242 feet above the sea. The summit line of Bejucal, at 

 the Taverna del Rey, is 305.7 feet. — H. 



2 1,255 feet high. At sea I have found the " Arcos de Canasi" to 

 be 732 feet high.— H. 



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