132 



humboldt's cuba. 



and sometimes smooth, and lies in very thin layers 

 with nodules of pyrogeneous silex, often hollow 

 (Rio Oanimar, two leagues east of Matanzas), and 

 petrifications of pecten, cardites, terrebratules, and 

 madrepores, which are not so much dispersed 

 through the mass as gathered in banks. I found no 

 layers of petrified oolites, but there were porous and 

 almost hollow strata, between the potrero of Count 

 de Mopox and the port of Batabano, similar to the 

 spongy strata presented by the jurassic limestone at 

 Franconia, near Dondorf, Pegnitz, and Tumbach- 

 Yellow cavernous strata, with holes, from three to 

 four inches diameter, alternate with others, entirely 

 compact and less abundant in petrifactions. 1 



The chain of hills which bounds the valley of 

 Guinea upon the north, uniting with the hills of 

 Camoa and the " Tetas de Managua," appertain to the 

 second variety, which is of a reddish white color, 

 and almost lithographic, like the jurassic limestone at 

 Papenheim. The compact and the cavernous strata 

 contain brown, ochreous veins of iron, and perhaps 

 the red soil so esteemed by the coffee planters, arises 

 from the decomposition of some of these superficial 



l As the western portion of the island has no deep fissures, this 

 alternation is observed while travelling from Havana to Batabano ; 

 the deeper strata crop out with an inclination of 30° to 40° N.E. as 

 one advances.— H. 



