PHYSICAL ASPECT. 



143 



against an ever clear sky, cause a precipitation of the 

 watery vapor from the cooled air. 



Among the few rivers worthy of notice, we may cite 

 that of Giiines, the waters of which it was intended, in 

 1798, to turn into the canal for light draught naviga- 

 tion, that was to have crossed the island under the 

 meridian of Batabano ; the Almendares or Ohorrera, 

 whose waters are carried to Havana by the zanja de 

 Antonelli ; the Cauto, north of the city of Bayamo ; 

 the Maximo, which rises east of Puerto Principe; 

 the Sagua la Grande, near Villa Clara ; the Palmas, 

 which empties into the sea opposite to Cay Galindo ; 

 the .smaller rivers of Jaruco and Santa Cruz, between 

 Guanabo and Matanzas, which are navigable for some 

 miles from their mouths, and facilitate the embarca- 

 tion of sugar; the San Antonio, which, like many 

 others, disappears in the caverns of the limestone 

 rock ; the Guaurabo, west of the port of Trinidad ; 

 and the Galafre, in the fertile Filipinas district, 

 emptying into the Bay of Cortes. 



The southern side of the island is most abundant in 

 springs, where, from Jagua to Point Sabina, a dis- 

 tance of forty-six leagues, the country is a continuous 

 swamp. The abundance of water that filtrates 

 through the fissures of the stratified rock is so great, 

 that from the hydrostatic pressure, springs are found 

 in the sea at some distance from the coast. 



