CLIMATE. 



159 



of those countries is necessarily hotter than that of 

 Havana, for the double reason of their position upon 

 a western coast, and the proximity of the desert, 

 which reflects the heat, and scatters particles of sand 

 in the atmosphere. . 



We have already seen that the great declinations 

 of temperature in the island of Cuba are of so short 

 duration, that neither the banana, the sugar-cane, 

 nor the other productions of the torrid zone, suffer 

 the slightest detriment. Every one is aware how 

 readily plants, that have great organic vigor, sustain 

 momentary cold, and that the orange-trees in the 

 vicinity of Genoa resist snow-storms and a degree 

 of cold not lower than 6° or 7° 0. below zero (21°.2 

 or 19°.4F. above zero). 



As the vegetation of Cuba presents an identity of 

 character with that of regions near the equator, it is 

 very extraordinary to find there, even in the plains, 

 a vegetation of the colder climates, identical with 

 that of the mountains of Southern Mexico. In other 

 works, I have called the attention of botanists to 

 this extraordinary phenomenon in the geography of 

 plants. The pine (pinus occidentalis), is not found 

 in the Lesser Antilles, and according to Mr. Eobert 

 Brown, not even in Jamaica (between 17f ° and 18° 

 of latitude), notwithstanding the elevation of the 

 Blue Mountains in that island. Further north only 



