162 
AREA or THE ISEAND. 
hithe^ been believed; that it is larger than Hayti, or 
San Domingo ; that its surface equals that of Portugd, and 
within one-eighth that of England without Wales; and that 
as great an 
area as the Imlf ot Spain, the island of Cuba alone almost 
equals m surface the other Great and SmaU Antilles. Its 
greatest length, from Cape San Antonio to Point Maysi 
(in a direction from W.S.W toE.N.E.and from W.N.W to 
reSn ^ its greatest breadth (in the di- 
Ir f MatemiUo to the mouth of 
the Magdalena, near Peak Tarquino, is 37 lea<rues The 
mean breadth of the island, on four-fifths of Its lenSh, 
between the Havannah and Puerto Principe, is 15 leagues. 
In tlie best culfavated part, between the Havannah and 
i^% sea leagues. Among 
the great islands of the globe, that of Java most resemble! 
the island of Cuba in its form and area (4170 square 
leagues^ . Cuba has a circumference of coast of 520 leagues, 
of vhich 280 belong to the south shore, between Cape 
San Antonio and Punta Maysi. ^ 
Tlie island of Cuba over more than four-fifths of its siir- 
face, IS composed of low lands. The soil is covered with 
secondary and tertiary formations, formed by some rocks 
ot gneiss-granite, syenite, and euphotide. The kuowled"-e 
obtained _ hitherto of the geologic configuration of the 
country IS as unsatisfactory as what is known respecting 
Jw i r f ascertained 
that the highest group of mountains lies at the south-eastern 
the island, between Cape Cruz, Punta Maysi, 
Tas 7i^r Sierra, or 
Las Montanas del Cobre, (the Copper Mountains) situated , 
about 1200 toises m height. If this calculation be correct, ; 
m the Sierra would command those of the 
Blue Mountains of Jamaica, and the peaks of La SeUe and ( 
La Hotte, in the island of San Domingo. The Sierra of Tar- 
quino, fifty miles west of the town of Cuba, belongs to the 
Clsl Z W Mountains The island is crossed 
approach 
the southern coast between the meridians of La Ciudad da 
Puerto Principe and the ViUa Clara ; while, further to the 
