ITS GEOLOQIO FOEMATION. 
163 
^estward towards Alvarez and Mataiizas, they stretch in the 
^ii^ction of the northern coast. Proceeding from the 
^outh of the Kio Guaiirabo to the Villa de la Trinidad, 
I saw on the north-west, the Lomas de San Juan, which 
form needles or horns more than 300toises high, with their 
oeelivities sloping regularly to the south. This calcareous j 
§roup presents a majestic aspect, as seen from the anchorage ' 
^ear the Cayo de Piedras. Xagua and Batabano are low 
ooasts ; and I believe that, in general, west of the meridian 
of Matanzas, there is no hill more than 200 toises high, with ' 
file exception of the Pan de Guaixabon. The land in the 
juteriop of the island is gently undulated, as in England ; and 
rises only from 45 to 50 toises above the level of the sea. 
^he objects most visible at a distance, and most celebrated 
oy navigators, are the Pan de Matanzas, a truncated cone 
'"'bich has the form of a small monument ; the Arcos de 
^anasi, which appear between Puerto Escondido and Jaruco. 
Jjbe small segments of a circle ; the Mesa de Mariel, the 
^ctas de Managua, and the Pan de Guaixabon This 
gradual slope of the limestone formations of the island of 
Cuba towards the north and west indicates the submarine 
^nnection of those rocks with the equally low lands of the 
■“uhama Islands, Elorida, and Yucatan. 
Intellectual cultivation and improvement were so long 
*®stricted to the Havannah and the neighbouring districts, 
that We cannot be surprised at the ignorance firevaUing 
®^ong the inhabitants respecting the geologic formation 
^ the Copper Mountains. Don Erancisco Eamirez, a travel* 
Jer Versed in chemical and mineralogical science, informed 
that the western part of the island is granitic, and that 
U6 there observed gneiss and primitive slate. Probably the 
^uuvial deposits of auriferous sand which were explored with 
much ardour* at the beginning of the conquest, to the 
* At Cabanacan, that is, in the interior of the island, near Jagua am 
tinidad, where the auriferous sands have been washed by the waters^ as 
M the limestone soil. Martyr d’Anghiera, the most intelligent writer 
^ Ihe Conquest, says : “Cuba is richer in gold than Hispaniola (San 
ondngo); and at the moment 1 am writing, 180,000 castillanus of ore 
Jave been collected at Cuba.” Herrera estimates the tax called King’s. 
"Uh (quinto del Rey), in the island of Cuba, at 6000 pesos, which indi* 
an annual product of 2000 marks of gold, at 22 carats ; and conse- 
