BOCK rORMATIOlfS. 
165 
to eup^otitles, analogous to those I found in the moun- 
tains of Guanabaeoa. , • ^ 
The central and wi'stern parts of the island contain two 
formations of compact liinestone; one oi clayey sandstone, 
and another of gypsum. The former has, in its aspect and 
oompositioB, some resemblance to the dura formation. It 
Is white or of a clear ochre-yellow, with a dull IVacture, 
aornetim'es conchoidal, sometimes smootli ; divided into thin 
layers, furnishing some balls ot jiyromac siles, otteu holloiy, 
(at Eio Cauimar, two leagues east of iMatauzas), and petri- 
fications of pecten, cardites, terebratulcs, and madrepores.* 
I found no oolitic beds, but porous beds almost bulbous, 
between the Potrero del Conde de IMopox, and the port ot 
f^atabaiio, resembling the spongy beds ot Jura limestone in 
Tranconia, near Dondovf, Peguit/,, and Tumbacli. Tellowush 
cavernous strata, with cavities from tliree to lour inches in 
<liaraeter, alternate with strata altogether compact, t and 
poorer in petritications. The cl.aiii of hills that borders the 
plain of (iuines on the north, and is linked -with the Lomas 
<le Camna. and the Telas de Managua, belongs to the latter 
Variety, which is reddish white, and almost ol lithographic 
• nature,’ like the Jura limestone of Pappenheim. The com- 
pact and cavernous beds contain nests of brown ochreous 
l''on; possibly the red earth (tierra coloriida) so much 
-nought for by the eoftee planters (haciendados) owes its 
Origin to the decomposition of some superlicinl beds ot 
n-'idated iron, mixed with silex and clay, or to a rertdish 
aaiulstonet superposed on limestone. The w'holc ot this 
foi'niatiou, which i shall designate by the name of the lime- 
stone of Guincs, to distinguish it from another much more 
’■creut, fonns, near Trinidad, in the Lomas ot ot .Juan, 
steep declivities, resembling the mountains of limesrom’ - 
f-aiipe, in the vicinity of Oumana. They also contain great 
Caverns, near Mataiiziis and Jaruco, where 1 have not heara 
that any fossil hones have been found. The frequency ot 
* I saw neitlirr grypliitea, nor ammonites of Jura limestone, nor the 
“ummulites and eerites of coarse limestone. 
The western part of tl.e island has no deep ravines ; and «^cocmze 
Jhis alternation in travelling from the Havannah to Batabano, the deepest 
“sds (inclined from 30* to 40” N.E.) appear as we advance. 
J Sandstone and ferruginous sand ; iron-sand? 
