170 
GEOLOGY OF CUBA. 
and in Norway. No volcanic rocks of a more recent period 
have hitherto been discovered in the island of Cuba • for 
instance, neither trachytes, dolerites, nor basalts. I know 
not whether they are found in the rest of the Great An- 
tilles, ot which the geologic constitution ditfers essentially 
trom ,;hat of the series of calcareous and volcanic islands, 
which stretch from Trinidad to the Virgin Islands. Earth^ 
quakes, winch are in general less fatal at Cuba than at 
loito Jtico and Hay ti are most felt in the eastern part, 
between Cape Maysi, bantiago de Cuba, and La Ciudad de 
Enerto Principe. Perhaps towards those regions the action 
ot the crevice extends laterally, which is believed to cross 
the neck ot granitic land between Port-au-Prince and Cape 
in 1^70 ’ mountains were overthrown, 
The cavernous texture of the limestone formations (so- 
boruco) just described, the great inclination of the shelvings, 
the smalbess of the island, the nakedness of the plains 
and the proximity of the mountains that form a lofty chain 
on the southern coast, may be considered as among the 
principiil causes of the want of rivers, and the drought 
which IS felt, especially in the western part of Cuba. In 
this respect, Hayti, Jamaica, and several of the Lesser An- 
tilles, which contain volcanic heights covered with forests 
are more favoured by nature. The lands most celebrated 
tor their fertility are the districts of Xagua, Trinidad, Ma- 
anzas, and Mariel. The valley of Giiines owes its repu- 
tation to artificial irrigation {sanjas de riego;. Notwith- 
standing the want of great rivers, and the unequal fertility 
ot the sod, the island of Cuba, by its undulated surface, 
its continually renewed verdure, and the distribution of its 
legetable forms, presents at every step the most varied and 
beautitiil landscape. Two trees, with large, tough, and 
glossy leaves, the Mammea and the Calophyllum calaba, five 
species of palm-trees (the ^alma real, or Oreodoxa regia, 
the common cocoa-tree, the Cocos crispa, the Corypha mira- 
pama, imd the C. maritima), and small shrubs instantly 
loaded with flowers, decorate the hills and the savannahs, 
ihe Cecropia peltata marks the humid spots. It would 
seem as if the whole island had been originally a forest of 
palm, lemon, and wild orange trees. The latter, which 
