RIVER SCENE, ISLE OF PINES.
together with numerous coral reefs and islands of varying dimensions that fringe the shore line, are the most notable features of the Cuban coast. These cayos, or keys, fall into four distinct groups and number about one thousand three hundred. The principal line of these low lying islands extends from the Ensenado de Cardenas to the vicinity of Nuevitas, and includes Cayo Romano, seventy-four miles in length. The second line runs from Bahia Honda to Cape San Antonio. The third, which is the most numerous, forms a scattered group between the Isle of Pines and the mainland. The fourth, known as Cayos de las Doce Leguas, lies off the coast of Camaguey.
The Isle of Pines is distant sixty miles from Batabano, which is the point of communication with the mainland. Its area is about twelve hundred square miles. The northern shores of Cuba are generally characterized by rocky bluffs, which frequently rise to a height of several hundred feet. The littoral of the western bend is low, and this feature prevails along the south to Cape Cruz, with the exception of a rugged stretch of about fifty miles to the east of Cienfuegos. Save for this strip, the shore from Cape San Antonio to the mouth of the Cauto is lined with marsh of varying depth. The protuberant piece of land between the bight of the Broa and Bahia de Cochinos is entirely occupied by the great Zapata swamp, which has an area of more than two hundred square miles. It is an almost impenetrable tropical jungle of the densest vegetation, teeming with animal life. This wilderness has often afforded a safe refuge to defeated and harassed bands of insurrectos. Along the eastern butt of the island the coast is mountainous.
Topographically, the territory of Cuba comprises five distinct divisions, three of them distinctly mountainous, and two in which the surface is low, or of moderate relief. The easternmost of these divisions coincides closely to the boundaries of the Province of Oriente and is for the greater part mountainous. The second, corresponding approximately with the Province of Camaguey, is made up of plains or open rolling country, relieved by occasional hills. The third division includes the mountainous and hilly sections of Santa Clara. The fourth consists of a long stretch of flat or undulating country, accentuated here and there by elevations of several hundred feet; it includes the western portion of Santa Clara Province and the whole of the Provinces of Matanzas and Habana, as well as about one-fourth of the Province of Pinar del Rio at its eastern end. The fifth division takes in the greater part of the last-named Province, and is characterized by a well defined mountain range, with numerous detached hills and mesas. A clearer conception of the surface conformation of Cuba may be gained by a more detailed survey of its mountains and plains, without regard to the natural topographic divisions described.
The Province of Oriente contains a greater mountainous area than is to be found in all the rest of the Island. The system consists of several groups having diverse constructures, but more or less closely connected with one another. Here many peaks exceed five thousand feet and one, Pico Turquino, rises to an altitude of over eight thousand feet. The principal range is the Sierra Maestra, extending from Cape Cruz to Guantanamo Bay. Along its western end, this chain rises abruptly out of the seas, but as it approaches Santiago, recedes somewhat from the shore, leaving a narrow coastal plain. East of Guantanamo there is a range, much less unbroken and uniform than the Sierra Madre, which continues to Cape Maisi and thence along the north coast until it meets the rugged Cuchillas at Baracoa. Extending westward from this mountain mass are strings of high plateaus and mesas, forming the northern wall of the great amphitheatre which drains into Guantanamo Bay. In this northern section the most prominent feature of the system is the range comprising the Sierras Cristal and Nipe, whose general trend is east and west. To the south is a country having the character of a deeply dissected plateau. The broad, flat topped summits of so many elevations in the eastern part of Cuba lead to the belief that all the mountains in this section have been carved from a huge lofty plateau. Considered as a whole, therefore, the mountains of Oriente form two marginal ranges which merge at the east end of the Province and diverge toward the west. Between these divergent ranges lies the broad, undulating expanse famous as the valley of the Cauto, which widens as it stretches westward and ultimately merges with the more extensive plains of Camaguey.
The central mountainous region of Cuba is situated in the Province of Santa Clara. This system consists of four groups having a general direction toward north and south and at
