conomic reasons.

Topographically the surface of Cuba may be divided into five rather
distinct zones, three of which are essentially mountainous. The first
includes the entire eastern third of the province of Oriente, together
with the greater part of its coast line, where the highest mountains of
the island are found. The second includes the greater part of the
province of Camaguey, made up of gently rolling plains broken by
occasional hills or low mountains, that along the northern coast, and
again in the southeast center of the province, rise to a height of
approximately 1,500 feet above the general level.

The next is a mountainous district including the greater part of eastern
Santa Clara. The fourth comprises the western portion of this province
together with all of Matanzas and Havana. The surface of this middle
section is largely made up of rolling plains, broken here and there by
hills that rise a few hundred feet above the sea level.

The fifth includes the province of Pinar del Rio, the northern half of
which is traversed from one end to the other by several more or less
parallel ranges of sierras, with mean altitudes ranging from 1,000 to
2,000 feet, leaving the southern half of the province a flat plain,
into which, along its northern edge, project spurs and foot hills of
the main range.

The highest mountains of Cuba are located in the province of Oriente,
where their general elevation is somewhat higher than that of the
Allegheny or eastern ranges of the United States. The mountainous area
of this province is greater than that of the combined mountain areas of
all other parts of the island. The mountains occur in groups, composed
of different kinds of rock, and have diverse structures, more or less
connected with one another.

The principal range is the Sierra Maestra, extending from Cabo Cruz to
the Bay of Guantanamo, forty miles east of Santiago. This chain is
continuous and of fairly uniform altitude, with the exception of a break
in the vicinity of Santiago where the wide basin of Santiago Bay cuts
across the main trend of the range. The highest peak of the island is
known as Turquino, located near the middle of the Sierra Maestra, and
reaching an altitude of 8,642 feet.

The hills back of Santiago Bay, separating it from the Valley of the
Cauto, are similar in structure to the northern foothills of the main
sierra. In the western part of the range, the mountains rise abruptly
from the depths o