adjacent sea; its middle portion is wide,
consisting of gently sloping plains, well-drained, high above the sea, and
broken here and there by low, forest-clad hills; and its western third is
a picturesque region of mountains, with fertile slopes and valleys, of
different structure and less altitude than those of the east. Over the
whole is a mantle of tender vegetation, rich in every hue that a flora of
more than three thousand species can give, and kept green by mists and
gentle rains. Indenting the rock-bound coasts are a hundred pouch-shaped
harbors such as are but rarely found in the other islands and shores of the
American Mediterranean.

"But, at the outset the reader should dispossess his mind of any
preconceived idea that the island of Cuba is in any sense a physical unit.
On the contrary, it presents a diversity of topographic, climatic, and
cultural features, which, as distributed, divide the island into at least
three distinct natural provinces, for convenience termed the eastern,
central, and western regions. The distinct types of relief include regions
of high mountains, low hills, dissected plateaus, intermontane valleys, and
coastal swamps. With the exception of a strip of the south-central coast,
the island, as a whole, stands well above the sea, is thoroughly drained,
and presents a rugged aspect when viewed from the sea. About one-fourth of
the total area is mountainous, three-fifths are rolling plain, valleys, and
gentle arable slopes, and the remainder is swampy.

"The island border on the north presents a low cliff topography, with a
horizontal sky-line from Matanzas westward, gradually decreasing from five
hundred feet at Matanzas to one hundred feet on the west. The coast of the
east end is abrupt and rugged, presenting on both the north and south sides
a series of remarkable terraces, rising in stair-like arrangement to six
hundred feet or more, representing successive pauses or stages in the
elevation of the island above the sea, and constituting most striking
scenic features. About one-half the Cuban coast is bordered by keys, which
are largely old reef rock, the creations of the same coral-builders that
may now be seen through the transparent waters still at work on the modern
shallows, decking the rocks and sands with their graceful and many colored
tufts of animal foliage."

Mr. Hill summarizes the general appearance of the island, thus: "Santiago
de Cuba (now called Oriente) is predominant