in the vicinities of Habana and Baracoa. So far as its geologic history is known, the Island was never connected with the American mainland, although the contrary assertion has frequently been made. No thorough geological survey of Cuba has ever been made, but there is every evidence of its containing rich deposits of minerals, including gold, silver, copper, iron, manganese, and asphalt. Traces of minerals are found extensively throughout the Island. Oriente Province is the first in mineral wealth, followed by Camaguey. In Santa Clara, indications of copper are seen on every hand. The ore is commonly turned up by the plow upon the hillsides. Asphalt is found in widely scattered localities all over the Island. The northern coast of the Province of Matanzas appears to be entirely underlaid with it, and the Bay of Cardenas is bottomed by a deposit which used to be worked by vessels anchored over it. The Cuban asphalt is of a high grade, a considerable proportion of it containing as much as seventy per cent. bitumen. Grahamite, a mineral of the same species as asphalt, but classed as pure bitumen, is found in Habana Province and other parts of the Island. The only mineral resource that is at all adequately exploited is iron. The mines of Oriente, which are famous, will be referred to more extensively in a later portion of the book. Vegetation is superlatively abundant in Cuba. The flora includes three thousand three hundred and fifty native plants, not to mention the considerable number that have been naturalized. The trees embrace a variety of hardwoods. Over thirty species of palm are found in the Island, and the pine of the temperate zone grows in proximity to the mahogany of the tropics. The forest has been recklessly exploited or destroyed, but it is estimated that thirteen million acres of it remain. Practically all the fruits and vegetables of the tropics flourish in the Island and many of those characteristic of the temperate regions. Various kinds of fodder grasses grow throughout the valley lands. The only distinctive animal of Cuba is the _jutia_, a black animal having the appearance of a large rat. It grows to a length of eighteen inches, including the tail. The country people eat this creature, as they do all other animals and reptiles that come in their way. Deer and rabbits are abundant wherever [Illustration: “OVER THIRTY SPECIES OF PALM ARE FOUND IN THE ISLAND.”] cover exists. Swine, dogs and cats have become wild and are numerous in that condition. There is a variety of game birds, some migratory, but most permanent denizens of the Island. The principal kinds are wild fowl of different species, pheasants, quail, snipe, turkey, _perdiz_, _tijasas_, _rabiches_, and _quanaros_. The native birds include many of the most beautiful plumage, but songsters are rare among them.