They are almost always steep, often with vertical walls or "paradones" that rise 1,000 feet from the floor or base on which they rest.
The northernmost range, running parallel to the Gulf Coast, is known as the "Costanero." The highest peak of Pinar del Rio is called Guajaibon, which rises to an altitude of 3,000 feet, with its base but very little above the level of the sea. It is probably of Jurassic limestone and forms the eastern outpost of the Costaneros.
The southern range of the Organos begins with an interesting peak known as the Pan de Azucar, located only a few miles east of the Pena Blanca. From this western sentinel with many breaks extends the great southern chain of the Organos with its various groups of "magotes," reaching eastward throughout the entire province. At its extreme eastern terminus we find a lower and detached ridge known as the Pan de Guanajay, which passes for a few miles beyond the boundary line, and into the province of Havana.
Surrounding the Organos from La Esperanza west, and bordering it also on the south for a short distance east of the city of Pinar del Rio, are ranges of round topped lomas, composed largely of sandstone, slate and shale. The surface of these is covered with the small pines, scrubby palms and undergrowth found only on poor soil.
From the Mulato River east, along the north coast, the character of the lomas changes abruptly. Here we have deep rich soil covered with splendid forests of hard woods, that reach up into the Organos some ten miles back from the coast. Along the southern edge of the Organos, from Herredura east, lies a charming narrow belt of rolling country covered with a rich sandy loam that extends almost to the city of Artemisa.
Extensions, or occasional outcroppings, of the Pinar del Rio mountain system, appear in the Province of Havana, and continue on into Matanzas, where another short coastal range appears, just west of the valley of the Yumuri. This, as before stated, has its continuation in detached ranges that extend along the entire north coast, with but few interruptions, until merged into the mountain maze of eastern Oriente.
Outside of the mountainous district thus described, the general surface of Cuba is a gently undulating plain, with altitudes varying from only a few feet above the sea level to 500 or 600 feet, near El Cristo in Oriente. In Pinar del Rio it forms a piedmont plain that entirely surrounds the mountain range. On the south this plain has a maximum width of about 25 miles and ascends gradually from the shores of the Caribbean at the rate of seven or eight feet to the mile until it reaches the edge of the foothills along the line of the automobile drive connecting Havana with the capital of Pinar del Rio.
North of the mountain range, the lowland belt is very much narrower and in some places reaches a height of 200 feet as a rule deeply dissected, so that in places only the level of the hill tops mark the position of the original plain.
The two piedmont plains of Pinar del Rio unite at the eastern extremity of the Organos Mountains and extend over the greater part of the provinces of Havana and Matanzas and the western half of Santa Clara. The divide as a whole is near the center of this plain, although the land has a gradual slope from near the northern margin towards the south.
In the neighborhood of Havana, the elevation varies between 300 and 400 feet, continuing eastward to Cardenas. The streams flowing north have lowered their channels as the land rose, and the surface drained by them has become deeply dissected, while the streams flowing toward the south have been but little affected by the elevation and remain generally in very narrow channels.
East of Cardenas the general elevation of the plain is low, sloping gradually both north and south from the axis of the island. Considerable areas of this plain are found among the various mountain groups in the eastern half of Santa Clara province, beyond which it extends over the greater part of Camaguey and into Oriente. Here it reaches the northern coast between isolated mountain groups, extending as far east as Nipe Bay, and toward the south, merges into the great Cauto Valley.
From Cabo Cruz the plain extends along the northern base of the Sierra Maestra to the head of the Cauto Valley. Its elevation near Manzanillo is about 200 feet, whence it increases to 640 feet at El Cristo. In the central section of Oriente, the Cauto River and its tributaries have cut channels into this plain from 50 to 200 feet in depth. In the lower part of the valley these channels are sometimes several miles across and are occupied by alluvial flats or river bottoms. They decrease in width toward the east and in the upper part of the valley become narrow gorges.
A large part of this plain of Cuba, especially in the central provinces, is underlaid by porous limestone, through which the surface waters have found underground passages. This accounts for the fact that large areas are occasionally devoid of flowing surface streams. The rain water sinks into the ground as soon as it falls, and after flowing long distances under ground, emerges into bold springs, such as those of the Almendares that burst out of the river bank some eight miles south of the City of Havana. Engineers of the rope and cordage plant, just north of the City of Matanzas, while boring for water, found unexpectedly a swift, running river, only ten feet below the surface, that has given them an inexhaustible supply of excellent water.
Most of the plains of Cuba above indicated have been formed by the erosion of its surface, and are covered with residual soil derived from the underlying limestones. Where they consist of red or black clays they are, as a rule, exceedingly fertile. Certain portions of the plains, especially those bordering on the southern side of the mountains of Pinar del Rio, are covered with a layer of sand and gravel, washed down from the adjoining highlands, and are, as a rule, inferior in fertility to soils derived from the erosion of limestone. Similar superficial deposits are met in the vicinity of Cienfuegos, and in other sections of the island, where the plain forms a piedmont adjacent to highlands composed of silicious rocks.
The most striking and perhaps the most important fact in regard to the climate of Cuba is its freedom from those extremes of temperature which are considered prejudicial to health in any country. The difference between the mean annual temperature of winter and that of summer is only twelve degrees, or from 76 degrees to 88 degrees. Even between the coldest days of winter, when the mercury once went as low as 58 degrees, and the extreme limit of summer, registered as 92 degrees, we have a difference of only 34 degrees; and the extremes of summer are seldom noticed, since the fresh northeast trade winds coming from the Atlantic sweep across the island, carrying away with them the heated atmosphere of the interior.
The fact that the main axis of the island, with its seven hundred mile stretch of territory, extends from southeast to northwest, almost at right angles to the general direction of the wind, plays a very important part in the equability of Cuba's climate. Then again, the island is completely surrounded by oceans, the temperature of which remains constant, and this plays an important part in preventing extremes of heat or cold.
Ice, of course, cannot form, and frost is found only on the tops of the tallest mountain ranges. The few cold days during winter, when the thermometer may drop to 60 after sundown, are the advance waves of "Northers" that sweep down from the Dakotas, across Oklahoma and the great plains of Texas, eventually reaching Cuba, but only after the sting of the cold has been tempered in its passage of six hundred miles across the Gulf of Mexico.
A temperature of 60 degrees in Cuba is not agreeable to the natives, or even to those residents who once lived in northern climes. This may be due to the fact that life in the tropics has a tendency to thin the blood, and to render it less resistant to low temperature; and also because Cuban residences are largely of stone, brick or reinforced concrete, with either tile or marble floors, and have no provision whatever against cold. And, although the walls are heavy, the windows, doors and openings are many times larger than those of residences in the United States, hence the cold cannot readily be excluded as in other countries. There is said to be but one fireplace on the Island of Cuba, and that was built in the beautiful home of an American, near Guayabal, just to remind him, he said, of the country whence he came.
Again, in the matter of rainfall and
