Place Names as an Aid in the Reconstruction of the Original

PLACE NAMES AS AN AID IN THE RECONSTRUCTION
OF THE ORIGINAL VEGETATION OF CUBA
LEO WAIBEL
[With separate map, Plate I, facing p. 3941
THE
islandof Cuba,"saidLasCasas,'"isso full of woodsthatone can
walk its entire length beneathtrees."Three centurieslaterHumboldt2
voiced the same thought: "It would seem as if the whole island had
been originallya forest."And down to our own day this has been the commonly acceptedbelief3 But was this, in fact, the condition of the islandat
the time of the discovery?The questionwas posed a good many years ago
by the eminent SpanishbotanistRam6nde la Sagra.4 In what statewas this
beautifulpart of the world some three and a half centuriesago when the
Lord entrustedit to the colonizing Europeanrace?"His answerwas: "Covered over the greaterpart with thick and dense woods." Again, more specifically, he asked: "What relation existed .
.
. between the absolute extent
of the forest vegetation and the herbaceousvegetation of the sabanasor
lianuras?"And the reply: "We do not know; but historicaltradition and
the aspect of the yet uncultivatedareaslead us to believe that the former
was much more extensivethan the latter."And therethe matter has rested.
I became interestedin the subject of the original nature of the Cuban
landscapewhen I learned that the term savanaor sabanais of aboriginal
origin and means "a treelessplain" (see below). This immediatelysuggested
a toponymic approachto the study. The problem is fundamentallysimilar
to one that has long engaged the attention of European geographers,especially in Germany, where the relationsbetween the ancient forests and
naturalclearingsare of extreme interest.
Vol. 3: "Es cuasi toda
IBartolome
de las Casas: Historia de las Indias, 5 vols., Madrid, I875-I876,
tierra llana y llena toda de montes o florestas" (p. 467); "La dicha isla de Cuba es, como dije, muy
montuosa, que cuasi se pueden andar 300 leguas por debajo de arboles" (p. 468); "la isla tiene de luengo
cerca de 300 leguas, y se puede andar toda por debajo de los arboles" (p. 469). Las Casas wrote from
on the island as "clerigo" of the party of occupation under
his two years' experience (I5II-I5I3)
Velazquez.
2 Alexander de Humboldt:
Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New
Continent, during the Years I799-I804,
by Alexander de Humboldt, and Aime Bonpland, written in
French by Alexander de Humboldt, and translated into English by Helen Maria Williams, 7 vols.
Vol. 7, p. 6i.
(in 8), London, I8I8-I829,
3 Censo de la Republica de Cuba, aiio de I919,
p. 65. "The whole island was an immense forest
in the epoch of the discovery."
4 Historia fisica, politica y natural de la isla de Cuba, Vol. I3, Suplemento a la secci6n econ6micopolitica, Paris, i86i, pp. 5o5-I.
VEGETATION OF CUBA
377
In Cuba the process of settlement is relativelyrecent and tractsof the
original vegetation have been preserved;hence the method of field observation can be used. In Europe, on the other hand, one has to rely on indirect
evidence, such as place names, size and site of settlement, archeological
data,and descriptionsof ancienttravelers.However, if the Germanmethod
of Urlandschaftsforschung
is applicableat all in a Hispanic-Americancountry,
it should work even without field study. Thus I am encouragedto present
the results of a preliminarylibrary investigation.My personalknowledge
of Cuba is limited to the westernpartof HabanaProvince,which I visited
briefly in I938; I plan to check the present conclusions by work in the
field as soon as opportunitypermits.
THE SOURCES USED
Fortunatelyfor my purpose, there exists a large-scalemap of Cuba that
shows not only many placenamesbut also suchtypes of vegetationas woods
andopencountry.Thisis the "MilitaryMapof CubaI906-I908" (referred
to hereinafteras the Military Map), on the scale of i :62,500, publishedby
the United StatesWar Departmentin 70 sheets,each comprisinga quarter
of a squaredegree. It was desired"to obtain as much information as possible which will be permanentlyof value from a military standpoint";5thus
the vegetation cover-thick woods, thin woods, brush, open country,
swamps, and cultivatedland-was mappedin detail, with resultsof incomparablevalue.
In I9II the War Departmentpublisheda map of Cuba on the scale of
I : 6oo,ooo with quadrilaterals
correspondingto the sheets of the Military
Map. Also on the basisof the MilitaryMap,and on the scale of i :6oo,ooo,
is the map "The Forest Regions of Cuba" which accompaniesa report on
the forest resourcesby Georgia E. Wharton (U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, I919). Although it makes no distinction between
types of forest, it neverthelessgives a clear picture of the forestedarea for
the period. These two maps, adjustedto the Santiagode Cuba and Habana
sheets of the American GeographicalSociety's Millionth Map of Hispanic
America, have provided the base for my vegetation map, Plate I, facing
page 394.
5 An account of the construction of the map is given in J. L. Schley: The Reconnaissance Map of
Cuba 1906-7, U. S. Army Engineer School Occasional Paper No. 30, I908.
The Military Map I906-I908
is the basis of the "Carta militar de la Republica de Cuba," on the
same scale, which, since I925, has been currently brought up to date.
378
THE GEOGRAPHICAL
REVIEW
Especiallyimportantfor my investigationwere the works of two Cuban
geographers.EstebanPichardo,to whom we are indebtedfor the firstlargescale map of Cuba (22 sheetswere publishedbetween I840 and I874), was
the author of a comprehensive"Geografiade la isla de Cuba." The work
was planned to appearin more than 30 volumes or parts,6but only four
partshave been published(Habana,I 854-I 855). Parts3 and 4 are extremely
importantfor the historicalgeographyof westernCuba. In the "Diccionario
provincial casi-razonado de vozes Cubanas" (3rd edit., Habana, i862)
Pichardo explains the meanings of place names with regardto the original
vegetation. In i863 the first three volumes of the "Diccionariogeografico,
estadistico,hist6ricode la isla de Cuba" of Jacobo de la Pezuelamade their
appearance,and in i 866 the fourth and final volume was published.Despite
the differencein treatment,it may be considereda welcome continuationof
Pichardo'sincomplete work. Here also much attention is paid to the distribution of sabanasand woods.
The American botanistCharlesWright studiedthe floraof Cuba during
his explorationsfrom i856 to i867, but, unfortunately,this famous plant
collectorpaid little or no attentionto the exact locationsof plants. Of much
greater value are the collections made in Cuba from I903 to I923 by various
botanistsof the New York BotanicalGardenand describedin the Garden's
Journal.
In I926 the Cuban botanistBrotherLeon7gave an interestingresumeof
our knowledge of the flora and vegetation of the island;later8he presented
a classificationof the vegetation formations;and now, in collaborationwith
Brother Marie-Victorinof the University of Montreal, he is at work on
"Itinerairesbotaniquesdans l'ile de Cuba," a series of great promise, the
first volume of which appearedin I942.9
Finally, there is a work that has not been sufficientlyappreciatedby
geographers,Bennett and Allison's "The Soils of Cuba,"'0in which much
attentionis paid to vegetation, its relationto soil conditions,its geographical
distribution, and the division of the island into natural regions. Turning
6 Salvador Massip: Esteban Pichardo, Rev. Soc. Geogr. de Ctiba, Vol. I4, No. 2, I94I,
pp. 24-43;
reference on p. 28.
7 Cuba, in Naturalist's Guide to the Americas, prepared by [a committee of] the Ecological Society
of America, edited by V. E. Shelford and others, Baltimore, I926, pp. 682-694.
8 Flora de Cuba, intLibro de la cultura, Barcelona, I936, Vol. 5, I, pp. 89-I02.
9 Contribs. l'Inst. Botani. de l'Univ. de Montre'alNo. 41.
H. H. Bennett and R. V. Allison: The Soils of Cuba, Tropical Plant Research Foundation,
Washington, I928; with separate "Soil Map of Cuba," I: 800,000.
See also H. H. Bennett: Some
Geographic Aspects of Cuban Soils, Geogr. Rev., Vol. I8, I928, pp. 62-82; with insert map, i: 3,400,000.
IO
VEGETATION OF CUBA
379
now to the classificationof the vegetation formationsof Cuba, I shallbegin
with the sabana,of prime interestfor our purpose.
THE SABANAS
Hettner," writing on sabanas,says:"The Spanishword sabana,meaning
tablecloth, originally connoted only the surface of a plain. As the latter,
however, attains its characteristicappearanceonly if trees are scarce, the
word has received its well known meaning."This derivationhas been generally accepted. According to the Encyclopxdia Britannica (i ith edit.),
for instance,"savannaor savannah(Span.savana,a sheet, . . . a linen cloth)
[is] a term appliedeither to a plain covered with snow or ice, or, more generally, to a treelessplain." But, as I have already said, another definition
came to my attention-in a quotation by Carl Troll"2from the "Enciclopedia universal ilustrada" (I929).
This Spanish encyclopedia derives
"savanna"from a Carib word meaning "plain without trees, especially if
it is extensive."This is the derivation given and explainedby the Oxford
English Dictionary.
If "savanna"is derived from an aboriginal word, sabanas must have
been a featureof the pre-Columbianlandscapeand not a subsequent,manmade formation, as some botanists and geographersbelieve. After considerableresearchI arrivedat the conclusionthat the present-day"savanna"
is of native West Indian origin. The word was formerly written iabanaor
zabana, with the stress on the second syllable. For example, Las Casas,'3
describingHiguey in Haiti, says: "This province has two parts, one with
plains,which the Indianscall gabanas,
full of beautifulgrass."He repeatedly
explainsthat the stressis on the second syllable.
However, as early as the sixteenth century the letter s was substituted
for the g and the letter v for the b. Oviedo,'4 for example, writes: "This
name savanais applied by the Indiansto all terrainwithout trees, but with
much tall grass,or low." Laterthe spelling"savanna"or even "savannah"was
used, but always with the stresson the second syllable. The Spanishword
sabana,meaning "sheet,"on the contrary,has the stresson the firstsyllable.
-Alfred
Hettner: Vergleichende Landerkunde, 4 vols., Leipzig and Berlin, I933-I935,
Vol. 4,
p. 8o, footnote i.
I2 Termiten-Savannen,
iu Landerkundliche Forschung: Festschrift zur Vollendung des sechzigsten
Lebensjahres Norbert Krebs, Stuttgart, 1936, pp. 275-312,
reference on P. 275, footnote 2.
3 Op. cit., Vol. 5, p. 258.
I4 G. F. de Oviedo
y Valdes: Historia general y natural de las Indias, edited by Jose Amador de
los Rios, 4 vols., Madrid, I85I-i855,
Vol. I, pp. I44 and I83. Vol. I (i.e. Part I) was published for
the first time in
I535.
3 8o
THE GEOGRAPHICAL
REVIEW
It is understandablethat non-Spaniardsmade the mistake of confounding
the Indian sabanawith the Spanish sabanaand of transferringthe actual
sense of the former in a metaphoricalmannerto the latter. But even Spaniards made the same mistake,as is shown by the very common application
of the term sabanilla(small sabana)to a small sabana.
Another question now arises:What is meant by a "treelessplain" as
used by the first explorers?Does it mean the complete absence of tree or
shrub?Or is sabanaused only in contrastwith forest land?
Oviedo distinguishesbetween three types of gold mines in Haiti. One
(woodland on mountainsand
type is found on sabanas,anotherin arcabuco
plains), and the third in rivers. Here we have the clear antithesisof woodland to sabanas.Thus we may assumethat the primarymeaning of the term
sabanais indeed the reverseof "forestland."
The use of the term sabanaby Cuban scientistsconfirmsthis conception.
According to Pichardo (Diccionario), the Indian word sabanameans an
"extensive plain without trees." Some, indeed, are so extensive that they
reach the horizon. If less extensive, they are called sabanillasor sabanitas
(Spanishdiminutives); if smaller, sabanazos(Indian?);and if still smaller,
sabaneton(Indian?).
Of the I69 placenamesof the map (PlateI and key), 5i aresabananames;
26 are sabanillanames; 4, sabanitanames; 2, sabanazonames; i, sabaneton
name.
The vegetation'5 of these sabanas,according to Pichardo, consists of
espartilloor wire grass (Sporobolusindicus);yabunas(Zamiasp.), a xeromorphic cycad with tuberousroots; some guanos, palms with flabellateleaves;
a shrub, hardly I2 feet high, covered with
yamagueyes(Belairiamucronata),
thorns; and peralejos(Byrsonimacrassifolia),a many-branchedshrub with
leaves coated with downy hairs. Other xeromorphic, small-leafed shrubs
are maboade sabana(Camerariaretusa),Brya ebenus,and Erythroxylumrotundifolium.
Typical sabanapalms are palma cana (Sabal mexicana),jata (Copernicia
yarey (C. yarey), and, in Pinar del Rio
hospita),palmajata (C. macroglossa),
or bottle palm (ColProvince and the Isle of Pines only, palma barrigona
wrightii). According to Bennett, the designation
pothrinax [Pritchardia]
sabanain Cuba refersespeciallyto land with palma cana.
15 Popularand scientificnamesused in this paperare basedon the "Diccionariobotanico de nombres
AgronomicaBol. No. 54, Santiago de
vulgares cubanos" by J. T. Roig y Mesa, EstacionExrperimental
las Vegas, Habana,I928.
VEGETATION OF CUBA
38I
On the Isle of Pines and in Pinar del Rio Province, scatteredpine trees
are, or at least were formerly, found among the palm trees of the sabanas.
This type of sabanamay be designated "palm-pine tree sabana."Other
sabanasconsist only of coarse grass and low bushes; for instance, in the
northernpart of the peninsulaof Cape Cruz.
It is clear, then, that the term sabanain Cuba refers not to one plant
associationof an open characterbut to various such associations.MarieVictorin and Leon distinguishednine types of sabanason the Isle of Pines,
showing all stages of transition from a plain associationof grasses and
sedgesto grasslandwith shrubsand low treesto an associationof tall palms,
pine trees, and low shrubson a cover of grass.
For our purpose,however, it is sufficientto define the Cuban sabanasas
open country, composed of grassesand sedges with scatteredlow shrubs,
palms, and, in some areas,pine trees.
These sabanasdo not show the luxuriantvegetation one would expect
in a tropicalcountry. The Camagiiey sabana,the most famous of all Cuban
sabanas,is dry and waterless during most of the year, and palms, hardleafed shrubs,and meager grasseke out a precariousexistence. In the rainy
season small herbaceousplants carpet the ground; in the dry season the
sabanahas a desertlikeappearance."Small wonder, that one may go for
miles, without encountering a living soul, or a single dwelling to disturb
the magnificentwildness of this savannah."'6
If we try to apply the modern phytogeographicalterminology to these
Cuban sabanas,we realize at once that they are not the true "savanna"of
tall grass and isolated broad-leafedtrees with evergreen hardwood forests
along the permanentstreams.They resemble,rather,xeromorphicscrubor
thorn-shrubsteppe. This conception is confirmed by travelerswho compare the Cuban sabanaswith the MediterraneanmaquisI7 or the South
African veld.'8 The pine sabanasof the Isle of Pines are even designated
malpaisor "badlands."To avoid confusion, I shall use only the old Indian
name sabanafor the naturalgrasslandvegetation of Cuba.
According to Bennett, the sabanashave in the past been scrupulously
avoided for agriculture,and even now the same attitudeis generallyprevaH. J. MacGillavry: Geology of the Province of Camaguey, Cuba,Geogr. eniGeol. Mededeelingetn,
pp. I5-i6.
I7 C. J. Rutten Pekelharing: Botanische en plantengeografische
indrukken in Cuba, Tijdschr. Koni.
NJederl.Aardriksk. Genootschap, Ser. 2, Vol. 50, I933, pp. 930-945;
reference on p. 942.
i8 A. G. Robinson: Cuba,
Old and New, New York, London, etc., I9I5, p. I09.
x6
Physiogr.-Geol.ReeksNo. 14, Rijksuniversiteitte Utrecht, I937,
3 82
THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
lent. Thus it seems that human influencehas had relatively little effect on
the original characterof the Cuban sabanas.
PARKLAND
A sabanathat is confined by gallery forestsalong the rivers is called ceja
(Spanish,eyebrow).I9A sabanathat is surroundedby forestsand is unconnected or only narrowly connectedwith other sabanasis called ciego (Spanish, blind). Examples are shown in Figure i, a to g. A small isolatedpatch
of wood and thicket in the midst of a sabanais sao, an Indianterm. Pichardo
calls the saos "the oases of Cuba." Palms such as yarey and palma cana
togetherwith a hardwoodtree,guayacan(Guaiacum officinale),arethe main
vegetation of the saos.
The Spanishcayo, "islet," is also often applied to small isolated forested
areas;for example, in the Cienaga de Zapata.In the hardwood forestland,
however, which extends south of the Cienaga,we find cayo appliedto small
isolatedclearings(Fig. ia).
Of the I69 place names of the map, 3I are ciego names; 7, sao names;
6, cayo names; 4, ceja names. These place names indicate two different
types of vegetation: small spots of natural grasslandor glades scattered
through the hardwood forests; and areaswhere the spots of naturalopen
country are so numerous that they touch and form a landscapein which
patches of hardwood alternatewith patches of grassland.The latter type
has been designatedby Bennett "semisavana"or "mixed savanaand hardwood." As the aspect of the landscapeis parklike,I preferthe term "parkland."
It is not always easy to make a distinction between naturaland manmade parkland.On the Military Map a hardwood forest with many manmade clearingslooks exactly like naturalparkland.Forexample,the northern
partsof sheets33 and 58 show the same alternationof hardwood forest and
open country that is found in the true parklandareasof sheets 48 and 49,
but the clearingsare man-made.In such casesthe place names may afforda
criterion.Of the 3I ciego namesshown on the map, 28 occur in areaswhose
vegetation must be classifiedas parklandaccording to soil conditions and
the aspect of the landscape.Figure ib is illustrative.Sheet 35, on the other
hand, shows no place names indicative of the nature of the clearings;but
this region, becauseof its vegetation and soil, has been classifiedby Bennett
and Allison as a "mixed savanaand hardwood area."
i9 Antonio Perpinia':El Camagiuey, Barcelona, I889, p. 36I.
383
VEGETATION OF CUBA
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THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
384
is clearly revealedwhen one compares the parklandsof Santa Clara2'and
Camagiiey Provinces on the Military Map. At the time of the reconnaissance not only hardwood forests but also parklandswere relatively little
disturbedby man over large parts of Camagiiey. The parklandbelt that
extends across the province from coast to coast in an east-west direction
shows large tractsof woodland intermingledwith even largertractsof open
country, some of which are entirely isolated (see sheets 48 and 49). The
ratio of woodland to grasslandis about I to 2. Santa Clara Province then
had a much larger population than Camagiuey,and density of population
decreasedfrom west to east. Consequently,in the easternpart of the province the former parklandcharacteris still recognizableon the southernpart
of sheet 33 and the northern part of sheet 34. In the western part of the
province, however, very little woodland had been preserved, and only
ciego names and soil conditions reveal the former parklandcharacteron
sheets 28 and
3I.
SMALL, SCATTERED CLEARINGS IN HARDWOOD FOREST
Large sabanas were so distinctive a feature of the original landscape of
Cuba that much information on them is found in the literature. It is quite
otherwise with the many small sabanas scattered through the hardwood
forestlands. Many of them, it is true, are mentioned in Pezuela's "Diccionario geografico," but descriptions are vague as regards size, shape, and
location. Here again the Military Map proves its value. Because of its purpose, particular attention was paid to these small spots of open country.
Not only were they carefully surveyed, but various pertinent remarks, on
categories of camp sites, water conditions, grazing opportunities, and the
like, were noted on the map. Some of the clearings are nameless; others
show one, two, or even three names.
Some of the place names are indicative of the size of the clearing. Sabaneton de Satirio (42 on sheet 26) is a circular clearing of about 0.5 square
kilometer (Fig. id); Sao de Corojo (1 24, sheet 49) has an area of about I.2
square kilometers; Sabanilla (153), about 3.5 square kilometers; Sabana
Jibaro (142), about i6 square kilometers. In other names, however, there is
no such connection between area and name.
Here again distinction must be made between natural and man-made
clearings. The most obvious assumption, that all clearings which have
sabana, sabanilla, ciego, etc. names are natural openings and others are man21
The name of the province was changed from Santa Clara to Las Villas in
I940.
VEGETATION OF CUBA
385
made, does not take two circumstancesinto consideration.The names applied by the Spaniardsdo not refer to the original landscapebut only to
the landscapeof the early sixteenthcentury. It is possiblethat a study of the
Indian place names of many of the clearings,especially on sheets 54, 57,
and 58, would give some information on an older stage, perhapseven on
the original landscape;this calls for linguisticstudy, however.
Furthermore,the place name Sabanawas appliedby the Spaniardsfrom
the very beginning not only to clearingsbut also to the cattle rangesestablished on them.22This is the reasonwhy a family name is so often coupled
with a sabananame; for example, Sabanade Mateo Sanchez,SabanaDiego.
These sabananames had to be eliminatedfor my purpose. Only seven appear on the map, and these for special reasons. Even the remaining 44
sabananames that I have used are, to some degree, suspect.
The situationis quite differentwith regardto such place names as Sabanilla, Sabanita,Sao, and Ciego. These namesare very rarelyassociatedwith
a personalname, and, as a rule, they indicate a naturalclearing, or at least
an Indianclearing,in existence in pre-Columbiantimes.
Another featurethat distinguishesa naturalor old Indianclearingfrom
a Spanishclearingis the location of the settlement.Many settlementswith
sabanillaor ciego names are located on the edge of a clearing;for example,
Sabanilla(1 17) and Ciego-Yamagual(1 18), shown on Figure ib, and
Sabanilla(153) and SabanaJibaro(142), shown on Figure id. Where a place
name does not have this significance,the settlementis generallynot on the
edge but in the midst of the clearing.Figureie gives severalexamples.Figure if also shows settlementswith Spanishnames located in the midst of
clearings,and in this instancethe namesbetray the origin of the clearings:
SabanaNueva, "new sabana,"and El Quemado, a place where the woods
have been burned.
A thirdcriterionof the natureof a small clearingis the soil. Soils derived
from serpentineor sandstone(Habanasoil of Bennett), in particular,support
a grassyvegetation. In easternmostCuba, south of Baracoa,the place name
Sabanilla(1 67) is found in a hilly region of serpentinerocks. Sabanilla(153)
west of the Nipe Mountainsis a clearing on a large body of intrusiveserpentine; east of these mountains another clearing carriesthe names Loma
SabanaGrande(157) and Sabanilla(158).
In the midst of the former hardwood forest of the Bayamo region are
Sabanilla(143) and SabanaGrandede Caureje(144). According to Perpifia,
22
Pichardo, Geografia de la isla de Cuba, Vol. 3, p. I 5.
THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
386
the second sabanais io kilometers by 4 kilometers. Bennett and Allison's
soil map gives no indicationof locally unfavorablesoil, but in the text they
speak (p. 214) of an extraordinarilytough and impervioussoil with a sabana
vegetation that occurs in this region. Hence SabanaGrandede Caurejeis
designatedas naturallyopen country.
A circularoutcrop of serpentinearoundthe city of Ciego de Avila (84)
is indicative of the naturalcharacterof this ciego. Sabanillade Palma (40)
is located on a small outcrop of serpentinenear Marti, southeastof Bahia
de Cardenas.
On the southern rim of the Sierra de los Organos in Pinar del Rio
Province, Sabanillaoccurs (8) in an areawhere the geological map shows a
small outcrop of serpentineand the Military Map hardwood forest.
Soil conditions indicate that formerly a number of ratherlarge natural
openings existed in the hardwood forest of the northernpart of Matanzas
and HabanaProvinces.On the east end of a large intrusionof serpentinein
MatanzasProvince are the place names Ciego (38), Corral SabanillaVivos
y Muertos(37), and Sabanazo(36); on the west end is Pueblo Sabanilla(32).
Apparently the entire serpentinearea included between these places must
be considerednaturallyopen country.
A long and narrow serpentineintrusionfrom Minas and Guanabowestward to the harbor of Habana carriesa typical sabanapalm, jata, but no
sabananame is found on the map. There is, however, the name Habanaor
Havana, city and state. What does it mean?
THE NAME HABANA
Habana is the name of an Indian province more or less conterminous
with the present province of Habana.23According to Sven Loven,24the
name was appliedto a naturalratherthan a political division. The Spaniards
establishedtheir first settlement in the province on the south coast, either
near Bataban6 or at the mouth of the Giiines River (Rio Mayabeque).25
Here, onJuly 25, I5I5, "la villa de San Crist6bal"was founded by Diego
Velazquez. Because of the plague of mosquitoes on this site and the discovery of Mexico, the settlement was transferredin 15I9 to its present
location on the north coast as "San Crist6balde la Habana."The original
de la isla de Cuba, Habana,
[on cover:
23
R. V. Rousset: Datos hist6ricos y geotopograficos
24
Origins of the Tainan Culture, West Indies, Goteborg, 193 5, p. 83, footnote 3.
M. de la Torre: Lo que fuimos y lo que somos, o La Habana antigua y moderna, Habana,
I9I4
I9I5]-
25J.
I857,
p. 5.
VEGETATION OF CUBA
387
name of this place, given by Sebastiande Ocampo in I508, was Carenas,
''careeningplace," indicating a good harbor and wood for ship repairs.
Later the "San Crist6bal"was dropped and the name became simply La
Habana.
However, we speak not only of La Habanabut of Havana, Havanna,
and even Havannah.In other words, the same confusion exists in regardto
Habana that is found in regard to "sabana."This suggests that the names
Sabanaand Habana were originally identical. Elisee Reclus, indeed, says
that this is so.26 Sven Loven has expressed his opinion that the name Habana
is nothing more than the Haitiansabana,since h and s are interchangeablein
the Tainanlanguage.The probabilityis that Habanawas a province in which
sabanaswere found. The northernpart of the presentprovince of Matanzas
is identical with the ancient Indian caciqueship "Sabaneque,"and the
archipelagoof small islandsthat stretchesfrom Cardenasto Guajabois even
today called "the archipelagoof Sabanaand Camaguiey."
The fact that two provinceswere named Sabanaand Sabanequeby the
Indians does not necessarilymean that naturalsabanaswere prevalent or
even widespread.On the contrary! It is ancient wisdom that not the rule
but the exception impressesthe human mind. Place names in the old provinces of Cuba in which the largestsabanaareasoccurred,Cubanacan(Santa
Clara)and Camagiiey, show no connection with naturalsabanavegetation.
In Sabanaand SabanequeProvinces,on the other hand, forest was the main
vegetation cover; and where sabanaswere infrequentenough to attractthe
attention, they appearin the nomenclatureof the region.
It is significantthat the capital of HabanaProvince received the name
Sabanaor Habanaonly after it had been transferredto the north coast. The
conclusion that sabanaswere found mainly in the northern part of the
provincesof Habanaand Matanzasis strongly confirmed by soil conditions
and place names.
THE PINE FORESTS
Unfortunately,the MilitaryMap does not distinguishbetweenhardwood
and pine forests.However, place names such as Pinal, Pinar, Pino, and Los
Pinos testify to the occurrenceand former distributionof pines throughout
the island.Of the I69 place names on the map, 2I refer to pine trees.
Pine forestsare now found in two widely separatedparts of Cuba: on
the Isle of Pines and in the piedmont belt of the Sierrade los Organos in
26
Nouvelle ge6ographie universelle, Vol.
I7,
Paris, I89I, p. 682.
3 88
THE GEOGRAPHICAL
REVIEW
Pinar del Rio Province and on high mountainsof easternCuba, especially
the Nipe Mountains (sheets 6i and 62). The pines27are scatteredover a
carpetof grass.As a rule the treesare small and hard, stuntedby a combination of adversities,including poor soil and frequent fires. Low shrubs of
many of the speciescharacteristicof the sabanas-palmetto, for examplegrow between the pines. Oaks (Quercus virginiana?)grow on the piedmont
belt of the Sierrade los Organos.
Scatteredpines were formerly found also on the sabanasof the coastal
plain of the Isle of Pines and Pinardel Rio Province. The place names bear
witness: SabanaPinal Alto (6), Pinar del Rio (7), SantaCruz de los Pinos
(1o), Sabanade los Pinos (11), and Pinal de la Catalina (13). Pichardo2"
refers to "ten sabanas with pine trees and one without pines" in
the district of San Juan y Martinez. Since that time (I854), most of the
pines along the roadsand railroadhave disappeared,and only in the remoter
parts do any considerablestandsremain. Brother Leon was certainlyright
when he wrote: "The chief modificationof the savannaregion [of Pinardel
Rio Province] is the extinction of the pines, which, possibly,were growing
formerly up to the limit of Havanaprovince.'29
Nothing is said in Cuban literature,so far as I know, of the occurrence
of pines in HabanaProvince. But, again, place names tell a differentstory.
The MilitaryMap shows only one place name indicatingthe former occurrence of pine in Habana Province-Pedro Pino (21). Many more names,
however, are found on a map of HabanaProvinceon the scaleof I: 109,300
publishedby the AdjutantGeneral'sOffice in I898: El Pino (17), northeast
of Guanabacoa;Los Pinos (18), south of Guanabacoa;Pinar (19), near
Arroyo Naranjo;Pedro Pino (21), near Sabanilla(20); Pinos (22), north of
Managua;Pinales (23), between Managuaand Santiagode las Vegas (this
name was changedon latermaps to Piniales,"pineapplegroves":apparently
the compiler of the map could not believe that pines were found in this
area); Los Pinos (24), north of La Salud; Pinarde Cazaz6n(25), east of La
Salud; Los Pinos (26), south of San Antonio de las Vegas; Los Pinos (28),
south-east of Melena del Sur; Arroyo de los Pinos (31), within the Sabana de Robles (30).
Locations17 and 18 are nearthe long, narrowstripof serpentinethat runs
27Pinus ciibensis and P. occidenitalisare found in eastern Cuba, P. tropicalis and P. caribaeain western
Cuba.
28
29
Geografia de la isla de Cuba, Vol. 3, p. 95.
Cuba, p. 685.
VEGETATION OF CUBA
389
from Minas westward to the harbor of Habana. Similarly,names 19, 21,
22, 23, and 31 pertain to localities on such relatively infertile soils as the
Habanaseriesandthe Mc type of the Matanzasseries.However, locations24,
25, 26, and 28 are found on Matanzasred clay, the most fertile soil of Cuba.
These placesmay be near arroyoswith sandysoils or on locally stony areas.
Field investigation is needed here.
The maps do not show any place namesconnectedwith pines in Matanzas. Such names may, however, occur in the northernpart of the province;
and here again field researchmight be fruitful.
In Santa Clara Province prehistoricexistence of pines is proved by the
finding of pine cones, together with fossilsof Megalocnusrodens.30Thatpines
grew there up to the time when the Spaniardsarrivedis evidenced by the
two place names Pino (53), in the southeasternpart of Santo Domingo
Sabana,and Arroyo de los Pinos (55), southeastof Cruces.
In Camagiiey Province the place-nameevidence again is negative, but
in my opinion this only means that pines had already disappearedwhen
the Spaniardsarrived.As Camagiiey was much more densely settled by
Indiansthan Santa Clara or Matanzasand HabanaProvinces, it is possible
that the Indiansearly destroyedthe scatteredpines of the serpentinesabanas,
either by fire or by cutting down the trees for their soft timber.
It should not be overlooked that pine sabanasare not a peculiarfeature
of Cuba but occur also in other partsof the Caribbean.In BritishHonduras
pine sabanasare called "pine ridges" (the term "ridge" implies a vegetation belt and has no connectionwith topography).Pines (Pinus caribaea)and
live oaks are the characteristictrees of the pine ridges.The ground between
the scatteredtrees is carpetedwith grass;and where grassis dominant, the
land is called "dry savana."3'The coarse grass is subject to annual fires.
Pine ridgesoccur in two areaswith sandysoils: on the elevatedcoastalplain
where a ferruginoushardpanforms the subsoil,and in the Maya Mountains
where the granitesand siliceousslatesare cappedwith sand.
In SpanishHondurassimilarpine ridges occur southeastof the Plantain
River. "These savanas.. . are undulatingplains of yellowish-red clay with
pebbles of pure-white quartz (in places whole beds of them); in places a
peaty soil supports tough grass, squat oaks, . . . and, especially, the pines
(Pinus tenuifolia). . . . Next to the pine the most conspicuoustree on the
30
3I
Leon, Cuba, p. 690.
D. Stevenson: Types of Forest Growth in British Honduras, Tropical Woods, No. I4, Yale
University School of Forestry,I928,
p. 21.
390
THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
savanasis the squatpalmetto (Sabalsp.),...
which is confined to the humid
depressions."32
A similar association of pine trees (Pinus caribaea),palmetto (Serenoa
serrulata),and coarsegrassis found in the "pine barrens"of the peninsulaof
Florida.
There seems to be no doubt that pines formerly grew throughout Cuba
from east to west on the poorer soils, especiallyon serpentinesabanas.
HARDWOOD
FORESTS
Although the floristiccharacterof the hardwood forestsof Cuba is well
known, relativelylittle has been written on what I might call their "spatial
and physical character";namely height, density, mass, and seasonalaspect
of the vegetation. The Military Map, it is true, makes the distinction of
thick woods, thin woods, and brush. Thin woods and brush, however,
seldom occur on the map, and, furthermore, the symbols used are not
readily distinguishable.
Of some value as clues are the term montebajo,"low forest,"and certain
corresponding (Indian?) terms. In western Cuba a low forest is called
maniguaif it occurs on limestone and cuabalif on serpentine.The corresponding term for cuabalin easternCuba is charrascal.
Unfortunatelythese
terms are not found as place names on the MilitaryMap.
Many names, however, refer to characteristichardwood trees, such as
Ceiba or Seiba (Ceibapentandra),Los Cedros (Cedrelaodorata),Guayacan
But these names,
(Guaiacumofficinale),and Guasimal(Guazumatomentosa).
index
to
the
a
as
be
taken
as
clear
interesting they are, cannot
physicalcharacter of the forests. Geographicallythe most important phenomenon of a
hardwood forest is its foliage, whether deciduous or evergreen. With it is
correlatednot only the density of the canopy but also the growth and kind
of underwood and ground cover. According to Leon,33the Swedishbotanist
Erik Ekman, who studiedCuban plantsfor many yearsin the field, was of
the opinion that "true tropical rain forest does not exist in Cuba, except,
may be, in the Baracoaregion [easternCuba], where one tree of the Brazil
rain forest is growing, Carapaguianensis."Does this mean that Cuban hardwood forestsare as a rule not evergreenbut deciduous?
True deciduous forests, ratheropen and with a grass carpet,have been
32
V. W. von Hagen: The Mosquito Coast of Honduras and Its Inhabitants, Geogr. Rev., Vol. 30,
pp. 238-259;
I940,
33
reference
Cuba, P. 684.
on P. 246.
VEGETATION OF CUBA
39I
describedfor very few regionsof Cuba:leewardslopesof the high mountainsof the east,andthe Sierrade las Cubitasin CamagiieyProvince.
It is my opinionthatthe extensivehardwoodforestsof the Cubanlowlandsshouldbe classifiedas "semideciduous,"
meaningthatsome,but not
of
trees
their
the
lose
leaves
in thedryseason.Theseforestsarelessdense
all,
and less imposingthan the evergreenhardwoodforestsbut denserand
tallerthanthe deciduousforests.The most importantdifferencefrom the
latter,however,is the absenceof a grassgroundcover.
Finally,therearethe so-called"dryforests,"whicharealsodeciduous;
but the treesare low, gnarled,and low-branching,many of them have
thornsor thornlikebranches,
andthe grasscoveris moreor lesscontinuous.
At the presentstageof our knowledgeit is impossibleto give a clear
pictureof the distributionof thesevarioustypesof hardwoodforest.Nor
do we know enoughto mapthe areasof second-growth
forestsin Cuba.
CACTI-THORNSHRUB FORMATION
A vegetationof thornyshrubsandtallcactioccursalongthe southcoast
and on the lower foothillsof the highestmountainsof Cuba,the SaguaBaracoamountains,the SierraMaestra,and the Sierrade Trinidad.In
placescacti,20 to 40 feet high, aredenseenoughto form veritableforests.
In arealextent,however,thisdesertlikeformationis very small.34
COAST VEGETATION
A ratherxerophilousvegetationof shrubs,palmetto, and columnar
cactusis also foundon the rockycoastsand the higherpartsof the many
smallfringingislandsor cays.The caysalsoshow occasionalsmallareasof
woodlandintermingledwith palmettosabanas.35
This almostundisturbed
strandandlittoralvegetationis muchthe samethroughoutthe WestIndies.
However, the coastalswampsextendingalong both coastsof the main
islandarean importantfeatureof the Cubanlandscape.
ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS
Lack of spaceforbidsthe discussionof ecologicalconditionsin any
detail,but it may be saidthatthe distribution
of the vegetationformations
of Cubabearssurprisingly
little relationto climate,especiallyrainfall,except in the mountains.It is truethatthe networkof meteorological
stations
An excellent description of this type of vegetation is given by Marie-Victorin and L'on.
35J. C. T. Uphof: Vegetationsbilder von Cuba, Vegetationsbilder,Ser. I 8, No. 5, Jena, 1928.
34
THE GEOGRAPHICAL
392
REVIEW
is insufficientto permit any final conclusionsfrom the records,but Table I
is illustrative.In contrastwith what one would expect, the highest rainfall
is found in the sabanas,the lowest in the parklandsand hardwood forests.
TABLE I-RAINFALL
STATION
AND NATURAL VEGETATION
VEGETATION
ANNUAL RAINFALL (Ins.)
A*
Pinar del Rio city
Pine sabana
6i.78
Habanacity
Ciegode Avila
Hardwoodforest
Parkland
43.00
47-99
Camagiiey city
Sabana
56.07
DRY MONTHSt
Bt
6
5
59.75
48.28
6
4
56.07
* 0. L. Fassig: Rainfall and Temperature of Cuba, Tropical Plant Research Fotndation Bull. NVo.1,
1925,
p.
17.
t T. W. Chamberlin:Rainfall Maps of Cuba, Monthly Weather Rev., Vol. 68,
I940,
pp.
4-I0,
referenceon p. 6.
t Number of months with less than 3 inches of rain.
Soil is the determining factor in the formation and distributionof the
vegetation of the lowlands of Cuba. This has been proved unmistakablyby
Bennett and Allison. Furthermore,a comparisonof their soil map with the
geological map now available36proves that the soils are primarilyinfluenced
by the rock formationsand structure.
In sum, we may make the following statements:
The fertile and friable red clays on Tertiarylimestonessupport (semideciduous?)hardwood forests.
The rathershallow, locally gravelly and stony Habanaclays on EoceneOligocene and Upper Cretaceous sediments support a rather open hardwood forest intermingledwith areasof naturalopen country.
The plastic clays on Quaternarysediments,if they are not too shallow
and stiff, supportsemideciduousor deciduoushardwood forests;if they are
very shallow and stiff, they supportsabanasand parklands.
The Eocene and Oligocene sandstonesof Pinardel Rio Province and the
Isle of Pines, with their sandy and gravelly soils, support pine sabanasin
the coastal plains and pine forests in the piedmont belt that surroundsthe
higher mountains.
Serpentine soils support sabanason flat lowlands, parklandson rather
hilly and rolling country, and pine forests on the red iron-ore lands of the
36J. W. Lewis: Geology of Cuba, Bull. Amer. Assn. of Petroleum Geologists, Vol. i6, I932, pp. 533is dated 193 I. A simplified version on the scale of I : 2,200,000
555. The map, I : I,ooo,ooo,
appears in Charles Schuchert: Historical Geology of the Antillean-Caribbean Region, New York
and London, I935, facing p. 494.
VEGETATION OF CUBA
393
high mountains. The widespreadoccurrenceof intrusive serpentinesis of
the greatestimportance:it distinguishesCuba from the other GreaterAntilles.
As a rule, the sabanalands have at relatively shallow depths subsoils
composed of materialthat affectsthe soil moisture unfavorablyas regards
the growth of many plants, including most of the cultivatedones. Some of
these sabanasoils are shallow because the parent rocks have not decayed
deeply (serpentinesabanas).In otherplacesthe prevailinglyflattish,andoften
almost level, surfacemakes underdrainageinadequateand is the main cause
of the development of chalky and ferruginousconcretions(coastalsabanas
on Quaternary).
COMPILATION OF THE VEGETATION MAP
The map, Plate I, is a combinationof a vegetation map and a mapshowing certainstagesin the development of the culturallandscapeof Cuba.
The most importantfeature that I took over from the Military Map is
the distributionof hardwood forests.The map also indicatesthe former distribution of forests on the Habana-Matanzasred plains. We have clear
proof that these fertile plains formerly were completely forested.The area
of the Matanzasred clay on Bennett and Allison'ssoil map is thus indicated.
In eastern Cuba the areas left blank on the map evidently represent
man-made clearings in former hardwood forests. In central and western
Cuba they representareasthe vegetation of which could not be classified
exactly according to the Military Map or place names. Soil conditions,
however, indicate that here, too, the blank areas were originally covered
with hardwood forest.
For the mapping of the pine forests I had to rely on travelers'descriptions, place names, and soil conditions.
Alternation of hardwood lands and sabanalands on the Military Map
associatedwith place names such as Ciego and Cieguito and soil conditions
enabledme to delimit the parklandareas.Distinctionis made between areas
that still had a parklandcharacterin I906-I908 and areaswhere the original
parklandcharacterhad been destroyedby human influence.
The sabanaareasare taken from the MilitaryMap. Furthermore,with
the exception of the sabanaof the southernCamagiiey coastalplain and the
Guantanamosabana,they check with soil conditions.The former occurrence
of pine trees in the sabanavegetation of Pinardel Rio Province and the Isle
of Pines also is indicated.
Cacti-thornshrubformations were mapped according to travelers'de-
KEY TO PLACES ON THE VEGETATION MAP OF CUBA
The sheet number precedes the place number
La SabanaBlanca
Los Ciegos
3 Pinar Ciego
6
4 Ceja del Torro
5 Ceja Ana de Luna
6 Pinal Alto
7
7 Pinardel Rio
9 8 Sabanilla
9 Sabanadel Ciego
1o SantaCruz de los Pinos
1 Sabanade los Pinos
12 SabanaGrande
IO
13 Pinal de Catalina
13 14 Sabanade Guanacaje
15 Sabanalamar
16 Sabanadel Rosario
15
17 El Pino
i8 Los Pinos
19 Pinar
20 Sabanilla
21 Pedro Pino
i6 22 Pinos
23 Pinales
24 Los Pinos
25 Pinarde Cazazon
26 Los Pinos
27 La Sabana
28 Los Pinos
29 Sabanade Guarayuasi
I9
30 Sabanade Robles
31 Arroyo de los Pinos
32 Sabanilla(de Otero)
33 Sabanadel Ajicon
34 Sabanade Bagaez
35 SabanaGrande
22
36 Sabanazo
37 Corral Sabanillade
Vivos y Muertos
38 Ciego
24
39 SabanasAnegadizas
25 40 Sabanillade Palma
41 SabanaGrande
26
42 Sabanetonde Satirio
43 SabanaBonita
44 Cayo Palma
45 Cayo Ingles
27
46 Reyes Sabanilla
47 Sabanade Cafias
48 Hato Quemado de Giiines
49 Ciego Viamones
50 Sabanade Palma
51 Ciego de San Marcos
52 Quemado Hilaro
28 53 Pino
54 Ciego Montero
55 Arroyo de los Pinos
Alonso
3
4
58 Sabanilla
i
2
30
3I
59 Sabanade Guanabanabo
6o Sabanade Matezas
61 Quemado Grande
62 La Sabana
63 Cayo Obregon
Ceja de los Algodones
La Ceja
Quemado Grande
Colonia Quemados
32
68 Sabanilla
33 69 Sabanade Neiva
70 La Sabanitade Guayos
71 La Lita SabanaGrande
34 72 Sabanade las Minas
(Sancti Spiritus)
73 Sabanilla
74 Sabanillade Lara
64
65
66
67
48 113 ElCiegodeSantoDomingo
114 Sabanala Mar
115 Sabanilla
116 Sabanilla
48 117 Sabanilla
118 Ciego
119 Ciego
120 Ciego and Cieguita
121 Ciego Guaimaro
49 122 SabanaBurro
123 Ciego
124 Sao de Corojo
125 Las Ciegas
126 Sabanade Buena Ventura
127 Sabanala Mar
128 SabanaJobabe
50 129 SabanaLa Mar
130 SabanaGuayabal
131 Sabana Yuraguana
132 SabanaGrande
75 Quemadito de Ruiz
76 Ciego Caballo
77 Ciego abajo de Caballo
78 Quemado Grande
79 Ciego Majagua
8o Sabanade Silencio y
Corral del Mango
35 S81 SabanaGrande
82 Sabanadel Medio
36 83 Quemado Arriba
84 Ciego de Avila
85 Sabanala Mar
37 86 Ciego Moreno
38 87 Sao del Palma
88 Cayo del Toro
39 89 Sabanita
go Pueblo Nuevo 6 Quemado
91 Las Ciegas
92 La SabanaNueva
93 Los Cayos
94 Ciego de Magarabomba
95 Ciego Corojo
96 Ciego Grande
97 Ciego de Escobar
98 Sabanilla
40
99 El Ciego
loo Sabanilla
1ol Ciego de Guanausi
102 Sabanita
4I 103 Cieguito
104 Embargo de Sabanilla
42 105 Sabanala Gloria
10 6 Las Sabanasde Minas
43 107 Sabanilla
1o8 El Sao
1og Sabanilla,south of
Hato Sibanicu
0lo Ciego de Najasa
Sao las Bocas
SabanaLa Mar
La Cieguita
Sabanilla
Sabanita
Cayo Largo
Cieguito
Sabanoza
SabanaTranquera
SabanaCauto
142 SabanaJibaro
143 Sabanilla
144 SabanaGrandede Caureje
145 SabanaVenezuela
146 Ciegos
147 Sabanade Nagua
148 Sao Limpio
149 Sao Arriba
150 Sabanilla
151 Sabanilla
152 SabanaSalada
153 Sabanilla
154 Los Pinales
155 Arroyo del Pino
156 Pinal Colorado
157 Loma SabanaGrande
158 Sabanilla
159 Sabanilla
16o El Pinar
161 Rlo Sabana
162 SabanaAbajo
163 Sabanadel Vinculo
164 Sabanadel Mar
165 Sao Pepe
166 Sabanade Duaba
167 Sabanilla
168 Pueblo Sabana
Sabana
52 133
134
135
53 136
137
138
139
140
141
54
57
58
6i
62
64
65
68
70
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VEGETATION OF CUBA
395
scriptionsonly. The distributionof swamps follows the Military Map. The
coast and strand vegetation is not shown, since it has no relation to the
problem of the orginallandscape.
This map, the first detailedvegetation map of Cuba so far as I know, is
offeredas a firstessayonly. A greatdeal of work in the field and the archives
of Cuba lies before us, and it is a job that calls for cooperation by many
workers in botany, geography, geology, history, Indian linguistics,archeology, and the like. All I have tried to do here is to call attention to the
problems and thus make a contributionto their eventual solution.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION: THE ORIGINAL LANDSCAPE OF CUBA
The results of my studies on the original landscapeof Cuba are summarizedin the following arealfigures:
AREA
Sq. Km.
Hardwood forests
68,500
Pine forests
Parklands
I7,000
Sabanas
I3,000
Cacti-thornshrubformation
Swamps
Cays
Total area, including the
4,500
I,000
AREA
Sq. Km.
%
60
Forest
73,000
64
Opencountry
3I,000
27
4
I5
II
%
7,000
I
6l
3,500
Swamps &
3
30,500
cays
9
II4,500
Isleof Pines
Ram6n de la Sagra'squestion can now be answered more definitely.
The original landscapeof Cuba consistedof a variety of vegetation formations, includingtypes of hardwoodforest,open pine forests,parklandswhere
hardwoods alternated with grasslands,sabanaswith scattered palms and
pines, desertlikecacti-thornshrubformations,and swamps. So unusual indeed was the variety in so relativelysmall an islandthat in this respectCuba
may be describedas a "dwarf continent." The division of the island into
three entirely differentnaturalregions is truly continental.
Only in recently uplifted easternCuba is found that contrast between
wet windward slopes with dense evergreenhardwood forestsand dry leeward slopeswith ratheropen deciduousforestsand cacti-thornshrubformations along the coast which is characteristicof the other GreaterAntilles.
Western Cuba, including the Isle of Pines, is composed of folded sediments heavily degraded and weathered to poor sandy soils. The original
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THE GEOGRAPHICAL
REVIEW
vegetation consisted of pine forests and pine sabanas similar to those of the
southern United States.
In central Cuba the original vegetation consisted of the alternation of
hardwood forests and grasslands with transitional parklands that is characteristic of Central America. But whereas in Central America climate is the
main factor in determining the distribution of the original vegetation, in
Cuba soil plays the dominant role.
Forests originally occupied about two-thirds of the surface of the island;
if parklands are added, the proportion rises to nearly four-fifths. Now we
understand the saying of Las Casas that in I5II Cuba was so well wooded
that one could walk under trees for 300 leagues. He did not say that it was
one immense forest or that the forests were all thick and heavy; he simply
spoke of the abundance of trees, doubtless trees of the parklands and sabanas
as well as trees of the hardwood forests.
Certainly the island originally was richer in woods than it was in i5ii
and much richer than it was at the beginning of this century. But the principal pattern of vegetation, the fundamental contrast between forestland
and natural open country, remains unchanged by man, since it is conditioned by soil and underlying rocks. This most characteristic feature of the
island is highly provocative and raises a host of questions with regard to
animal life, course of settlement, and economic development.