Daily Kennebec journal., 1898-05-06
GEMS OF THE OCEAN.
Cuba's Archipelago Has More Than
1900 IsIards.
Some Of Them Are Hundreds Of Square
Miles in Extent.

monty thinks of that afflicted country
as a single landmass, but in reality it
is an assernblage of islands and islets
more than 1900 in number. Some of
Cayo Romano, which has an area Of
$50 square miles. Others are of various
dimensions. dwindling down to mere
scraps of keys"
When Columbus first navigated Gu
ban waters he was delighted at the
view of these islands. Which.as he sailed
among them. presented to his eyes the
aspect of a myriad gardens. Covered
as all of them We're. from the smallest
to the largest, With a luXuriant tropic al
vegetation. they seemed as il floating
on the water. 4 great group of them
To the north of Cuba We're named by
the discoverer the Gardens of the
King" and another group to the south
received the designation of "Gardens
of the Queen This, of course. was in
honor of Ferdinand and Isabella. Upon
a third assem- hlage of slets mostly ii
small size, located to the eastward If
the great Isle of Pines. the title of
"Jardinillos," or Little Gardens" was
bestowed.
The Isle of Pines itself is a piece of
marine real estate by no means to be
sneezed at, having an area of about
1900 square miles. 1t is situated at a
distance of a few marine leagues from
cuba, on the south. and the southern
half IF it is a swamp. The northern
ba nt l1.an a oh
ing climate. With mountains 2oo0 fee'
high covered with pine trees. This big
island has been used for a long time
past by Spain as a penal colony. but it
has considerable agricultural popuia-
tiou and produces Il great deal of sugar.
There are no insurgents on the
premises.
The Isle of Pines is alone more ex-
tensive than all the other isles and
islets streWn round the Cuban sea-
board. 1t is in reality two islands.
which are separated by tortuous
channel Rocky lodges form a sort of
stone causeWay uniting them. Like
Cuba, the Isle of Pines is compos Il
chiefly of sedimentary rocks. The
''jardineS" and jardinllos of Colum bus.
on the other hand have been built by
animals and plants; in other words,
they are of coral and mangroye forma-
ton. Cubans call them Gays rhyme
it with "prize'-and from this word
comes the name keys" applied To
islands Of similar origin about the
southern end of Florida, says the Bos-
ton Transcript.
Most of the ocean gardens of the
Spanish explorer are uninhabited,
owing to lack of water. but some of the
larger ones support a human popula
ton. Some of the southern islands
have bubbling springs Of clear, fresh
water. which probably flows through
subterranean galleries from the main
land of Cuba. On Cayo Romano ami
neighbOring Gays occur many natural
saltpans. along the edge ~ the sea
coast. These are depressiUDs T. to i6
inches deep separated from the ocean
by coral banks over which tbe Wav -
wash in stormy weather. leaving by
evaporation perfectly crNstallized~betis
of beautiful white salt It is said thai
the pans of Cayo Romano alone could
supply a quantity Of salt far greater
than is needed for the whole Cubaa
population. Rather funny, from this
point of view, was the recent sending
of a consignment of table salt by a
charitable American to the starving
victims of Weyler.
There was time when Cuba was be-
meath the ocean. Better would it have
been if it had stayed there, taking into
consideration the vast amount of hu-
man misery that has existed there
during the last four centuries How-
ever. it rose from the sea, and in its
day was a land mass much greater in
size than now. 1t sunk again afterSa
while to some extent, it's low wing
areas becoming submerged and form
ing shadows. Thus the Cuba of today,
though rising out of one of the deepest
parts of the ocean, is environed BY a
fringe of comparatively sfoal waters.
Such waters. in that warm altitude,
are most favorable to the growth ofsthe
little animals that build coral reefs and
Gays. Respecting these humble crea-
lures an extraordinary yarietysof mis-
taken notions have been current since
time immemorial. Even neWadays per
sons of education commonly refer to
them as coral insects, and literature
frequently refers to the. s.patient toll"
which they devote to purposes of sub
aqueous 'KAylzySas1ul 0N, tii'
not insects. but polyE& and their
building is not the result of labor any
more than is bone-making in human
beings. Coral is not Il collection Of
cells, into which the owners may with
draw for conCealment, any more than
the skeleton of Il dog is its house; for
every part of the Coral-stuff of reef
making polyp is enclosed within th+'
polyp.
Coral polypS somewhat resemble gar
den asterS in color and form. They are
very beautiful and brilliant of hue
Veritable flowers of the sea, in fact,
though animals as truly as cats and
dogs are animals. In structure they
are very simple. each individual being
nothing more than cylindrical skin
with an inside sac or stomach. At the
top it has an opening that serves as "A
mouth. which is surrounded by num-
Der of hair-hke appendages that wave
about in the water and help the
creature to gather food. Between the
inner sac and the outer skin it secretes
carbonate of lime. which is the coral