The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1916-05-05

healthful island, with warm climate
well tempered by the trade winds, and |
well cultivated almost everywhere. |
With it's splendid foads and natural
beauties, it is and will always be- at |
tractive to the casual traveller as well
as to the Investigator of it's scientific
character and resources.
In the interior valleys, plantations
of tobacco are laid out The plants
are protected by sheets of cheese
cloth which, with their sharply-defned
borders, seem like incongruous fields
| Of snow upon the deep green of the
hills. Even the steep slopes of the
hills bear here and there their little
patches of tobacco or of other crops,
| centering about native hut perched
precariously near the top, and set off
by the graceful royal palms. Higher up,
| the character of the ground or of the
region is unsuitable for tobacco, yet
even here coffee and cocoa are grown
under the shade of specially planted
| trees. Little remains of the larger for
est, for wood becomes scarce when so
many demand it daily for fires. Only
on the higher peaks of the great cen-
trail mountains are there any relics of
the primeval growth that once ex-
tended SO widely.
On the TANKS of the main east-and-
west backbone of the island, composed
of igneous rocks, there are broken lew
els and hills of limestone, full OF
marine fossils and other indications of
their origin at the border of the ocean.
Since their formation the land has
risen SO as to lift them many hun
dreds of feet above their former level.
Where the rivers have worn against
them, they display stratified faces Of
especial isterest to the geologist and
paleontologist.
Passing the great divide from north
to south, the mountains drop more
rapidly to the foothills and to the
coastal plains. In the southeast the
ground is still suitable for sugar and
cocoanut groves; but coming west, the
effect of the heights in cutting off the
moisture of the trades becomes more
marked, and a semiarid region with
it's characteristic cactus is encoun-
tered. Here the cane can be grown
only by extensive irrigation, which the
insular government has undertaken
with great success and profit. Toward
the southwest, the land becomes a
typical desert, and about Lake GUAM
ca 1t supports little besides the associ-
alton of cactus plants.
The Coroza Cavern.
In the limestone regions, hundreds
OF large and small caverns have been
excavated by underground streams.
One of these, near Corozal, is well
worthy of description. The valley is
beautiful wide basin, surrounded by
peculiar triangular white hills Of lime
stone, and the cave mouth, about forty
feet in height, is reached by means of
creepers and lodges on the very face of
: the cliff. Once it is gained, the down
I ward view is a striking and character
istic panorama of Hill and field and
stream. On the sides of the entrance
3 there are hundreds of spider webs,
4 each with the dried remains of its
, casual collection of prey. Trending
( inward and upward, the way narrows
. | ullLli dliti lOui iCo al 40 Va 1AACi V
/ of walking and scrambling and creep
< ing, one energies into daylight through
i a small hole on the other side of the
S hill. Thousands of bats hide in the
e holes of the arched roof, or cling to
e it's rough surfaces. On the walls
+ there are peculiar forms of insects
e and huge arachnida, with long deli
: cate antennae which serve them in
g place of their virtually useless eyes.
:, By way of contrast, the cave in the
4 hills above Gales is one with many
r mouths, and a huge vaulted chamber
+ with stalactites and stalagmites
y above and below.
# On account of the dominant Span
J. ish influence for so many centuries,
t. the population naturally exhibits a
y preponderance of the characteristics OF
n that race. Only small section, how
L ever, has retained its purity, of which
y it is justly proud; for the most part
s the people are mixtures of Spanish,
e negro and Indian characters. 1t is
) strange that so few are found with
e unmixed African features, although in
p certain settlements. they too, have
preserved many of the customs as well
e as the physique IF their ancestors.