rilliant flowering trees are planted to line the roadsides. Among
all the tree-growths, the royal palm is notable. Scoffers have likened it
to "a feather duster stood on end," but it is the prominent feature in most
of Cuba's landscape, and it serves many purposes other than that of mere
decoration. From its stem the Cuban peasant builds his little cottage which
he roofs with its leaves. Medicinal qualities are claimed for its roots.
From different parts of the tree, a wide variety of useful articles is
made, plates, buckets, basins, and even a kettle in which water may be
boiled. The huge clusters of seeds are excellent food for animals, and I
have heard it said, though without proper confirmation, that "a royal palm
will keep a hog." Almost invariably, its presence indicates a rich soil, as
it rarely grows in areas of poor land. The forest area of the island is not
known with exactness, and is variously estimated at from about six thousand
square miles to about sixteen thousand. The difference probably represents
the opinion of individual investigators as to what is forest. About
one-third of the total is reported as in Oriente, another third in
Camaguey, and the remainder scattered through the four remaining provinces.
A part of it is "public land," that is, owned by the central government,
but a greater part is of private ownership under old Spanish grants. Much
of it is dense jungle through which a way can be made only by hacking,
almost foot by foot. A good deal of it has already been cut over for its
most valuable timber. Most of the woods bear names entirely unfamiliar to
us. Some are used as cabinet woods, and some for tanning, for oils, dyes,
gums, or fibres.

Cuba has few four-footed native wild animals. There are rabbits, but their
nativity is not quite certain. There are deer, but it is known that their
ancestors were brought from some other country. There are wild dogs, wild
cats, and wild pigs, but all are only domestic animals run wild.

Perhaps the only animal of the kind known to be native is the _jutia_,
sometimes spelled, as pronounced, _hutia_. Some observers have referred to
it as a rat, but it climbs trees and grows to the size of a woodchuck,
or groundhog. It is sometimes eaten and is said to be quite palatable.
Reptiles are fairly common, but none of them is dangerous. The best known
is the _maja_, a snake that grows to a length, sometimes, of twelve or
fifteen feet. The country people not infreq