region on the western slopes of the sierras; Cocula (7090 in 1895); and Zacoalco (6516). Jalisco was first invaded by the Spaniards about 1526 and was soon afterwards conquered by Nuño de Guzman. It once formed part of the reyno of Nueva Galicia, which also included Aguas Calientes and Zacatecas. In 1889 its area was much reduced by a subdivision of its coastal zone, which was set apart as the territory of Tepic.
JALNA, or Jaulna, a town in Hyderabad state, India, on the
Godavari branch of the Nizam’s railway, and 210 m. N.E. of
Bombay. Pop. (1901), 20,270. Until 1903 it was a cantonment
of the Hyderabad contingent, originally established in 1827. Its
gardens produce fruit, which is largely exported. On the
opposite bank of the river Kundlika is the trading town of
Kadirabad; pop. (1901), 11,159.
JALPAIGURI, or Julpigoree, a town and district of British
India, in the Rajshahi division of Eastern Bengal and Assam.
The town is on the right bank of the river Tista, with a station
on the Eastern Bengal railway about 300 m. due N. of Calcutta.
Pop. (1901), 9708. It is the headquarters of the commissioner
of the division.
The District of Jalpaiguri (organized in 1869) occupies an irregularly shaped tract south of Darjeeling and Bhutan and north of the state of Kuch Behar. It includes the Western Dwars, annexed from Bhutan after the war of 1864–1865. Area, 2,962 sq. m. Pop. (1901), 787,380, an increase of 16% in the decade. The district is divided into a “regulation” tract, lying towards the south-west, and a strip of country, about 22 m. in width, running along the foot of the Himalayas, and known as the Western Dwars. The former is a continuous expanse of level paddy fields, only broken by groves of bamboos, palms, and fruit-trees. The frontier towards Bhutan is formed by the Sinchula mountain range, some peaks of which attain an elevation of 6000 ft. It is thickly wooded from base to summit. The principal rivers, proceeding from west to east, are the Mahananda, Karatoya, Tista, Jaldhaka, Duduya, Mujnai, Tursa, Kaljani, Raidak, and Sankos. The most important is the Tista, which forms a valuable means of water communication. Lime is quarried in the lower Bhutan hills. The Western Dwars are the principal centre of tea cultivation in Eastern Bengal. The other portion of the district produces jute. Jalpaiguri is traversed by the main line of the Eastern Bengal railway to Darjeeling. It is also served by the Bengal Dwars railway.
JAMAICA, the largest island in the British West Indies. It
lies about 80 m. S. of the eastern extremity of Cuba, between
17° 43′ and 18° 32′ N. and 76° 10′ and 78° 20′ W., is 144 m. long,
50 m. in extreme breadth, and has an area of 4207 sq. m. The
coast-line has the form of a turtle, the mountain ridges representing
the back. A mountainous backbone runs through the
island from E. to W., throwing off a number of subsidiary
ridges, mostly in a north-westerly or south-easterly direction.
In the east this range is more distinctly marked, forming the
Blue Mountains, with cloud-capped peaks and numerous
bifurcating branches. They trend W. by N., and are crossed
by five passes at altitudes varying from 3000 to 4000 ft. They
culminate in Blue Mountain Peak (7360 ft.), after which the
heights gradually decrease until the range is merged into the
hills of the western plateau. Two-thirds of the island are
occupied by this limestone plateau, a region of great beauty
broken by innumerable hills, valleys and sink-holes, and covered
with luxuriant vegetation. The uplands usually terminate in
steep slopes or bluffs, separated from the sea, in most cases, by a
strip of level land. On the south coast, especially, the plains
are often large, the Liguanea plain, on which Kingston stands,
having an area of 200 sq. m. Upwards of a hundred rivers and
streams find their way to the sea, besides the numerous tributaries
which issue from every ravine in the mountains. These
streams for the most part are not navigable, and in times of flood
they become devastating torrents. In the parish of Portland,
the Rio Grande receives all the smaller tributaries from the west.
In St Thomas in the east the main range is drained by the
Plantain Garden river, the tributaries of which form deep
ravines and narrow gorges. The valley of the Plantain Garden
expands into a picturesque and fertile plain. The Black river
flows through a level country, and is navigable by small craft
for about 30 m. The Salt river and the Cabaritta, also in the
south, are navigable by barges. Other rivers of the south are
the Rio Cobre (on which are irrigation works for the sugar and
fruit plantations), the Yallahs and the Rio Minho; in the north
are the Martha Brae, the White river, the Great Spanish river,
and the Rio Grande. Vestiges of intermittent volcanic action
occur, and there are several medicinal springs. Jamaica has
16 harbours, the chief of which are Port Morant, Kingston, Old
Harbour, Montego Bay, Falmouth, St Ann’s Bay, Port Maria
and Port Antonio.
Geology.—The greater part of Jamaica is covered by Tertiary deposits, but in the Blue Mountain and some of the other ranges the older rocks rise to the surface. The foundation of the island is formed by a series of stratified shales and conglomerates, with tuffs and other volcanic rocks and occasional bands of marine limestone. The limestones contain Upper Cretaceous fossils, and the whole series has been strongly folded. Upon this foundation rests unconformably a series of marls and limestones of Eocene and early Oligocene age. Some of the limestones are made of Foraminifera, together with Radiolaria, and indicate a subsidence to abyssal depths. Nevertheless, the higher peaks of the island still remained above the sea. Towards the middle of the Oligocene period, mountain folding took place on an extensive scale, and the island was raised far above its present level and was probably connected with the rest of the Greater Antilles and perhaps with the mainland also. At the same time plutonic rocks of various kinds were intruded into the deposits already formed, and in some cases produced considerable metamorphism. During the Miocene and Pliocene periods the island again sank, but never to the depths which it reached in the Eocene period. The deposits formed were shallow-water conglomerates, marls and limestones, with mollusca, brachiopoda, corals, &c. Finally, a series of successive elevations of small amount, less than 500 ft. in the aggregate, raised the island to its present level. The terraces which mark the successive stages in this elevation are well shown in Montego Bay and elsewhere. The remarkable depressions of the Cockpit country and the closed basin of the Hector river are similar in origin to swallow-holes, and were formed by the solution of a limestone layer resting upon insoluble rocks. The island produces a great variety of marbles, porphyrites, granite and ochres. Traces of gold have been found associated with some of the oxidized copper ores (blue and green carbonates) in the Clarendon mines. Copper ores are widely diffused but are very expensive to work; as are the lead and cobalt which are also found. Manganese iron ores and a form of arsenic occur.
Climate.—The climate is one of the island’s chief attractions. Near the coast it is warm and humid, but that of the uplands is delightfully mild and equable. At Kingston the temperature ranges from 70.7° to 87.8° F., and this is generally the average of all the low-lying coast land. At Cinchona, 4907 ft. above the sea, it varies from 57.5° to 68.5°. The vapours from the rivers and the ocean produce in the upper regions clouds saturated with moisture which induce vegetation belonging to a colder climate. During the rainy seasons there is such an accumulation of these vapours as to cause a general coolness and occasion sudden heavy showers, and sometimes destructive floods. The rainy seasons, in May and October, last for about three weeks, although, as a rule no month is quite without rain. The fall varies greatly; while the annual average for the island is 66.3 in., at Kingston it is 32.6 in., at Cinchona 105.5 in., and at some places in the north-east it exceeds 200 in. The climate of the Santa Cruz Mountains is extremely favourable to sufferers from tubercular and rheumatic diseases. Excepting near morasses and lagoons, the island is very healthy, and yellow fever, once prevalent, now rarely occurs. In the early part of the 19th century, hurricanes often devastated Jamaica, but now, though they pass to the N.E. and S.W. with comparative frequency, they rarely strike the island itself.
Flora.—The flora is remarkable, showing types from North, Central, and South America, with a few European forms, besides the common plants found everywhere in the tropics. Of flowering plants there are 2180 distinct species, and of ferns 450 species, several of both being indigenous. The largeness of these numbers may be to some extent accounted for by differences of altitude, temperature and humidity. There are many beautiful flowers, such as the aloe, the yucca, the datura, the mountain pride and the Victoria regia; and the cactus tribe is well represented. The Sensitive Plant grows in pastures, and orchids in the woods. There are forest
