THE 
 
 WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE, 
 
 BOOK XII. 
 
THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. 
 
 A series of geographical readers that describe the countries and the inhab- 
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 a wealth of maps and illustrations : a series of recognized value as a 
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 Book IV. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. By Fannie E- 
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 Book Z.. THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. By W. 
 Fisher Mark wick and William A. Smith, M.A. 
 60 cents. 
 
 Book XI. THE STORY OF THE PHILIPPINES. By Adeline 
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 Book XII. PORTO RICO : THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 By Joseph B. Seabury. 50 cents. 
 
 The prices above indicated are for introduction. 
 
THE 
 
 WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE 
 
 BOOK XII. 
 
 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF 
 THE RICH PORT 
 
 BY 
 
 JOSEPH B. SEABURY 
 
 SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1903, 
 BY SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY. 
 
Bancroft /LibraVy 
 
 PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY readers in all the varied lines of instruc- 
 tion are acknowledged to be an important part of the school 
 equipment. Through them the pupil's reading is made to 
 prepare him for his studies and to contribut directly to 
 their enhanced value and interest. The text-book in geog- 
 raphy can give little more than the essential outline; it 
 cannot go into the details of the everyday life of the in- 
 habitants of Cuba or of New Zealand such details as 
 make people and places real. The school history can give 
 scant space to the physical aspect of a country, to the 
 surroundings that influence a nation's development, yet 
 without such knowledge the study lacks its true basis. In 
 one way or another one constantly finds need of knowing 
 the world and its people. 
 
 Under this title of "The World and its People" the pub- 
 lishers are offering a series of readers intended particularly 
 to supplement the geography, and, in general, to contribute 
 to the broadest education of young people. Our near neigh- 
 bors, our antipodes, and the peoples that live between these 
 extremes are studied in turn, so that the series as a whole 
 gives a comprehensive view of the world in its geographical 
 aspect. 
 
 The commercial and industrial side of each country 
 that element which constitutes so large a part of the live 
 
4 PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT. 
 
 interest and practical value of geographical study has 
 been given deserved attention throughout the series. 
 
 The series has been carefully developed and graded from 
 the "First Lessons," for the child who is just beginning 
 to read, to the later books, which are not too elementary 
 for the more mature high school student. Not only in 
 schools, but in general libraries, in the favor of parents as 
 well as of children, these books are making a notable place 
 for themselves. 
 
 The first eight volumes profited by the editorial super- 
 vision of the late Larkin Dunton, LL.D., head master of 
 the Boston Normal School, who was preeminently quali- 
 fied for the task. 
 
 The several volumes are prepared by writers of literary 
 ability, thoroughly informed on their subjects; and the 
 effort has been to make them accurate, instructive, and 
 always interesting. No pains have been spared to make 
 the illustrations an attractive and valuable feature of each 
 book. By reason of its progressive plan and judicious 
 grading, its educative qualities and its appeal to the inter- 
 est, it is believed that this series is proving an aid to 
 teachers and an inspiration to pupils, making for the 
 enlarged intelligence and culture of all young people who 
 read these volumes. 
 
 SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 DURING a brief period of time, now regarded as 
 forming an epoch in American history, Porto Rico 
 came into prominence as an important section of the 
 island-world. Although it lies nearer to the United 
 States than to any other of the great republics or 
 empires of the globe, it was comparatively unknown 
 to the American people. We knew its location, but 
 not its physical features; its people, but not their 
 domestic life, their daily tasks and pursuits. We 
 regarded this fertile island as permanently allied with 
 a European power, with no thought of possessing it 
 ourselves. We had come to think of this Republic of 
 ours as always to be confined within continental boun- 
 daries, and not at all likely to embrace in her territory 
 insular lands. 
 
 Five years ago our acquaintance with Porto Rico 
 was of that general character as now marks our knowl- 
 edge of Madagascar, Sumatra, or Borneo; it lacked 
 definite detail. 
 
 Great events in current history, especially the con- 
 quest of arms on land and sea, necessitating changes in 
 the map of the world, awaken a desire for more specific 
 information regarding those portions of the globe where 
 historic events have occurred and conquests have been 
 made. If, as Mr. Webster once said, " Knowledge is 
 the great sun in the firmament," then knowledge must 
 be precise, accurate, and, in a measure, technical. 
 
 5 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 The transfer of Porto Rico from the control of Spain 
 to that of the United States was the signal for a wide- 
 spread, popular desire for thorough and reliable infor- 
 mation regarding a portion of the globe which had so 
 unexpectedly passed into new hands. 
 
 This book has been written for young people, and is 
 designed to broaden their acquaintance with Porto 
 Rican life. The account is given from the point of 
 view of one approaching the island, entering it at one 
 of its open gate\vays, and looking for the first time 
 upon its fascinating scenery, its busy streets, its rural 
 occupations. An earlier volume in this series, " The 
 Story of the Philippines," tells of centuries of warfare, 
 of struggles for independence ; but Porto Rico has no 
 prolonged and varied history, no exciting historical 
 periods. For this reason but little space is given in 
 this book to the annals of the past. The writer's aim 
 has been to picture the island as it is to-day, with its 
 face turned toward the future. 
 
 Unlike the Philippines, which are large clusters of 
 islands within a vast archipelago, Porto Rico is but 
 one link in a chain of islands, is at its eastern ex- 
 tremity, and apart by itself. 
 
 It is interesting to note that Porto Rico has an area 
 five hundred square miles less than Hawaii, the largest 
 island of the group that bears its name, while the area 
 of all the Hawaiian islands is twice that of Porto Rico. 
 Its smallness, its compactness, and the unity and va- 
 riety of its products make it an attractive and satis- 
 factory object of study. 
 
 Since the stirring events of 1898, the value of Porto 
 Rico to the United States has steadily increased. It 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 has become equally apparent that Porto Rico needed 
 just such a friend as the United States is proving her- 
 self to be. The one purpose which has actuated our 
 government has been adhered to, viz. to improve the 
 condition of the people, to give them larger returns 
 for their labor, to provide them with better sanitary 
 laws, better schools, better dwellings. This complex 
 problem the United States is now working out. 
 
 Porto Rico has not filled a very important place in 
 the literature of American travel and research. Up 
 to the time when the fortunes of war so materially 
 changed the status of the island, nearly all the books 
 written on the subject were in Spanish and issued from 
 the presses at Madrid. The only notable exception is 
 the valuable work by Colonel George D. Flinter of the 
 general staff of the army of the Queen of Spain. The 
 book is in English, and gives a reliable account of the 
 "Present State of the Island of Porto Rico"; it was 
 published in 1834. It has been used, to some extent, 
 in the preparation of the present volume. The author 
 has also found useful the latest government reports, 
 which are compiled from careful investigations by 
 United States officials. 
 
 It is hoped the reader will make good use of the map 
 of Porto Rico, it being indispensable that in exploring 
 a new country frequent reference be made to its geo- 
 graphical features. The Table of Pronunciation should 
 be of service to the reader in making himself familiar 
 with Porto Rican proper names, so many of which are 
 entirely new to him. 
 
 J. B. S. 
 
 MAY, 1903. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. 
 
 THE ISLAND OUTLINES 
 
 . 15 
 
 II. 
 
 ODD SIGHTS IN PORTO Rico .... 
 
 . 25 
 
 III. 
 
 THE PEOPLE THEIR HOME LIFE 
 
 . 37 
 
 IV. 
 
 THE PEOPLE THEIR RECREATIONS 
 
 . 46 
 
 V. 
 
 MOUNTAINS, PLAINS, AND CAVES . 
 
 . 54 
 
 VI. 
 
 RIVERS AND SOIL 
 
 . 66 
 
 VII. 
 
 CLIMATE, RAINFALL, HURRICANES 
 
 . 76 
 
 VIII. 
 
 THE THREE GREAT STAPLES 
 
 . 84 
 
 IX. 
 
 
 99 
 
 X. 
 
 FORESTS AND MINERALS .... 
 
 . 109 
 
 XI. 
 
 ANIMALS, INSECTS, AND FISH 
 
 . 116 
 
 XII. 
 
 
 124 
 
 XIII. 
 
 INLAND TOWNS 
 
 . 141 
 
 XIV. 
 
 ROADS 
 
 . 152 
 
 - XV. 
 
 THE FIRST AMERICAN CENSUS 
 
 . 161 
 
 XVI. 
 
 THE SCHOOLS OF PORTO Rico 
 
 . 167 
 
 XVII. 
 
 MONEY AND THE EXCHANGE OF COIN . 
 
 . 177 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 IN POSSESSION OF THE ISLAND 
 
 . 181 
 
 XIX. 
 
 SETTING UP THE NEW GOVERNMENT . 
 
 . 189 
 
 XX. 
 
 
 199 
 
 XXI. 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 . 207 
 
 XXII. 
 
 RELICS OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN 
 
 . 213 
 
 
 217 
 
 INDEX 
 
 
 , 219 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 MAP OF PORTO Rico Frontispiece 
 
 PAGE 
 
 SAN JUAN, SHOWING COLUMBUS PLAZA AND INNER HARBOR . 17 
 
 LA POERTA DE SAN JUAN. THE ONLY REMAINING CITY GATE 19 
 
 SEA WALL FROM SAN CRISTOBAL. EL MORRO IN THE DISTANCE 21 
 EL MORRO AND CITY OF SAN JUAN, LOOKING ACROSS THE 
 
 HARBOR ENTRANCE FROM CABRAS ISLAND .... 22 
 
 THE MILKMAN 27 
 
 INTERIOR OF MARKET, SAN JUAN 29 
 
 HAT SELLERS 31 
 
 NATIVE LAUNDRY .32 
 
 A BEGGAR 34 
 
 WAYFARERS 39 
 
 NATIVE HUTS 41 
 
 WINNOWING RICE 42 
 
 ANOTHER TYPE OF HUT 43 
 
 A GROUP OF NEGROES .44 
 
 CHILDREN IN CARNIVAL COSTUME 47 
 
 A ROADSIDE ORCHESTRA .49 
 
 THE PICKANINNIES' DINNER PARTY 52 
 
 A SHARP TURN ON THE MOUNTAIN SIDE NEAR GUAYAMA . 56 
 
 GUANICA, A VILLAGE ON THE SEACOAST ..... 59 
 
 THE PLAIN OF SANTA ISABEL ,61 
 
 A MILL FOR GRINDING CORN 69 
 
 FALLS OF THE MORONES 73 
 
 THE COAMO RIVER 75 
 
 COCOA PALMS 78 
 
 11 
 
12 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CLEARING A CANE FIELD 87 
 
 CLEARING A CANE FIELD WITH A HARROW .... 89 
 
 A SUGAR MILL IN MANATI 91 
 
 A COFFEE PLANTATION IN ADJUNTAS 95 
 
 BRINGING BANANAS TO MARKET 100 
 
 AN ORANGE GROVE IN MAYAGUEZ ...... 101 
 
 THE GUAVA 102 
 
 THE MANGO 103 
 
 A COCOANUT FARM IN MAYAGUEZ 104 
 
 GATHERING COCOANUTS 105 
 
 THE BLOSSOM OF THE CLOVE TREE 107 
 
 UNDER THE SPREADING PALM 110 
 
 ROYAL PALMS 113 
 
 AN AGOUTI ........... 117 
 
 A MONGOOSE . 118 
 
 A LAND CRAB .......... 119 
 
 AN ARMADILLO 121 
 
 SAN JUAN. FROM FORT SAN CRISTOBAL ..... 125 
 THE FIRST TROLLEY CAR IN SAN JUAN CROSSING PLAZA PRIN- 
 CIPAL 129 
 
 THE CATHEDRAL AT PONCE 133 
 
 THE PLAZA AT MAYAGUEZ ........ 135 
 
 THE CITY OF ARECIBO 137 
 
 THE LIGHTHOUSE AT MAUNABO 139 
 
 THE CITY OF UTUADO 144 
 
 THE CITY OF COAMO 147 
 
 THE MAIN STREET IN CAGUAS 149 
 
 THE CITY OF FAJARDO 150 
 
 THE PLAZA OF GUAYAMA 151 
 
 THE MILITARY ROAD, NEAR AIBONITO 153 
 
 AIBONITO : A VIEW OF THE TOWN 154 
 
 AIBONITO : A GENERAL VIEW 155 
 
 THE MILITARY ROAD, NEAR GUAYAMA 157 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 13 
 
 PAGE 
 
 AN INLAND ROAD 160 
 
 CHART SHOWING RELATIVE AREAS CULTIVATED IN PRINCIPAL 
 
 CROPS 163 
 
 CHART SHOWING THE GROWTH OF POPULATION .... 165 
 
 A PUBLIC SCHOOL AT MAYAGUEZ 169 
 
 RAISING THE FLAG AT THE FIRST AMERICAN SCHOOL, SAN JUAN 172 
 
 A PUBLIC SCHOOL AT ARECIBO ....... 174 
 
 DR. SAMUEL M. LINDSAY 176 
 
 THE CITY HALL, SAN JUAN 178 
 
 FORT SAN CRISTOBAL, OCEAN SIDE 180 
 
 CAMP OF LIGHT BATTERY M., SEVENTH ARTILLERY . . 183 
 
 A COMPANY OF SPANISH TROOPS ...... 185 
 
 THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE, SAN JUAN ..... 187 
 
 GENERAL GUY V. HENRY . . . ... . .188 
 
 BOAT RACES IN SAN JUAN HARBOR, JULY 4, 1899 . . . 191 
 
 HON. CHARLES H. ALLEN 197 
 
 Rums AT PUEBLO VIEJO, PORTO Rico's FIRST TOWN . . 201 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO CHURCH, SAN JUAN . . . . . . 205 
 
 A VIEW OF AGUADILLA ........ 208 
 
 THE MONUMENT MARKING THE LANDING PLACE OF COLUMBUS 209 
 
 PONCE DE LEON STATUE AND PLAZA, SAN JUAN . . . 210 
 
 COLUMBUS MONUMENT, SAN JUAN 211 
 
 CASA BLANCA, SAN JUAN 212 
 
PORTO RICO: 
 
 THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ISLAND OUTLINES. 
 
 IF we turn to the map of the United States and trace 
 the eastern coast downwards from Boston or New York, 
 we find that it ends with Florida. But there is more land 
 beyond. The peninsula of Florida points directly to an 
 island which appears, as we look at the map, something 
 like a fish, with its tail bent towards South America. 
 It is called Cuba. The nose of the fish extends towards 
 another island, shaped like a horse's head, and known as 
 Haiti. The horse's ears stretch up in the direction of 
 Cuba, while the nose is almost on a line with a still 
 smaller island, resembling in shape an ordinary building 
 brick. This little island, the smallest of these bodies of 
 land, is Porto Rico. 
 
 Let us study the location of Porto Rico a little more 
 closely. If a line should be drawn between Cape Sable 
 and the most eastern point of Honduras, and these two 
 points should then be connected by straight lines with 
 Porto Rico, the island would be the apex of the triangle 
 
 15 
 
16 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 thus formed. Porto Rico is washed on its north shore 
 by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south by the Carib- 
 bean Sea, while to the east are the Leeward Islands. 
 
 As we glance at the map once more we can see that 
 the group of islands of which Porto Rico is one is 
 generally known as the Greater Antilles. Before Colum- 
 bus discovered America, many people in Europe were of 
 the opinion that if some one would take the trouble to 
 investigate the matter, a large island would be found in 
 the Atlantic Ocean, far west of the Azores. No one had 
 ever reached this island, so far as any European knew, 
 but it was spoken of as Antilla. The word comes from 
 the Latin ante, meaning in front of, and insula, an island. 
 The name Antilles was afterwards given to some of 
 the islands on which Columbus first landed. In later 
 times the islands between North and South America 
 were generally called the Antilles, with the exception of 
 the group known as the Bahamas. The four largest of 
 the islands, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, and Porto Rico, are 
 distinguished as the Greater Antilles, the groups farther 
 to the southeast, which embrace twenty-six islands in all, 
 being known as the Lesser Antilles. 
 
 The Antilles form a sort of curved line from the en- 
 trance to the Gulf of Mexico almost around to the mouth 
 of the Orinoco River. Porto Rico is at the large bend of 
 the curve, and is the most easterly and the smallest of the 
 Greater Antilles. Haiti, its next-door neighbor on the 
 west, is eight times as large, and Cuba occupies about 
 space enough to hold an even dozen bodies of land of the 
 size of Porto Rico. We might think from this that Porto 
 Rico is a small and insignificant island. It is really, 
 however, about three times as large as Rhode Island, 
 
18 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 and is one of the most interesting regions that we hear 
 anything about. We shall find it quite worth our while 
 to visit Porto Rico, and we shall enjoy making acquaint- 
 ance with the plants and animals and people of this 
 ambitious little island, just north of the Caribbean Sea. 
 To reach it we must take a sail of fourteen hundred 
 miles ; if we start from New York, a five days' voyage. 
 
 The island has been compared to various objects. 
 One writer has seen in its shape some likeness to an 
 ox dressed and ready for market. By a little play of 
 imagination we can easily trace the outlines of a human 
 profile in the western coast-line. The southwestern por- 
 tion, Point Aguila, is the long, square, and prominent 
 chin. The deep depression forming the harbor of Maya- 
 guez is the bold mouth, open as if about to speak. 
 Cape San Francisco is the upturned nose. The eye is 
 at Moca, and above it appears the forehead, low and flat. 
 
 The Japanese people are so proud of their beautiful 
 mountain Fusiyama, that we can hardly find one of 
 their pictures, even on a fan, that does not show this 
 snow-topped mountain in the background. The people 
 of Porto Rico have a mountain of which they are nearly 
 as proud. It is called El Yunque, and it is the first 
 object that attracts the eye as we approach the island 
 from the north. If the day is clear, we shall probably 
 catch our first glimpse of picturesque El Yunque when 
 we are still seventy miles from land. As we sail nearer, 
 we begin to distinguish what appears to be a long stretch 
 of cloud, but which is really the low-lying shore of the 
 island itself. Soon the sky-line becomes wavy, then 
 abruptly broken, and finally the irregular summits of 
 other mountains come within our view. 
 
THE ISLAND OUTLINES. 
 
 19 
 
 As we approach still nearer San Juan, we feel that the 
 island was indeed rightly named Porto Rico, the " rich 
 port." Along the lower portions, near the coast, are 
 wide stretches of green, which extend upwards to the 
 sloped sides of the hills. We can see between the hills 
 the narrow valleys, the cultivated fields and white vil- 
 lages, with their fringes of tall and majestic palms, 
 
 LA PUERTA DE SAN JUAN. THE ONLY REMAINING CITY GATE. 
 
 "resembling Indians with feathers and plumes." Form- 
 ing a background for all are the ridges of hills and moun- 
 tains, rising one behind the other, each ridge higher 
 than that in front, and reminding the observer of the 
 rolling billows of the sea. Some of the slopes are 
 covered with forests, with every coloring of green from 
 the lightest to the darkest shade. The picture, as we 
 see it from our place on the steamer's deck, is certainly 
 
20 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 a charming one. No wonder t.he island is known as " a 
 rich garden spot." 
 
 The observer is especially impressed with the small- 
 ness of everything. Travelers often speak of Porto 
 Rico as a country in miniature. Many of the hills are 
 hardly more than knolls, yet they are so rounded and 
 so perfect in shape that they are recognized at once 
 as hills. The mountains, with one or two exceptions, 
 would hardly be called by so dignified a title were they 
 in the neighborhood of our mighty Rockies or Adiron- 
 dacks. Yet they show their peaks and chains as dis- 
 tinctively as those to be seen on the continent. And 
 the gardens, the trees, the rivers, and the lakes 
 all are in the Porto Rican landscape, but all are of 
 diminutive size. The Porto Ricans themselves, while 
 not so large nor so rugged as the people of the 
 northern and colder climates, are well proportioned 
 and sensitively organized. 
 
 Before we land at San Juan, let us sail around the 
 island and see what the other sides are like. On the south, 
 by the Caribbean Sea, the mountain range runs nearer to 
 the coast. The hills rise up in ridges with here and 
 there a sharp peak. Columbus first saw the island from 
 the south, arid, on his return to Spain, he spoke to Queen 
 Isabella of the picturesque effect. The mountains of the 
 island, according to his report, appeared to him like a 
 handkerchief folded and wrinkled. 
 
 But whatever be the direction of approach, hills of 
 great beauty will be seen. To the south the moun- 
 tains reach the very water's edge. To the west the slope 
 is gradual and extends also to the shore. On the north- 
 ern side, and on the southern side east of Ponce, wide 
 
THE ISLAND OUTLINES. 21 
 
 ottndy stretches connect the uplands with the sea. To 
 the southwest, beyond Ponce, are coast-hills, some of 
 them slanting from the central mountain and ending in 
 bold bluffs a hundred feet high. Beyond these are grace- 
 
 SEA WALL FROM SAN CRISTOBAL. EL MORRO IN THE DISTANCE. 
 
 ful valleys, in one of which is the Lake of Guanica. Near 
 by are the cerros, low, rounded, wooded hills, similar to 
 the " knobs " of our Western States. 
 
 Like the coast of Maine, the shore of Cuba is dotted 
 with islands. Porto Rico, on the other hand, has very 
 few, excepting on the eastern side. There the waters 
 are dotted with little islands and reefs, of which Vieques, 
 the principal one, was used by the Spaniards as a mili- 
 tary prison. Soldiers were kept there, when convicted 
 of crime. The lonely island of Desecho, off the western 
 coast, is the home of millions of sea birds that build their 
 
THE ISLAND OUTLINES. 23 
 
 nests among its rocks. As we pass by on the steamship 
 these birds present a striking picture, fluttering over 
 their young, soaring above the water, or diving beneath 
 its surface in search of food. 
 
 As may be seen by reference to a map of the West 
 Indies, the whole island protruding above the surface 
 of the water is a section of the great ridge which ex- 
 tends lengthwise over both North and South America, 
 and of which Cuba and Santo Domingo are also portions. 
 The land on the west side of the island ends in abrupt 
 cliffs, while on the east the ridge continues unbroken, 
 save that all, except the portion which appears as small 
 islands, is under the surface of the water. 
 
 We will land at San Juan. Farther west there is no 
 good harbor on the northern coast. Even the busy sea- 
 port Arecibo is open to the sea. On the south side, 
 Ponce, a flourishing center of trade, has a long, curved 
 anchoring place, with no wharves to which vessels may 
 tie. Nor can the ships that engage in trade with Porto 
 Rico moor even on the western coast ; they must anchor 
 at a distance from shore and unload by means of light 
 boats. So we will land at San Juan, for here our ship 
 will find safe shelter, after it has once made its way 
 within the landlocked harbor. 
 
 Just where is this island of Porto Rico to which we 
 have come? We have found it a five days' trip from 
 New York. It is 450 miles from the southern point of 
 Florida, and many miles farther east than the eastern- 
 most portion of Maine. Halifax is two thousand miles 
 away, London twice that distance. The equator is still 
 a thousand miles towards the south. 
 
 Although the United States extends into the warm 
 
24 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 regions of the sunny south, it has never, until recently, 
 possessed soil capable of growing some of the great 
 staples of the tropics. Porto Rico and the Philippines 
 have given to our country the very best climate and 
 soil for the cultivation of sugar, coffee, and numerous 
 fruits, cereals, and spices which we think we can hardly 
 do without. Porto Rico is a territory of the United 
 States as truly as is Arizona or New Mexico. Its inter- 
 ests are the concern not only of our government, but of 
 the people as a whole. 
 
 The United States has other " gardens " committed to 
 its care, the great fruit-growing regions of Southern 
 California ; the broad cotton-belt of the South ; the treas- 
 ure lands of Colorado ; the Hawaiian Islands, " the land 
 of the Rainbow and the Palm " ; but our real garden, 
 whose soil is " rich with the spoils of nature," is in the 
 blue waters of the Atlantic and beneath the tropical sky 
 to the north of the Caribbean Sea. 
 
ODD SIGHTS IN PORTO RICO. 25 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ODD SIGHTS IN PORTO RICO. 
 
 VERY early in the morning we are aroused from our 
 slumbers by the hoarse cries of the fruit- venders. As 
 we peep through the window to find what it all means, 
 we see people carrying on their heads great willow trays 
 of fresh fruit. Piles of luscious yellow and copper- 
 colored mangoes ; great heaps of the brown melons 
 known as mameys ; bananas of a dozen different varieties, 
 from the coarse cooking-banana nearly a foot in length 
 to the dainty little fig and apple bananas, so called from 
 their flavor ; pyramids of sweet-smelling pineapples ; 
 green cocoanuts, ready to refresh the purchaser with 
 their cooling milk ; quantities of that most delicious 
 of tropical fruits, the custard apple beside oranges, 
 lemons, citrons, alligator pears, the juicy cactus fruit, 
 and many other kinds for which the English language 
 has not even a name all these form the contents of the 
 baskets. Throughout the towns and cities, and even 
 along the dusty highways, men, women, and children of 
 all shades from white to black may be seen with the 
 tempting fruit-trays on their heads. Every city block 
 can boast its little shop where one may purchase the 
 most appetizing fruits at a trifling cost, or may refresh 
 himself with a glass of sugar-cane or cocoanut juice. 
 
 The fruit-vender is followed a little later by the milk- 
 man, or woman, who comes slowly along, riding astride 
 a broad-backed burro, across whose flanks are slung the 
 large milk cans, one on either side. The milkman car- 
 ries neither bell nor horn to announce his coming, nor 
 
26 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 is there need of either. The intelligent little burro 
 knows his route well, and the entrances to the houses 
 are so wide that in most places the milk is deliv- 
 ered at the very door, through which the animals often 
 pass directly into the kitchen itself. Formerly, and 
 even yet in some districts, the cows with their muzzled 
 calves were driven from door to door, that patrons might 
 see the actual milking process. Satisfaction was some- 
 what marred, however, by the presence of the calves, 
 which were robbed of their birthright before the pur- 
 chasers' very eyes. Occasionally, nowadays, a milkman, 
 more ambitious than his neighbors, sets himself and 
 his cans on the top of a rickety two-wheeled cart. This 
 method of delivery is an innovation that is not likely to 
 become general, however, for some time to come. 
 
 The baker-man passes along the streets displaying his 
 wares in plenty of time for early breakfast. His com- 
 modities, also, are carried in a basket on his head. The 
 basket is arranged with the long loaves of bread radiating 
 from the center so as to allow fully half of each loaf to 
 project over the side. The smaller rolls are heaped up 
 in the center. The basket is easily upset, but, if this 
 accident should occur, the carrier leisurely and philo- 
 sophically gathers up his scattered wares, wiping off the 
 mud or dust with his handkerchief. In case of rain, 
 which is apt to fall during the rainy season with 
 scarcely a moment's warning, he is provided with a 
 piece of oilcloth. This covering he is more likely to 
 use for his own protection than for that of his basket, 
 rather to the detriment of his bread. 
 
 All people of the Latin races are fond of sweets. The 
 Porto Ricans seem even to have lengthened the list 
 
ODD SIGHTS IN PORTO RICO. 27 
 
 of dainties handed down to them by their Spanish ances- 
 tors. The abundance of native crude sugar, almonds, 
 cocoanuts and other nuts, affords unlimited opportunity 
 for sweetmeats, while the delicious fruits provide full 
 scope for the confectioner's genius in the way of sugared 
 fruits. And yet, strangely enough, any Porto Rican 
 boy or girl would gladly exchange a basketful of sweet- 
 
 THE MILKMAN. 
 
 meats and cakes of Porto Rican manufacture for a box 
 of American candies, even if the latter were very stale. 
 Cakes and sweets of various kinds are for sale at all times, 
 and the children are nibbling them wherever we turn. 
 
 As in most tropical countries, poultry is sold alive. 
 Porto Ricaris would view with horror the average 
 American poulterer's display of what to them would 
 be simply "dead fowl." Men go about from house to 
 
28 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 house, carrying on each arm a dozen live chickens tied 
 together in pairs and suspended by the feet. Geese and 
 turkeys for sale are often driven through the streets in 
 flocks. Their progress is marked by many amusing in- 
 cidents which tend to confirm the Spanish proverb to the 
 effect that the turkey is the most foolish of birds. Our 
 expression " as silly as a goose " would be considered ac- 
 cording to Spanish notions an unfair reflection on this, 
 in their opinion, canny bird. If night overtakes the 
 turkeys or geese before they have reached their destina- 
 tion, the boy or girl who has them in charge is left in 
 a sad predicament. The creatures insist upon going to 
 roost wherever they happen to be. As no amount of 
 gentle switching with the long bamboo driving-rod 
 moves them in the least, the unfortunate person in 
 charge is compelled to make the best of the situation 
 and "go to bed with the chickens." 
 
 Cigar and cigarette sellers are very numerous. Often- 
 times the stock in trade consists of a single box of cigars 
 offered at the entrance to post-office, theater, or hotel, by 
 some barefooted negro or boy. Sometimes a full assort- 
 ment is displayed from the top of a common soap-box 
 mounted on a child's express-wagon. 
 
 Not only can fruit, milk, bread, and fowl be pur- 
 chased at one's very door, but dry goods are trundled, 
 often by the owner himself, from house to house over 
 the shining white roads around San Juan. A large 
 variety of these commodities, from silks to the all-impor- 
 tant mosquito netting, as well as ribbons, tapes, and 
 shoe laces, is displa}^ed temptingly before the lazy cus- 
 tomer as she sits comfortably in her rocker or within the 
 cool shade of her veranda. The various wares are car- 
 
30 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 ried patiently back and forth from street to dwelling, in 
 case the occupant is unwilling to go out into the glare 
 of the sun, until a choice is made and satisfaction se- 
 cured. To a bystander, haggling over prices is most 
 amusing. Buyer and seller regard each other for the 
 time as enemies, and prices are fixed and discussed 
 accordingly. To the Anglo-Saxon visitor the curious 
 part of it all is, that no matter how close the bargaining, 
 the business is conducted with unfailing politeness. The 
 salesman is, as he puts it, " at the feet " of his customer 
 throughout the entire transaction, and is " hers to com- 
 mand " at the close as at the beginning. 
 
 One of the principal occupations of the inhabitants of 
 the rural districts is the making of hats, some of which 
 equal the finest Panamas. Some of the Porto Rican 
 hats have been sold at wholesale in the United States for 
 as much as twenty dollars apiece. Many of the better 
 grades of these hats can be rolled up into a space no 
 larger than that required for a handkerchief, and they 
 are woven so fine as to be absolutely waterproof. 
 Cinches and bridles are made from the same material, 
 and it amuses the Porto Ricans greatly to find that 
 American girls employ the latter for use as hatbands 
 and belts. The edge of many of the hats is left un- 
 finished, the ends of the straw projecting eight or ten 
 inches beyond the weaving the effect being most 
 picturesque. The hat vender, with his patient little 
 pony almost completely hidden by the pyramids of 
 hats piled around him, is a common sight in both the 
 cities and the smaller towns. The pony's size is so in- 
 creased by his load of hats that it is as much as he can 
 do to make his way through some of the narrow streets. 
 
ODD SIGHTS IN PORTO RICO. 
 
 31 
 
 The laundresses carry on their vocation daily at every 
 wayside brook, river, and stream. Barefooted and bare- 
 legged, with skirts tucked up well out of reach of the 
 water in which they stand or by which they kneel, they 
 launder the clothing after the most primitive fashion. 
 
 HAT SELLERS. 
 
 The American housewife, upon viewing the dazzling 
 whiteness of the linen returned to her by the Porto 
 Rican laundress, is unable to comprehend how such re- 
 sults can be attained with no better appliances than cold 
 water and soap. The explanation lies in the fact that 
 the linen is washed on three or four successive days, 
 receiving each time a vigorous beating with a small 
 
32 
 
 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 wooden paddle. After each cleansing the clothes are 
 spread upon the ground to bleach for hours under a 
 tropical sun. After the third or fourth washing the 
 linen is starched and then dried again. 
 
 J 
 
 NATIVE LAUNDRY. 
 
 The week's washing and ironing completed, the laun- 
 dress must carry home the finished work. The smaller 
 flat and unstarched pieces are folded carefully and piled 
 up in the middle of one of the shallow baskets so gener- 
 ally used. Around these, on hooks attached to the sides 
 
ODD SIGHTS IN PORTO RICO. 33 
 
 of the basket, are hung the starched skirts, aprons, and 
 other garments that might be crushed by folding. The 
 basket is then balanced on the head, the laundress herself 
 being concealed, from the knees up, by the trophies of her 
 skill. Her work is freely complimented, or criticised, 
 as circumstances may warrant, as she meets other laun- 
 dresses of her acquaintance. No society woman could 
 be more anxious regarding her appearance than is the 
 Porto Rican laundress for herself and her basket, espe- 
 cially the latter, 'when preparing for her weekly trium- 
 phal march, "carrying home the wash." 
 
 Every Sunday afternoon, and on all holidays, we are 
 likely to meet, on any of the suburban roads, processions 
 of curiously uniformed children walking sedately hand 
 in hand, led and followed by nuns, or by priests, should 
 the procession be made up of boys. These are the chil- 
 dren from the charity schools, taking an outing. They 
 range in age from midgets who can barely walk to youths 
 or girls of fifteen years. The latter wear holland or 
 jean pinafores, and the boys blouses and overalls. The 
 happy disposition of the islanders is once more ap- 
 parent, as these processions, so pathetically solemn in 
 Germany, England, and France, move gayly along, the 
 little folks talking to each other and watching with 
 the deepest interest the sights by the way. Most of the 
 children are learning trades, that they may become in 
 future years useful and self-supporting members of the 
 community. 
 
 Before the American occupation the towns and cities 
 swarmed with beggars, whose numbers were increased by 
 most of the blind, crippled, or otherwise hopelessly in- 
 firm portion of the poor people. Some of these have been 
 
34 
 
 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 placed in institutions where they are cared for in a far 
 better way than was possible when they were entirely 
 dependent upon the charity of strangers. Nevertheless, 
 on certain days of the week set apart by Spanish tradi- 
 tion for the giving of alms, a motley collection of bat- 
 tered human wrecks may still be 
 seen at the doors and gateways of 
 the more piously inclined among 
 the old Spanish families in San 
 Juan, and even at the shop doors 
 of some of the Spanish merchants. 
 At the stroke of twelve the cop- 
 per coins are handed out. The 
 donor, generally the aged master 
 or mistress of the household, 
 although the task is sometimes 
 handed over to the children, 
 moves from one to another of the 
 group of beggars, giving with the 
 coins kind words of inquiry, 
 counsel, or comfort. Americans 
 have occasionally wondered at the 
 seeming ingratitude of some for- 
 lorn cripple who, in the comfort 
 of a newly established asylum, 
 still sighed for the touch of human sympathy without 
 which he could not be happy. All beggars are answered 
 with kind words in Porto Rico, the traditional reply 
 when aid is refused being, "Pardon me, brother," or 
 "Pardon me to-day, sister." 
 
 Street musicians are many, the favorite instruments 
 being the guitar, the mandolin, and the bandurria. The 
 
 A BEGGAR. 
 
ODD SIGHTS IN PORTO RICO. 35 
 
 American two-step and rag-time music are becoming very 
 popular, greatly to the disgust of the foreign sojourners, 
 who enjoy much more the plaintive minor melodies of 
 the island or those gayer airs transported from Southern 
 Spain. 
 
 The cockfighter with his gamecock under his arm, his 
 shears suspended about his neck, and on the lookout for 
 an adversary, is fortunately becoming a rare figure, since 
 the enforcement of the stringent rules against cock- 
 fighting instituted by the American government. He 
 and his equally obnoxious companions, the lottery-ticket 
 seller and the quack doctor, can well be spared. 
 
 Funeral and wedding customs among the poorer classes 
 in San Juan are curiously unlike those existing in the 
 United States. In the former, interments are made 
 usually within twenty-four hours after death, and one 
 often sees the rough pine boxes, painted black inside 
 and out and marked with a white cross on the lid, being 
 carried home from the carpenter's shop where they were 
 rudely and hastily put together. These coffins are en- 
 tirely unlined and cost about a dollar each. A niche in 
 the great wall of the cemetery is rented for six months or 
 a year, where the coffin is laid by the mourners, who fol- 
 low the bearers on foot. At the close of the rented period 
 the remains are thrown into a common receiving-vault, 
 with the bones of many others there before them. There 
 are no religious ceremonies of any kind at the grave, 
 except where the deceased has been a member of some 
 fraternal or political society, when funeral orations of a 
 more or less flowery character are delivered. 
 
 The death of young children, especially in the country 
 districts, was formerly, and is still, to some extent, made 
 
36 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 the occasion of feasting and even merriment, with the 
 accompaniments of singing and dancing. "The little 
 angel," as they consider the child to be, is laid, in its best 
 frock and with a crown of flowers, before a species of 
 rude altar made of rough boards and adorned with fresh 
 flowers. Lighted candles and tinsel decorate the center 
 of the room in which the feasting is going on. The 
 mother, with eyes swollen from much weeping, makes 
 pathetic attempts to smile a welcome on the guests who 
 come to celebrate the entrance of " the little angel " 
 into a better world. 
 
 A far more pleasant sight is the country wedding. 
 Away back in the mountain districts of the coffee 
 region, previous to the American occupation, weddings 
 were of the quaintest simplicity. Very seldom did 
 either of the contracting parties possess suitable gar- 
 ments, or the money to purchase them. The alcalde, 
 or village mayor, with kindly foresight and at the same 
 time a keen eye for business, was ready to loan the bride 
 and groom clothing so old-fashioned and ill-fitting, that 
 it would be hard to find it equaled, even in a grand- 
 mother's garret. Thus arrayed, the pair proceeded to 
 the alcalde's office, where the civil marriage service was 
 performed. Then came the religious ceremony at the 
 hands of the village priest, after which the pair mounted 
 an ox-cart, and accompanied by neighbors and friends, 
 whose numbers were continually increasing, they rode 
 in state to their new home. 
 
 Porto Rican country people have never heard of the 
 Anglo-Saxon custom of throwing rice at a newly mar- 
 ried couple, but they see to it that the bridal procession 
 is sufficiently heralded. The pins of the solid wooden 
 
THE PEOPLE THEIR HOME LIFE. 37 
 
 wheels of the ox cart are intentionally so tightened that 
 the ordinary squeaking is increased until the noise is 
 quite sufficient to inform everybody within hearing of 
 the joyous event. 
 
 This and many other quaint customs are rapidly dis- 
 appearing under the more practical if less picturesque 
 rule of the United States. The alcalde is already 
 replaced by the more businesslike municipal judge ; 
 " store " clothes are appearing in the most unexpected 
 quarters; the clang of the electric car in places dulls 
 even now the creaking of the ox cart ; and the Ameri- 
 can sewing-machine, bicycle, refrigerator, and cooking- 
 stove can be confidently relied upon to complete the 
 social revolution. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE PEOPLE THEIR HOME LIFE. 
 
 THE homes of the well-to-do people of the island are 
 very comfortable. In many cities of the United States 
 buildings are constructed with shops on the ground floor 
 and apartments above. This is a very common arrange- 
 ment in Porto Rico, especially in San Juan, the first 
 floor being used for shops, a family living on the second. 
 At Mayaguez there are fine dwellings with broad, invit- 
 ing verandas. 
 
 Many of the prosperous merchants of San Juan live 
 at Santurce, three miles from the city. This charming 
 
38 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 suburb contains many beautiful homes surrounded by 
 large and attractive gardens. The long double windows 
 of the houses reach to the floor, and usually stand wide 
 open, to let in all the breezes that may blow in that 
 warm climate. 
 
 Within the house there is an air of contentment, but 
 all is simple and plain. The floors are bare, save for an 
 occasional rug or a bit of matting. There is no uphol- 
 stered furniture nothing more luxurious than cane- 
 seated settees, sofas, and chairs. Rocking-chairs are 
 very popular. Few pictures adorn the walls, though 
 some steel engravings may be found, and now and then 
 a good oil painting. Every parlor has in the center a 
 marble-topped table, usually of mahogany, with carved 
 legs. The chairs are of smooth wood bent into grace- 
 ful shapes and always painted black. Plants, artificial 
 flowers, crocheted tidies, porcelain vases, lace curtains, 
 and a glass lamp or chandelier complete the outfit of 
 the " best room " in the Porto Rican home of the better 
 sort. 
 
 The home life is as simple as the house. The Porto 
 Rican begins his day by drinking a cup .of coffee with 
 milk and sugar, at about seven or eight o'clock in the 
 morning. Breakfast is served at eleven, and consists 
 of a light repast of soup, boiled eggs, rice, fried bananas, 
 bread and coffee. Dinner, at six or seven in the even- 
 ing, is the important meal of the day. At this time all 
 the members of the family come together, ready to enjoy 
 one another's company. The dinner consists of soup, 
 meat, a salad, plenty of vegetables, fruits and sweets, 
 and the meal winds up with the all-important cup of 
 coffee. 
 
THE PEOPLE THEIR HOME LIFE. 
 
 39 
 
 The vast majority of the people of the island live in 
 the country. To know Porto Rico well we must know 
 its peasants. We must break away from the cities and 
 visit the rural districts ; we must tarry in the villages 
 and hamlets ; we must enter the dwellings of the peons, 
 or field laborers, and see how they live. Nothing reveals 
 
 WAYFARERS. 
 
 the life of any man so clearly as the place he calls his 
 home. There is an old poem which says : 
 
 " If happiness we prize. 
 Within our breast this jewel lies, 
 
 And they are fools who roam. 
 The world has nothing to bestow : 
 From our own selves our joy must flow, 
 
 And that dear hut, our home." 
 
40 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 The home of the peon, if home it can be called, is a 
 rude hut or "shack." Its rough frame is built of poles 
 lashed together, covered with bark, and roofed with palm 
 leaves or a thatch of leaves from the sugar-cane. There 
 are never more than two or three rooms. The floor is 
 uneven and unsteady. The walls are neither papered, 
 plastered, nor sheathed, but the rough poles of the frame- 
 work are exposed to view. As there is no winter in 
 Porto Rico the windows need no sashes, and no fuel is 
 required to keep the body warm. All that is necessary 
 is a shelter from the wind, the rain, and the burning 
 sun. 
 
 The peon's hut boasts very little furniture. A ham- 
 mock, a bunk, or a pile of palm branches serves for a 
 bed, a couple of boxes for chairs. Very seldom do we 
 find a table. An iron kettle or earthen pot is the only 
 kitchen utensil, and for cooking this is placed over burn- 
 ing charcoal or bits of kindling-wood. When the weather 
 is favorable the necessary cooking is done out-of-doors. 
 On rainy days, when the food must be cooked within, the 
 house is filled with a damp, suffocating smoke which 
 clings to everything and cannot be driven out. 
 
 The prepared dishes of the poor are rice, powdered 
 and curried, corn meal, and coffee. The people are very 
 fond of salt fish. Fresh and cooked fruits, such as 
 bananas and plantains, are eaten in large quantities. 
 
 The dishes are made of gourds. Cups, and even 
 ladles and spoons, are among the gourd dishes in com- 
 mon use. A fierce-looking instrument called a machete 
 (pronounced ma-cha/ta) serves as a chopping and carv- 
 ing knife. Fingers are used instead of forks. 
 
 United States Commissioner Carroll writes of a visit 
 
THE PEOPLE THEIR HOME LIFE. 
 
 41 
 
 he made to the poor quarters of Arecibo. He found 
 the houses built of old boxes or short boards, evidently 
 picked up wherever they could be found. The dwellings 
 stood near together in rows, with alleys or very narrow 
 streets between. In one house he saw a man and his wife 
 sitting on the floor and eating their noonday meal from a 
 single dish. A naked child stood in the rear room, cry- 
 ing. There was neither chair nor table, and only one 
 
 NATIVE HUTS. 
 
 small wooden stool. The roof was full of holes. Some 
 of the houses in the neighborhood were a little better, 
 but poverty was everywhere evident. And yet the peo- 
 ple did not seem unhappy ; they were probably contented, 
 because they knew no other kind of life. 
 
 The peon is up before daylight. He takes his bit of 
 codfish and rice and starts off to his day's labor. In 
 many cases he must walk three miles to his employer's 
 
42 
 
 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 cane field and be ready to begin work at sunrise. He 
 toils the long day through, save for a short hour's rest 
 at noon, arid not until the twilight is deepening into 
 darkness does he make his homeward journey. For his 
 
 WINNOWING RICE. 
 
 day's work he is paid about forty cents, receiving his 
 wages at the end of the week. Out of this meager sum 
 he buys his codfish, a little clothing, and a few other 
 absolute necessities for his family. Whatever is left he 
 devotes to personal ends, rarely laying anything aside. 
 The clothing of the poor people is cheap and scanty. 
 Many little children go naked. Of the 950,000 inhabitants 
 of the island only about 200,000 wear shoes. Of these 
 
THE PEOPLE THEIR HOME LIFE. 
 
 43 
 
 50,000 have only one pair a year. Among Porto Rico's 
 needs, shoes stand next to good food. When the social 
 condition of the people is improved these material bless- 
 ings will be demanded. With the requirements of the 
 body supplied, the desire will come for plaster on the 
 walls, chairs, pictures, books, flowers, and many other 
 things that add to the comfort of life. 
 
 The Porto Ricans are a courteous and gentle people. 
 Their kindness to strangers is very marked. If a favor 
 
 ANOTHER TYPE OF HUT. 
 
 is requested, we may be sure that it will be granted 
 willingly. If we ask the way to a certain place, our 
 informant will go the whole distance, if need be, that 
 we may be sure to take exactly the right direction. A 
 
44 
 
 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 writer of a century ago said that the Porto Ricans were 
 "hospitable to strangers." They certainly are so to-day. 
 Dr. Carroll classifies the people of the island according 
 to the three colors, white, gray, and brown. The first 
 class, the white, comprise the largest number, nearly 
 
 A GROUP OF NEGROES. 
 
 590,000 people, according to the last census. Many of 
 these are well-to-do the owners of the great sugar and 
 coffee plantations, or merchants of the larger cities and 
 towns. A majority of them, chiefly in the interior, are, 
 however, of the working class. They toil in the fields, 
 planting, cultivating, and harvesting the coffee and 
 sugar-cane. 
 
THE PEOPLE: THEIR HOME LIFE. 45 
 
 The gray represent the inhabitants of mixed blood, 
 often called mulattoes. They are more than 300,000 in 
 number. They are darker than the white people, and 
 yet in many cases it is hard to distinguish the color-line. 
 They work in the fields, act as house servants in the cities, 
 or have their own little gardens of vegetables and fruits, 
 from which they gather just enough to enable them to 
 keep body and soul together. 
 
 The brown, or, as we say in our country, the black, 
 are the negroes, who number about 59,000. They live 
 principally along the coast. This is largely due to the 
 fact that they do not suffer from the heat, while the 
 bracing air of the mountains is too cool for them. They 
 work in the cane fields, or are employed in loading and 
 unloading the ships that enter San Juan, Mayaguez, 
 Arecibo, or Ponce. 
 
 There are seventy-five Chinese in the island. In- 
 cluding these, the entire population numbers 953,200. 
 This is nine-tenths as large as the population of Mary- 
 land. During the last ten years Porto Rico has grown 
 as rapidly as have Ohio and Tennessee. 
 
 It is said that if you scratch a Porto Rican you will 
 find a Spaniard underneath the skin. The people have 
 spoken the Spanish language ever since Columbus's 
 day, and the customs of the island are similar to those 
 of Spain. 
 
 As in the mother country, the women of the higher 
 class live to some extent in seclusion. The people are 
 excitable, fond of amusements, and they read very little. 
 In these respects the Porto Rican of to-day resembles 
 the Spaniard of four hundred years ago. 
 
 The ancestors of many of the Porto Ricans came from 
 
46 PORTO RICO : THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 Andalusia. This province bears a relation to the other 
 provinces of Spain somewhat similar to that of Ireland 
 to Great Britain. Like the Irish, the Andalusians are 
 bright, witty, rather quick-tempered, perhaps, but never 
 holding a grudge. 
 
 A similar temperament is characteristic of the people 
 of Porto Rico. Although the blood of different classes 
 mingles freely in their veins, they have never been a re- 
 bellious or a warlike, people. No general insurrection 
 has ever occurred in the island. If any criticism can be 
 brought to bear upon them, it is that they have been 
 too submissive and long-suffering under Spanish rule. 
 They have never shown a warlike spirit towards the 
 people of other islands, and they are, on the whole, 
 orderly and docile, peaceable, industrious, considerate 
 of one another's welfare. 
 
 They are anxious to become American citizens and to 
 acquire American ways. The}^ have long considered 
 the United States another name for fidelity, humanity, 
 and brotherly love. They are, as Dr. Carroll says, good 
 material out of which to make steady and trusty Ameri- 
 can citizens. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PEOPLE THEIR RECREATIONS. 
 
 IT is said that a noted musician in ancient Greece was 
 severely punished by the Spartans for adding a twelfth 
 string to the harp. His fellow-citizens were afraid that 
 too great fondness for music would make the people 
 
48 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 weak. The feeling in regard to music has entirely 
 changed since Sparta's day. In modern times the appre- 
 ciation of music is considered a great advantage, and 
 nations especially musical, like Germany and Italy, are 
 regarded as superior to those which care little for the 
 art of sound. Porto Rico's love of music is, then, one 
 of the many points in her favor. As a rule, the people 
 have good voices, and sing with pleasing effect, alone 
 and in chorus. Every city, every town, and every little 
 hamlet supports its band of musicians. Concerts are 
 given twice a week in every important plaza throughout 
 the island. All the people attend these concerts ; they 
 promenade back and forth for two joyous hours, clad in 
 their best, chatting to each other, listening meanwhile to 
 the music. There are many Creoles in the island, natives 
 who have in their veins French and Spanish blood ; a 
 fact which may partly account for the reputation it has 
 for good singing. 
 
 A group of guitar and mandolin players on the street 
 corner is a daily sight in cities like Ponce and San Juan. 
 Towards evening, when the work of the day is done, 
 many voices may be heard singing merrily, now a clear 
 tenor or soprano alone, or again a chorus, joining 
 heartily in a Spanish serenade. One often hears, from 
 some unknown quarter, the national air, " Borinquen," 
 which proclaims the beauty of the isle. Though really 
 patriotic songs are rarely heard, a true love of country 
 exists among the people, and is sure to be developed in 
 the course of time. 
 
 Usually the music is rather minor in character. On 
 a bare patch in front of a rude hut, by the light of a 
 flickering torch, a group of dancers may often be seen. 
 
THE PEOPLE THEIR RECREATIONS. 
 
 49 
 
 The step is slow and measured, the feet keeping time to 
 the music of a guitar which is playing sad and dreamy 
 airs. 
 
 The fondness for amusement is apparent everywhere. 
 Unfortunately, the desire of the people for recreation 
 leads them into some very injurious pastimes. The Porto 
 Ricans are addicted to all sorts of games of chance. 
 
 A ROADSIDE ORCHESTRA. 
 
 Gambling is not an uncommon habit. The desire to 
 make a show, to dress well, and to live well leads some 
 people to become professional gamblers. 
 
 Cockfighting is the national sport. This degrading 
 amusement is quite universal in the island. Every 
 town has connected with it a cockpit. The principal 
 day for this amusement is Sunday. After attending 
 service in the church the people go from the church 
 
50 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 doors directly to the cock mains. It is a motley com- 
 pany of men and boys ; some on cantering ponies, but 
 more on foot; some with their cocks in baskets, more 
 with the birds under their arms. A dozen cocks tied to 
 stakes in the sidewalk is a familiar sight. They have 
 been clipped about the head, they are well groomed, 
 their spurs have been polished, and they are ready for 
 the fray. The money that is lost and won in this bru- 
 talizing sport would go far to keep the families of the 
 participants in food and clothing. 
 
 Bullfighting has never flourished in the island. In 
 strong contrast to the other Spanish countries, it is rarely 
 indulged in, and is the diversion only of the well-to-do. 
 Cockfighting, on the other hand, comes within reach of 
 the common toiler, upon whom it is most degrading in 
 its influence. Generation after generation of boys and 
 young men women have no part in the sport grow 
 up with a passion for the disgusting amusement. It 
 does not seem to have occurred to the people that it is 
 either brutal or debasing. As was to be expected, one 
 of the first things the United States did after taking 
 possession of the island was to prohibit cockfighting. It 
 is to be hoped that in coming years the sport will be en- 
 tirely banished. 
 
 The festivals of the church are national gala days. 
 Especially is this true of St. John's Eve, June 27, and 
 the days preceding. The festivities of the midsummer 
 time last for more than two weeks, a special programme 
 being arranged for each day and evening. In prepara- 
 tion for the great parade, to be held on the day specially 
 devoted to the patron saint of San Juan, hundreds of 
 people bring their horses to the city. At ten o'clock on 
 
THE PEOPLE THEIR RECREATIONS. 51 
 
 the morning of the appointed day a procession of men, 
 women and children on horseback, all in fantastic dress, 
 passes through the streets. Flags are waved, and ban- 
 ners swing in the breeze. Social distinctions are forgot- 
 ten. The air is filled with pellets of lime and plaster, 
 called confetti, and there is continuous applause. 
 
 The procession makes its way to the government 
 house, where a burlesque proclamation is read by the 
 chief man of the crowd. The more nonsense this an- 
 nouncement contains, the more the people shout and 
 cheer. Then the " Merry Maskers " appear and try to 
 deceive their friends as to who they are. The authorities 
 publish a decree requiring order, but no one takes any 
 notice of it. Those who do not wholly disguise them- 
 selves appear on the street in fancy costume. 
 
 At night bonfires are kindled on the corners of the 
 streets. It is a time for all kinds of jokes. Men and 
 boys on horseback make fun of those who cannot or do 
 not ride, and they are answered in similar vein. For 
 three days all the houses are thrown open. Lemonade 
 and other refreshing drinks are offered to all who are 
 thirsty. People with masks and without enter freely 
 into these open houses, but no property is ever disturbed. 
 
 In connection with the St. John festival is held that 
 most beautiful entertainment, known as the Feast of 
 Flowers. This comes to the island from the Europe of 
 mediaeval times, and very probably it might be traced 
 even farther back, to the days of ancient Greece. 
 
 At one of the Greek festivals a poetical contest was 
 always held, and the victor was crowned with a laurel 
 wreath, the highest honor that any Greek could attain. 
 The contest at the Porto Rican Feast of Flowers is 
 
52 
 
 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 somewhat similar. A month or two before the appointed 
 day a committee chosen for that purpose announces the 
 subjects upon which poems may be written. The con- 
 test is open to any one in the island, the poems to be 
 
 THE PICKANINNIES' DINNER PARTY. 
 
 written in Spanish. In 1901 the three topics selected 
 were Country, Woman, and Love. 
 
 The successful rhymes are printed in all the papers 
 and are read aloud on the festal day, and to their 
 writers prizes are given. To the writer of the finest 
 poem of all is presented a natural rose. The lady upon 
 whom he bestows this rose becomes queen of the feast. 
 
THE PEOPLE THEIR RECREATIONS. 53 
 
 She sits upon a flowery throne from which she dis- 
 tributes all other prizes. Her commands are implicitly 
 obeyed, and she is for one day a genuine Queen of the 
 Flowers. The prize awarded for the second best poem 
 is a rose of gold ; the third in rank is rewarded with a 
 rose of silver. The Flower Feast is the most charming 
 occasion of the St. John carnival, even though it may 
 lack the boisterousness of the midsummer day's revels. 
 
 St. Peter's Day and carnival bring their own festiv- 
 ities. Dressed in grotesque fashion, people go from 
 house to house, filling the air with music of a more or 
 less absurd character. Masked balls are given. Ridicule 
 of everybody and everything is regarded as allowable. 
 The man who plays the fool, and is the best clown, is 
 most in demand at these festival times. 
 
 The negroes are very boisterous in their antics. They 
 romp and caper and contort their bodies into all sorts of 
 shapes. The " cake walk " is a mild performance com- 
 pared with the pranks of these people. Their gayety 
 lasts for several days, and ceases only when the par- 
 ticipants have exhausted all new forms of amusement 
 and are completely tired out. 
 
 The people of Porto Rico are especially partial to the 
 drama ; nearly every town has its theater. Sunday is 
 the great holiday. After the morning service is over 
 the rest of the day is given to amusement, and all kinds 
 of pastimes are indulged in. 
 
 Vigorous out-of-door sports and games, such as base- 
 ball, which the boys of the United States are accus- 
 tomed to play, were formerly unknown in Porto Rico. 
 Since the American occupation, however, this game 
 has become very popular with the islanders, in spite of 
 
54 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 the warm, enervating climate. In heat such that no 
 American boy would think he could do anything re- 
 quiring more active exercise than "playing knife," a 
 group of Porto Rican j^outh may now-a-days often be 
 seen wholly engrossed in a game of baseball. It speaks 
 well for the future of the island that her young men 
 are so deeply interested in this invigorating form of 
 athletics. Like the youth of other countries, they are 
 much in need of such sports to aid in better physical 
 development. 
 
 The children of the island have few games. When at 
 play they skip aimlessly about with no apparent plan. 
 Few of them have heard of such common games as 
 leapfrog and hide-and-seek. Many of the children of 
 the poorer classes have hardly even seen a doll. The 
 simple materials supplied by the Insular govern- 
 ment in connection with school work, such as pencils, 
 rulers and blackboard crayons, have for these little 
 folks very great attraction. That learning to write 
 should be a pleasure, because of the novelty of marking 
 with a lead pencil, is something that the child of the 
 United States, who has played with pencil and paper 
 ever since he can remember, is hardly able to com- 
 prehend. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MOUNTAINS, PLAINS, AND CAVES. 
 
 THE mountains with which we are most familiar are 
 elevations of soil or rock upon the land, where they serve 
 numerous uses to mankind. They mark boundaries be- 
 
MOUNTAINS, PLAINS, AND CAVES. 55 
 
 tween countries, they influence climate, they cause rain- 
 fall. Among them rivers rise, and out of them metals 
 are brought. We measure their height in feet above the 
 sea level. 
 
 There are lofty mountains beneath the surface of the 
 sea, also. They may be single peaks or mountain ranges, 
 and often between them are deep valleys. The islands 
 forming the West Indies are the fertile uplands of a long 
 mountain range rising from the depths of the ocean. 
 
 Some of the submarine mountains are higher than 
 any mountains we have upon the land. The average 
 elevation of the Himalayas is about 18,000 feet. The 
 highest single mountain in Europe, Mont Blanc, is 
 15,782 feet, while some of the mountains forming the 
 West Indies are 27,000 feet from submarine base to 
 summit. Asia is the only continent with mountain peaks 
 that can surpass them. Mount Everest, towering to the 
 magnificent height of 29,000 feet, eclipses the mountains 
 of the tropical West Indies, hidden, as their bases are, 
 25,000 feet beneath the surface of the ocean. 
 
 A little to the north of Porto Rico lies a vast ocean 
 valley. It is known as Bronson's Deep, and until recently 
 was supposed to be the lowest point on the earth's sur- 
 face. Soundings have been made to a depth of more 
 than five miles. In other words, if a giant could take 
 Pike's Peak from Colorado and throw it into Bronson's 
 Deep, there would still be room for Mount Washington 
 and several smaller hills on top. 
 
 What stately mountain peaks must lie below the blue 
 surface of the Atlantic along the course of the submarine 
 ranges ! What Alpine steeps ! What precipices and nat- 
 ural walls ! The wonders of mountain scenery below the 
 
56 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 surface of the sea recall to our minds the question of the 
 Almighty : " Hast thou entered into the springs of the 
 sea ? Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep ? " 
 
 A SHARP TURN ON THE MOUNTAIN SIDE NEAR GUAYAMA. 
 
 Compared with the great mountain called Porto Rico, 
 the mountains on the island itself which are really 
 the very tallest peaks of the large ocean mountain 
 seem small. Several of them are actually, however, of 
 
MOUNTAINS, PLAINS, AND CAVES. 57 
 
 considerable height. El Yunque is 3609 feet above 
 sea level. These mountains are made up of volcanic 
 rock and are surrounded by a narrow belt of limestone 
 hills. From a distance they resemble in appearance 
 the Green Mountains of Vermont, although they are 
 not so high. Mount Mansfield, the highest peak of the 
 Green Mountains, is a thousand feet higher than El 
 Yunque. 
 
 The long mountain range extending across the island 
 is called a cordillera, a name which is given to any con- 
 tinuous and unbroken range. The main chain of peaks 
 extends from Mayaguez, on the west, through the upland 
 regions of Adjuntas, to Aibonito, the highest town on 
 the military road. From Aibonito westward, the range 
 is called the Central Cordillera; east of Aibonito, the 
 Sierra de Cayey. 
 
 Near the middle of the island a second range branches 
 (ff from the main cordillera, and running in a southeast- 
 erly direction forms two mountain chains in the eastern 
 portion of the island. The northern extension of this 
 range, the Sierra Luquillo, extends from near Caguas 
 to the northeast coast of the island. Other mountains 
 worthy of note are El Asomante, near Aibonito ; Cerro 
 de Guilarte and Las Sillas de Calderon, near Adjuntas ; 
 Las Tetas de Cerro Gordo, in San German ; and Cerro 
 Montuoso, near Mayaguez. 
 
 On the north coast is a series of hills called by the 
 islanders " pepinos " or cucumbers. They rise to a 
 height of about twelve hundred feet ; they are sharp 
 and, in some cases, flattened at the summit ; and thus 
 they bear a fanciful resemblance to cucumbers. 
 
 Porto Rico is so small an island that the rivers rising 
 
58 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 high up in the mountains flow to the sea swiftly, and with 
 great force. As they rush down they carry with them 
 soil from the mountain sides. This soil is left near the 
 coast as fan-shaped deposits called " playa plains." The 
 handle of the fan extends towards the mountains, the 
 broad, open portion towards the sea. These playa, or 
 coast plains, stand only a few feet above ocean level. 
 Several of the Porto Rican cities are built on the inner 
 border of the playa plains. Similar land formations are 
 found in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. In these 
 sections they are produced by evaporation in the broad 
 level plains, where water has collected after severe rains. 
 Ponce is situated on one of the most noted playa plains, 
 its port being known as the Playa of Ponce. At first 
 sight these plains look like deserts, the limestone surface 
 extending in long unbroken tracts, in striking contrast 
 to the luxuriant hills beyond. 
 
 Between the foothills and the central ranges of 'moun- 
 tains are " parting- valleys." As the rivers make their 
 way from the interior, they wear away broad channels and 
 form these long valleys. Indian corn is grown with great 
 success in the valley soil. The lagoon of Guanica is in 
 one of the parting-valleys. It lies between the cerros and 
 the hills which separate it from the sea. 
 
 Mr. R. T. Hill, of the United States Geological Sur- 
 vey, who has made a thorough study of the physical 
 features of Porto Rico, finds no signs of recent volcanic 
 action. He says that there are no craters, and that no belt 
 of lava is exposed to view. Still, as the mountains are 
 made up of volcanic rock and show signs of volcanic up- 
 heavals, there must have been active volcanoes on the 
 island some time in the past. 
 
60 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 Once upon a time, long ages ago, the scientists think, 
 the land in the vicinity of the Caribbean Sea was much 
 higher than it is to-day. It is believed that all the way 
 from Florida to the mainland of South America there 
 was a solid body of land. Probably there was no 
 Isthmus of Panama in those days, but the waters of the 
 Pacific Ocean washed the western side of this connect- 
 ing body of land. Later, the land subsided, leaving 
 Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Porto Rico, and afterwards the 
 other islands of this region, above the sea. 
 
 Then came a long stretch of time, to be counted by 
 ages rather than years, during which a deposit of lime- 
 stone was made, lifting the West India Islands above 
 the surface of the ocean. The mountain peaks came 
 into shape, and craters were opened, which poured forth 
 liquid lava. Another layer of limestone formed, like a 
 crust, over the whole, and still later, coral polyps built 
 their dwellings upon the summits of the ridges covered 
 with water. We find around nearly all the West India 
 Islands a series of coral terraces, which reach some dis- 
 tance in from the shore. 
 
 Under the direction of our government, careful study 
 will be made of the various soils in Porto Rico. Ex- 
 perts will experiment to find out what plants will 
 thrive on the island, and how these may best be culti- 
 vated. By this means the farmers will learn how to 
 raise larger crops, and of better quality, than can be 
 obtained under the present conditions. 
 
 A trip to Porto Rico would be incomplete without a 
 visit to one or more of the great caves to be found in 
 the central and western portions of the island. As the 
 underlying rock is limestone, cavities are to be expected. 
 
62 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 They extend into the mountains horizontally, and are 
 often very striking in their formation and coloring. 
 
 We will start for our trip to the caves from Caguas, 
 twenty miles south of San Juan, and ride on our small 
 Porto Rican ponies about halfway across the island to 
 Aguas Buenas. We will take our breakfast in the bar- 
 racks of Aguas Buenas, and then make our way to the 
 cave itself. " Only an hour's ride," our Spanish guide 
 tells us, but although in a straight line it is barely a mile, 
 by the steep and winding trail it is rather a long journey. 
 
 As we wind slowly along the rough mountain trail 
 the scenery is enchanting. The picture increases in 
 beauty as we climb, especially when we turn to look on 
 the hills and valleys behind us. A thousand feet below 
 is the charming vale in which the busy city of Caguas 
 lies. It is surrounded by great fields of sugar-cane, 
 whose purple stalks stand out in contrast with the rich 
 foliage of the hills. The groups of trees and vines are 
 broken here and there by clusters of buildings with 
 tall chimneys and rambling sheds the sugar factories 
 where the growers grind the cane-stalk and prepare it 
 for trade. 
 
 A traveler thus describes the approach to Aguas 
 Buenas, with its weather-worn and picturesque church : 
 
 u From the tower the early morning hour is struck in 
 cracked tones, which reverberate among the houses of 
 the scarcely awakened town, and float still farther out 
 to the clustering thatched huts of the poor, clinging to 
 the hillsides in defiance of the laws of gravitation. The 
 cool morning air; the sky filled with fleecy clouds 
 through which the slanting sunlight streams in moving 
 patches over the surface of the landscape ; the women 
 
MOUNTAINS, PLAINS, AND CAVES. 63 
 
 trudging with heavy loads of soiled linen on their heads 
 to a near-by stream ; the white-clothed, barefooted men 
 astride of panniered, shambling ponies ; the well-dressed 
 planters and shopkeepers yawningly opening their 
 closely barred windows, combine to make a new stage- 
 setting, part Eastern, part Spanish, part Mexican, and, 
 last of all, part American, for over many houses floats 
 our decorative flag." 
 
 At last, after the " hour's ride," we go down a wind- 
 ing path and see before us a great opening in a wall of 
 rock. This is not the principal entrance to the cave, but 
 here we hitch our ponies to the calabash trees, and walk 
 through the thick underbrush to a narrow gorge, where 
 we approach a deep, yawning, black hole, the mouth of 
 the " Dark Cave." 
 
 As we enter, the water dripping from the ceiling falls 
 upon our heads. The top, bottom, and sides of the cave 
 are limestone, and the dropping water holds this sub- 
 stance in solution, just as common salt can be dissolved 
 in a glass of water. We turn instinctively to see 
 where the drops come from, and to our surprise we 
 observe them falling from what appear to be icicles 
 hanging from the ceiling of the cave. Closer inspec- 
 tion shows that they are not really icicles, but the lime- 
 stone itself, which is left behind by the dripping water 
 in this form, the pendants growing a little larger every 
 year, as each drop of water leaves its mite of limestone 
 on the end. But not all the limestone in the drop of 
 water is left on the pendant above. Similar " icicles " 
 stand upward from the floor of the cave, and in the light 
 of the torches these stalactites and stalagmites, as they 
 are called, gleam with a whiteness like snow. 
 
64 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 From the first gallery, which is a hundred yards long 
 and fifteen or twenty feet high, we push forward into 
 other chambers, where we are startled by the bats, whose 
 fanning wings and hurried flight recall the sound of 
 rushing waters. Deep holes seem to lead to an un- 
 known world below. The guides tremble if one of us 
 draws too near the edge to look over, or throws stones 
 into the depths to listen to the hollow sounds that 
 echo back. 
 
 After we have gone two miles into this great cavern, 
 we return to explore another near by. Here the pas- 
 sageway winds in and out, and we enter great halls 
 from paths over which we have crawled on hands and 
 knees. Here are rocks, some dark and somber, while 
 others, creamy white, gleam and sparkle in the flare of 
 the torch. As we penetrate farther into the depths of 
 the mountain, we hear the murmuring of a brook hun- 
 dreds of feet below, we catch a glimpse of daylight here 
 and there from the top of the tall domes, and finally we 
 clamber out on the opposite side. After eight hours in 
 such realms of darkness we are ready to welcome the 
 sunlight and our nourishing luncheon of chicken, eggs, 
 and rice. 
 
 The noted cave of Concejo, near Arecibo, is within a 
 vertical rock three hundred feet high. Chamber beyond 
 chamber tempts the explorer to keep going farther, but 
 the slippery floor warns him meanwhile to take heed to his 
 steps. The caves of Loiza, San Sebastian, and Manati are 
 worth long journeys to see. In their gorgeous colors and 
 mazy windings they remind the visitor of Mammoth 
 Cave in Kentucky, although they are insignificant in 
 size, as compared with the latter. Mammoth Cave is 
 
MOUNTAINS, PLAINS, AND CAVES. 65 
 
 forty miles long, while not one of these is more than 
 two. 
 
 It is only in recent years that men of science have 
 explored these Porto Rican caves with any attempt at 
 thoroughness. They have found there, however, certain 
 treasures rarely seen elsewhere in either North or South 
 America. These are pieces of bones and skulls and one 
 complete skull bone of the people who first inhabited 
 the island. The skulls are of special interest, since 
 they reveal a peculiar custom practiced by these people, 
 and left for us to discover, so many years after they are 
 dead and gone. Experts who have studied them tell us 
 that the skull bones show, from their queer, pointed 
 shape, that some of the babies must have had their 
 heads bound, just as the Chinese bind the feet of little 
 girls to-day. Only the boy babies' heads were thus bound, 
 and probably not all of them. Why this cruel torture 
 was practiced, to make the heads of certain men long 
 and pointed, we can only guess. Were the children of 
 the chiefs thus deformed, to distinguish them from the 
 people of lower rank? Were those destined to be war- 
 riors selected, that by their hideousness they might 
 strike terror into the hearts of their enemies ? What it 
 was for we shall probably never know ; there is simply 
 one misshapen skull, with pieces of several others, to tell 
 us of the savagery of a people of whose existence Porto 
 Rico shows hardly another trace. 
 
66 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 RIVERS AND SOIL. 
 
 AN area of thirty-six hundred square miles and thir- 
 teen hundred rivers and streams ! This is the proportion 
 in Porto Rico. Where on the earth's surface shall we 
 find its equal? As the island is not large, its rivers 
 must necessarily be short, but what they lack in length 
 they make up in numbers. The mountains are the 
 fountain head of many livers, the majority of which 
 flow northward and southward. This is due to the fact 
 that the mountain ranges run east and west, lengthwise 
 with the island. As they are one third nearer the 
 southern than the northern coast, the rivers flowing 
 northward are one third longer than those flowing 
 south. The mountain slopes north and south are deeply 
 cut by the rapid streams, giving most of the interior 
 a steep, hilly surface. Owing to the suddenness of 
 these descents and the dryness of the earth, espe- 
 cially on the south side, much of the water runs off 
 without irrigating the soil. The rivers gather quickly 
 and flow rapidly, finding their way to the sea in a very 
 short time. This gives them a larger volume than in 
 countries where the rise of the ground from the sea 
 towards the interior is gradual. 
 
 Seventeen rivers springing from the mountains flow 
 northward and empty into the Atlantic Ocean. Unlike 
 the rivers of the United States, those of Porto Rico are, 
 on the whole, narrow. Few of them are more than two 
 hundred feet in width, and most of them have an 
 average depth of from two to four feet. Some of 
 
RIVERS AND SOIL 67 
 
 tlu'se, however, are streams of comparatively large size. 
 A few of them are navigable for a considerable distance 
 above their mouths. Ihe Arecibo, for instance, will 
 admit vessels of ordinary draft to within fifteen miles 
 of its source. But in a majority of cases the rivers 
 of the northern side allow of little commerce with the 
 interior. Across the entrance to several of them are 
 sand bars, washed up by the rough sea, which present 
 another obstacle to navigation. 
 
 The rains, which are very abundant on the northern 
 side of the island, often cause the rivers to overflow 
 their banks. The floods that result do great injury to 
 the crops. As the rains are less frequent south of the 
 mountain divide, the rivers on this side are not so richly 
 supplied with water. Yet the streams of the south are 
 never wholly dried up, although often no rain falls for 
 ten months at a time. 
 
 Of the rivers flowing into the Atlantic, the Loiza, 
 though not navigable for so long a distance as the 
 Arecibo, is the largest. Because of its size it has been 
 called the Rio Grande de .Loiza. It rises in the Sierra 
 de Cayey in Guayama, flows northwest and then north- 
 east, gathering the waters of numerous smaller streams 
 along the way, and empties into the Atlantic at the port 
 of Loiza. At Carolina, fifteen miles from the mouth, its 
 surface width is 220 feet, its depth three feet. 
 
 The Plata, which rises in the same mountain heights, 
 is nearly as long as the Loiza. It drains the rich 
 tobacco fields of Cayey and Aibonito, takes a northerly 
 direction, and, passing through Toa Alta and Bayamon, 
 empties into the Atlantic near Dorado, ten miles west 
 of San Juan. 
 
68 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 The east fork of the Arecibo rises in the ravines of 
 the great divide. The west branch begins its course 
 near Adjuntas. The two branches unite a few miles 
 above Utuado and then flow slightly northwest. The 
 stream is enlarged by the Tanama, which, increased by 
 three branches, continues to Arecibo, where it enters 
 the sea. 
 
 The Manati, rising in the Sierra Grande which sur- 
 rounds the mountain town of Barros, passes on its north- 
 ward way Manati and Barceloneta, and empties into the 
 ocean at Point Boquilla. 
 
 The Bayamon rises in the high mountains of the 
 interior, flows almost due north, and empties into the 
 bay of San Juan. The town of Bayamon is situated 
 on this river. The Rio Piedras is a stream of lesser 
 size. It also empties into the bay of San Juan. 
 
 Two mountain streams, one rising near Corozal and 
 the other near Morovis, flowing northward, unite and 
 form the river Morovis, which empties into the At- 
 lantic about fifteen miles west of San Juan. 
 
 Of the sixteen rivers that empty into the Caribbean 
 Sea, three may be mentioned. The Coamo passes between 
 the Sierra Grande on the west and the ridges of Coamo 
 on the east. It flows near the town of that name, and 
 empties into the sea east of Coamo Point. West of the 
 Sierra de Cayey and east of the Coamo Mountains flows 
 the Salinas, in a southwesterly direction to the sea. The 
 Jacaguas, or Juan Diaz, pursues a southwesterly course 
 from its source on the southern slopes of the higher 
 mountains. Passing under the great military road at 
 Juana Diaz, it empties into the sea a few miles east of 
 Ponce. The rivers of the north differ from those of the 
 
RIVERS AND SOIL. 
 
 69 
 
 south in the abundance of delicious fish which they 
 produce. 
 
 There are but three rivers of importance which empty 
 into the Mona Passage on the west coast. The first of 
 
 A MILL FOR GRINDING CORN. 
 
 these, the Mayaguez, is a short but useful river, which 
 reaches the sea near the city of the same name. A 
 few miles southward is the Guanajibo, which flows 
 between the broken ridges of the Lares Mountains on the 
 
70 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 north and Torre Hill on the south. One branch encir- 
 cles Cerro Montuoso, another the Tetas de Cerro Gordo 
 Mountains. Three towns lie along the banks of this 
 river and its affluents, Sabana Grande, San German, 
 and Hormigueros. The Anasco River rises among the 
 Lares summits ; its northern branch, called the Prieto, is 
 long and winding, taking its rise in the fastnesses of Cerro 
 de Guilarte, one of the loftiest mountains in western 
 Porto Rico. The Prieto flows through Las Marias, then 
 into, and becomes a part of, the Anasco, upon whose 
 banks is the town of the same name. Its mouth is 
 about five miles north of Mayaguez. 
 
 Compared with the rivers of the northern coast those 
 of the eastern are small and limited in commercial 
 value. The principal ones are Fajardo, Guayanes, and 
 Humacao. Not one of them is navigable except for 
 small craft, and yet they drain a country wonderfully 
 fertile. 
 
 If we should make a journey around the coast, we 
 should find forty-six rivers emptying into the sea, one 
 every eight miles. Aside from the rivers are countless 
 rivulets and streams. 
 
 The value to Porto Rico of its rivers cannot be told. 
 They hold the secret of much of its agricultural wealth. 
 Its fertility will never diminish as long as its water 
 supply is wisely used. But it is a historical fact that 
 the rivers and water courses of the island have never 
 been turned to the best account for the purposes of com- 
 merce. For example, between the Arecibo and the 
 Manati rivers there is a fresh-water lagoon six miles 
 long and parallel with the Atlantic Ocean. Communi- 
 cation between this lake and these two rivers might be 
 
RIVERS AND SOIL 71 
 
 made at small expense. This would open the way for 
 free intercourse between the rivers and the valleys 
 through which they flow. It would make business 
 brisker and increase prosperity. 
 
 Scattered here and there over the island are some 
 eight bodies of water of sufficient size to be called lakes. 
 The two largest are Lake Guanica in the south, and 
 Lake Martin Pina in the north. Several lagoons are to 
 be found near the coast, the principal one being that on 
 the northern border of Arecibo, to which reference has 
 already been made. Picturesque cascades are the Salto 
 de los Moron es near Adjuntas, and the falls of Santa 
 Alta in Bayam6n. There are also mineral and hot 
 springs, such as those of Coamo and Quintana. 
 
 A word picture of Porto Rican water scenes is given 
 by Mr. William Dinwiddie. " In the western half of 
 the island," he says, " one sees from dizzy mountain 
 trails exquisite sunlit falls, dropping in silver threads 
 for two hundred feet over steep rock precipices, hidden 
 in places in their descent by giant ferns and clusters of 
 flowering plants. From the depths of the huge ravines 
 rises the sound of tumbling water, but the rivers are 
 hidden from sight by the mass of tropical growth. By 
 toiling down steep-sided hills, clinging to the thick- 
 grown coffee bushes, step by step, one is at last rewarded 
 by a vision of curling falls and boiling waters, embow- 
 ered in arches of unfamiliar trees and pendent vines, 
 which fills the soul of a lover of nature with thrills of 
 joy. These streams give to the rural inhabitants an 
 abundance of fresh water ; from them, also, might be 
 obtained power for running machinery, for while they do 
 at times become raging torrents, they never fall below a 
 
72 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 certain level. Again, much of the wonderful fertility 
 of the lowlands is due to the overflowing freshets, 
 which, several times a year, deposit a mountain-gathered 
 load of rich soil." 
 
 One of the advantages which will result from Ameri- 
 can control in Porto Rico will be improved methods of 
 irrigation. By building reservoirs and aqueducts, and 
 by connecting the river courses by means of canals, 
 much of the water that now rushes to the sea and is 
 wasted may be used to enrich the soil. 
 
 Whatever plans are put in operation by American en- 
 terprise, we must remember that science has already 
 done much for Porto Rico. The road builder, the 
 bridge maker, the fruit raiser and the grain producer 
 have been at work. The Spaniards have constructed 
 many irrigating ditches of moderate size. The low 
 playa lands between Guayama and Ponce yield good 
 sugar-cane crops by this means of irrigation. The thick, 
 heavy growth is the result of the artificial supply of 
 water. The only trouble is that irrigation is so little 
 employed in the island. 
 
 The abundant rainfall provides water sufficient for 
 three fourths of the island. The remaining fourth, 
 which consists of some eight hundred miles of dry soil 
 along the coast, can, by artificial watering, be made to 
 blossom like the rose. Certain tracts of land that have 
 been deemed useless for purposes of cultivation, will 
 yield rich harvests when made to feel the touch of 
 great rivers. The playa lands can be made, by proper 
 methods of irrigation, to yield double the present crop 
 of bananas, cocoanuts, and sugar-cane. Of the four 
 hundred and fifty miles included in what is called " the 
 
74 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 southern back coast border," nearly a quarter of the 
 territory could be made to add to the wealth of the 
 island if irrigation were rightly applied. 
 
 Porto Rico has so great an amount of water in its 
 fertile portions that it can spare enough to enrich the 
 needy sections. By tapping some of the well-filled 
 streams and turning them into shallow channels, the dry 
 places can be watered. During the rainy season the 
 flood discharges of the larger streams occur at frequent 
 intervals. Little of this water need be lost. Large 
 storage reservoirs might be constructed in the valleys, 
 and connection be made between them and the dry soil 
 of the foothills. 
 
 For many years the inhabitants of the island have 
 watered their fields from irrigating canals. The most ad- 
 vanced modern science has not improved on these canals 
 as regards durability, for many of them are as service- 
 able to-day as when they were constructed, perhaps two 
 centuries ago. Our methods of irrigating, employed in 
 California and elsewhere, are, however, more economical 
 in the use of water. When the Porto Ricans learn, as 
 they certainly will very soon, how to take advantage of 
 the possibilities in this direction, the most difficult of the 
 agricultural problems will have been solved. 
 
 Much of the soil along the southwestern coast re- 
 sponds readily to irrigation. The surface soil is a rich, 
 earthy loam, with a subsoil of an open, porous limestone, 
 which supplies excellent drainage. The land is at 
 present largely under cultivation in maize, beans, pease, 
 cassava, and other vegetables. Fruits of various kinds 
 grow finely in such soil. 
 
 The soil of the mountains is a dark red clay. That 
 
RIVERS AND SOIL. 
 
 75 
 
 of the foothills is white limestone which abounds from 
 Florida southward, though it is seldom found in the 
 United States. Vegetation takes deep root in the rich 
 red mountain soil. But this same clay soil, when sticky 
 and wet, is a terror to the farmer carrying his produce 
 
 THE COAMO RIVER. 
 
 to market. It resembles in color the clay regions of 
 the Appalachian Mountain system, and is made of 
 black volcanic rocks. The color is due to the iron 
 which it contains. The constant action of the mois- 
 ture and heat causes this rock formation to decay, and 
 thus to become a fertile soil. 
 
76 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 The playa soil, found along the coast, consists of a red 
 loam washed down by the rapidly flowing rivers. In the 
 southwestern portion of the island the soil is blacker, 
 and contains considerable lime. It is suitable for grow- 
 ing sugar-cane. 
 
 Owing to long-continued cultivation, much of the soil 
 of Porto Rico has become exhausted, so that it has in 
 many places been abandoned or is allowed to remain idle. 
 No fertilizers have been applied to give it the old-time 
 richness. This is especially the case on the north side 
 of the island. Near Carolina and Rio Grande are 
 deserted sugar estates. In the vicinity of Lares and 
 Adjuntas many abandoned fields are to be seen. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CLIMATE, KAINFALL, HURRICANES. 
 
 WE are accustomed to think that the farther south 
 a certain locality is, the warmer it must be. Because 
 Porto Rico is in the same latitude as the Desert of 
 Sahara, Vera Cruz, Rangoon, and Bombay, it seems 
 to one living farther north that it must be almost 
 unbearably hot. Of course the climate of the island is 
 tropical, and on the coast it is very warm. The mountains 
 do much towards varying the atmosphere, however, and 
 in the interior the air is cool and healthful. At Ponce, 
 for example, the heat is intense, but back among the hills 
 at Adjuntas the atmosphere is really bracing. The word 
 climate originally meant a slant or incline, and thus it 
 referred to mountain slopes which cause changes in the 
 
CLIMATE, RAINFALL, HURRICANES. 77 
 
 atmosphere, and so bring heat or cold, dryness or damp- 
 ness. 
 
 The variation in temperature between the coast and 
 the interior of the island is not caused wholly by the 
 difference in elevation, but is in part due to the aid which 
 great heights give in condensing moisture and bringing 
 rain to cool the air. 
 
 Lying well within the circle of the tropics, the island 
 is in the direction of the southwest trade winds, which 
 blow with great regularity and cool the air to a consid- 
 erable extent. The Cape Verd Islands, the Hawaiian 
 Islands, and the Philippines are on nearly the same par- 
 allel as Porto Rico. Each locality has its peculiarities 
 and its charms, but for a place of residence or resort 
 none of them can surpass this garden spot of the West 
 Indies. 
 
 To Americans planning to visit the island, the ques- 
 tion of climate is a very important one. The future of 
 this land of sunshine, as an American possession, bears 
 directly upon its healthfulness for people from farther 
 north. From November to March the climate is almost 
 ideal. This is called the winter season, although there is 
 neither snow nor frost. There are occasional showers, 
 but they are most common at night. The trade winds 
 blow from the east, northeast, or southeast, making the 
 air fresh and invigorating. During the months from 
 April to about October the air is warmer, the heat more 
 continuous, the rains more frequent and of longer dura- 
 tion. The heat and rain together produce great mois- 
 ture, especially along the coast. 
 
 If we plan to spend a week in San Juan, or Arecibo, 
 or Ponce, it had best be during the winter season. But 
 
78 
 
 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 whatever the time of ^ear, such mountainous centers as 
 Adjuntas, Lares, and Cayey are most delightful towns 
 to visit. As places of refuge from the heat of the coast 
 they are paradise itself. Passing from a temperature of 
 
 90 to one of 
 60 is an easy 
 step in Porto 
 Rico. 
 
 Many people 
 have consid- 
 ered that the 
 climate of the 
 island is un- 
 healthful. This 
 is due to an 
 unwise choice 
 of the season 
 for trying it, 
 too rash indul- 
 gence in tropi- 
 cal fruits, or 
 a general dis- 
 regard of the 
 laws of health. 
 Walking on 
 the sunny side 
 of a street in 
 Ponce on a 
 July day is something that no native would venture to 
 attempt. The rainy season tries any constitution used 
 to a northern climate. As a result, malarial diseases 
 have, in many cases, been produced. Care in selecting 
 
 COCOA PALMS. 
 
CLIMATE, RAINFALL, HURRICANES. 79 
 
 a healthful locality and eating proper food make travel- 
 ing in Porto Rico a delight. 
 
 The sudden change from glaring sunlight to dense 
 shade is so great that it often produces injurious effects. 
 It cools the blood so quickly that pneumonia occasion- 
 ally results, or some fatal disease of the lungs. 
 
 In the summer season heavy rains may be expected. 
 The water falls, not in showers, but in sheets. The rains 
 begin in May, and gradually increase in volume until 
 the middle of August, when they are at their height. 
 It sometimes seems as if everything would be deluged. 
 Occasionally the sound of thunder gives warning of 
 the coming downpour. When it arrives there is no 
 describing the magnitude of the shower. It " rains dag- 
 gers with their points downward." Every object disap- 
 pears from view. In twenty minutes one seems to be 
 surrounded by a lake. Among the mountains the tor- 
 rents rush into the rivers, fill them to overflowing, tear 
 down the slopes and flood the plains below. 
 
 The trade winds blow across the island from the east 
 or southeast during the entire year. These refreshing 
 breezes are actually felt only along the coast and a short 
 distance inland, but their effects may be seen far back in 
 the interior. The rnango and palm trees of San Juan, 
 which are exposed to the force of the north wind, bend 
 towards the south. They yield to the pressure of these 
 steady air currents, somewhat as the trees of Southern 
 California bend eastward, in the direction of the prevail- 
 ing winds that come from the Pacific. 
 
 These trade winds, blowing from the warm ocean, 
 strike the mountain summits, which cool them quickly 
 and condense the moisture into rain. As they keep on 
 
80 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 farther to the south and west they bring more rain at 
 the mountain summits near the center of the island. 
 When the mountains are passed the clouds are thin and 
 scattering, so that little rain falls on the island's south- 
 ern side. 
 
 Porto Rico is sometimes visited by severe hurricanes. 
 They do not come very frequently, however. Since 
 Columbus's day only seven disastrous hurricanes have 
 been recorded. The island is so small that the effects 
 of a hurricane are very apparent, and thus the storms are 
 dreaded more than they deserve to be. 
 
 The first hurricane of historic interest in Porto Rico 
 occurred in 1515. In 1678 an English fleet, anchored 
 off San Juan, was partly destroyed, just as its admiral 
 had commanded the surrender of the city fortifications. 
 In 1702 a Porto Rican squadron was wrecked as it was 
 about to sail from the harbor to attack an English fleet. 
 The most violent hurricane of the eighteenth century 
 was that of 1772, when the ruin of houses, the destruc- 
 tion of trees, plantations, and crops, and the loss of life, 
 were enormous. 
 
 When the Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bon- 
 aparte, was three years old, a hurricane visited Mar- 
 tinique, her birthplace. The house in which she lived 
 was destroyed. Her father and mother, with their three 
 daughters, fled to a cave or covered structure built for 
 shelter at such a time. After hours spent in this suffo- 
 cating place they went out, only to find their sugar 
 plantation in ruins. During the next ten years " the 
 pretty Creole," as her friends called her, lived in the 
 upper rooms of an old sugar mill whose walls are still 
 standing. A few years later Josephine was married and 
 
CLIMATE, RAINFALL, HURRICANES. 81 
 
 went to live in France, but that hurricane was something 
 she never forgot. 
 
 One year after the American forces took possession of 
 Porto Rico, August 8, 1899, a most destructive hurri- 
 cane visited the island. The eastern and southern 
 coasts lay in its deadly course. The resulting disaster 
 has affected the industrial progress ever since. Humacao 
 was laid low ; Yabucoa was left a heap of ruins. Little 
 remained of the old town and port of Arroyo excepting 
 scattered debris. During this terrible storm the great 
 military road between San Juan and Ponce was dam- 
 aged to the extent of $150,000. 
 
 At Ponce and the port of Ponce great injury was 
 done. The streets were flooded, the dwellings over- 
 turned. The coffee and sugar-cane crops were ruined. 
 Fruit trees were torn up by the roots, and the orange, 
 banana, and lemon industries were crippled. On the 
 northern coast nearly three thousand persons lost their 
 lives, and cattle were killed by the thousand. At Juana 
 Diaz, near Ponce, rain fell to the enormous amount of 
 11.20 inches in twenty-four hours. 
 
 Some idea of the terrible damage done to the crops 
 can be gathered from the report made January 15, 
 1900, by General George W. Davis, Military Governor 
 of Porto Rico. The coffee crop, General Davis states, 
 is sold at from seven to nine million dollars a year. 
 The berries were just ripening when the storm came, 
 and instead of gathering five million pounds of coffee, 
 the growers had only three million pounds, and that of 
 poor quality. In a normal year the sugar crop yields a 
 return of twelve million dollars. The hurricane reduced 
 it in 1899 to three million dollars. 
 
82 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 It is likely to be many years before there is such a 
 hurricane again. If we make our visit to the island at 
 the most enjoyable season, we need have no fear, for 
 these storms usually occur in August or September. 
 
 Professor Mark W. Harrington, of the United States 
 Weather Bureau, who has made a study of Porto Rican 
 weather conditions on the ground, divides the island 
 into a wet and dry belt, the central Cordillera serving as 
 the dividing line. The north side is wet and the south 
 side dry- The greatest rainfall is on El Yunque, where 
 it amounts to 120 inches a year. On the south side, 
 from Guayama to Cabo Rojo, the climate is drier, but 
 most of the island is wet, as compared with the average 
 amount of rain in the United States. The mountains 
 are constantly covered with moisture, either by daily 
 rainfalls or dense mists which collect upon them at 
 night, except upon the lower portion of their southern 
 slopes. Hence it may be said that the surface is never 
 dry and the subsoil in the mountain region is kept 
 constantly moist. 
 
 Under Spanish rule, weather observations were neither 
 accurate nor complete. Our officials have established 
 weather stations in different parts of the island, and 
 monthly reports are published by the Weather Bureau 
 of the United States Department of Agriculture. The 
 work is divided into the Climate and Crop Service. 
 Daily records are made from thirty-four stations, in- 
 cluding one on the island of Vieques. These records 
 are sent to the central office at San Juan, where the 
 monthly reports are prepared and then forwarded to 
 Washington. 
 
 The weather records are based upon (1) temperature 
 
CLIMATE, RAINFALL, HURRICANES. 83 
 
 in degrees Fahrenheit ; (2) rainfall in inches ; (3) sky ; 
 (4) wind. From tables showing data for 1899, the fol- 
 lowing facts are gleaned : The highest degree of tem- 
 perature was 95 Fahrenheit. This is no warmer than 
 our thermometers sometimes record in the northern part 
 of the United States. The highest temperature was at 
 Hacienda Perla, in the district of Humacao, July 31. 
 The lowest temperature was at Adjuntas, December 24, 
 the thermometer reading 40 Fahrenheit. The annual 
 average temperature of the island, as taken from reports of 
 these stations having records for ten or more months, 
 was 76.6. 
 
 The highest average temperature of the United States 
 is 69, and is reached in Florida and Louisiana. The 
 other extreme is found in Wyoming, with a record of 
 41, and New Hampshire, where the mean temperature 
 is 42. 
 
 The difference between the average summer and aver- 
 age winter temperature of any one place in Porto Rico 
 is only a very few degrees, inducing a very uniform cli- 
 mate. The temperature in Washington, D.C., covers a 
 range of 118. The difference between day and night in 
 Porto Rico is only ten or fifteen degrees. The air is 
 seldom sultry, though it is often damp and chilly. 
 
 The greatest local yearly rainfall, in 1899, 140.06 
 inches, was at Hacienda Perla ; the least, 59.29 inches, 
 was at Isabela. The former of these localities is inland, 
 460 feet above the sea level ; the latter is near the north- 
 ern coast, 240 feet above the sea. 
 
 The United States Government issues a " Weekly 
 Crop Bulletin." These bulletins are printed in Eng- 
 lish and Spanish, and they serve to acquaint the people 
 
84 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 of the island with the exact weather conditions and 
 the state of the crops. A specimen selection is taken 
 from the bulletin for a single week in July: 
 
 " Heavy showers have fallen during the week in portions of the 
 districts of Aguadilla, Cayey, Humacao, and San Juan de Puerto 
 Rico. In other districts the rainfall has been general, but light. 
 
 " High winds, accompanying thunderstorms, have prevailed, but 
 no damage to vegetation is reported. 
 
 " Minor products are reported in good condition, and corn, beans 
 and rice are abundant. Land for tobacco and seedplots is being 
 prepared, but with little activity. 
 
 " A crop of oats which was sowed near Humacao, as an experi- 
 ment, is reported as a failure, rust having taken place on account 
 of the damp weather. The report made last week concerning the 
 favorable condition of coffee in the vicinity of Sabana Grande was 
 an error, the correspondent making a correction in his report this 
 week, stating that the berry is in very bad condition. 
 
 " Stations reporting two inches or more of rainfall during the 
 week are Hacienda Coloso, 2.62 inches ; San Lorenzo, 2.30 inches ; 
 Humacao, 2.46 inches; and Weikato, 2.13 inches." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE THREE GREAT STAPLES. 
 
 FOR centuries there has been a saying, " No one goes 
 hungry in Porto Rico." The truthfulness of this proverb 
 is borne out when we remember that for three hundred 
 years the island has supported a dense population by the 
 products of its soil. The larger portion of the island 
 produces some grain or fruit or cereal, only small sec- 
 tions remaining in their natural state. 
 
THE THREE GREAT STAPLES. 85 
 
 To the American entering upon this new possession the 
 question is not, what has the island produced in the past, 
 but what can it be made to produce in the future ? The 
 general opinion is that its products are the finest in the 
 West Indies, and that it will yield more to the acre, and 
 in greater variety, than any of its neighbors. 
 
 It is, however, a mistake to suppose that the soil brings 
 forth its fruits as by magic and without careful tillage. 
 The fertility of the soil is so great that it needs the appli- 
 cation of the laws of agriculture in a most thoroughly 
 scientific manner, that there may be an adequate yield 
 and no waste. Some parts of the island can produce far 
 more than they do now, and others should be given a 
 a rest, or a change, which is rest. 
 
 The products of Porto Rico are in general those of the 
 entire West Indies, where tropical fruits grow luxuri- 
 antly. In a land where snow or frost dare not touch a 
 living thing, shrub, vine, tender shoot, or delicate 
 flower, sun, soil, and rain unite to produce marvelous 
 results. One may see a cane field five miles square, or 
 a tobacco patch covering the whole side of a mountain 
 from base to summit. According to the returns of 1899, 
 81 out of 289 sugar-cane plantations are not tinder culti- 
 vation. During the last twenty years there has been a 
 decline of fifty per cent, in the production of sugar. 
 There are 60,953 owners of sugar-cane plantations. 
 Aside from the territory where the great staples are 
 cultivated, there are on the island 22,000 farms of moder- 
 ate size, devoted to small fruits and miscellaneous 
 products. Go in any direction, from playa land to 
 forest line, from mountain base to mountain summit, 
 from river bank to rolling plain, and you find soil that 
 
86 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 can be cultivated. Whatever the soil is given to do, it 
 does right royally. Porto Rico is the only island of the 
 West Indies which can produce sufficient food for its 
 own support and provide a large margin for export. 
 
 SUGAR. 
 
 Sugar culture was imported into Porto Rico from 
 the Canary Isles three hundred years ago. The planta- 
 tions range in size from small plots up to seven hundred, 
 eight hundred, and even one thousand acres. The tend- 
 ency has been in recent years to decrease the number 
 .of plantations and increase the size. 
 
 The pictures of sugar-cane in the geographies give us 
 an impression that sugar is, and must be, raised much like 
 our corn or maize. When we get to Porto Rico, we find 
 that the sugar plantations there are in reality very dif- 
 ferent from the corn fields of the United States. If we 
 reach the island some time between October and Decem- 
 ber, we shall be there in time to see the planting going 
 on. The exact time of planting each field depends 
 upon the dry ness of the soil. 
 
 We will go out to one of the finest plantations, near a 
 foothill of the southern border of the island, and there 
 observe just what is done. The thrifty owner has sepa- 
 rated his fields into oblong patches, with roads or path- 
 ways marking the division lines. The cane is planted 
 in hills, four feet apart. Instead of dropping kernels or 
 seeds into the hills, as we do to raise corn, cuttings are 
 set in the ground. The two upper joints are detached 
 from the stalk of cane, and these slips are set in the 
 furrows made by the plow. Two slips are planted to- 
 gether, ten inches deep. The top of each shoot is left 
 
THE THREE GREAT STAPLES. 87 
 
 above the soil, about an inch of the green tips showing. 
 When once, well planted, the cane will take care of 
 itself for ten or a dozen years, since the roots send up 
 retonos or shoots. In other words, the sugar-cane re- 
 plants itself. The most enterprising farmers replant, 
 however, once in every four or five years. 
 
 CLEARING A CANE FIELD. 
 
 The sugar-cane grows best in the thick, black soil of 
 the southern coast. This soil is both the joy and the 
 despair of the sugar-planter. It enriches his crop ; but 
 when the cane is piled on the large tip carts, to be hauled 
 to market or the mill, it must be dragged through mud 
 as heavy, as sticky, and as deep as California adobe after 
 a rain. 
 
 The crop is gathered some time between January and 
 May, An occasional stalk may be found as tall as 
 
88 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 twenty feet, but the average height is from eight to ten 
 feet. The weeds and grass are nearly as tall. The 
 sugar-cane has a critical moment when it is fully ripe. 
 It must then be cut, or a part of its value is lost. The 
 stalks have bloomed and have ceased to grow. The cane 
 now contains a larger amount of sugar than it does at any 
 other time. 
 
 Companies of men and boys assemble in the sweet- 
 smelling fields. They cut the stalks down close to the 
 ground, and chop them into lengths of some four or five 
 feet. 
 
 Each stalk is cut separately by hand with a machete. 
 This instrument, which is used in Porto Rico for many 
 purposes, was invented for cutting cane. Its long, 
 straight, sharp blade, slightly curved at the outer edge, 
 is especially adapted to its purpose. The labor is per- 
 formed by peons, whose wages average about fifty cents 
 a day. A laborer will under no circumstances do more 
 than one kind of work. If he is a cane loader, he will do 
 nothing else. If his business is to hoe cane, he will 
 do that only. 
 
 The stalks are tied into bundles, piled upon heavy 
 ox teams, and carried to the mill. On the smaller 
 plantations the mills are kept in motion by oxen or 
 water, but the one we shall visit is more modern, and 
 is propelled by steam. 
 
 At the mill the sugar-cane is crushed between heavy 
 rollers until all the juice is squeezed out. The juice is 
 boiled, put into basins to cool, and there it becomes sugar. 
 After cooling, the sugar is placed in hogsheads with 
 holes in the bottom, from which some of the juice 
 drips. The thick brown liquid which runs out through 
 
THE THREE GREAT STAPLES. 89 
 
 these holes is molasses. The mass of brown sugar 
 remaining is then treated with certain substances to turn 
 it white, and after passing through a screen it becomes 
 crystallized. The so-called molasses sugar is what is 
 left after the molasses has been separated; this is re- 
 fined into granulated sugar. Some cane sugar is brown 
 and some white ; some is soft and some hard ; some is 
 in the form of powder and some in lumps, but it has 
 all been molasses sugar, and it all came originally from 
 the juice of the sugar-cane. It takes fifteen or sixteen 
 tons of cane to make a ton of sugar. 
 
 Scattered about the lowlands may be seen clusters of 
 buildings and long sheds, with a tall "" factory " chimney 
 
 CLEARING A CANE FIELD WITH A HARROW. 
 
 rising from the midst. The process of turning the cane 
 into sugar is carried on under these roofs. Some of the 
 mills are supplied with the best of machinery and are 
 built on an ample scale. Yet many of them are rude 
 structures, with clumsy means for grinding the cane. 
 Now that Porto Rico has come into American hands, the 
 
90 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 finest machinery of the day will be put to work in devel- 
 oping the sugar industry. Steam railways and electric 
 lines will connect the plantations with the ports. The 
 day will probably come when the cane will be cut by 
 machinery, conveyed to the mill by electricity, and with 
 the aid of the most modern appliances the refining will 
 be done quickly. As yet, improvements in the manufac- 
 ture of sugar on the island have not kept pace with those 
 in other sugar-producing lands. Increased production 
 of sugar in other parts of the world, especially in the 
 Hawaiian Islands, has brought about a fall in prices, caus- 
 ing some discouragement among the plantation owners. 
 i A modern sugar plantation, with the apparatus avail- 
 able for cultivating the cane, should cover two thousand 
 acres, or a tract of land twenty times as large as a New 
 England farm of average size. 
 
 Of all the industries in Porto Rico, sugar was the first 
 to feel the impulse of American occupation, under 
 which it has taken a new lease of life. With an up-to- 
 date knowledge of chemistry and engineering, and with 
 sufficient capital, the future of sugar raising is very 
 bright. Already the tide is well turned. In place of the 
 abandoned sugar mills and those wrecked by the hurri- 
 cane of August, 1899, modern, well-equipped buildings 
 are going up, and a new era has set in. One of the first 
 sbeps will be to reclaim waste lands and relieve others 
 of the strain to which they have been put. The plant- 
 ing of refineries in the sugar-producing localities, at and 
 near the important ports, will give a new incentive to 
 the industry. It is accepted as a general opinion that 
 the yield of sugar in Porto Rico should be four times the 
 present amount. 
 
A SUGAR MILL IN MANATI. 
 
92 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 Among the obstacles to be met with in the cultivation 
 of sugar is a disease which attacks and ruins the stalk of 
 the cane. Nor has a remedy yet been found for stopping 
 the ravages among the young plants made by the changa, 
 a kind of cricket. Then, too, continuous cultivation has 
 weakened the soil. In 1879 the output of sugar was 
 170,0.60 tons ; in 1896 it was less than half as much, in 
 1898 it was less than a third. When to these difficulties 
 are added the fall in prices, with the cost of producing 
 not decreased, the waste in methods of manufacture, the 
 high rate of interest charged* on money loaned, and the 
 fact that many Spaniards took away their capital after 
 the war, it is no wonder that some of the planters have 
 been somewhat disheartened. 
 
 COFFEE. 
 
 Rather a pleasing story is told of the introduction of 
 coffee into the West Indies. Early in the eighteenth 
 century the cultivation of the coffee tree was almost 
 entirely controlled by the Dutch. In 1714, a citizen in 
 high authority at Amsterdam presented King Louis 
 XIV. of France with a single coffee plant. Cuttings 
 from this tree were sent from France to Martinique. 
 In those days the journey was long, and the supply of 
 water on the ship became nearly exhausted. But the 
 man in charge of the precious plants gave up half his 
 share of the water each day to keep them from wilting, 
 and when he reached Martinique they were safe and 
 sound. The coffee found its way from there to Haiti 
 and later to Porto Rico, so the Porto Rican coffee is 
 descended from those plants in Martinique. 
 
 Coffee grows on a bush which reaches a height of 
 
THE THREE GREAT STAPLES. 93 
 
 from ten to twelve feet. Several stems spring up from 
 a single root. Branches shoot out from the main stem 
 in pairs, bearing a slight resemblance, in arrangement, to 
 fish bones. On these small branches the blossoms, and 
 later the coffee beans, grow in bunches so close to the 
 stem that they look as if they might have been fastened 
 on with glue. The leaves are thick, dark, and glossy. 
 The bushes are, in general appearance, similar to laurel. 
 They are set in regular rows, and the graceful branches, 
 with their trim green leaves, their snow-white flowers, 
 and the fruit, first green, then pink, and later a 
 brilliant red, form a most charming picture. The 
 berry, when ripe, is not unlike a rather small cherry. 
 
 After the young tree has been growing for about four 
 years it begins to bear. The yield is best after eight 
 years' growth, though the berries are produced annually 
 for upwards of twenty-five years. So a coffee plantation 
 is as valuable a property as is a large apple orchard in the 
 northern part of the United States. 
 
 The coffee plant is delicate and must be cultivated in 
 the shade. Guava and mocha trees are set out to pro- 
 tect the plants from the burning rays of the sun. In 
 many cases plantain and banana trees are used, especially 
 during the early years of the growth of the coffee tree. 
 
 The berry is gathered during the winter months. In 
 the early morning, any time between October and Feb- 
 ruary, a father and mother with a bevy of ragged 
 children, all coffee pickers, may be seen going forth to 
 the task of the day. The taller branches are too high 
 for the children to reach, and so are bent down and the 
 berries picked by the men and women. The branches of 
 medium height can be stripped by the larger children, 
 
94 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 while the half-naked little, tots gather from the bushes 
 nearest the ground. The small baskets of berries are 
 emptied into larger baskets or sacks. 
 
 At nightfall the busy toilers cease their work. The 
 grown people cany away on their heads heavy baskets 
 filled with the fruits of the day's labor, the little folks 
 walk beside them with smaller baskets on their arms. 
 A mother balancing a bundle of coffee on her head and 
 holding in her arms a child too tired to walk is no un- 
 common sight. Footsore and weary, all reach the plan- 
 tation and lay down the day's harvest, then go to their 
 humble dwellings and prepare the evening meal. The 
 next day follows with the same routine, and so it con- 
 tinues till the time of the gathering is passed. 
 
 The coffee is dried, at least on the great plantations, 
 by being spread on large wooden trays which can be 
 rolled under the coffee houses. In this way tiers of 
 trays may be protected from sudden rain. Coffee spread 
 out on burlap sacking in the public squares is a common 
 sight among the smaller hill towns. After the berry is 
 dried the husk is removed by crushing in large wooden 
 mortars, the coffee bean being thus set free. The beans 
 are washed, and are then placed in well-ventilated cham- 
 bers in the drying house, where the coffee is thoroughly 
 seasoned and made ready for shipment. 
 
 In the course of our visit to the island we shall 
 frequently see half a dozen slow, patient mules doing 
 heavy freight service. More often than not they are 
 coming down the mountain slopes of the Central Cordil- 
 leras into the streets of Yauco, or Mayaguez, or some 
 other town on the coast, carrying huge bags of coffee 
 balanced across their backs. Or we may notice a cum- 
 
THE THREE GREAT STAPLES. 
 
 95 
 
 A COFFEE PLANTATION IN ADJUNTAS. 
 
 bersome cart drawn over a rough trail by two yoke of 
 oxen. In all cases the direction is towards the sea. 
 The coffee is going to market. 
 
 Coffee is the most profitable agricultural product of 
 Porto Rico. In many ways it is the most desirable crop 
 for the island, whose inland regions are mountainous 
 and can thus be utilized. Coffee grows best at an 
 altitude above the sea of more than a thousand feet. It 
 will yield five hundred pounds to the acre at a thousand 
 feet, from six to eight hundred pounds from that alti- 
 tude to twelve hundred feet, while with elevations above 
 two thousand feet, from a thousand to twelve hundred 
 pounds an acre are sometimes obtained. The higher 
 up the mountains it is grown, the better the quality of 
 coffee produced. 
 
 Porto Rican coffee has no superior in the markets of 
 Europe. It is held in high favor by the people of Italy, 
 
96 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 Cu,ba, and Spain. When shipped to Mediterranean ports 
 a chemical is added which gives it a bluish tint. The 
 best brand on the island conies from Yauco, a name which 
 serves as the trade-mark of Porto Rican coffee. In the 
 American market it ranks with Mocha and Java, often 
 being sold under those names where ignorance of the real 
 merits of " Yauco " coffee prevails. 
 
 In favorable years the coffee crop is worth from six to 
 ten million dollars. The production per acre is three 
 hundred pounds. A woman, expert in the art of picking, 
 will earn sixty cents a day at this work, or thirty cents 
 for each hundred pounds. 
 
 TOBACCO. 
 
 Tobacco is successfully grown only in a rich soil. 
 As it weakens the productive power of the soil, the 
 ground needs to be enriched each year by strong fertil- 
 izers. The great tobacco lands are in the Cayey district. 
 These lands are not cultivated in large areas, but in 
 small patches along the sides of the inland hills. The 
 low-lying foothills near the valley levels and under the 
 shadows of the more rugged mountains furnish good 
 tobacco fields. 
 
 Between the months of July and November we may 
 see on the rounded hillsides, in all parts of the island, 
 little patches of tobacco seedlings where the plants are 
 beginning to grow. Early in November the larger hills 
 are stripped of their creeping vines and other plants and 
 bushes, by groups of peasants dressed in white and 
 armed with broad-edged hoes. It is said that as one 
 passes over the great military highway this scene ex- 
 tends so nearly in all directions that the landscape 
 
THE THREE GREAT STAPLES. 97 
 
 appears as a map, with people in white moving like 
 mere specks over the various sections. 
 
 The tobacco leaf is ready for cutting by the middle 
 or last of March. Through constant care and labor the 
 weeds have been kept down, and the cutworms in their 
 tiny cells have been destroyed. The leaves are gath- 
 ered, carried to the drying houses or into long, low 
 sheds on the hillsides, lengthwise with the slope. Forty 
 days of drying make the tobacco ready for export. The 
 work engages young and old ; it gives employment to 
 both men and women, as well as to boys and girls. 
 
 The sheds for drying tobacco are usually built of 
 bamboo or palm. They are thatched or roofed with 
 long palm leaves so arranged that there may be a free 
 circulation of air. Sometimes the palm-leaf thatching 
 is as much as a foot thick, to keep the rain from soaking 
 through and spoiling the tobacco. Under the eaves, 
 between the bamboo posts and the palm leaves, an open 
 space is left on the gable ends of the long shed. The 
 tobacco is dried on long poles which extend from one 
 end of the shed to the other, just below the roof and on 
 a line with the open spaces. 
 
 In preparation for drying, the tobacco leaves are cut 
 from the stem in pairs, a piece of the stem sufficient to 
 hold the two leaves together being cut for each pair. 
 Pairs of the very largest leaves are hung over the poles 
 one layer deep, as closely as they can be placed. On 
 top of each pair of the large leaves a pair a little smaller 
 is placed, then a still smaller pair on top of that, 
 and so on, until the pile is a certain specified number 
 of leaves deep. When the tobacco is dry each pile of 
 leaves, comprising one pair of leaves of each size, is tied 
 
98 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 up in a bundle by itself. A certain number of bundles 
 makes a bale. 
 
 Before the leaves are hung on the poles to dry they 
 are carefully picked over, all wormy or broken leaves 
 being separated from the rest. The perfect leaves can 
 be used for the outside layer of cigars, while the broken 
 and wormy ones are suitable only for the inside. 
 
 In the estimation of the people, tobacco stands third 
 in commercial value. As long ago as 1846 seven mil- 
 lion pounds were shipped abroad. The highest figure 
 of recent years was in 1880, when 12,188,000 pounds 
 were raised in the island. In some years, as in 1896, 
 the output fell off. The decrease in exportation is 
 partly due to the large quantities of tobacco raised in 
 Cuba and the fame of the Havana brand, and partly to 
 the destructiveness of occasional hurricanes. It is be- 
 lieved that most of the crop of tobacco in Porto Rico 
 will in coming years be brought to the United States. 
 
 Columbus is said to be the first European to see to- 
 bacco. He found it in Cuba, where the natives smoked 
 it, rolling it up in tubes and inhaling the smoke through 
 their nostrils. The Spanish government was originally 
 opposed to smoking, and two bulls were issued by the 
 Pope excommunicating any one who used the weed. In 
 1608 a royal decree prohibited its cultivation, but in 
 1634 planting was started once more. By 1770 the 
 production had reached 2,000,000 pounds annually. 
 
OTHER TROPICAL PLANTS. 99 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OTHER TROPICAL PLANTS. 
 
 FRUITS. 
 
 THE Aladdin's lamp of the vegetable world is certainly 
 the banana. If all that Aladdin had to do to get what 
 he wished was to rub the magic lamp, all that the Porto 
 Ricans need to do to gain wealth is to plant banana 
 shoots. The trees will renew themselves, and after the 
 second year the owner of a banana plantation has only to 
 pick and ship the bananas, and receive his pay for the 
 fruit. There is no plant requiring less attention, and 
 yet the banana grows on the island in eight varieties, 
 from the large triangular-shaped cooking variety, twenty 
 inches long, to the tiny form known as "lady's fingers." 
 At the present time about two billion bananas are 
 shipped from Porto Rico each year. The number could 
 be greatly increased. The sister fruit of the banana, 
 the plantain, is cultivated principally by the poorer 
 classes. It is most commonly eaten after being baked 
 over a hot fire, when it is both agreeable and nourishing. 
 
 The oranges of Porto Rico are delicious. They are 
 large, juicy, and sweet, and they have a delicate flavor. 
 The prices paid for them seem to us ridiculously small. 
 Some time since, an American is said to have pur- 
 chased a whole shipload of them at two dollars a thou- 
 sand. Imagine buying the finest of oranges at the rate 
 of ten cents a hundred ! Orange trees may be seen every- 
 
100 
 
 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 where, but they grow best in the mountain districts. 
 The fruit is at its height in January, February, and 
 March. Between six and eight million oranges were 
 shipped to the United States in 1898, from the port of 
 
 BRINGING BANANAS TO MARKET. 
 
 Mayaguez alone, bringing an average return of four 
 dollars a thousand. 
 
 Destructive frosts sometimes ruin the Florida orange 
 crop. No such enemy is to be feared in sunny Porto 
 Rico. San Juan and Ponce are as near New York as is 
 Southern California, and the flavor of their oranges is 
 finer than hers. The orange markets of the Mediter- 
 ranean are two thousand miles farther from American 
 ports, and Porto Rico is therefore certain to diminish 
 our trade with that region. In juiciness and sweetness 
 
OTHER TROPICAL PLANTS. 
 
 101 
 
 the oranges of the West Indies are as fine as any that 
 come to the United States. 
 
 The most luscious pineapples in the world are found 
 in Porto Rico. The West Indies are the n.ilive land of 
 this queen of the fruits. It was discovered by the Span- 
 iards, growing wild in the Bahamas. It is not very 
 particular as to its exact locality, only give it light and 
 a sandy, gravelly soil, and it will flourish. Pineapple 
 plants are set in rows from three to six feet apart. An, 
 
 ORANGE GROVE IN MAYAGUEZ. 
 
 acre of ground will thus support some thirty-five hun- 
 dred plants. There is a fine outlook for this industry 
 in the island. 
 
 The natives of Porto Rico hold the breadfruit in high 
 favor. Although it has been raised there but a hundred 
 years, it is so abundant as to be the sugar planter's terror, 
 
102 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 for when this fruit is ripe the negroes are not inclined 
 to work. They can live so easily upon breadfruit that 
 they do not consider it worth while to work hard all 
 day, just for the sake of earning money. 
 
 No list of Porto Rican 
 fruits would be complete 
 without reference to the 
 mango. The fruit is 
 called " General Mango " 
 by the Cubans, who 
 claim that this tree has 
 killed more Spanish sol- 
 diers than all their gen- 
 erals put together. It is 
 said that the danger 
 comes from eating the 
 fruit in an unripe state. 
 
 The mango is wholesome when perfectly ripe, but no 
 one who eats it unripe can escape death if attacked 
 with yellow fever. The mango tree itself is attractive 
 and beautiful. Like the tree in the midst of the Gar- 
 den of Eden, it is "good for food " and "a delight to 
 the eyes," but often one learns wisdom when it is too 
 late. 
 
 Other fruits which flourish are the lime, lemon, citron, 
 fig, date, guava (from which the delicious guava jelly is 
 made), custard apple, tamarind, alligator pear, quenepa, 
 lechosa, and mamey. 
 
 The cocoanut grows in all parts of the island. The 
 fruit, which is large and has a tine flavor, is found at its 
 best along the sandy coast. Many of the cocoa palms 
 grow so near the ocean that the nuts fall into the water. 
 
 THE GUAVA. 
 
OTHER TROPICAL PLANTS. 
 
 103 
 
 They are driven by the wind to other parts of the globe, 
 where they take root in the soil arid grow. It is said 
 that the cocoanut tree lives a hundred years, grows a 
 hundred feet tall, bears annually a hundred nuts, and 
 has a hundred uses for man. 
 
 The tall, straight stem of the cocoa palm is capped by 
 a circle of featherlike leaves that grow to be eighteen or 
 twenty feet long. The flowers, small and white, are 
 found on a long stem. The nuts grow in bunches of 
 eighteen or twenty. When ripe they are apt to fall from 
 the top of the tree with such force that any one beneath 
 is in danger of receiving a severe blow on the head. 
 Most of us know the cocoanut, with its hard shell, sweet 
 milk, and meat. The nut is covered with a fibrous rind 
 or husk. The meat is 
 used in making candy 
 and cake, and yields 
 the valuable cocoanut 
 oil. The milk serves, 
 where the cocoa palm 
 grows, as a slightly 
 acid, refreshing 
 drink. The shell is 
 capable of being 
 highly polished, and 
 is used for drinking 
 cups and other uten- 
 sils. The firm part 
 of the trunk is the 
 
 so-called porcupine wood, which is very hard and dura- 
 ble, and is used for all kinds of turned articles, and 
 especially for inlaid woods. 
 
 THE MANGO. 
 
104 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 OTHER FOOD CROPS. 
 
 It is a singular fact that rice, corn, and other products 
 of the soil, once raised in large quantities in the island, 
 are now imported to some extent from other countries. 
 Maize, or Indian corn, is native to the soil, and three 
 
 A COCOANUT FARM IN MAYAGUEZ. 
 
 crops may be raised on the same ground in a year. In 
 some districts it is grown for the leaves and stalks, which 
 are used for feeding horses. It will grow at almost any 
 height above the ocean, in any kind of nourishing soil, 
 and is, in fact, the poor man's friend. The ordinary 
 cereals, such as oats, barley, and wheat, do not flourish 
 in the island. Consequently, breadstuffs and flour must 
 be imported. Under proper cultivation the yield of rice 
 is very abundant. The amount grown in recent years 
 
OTHER TROPICAL PLANTS. 
 
 105 
 
 has been limited, because Spain discouraged its being 
 raised, in order to increase the amount imported from 
 the mother country. 
 
 The vegetables of Porto Rico are of fine quality. The 
 small gardener 
 may raise sev- 
 eral crops a year, 
 delivering them 
 to the market 
 at good profit. 
 The sweet po- 
 tato is the great 
 vegetable prod- 
 uct, and, next to 
 the banana and 
 plantain, fur- 
 nishes the main 
 article of food 
 for the poorer 
 people. Upon 
 the mountain 
 slopes, where 
 the land is not 
 used for more 
 profitable crops, 
 the soil is given 
 up to sweet po- 
 tatoes and yams. The Irish potato does not grow 
 well, because of the great amount of moisture in the 
 soil. 
 
 In general, any vegetables which do not require a par- 
 ticularly dry soil may be raised in the island. These in- 
 
 GATHERING COCOANUTS. 
 
106 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 elude the eggplant, beet, tomato, cabbage, turnip, water- 
 melon, radish, celery, and squash. 
 
 Two kinds of a native vegetable called cassava are 
 raised, the sweet and the bitter. The sweet cassava is 
 widely used. Bitter cassava has in its fiber a poisonous 
 matter which can be driven out only by heat, yet from it 
 a fine quality of tapioca is obtained. It seems strange 
 that from a poisonous plant anything so nutritious and 
 healthful as tapioca can be taken. Although the fiber 
 contains poisonous sap, the tapioca is made from the 
 root. The root is dried upon hot plates, and in the 
 process any poison within it is driven off. The heat 
 makes the starch grains swell so that many of them burst. 
 The whole forms the small irregular masses or lumps 
 which we buy of the grocer under the name of tapioca. 
 Starch is often made from cassava, and also from a 
 plant known as the eddoe, which is a favorite food 
 product ; its roots are an article of food and prepared 
 as we prepare potatoes. Arrowroot, now so success- 
 fully cultivated in the Bermudas, promises to become a 
 valuable product in Porto Rico. 
 
 Spice raising might be made much more profitable in 
 Porto Rico than it is at the present time. Nutmeg, pep- 
 per, clove, cinnamon, and vanilla, all find the soil of 
 the island suitable to their growth. The pimento, from 
 the berry of which we get our allspice, thrives in poor 
 soil and in a hot, dry atmosphere. The tree grows wild 
 in many of the West India Islands, and under proper 
 conditions it yields excellent returns. A grove of 
 pimentoes forms a beautiful picture, the trees reaching 
 some thirty feet in height. Their stems are smooth and 
 clean and the branches are covered with glossy leaves. 
 
OTHER TROPICAL PLANTS. 107 
 
 Cotton might be raised with profit, although at present 
 there are no real cotton plantations in the island. The 
 plant grows along the coast, arid the product is as good 
 as the best raised in our own Southern states. 
 
 MEDICINAL PLANTS AND DYES. 
 
 The natives of Porto Rico claim that twenty- eight 
 species of medicinal plants may be raised in the island. 
 Certain herbs and shrubs which grow wild in the forests, 
 
 and are now gathered 
 by women and children 
 and sold to the apothe- 
 cary, might be made 
 serviceable for export. 
 From the seed of the 
 castor bean, or Palma 
 Ckristi, castor oil is 
 made. Cocaine, used to 
 deaden pain, comes from 
 the dried leaves of the 
 
 THE BLOSSOM OF THE CLOVE TREE. 
 
 coca. Attempts to raise 
 
 the cinchona tree, from which quinine is obtained, give 
 promise of success. 
 
 Certain important vegetable dyes grow in the island. 
 The method of obtaining the valuable dye known as 
 indigo is rather interesting. The substance comes from 
 a plant, which is bruised and fermented in water. A 
 blue material which collects in the tub or vat, is dried 
 in cakes or lumps, making the indigo. Annatto, a wild 
 plant, produces the rich yellow dye used for coloring 
 butter. The plant has gorgeous red-and-yellow bristly 
 pods, which burst open when ripe, showing the tiny 
 
108 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 seeds. From the seeds the dye is made. In early times 
 the native Indians used this yellow dye to color their 
 skins. Logwood produces a deep red color. England 
 imports a million dollars' worth of logwood a year from 
 Porto Rico's near neighbor, Jamaica. 
 
 FLOWERS. 
 
 Porto Ricans are fond of flowers. The climate is so 
 uniform, and there is so much moisture, that flowers 
 grow in great abundance and in almost countless 
 varieties. Great bunches of roses can be bought for a 
 few cents. A whole armful of tuberoses or gladioli 
 may be purchased for a dime. A dozen camellias cost 
 less than does a single flower in New York. Roses, 
 heliotropes, begonias, lilies, azaleas, arid rhododendrons 
 have been imported from Europe. More than a hundred 
 varieties of the orchid alone are found. 
 
 Everybody who can afford it has a garden plot. Some 
 of these are arranged with charming taste. The most 
 elaborate gardens are adorned with fountains and statues, 
 arbors, hedges, and walks. One of the favorite pastimes 
 of the children is making wreaths and garlands, which 
 the little folks wear as they play on the verandas of 
 their homes, or in the yards. 
 
 Governor Allen, writing from San Juan in May, 1901, 
 says that, while the chief dependence of the island is 
 agriculture and stock raising, there is no reason why 
 manufactures should not flourish. He believes that 
 nothing but the finished products should leave Porto 
 Rico. The island can sell to the world coffee ready for 
 the consumer's use, refined sugar and molasses, chocolate 
 and all its products, canned fruits equal to those of Cali- 
 
FORESTS AND MINERALS. 109 
 
 fornia, and many other things which will bring in 
 money enough, not only to support the present number 
 of people, but five times as many. It really is no won- 
 der that Porto Rico is called the garden of the earth. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 FORESTS AND MINERALS. 
 
 THERE is a law in Porto Rico that every one who cuts 
 down a tree shall plant three others. Like many other 
 laws in the island, this one has fallen into neglect. But 
 that such a law should be enforced is evident from the 
 appearance of the country in many places. 
 
 At first sight the aspect of the island is that of an 
 open wooded landscape. On the slopes of the hills, 
 along the sides of the roads, around every shanty, and 
 throughout the great coffee plantations, are many trees, 
 a few of which are the remnants of the ancient forests. 
 Only a few timber-making trees have been spared the 
 woodman's axe. 
 
 In his " Forest Conditions of Porto Rico," Mr. R. T. 
 Hill says that Porto Rico was originally completely 
 covered with forests, from the level of the sea to the top 
 of the highest mountains. Scarcely a square foot of its 
 area was without its tree growth, varying in height from 
 the small mangrove bushes which border the seashore, to 
 the gigantic trees mingled with the trunks of towering 
 palms, which add height to the loftiest peaks and ridges. 
 
 When Columbus first looked upon the island it was 
 densely wooded, with here and there a clearing made by 
 
110 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 the Indians. With few exceptions, no extensive forests 
 are now to be found in the island. A few acres are 
 preserved here and there in the Sierra de Cayey and 
 the Cordillera Central, especially between Aibonito and 
 Adjuntas. These small patches will not amount to ten 
 square miles of standing timber, and have been largely 
 deprived of their most valuable trees. There is also a 
 
 UNDER THE SPREADING PALM. 
 
 small area of forest preserved in the pepino hills near 
 Aguadilla, upon a piece of land belonging to the govern 
 ment. There may be a few more acres elsewhere. In 
 general, the mountains are stripped of their forests, 
 although some excellent trees still stand, just as walnut 
 trees are found preserved in the deforested regions of 
 the United States. 
 
FORESTS AND MINERALS. Ill 
 
 Upon the summit of El Yunque a portion of the 
 original forest has been retained. At this height 
 thirty-six hundred feet constant moisture prevails, 
 which is favorable to the growth of trees. Steep and 
 rugged trails through red clay and mud, almost impas- 
 sable, make it somewhat difficult for the woodman to 
 reach the highest peaks in order to level the trees. 
 These trees are of great value, being of hard wood varie- 
 ties, such as Spanish cedar and ebony, and some species 
 unknown in the American markets. 
 
 Of all the trees of Porto Rico, the most graceful, the 
 most stately, the most useful, is the cocoanut palm. It 
 grows along the playa plains, it borders the fields of 
 sugar-cane, it towers above the lesser growths in the 
 gardens of the rich and it shelters the huts of the poor. 
 The palm is the tree of the rich and the poor alike, a tie 
 between them ; to the former an ornament, to the latter 
 it is meat, drink, and shelter. 
 
 The wood when dried is made into chairs, tables, and 
 cabinets, its grain being very beautiful and capable of a 
 high polish. It is shaped into boats and tubs. From 
 the stalks of the leaves combs are made. The leafstalks 
 are also used in making mats, hats, and baskets, while the 
 fibrous material near the center is fashioned into sieves 
 and woven into fabrics for personal wear. From the 
 roots of the palm is extracted a remedy for fevers, and 
 from its flowers an astringent. " From the fruit or nut, 
 besides the delicious water and jelly it contains when 
 green, comes the copra, or kernel, which is dried and 
 yields fifty per cent of its weight in pure oil, after which 
 the refuse is valuable for manure as well as for fowl and 
 cattle food." From the outer husk of the cocoanut a 
 
112 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 fiber is prepared, called coir, which is manufactured into 
 ropes, brooms, brushes, bedding, etc. ; the shells are use- 
 ful as lamps, cups, spoons, and scoops. In fact, one 
 might go on enumerating the various articles used in 
 the primitive domestic life of the tropical native, and 
 find nearly all supplied by the cocoa palm. 
 
 " Another native palm, found farther up in the hills 
 and mountains, is the beautiful oreodoxa, tallest of the 
 tribe, which sometimes attains a height of 150 feet. 
 All the palms, .and particularly this one, are cele- 
 brated for their - 4 cabbage,' or terminal bud, which 
 is a delicious morsel when divested of its outer wrap- 
 pings and boiled like cauliflower or cabbage. To make 
 use of it, implies, of course, the destruction of the tree ; 
 but it is a matter of little consequence to a hungry na- 
 tive, with a forest full of palms, who only considers 
 the labor necessary to cut down the tree, and not the 
 injury he does to the landscape. This vandalism is not 
 confined to the Spanish islands, for there was once a 
 planter in the English island of Barbados who, when 
 the question arose as to the height of a magnificent 
 palm on his estate, ordered it cut down, that he might 
 ascertain to a certainty. He wagered that it would 
 measure over 150 fifty feet ; and he won the wager, but 
 he lost the palm." 
 
 There are certain other varieties of the palm growing 
 on the island, most of them imported, such as the sago 
 and date. The date palm is the admiration of all who 
 see it. It has never been cultivated in Porto Rico for 
 commercial purposes, but with care it might be made to 
 yield a rich return. 
 
 The palm most highly prized by the Porto Ricans for 
 
FORESTS AND MINERALS. 
 
 113 
 
 ornamental purposes is the "royal palm." The upper 
 end of the trunk of this tree is a delicate, pointed, green 
 shoot from ten to twelve feet long. About once a month 
 a bunch of fruit some eighteen inches long grows out at 
 the base of this 
 end portion. It 
 is full of small 
 green, olive- 
 shaped nuts, 
 serviceable for 
 swine only. 
 
 Clusters of 
 the feathery 
 bamboo may 
 be seen grow- 
 ing every- 
 where. The 
 peasant uses 
 its stem to 
 bind his palm- 
 leaf roof. 
 Larger sec- 
 tions serve 
 him for fence 
 posts. The 
 thickest of the 
 stems he sells 
 for telegraph 
 poles. 
 
 The tamarind is a large and feathery tree of the great 
 acacia family, resembling our own locust in leaf and 
 fruit. It is found on the plains and in the deepest woods. 
 
 ROYAL PALMS. 
 
114 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 Its fruit is used in the making of confectionery and 
 jelly, and the juice, diluted, furnishes an agreeable 
 drink. 
 
 The wax of the wax tree, found along the river banks 
 and on the coast plains, is used by the natives in the 
 making of candles. 
 
 The pawpaw is one of the most conspicuous trees of 
 the island. It reaches a height of from forty to fifty 
 feet. It has no solid branches, but sends out spreading 
 leaves which form a crown at the top. Large clusters 
 of fruit grow in the angle of the leaf where it is joined 
 to the trunk. The fruit is green at first, afterwards 
 turning yellow within and without. The inner rind 
 tastes somewhat like the muskmelon. The fruit is used 
 for medicinal purposes and for jam and preserves. 
 
 The bixa tree, common along the plains, is used for 
 dyeing wool, cotton, and other fabrics, and is also em- 
 ployed in making a kind of cloth. 
 
 From the short trunk of the emajagua many long, 
 straight twigs sprout forth, from which ropes and cord- 
 age are made for rigging the native boats. 
 
 Other trees which aid in the welfare of the people 
 are the guanabana, used for curing fever; the higuera, 
 whose gourdlike fruit serves for plates, pitchers, and 
 spoons, and most of the kitchen utensils of the poor ; 
 the tabanuco, which yields a valuable resin; the enor- 
 mous ceiba tree, from which canoes fifty feet long and 
 ten feet wide were made ; and the mayama or mamey, 
 which resembles the magnolia in shape and in waxlike 
 gloss, and which produces a delicious melonlike fruit. 
 The reddish brown ausubo, noted for its durability, sup- 
 plies the frames of houses and wagon spokes. It is the 
 
FORESTS AND MINERALS. 115 
 
 most abundant of the hard woods, and resembles teak. 
 Two varieties of the Spanish cedar are occasionally 
 found. A twelve-inch cedar plank, one inch thick and 
 twelve feet long, will bring, in the mountains, one dollar. 
 
 Among the hard woods are mahogany, ebony, laurel, 
 willow, and an odorless kind of sandalwood. The 
 present supply of useful trees is not equal to the demand. 
 The older buildings are constructed of native woods, 
 but the houses of recent date are of hemlock, spruce, and 
 pine, imported from Nova Scotia. The few sawmills in 
 the island are principally employed in cutting up cedar 
 wood for cigar boxes, and in the making of ausubo 
 wagon wheels. 
 
 One of Porto Rico's numerous names is " The Isle of 
 the Gate of Gold." How much of a gold field the is- 
 land really is, no one can, at the present time, say. It 
 certainly contains no such wealth of gold as California, 
 Australia, or Alaska. Nor has it probably in any sense 
 ever equaled its neighbor, Santo Domingo, whose gold- 
 bearing river Columbus named Rio del Oro, the River of 
 Gold. What he found in the bed of the river was but 
 the washings from the great gold storehouses among the 
 inland mountains. To this day a native of Santo 
 Domingo will show the stranger a handful of gold dust 
 which he has obtained by washing with a wooden dish. 
 
 The dazzling reputation gained by Porto Rico in early 
 times was no doubt due to its supposed treasures of gold. 
 When Ponce de Leon landed on the island in 1509, 
 gold was brought him from the river beds. But that 
 the rivers " poured down sands of gold " is rather beyond 
 belief. A history of Porto Rico written in 1788 states 
 that signs of gold had been found in many districts of 
 
116 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 the island, and gold-bearing sands in such rivers as 
 Luquillo and Mayaguez. Should gold really exist in 
 any quantity, the island's new possessors will surely 
 find it out. 
 
 It was recently reported that gold had been found in 
 the upper portions of El Yunque and also in the region 
 south of San Juan, near Corozal. The inhabitants of 
 certain towns have long been bringing in small quan- 
 tities of gold dust, to exchange for needed household 
 goods. To find the precious material the native dives 
 into the water, seizes it, and brings it to the surface in 
 his clenched fists. It is then panned out on the banks 
 of the stream. 
 
 General Sanger says, in his recent census report, that, 
 while many valuable mines have been found in Porto 
 Rico, and while good mines were long ago worked by 
 Spaniards, no mining is carried on at the present time. 
 Yet it is not at all improbable that a geological exami- 
 nation may develop notable mineral resources. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 ANIMALS, INSECTS, AND FISH. 
 
 IT seems strange to any one acquainted with the 
 animal life of such sections of the United States as the 
 Adirondack or Rocky Mountains, that the largest native 
 quadruped of Porto Rico is a little creature no larger 
 than a rabbit. The agouti, as it is called, belongs to 
 the rodent family. It is timid, inoffensive, and sensi- 
 tive to danger. The animal may be found upon the 
 
ANIMALS, INSECTS, AND FISH. 
 
 117 
 
 stony mountain sides or at the edges of the woods, 
 where it may be recognized by its dark brown coat of 
 shiny hair. 
 
 The wild animals which came originally from other 
 countries, but which have been in the island for many 
 generations, are more curious than dangerous. Many 
 years ago the mongoose was transported by the British 
 government from India to rid Jamaica of rats. A 
 Spanish official brought some of the animals from 
 Jamaica over to Ponce. y,^N., They flourish ex- 
 ceedingly in 
 the island, 
 and are so 
 destructive 
 that they are 
 a lawful tar- 
 get for any- 
 body who has 
 a gun. 
 
 The arma- 
 dillo is occa- 
 sionally seen. 
 This curious 
 
 animal, instead of drawing in head and feet in time of 
 danger as the tortoise does, rolls himself up into a ball 
 so that his body is completely surrounded by the horny 
 plates which give him his name. The armadillo bur- 
 rows skillfully in the soil, and slips down his hole into 
 the ground so quickly that he is seldom caught. He 
 usually stays in his earthy dwelling except at night. 
 
 The iguana is a connection of the great lizard family. 
 He resembles the alligator in appearance, save that he is 
 
 
 AN AGOUTI. 
 
118 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 green instead of black, but he lives among trees. He 
 presents an angry front when cornered, although he is by 
 nature harmless and timid. The guinea pig, the Capu- 
 chin monkey, the bat, the rabbit, and other small animals 
 find the island a comfortable home. 
 
 That curious creature known as the land crab, so 
 abundant in some parts of South America, is another 
 inhabitant of Porto Rico. He differs from the small 
 crab of our northern seacoasts in size he is sometimes 
 two feet long and in his peculiar gait. Instead of 
 crawling either forward or backward, as do the ordinary 
 crabs of the United States, he stands upright on his rear 
 claws and hitches along diagonally, with his small head 
 tipped to one side and his clippers waving in the air to 
 ^^ wm m mmmt BI^ i^ ^m a id him in keeping his 
 
 balance. He is harm- 
 less ; but he does 
 rather remind the ob- 
 server of a tipsy man 
 trying to keep from 
 falling down, and two 
 or three large land 
 crabs edging along 
 near each other are 
 enough to startle con- 
 siderably any one not 
 
 A MONGOOSE. , ., 
 
 accustomed to the 
 
 antics of this peculiar crustacean. The tortoise, in his 
 clumsy, box-like house, is to be found in Porto Rico. 
 
 Sheep, goats, horses, oxen, and mules are the principal 
 domestic animals. The Porto Rican horse came origi- 
 nally from Arabia, but life in the island has been unfa- 
 
ANIMALS, INSECTS, AND FISH. 
 
 119 
 
 
 vorable to his best development. The people of Porto 
 Rico are not as careful of their animals as the faith- 
 ful creatures deserve. The ponies carry heavy bags 
 of coffee or sugar, or are loaded with great baskets of 
 fruit, one little pony often toiling along under a bur- 
 den of three hundred 
 pounds' weight. 
 
 It is not unusual 
 to see a man making 
 his way into Ponce, 
 or Mayaguez, or some 
 other of the large 
 towns, with a load of 
 plaited pack saddles, 
 two huge bales of 
 grass for horse col- 
 lars, and the owner 
 himself all upon 
 one little horse strug- 
 gling slowly forward. These meek and submissive 
 animals are compelled to carry over the steep mountain 
 trails such freight as chairs, tables, rolls of floor-matting, 
 boxes, and trunks. A horse in the United States would 
 show great displeasure if made to carry on his back a 
 table or a trunk, and the load would come off very 
 shortly, or at least it would certainly never reach its 
 destination in safety. Sometimes an entire Porto Rican 
 family may be seen going to church on one pony. The 
 father and mother mount the animal, and the children 
 ride in two baskets, one hanging over each side of the 
 pony's back. 
 
 The patient, willing, and long-suffering Porto Rican 
 
 A LAND CRAB. 
 
120 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 horse gets little pleasure out of life. He suffers some- 
 what from the climate, but much more from neglect and 
 abuse. In spite of the hard work given him to do, he is 
 oftener fed on grass than on corn. When too worn out 
 to endure life any longer, he gives up the conflict and 
 dies. Even then he is left unburied, his body being 
 exposed until nothing remains but the bones, bleached 
 white by sun and rain. 
 
 Most of the heavy teaming is done by oxen and 
 mules. The oxen are large, stout creatures with wide- 
 spreading horns. They step quickly, pull steadily, and 
 seldom show signs of weariness. Two oxen can haul a 
 heavily loaded wagon over the rocky roads of Lares or 
 the muddy trails of Adjuntas, which is saying a great 
 deal in favor of any animal. Oxen do not wear yokes, 
 as in the United States, but heavy timbers are fastened 
 behind the horns so that the whole weight of the wagon 
 pulls upon their heads. This is a very cruel practice, 
 and our government officials are said to be trying to put 
 a stop to it. 
 
 A contributor to the National Magazine for October, 
 1898, says: "Not only is man unkind to man, he is 
 callous of the woes of beasts. It was from man's treat- 
 ment of the animals that I got my first shock. This 
 was caused by the Porto Ricans who were goading the 
 oxen which draw the heavy carts of rum and sugar to 
 market. We had not gone a mile towards the city 
 before we came upon long trains of ox teams. The 
 drivers had goads tipped with sharp steel an inch and a 
 half long. They thrust this cruel weapon into the 
 oxen and then turned the instrument until the poor 
 beasts bled." 
 
ANIMALS, INSECTS, AND FISH. 
 
 121 
 
 The age of light but strong farm wagons has come. 
 May it soon reach Porto Rico, for its clumsy carts of 
 heavy timbers, and wheels with broad tires, are too cum- 
 bersome for use on muddy or rocky country roads like 
 those of the island. 
 
 The razorback hog is a familiar sight in the rural parts 
 of the island. Wherever we go we find him running 
 about. He is usually hungry, and squealing at the top 
 of his lungs. 
 He needs con- 
 siderable 
 watching to 
 keep him 
 from running 
 away; for, 
 like the pork- 
 e r s with 
 which we are 
 familiar in 
 the United 
 
 States, he is a very independent creature. On the 
 family washing day, when the women go to the river 
 to cleanse their garments, they naturally take their 
 children along for safe-keeping. It is equally necessary 
 to take the swine too, lest they wander off into other 
 people's territory and be lost. 
 
 It is said that there are no poisonous reptiles and few 
 insects, save mosquitoes, in the island. These latter are, 
 it must be admitted, legion. They are so tiny that 
 American mosquito netting is useless as a protection 
 from their ferocity, and so numerous that it is a con- 
 stant source of wonder where so many insects of a kind 
 can possibly come from. 
 
 AN ARMADILLO. 
 
122 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 A traveler who has summered and wintered in Porto 
 Rico, and has camped out under palms and ceiba trees, 
 says that he was never stung by anything more dan- 
 gerous than a hornet or an ant. Scorpions, centipedes, 
 and tarantulas are occasionally found, but, considering 
 the heat, their numbers are few. That lively insect 
 known as the flea abounds, and the species called 
 "jigger" is a terror to those who go barefooted. It 
 pierces the skin, working its way into the flesh. At 
 first the victim feels only a slight tickling, then the mite 
 embeds itself in the foot and there lays its eggs. Pain 
 and disease follow, causing lameness, and in severe cases 
 the loss of the foot. 
 
 The Porto Ricans are particularly fond of fish. Be- 
 sides what is eaten fresh, large quantities of dried, 
 pickled, and canned fish are imported each year. In 
 1897 this amounted to more than thirty-four million 
 pounds, and cost two million dollars. 
 
 There are only about eight hundred people who make 
 a living by fishing. They use less than four hundred 
 sail and row boats. Perhaps fishing may be taken up 
 again as an occupation, but it was limited under Spanish 
 rule, since only those who had paid for a special license 
 and were enrolled in the reserve naval force were 
 allowed to engage in fishing as a business. In Decem- 
 ber, 1898, by order of General Brooke, the privilege of 
 fishing in rivers, streams, lakes, and all other waters of 
 Porto Rico, was made absolutely free. 
 
 Small fishing towns and settlements are found all 
 along the coast. Such a place is Guanajibo, whose catch 
 of fish goes to Mayaguez near by. One sloop, of seven 
 and a half tons burden, and thirty feet long, has the 
 
ANIMALS, INSECTS, AND FISH. 123 
 
 principal share in the fishing business. This fishing 
 vessel goes out as far as the Mona Islands, a distance 
 of forty-two miles. 
 
 Palo Seco, near the mouth of the Bayamon River, 
 supplies most of the fish for San Juan. Sixty of its 
 two hundred inhabitants earn their livelihood by fishing. 
 Parguera, Porto Real, and Punta Santiago are all fishing 
 centers. These hamlets present a picturesque appear- 
 ance with their thatched roofs, clustering palms, and 
 ceiba trees. In some of the principal towns on the 
 eastern and western coasts fishing is an important in- 
 dustry. The lack of good means for transportation and 
 the scarcity of ice make the profits from fresh fish very 
 uncertain. 
 
 The great variety of fish in the waters of the island 
 gives to the fish business a promising outlook. In the 
 fresh-water streams many species are found. The waters 
 along the coast abound in Spanish mackerel, sardines, 
 red snappers, and bonitos. The bonito is a large fish 
 found only in tropical seas. 
 
 Oysters, clams, lobsters, and shrimps inhabit the waters 
 around the island. The sponge grows in Porto Rican 
 waters, and many of these are brought from there to 
 the United States every year. 
 
 Thirty species of coral are to be found on the coasts 
 and the offshore reefs. That exquisite ocean flower, 
 the sea anemone, may be gathered from the waters sur- 
 rounding the island. 
 
124 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE CITIES OF THE COAST. 
 
 NINE TENTHS of Porto Rico is mountainous. The re- 
 maining one tenth lies along the coast, and has a water 
 front of 860 miles. The island is rich and fertile, and but 
 for one defect her chance of standing high in the com- 
 merce of nations would be good. This defect is lack 
 of good harbors. She has many open anchoring places, 
 but her facilities for loading and unloading merchandise 
 at piers like those of San Francisco, Boston, and New 
 York are very limited. 
 
 There is one noble exception. San Juan, the capital, 
 has a harbor of which any country might be proud. 
 The harbor is almost surrounded by land, and is both 
 serviceable and deep. It is guarded by that grim old sen- 
 tinel, Morro Castle, which towers more than a hundred 
 feet above the sea. Our entering must be cautious, 
 as the passageway is narrow. Between the frowning 
 walls of the great castle on the left and Point Palo Seco 
 on the right there is a distance of scarcely a mile. The 
 channel through which vessels must pass is only four 
 hundred yards wide, hardly more than twice the length 
 of some of our ocean steamships. Even though the 
 water is smooth, an experienced pilot is required to 
 steer our ship into port. When the weather is rough, 
 and the fierce north winds plow the waters of the 
 channel and churn them into seething foam, it is very 
 dangerous to enter. Many a time have ships put to sea 
 
126 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 to escape being wrecked. But once within the harbor, 
 a boat is always safe. The elevation of the city on the 
 northern side serves as an effective screen to keep off 
 perilous winds. 
 
 The rivers which empty into the harbor bring down a 
 muddy silt, just as the Mississippi washes mud into the 
 Gulf of Mexico. Formerly portions of the channel 
 were nearly choked by this silt. A thorough system of 
 dredging was begun, however, in 1889, so that now the 
 entrance has been widened, and has been deepened by 
 nearly thirty feet. The water along the wharves is 
 twenty-two feet deep. Spanish convicts did most of 
 the work of dredging, their wages being ten cents a day. 
 
 We have read about the Spanish city, St. Augustine, 
 Florida, and we think of it as very old. But San Juan 
 (in English, St. John) is much older. It was founded 
 in 1521, and St. Augustine not till 1565, forty-four years 
 later. Therefore, San Juan is probably the oldest city 
 over which floats the American flag. As compared with 
 our own cities, it is not very large. Its population num- 
 bers about 32,000, and it would hardly be called more 
 than a good-sized town in the United States. Like 
 New York, it is built on an island. This island ex- 
 tends a distance of two and a half miles, from Morro 
 Castle on the west to Fort San Cristobal (meaning St. 
 Christopher) on the east. The width of the island 
 from north to south is only half a mile. 
 
 The Morro Castle of San Juan, like its more famous 
 namesake at Santiago de Cuba, was a military necessity, 
 and recalls four centuries of Spanish rule. The steep 
 and rugged cliffs at the entrance to the wonderful San 
 Juan harbor were seized upon as offering admirable 
 
THE CITIES OF THE COAST. 127 
 
 means of defense. Morro Castle is of seventeenth-cen- 
 tury origin, and was begun in 1630. It is built in the 
 form of an obtuse triangle, having three tiers of batteries 
 so arranged as to allow of cross-fire in time of action. 
 During the recent war both Morro and San Cristobal, 
 which is a century younger, were equipped with bomb- 
 proof chambers and modern, up-to-date guns. Morro 
 Castle is in itself a little military town, with barracks, 
 officers' quarters, chapel, bakehouse, water tanks, and 
 dungeons opening on the sea. Here is the light-tower 
 of the city, with its modern lantern shining over the 
 ocean from a height of a hundred and seventy feet. 
 
 As we enter the city proper it seems as if we were 
 stepping back into mediaeval times. There are all the 
 marks of the walled town of feudal days, with port- 
 cullis, battlement, parapet, bastion, and remains of moat. 
 An immense wall surrounds it, making San Juan the 
 only city of its kind belonging to the United States. 
 We are reminded, as we look about, of the stories we 
 have read of knights and ladies, and tournaments and 
 bouts. The town is of the same quaint character as 
 Lyons in France, Nuremberg in Germany, or old Seville 
 in Spain. The streets are narrow and crowded. Build- 
 ings for residence and business are hemmed in by stone 
 walls. The thousand dwelling houses are of mortar or 
 stone, built regardless of convenience or of taste. The 
 roofs are flat, to catch the rain, which pours into the 
 cisterns below them. The storekeeper usually lives on 
 the floor above his shop, though some of the more well- 
 to-do have houses outside of San Juan, in one of the 
 rural towns, such as Rio Piedras or Santurce. In a 
 country where earthquakes are feared the houses are 
 
128 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 not high ; each one in San Juan has its balcony. 
 Since the sidewalks barely allow two persons to walk 
 abreast, we will take the middle of the street, as pedes- 
 trians often do. We must keep a sharp lookout, how- 
 ever, for the drivers of coaches. They race down the 
 narrow streets, shrilly shouting their coming, but leav- 
 ing with us the consequences if an accident occurs. 
 The streets run in nearly parallel lines, and cut each 
 other at right angles, six of them running east and 
 west, and seven north and south. 
 
 Like every town of the island, San Juan has its plaza. 
 This is a public square, like the piazza of Rome, or the 
 place of Paris. San Juan itself has two plazas and 
 several plazuelas, or little squares. Around the chief 
 plaza are located some of the important buildings of 
 the city, including the City Hall. To reach the other 
 important plaza we must go to the eastern extremity 
 of the city island, near Fort San Cristobal. 
 
 The largest building in San Juan is the Ballaja bar- 
 racks. It overlooks the parade grounds and covers an 
 immense area. Among the public buildings are the thea- 
 ter, with a seating capacity of five thousand ; the palace 
 of the bishop ; the military hospital ; the cathedral ; 
 the church of Santo Domingo; and the Jesuit College. 
 The governor of Porto Rico occupies a spacious edifice 
 which overlooks the harbor. 
 
 The most interesting old structure in the city is the 
 " Casa Blanca," or White House. This was built and 
 occupied by Ponce de Leon. We learn in United States 
 history that Juan Ponce de Leon set sail from Porto 
 Rico in search of the fountain of perpetual youth. He 
 failed to discover the fountain, but he found instead 
 
130 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 what was much more worth the while, the beautiful 
 country which he called the Land of Flowers, or 
 Florida. Casa Blanca stands on the side of a hill 
 and is almost a palace in size. It has a walled garden, 
 with a border of palms, and was built for military 
 defense. 
 
 The city has three clubs, one patronized by the Span- 
 iards and called the Casino ; a second patronized by the 
 Porto Ricans ; and an American club, which has sprung 
 up in recent years, made up largely of army and navy 
 officers. 
 
 The people of San Juan are almost as eager for the 
 news of the day as are citizens of New York or Chicago. 
 To meet this demand several daily and weekly papers 
 are published. As yet these are all in the Spanish lan- 
 guage with two exceptions, the San Juan News and the 
 Porto Rico Sun, which are in both English and Spanish. 
 Others will appear in English in due time. 
 
 The summer climate of the capital city is not as 
 healthful as that of the interior towns, but during eight 
 months of the year the city is an attractive place of 
 residence. Freedom from malarial diseases and fevers 
 is due to its comparative cleanliness, as well as to the 
 steady, cool trade winds which sweep across the island. 
 This cleanliness is due, in turn, to the fact that the prin- 
 cipal streets fall rapidly to the water's edge and carry off 
 much of the city's filth and debris. 
 
 A Porto Rican writer tells us that among the most 
 interesting sights of San Juan are the arrival and depar- 
 ture of the mail steamships belonging to the United 
 States. These boats come every week, bringing greet- 
 ings from the great republic of the north. They arrive 
 
THE CITIES OF THE COAST. 131 
 
 at San Juan upon a certain day of the week and at a 
 prescribed hour. Many resident Americans are at the 
 dock to watch the boat come in, because it will bring 
 the latest news from home. 
 
 The enormous quantity of merchandise carried by these 
 and other ships is significant of the great commercial 
 movement between Porto Rico and New York. Huge 
 pyramids of grain and flour sacks are piled upon the 
 pier after their removal from the boats, a dozen of which 
 are continually discharging cargoes. Laboring men rush 
 back and forth like companies of ants. A hundred 
 wagons come and go along the esplanade, carrying grain 
 and other stuffs from off the wharf. 
 
 Although the island numbers scarcely a million inhab- 
 itants, its foreign trade is very large. Since the com- 
 modities of the island are neither substantial foods 
 nor manufactured products, it is necessary to import 
 nearly everything which is consumed, and as a conse- 
 quence to export nearly everything produced. Up to 
 the year 1900 the commerce of Porto Rico was divided 
 between the United States and Europe; but with the 
 establishment of free trade between the island and North 
 American markets, the western trade has been greatly 
 increased, while that with the markets of Europe has 
 diminished in like degree. Free trade with the United 
 States has also caused extraordinary increase in the 
 amount of sugar, tobacco, and tropical fruits produced 
 in the island. During certain seasons of the year the 
 export of the latter is so constant that it has been said 
 rather fancifully that the boats with bananas and pine- 
 apples leave in their wake a perfumed path, which 
 reaches from San Juan to New York. 
 
132 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 As the steamers leave for the north, crowds of people 
 gather upon the dock to bid their friends farewell. Hun- 
 dreds of handkerchiefs are waved, and as the ship steers 
 for the open sea many others flutter, like white doves, 
 from the decks, while the steamship moves swiftly over 
 the quiet waters of the bay. 
 
 Porto Rico is no exception to the rule that the chief 
 city serves as a pattern for the entire country. What 
 Paris is to France, London to England, Madrid to Spain, 
 Havana to Cuba, San Juan is to Porto Rico. In social 
 customs, recreations, and education, the country people 
 follow the lead of their capital. If in this fact there is 
 much to regret, there is also much to occasion satisfac- 
 tion. San Juan, being the principal port, brings together 
 ships of many nations. Naval officers of all lands meet 
 here and exert an influence upon the people of the city. 
 
 On the opposite side of Porto Rico from San Juan 
 is Ponce, the second city of importance and the southern 
 gateway. The picture, as we approach by water, is very 
 attractive. For miles back against the sky-line rows of 
 hills rise up, from one to two thousand feet high. Low, 
 swampy play a, or beach lands, in dense tropical luxuri- 
 ance, may be seen at the right, while on the left the shore 
 inclines to the northward in picturesque curves, cocoanut 
 trees fringing its border. The broad bend of the coast 
 line forms an open harbor which will accommodate ships 
 of twenty-five feet draft. The port of Ponce, with its 
 custom-house and consular offices, is a bustling center 
 of trade. Its large warehouses make it contrast favorably 
 with San Juan, which is most deficient in this respect. 
 Although there is no wharf at Port Ponce, a vast amount 
 of merchandise is carried back and forth from shore to 
 
THE CITIES OF THE COAST. 
 
 133 
 
 anchored ship by means of lighters, or heavy transport 
 boats. 
 
 It is two miles over the cane fields from the port to the 
 city of Ponce. The well-shaded road is lined with the 
 huts of the poorer classes. Many warehouses stand 
 along the way. Let us enter the city, climb to the 
 hospital roof, and take a bird's-eye view of Ponce. 
 
 THE CATHEDRAL AT PONCE. 
 
 Many of the dwellings have covered piazzas, but they 
 are built close to the narrow sidewalks. There are some 
 buildings of stone and brick, but wooden houses pre- 
 dominate. The streets are wide and macadamized. 
 Cocoa and royal palms, and mango, fig, and banana trees 
 give a tropical aspect to the scene. 
 
 A beautifully shaded plaza occupies the center of the 
 city, with the town house and cathedral facing it. The 
 
134 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 dignified old cathedral, with its two spires and its mas- 
 sive altars, comes down from the year 1600, when the 
 town was founded. It has undergone extensive repairs 
 from time to time. The oldest Protestant church on the 
 island is at Ponce ; this church was built in 1874. The 
 city has three times as many streets as San Juan, yet its 
 population is four thousand less, the number at present 
 being about 28,000. 
 
 Ponce attracts Americans. Its hospitality is frank, 
 open, genial. It is the most enterprising town of Porto 
 Rico, and has the business push which Americans appre- 
 ciate and enjoy. It owes its wealth to the great sugar 
 plantations of the interior. Large quantities of coffee 
 are also brought to the town, carried to the port two 
 miles away, and there shipped to other countries. 
 
 The elevation of the city above the sea gives it free- 
 dom from the fatal miasma that lurks in the levels 
 below. The view of the city from the hills on the 
 north side is enchanting, but a nearer look at the huts 
 and shanties dissipates something of the charm. 
 
 The pure water supplying the city is brought from the 
 mountains by an aqueduct four thousand yards long. 
 Hardly more than a mile from the town are the famous 
 hot springs, La Quintana, to which those afflicted with 
 rheumatism resort. 
 
 Mayaguez, the third city, is on the western coast. It 
 is one of the finest cities on the island, and as a place of 
 residence ranks first. Its population numbers about 
 15,000. It is the great coffee market of the west coast. 
 Pineapples and cocoanuts are exported in large quantities. 
 
 The thirty-seven streets of Mayaguez are broad and 
 well paved ; there are three plazas. The houses are 
 
THE CITIES OF THE COAST. 
 
 135 
 
 finely constructed, and are surrounded by gardens con- 
 taining flowers, fountains, and statues. The city sup- 
 ports a hospital for soldiers and a home for the aged 
 and infirm. There are also fine military barracks and a 
 theater. Mayaguez is built on rounded hills which fur- 
 
 THE PLAZA AT MAYAGUEZ. 
 
 nish excellent drainage. The foliage is superb, the 
 flowers bright colored and abundant. 
 
 The industries of Mayaguez are famous throughout 
 the island. Four large coffee mills receive the sun- 
 dried berry from the mountain regions farther inland. 
 Here machines remove the second hull, bluing and 
 polishing the berry, and so preparing it for the market. 
 No other city of Porto Rico exports as much fruit as 
 Mayaguez, most of this fruit coming to the United 
 
136 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 States. The city has a tannery, and four chocolate 
 manufactories. The Mayaguez chocolate is excellent. 
 The public market is the best in Porto Rico. It is 
 built of iron and stone, covers an area of more than 
 fifteen hundred square feet and cost nearly 165,000. 
 To Mayaguez belongs the distinction of having a fine 
 iron bridge. The country about Mayaguez shows less 
 poverty than that surrounding any other Porto Rican 
 city. The plain is productive, and here and there the 
 houses of well-to-do planters and fruit raisers are to be 
 seen. Because of the various industries, wages are a 
 little higher than elsewhere in the island. 
 
 About seven miles outside the city, across a rough and 
 mountainous country, is the sanctuary of Montserrat. 
 This wild-looking place is visited by many pilgrims, and 
 numerous legends have grown up about it. 
 
 The sanctuary takes its name from a similar shrine 
 in far-away Spain. Among the Pyrenees there is one 
 rocky mountain peak called Montserrat. The monas- 
 tery near its summit was founded there because of an 
 old legend to the effect that, when Christ was dying 
 on the cross, as he breathed his last, there was a terrible 
 convulsion of this mountain, and the rocks forming its 
 jagged sides were thrown out. The locality has long 
 been held sacred in remembrance of this supposed 
 remarkable event. 
 
 The church of Montserrat itself, like its namesake in 
 Spain, is on the top of a mountain. It is of masonry, 
 quite large and rather attractive. From this mountain 
 top we can see the most beautiful plain on the island, 
 watered by the Guanajibo and Boqueron rivers, and in- 
 closed by high mountain ridges. The plain is bounded 
 
THE CITIES OF THE COAST. 
 
 137 
 
 by the sea and has within it the towns of Cabo Rojo 
 and San German. 
 
 The deep curve in the shore which serves as a harbor 
 for Mayaguez lies wide open. Submerged reefs built 
 by the coral polyps furnish a valuable breakwater. 
 
 Thirty-five miles to the west of San Juan is the sea- 
 port of Arecibo. A narrow-gauge railroad connects the 
 two places. The Arecibo, the second river in size in 
 the island, flows past the city. Though shallow, it is a 
 source of much prosperity to the people. Arecibo is the 
 great coffee port of the northern coast. It has a popu- 
 lation of about 8000. Its church is one of the finest in 
 the island. This church faces the plaza, from which 
 
 THE CITY OF ARECIBO. 
 
 streets run so as to form squares. There is no shel- 
 tered harbor, and no ship dare anchor before the city 
 when a "norther" is on. The scenery of the surround- 
 ing country is charming. 
 
138 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 The beautiful bay of Aguadilla forms the seaward 
 approach to the city of this name on the northwest coast. 
 Into its deep waters the large boats of our navy, like 
 the Oregon or Illinois, could enter without fear of run- 
 ning aground or of striking a rock. The city lies at the 
 base of a steep, fruit-covered mountain. Palms and 
 lemon and orange trees grow in abundance. A large 
 river of clear, sparkling water springs from the moun- 
 tain above, and flows through the midst of the city. It 
 is partly because of the pure water to be obtained here 
 that Aguadilla is the favorite port for trading-vessels 
 from Havana and the Gulf of Mexico. The inhabitants 
 number about 6400. 
 
 Almost on a straight line south from San Juan, and 
 fifty miles east of Ponce, lies Guayama. Its seaport, 
 Arroyo, is five miles beyond. Guayama is the center 
 of the great sugar and coffee growing region of the 
 south, the city alone having nine sugar mills. Arroyo 
 has a flourishing trade with the United States. It is 
 said that almost anything, will grow on the lowlands 
 about the town. An insufficient water supply is the 
 principal drawback to the growth of many tropical 
 products. From an average of 2800 pounds an acre 
 in favorable seasons, in time of severe drought the 
 production is reduced to almost nothing. Engineers 
 are now at work upon plans for irrigating the entire 
 region. Guayama has a population of 5300 ; Arroyo 
 has 2100 inhabitants. We import to the United States 
 from Arroyo, annually, 10,000 hogsheads of sugar and 
 5000 hogsheads of molasses and rum. Most of the 
 staves for these hogsheads are made in Portland, Maine. 
 The malagueta plant is found here ; from it the best 
 
THE CITIES OF THE COAST. 
 
 139 
 
 bay rum in the world is produced. Large quantities 
 of this product are purchased by the royal families of 
 Europe. It is claimed that the plant grows nowhere 
 in the world except in the West Indies. 
 
 THE LIGHTHOUSE AT MAUNABO. 
 
 On the eastern border, three miles from the coast, is 
 the town of Humacao, with a population of 4400. 
 Corn, beans, yucca, potatoes, and other vegetables are 
 said to be raised at Humacao. Oranges and lemons 
 are produced easily, though at the present time only 
 sufficient quantities are raised for home use. As in 
 many other towns, the church is the prominent building. 
 There are a broad plaza, a town house, barracks, a hospital, 
 and a jail. 
 
140 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 There are several other towns of industrial promi- 
 nence on or near the coast. Maunabo, with its rich 
 cane fields, produces thousands of pounds of sugar each 
 year. Salinas, named from its salt deposits, has a good 
 harbor and a flourishing trade. Carolina, Camuy, Loiza, 
 Isabela, Rincon, Dorado, Luquillo, all of them on or 
 near the coast, are of commercial value to the island. 
 
 Vieques, an island belonging to Porto Rico, lies thir- 
 teen miles to the east. Vieques is twenty-one miles 
 long and six wide. The coast line is low, but a chain 
 of mountains extends through the center. There are 
 several commodious harbors where the largest ships can 
 ride at anchor. The climate is good, but there is little 
 running water, and severe droughts occur from time to 
 time. The inhabitants number between six and seven 
 thousand, more than a third of whom are in the town 
 of Vieques on the northern side. The island has always 
 been considered prosperous, and has long produced a 
 fine quality of sugar-cane. Cattle raising is an impor- 
 tant feature. 
 
 The inhabitants of Culebra, or Snake Island, seven- 
 teen miles east of Cape San Juan, live by fishing and 
 woodcutting. The soil of the island is barren, and the 
 hills are covered with a low growth of timber of little 
 value. 
 
 About twelve miles south of Ponce is Coffin Island. 
 The supply of fish is abundant, but there is no good 
 place of anchorage. 
 
 Mona, or Monkey Island, forty miles west of Cabo 
 Rojo (meaning Cape Red), ends on one side in a bold 
 headland topped by a huge overhanging rock. This 
 rock is known to seamen by the suggestive name of 
 
INLAND TOWNS. 141 
 
 "Caigo 6 no Caigo" (Shall I fall or not)? The popu- 
 lation of the island is small. Its coast rises abruptly 
 from the water and can be seen by the sailor many 
 leagues away. Goats, bulls, and swine, in the wild 
 state, can be found there. This lonely island gives the 
 name to the broad channel separating Porto Rico from 
 Santo Domingo. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 INLAND TOWNS. 
 
 PORTO Rico is, in general, as has been already stated, 
 an agricultural community. As the soil of the island is 
 the chief source of its wealth, the inland centers as well 
 as the seaport towns are of great importance. 
 
 The whole island is divided into what are called 
 departments, corresponding somewhat to our divisions 
 into counties. There are seven of these departments. 
 That of Humacao extends the whole length of the 
 eastern side of the island, with an area of 413 square 
 miles and a population of 88,501. To the west of 
 Humacao are two, the department of Bayamon on the 
 north, with an area of 542 square miles, and a popula- 
 tion of 160,046 ; and Guayama on the south, area 561 
 square miles, population 111,986. The west central 
 part of the island also contains two departments, 
 Arecibo, its area being 621 square miles, and its 
 population 162,308 ; and Ponce, area 822 square miles, 
 population 203,191. The western side is occupied by 
 the department of Aguadilla, 240 square miles, 99,645 
 inhabitants; and Mayaguez, 407 square miles and 
 
142 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 127,566 inhabitants. The seven departments are sub- 
 divided into 69 municipal districts. The population 
 of the entire island, according to the last census, was 
 953,243. Less than one tenth of the people live in 
 cities. There are 264 persons to the square mile, about 
 the same as in Massachusetts. In New York the pro- 
 portion is only one half as great, in Ohio but a third. 
 
 Six miles southwest of San Juan is the wealthy inland 
 town of Bayamon, in the department of the same name. 
 It is built among comparatively small hills, and is on the 
 line of the longest railroad in Porto Rico. Its streets 
 are rather better than the average. It has a town hall, 
 and those two signs of military and civil protection, 
 barracks and a jail. The 2200 inhabitants gain their 
 support by raising cattle, sugar-cane, and tropical fruits. 
 In the municipal district of which Bayamon is the 
 center is Caparra, the first settlement on the island, 
 and now called Pueblo Viejo, or ancient town. Among 
 its interesting features is a massive and imposing ruin, 
 the remains of an old church. 
 
 The picturesque little town of Rio Piedras is also a 
 suburb of San Juan, seven miles distant. Here many 
 business people from the city have their homes. It is a 
 refreshing change from the hot warehouses to the airy 
 apartments of this little town among the hills. The 
 inhabitants number 2250. Here is the " summer palace " 
 of the governor general. During the days of Spanish 
 rule the large, low, rambling wooden building, densely 
 shaded with mango trees, was the scene of much official 
 activity. Later, when the American forces took posses- 
 sion of the island, it was put at their disposal and 
 occupied by them. Just before the evacuation of San 
 
INLAND TOWNS. 143 
 
 Juan the building, and the garden belonging to it, became 
 the headquarters of the United States soldiers. 
 
 The department of Bayam6n, of which these two towns 
 are typical, has the largest proportion of inhabitants 
 living in cities. This is due mainly to the fact that the 
 capital itself is in this department. Yet here the city 
 population amounts to only 29.2 per cent, showing how 
 large a majority of the people live in rural communities. 
 
 Manati may be taken as a representative inland town 
 of the department of Arecibo. It is seventeen miles 
 east of Arecibo City, with which it is connected by the 
 north-shore railroad. Among its interesting features is 
 a broad and deep cavern known as "the Swallow Cave." 
 Manati is about an average Porto Rican village in 
 respect to thrift, though it is not noted for its clean- 
 liness. 
 
 On the wagon road between Arecibo and Ponce is 
 Utuado, with 3620 inhabitants. It is situated 1500 
 feet above the sea, and thus has the advantages of an 
 invigorating altitude. During the recent war it was 
 a place of encampment for a portion of the United 
 States Nineteenth Regulars. 
 
 Out of a population of about 14,000 in the depart- 
 ment of Arecibo, only 800 are negroes, 5000 are of 
 mixed blood, the remainder being whites. There are 
 also in Manati a few Chinamen. 
 
 The most attractive of the towns in the department 
 of Aguadilla is Lares. Its charm is due chiefly to its 
 superb situation, 1800 feet above the level of the sea.. 
 Its rich coffee plantations make it a prosperous region. 
 One man is said to ship 1,500,000 pounds of coffee a 
 year over the almost impassable wagon road to Arecibo. 
 
144 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 THE CITY OF UTUADO. 
 
 A long, steep hill leads to the town, which is connected 
 with the outlying country by several very steep trails. 
 Approach from the coast side is difficult. In spite of 
 its remoteness, the wealth of its soil for coffee culture 
 renders it a thrifty town and the center of a wide-reach- 
 ing trade. As many Castilian families have lived there 
 in past years, the sentiment is strongly Spanish. The 
 distance of Lares from the cities helps to render the 
 inhabitants most hospitable to strangers. 
 
 Entrance into the town has been described thus : " As 
 the day is dying, Lares bursts into view from the last 
 hilltop, its white buildings glorified by the crimson sun. 
 It is an exquisite scene, the little village with its high 
 
INLAND TOWNS. 145 
 
 cathedral, its red-tiled roofs and the smoke of evening 
 fires burnished into gold by the setting sun. One long, 
 steep hill into town, and the curious throngs in the 
 streets watch us as we make a last gallant canter 
 towards the barracks, and dismount gradually, but 
 without assistance." 
 
 The fame of San Sebastian, eight miles to the west of 
 Lares, is due to the sparkling waterfall, the warm 
 spring, and the two great caves near by. It is not a 
 commercial town, though coffee grows in great abun- 
 dance in its neighborhood. 
 
 By many visitors to Porto Rico the department of 
 Mayaguez is considered the paradise of the island. It 
 fills the southwestern portion and faces the blue waters 
 of the Mona Passage and the Caribbean Sea. 
 
 For historic interest and geographic beauty, San Ger- 
 man ranks among the first of the inland towns. With 
 its narrow streets, its ruined cathedral, said to have been 
 built in 1511, and its picturesque groups of people, San 
 German presents rare features for the practice of photo- 
 graphic art. A writer tells us that in the town there are 
 old iron fences, tall and of elaborate design, fastened to 
 massive stone pillars and inclosing tangled growths of 
 tropical plants. There are plant-covered balconies on 
 the houses of the better class, and artistic dilapidation 
 and decay among the houses of the older portion of the 
 town. The 4000 inhabitants live on a long, undulating 
 hill. Below it widen out in fertile acres the lovely 
 valleys of two rivers, within whose confines are found 
 in luxuriance the products of the tropics, coffee, 
 tobacco, sugar, lemons, bananas, cocoanuts, and tama- 
 rinds. The place has a town hall, good school buildings, 
 
146 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 fine markets, hospitals, a seminary, and a theater. A 
 railroad connects it with Mayaguez. Since 1877 it has 
 been a city governed by a mayor and a board of council- 
 men. 
 
 Anasco, a town of 2483 inhabitants, is six miles from 
 Mayaguez. The railroad which runs through its midst 
 helps it commercially. The neighboring village of Rio 
 Guanroba was the scene of the famous experiment by 
 which the Indians, in 1511, tried to discover whether 
 the Spaniards were immortal or not. After holding a 
 representative of that nation under water for five hours 
 they satisfied themselves that these people were mortal 
 men and not above suspicion. 
 
 Coamo, in the department of Ponce, was founded in 
 1640. It is on the great military road between Ponce 
 and San Juan, and is noted for its warm mineral baths. 
 Not only do the people of Porto Rico visit the place to 
 enjoy its healing waters, but many visitors come also 
 from other islands in the neighborhood. The salt works 
 of Coamo have been famous for more than a century. 
 The town was reached and occupied by the American 
 forces the second week in August, 1898, only a week 
 after they landed at Guanica. 
 
 Any New England or western town of the United 
 States, which had a constable for every twenty-four of 
 its inhabitants, would be regarded as an unsafe place to 
 live in. Yet this is about the proportion in the quiet 
 inland town of Adjuntas, which is also in the depart- 
 ment of Ponce. The officials can be seen on the streets 
 at all times, in their suits of linen with narrow blue 
 and white stripes, wearing belts and carrying swords. 
 
 That there are rough men in the town is evident from 
 
148 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 the decorations of the strange " Black Hand," the 
 token of Death, which have been placed on the door- 
 ways of many buildings. It is thought, however, that 
 perhaps the mystic words are designed to arouse the 
 curiosity of Americans, and perhaps to work on their 
 feelings. 
 
 Adjuntas is situated twenty-four hundred feet above 
 the sea and fifteen miles inland. It is a popular retreat 
 for mountain-lovers. Although so high above the sea 
 level it occupies a narrow valley, surrounded by steep 
 hills. In the heart of the village an open space is 
 turned into a public park, with cross-walks, shrubbery, 
 and brilliant flowers. There are few good dwellings, 
 most of the houses being mere cabins. The views of 
 the mountains, with the abundant growths of coffee and 
 other products, give the scenery about the town an 
 attractive look. 
 
 The department of Guayama is on the southern side 
 of the island, between Humacao on the east and Ponce 
 on the west. A view along the main street of Caguas, 
 the chief inland town, reveals a busy scene. All shades 
 of human color, men of various size and different de- 
 grees of rank are to be seen. Here is the barefooted 
 urchin with slouched hat, many sizes too large, pulled 
 down over his ears ; there the prosperous shopkeeper 
 in suit of white and wearing a natty straw hat; here 
 the dainty maiden from a wealthy home ; there a poor 
 creature in rags. Most of the houses are two-storied, 
 the lower part being used as a shop, the upper part as a 
 home. Outside the limits of the town are hundreds 
 of inhabitants living in little palm-thatched huts, where 
 the filth is hidden by the plantain trees round about. 
 
150 
 
 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 Cayey, a town of thirty-five hundred inhabitants, 
 forms a charming picture as we approach. Few places 
 on the island are so delightful for summer residence. 
 Cayey is twenty-three hundred feet above the sea and 
 halfway between the ends of the military road. Its 
 situation will bring it commercial importance and make 
 it a resort for seekers after a mild but invigorating 
 
 THE CITY OF FAJARDO. 
 
 climate. Tobacco has done much for the town in a 
 commercial way, for Cayey is the center of the fine 
 tobacco fields of that far-famed region. 
 
 The department of Humacao, on the eastern side, is 
 only a little more than one fourth the size of Rhode 
 Island. In slope and physical outline it resembles the 
 state of New Jersey. It has no inland towns of particu- 
 lar importance. Fajardo, with its population of 3400, is 
 representative of this part of the island. There is an 
 
152 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 unreliable tradition that Columbus first landed near the 
 spot where the little town of Naguabo is situated. 
 The old settlement was attacked and destroyed by the 
 Caribs in 1521. 
 
 The similarity of Porto Rican towns is evident. 
 Agriculture is the business of the people, and manu- 
 factures as yet have little place in their industrial life. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ROADS. 
 
 No country can prosper without good roads. Every 
 form of progress and civilization depends upon open and 
 well-built highways. They connect the field with the 
 market ; they bring the remotest portion of the interior 
 into touch with the throbbing life of the seaport ; they 
 save time ; they prevent the wear and tear of animals 
 and wagons ; they lessen the cost of food and clothing 
 and secure a better quality of each; they bring the 
 schoolhouse and the church nearer the home and pro- 
 vide better teachers and ministers ; they promote social 
 life and bring much closer to one another friends living 
 at a distance ; they make better citizens and aid them 
 in the discharge of their political duties. The Roman 
 road followed the Roman eagle. 
 
 Porto Rico possesses what has been called the finest 
 road in the Western Hemisphere. It is the magnificent 
 military road from Ponce across the mountains to San 
 Juan. The tremendous task of constructing this road 
 was begun in 1880 and was finished in 1888. To build 
 
ROADS. 
 
 153 
 
 it mountain heights had to be crossed, gorges had to be 
 spanned and rivers bridged, but the work was accom- 
 plished by the Spanish government with great thorough- 
 ness. The road is eighty miles in length, its highest 
 point is three thousand feet above the sea, and it cost 
 $4,000,000. A large part of the work was done by 
 gangs of civil and military prisoners who were paid 
 but a dime a day. Thousands of other men were em- 
 
 THE MILITARY ROAD, NEAR AIBONITO. 
 
 ployed at thirty cents a day. The prisoners were 
 under guard, a force of soldiers being always on duty 
 to keep them from revolt. 
 
 The road is macadamized from end to end with finely 
 broken rock of carbonate of lime, which packs into a 
 smooth and solid floor. As a triumph of engineering 
 skill it is equal to the finest roads in Switzerland. In 
 
154 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 hardness and smoothness it is like such passes as the 
 St. Gothard and the famous roads in the Engadine. It 
 compares favorably with the wonderful road built by 
 Napoleon, between 1800 and 1806, across the Simplon 
 Pass, connecting the Rhone Valley in Switzerland with 
 northern Italy. The cost of the two was about the 
 same. Napoleon's road is but half the length of the 
 
 AIBONITO: A VIEW OF THE TOWN. 
 
 Porto Rican road, but its culminating point is twice as 
 high. The Simplon road is in as good condition as it 
 was the day it was built. The road in Porto Rico is 
 likely to wear as well. 
 
 Every precaution is taken to keep the magnificent 
 Porto Rican road in repair. It is divided into sections 
 of from two and a half to three miles in length, each 
 section having a brick guardhouse, usually square and 
 
156 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 one story high. In the guardhouses live the laborers, 
 or peons, whose duty it is to repair the road. By the 
 wayside are piles of stone with which a defect is mended 
 as soon as it appears, not an hour's time being lost before 
 the repair is made. Each peon is responsible for his 
 section. To keep the road in repair costs $15,000 a 
 year. 
 
 The road has to contend with one stubborn foe. An 
 occasional hurricane sweeps away bridges and covers 
 larger portions with masses of debris. A single hur- 
 ricane, in August, 1899, damaged the road to the extent 
 of $150,000. Under the pressure of a mighty flood 
 ordinary trestlework will not stand. The only security 
 for bridge builders in Porto Rico is in solid, massive, 
 stone masonry. 
 
 The splendid highway follows a northeast course from 
 Ponce, where the ascent begins. It winds in and out 
 among foothills ; it passes through arches of palms ; it 
 skirts clusters of dainty acacias, rubber trees, and tree 
 ferns. We are charmed as we ride along, with the 
 coffee, cane, and tobacco fields. Cultivated moun- 
 tain and fertile vale enchant the eye. There is no rest 
 season for it all; its beauty entrances at all times of 
 the year. 
 
 Although this royal road extends to such heights 
 above the sea, there is no part of it that cannot be 
 traversed with a bicycle. We can make one continuous 
 coast of eight miles without touching the pedal. 
 The first town we reach, eight miles from Ponce, is 
 Juana Diaz. It is a typical Porto Rican town, with 
 rickety houses at either end of the village street, having 
 the regulation open plaza, church, and in addition quar- 
 
ROADS. 
 
 157 
 
 Ties of gypsum and lime, and a curious cave. A few 
 miles further on we reach Coamo, spread out over fertile 
 plains and flanked by verdant hills. From Coamo on 
 for several miles the road descends rapidly. Then 
 begins the steady pull to the highest point. The 
 roadway circles and turns, now causing the traveler to 
 face the top of the hill which he is climbing, and again 
 to move in exactly the opposite direction. 
 
 Aibonito, " Ah Beautiful," is the town at the top of the 
 pass. From below the view is quite picturesque, but the 
 
 THE MILITARY ROAD, NEAR GUAYAMA. 
 
 closer approach disappoints, because of the dust and the 
 filth. 
 
 At Cayey the road unites with the branch which runs 
 southward to Guayama. The scenery at this portion of 
 the road is enchanting. The hills are green with pasture 
 
158 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 lands, and with mango, laurel, and other groves. The 
 flamboyant, a large and spreading tree rich with great 
 clusters of bright red flowers, blooms in the summer 
 months. 
 
 From Cayey to Caguas tree ferns line the road ; the 
 slender bamboo nods and bows; fruit-bearing trees 
 abound. It is a truly tropic world, where cocoanut and 
 royal palm luxuriate. At Caguas we begin to feel that 
 we are approaching San Juan. The descent is easy and 
 gradual, and the journey is made in a short time. Little 
 taverns are passed here and there, and peasant life may 
 be seen in all its simplicity. It is poverty, but of a sort 
 that is unconscious of itself. The people take life quite 
 jauntily and smile at the chance passer-by. 
 
 At last the salt marshes appear, and beyond them the 
 walls of San Juan. Walls of old masonry, built for the 
 protection of the Spanish soldiery, stand along the road. 
 On the east side as we enter is San Cristobal, and bat- 
 tered Morro Castle stands at the western end. This 
 ride from Ponce to San Juan gives the best that the 
 island can show. It reveals the scenery, the people, 
 the pursuits, and the life as nothing else can do. 
 
 With the exception of the grand highway, and minor 
 roads from Aguadilla to San Sebastian, from Adjuntas 
 to Ponce, and a few others, Porto Rico has no good 
 roads. And yet good roads are one of her greatest 
 needs. 
 
 To develop a country whose roads average six feet in 
 width is impossible. Add to this the fact that in rainy 
 weather the wheels of the farm wagon sink deep in mud, 
 and the condition becomes almost desperate. Often 
 men and women may be seen bearing heavy baskets of 
 
ROADS. 159 
 
 coffee to market on their heads. More common still is 
 the small bony horse or donkey, floundering in the mire 
 beneath a huge mass of merchandise, the driver sitting 
 astride. In many places oxen have been choked in 
 the mud. Some of the roads are nothing more than 
 trails. When an American ambulance was drawn over 
 the road between Yabucoa and Maunabo, it was con- 
 sidered by the natives a miraculous feat. 
 
 During the official visit of Dr. Carroll, Commissioner 
 from the United States, the demand for good roads was 
 louder than for anything else. The people of Arroyo 
 sent the message, " Without good roads the riches of 
 the island cannot be developed." From Ponce came an 
 appeal on the ground that the roads to-day are in the 
 same primitive state that they were when Porto Rico 
 was discovered, four hundred years ago. Utuado based 
 its request on the fact that the highways in use were re- 
 tarding the country's growth and "sapping its life every 
 day." While at Utuado Dr. Carroll was warned not to 
 go to Lares without making his will. He says of the 
 trip, " Mud holes and hillocks occur in each track, in 
 such confused succession that while the fore wheel on 
 one side is ascending, that on the other is descending, 
 with the condition reversed for the hind wheels." 
 
 Mr. A. G. Robinson, who could "find no pleasure on 
 board a Porto Rican pony," made the twenty-five mile 
 journey from Yauco to Mayaguez by carriage. He 
 writes: "I reached my destination in sections. I do not 
 know if the whole of me arrived or not. My knowledge 
 of anatomy is too superficial to enable me to determine 
 whether some portion of my system does not, even now, 
 dangle from some barbed-wire fence, or droop gracefully 
 
160 
 
 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 among the cocoanuts at the top of some tall tree along 
 the road. I have had much experience with the rocky 
 roads of the mountains of western Carolina. I have loi- 
 tered along hub-deep in the thick black mud of southern 
 Illinois and Nebraska. But for rocks, mud, and general 
 physical discomfort, the first fifteen miles of that road 
 from Yauco to Mayaguez can beat anything of which I 
 
 NLAND ROAD. 
 
 know in the United States, ten to one. Once we mired 
 down completely and had to be extricated by citizens 
 of the vicinity. The horses lost their pluck ; the driver 
 lost his temper. At another point I saw that any attempt 
 to go on would only result in the utter collapse of the 
 horses. I ordered a halt for the purpose of investigating 
 possibilities and probabilities." While engaged in the 
 
THE FIRST AMERICAN CENSUS. 161 
 
 proceeding a man with a pair of stout-looking black 
 cattle came up. A contract, was made, the cattle were 
 yoked to the carriage and six miles of the remainder 
 of the trip were made at a snail's pace. The spokes 
 of the wheels at times sank entirely out of sight, 
 " through the filling of the spaces with a solid mass of 
 Porto Rican highway." Ten miles before reaching 
 Mayaguez he found a better road and sweet relief from 
 difficulty. 
 
 Porto Rican railways are in their infancy. Some 
 years since, a French company began a system of rail- 
 ways to belt the island, a distance of four hundred miles. 
 Of this distance only one hundred and thirty-two miles 
 have been covered. The tracks are narrow gauge, and 
 the rolling-stock is of an inferior quality. The entire 
 outfit is primitive. There are three main divisions of 
 the portion already constructed, the principal one 
 extending from San Juan to Cainuy, a distance of about 
 seventy-four miles. Its chief stations are Arecibo and 
 Bayamon. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE FIRST AMERICAN CENSUS. 
 
 THE taking of the national census marks an important 
 era in the history of a people. From the first census 
 recorded in history, 1500 B.C., down to the census of 1900 
 in the United States, each enumeration of a people has 
 marked the movement of its national life, whether for- 
 ward or backward. The first census recorded the " sum 
 of the congregation of the Children of Israel after their 
 
162 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 families, according to the number of the names, every 
 male by their polls." By the last United States census, 
 the twelfth in our history, not only are the names of the 
 men given, but also those of both women and children, 
 together with the age, place of birth, occupation, ability 
 to read and write, and many other important matters. 
 
 As soon as Porto Rico became a part of the United 
 States, plans were set on foot for taking a census. It 
 was necessary to know the exact number of people on 
 the island, the proportion of males and females, the num- 
 ber of adults able to read and write, and the number of 
 children needing an education. Home life, school life, 
 as well as the business life of the future and the health 
 of the people, depend upon the correct understanding of 
 the actual condition of the island. How to multiply the 
 products of the soil, how to increase the advantages of 
 suffrage, how to promote good government, how to unite 
 the interests of the people more closely, the solution of 
 these and a hundred other problems would be rendered 
 much easier by a thorough census of the island. 
 
 An order was issued by the War Department, Septem- 
 ber 8, 1899, authorizing the taking of the census. The 
 first article reads thus: "By order of the President, a 
 census of the population, of the agricultural products, 
 and of the educational conditions of Porto Rico shall be 
 taken on the 10th day of November, and completed by or 
 before the 20th day of December, 1899." 
 
 General J. P. Sanger, Inspector General, was appointed 
 director of the census, with his office in Washington. 
 The island was at once divided into seven census depart- 
 ments, with a supervisor appointed over each. The 
 islands of Vieques, Culebra, and Mona were included in 
 
THE FIRST AMERICAN CENSUS. 
 
 163 
 
 the division. These seven departments were subdivided 
 into 917 enumeration districts. 
 
 Promptly, on November 10, the task began. It was 
 carried on under great difficulties. The rainy season 
 and the hurricane of the preceding August had ren- 
 dered intercommunication, in many sections of the 
 
 RELATIVE AREAS CULTIVATED IN PRINCIPAL CROPS. 
 
 (According to the Census of 1899.) 
 
 The following table shows the relative importance of the various farm 
 products, expressed in percentages of the total area of cultivated land : 
 
 PER CENT. 
 
 Coffee 41 
 
 Sugar-cane 15 
 
 Bananas 14 
 
 Sweet Potatoes 8 
 
 Indian Corn , 4 
 
 Malangas 
 Rice . . 
 Cocoanuts 
 Tobacco . 
 
 PER CENT. 
 
 . . 2 
 
 . . 2 
 
 . . 1 
 
 1 
 
 All other crops 12 
 
164 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 island, well-nigh impossible. Yet in spite of all ob- 
 stacles the work was completed within the prescribed 
 time and in a thorough, businesslike manner. In his 
 report General Sanger gives the names of 911 per- 
 sons who assisted in making the enumeration. It was a 
 test of intelligence and business capacity. The schedules 
 contained a large number of definite questions, all of 
 them requiring accuracy and good judgment in the enu- 
 merators. Sixty-two of them were women ; this was the 
 first time that women were given public employment, 
 other than teaching, in Porto Rico. 
 
 Some facts of interest to the American people were 
 brought out by this census. The population of Porto 
 Rico is denser than is the case in any other of the West 
 Indies except Barbados. There are 264 persons to 
 the square mile. This is about the same as in Rhode 
 Island. It is twice as many to the mile as in Pennsyl- 
 vania, three times as many as in Maryland and Illinois, 
 and more than seven times as many as in Cuba. In 
 England there are 540 persons to the square mile, in 
 Holland 384, in Ireland 141. 
 
 There are only about 2200 professional men in the 
 island. Of these 200 are lawyers, 220 physicians, and 
 800 teachers. Nearly 200,000 of the people two 
 thirds of them women have no employment what- 
 ever. 
 
 The center of area, that is, the point about which all 
 parts of the island balance, is about three miles to the 
 north and two to the west of the little town of Barros, 
 thirty-one miles northeast of Ponce. 
 
 If the island were a flat surface without any weight, 
 and it were loaded with the inhabitants distributed as 
 
THE FIRST AMERICAN CENSUS. 
 
 165 
 
 they were in 1899, each person being supposed to have 
 the same weight, the center of population would be the 
 point about which all parts of the island would balance. 
 The center of population in Porto Rico is GO miles west 
 and 2.4 miles north of Barros. 
 
 1790 1800 1810 1820 18UO 1840 I860 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 
 CHART SHOWING THE GROWTH OF POPULATION. 
 
 What is known as the median age is such an age 
 that half the people are younger and half older. In 
 the United States, according to the census of 1890, this 
 age was 21.9 years. In Cuba it is 20.7 years. The 
 median age in Porto Rico is 18.1 years. It is evident, 
 then, that the people of Porto Rico are two years 
 younger than those in Cuba, and nearly four years 
 younger than the people of the United States. In one 
 of the rural districts of the island, Bayamon, the median 
 age is only sixteen years. 
 
166 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 The census tables show that the number of children 
 under ten years of age is larger, in proportion to the 
 population, than in Cuba or the United States, or than 
 any European country except Belgium. Of persons 
 more than thirty years of age there are only forty in 
 every thousand, while in the United States there are 
 sixty-two. 
 
 There are fewer elderly persons in Porto Rico, pro- 
 portionally, than there are in the United States. Only 
 2.6 per cent of the people of the island live to be sev- 
 enty years old. This is due mainly to the fact that so 
 many people disobey the laws of health, eat little nour- 
 ishing food, live in ill-ventilated houses and fail to enjoy 
 the pleasures of a wholesome and buoyant life. 
 
 In 1820 only four ninths of the population were white 
 as against three fifths at the present time. The per- 
 centage of mixed blood is 83.6, while in Cuba it is only 
 52, in the United States it is 14.8 and on the island of 
 St. Vincent only 1.8. It is said that there are few re- 
 gions in the western hemisphere in which the native 
 population is so large proportionately, the foreign-born 
 so small. 
 
 These matters are noted especially as illustrating the 
 nature of the census. They bring out the condition of 
 the island, its people and resources, and the ground- 
 work of fact on which all plans for improvement and 
 development must be built. With the facts and figures 
 gathered by the Porto Rican census in hand, the United 
 States 2fovernment will be able to start new movements 
 
 o 
 
 which will result in the prosperity of the people in the 
 home, the field, the school, and the legislative hall. 
 Sanitary measures are demanded ; a better water supply 
 
THE SCHOOLS OF PORTO RICO. 167 
 
 must be provided; the death rate must be reduced; the 
 marriage laws must be revised. That these and a host 
 of other things are rendered, by present conditions, of 
 the utmost importance, has been brought clearly to light 
 by the results of this first American census in Porto 
 Rico. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE SCHOOLS OF PORTO RICO. 
 
 THAT was a bright day for Porto Rico, when, on 
 October 1, 1899, free public schools were established 
 after the American idea. The plan was devised by Gen- 
 eral John B. Eaton, who was appointed by our govern- 
 ment the first Superintendent of Schools. General 
 Eaton arranged that all young persons between the ages 
 of six and eighteen years should receive 'instruction for 
 nine months each year. The schools were to be sup- 
 ported by taxation. All who desired to study in this 
 country were granted free passage on steamers coming 
 to the United States. 
 
 Before our government took up the work the educa- 
 tional system of Porto -Rico was in a very imperfect 
 state. Schools were held in deserted buildings and in 
 dwellings of the teachers, often in a poorly lighted room 
 on the second floor, or in an unoccupied shop. There 
 was no school furniture worthy of the name. The chil- 
 dren of the island never knew what it was to study in 
 bright and airy schoolrooms such as are found in our 
 American cities and towns. 
 
 It may be worth our while to visit one of the schools 
 
168 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 of San Juan as it was before the war. We will climb a 
 flight of stairs and enter a small room over a shop. We 
 should never think of its being a schoolroom, for it has 
 no benches, no settees, no blackboards. Only the thirty 
 boys sitting on the floor and the teacher at a desk remind 
 us that we are visiting a school. The boys are bright, 
 alert in body as well as in mind, and they listen closely 
 to all the teacher says, for there are no schoolbooks, and 
 all they get is what is said to them. The lessons are 
 the simplest possible. Reading is not taught, as that is 
 learned by the children at home. The principal studies, 
 such as arithmetic and geography, the teacher dictates. 
 The pupils are not taught to write. School hours are 
 from eight to eleven in the forenoon and from one to 
 four in the afternoon. There is no weekly holiday ; 
 school is in session every day except Sunday. Twice a 
 year there are fifteen days' vacation. 
 
 A gentleman traveling in the island early in 1899 wrote 
 as follows : " Everywhere the people are dissatisfied with 
 their schools, and are ready to welcome good American 
 schools and teachers. I have this day visited some half 
 dozen colleges or public schools in the beautiful town 
 of Mayaguez, said to be the best-built city in Porto 
 Rico, and where the citizens are quite as progressive as 
 anywhere else in the island. Here in Mayaguez, with 
 its fifteen thousand inhabitants, there are perhaps a dozen 
 public schools, half of them for boys and half for girls. 
 There are from fifty to one hundred pupils in each school, 
 and two or three teachers. There are no school build- 
 ings, but one, two, or three rooms in the house where 
 the teacher lives are given up to the school. The course 
 includes religion, arithmetic through fractions and 
 
170 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 decimals, geography, grammar, the history of Spain, and 
 geometry, by which is meant the ability to draw parallel 
 lines and the various sorts of angles by eye." The 
 writer adds that the reciting was by rote, parrotlike. 
 The pupils, both white and colored, were quick to learn. 
 
 The government of Spain did nothing thoroughly or 
 well in the direction of education in Porto Rico. That 
 eighty -seven per cent of the people can neither read nor 
 write speaks volumes for the neglect of the mother 
 country in providing suitable school privileges. It was 
 expected that when a boy reached the age of eight years 
 he should go to a boys' school, and every girl to a girls' 
 school. But this was not a law carried out and enforced. 
 
 When the United States began its educational efforts 
 in the island there was very little to build upon. New 
 foundations were laid, and the work was pushed rapidly 
 forward. After two years our government made a very 
 creditable showing as a result of its enterprise in estab- 
 lishing schools in the island. The census of 1899 showed 
 that there were 322,393 children, between the ages of 
 five and seventeen years. Of these only 26,212, or eight 
 in every hundred, were attending school. It was found 
 that the sum of $1, 500,000 was needed to build and fur- 
 nish schoolhouses. Part of this amount has been pro- 
 vided. Experienced teachers who understand the Spanish 
 language have been sent out, and the same branches are 
 taught as in the schools of the United States. The 
 children are eager to learn, and supplies of all kinds 
 are provided, including blackboards, charts, books, paper, 
 pencils, and maps. Each teacher has about fifty pupils 
 under his care. At certain seasons of the year the 
 children of the poor are obliged to work in the fields 
 
THE SCHOOLS OF PORTO RICO. 171 
 
 Some are frequently kept at home to help in the care 
 of the younger children. In many instances children 
 are kept from school altogether for want of proper 
 clothing. 
 
 The United States Commissioner of Education visited 
 a school in San Juan in 1898, only two months after the 
 island came under our flag. He found twenty-nine 
 small boys in a room on the second floor. On the wall 
 was a map of Europe, one of Spain, one of Asia, one 
 of Africa, another of North and South America, and a 
 map of Porto Rico. There were also arithmetic charts, 
 cases of insects, and some good maxims on the wall. 
 There were rough benches for the pupils and a rude 
 desk for the teacher. A boy of twelve stood by the 
 blackboard at work on an example in proportion. Dur- 
 ing the visit a reading lesson was given out in Spanish. 
 When the boys were asked to whom Porto Rico be- 
 longed the response was loud and emphatic, " To the 
 United States." The pupils were asked who could point 
 out this country on the map. At once several of them 
 rushed forward and placed their fingers triumphantly on 
 the correct place. 
 
 The American flag now floats over every schoolhouse 
 and is found in every schoolroom. The raising of the 
 flag over the training school at San Juan, January 15, 
 1900, was a scene long to be remembered. The build- 
 ing was the first to be erected for the purpose, and is of 
 great value to the industrial interests of the island. On 
 that happy day, a great company of young people gath- 
 ered about the building. Four persons were chosen to 
 raise the flag, two young men on the platform below, and 
 two young ladies on the balcony above. When the flag 
 
172 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 reached the masthead a salute was given by both teachers 
 and pupils. 
 
 A gentleman traveling in. Porto Rico in 1899 wrote: 
 " I was sitting in my room at the hotel at Lares, tired 
 out after two days on pony-back, my first trip into the 
 mountains of the interior, and my first experience on 
 
 RAISING THE FLAG AT THE FIRST AMERICAN SCHOOL, SAN JUAN. 
 
 horseback. My long ride, and consequent fatigue, my 
 position, far from home, family, and friends, in a new 
 region where language, food, customs, all were strange, 
 made me feel most lonesome. Only a good night's sleep 
 could ward off a threatened attack of homesickness, a 
 longing to see the land and hear the language that God 
 made, as the boys in blue express it. 
 
 " Suddenly a new sound aroused me, drew me to the 
 porch, and brought a relief which only travelers who 
 
THE SCHOOLS OF PORTO RICO. 173 
 
 have been far from the homeland can realize. Four 
 young girls on the next porch, scarcely visible in the 
 gathering darkness, were singing : 
 
 " * Mee condree, teez of zee, 
 Sueet land of lee-bertee, 
 
 Of tee we zeeng. 
 Land were mee faders died, 
 Land of tee peel-greem's pride, 
 From efree mountain side 
 
 Let freedom reeng.' " 
 
 Such sounds as these give promise of a Porto Rico soon 
 to be, when the children of to-day will become citizens 
 thoroughly educated in the principles of American liberty. 
 The children all sing, and such singing, so hearty, so 
 loud, so enthusiastic ! Music is assuming growing im- 
 portance in the instruction given in the schools. 
 
 The eagerness of the children to learn is shown by the 
 fact that some of them walk between two and three 
 miles to school every day. Many of them bring chairs, 
 benches, boxes, anything that will serve as a seat. It is 
 hard to keep the children from studying aloud, a habit 
 they have acquired under Spanish teachers. Some of 
 the schools are far up in the mountains in the interior, 
 and are seldom visited ; others, at certain seasons of the 
 year, are cut off from the main thoroughfares by swollen 
 streams. Some schools are in a part of the town where 
 the voices of idle loungers on the street are constantly 
 heard. In some cases the light is dim, or ventilation is 
 bad, or the roof is leaky. Often that valuable article 
 to every schoolroom, a clock, is not found ; and, in some 
 cases, if there is one, the hands are so fidgety as to make 
 it very uncertain just when it is time to have recess. 
 
174 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT 
 
 A PUBLIC SCHOOL AT ARECIBO. 
 
 Seeing the adults leading a humdrum life in their 
 wretched homes, one would say that the people are 
 stupid. Seeing the children in school and hearing them 
 recite history and grammar, one would call them bright. 
 General Davis, Military Governor of the island, says: 
 " The Porto Rican is quick to learn ; he has an acute mind. 
 I have seen those in our school who picked up geography 
 and arithmetic with great facility. I have known no 
 more apt pupils anywhere than those native Porto Ricans, 
 both black and white." He says, further, that every boy 
 and girl in the island is anxious to learn English, and is 
 as quick to get hold of a new language as any young 
 person in the world. 
 
THE SCHOOLS OF PORTO RICO. 175 
 
 Dr. Martin G. Brumbaugh, ex-Commissioner of Edu- 
 cation for the island, tells us that, during the four hun- 
 dred years of its control, the Spanish government built 
 not a single schoolhouse. The department of education 
 under our government announced that it would erect 
 school buildings if the municipalities would donate suit- 
 able ground. To-day there are more than fifty wooden, 
 brick, stone, and concrete buildings in use. 
 
 The dedication of these structures was in each case 
 a gala occasion. The Commissioner of Education was 
 usually present, accompanied by Governor Hunt and 
 members of his cabinet. The children, dressed in cos- 
 tumes of red, white, and blue, sang "America" in 
 English, the United States flag was raised by some 
 official, and then the children sang " The Star-Spangled 
 Banner." Formal addresses were made to the assem- 
 bled citizens. In one place, where a rural agricul- 
 tural school was to be dedicated, pupils from Bayamon 
 were carried three miles in ox-carts. Fifty boys and 
 girls stood in each cart, waving small flags, cheering 
 the American republic, and singing its national airs. 
 The eight carts formed a fine procession. 
 
 Dr. Brumbaugh relates several instances showing the 
 sacrifices the poor people of the island are making to edu- 
 cate their children. Hundreds of boys and girls carry 
 their shoes and stockings to and from school in their 
 hands. In the mountain district above Corozal a boy 
 was found wearing a shirt at least four sizes too large for 
 him. Upon inquiry it was learned that he owned but 
 one shirt, and this was being washed. Lest the boy be 
 compelled to miss a day in school, his father gave his 
 son his own shirt, and the only one he had. The father 
 
176 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 carried on his head over the mountains, twenty miles 
 and back, a case of merchandise, his bare back exposed 
 all that time to the fierce rays of the tropical sun. 
 
 " These are but types," Dr. Brumbaugh adds, " of a 
 zeal that is almost a frenzy on the part of the people to 
 become educated. They are trying by education, by in- 
 dustry, and by obedience 
 to law, to prove their right 
 to a place in the sister- 
 hood of states. They are 
 fondly looking for the 
 day when the star of 
 the beautiful island of 
 the sea shall nestle in the 
 folds of the flag they love 
 as we do. They are learn- 
 ing what we must all 
 learn with deeper mean- 
 ing, that the door to state- 
 hood is the door of the 
 free public school." 
 
 Dr. Samuel M. Lindsay, 
 who succeeded Dr. Brum- 
 baugh as Commissioner 
 
 of Education when other duties called the latter back 
 to the States, has taken up with energy and skill the 
 work his predecessor felt compelled to lay down. The 
 schools are reaching a higher state of efficiency and 
 usefulness every month, and it is Dr. Lindsay's work, 
 built on the foundation laid by Dr. Brumbaugh, that is 
 accomplishing this end. The American teachers serve 
 as earnest, helpful assistants in putting into execution 
 
 DR. SAMUEL M. LINDSAY. 
 
MONEY AND THE EXCHANGE OF COIN. 177 
 
 the plans the Commissioner suggests, to the measure- 
 less advantage of the children in the schools. 
 
 In the Lee mansion at Arlington, a few miles from 
 Washington, is a wreath of flowers made of porcelain 
 and prettily colored. In the center of the wreath are 
 the words, " From the children of Ponce, Porto Rico, in 
 enduring memory of General Guy V. Henry." This 
 noble hero, made Military Governor at the close of the 
 Spanish-American War, founded the schools of Ponce, 
 and won the love and. gratitude of the people. His 
 death caused universal sorrow in that region. The 
 schools established are an enduring monument to his 
 memory, and this expression of appreciation on the 
 part of the pupils is a touching incident, long to be 
 remembered. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 MONEY AND THE EXCHANGE OF COIN. 
 
 IN money matters Porto Rico has had a number of 
 unhappy experiences. In 1895 six million Mexican dol- 
 lars, then in circulation in the island, were called in, and 
 were recoined in the same number of pesos of less value. 
 The new coin bore on one side the words, " Isla de Puerto 
 Rico," and on the other side the face of the boy king of 
 Spain. The difference in value amounted to more than 
 a million dollars, which went into the coffers of the crown. 
 
 Soon after the island fell into the hands of our gov- 
 ernment, an order was issued that two Porto Rican pesos 
 should be exchanged, temporarily, for one American 
 silver dollar ; but this was not quite just to the people. 
 
178 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 It was based on the assumption that a peso was worth 
 less than fifty cents, whereas its actual value is sixty 
 cents. The plan was, however, decided upon as the only 
 possible arrangement until Congress should take action. 
 On April 12, 1900, the United States House of Repre- 
 sentatives passed an act providing "revenues and a civil 
 
 THE CITY HALL, SAN JUAN. 
 
 government for Porto Rico." The eleventh section pro- 
 vided that the coins then in circulation in the island be 
 exchanged for United States money. This included the 
 peso " and all other silver and copper coins." The value 
 of the peso was to be regarded as sixty cents, and on that 
 basis the exchange was made. 
 
MONEY AND THE EXCHANGE OF COIN. 179 
 
 In accordance with government instructions, on the 
 twenty-first day of April, Mr. James A. Sample, Chief of 
 Division of Issue of the United States Treasury at Wash- 
 ington, with Mr. William P. Watson, sailed from New 
 York, arriving at San Juan four days later. They pro- 
 ceeded at once to exchange the silver and copper coins 
 of the island for United States money. 
 
 That their business might be perfectly understood, a 
 circular printed in Spanish and English was sent out into 
 all parts of the island. It described the principal features 
 of the Act of Congress, and announced that the agents 
 of the government had arrived and were about to begin 
 their work. It named also certain agencies where money 
 could be exchanged, the principal one being Messrs. De 
 Ford & Co., of Boston and San Juan. 
 
 With eight wagonloads of specie, each drawn by four 
 mules, and under a military escort, Mr. Sample and Mr. 
 Watson traveled across the island from San Juan to 
 Ponce. They speak in glowing terms of the splendid 
 military road and the more splendid scenery. Mr. Sample 
 says : " I have crossed the American Continent twice, I 
 have seen the wonders of the Rocky Mountains, the 
 Sierras and the Yellowstone Park, but nothing I have 
 ever seen was so enchanting as the view in the heart of 
 Porto Rico. The cultivated heights, the marvelously 
 exquisite foliage, the royal palms, the superlatively beau- 
 tiful flamboyant, the blue sea encircling all, presented 
 a picture of rare loveliness never to be forgotten." 
 
 The people of the island were disinclined to accept any 
 proposition of exchange. But Congress had taken action, 
 and it was a matter of law that the circulating medium 
 should be changed from the Spanish to the United States 
 
180 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 specie basis. This required a change in standards. 
 When, however, the ignorant people of the island found 
 they were getting but sixty cents for what they had called 
 a dollar, they objected. Yet they were in reality receiv- 
 ing the exact equivalent for their peso. 
 
 When the question was asked by the commission, 
 " Will the people in the interior come forward with 
 their Spanish currency and have it exchanged at the 
 various authorized agencies?" the answer was, "The 
 poor people of the interior have no money to exchange. 
 They live from hand to mouth. What they earn they at 
 
 FORT SAN CRISTOBAL, OCEAN SIDE. 
 
 once spend. Most of their meager earnings go to support 
 their families." 
 
 Considerable difficulty was encountered in the attempt 
 to convince the people that the transfer was to be made 
 
IN POSSESSION OF THE ISLAND. 181 
 
 for their good. The commissioners were obliged to 
 explain the situation and show the advantages the 
 island would receive by the transaction. The people 
 were informed that it would help them to become 
 Americans ; it would bind them to our government and 
 would educate them in American ways. The courtesy 
 and patience of the commission did much to overcome 
 short-sighted opposition. There was much delay, how- 
 ever, in effecting the exchange, because of ignorance and 
 blind adherence to old customs. 
 
 After completing the tour of the island, Messrs. Sample 
 and Watson found that they had received 5,470,000 
 pesos, in exchange for which they had put into circula- 
 tion $3,428,544 of United States money. Since then 
 more than 200,000 pesos have been shipped to New York. 
 These coins have been taken to the mint at Philadelphia, 
 and there melted into bullion and recoined into the vari- 
 ous denominations of United States money. 
 
 The redemption of Porto Rican coin has been accom- 
 plished at a cost to the United States government of 
 one half of one per cent. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 IN POSSESSION OF THE ISLAND. 
 
 ON the twelfth day of May, 1898, Rear Admiral Samp- 
 son bombarded the fortifications at San Juan, in order to 
 test their strength. After three hours he withdrew his 
 ships and cruised about in search of Cervera's fleet. 
 Failing to find it, he returned to Cuba, whence he had 
 sailed for Porto Rico. 
 
182 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 After the magnificent victory of our forces on land 
 and sea, as soon as a suitable escort could be obtained, 
 General Nelson A. Miles, with about four thousand 
 troops, left Cuba for Porto Rico with the purpose of 
 seizing and occupying the island. All who followed his 
 movements expected that he would sail to San Juan 
 and attack the fortifications which guard the entrance 
 to the harbor. The French cables had thoroughly 
 advertised the supposed place of landing. This made 
 it necessary for General Miles to change his tactics, 
 and disembark where the Spaniards were least prepared 
 for him. At the same time the troops must be landed 
 where they could easily be carried to the shore. 
 
 July 25, 1898, he suddenly appeared before Guanica, 
 on the southern side of the island. After a few shots 
 from the gunboat Grloucester the town succumbed. The 
 troops landed the next day and a light passage at arms 
 followed. The soldiers then marched on to Yauco, 
 and on the twenty-eighth of the month they reached 
 Ponce, which surrendered without the use of either 
 powder or shot. 
 
 The troops marching under the stars and stripes were 
 received with huzzas. The people brought out from 
 their houses flowers, fruits, and cool drinks, shouting 
 enthusiastically, as they gave these to the soldiers, 
 u Vivan los Americanos." Everybody wanted an Ameri- 
 can flag, and the demand was so great that General Miles 
 sent to Washington for a fresh supply. 
 
 It was expected that strong resistance to the American 
 forces would be made at Aibonito, because of the high 
 and commanding position of the town. Before the town 
 was reached, however, the war had come to an end. 
 
184 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 The protocol was signed at Washington, August 12, 
 and the next day peace was proclaimed in Porto Rico. 
 By the terms of the treaty, the Spanish government 
 agreed to " cede to the United States the island of Porto 
 Rico and the other islands which are at present under 
 the sovereignty of Spain in the Antilles." It was further 
 agreed that the Spanish authorities should at once leave 
 these islands. 
 
 On the sixth day of September six commissioners met 
 at San Juan to decide upon the details of the evacuation 
 of Porto Rico and the neighboring islands under the 
 dominion of Spain. Three of the commissioners repre- 
 sented Spain and three the United States. Rear Ad- 
 miral W. S. Schley, Major General J. R. Brooke, and 
 Brigadier General W. W. Gordon acted for our govern- 
 ment. The conference was conducted in a mutually 
 respectful and cordial manner, the Spanish commis- 
 sioners treating the victors with characteristic cour- 
 tesy. It was arranged that the eighteenth of October 
 be made the day for the retiring of the old government 
 and the incoming of the new. 
 
 In his report to the War Department, General Miles 
 says, " During the nineteen days of campaign I kept the 
 Spaniards guessing what the next move would be. 
 When they withdrew along the line of the great military 
 road between Ponce and San Juan they destroyed the 
 bridges, obstructed roads and fortified strong positions 
 in the mountain passes, and then were surprised to find 
 that one column of my army was sweeping around the 
 west of the island, capturing the principal cities and 
 towns, while another had passed over the mountains and 
 the trail which the Spaniards had supposed impassable, 
 
186 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 and. therefore, had not been fortified nor guarded ; and 
 the first they knew of the march of the American army 
 was the appearance of a strong brigade, within twenty 
 miles of the northern coast, at the terminus of the road 
 connecting San Juan with Arecibo. 
 
 " The island of Porto Rico was fairly won by the right 
 of conquest and became a part of the United States. 
 The sentiment of the people was in no sense outraged by 
 the invaders. A people who have endured the severity 
 of Spanish rule for four centuries hailed with joy the pro- 
 tection of the republic. One of the richest sections of 
 country over which our flag now floats has been added, 
 and will be of lasting value to our nation politically, 
 commercially, and from a military or strategic point of 
 view." 
 
 The short and decisive campaign in Porto Rico was 
 rather a disappointment to the American soldiers. They 
 had come many hundred miles in hot and stifling trans- 
 ports, many of them had seen no fighting whatever, and 
 yet they were suffering all the ills of a tropical climate 
 in midsummer. What had they to show for their ser- 
 vice to their country? There were serious obstacles to 
 overcome, but these seemed to many of small conse- 
 quence, as compared with the opportunity of facing the 
 enemy on the battle-field, and achieving victory. 
 
 There were no more than four engagements during 
 the campaign, although our troops were on the eve of 
 several battles when peace was declared. General Wil- 
 son had come up the great military road almost to its 
 summit and was at the door of Aibonito. General 
 Brooke had made a flank movement from Arroyo and 
 held the mountain town of Cayey in his grasp. The 
 
188 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 western portion of the island, from Aguadilla to Maya- 
 guez and from Guanica to Yauco onward to Adjuntas 
 and farther north to Arecibo, was in our possession. 
 
 Large numbers of Spanish soldiers were in the moun- 
 tains. The Spanish troops lacked discipline, and their 
 
 officers failed to use 
 the admirable posi- 
 tions which nature 
 had placed within 
 their reach. They 
 could have caused 
 the Americans end- 
 less annoyance, and 
 could have hampered 
 them in their prog- 
 ress, by stationing 
 garrisons on the 
 heights overlooking 
 the narrow roads and 
 firing upon the troops 
 below. 
 
 The American sol- 
 diers on Porto Rican 
 soil were, on the 
 
 GENERAL GUY V. HENRY. 
 
 other hand, skillfully 
 
 handled. The army and its machinery moved like clock- 
 work. As an officer under General Miles says : " People 
 who speak of the Porto Rico campaign as a picnic, be- 
 cause results were obtained so easily, do not understand 
 that there were plenty of difficulties, in fact, they have 
 always confronted northern men making war in a rough 
 tropical country. That these difficulties formed no 
 
SETTING UP THE NEW GOVERNMENT. 189 
 
 barrier to the success of the expedition is due to the 
 perfection of plan and excellence of execution." 
 
 It was a matter of rejoicing to all lovers of peace that 
 the campaign in Porto Rico closed so quickly. The 
 country was spared the devastation resulting from a 
 long and bitter war, with the consequent ruin of crops, 
 the stagnation of business, and the wrongs to the defense- 
 less inhabitants. 
 
 The announcement of peace brought joy, apparently, 
 to both the conquerors and the conquered. Troops 
 from both armies freely mingled. The people saw in 
 the coming of the American flag the dawn of a brighter 
 day. 
 
 The campaign in the island, brief as it was, left some 
 men wounded ; others were reduced by malarial fever. 
 These were sent north, leaving eight thousand troops 
 under command of General Brooke, who acted as mili- 
 tary governor. Late in 1898 he left the island, and 
 General Guy V. Henry was appointed to take his place. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SETTING UP THE NEW GOVERNMENT. 
 
 FOR 350 years Porto Rico was under the control of 
 Spain. All public affairs were in the hands of the 
 governor general, who reported to the Spanish king or 
 queen. The condition of the people depended upon 
 the personal character of the various governors. From 
 the day (March 2, 1510) when Ponce de Leon, that cold 
 and cruel master of men, began his career as governor 
 
190 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 general, down to the October day in 1898, when Manuel 
 Macias stepped down from the governor's chair, the 
 record of the 117 governors of Porto Rico has been far 
 from creditable to Spain. 
 
 The governor general controlled all civil and mili- 
 tary affairs. He made the laws and acted as judge in 
 interpreting them. He was president of the supreme 
 court, and though a special jurist was appointed to 
 decide legal questions, the governor could follow the 
 advice of the jurist, or not, as he chose. The position 
 was one of such power that its temptations were equally 
 great. The spoils system was too often in general prac- 
 tice. 
 
 Up to August 28, 1870, the people had had no voice 
 in the control of their own affairs. At that time the 
 island was divided into districts, and twelve men were 
 chosen by the people to oversee public works, roads, 
 prisons, schools, etc. They were also to make up the 
 annual estimate of expenses for their twelve judicial 
 districts. Although they had no regular salaries, they 
 were paid fifty per cent, of the taxes on commerce and 
 industry, and they received a certain proportion of the 
 earnings from raffles and lotteries. It was during the 
 administration of these men that the island was divided 
 into the seven departments already described. This sys- 
 tem was kept up for four years, but in 1874 the old 
 order of things was restored. 
 
 During the last ten years of the nineteenth century 
 Spain was compelled to make a show of self-government 
 in her West Indian possessions. This was attempted in 
 Cuba and Porto Rico. In addition to the governor 
 general and his cabinet, arrangements were made for 
 
192 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 an assembly to be elected by the people. The rights 
 and duties of this assembly were very few. The system 
 was started February 11, 1898. Eight months later our 
 flag floated over the legislative hall of San Juan. 
 
 In Cuba the plan was a farce, and it was never fully in- 
 stalled in Porto Rico. The governor general held the 
 reins in his own hands, as from the beginning there were 
 what might be called a state treasurer (intendente), a mil- 
 itary officer (commandante) over each department, and 
 a mayor (alcalde) over each city ; yet over all rested the 
 authority of the high official at the capital, the governor 
 general. 
 
 On October the 18th, 1898, at exactly twelve o'clock, 
 Spain withdrew her troops from San Juan. It was a 
 memorable occasion. As our soldiers stood waiting for the 
 hour of noon, many eyes were lifted towards the bare 
 flagpoles from which in a moment the stars and stripes 
 would float. A peal from the sweet-toned bell on the 
 cathedral near by told that the long-expected moment 
 had come. Instantly the deeper strokes of the great 
 clock on the City Hall were heard. The lighter and the 
 heavier tones answered one another, until the last stroke 
 of twelve had sounded. Then from every flagstaff in 
 the city floated the banner that suggested to George 
 P. Morris the lines, 
 
 " The union of lakes, the union of lands, 
 
 The union of states none can sever. 
 
 The union of hearts, the union of hands, 
 
 And the flag of our union forever." 
 
 A detachment of United States troops stood drawn up 
 before the palace of the governor general, another body 
 
SETTING UP THE NEW GOVERNMENT. 193 
 
 of soldiers filled the plaza in front of the Chamber of 
 Deputies and the City Hall. As the last echoes of the 
 Spanish bugle died away from behind the guns of Morro 
 and San Cristobal, sixteen hundred Spanish soldiers 
 marched out and down the crowded streets to the camp 
 at Santurce. Their places were taken by Americans. 
 
 As the stars and stripes rose over the public buildings 
 a shout of enthusiasm rose from the ranks of soldiers on 
 the pavements beneath. Twenty-one guns were fired 
 from the walls of Morro Castle. It was the birthday of 
 Porto Rican freedom. The most thoughtful considera- 
 tion was shown to the defeated, and the Spanish spirit 
 was not wounded by show of bravado or self-glorifica- 
 tion. 
 
 Major General J. R. Brooke, of the United States Army, 
 was at once appointed military governor. He was suc- 
 ceeded, two months later, by Major General Guy V. 
 Henry. General George W. Davis, who took General 
 Henry's place the following May, created a bureau of 
 state and municipal government, a bureau of internal 
 revenue, bureaus of education, agriculture, public works, 
 a judicial board, and boards of charities, health, and 
 prison control. General Davis was a wise, economical, 
 and progressive Governor. 
 
 By act of Congress, approved April 12, 1900, a special 
 form of government was established in Porto Rico. 
 The chief executive is called " The Governor of Porto 
 Rico." He is appointed by the President of the United 
 States, with the advice and consent of the Senate. He 
 resides on the island, and holds office four years. 
 
 The President of the United States also appoints an 
 Executive Council consisting of eleven persons, a 
 
194 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 secretary, an attorney general, a treasurer, an auditor, 
 a commissioner of the interior, a commissioner of edu- 
 cation, and five other persons of good repute. Five of 
 the eleven must be natives of Porto Rico. This body 
 of eleven men might be called the governor's cabinet. 
 
 The Executive Council is similar in many respects to 
 our Senate. Corresponding to our House of Represent- 
 atives there is a House of Delegates. It consists of 
 thirty-five persons, five chosen from each of the seven 
 districts into which the island is divided, as nearly 
 equally as possible, according to population. The Exec- 
 utive Council and House of Delegates together make up 
 the Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico. This assembly 
 manages the civil affairs of the island. A bill may orig- 
 inate in either house. It cannot, however, become a law 
 until it has passed both houses by a majority vote of the 
 members of each house, and has been approved by the 
 governor within ten days thereafter. 
 
 The President of the United States appoints a district 
 judge, a district attorney, and a marshal, for each dis- 
 trict, each for a term of four years. Regular terms of 
 court are held twice a year at Ponce. Special terms 
 may be held at Mayaguez when necessary. All pro- 
 ceedings of the court are conducted in the English lan- 
 guage. 
 
 The prison system in Porto Rico was a disgrace to the 
 Spanish authorities. When our government took pos- 
 session of the island, the prisons were filled with prison- 
 ers who had been confined for years without trial, or 
 awaiting sentence. Their condition was deplorable, both 
 physically and morally. To-day the penal institutions 
 are excellent. General J. P. Sanger tells us that they 
 
SETTING UP THE NEW GOVERNMENT. 195 
 
 " will compare favorably in point of sanitation with such 
 institutions in other tropical countries." 
 
 The civil government was established May 1, 1900. 
 At sunrise on that day there were serenades by the 
 bands of the Eleventh and Twelfth Cavalry and the 
 Porlo Rican regiment. There was music on the princi- 
 pal plazas of San Juan, and crowds of interested specta- 
 tors and listeners were gathered together. 
 
 The troops began to assemble at eight o'clock. Later 
 the governor-elect received in the plaza the United 
 States infantry, cavalry, and artillery, as well as the 
 sailors and marines, from the fleet in the harbor of San 
 Juan, and the Porto Rico regiment. 
 
 At the executive mansion, on an extension of the bal- 
 cony and in adjoining rooms, prominent residents of the 
 island were assembled. The streets and roofs of build- 
 ings in the neighborhood were crowded with people, 
 while General Davis, standing under a canopy of flags, 
 gave his farewell address. In closing his speech he 
 made use of these words : 
 
 " On this memorable occasion I make acknowledg- 
 ment of feelings of the deepest gratitude to the people, 
 for the hospitable reception and innumerable manifesta- 
 tions of cordial cooperation in executing the difficult 
 tasks assigned to me and my military assistants. I 
 deem it fortunate to leave the civil administration so 
 many competent and efficient servants. 
 
 " Now, sir, to you, the first governor named for the 
 post by the President in pursuance to the Act of Con- 
 gress, I have the high honor and proud satisfaction of 
 delivering to your keeping the government of Porto 
 Rico." 
 
196 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 After prayer had been offered by the Bishop of Porto 
 Rico the oath of office was taken by the Hon. Charles H. 
 Allen, the first civil governor of Porto Rico appointed 
 by the President of the United States. It was admin- 
 istered by the chief justice of the supreme court. The 
 crowd applauded, and seventeen guns were fired from 
 Fort Morro, Fort San Cristobal, and the fleet. Governor 
 Allen addressed his hearers as the inhabitants of " the 
 ever faithful island of Porto Rico," to whom he brought 
 the good wishes of the United States. In the name of 
 the President he promised that men of character and 
 high standing would see that justice was done to all, 
 and that their sole regard would be the welfare of the 
 island. His closing words were : " Henceforth we are 
 under one flag. We are under the same institutions of 
 freedom, equality, and education. Together -we move 
 on in the great American current of advancing civili- 
 zation. Loving our country, animated by a high sense 
 of honor, devoted to a common humanity, we take our 
 place before the world and invoke on our progress the 
 blessing of Almighty God." 
 
 At the conclusion of this eloquent address Chaplain 
 Brown pronounced a benediction. The infantry band 
 played " The Star-Spangled Banner," and the inaugura- 
 tion of the first governor of Porto Rico was at an end. 
 Since the day of these interesting ceremonies the new gov- 
 ernment in the island has come into successful operation. 
 
 The question is often asked of Porto Ricans, " How 
 do you like being Americans?" The answer is almost 
 always, "We like it." It was the wish of the United 
 States government to make changes slowly, and not to 
 offend the feelings of the people so long accustomed to 
 
SETTING UP THE NEW GOVERNMENT. 
 
 197 
 
 a fixed form of government. Spanish arms, Spanish 
 laws, Spanish schools, Spanish methods of agriculture 
 were everywhere apparent. To introduce changes re- 
 quired time. 
 
 In one respect an unexpected change came with the 
 new order of things. The people had always been accus- 
 tomed to much ceremony ; the officers wore conspicuous 
 uniforms; when the governor general appeared in 
 public, it was with much demonstration. But when the 
 Hon. Charles H. Allen landed at San Juan to assume 
 the duties of his new posi- 
 tion, he was not arrayed in a 
 splendid uniform with brass 
 buttons, insignia of rank, a 
 helmet, a sword, and accom- 
 panied by a bodyguard of 
 United States soldiers. He 
 wore a plain suit of citizen's 
 clothes and a straw hat. This 
 was a surprise to the people, 
 something of a setback. They 
 were so absorbed in watching 
 for the next move, or in look- 
 ing for the governor himself 
 
 to appear in imposing regalia, that they could not cheer. 
 It was their first lesson in the simplicity of a republican 
 form of government. 
 
 It is the general opinion of those who know the island 
 best, that the people are not yet ready for self-government. 
 It seems absolutely necessary that the control of affairs 
 should be shared both by Americans and Porto Ricans. 
 The natives should have a prominent part in managing 
 
 HON. CHARLES H. ALLEN. 
 
198 PORTO' RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 their own affairs, and our power over them should be 
 made use of only when necessary. 
 
 Major Azel Ames, of the United States army, believes 
 that the people are fast getting ready for self-govern- 
 ment. He says they are very anxious to learn. He tells 
 incidentally of a cook whom he found sitting on a hard 
 stone floor, taking lessons in English of a St. Thomas 
 negro, at a cost of two cents a lesson. 
 
 A native of the island says : " I have four sons whom 
 I am educating in English. I expect that they will be 
 loyal citizens of the United States. I cannot live many 
 years longer, but I want to see them go to the front in 
 loyalty and cooperation with the government of the 
 United States for the future of those here." This spirit 
 will make patriotic Americans. 
 
 There seem to have been so far in the affairs of Porto 
 Rico since American occupation, three stages of public 
 opinion : First, one of enthusiasm, which began when the 
 United States took possession of the island, and a bright 
 future seemed to open for all industries. Second, a 
 stage of discouragement, growing out of the tariff law, 
 the severe hurricane of August 8, 1899, and the failure 
 to market the great staple products to any pecuniary 
 profit. Third, the stage of reconstruction. Recovery from 
 the losses and the waste, from disappointment and 
 despair, has fairly set in ; the latest crops are unusually 
 large ; the schools are increasing in number and becom- 
 ing constantly better ; the second sober thought is one 
 of hope and courage. 
 
 At the close of his first year as chief magistrate of 
 Porto Rico, Governor Allen made his annual report to 
 the President of the United States. In this report he 
 
THE EARLY INHABITANTS. 199 
 
 encourages young men to settle in that island. He says 
 that property is as well protected there as in the United 
 States ; the forms of court administration are as good ; 
 there is a surplus of laboring men, accustomed to the 
 tropics, and adapted to the kind of work to be done. 
 " It is my feeling," says Governor Allen, " that the 
 business man will come here not only with his capital, 
 bat with the push and energy which always accompany 
 nis undertakings, and, with the cooperation of the native, 
 he will proceed to make at least five spears of grass 
 grow where one has grown before." 
 
 Governor Allen resigned, Sept. 15, 1901, and the Hon. 
 William H. Hunt became governor of the island. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE EARLY INHABITANTS. 
 
 THE original dwellers in Porto Rico belonged to what 
 is known as the "Stone Age." We know them princi- 
 pally by such stone implements as may be seen at the 
 Smithsonian Institute at Washington. These implements 
 are of curious design, and it is difficult to tell for what 
 purpose some of them were made. There are celts (small 
 hatchets), smoothing stones, stools, beads, cylinders, 
 amulets, masks, collars, etc. The historians who write 
 of the voyages of Columbus speak of stone-tipped arrows 
 and arrows tipped with bone, teeth, and shells. 
 
 The hatchets at the Smithsonian are of thorough 
 workmanship, beautifully shaped and polished, and they 
 are of various colors black, white, green, brown, and 
 slate colored. 
 
200 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 An early writer, describing a visit of Spaniards to Porto 
 Rico, says that they found a town of a thousand inhabit- 
 ants. The principal men came out to meet them, and 
 leading the visitors by the arms into the town, they 
 caused them to sit down upon curious seats. Each seat 
 was made of a solid piece of wood carved in the shape 
 of a beast. The legs were very short, and in the 
 head were set eyes and ears of solid gold. The Indians 
 sat about on the ground. Specimens of just such stools 
 as these may be seen in the collection of Porto Rican 
 relics at Washington. 
 
 There are certain stones carved in the form of a 
 human being holding up a mountain. One end of the 
 stone is cut to resemble the human face. The feet at 
 the other end seem to be curled up in a bunch. The 
 use to which these stones were put is not known. 
 
 Of all the relics from Porto Rico, the queerest are 
 the collars, so called from their resemblance to horse 
 collars. They vary in size from a heavy oval to slender, 
 pear-shaped collars. They are made of stone and are 
 from 19 to 23 inches in breadth, and some of them weigh 
 as much as 65 pounds each. They have been found 
 nowhere except in Porto Rico. The carving on some 
 of the collars is of the finest workmanship. As some 
 are better finished and have more ornamentation than 
 others, there was probably a distinction in their use. 
 Strangely enough, some were evidently made for the 
 right shoulder and others for the left. Professor O. H. 
 Mason, who has made considerable study of Porto Rican 
 relics, says he does not know whether the collars were 
 worn by victims sacrificed upon the altar, or by military 
 heroes, or how they were used. 
 
THE EARLY INHABITANTS. 
 
 201 
 
 A Porto Rican priest, who has given the matter some 
 attention, thinks that they were to be buried with the 
 body in the grave. Carving on stone was such a 
 slow process that it took years to prepare a collar for 
 the time of burial. By the time the owner died he had 
 it ready for his tomb. It was placed over his head and 
 rested on the breast. It served as a sacred charm ; no 
 
 RUINS AT PUEBLO VIEJO, PORTO RICO'S FIRST TOWN. 
 
 hands on the earth or under the earth, the natives believed, 
 dared rifle the tomb containing this sacred object. 
 
 Mr. F. Bidwell, British Consul to the island in 1879, 
 has published an account .of the Porto Rican Indians of 
 the early days. From his narrative the following facts 
 are taken : 
 
 The Indians of Porto Rico paid homage to a guardian 
 spirit called Oemi. The spokesman of this spirit was the 
 
202 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 medicine man, who acted as a priest, also. The medicine 
 men declared war or proclaimed peace, arranged winter 
 and summer, gave sunshine or rain and whatever else 
 was needed. The Cemi always said exactly what the 
 medicine men wished him to say. When promises made 
 were not fulfilled, they said that the Cemi had changed 
 his mind for some good reason of his own. The Cemi 
 was only another name for the medicine man himself, 
 who always said what the cacique or chief of the tribe 
 wished him. to say. Each cacique had under his charge 
 a small district, which usually included the people 
 living in a single valley, and over all the smaller tribes 
 was the head cacique. At the time of the conquest of 
 Spain the head cacique was Aqueybana. 
 
 Their forms of marriage are unknown to us, but it 
 appears that each man had more than one wife, while the 
 chiefs had more than any of their subjects, one being the 
 special favorite. As a mark of affection those best loved 
 were buried alive, upon the death of their husbands. If 
 they did not offer themselves voluntarily, they were com- 
 pelled to give themselves up to death against their will. 
 
 The Indians painted their bodies, using for this pur- 
 pose oils, gums, and resins taken from trees and plants. 
 They appeared at public assemblies, military parades, 
 and powwows, in a tattooed state. Fantastic ornamenta- 
 tions and trimmings were a part of the dress. Huge 
 headdresses of gayly-colored feathers added to the effect. 
 They wore small plates of gold on the cheeks, and huge 
 shells, precious stones, and relics hung from their noses 
 and ears. Every Indian had about his person an image 
 of the god Cemi. The chief was distinguished from his 
 subjects by the large gold plate on his breast. 
 
THE EARLY INHABITANTS. 203 
 
 Their houses were built upon logs driven into the 
 ground. Upon these the floor, made of cane or sticks, 
 was laid. The walls were of cane, bound together with 
 palm leaves and bark, and meeting in the center like 
 the poles of a tent. There were neither chimneys nor 
 windows, light being admitted by the door only. In 
 the very best of these huts, airholes or windows were 
 left in the cane. 
 
 In some parts of the island just such frail huts can 
 still be found. They are above ground, that the in- 
 mates may avoid the dampness which at certain seasons 
 of the year chills the body, often causing fevers. 
 
 The Indians lighted their fires by means of three 
 sticks. Two of the sticks were tied together at one end. 
 The point of the third was laid against the ends of the 
 others, and they were beaten together between the 
 palms of the hands, until a flame was produced. 
 
 In place of bedsteads they had hammocks, called 
 Tiamaca; their cooking utensils were made of gourds. 
 They hewed canoes out of the trunks of trees ; from 
 these they fished in the rivers. Some of the largest 
 canoes, which held from forty to fifty men, were used 
 for sea voyages. The Indians fought with bows and 
 arrows, and in warfare they used also a long wooden 
 weapon somewhat resembling a scimiter. 
 
 The people lived an idle and aimless life, doing just 
 as little work as possible. They cultivated only suffi- 
 cient supplies for their bare support, the chief products 
 of the soil being plantains, sweet potatoes, and maize. 
 The women took care of the gardens, while the men 
 spent their time in hunting and fishing. As relishes 
 for their scanty table they ate insects, and even lizards 
 
204 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 and bats. They had neither money, nor weights and 
 measures. They hated stealing, and punished the thief 
 with death. 
 
 We know from the presence of the images, every- 
 where found, that the Indians were devout worshipers of 
 their god Cemi. Each district had its temple, and there 
 the idol was placed. To these places of worship the 
 caciques went with the medicine men. The latter hid 
 behind the idol and expressed by word of mouth the will 
 of the chief. The food taken to the Cemi was eaten 
 by the priests. Stone or clay images of the god were 
 also kept in dark corners of the houses, and to these the 
 people prayed at certain stated times. 
 
 They believed in two invisible beings ; one was 
 naturally benevolent, and neither prayer nor supplica- 
 tion was required to obtain his favor. From the other 
 invisible being misfortune, trouble, and calamity were to 
 be feared, and offerings and prayers to him were neces- 
 sary in order to relieve hunger. The Indians regarded 
 him as the enemy of mankind, the being from whom all 
 evils sprang. They cast themselves prostrate before their 
 god and sprinkled certain kinds of powder on his head. 
 The stone images of Cemi were handed down from 
 father to son. Some of these images have been found in 
 quite recent times. Their resemblance to each other 
 serves to prove the unity of the religious belief, while 
 the existence of these images in various places, both on 
 the coast and in the interior, shows that the island was 
 inhabited in all directions. It is believed that skeletons 
 of some of the Indians may still exist in caves and 
 grottoes not yet explored. 
 
 The natives believed in a future life. They pictured 
 
THE EARLY INHABITANTS. 
 
 205 
 
 a land of supreme delight, where there was eternal 
 spring and where they would find beautiful forests 
 filled with game and watered by rivers abounding in 
 fish. 
 
 When one of the chiefs became sick the priest-doctor 
 was called. He performed several ceremonies, partak- 
 ing meanwhile of the same diet as the sick man. If he 
 did not comply strictly with this and other obligations, 
 and the man died, the friends and relatives of the de- 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO CHURCH, SAN JUAN. 
 
 ceased put out the doctor's eyes, or inflicted other pun- 
 ishments upon him. 
 
 When the Indians saw that a sick person was near 
 death they suffocated him, even if he was a chief. After 
 death they opened and dried the body by fire and buried 
 it in a large cave, together with some living women, the 
 
206 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 bows and arrows of the deceased and provisions for his 
 journey to the other world. Sticks and branches of 
 trees were then placed on the top, and the whole mass 
 was covered with earth, which was thus kept from the 
 bodies of those buried within. 
 
 The dance was an important feature of the life of the 
 Indian. It was a most serious ceremony. If war was 
 declared the dance expressed vengeance; if the wrath 
 of Cemi was to be softened, the death of a friend to be 
 lamented, or the birth of a son celebrated, the special 
 dance was introduced which expressed the particular 
 emotions of the heart. If an Indian was ill, they danced 
 in order that he might recover; the medicine man danc- 
 ing for the patient, if he was too weak to do it himself. 
 The war dance surpassed all others in signification, in 
 quickness of movement, and in intensity. It represented 
 the departure of the warriors, their entry into the enemy's 
 country, precautions as to camping, ambuscades, sur- 
 prises, the rage of the conflict, the shouts of victory, the 
 capture of prisoners and entrance into the victor's coun- 
 try. Each dancer was as much in earnest as if he were 
 actually on the field of battle. 
 
 The musical instruments were rude and had a harsh, 
 sing-song sound. Drums were made from the hollow 
 trunks of trees, other musical instruments out of the 
 gourd. 
 
 The Indians had a game of ball, in which women took 
 part. When not occupied with dancing or necessary 
 labor, the men passed their time in smoking, seldom 
 speaking a word. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 207 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, in a private letter to the 
 King of Castile, wrote that navigation " is the art which 
 they should pursue who wish to know the secrets of the 
 world." His own enthusiasm for exploring the world's 
 secrets we know, because six months after his return to 
 Spain, at the close of his first voyage, he was out on the 
 ocean again, sailing to the westward. He was far better 
 equipped for this second voyage than for the first. The 
 earlier fleet was composed of three caravels, and only 120 
 men. He set forth on his second expedition with seven- 
 teen caravels and a force of 650 men. 
 
 Voyaging was slow in those days, and although the 
 brave adventurers sailed from Spain, September 25 
 (1493), it was not until forty days later that they 
 reached Santo Domingo, their first landing place. 
 
 While cruising in the northern waters of the Carib- 
 bean Sea, on November 16, Columbus, by this time an 
 admiral, caught sight of land. It was the southeastern 
 corner of Porto Rico, now known as Cape Mala Pascua. 
 The explorers sailed along the southern shore, rounded 
 Point del Aguila, and proceeded up the western side of 
 the island. Turning towards the northeast they landed 
 at Aguada. 
 
 Columbus at once took possession of the island in the 
 name of Spain. He planted the cross in the sand and 
 called the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of John 
 the Baptist. The landing place is to-day marked by a 
 
208 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 granite monument erected by the people in 1893, just 
 four centuries after Columbus discovered the island. 
 The monument, which is in the form of a cross, bears 
 the inscription, 1493 19 de Noviembre 1893 . 
 
 After remaining in the island several days, Columbus 
 returned to Santo Domingo. There is no record of a 
 second visit to Porto Rico. When he had founded a 
 colony in Hispaniola he returned to Spain. 
 
 An ambitious man, Ponce de Leon, who had accom- 
 panied Columbus on his second voyage, remained behind 
 in Santo Domingo. After trying in vain to find in 
 Florida the fountain of perpetual youth, de Leon sought 
 for gold in Porto Rico. He sailed from Santo Domingo 
 in 1508, with a single ship, a small party of Spaniards, 
 and a few Indians to serve as guides. Upon his land- 
 ing at Aguadilla he was kindly received by the unsus- 
 pecting chief Aqueybana, who conducted him to various 
 
 A VIEW OF AGUADILLA. 
 
 (The cross marks the location of the monument erected at the place where Columbus 
 landed, November 19, 1493.) 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 209 
 
 parts of the island. Having assured himself beyond 
 a doubt that the island abounded in gold, de Leon went 
 back to Santo Domingo and reported to Governor 
 
 Ovando. ,., 
 
 The governor 
 decided to con- 
 quer the island, 
 and he accord- 
 ingly sent over 
 an expedition 
 under Ponce de 
 Leon to do the 
 work. This bold 
 but cruel and un- 
 principled leader 
 quickly brought 
 the simple, un- 
 warlike Indians 
 under his sway. 
 A year or two 
 later he founded, 
 near the present 
 site of San Juan, 
 a town which he 
 named Caparra. 
 The town was 
 afterwards called 
 Porto Rico. In 
 1521, by command of the King of Spain, the capital 
 was transferred to its present location. Some years 
 later the name of Porto Rico was given to the island, 
 and the name of San Juan to the capital. 
 
 THE MONUMENT MARKING THE LANDING PLACE OF 
 COLUMBUS. 
 
210 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 Ponce de Leon, who had been appointed governor of 
 Porto Rico, took up his official residence at Caparra. 
 From there he began his work of subduing the island. 
 He established a village at Guanica, on the southern 
 side, which was abandoned on account of the ferocious 
 mosquitoes and the unhealthful climate. A town was 
 then founded where Columbus landed, at Aguada, and 
 another at San German. 
 
 The new colonists began their search for gold by open- 
 ing the mines. The native Indians were treated with 
 contempt and brutality. They were made to do all sorts 
 
 PONCE DE LEON STATUE AND PLAZA, SAN JUAN. 
 
 of work burn lime, wash gold from the sand, and per- 
 form other kinds of menial labor. Finally, the native 
 chiefs rose in revolt and a bitter rebellion broke out. 
 At first they threatened the safety of the colony, so that 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 211 
 
 the Spaniards 
 were com- 
 pelled to with- 
 draw to the 
 eastern side 
 of the island, 
 near San Juan 
 and Caparra. 
 But the bows 
 and arrows of 
 the Indians 
 of Borinquen 
 (the name 
 given to the 
 island by the 
 natives) were 
 no match for 
 Spanish arms. 
 As soon as 
 Ponce de Leon 
 attacked the 
 unskilled In- 
 dians, the 
 tide quickly 
 turned. He 
 
 was victorious in every battle, until the rebellion was 
 ended by the death of the principal chief. The submis- 
 sion of the Indians was complete, 5500 of them being 
 made slaves. 
 
 The number of people on the island when it was in- 
 vaded by the Spaniards is supposed to have been about 
 100,000, although some give the population as 600,000. 
 
 COLUMBUS MONUMENT, SAN JUAN. 
 
212 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 When the Spaniards first took possession, " it was," as 
 an old writer says, " as full of people as a hive, and as 
 beautiful and fertile as a garden." Under the Spanish 
 oppression the entire native population was swept away. 
 Some of the Indians were taken as spoils of war, many 
 fled to neighboring islands, some took their own lives, 
 others were carried off by smallpox. On April 20, 1543, 
 
 CASA BLANCA, SAN JUAN. 
 
 the King of Spain ordered the Indians to be freed. A 
 year later the Bishop of San Juan informed his majesty 
 that " Indians, young and old, natives of the island, who 
 .had been granted such menyy, numbered sixty." 
 
 The beauty of Porto Rico, its resources and treasures, 
 and its central location, made it appear very desirable 
 to the great nations of Europe. The first effort to take 
 the island from Spain was made by Sir Francis Drake. 
 
RELICS OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 213 
 
 He attacked San Juan with a fleet of twenty-four ships, 
 and, after a sharp engagement, the city was captured and 
 burned. In 1597 the Earl of Cumberland blockaded 
 and captured San Juan arid took possession of the island. 
 Owing to an epidemic of yellow fever, which took away 
 many of his troops, he withdrew. Before doing so, 
 however, he burned the city to ashes and massacred 
 many of the inhabitants. He carried off seventy-two 
 pieces of artillery. 
 
 The Dutch under Baldwin Henry tried to obtain con- 
 trol of the island in 1615. Although this leader had 
 with him seventeen ships and twenty-five hundred men, 
 his siege of twenty-eight days was of no avail, and the 
 Dutch were driven away, with serious loss. 
 
 The next unsuccessful attack was made by the French 
 in 1626. In 1696, a large British fleet attacked the 
 capital but was itself destroyed by a hurricane. A 
 century later a British squadron with sixty-five hundred 
 men, under Lord Abercrombie, opened fire on San Juan, 
 but withdrew after a fortnight's siege. After that time 
 no hostile vessel approached San Juan, until the opening 
 of the Spanish-American War. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 RELICS OF .THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 
 
 THE City of Washington presents few attractions 
 equal to the National Museum. It is a treasury of relics 
 illustrating American history. Beginning with the ear- 
 liest stages, it follows the course of events through 
 Pilgrim days, the French and Indian wars, the Kevolu- 
 
214 PORTO RICO: THE LAND OF THE RICH PORT. 
 
 tioli, the War of 1812, the Mexican and Civil wars, down 
 to the present time. To continue the historical data, 
 Mr. W. F. Holmes, head curator of anthropology in the 
 museum, conceived the idea of having a man, familiar 
 with the scenes of the Spanish-American War, collect 
 material for this department. Mr. Paul Beckwith, who 
 was selected for this purpose, has gathered together 
 many interesting relics, which bring the annals of Amer- 
 ican history up to date. 
 
 Trophies of this sort are like the crops ; they must be 
 harvested at the right time or all is lost. Mr. Beckwith 
 was in the war and seized upon his opportunity promptly. 
 As a result the museum has several large cases in which 
 there are many relics of the late war with Spain. Among 
 them are fragments of shrapnel from the American 
 battery, and the shell which exploded in the rifle pits 
 of Aibonito Mountain, killing several Spaniards. 
 
 The bombardment of San Juan, May 12, 1898, left its 
 mark on the buildings of the city. Pieces of shell, 
 which burst in the streets or exploded in the church of 
 San Francisco de Assisi, are to be seen in the museum. 
 Relics of Spanish control are found there : revolvers 
 used by the custom-house guard at Ponce ; also speci- 
 mens of the machete, some short and curved, some long 
 and pointed like a general's sword. One can bend this 
 fine Toledo blade so that the point will touch the hilt 
 without breaking. Silver insignia of Spanish military 
 rank buttons, and numerals marking the regiment of 
 each soldier are exhibited. Such badges as the clover 
 leaf serve to note the rank of the officer. 
 
 Among the grim souvenirs to be found in this col- 
 lection are leg shackles used by the Spaniards to bind 
 
RELICS OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. ' 215 
 
 slaves previous to the emancipation proclamation of 
 1868. The breaking of the iron chain of slavery left 
 the ignorant classes in need of many reforms : their 
 daily wages were low ; their children were brought up 
 in ignorance. We have seen how much our government 
 is doing to correct these evils. 
 
 The most interesting relics of Porto Rico at the Na- 
 tional Museum are the keys of forts, and flags, ensigns, 
 and banners taken from the Spaniards. Especially to be 
 noted is the flag lowered from the Custom House at 
 Ponce, when the city surrendered to the United States 
 forces. The yellow stripe of this had been painted red 
 to mislead the Americans. The flag from the military 
 headquarters at Arecibo, and the flag captured at Coamo 
 are also found in the collection. There, also, is the 
 flag that floated over San Cristobal, May 12, 1898, 
 during the bombardment by our fleet under Admiral 
 Sampson. The upper right-hand corner shows the 
 royal standard of Spain. 
 
 These relics of the Spanish-American war make very 
 real to us the leading events of that struggle, so unex- 
 pected and forming so important an epoch in American 
 history. 
 
 A visit to the National Cemetery at Arlington will 
 heighten the impression and make more vivid the con- 
 flict of 1898. There, side by side with the heroes of the 
 Civil War, are the soldiers of the Spanish-American War. 
 One part of the cemetery is set apart for the bodies of 
 the heroes who died in Cuba and Porto Rico. There 
 also repose the bodies of the men who neither fell in 
 battle nor died in hospitals, but were killed in that awful 
 catastrophe, the destruction of the battle ship Maine. 
 
PRONUNCIATION OF FOREIGN WORDS. 
 
 a as a in far. 
 a as a in fate. 
 g as e in met. 
 
 KEY. 
 
 e as e in me. 
 o as o in tone, 
 oo as oo in ooze, 
 
 Adjuntas, ad-hoon'-tas. 
 Aguada, a-gwa/-da. 
 Aguadilla, a-gwa-del'-ya. 
 Aguas Buenas, a'-gwas bwa'-nas. 
 Agueybana, a-gwa-e-ba'-na. 
 Aguila, a'-gwe-la. 
 Aibonito, a-e-bon-e'-to. 
 Alcalde, al-cal'-da. 
 Alganabo, al-ga-na'-bo. 
 Anasco, an-yas'-ko. 
 Annatto, an-nat'-to. 
 Antilles, an-tel'-yaz. 
 Arecibo, a-ra-se'-bo. 
 Arroyo, ar-ro'-yo. 
 
 Ballaja, bal-ya'-ha. 
 Barceloneta, bar-sa-15-na'-ta. 
 Barros, bar'-ros. 
 Bayamon, ba-ya-mon'. 
 Boqueron, bo-kai-rSn'. 
 Boquilla, bo-kel'-ya. 
 
 Cabo Rojo, ka'-bo ro'-ho. 
 
 Cacique, ka-sek'. 
 
 Caguas, ka'-gwas. 
 
 Caja del Muerto, ka'-lia dal moo- 
 
 ar'-to. 
 
 Camuy, ka-moo-e'. 
 Caparra, ka-par'-ra. 
 Cayey, ka-ya'. 
 
 Ceiba, sa'-ba. 
 Cemi, sa'-ine. 
 Cerro Montuoso, sar'-ro inon-too- 
 
 o'-so. 
 
 Cervera, sar-va'-ra. 
 Cinchona, sen'-cho-na. 
 Coamo, ko-a'-mo. 
 Comandante, ko-man-dan'-ta. 
 Concejo, kon-sa'-ho. 
 Cordoba, kor'-dd-ba. 
 Corozal, ko-ro-sal'. 
 Culebra, koo-la'-bra. 
 
 Desecho, da-sa'-ch5. 
 Dorado, do-ra'-do. 
 
 El Asomanta, el a-so-man'-tL 
 El Yunque, el yoon'-ka. 
 
 Fajardo, fa-har'-do. 
 
 Guanabana, gwa-na'-ba-na. 
 Guanajibo, gua-na-he'-bo. 
 Guanica, gwa-ne'-ka. 
 Guanijiro, gwa-ne-he'-ro. 
 Guayama, gwa-ya'-ma. 
 Guayanabo, gwa-ya-na'-bo. 
 Guayanes, gwa-ya'-nas. 
 Guilante, ge-lan'-ta. 
 217 
 
218 
 
 PRONUNCIATION OF FOREIGN WORDS. 
 
 Hacienda Perla, a-se-an'-da par'-la. 
 Hormigueros, 6r-me-ga'-ros. 
 Hucares, oo-kar'-ras. 
 Huraacao, oo-ma-ka'-o. 
 
 Intendente, en-tan-dan'-ta. 
 Isabela, es-a-ba'-la. 
 
 Jacaguas, ha-ka'-gwas. 
 Jelapa, a-la'-pa. 
 Juanajebos, hoo-an-a-ha'-bos. 
 Juan Diaz, hoo-an' de-as'. 
 Juana Diaz, hoo-an '-a de-as'. 
 
 Lares, la'-ras. 
 
 Las Marias, las ma-re'-as. 
 
 Las Tetas de Cerro Gordo, las 
 
 tat'-as de sar'-ro gor'-do. 
 Loiza, lo-e'-sa. . 
 Luquillo, loo-kel'-yo. 
 
 Machete, ma-cha'-ta. 
 
 Majagua, ma-ha'-gwa. 
 
 Mala Pascua, ma'-la pas'-kwa. 
 
 Manati, ma-na-te'. 
 
 Martin Pena, Mar'-ten Pan'-ya. 
 
 Maunabo, ma-oo-na'-bo. 
 
 Mayaguez, ma-ya-gwas'. 
 
 Mayama, ma-ya'-ma. 
 
 Moca, mo'-ka. 
 
 Mona, mo'-na. 
 
 Monserrate, mon-sar-ra'-ta. 
 
 Morro, mor'-ro. 
 
 Naguabo, na-gwa'-bo. 
 
 Palo Seco, pa'-16 sa'-ko. 
 Parguera, par-gwa'-ra. 
 Pepinos, pa-pe'-nos. 
 Plata, pla'-ta. 
 Playa, pla'-ya. 
 Plaza, pla'-sa. 
 
 Ponce, pon'-sa. 
 Porto Real, por'-t5 ra-al . 
 Porto Rico, por'-to re'-ko. 
 Prieto, pre-a'-to. 
 
 Pueblo Viejo, poo-ab'-lo ve-a'-ho. 
 Punta Santiago, poon'-ta san-te-a'- 
 go. 
 
 Quintana, ken-ta'-na. 
 
 Rincdn, ren-kon'. 
 Rio Grande, re'-6 gran'-da. 
 Rio Guanabo, re'-5 gwa-na'-bo. 
 Rio Piedras, re'-6 pe-a'-dras. 
 
 Saba Grande, sa'-ba gran'-da. 
 
 Sabana, sa-ba'-na. 
 
 Sabanita, sa-ba-ne'-ta. 
 
 Salinas, sa-le'-nas. 
 
 Salto de los Morones, sal'-to da 16s 
 
 m5-ro'-nas. 
 
 San Cristobal, san kres-to'-bal. 
 San Francisco, san fran-ses'-ko. 
 San German, san har-man'. 
 San Juan, san hoo-an'. 
 San Sebastian, san sa-bas-te-an'. 
 Santa Allala, sari'-ta al-la'-la. 
 Santa Alta, san'-ta al'-ta. 
 Santo Domingo, san'-to do-men'-go. 
 Santurce, san-toor'-sa. 
 
 Tabanuco, ta-ba-noo'-c5. 
 Tanama, ta-na'-ma. 
 Toa Alta, t5'-a al'-ta. 
 Torre, tor'-ra. 
 
 Utuado, oo-too-a'-do. 
 Vieques, ve'-a-kas. 
 
 Yabucoa, ya-boo-ko'-a. 
 Yauco, ya-oo'-k5. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abercrombie, Lord, 213. 
 Adjuntas, 68, 76, 78, 83, 110, 120, 
 
 146-148, 158, 188. 
 Agouti, 116. 
 Aguada, 210. 
 Aguadilla, 110, 138, 139, 158, 188, 
 
 208. 
 
 Aguas Buenas, 62. 
 Aibonito, 57, 67, 110, 157, 182. 
 Alcalde, 35, 192. 
 Allen, Gov. Charles H., 108, 196. 
 Allspice, 106. 
 America, South, 60. 
 "America," singing, 173, 175. 
 American flag, 63 ; forces, 81. 
 Ames, Major, 198. 
 Amusements, 49. 
 Aiiasco, River, 70 ; town of, 146. 
 Andalusia, 46. 
 Anglo-Saxons, 30, 36. 
 Annatto, 107. 
 Ansoba, 114. 
 
 Antilles, Greater, 16 ; Lesser, 16. 
 Aqueybana, 208. 
 Arecibo, 64, 67, 68, 188; church 
 
 of, 137 ; harbor of, 23, 137 ; 
 
 poor quarters of, 41 ; River, 68, 
 
 70, 137. 
 Arlington, 177 ; National Cemetery 
 
 at, 215. 
 
 Arrowroot, 106. 
 Arroyo, 81, 138, 159, 186. 
 Atlantic Ocean, 24, 66, 67. 
 Azaleas, 108. 
 Azores, 16. 
 
 Bahamas, 16, 101. 
 
 Ballaja, 128. 
 
 Bamboo, 113. 
 
 Bananas, 81, 99, 101. 
 
 Barbados, 112, 164. 
 
 Barceloneta, 68. 
 
 Barley, 104. 
 
 Barros, 68, 164. 
 
 Bayamdn, city of, 67, 142 ; River, 
 
 68, 123. 
 Bay rum, 139. 
 Bean, 74. 
 Beet, 106. 
 Beggars, 33, 34. 
 Begonia, 108. 
 Bermudas, 106. 
 Bidwell, M. F., 201. 
 Bixa, 114. 
 Bombay, 76. 
 Bonitos, 123. 
 Boquer6n, 136. 
 Boquilla Point, 68. 
 "Borinquen," 48, 211. 
 Breadfruit, 101. 
 Breadseller, 26. 
 Breadstuffs, 104. 
 Bronson's Deep, 55. 
 Brooke, General, 122, 184, 186, 
 
 189, 193. 
 
 Brown, Chaplain, 196. 
 Brumbaugh, Dr. M. G., 175, 176. 
 Bullfighting, 50. 
 
 Cabbage, 106. 
 Cabo Rojo, 82, 137. 
 
 219 
 
220 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Caguas, 62, 148, 158. 
 
 Calabash, 114. 
 
 California, 24, 79, 87, 100, 108. 
 
 Camellias, 108. 
 
 Camuy, 140. 
 
 Canoes, 203. 
 
 Caparra, 142, 209, 210. 
 
 Cape Verd Islands, 77. 
 
 Capuchin monkey, 118. 
 
 Caribbean Sea, 16, 18, 24, 60, 68, 
 145. 
 
 Carolina, 67, 76, 140. 
 
 Carroll, United States Commis- 
 sioner, 40, 44, 46, 159. 
 
 Casa Blanca, 128, 130. 
 
 Cascades, 71. 
 
 Cassava, 74, 106. 
 
 Castor oil, 107. 
 
 Caves, 60, 63-65. 
 
 Cayey, 67, 78, 96, 150, 157, 158,186. 
 
 Cedar, 15. 
 
 Ceiba, 114. 
 
 Celery, 106. 
 
 Cemi, 201. 
 
 Census, 161 ; taking of the, 162 ; 
 tables, 166. 
 
 Centipedes, 122. 
 
 Cerro de Guilante, 57, 70. 
 
 Cerro de Montuoso, 57, 70. 
 
 Cervera, Admiral, 181. 
 
 Changa, 92. 
 
 Children, 173, 174. 
 
 Chinese, 45, 65, 143. 
 
 Cigar sellers, 28. 
 
 Cinchona tree, 107. 
 
 Cinnamon, 106. 
 
 Clams, 123. 
 
 Clay, 75. 
 
 Climate, Y6-79. 
 
 Cloves, 106. 
 
 Clubs, 130. 
 
 Coamo hot springs, 71 ; River, 68; 
 town of, 68, 146. 
 
 Coca, 107. 
 
 Cocaine, 107. 
 
 Cockfighting, 35, 49, 50. 
 
 Cocoa palm, 103, 111. 
 
 Cocoanuts, 102, 103. 
 
 Coffee, berry, 93 ; growing, 92 ; 
 
 preparing, 94 ; as a product, 95 ; 
 
 market, 95 ; profit of, 95. 
 Coffin Island, 140. 
 Coir, 112. 
 
 Collars, ancient, 200. 
 Colorado, 24. 
 Columbus, 16, 20, 45, 80, 98, 109, 
 
 152, 207, 210. 
 Commandante, 192. 
 Concejo, cave of, 64. 
 Confetti, 51. 
 
 Cordillera, 57 ; Central, 82, 94, 110. 
 Cordoba, 160. 
 Corn, 104. 
 Corozal, 116. 
 Creoles, 48. 
 Cuba, 15, 16, 23, 60, 96, 98, 165, 
 
 166, 192. 
 
 Culebra, 140, 162. 
 Cumberland, Earl of, 213. 
 
 Dance, Indian, 206. 
 
 Davis, Gen. G. W., 81, 174, 193, 195. 
 
 Desecho Island, 21. 
 
 Dinwiddie, Wm., 71. 
 
 Dorado, 67, 68, 140. 
 
 Drake, Sir Francis, 212. 
 
 Dry goods, 28. 
 
 Dutch, 92, 213. 
 
 Dye, 107. 
 
 Eaton, Gen. J. B., 167. 
 
 Ebony, 115. 
 
 Eddoe, 106. 
 
 Egg plant, 106. 
 
 El Asomanta, 57. 
 
 El Yunque, 18, 57, 82, 111, 
 
 England, 108. 
 
 English fleet, 80. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 221 
 
 Fajardo River, 76 ; town of, 150. 
 
 Farms, 85. 
 
 Feast of flowers, 51-53. 
 
 Festivals, 50, 51. 
 
 Fish, 69, 122, 140. 
 
 Flamboyant, 158. 
 
 Florida, 15, 23, 60, 75, 83. 
 
 Flour, 104. 
 
 Flowers, 108. 
 
 Forests, 109. 
 
 French, attack by the, 213. 
 
 Fruits, 99. 
 
 Funeral customs, 35. 
 
 Games, 54. 
 
 Gardens, 108. 
 
 Gladioli, 108. 
 
 Gloucester, gunboat, 182. 
 
 Goat, 118. 
 
 Gold, 115. 
 
 Gordon, General, 184. 
 
 Gourds, 40. 
 
 Government, republican, 197. 
 
 Guanabana, 114. 
 
 Guanajibo River, 69; town of, 122, 
 
 136. 
 Guanica, 58, 182, 188, 210 ; Lake, 
 
 21, 71. 
 
 Guava tree, 93. 
 Guayama, 67, 82, 138, 150, 157 ; 
 
 River, 70. 
 Guinea pig, 118. 
 
 Hacienda Perla, 83. 
 
 Haiti, 16, 60, 92. 
 
 Harrington, Prof. M. W., 82. 
 
 Hats, 30. 
 
 Hawaiian Islands, 24, 77, 90. 
 
 Heliotrope, 108. 
 
 Hemlock, 115. 
 
 Henry, Baldwin, 213. 
 
 Henry, Gen. Guy V., 177, 189. 
 
 Hill, R. T., 8, 58, 109. 
 
 Himalayas, 55. 
 
 Hog, 121. 
 
 Homes, 37, 38. 
 
 Honduras, 15. 
 
 Hormigueros, 70. 
 
 Horses, 118-120. 
 
 Humacao River, 70 ; town of, 81, 
 
 136. 
 
 Hunt, Governor, 175. 
 Hurricanes, 80-82. 
 
 Iguana, 117. 
 India, 117. 
 Indian corn, 104. 
 Indians, 19, 108, 110, 146, 211. 
 Inhabitants, early, 199, 203 ; reli- 
 gion of, 204. 
 Intendente, 192. 
 Irrigation, 72-74. 
 Isabela, 83, 140. 
 Isabella, Queen, 20. 
 Italy, 48, 95. 
 
 Jacaguas River, 68. 
 Jamaica, 16, 60, 108, 117. 
 Jelapa, 160. 
 "Jigger," 122. 
 Josephine, Empress, 80. 
 Juana Diaz, town of, 68, 156. 
 
 Lagoon, 70, 71. 
 
 Lakes, 71. 
 
 Land crab, 118. 
 
 Lares, town of, 76, 120, 143-5; 
 
 Mountains, 69, 70, 78. 
 Las Marias, 70. 
 Las Tetas de Cerro Gordo, 57. 
 Laundresses, 31. 
 Laurel, 115, 158. 
 Lemon, 81. 
 Leeward Islands, 16. 
 Lily, 108. 
 Limestone formation, 60, 75. 
 
222 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Lindsay, Dr. S. M., 176. 
 
 Lobsters, 123. 
 
 Logwood, 108. 
 
 Loiza, 140 ; cave of, 64 ; River, 67. 
 
 Louis XIV., 92. 
 
 Louisiana, 83. 
 
 Love of country, 48. 
 
 Luquillo, 140. 
 
 Lyons, 127. 
 
 Mace, 106. 
 
 Machete, 40, 88. 
 
 Macias, Governor, 190. 
 
 Mahogany, 115. 
 
 Maine, battle ship, 215. 
 
 Maize, 74, 104. 
 
 Majagua, 114. 
 
 Mala Pascua Cape, 207. 
 
 Mammoth Cave, 64. 
 
 Manati, 64, 68, 143; River, 68, 
 
 70. 
 
 Mango, 79, 102. 
 Martinique, 80, 92. 
 Martin Pifia Lake, 71. 
 Mason, Professor, 200. 
 Maunabo, 140. 
 Mayaguez, 57, 94, 122, 159, 188 ; 
 
 buildings of, 37 ; best built city, 
 
 134 ; schools of, 168 ; harbor of, 
 18, 137 ; coffee product of, 134, 
 
 135 ; industries of, 136 ; bridges 
 of, 136 ; River, 116. 
 
 Mayama, 114. 
 Median age, 165. - 
 Medicinal plants, 107. 
 Merry-makers, 51. 
 Miles, General, 182, 184. 
 Military road, 152-158. 
 Milkmen, 25. 
 Minerals, 109. 
 Moca, 18. 
 Mocha tree, 93. 
 Molasses, 89. 
 Moua Island, 123, 140, 162. 
 
 Mona Passage, 145. 
 
 Money, 177 ; exchange of, 179- 
 
 180. 
 
 Mongoose, 117. 
 Mont Blanc, 55. 
 Montserrat, 136. 
 Morris, G. P., 192. 
 Morro Castle, 21, 124, 126, 127, 
 
 158, 193. 
 Mosquitoes, 121. 
 Mountains, 54, 55. 
 Mules, 118. 
 Music, 34, 47, 48. 
 
 Naguabo, 152. 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, 80. 
 New Hampshire, 83. 
 New Mexico, 58. 
 New York, 15, 23, 100. 
 Newspapers, 130. 
 Nuremberg, 127. 
 Nutmeg, 106. 
 
 Oats, 104. 
 
 Oranges, 81, 99, 100. 
 Oreodoxa, 112. 
 Oxen, 120. 
 Oysters, 123. 
 
 Palm tree, 79 ; sago and date, 
 112 ; royal, 113. 
 
 Palo Sero Point, 123, 124. 
 
 Pan-American Exposition, 24. 
 
 Parguera, 123. 
 
 "Parting-valleys," 58. 
 
 Paw-paw tree, 114. 
 
 Pease, 74. 
 
 Peons, home life of, 39, 40 ; dwell- 
 ings of, 40 ; prepared dishes of, 
 40 ; labor of, 41 ; pay of, 42 ; 
 clothing of, 42. 
 
 People, classified, 44, 45. 
 
 Pepinos, 57. 
 
 Pepper, 106. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 223 
 
 Philippines, 24, 77. 
 
 Pimento, 106. 
 
 Pineapples, 101. 
 
 Plata, 67. 
 
 Playa plains, 58. 
 
 Plaza, 128. 
 
 Poetical contest, 52. 
 
 Ponce, 20, 58, 68, 76, 78, 81, 100, 
 156, 158, 159, 382 ; importance 
 of, 132 ; size of, 134 ; cathedral 
 of, 133, 134; port of, 132. 
 
 Ponce de Leon, 128, 189, 208-211. 
 
 Population, 45. 
 
 Porto Real, 123. 
 
 Porto Ricans, fond of sweets, 26 ; 
 courtesy of, 30, 43, 108 ; love of 
 music of, 48 ; and citizenship, 46 ; 
 squadron of, 80. 
 
 Porto Rico, products of, 25, 85; 
 houses of, 38 ; home life in, 37, 
 38 ; mountains of, 54 ; ruins of, 
 59 ; soil of, 60 ; value of rivers in, 
 70 ; traveling in, 79 ; tobacco 
 in, 48 ; banana crop in, 99 ; gold 
 in, 115; divisions of, 141 ; cam- 
 paign in, 184, 186 ; government 
 of, 195 ; governors of, 190 ; pub- 
 lic opinion in, 198. 
 
 Potato, 105. 
 
 Poultry, 27. 
 
 Prieto River, 70. 
 
 Protestant church, 134. 
 
 Pueblo Viejo, 142. 
 
 Punta Santiago, 123. 
 
 Pyrenees, 136. 
 
 Quinine, 107. 
 
 Quintana hot springs, 71. 
 
 Rabbit, 118. 
 Raddish, 106. 
 Railways, 161. 
 Rain, 67, 72, 78, 79, 83. 
 Rangoon, 79. 
 
 Red snappers, 123. 
 
 Rhododendron, 109. 
 
 Rice, 40, 104. 
 
 Rincon, 140. 
 
 Rio Grande, 76. 
 
 Rio Guanroba, 146. 
 
 Rio Piedras, 127, 142. 
 
 Rivers, 58, 66. 
 
 Roads, 152, 159-161 ; military, 81. 
 
 Robinson, A. G., 159. 
 
 Roses, 108. 
 
 Sabana Grande, 70. 
 
 Sable Cape, 15. 
 
 Sahara, desert of, 76. 
 
 St. Augustine, 126. 
 
 St. John, festival of, 51. 
 
 St. Peter's Day, 53. 
 
 St. Vincent, 166. 
 
 Salinas, 140; de Coamo, 68 ; River, 
 68. 
 
 Salt fish, 40. 
 
 Salto de los Morones, 71. 
 
 Sampson, Admiral, 181. 
 
 San Cristobal, 126, 127, 128, 158, 
 193. 
 
 San Francisco Cape, 18. 
 
 San German, 57, 70, 137, 145, 
 210. 
 
 San Juan, 62, 68, 80, 82, 100, 209, 
 213 ; arrival and departure of 
 steamers at, 130-131 ; bishop of, 
 212 ; climate of, 130 ; foreign 
 trade of, 131 ; founded, 126 ; har- 
 bor of, 124, 226 ; landing at, 23 ; 
 music in streets of, 48 ; schools 
 in, 168. 
 
 San Sebastian, 64, 145, 158. 
 
 Sandal wood, 115. 
 
 Sanger, General, 116, 162. 
 
 Santa Alta Cascade, 71. 
 
 Santo Domingo, 23, 115, 20a 
 
 Santurce, 37, 127. 
 
 Sardines, 123. 
 
224 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Scenery, 62, 179. 
 
 Schley, Admiral, 184. 
 
 Schools, 33, 167, 170, 173. 
 
 Scorpions, 122. 
 
 Sea anemone, 123. 
 
 Seville, 127. 
 
 Sierra de Cayey, 57, 67. 
 
 Sierra Grande, 68. 
 
 Sierra Luquillo, 57. 
 
 Silk, 126. 
 
 Skull binding, 65. 
 
 Sleep, 118. . 
 
 Soil, 60, 74, 76. 
 
 Spain, 96, 105, 192 ; king of, 212 ; 
 and education, 170. 
 
 Spaniards, 21, 101, 116, 146. 
 
 Spanish, conquest, 21 1 ; government 
 of Porto Rico, 190; mackerel, 
 123 ; rule, 126 ; troops, 188 ; use 
 of irrigation, 34, 72, 74. 
 
 Squash, 106. 
 
 Starch, 106. 
 
 Sugar, 86, 89, 92 ; plantation, 86. 
 
 Sugar-cane, 62, 86 ; cut and tied 
 up, 88. 
 
 Sugar refineries, 62. 
 
 Sunday, 33, 53. 
 
 Tabanuco, 114. 
 Tamarind, 113. 
 Tanama, 68. 
 Tapioca, 106. 
 Tarantula, 121. 
 Texas, 58. 
 Toa Alta, 67. 
 Tobacco, 96, 97, 98. 
 Tomato, 106. 
 
 Torre Hill, 70. 
 Tortoise, 118. 
 Turnip, 106. 
 
 United States, 15, 23, 24 ; army, 
 188 ; educational commission, 
 170, 171, 178 ; making changes 
 in Porto Rico, 197; President 
 of, 193. 
 
 Vanilla, 106. 
 Vegetables, 105. 
 Vera Cruz, 76. 
 Viequez, 21, 82, 140, 162. 
 Volcanoes, signs of, 58. 
 
 Wagons, 121. 
 
 War, Spanish-American, 181, 213- 
 
 215. 
 
 Washington, D.C., 83, 182, 184. 
 Watermelon, 106. 
 Wax tree, 114. 
 Weather Bureau, 82. 
 Wedding customs, 35. 
 "Weekly Crop Bulletin," 83. 
 West Indies, 55, 60, 77, 85, 101, 
 
 106, 139, 164. 
 Wheat, 104. 
 Willow, 115. 
 Wilson, General, 186. 
 Winds, trade, 79. 
 Women, 45. 
 Wyoming, 83. 
 
 Tabucoa, 81. 
 
 Yauco, 94, 159, 182, 188. 
 
 Yoke, 120. 
 
MAY 2 2 1917