Porto Rico Part 2

The island is almost a rectangle in shape. Its length from east to west is 108 miles and its breadth from north to south about 37 miles. Its area, including its dependencies, the isles of Vieques, Culebra and Mona is 3,530 square miles.

The coasts are generally regular, but there are a large number of bays and inlets, and the north coast is full of navigable lagoons.

The princ.i.p.al capes are San Juan, Mala Pascua, Rojo and Bruquen.

Generally speaking, the conformation of the island is slightly undulating, with the exception of a mountain range which traverses it from east to west, running through nearly its whole length in a zig-zag course, and on the average about twenty-five miles distant from the north coast.

This range divides the island into two unequal portions. The largest is on the north, and the rivers flowing through that section are much the longer. A part of the main range is called Sierra Grande or Barros. The northeast spur is known as the Sierra de Luquillo and the northwest as the Sierra Larea. The general height of these mountains is about 1,500 feet above the sea, but there is one peak, Yunque, which reaches a height of 3,678 feet. This can be seen seventy miles at sea, and would be a magnificent place for a sh.o.r.e signal for the benefit of the ships that sail the South Atlantic seas.

It is noticeable that there are no extensive lakes in the highlands of the interior, but there are many interesting caves in the mountains, the princ.i.p.al ones being those of Aguas Buenos and Ciales.

The elevated ridge which crosses the island intercepts the northeast trade winds which blow from the Atlantic and deprives them of their moisture. The consequence of this is that the rainfall in the northern portion of the island is very copious. It also has the effect of reducing the rain south of the mountains, so that there is a prevalence of droughts in that section and agriculture can be advantageously carried on by irrigation. Up to the present, however, this work of irrigation has been very imperfect and unsystematic, and the results on the whole have not been satisfactory.

The Luquillo range ends ten miles from San Juan. The capital is, therefore, to a certain degree sheltered by a mountain wall from the rain-bearing winds, which, in the warmest months blow mainly from easterly points. Still all the northern adjacent sh.o.r.es and lowlands are subject to flooding by torrents of rain.

Taking it as a whole, the island is approximately roof-shaped, so that the rainfall is rapidly drained off.

In the interior are extensive plains and there are level tracts from five to ten miles wide on the coast.

The soil of Porto Rico is exceedingly fertile. In the mountains it is a red clay, colored with peroxide of iron, in the valleys it is black and less compact, and on the coasts it is sandy, but capable of some culture.

The pasture lands in the northern and eastern parts of the island are superior to any others in the West Indies.

Porto Rico is essentially a land of rivers and streams. Of course none of them are of any great length, but of the entire number, some thirteen hundred, forty are navigable for more or less distances for commercial purposes.

Mr. John Beggs, a former planter of Porto Rico, says that the island is perfectly adapted for commerce. Sugar, coffee, cotton, corn and potatoes are constantly shipped down the navigable rivers, and were Porto Rico to be fully cultivated, many more streams could be opened and communication made between others by means of ca.n.a.ls, so that the entire island would present a system of water ways which would make it an ideal place for the shipping of useful articles to the United States.

The water of the rivers and brooks and lakes is remarkably pure, and there is quite an industry in its shipment for sale to other West India islands. It is stated that more than twenty of these islands send to Porto Rico for water. Little boats sail up the harbor of San Juan, fill their tanks with water and sail away again, Havana's chief scourge is the lack of fresh water, but Porto Rico has all the water it can use and enough to supply islands hundreds of miles away.

The anchorages can not be said to be the best in the world, although a few of them are excellent, and most of them sufficiently deep for ordinary craft.

Mayaguez Bay on the west coast admits vessels of any size and is the best anchorage on the island. Guanica is the best on the south coast, of which it is the most western port. It was here that the American troops first landed. Still Guanica is not visited by much shipping. The district immediately surrounding it is low and swampy, and the roads leading from it are not good. Guanica has been the outlet for the produce of San German Sabana Grande and, to some extent, of Yanco, which is on the railroad. The western and southwestern parts of the island have been particularly over-run by the Porto Rican rebels, and this has undoubtedly done much to injure its commerce. But with the advent of the Americans all this will be changed.

The eastern coast is fairly indented and washed by a sea which is usually smooth.

On the rugged north side, where the ocean currents set to southward, there are no good anchorages between Arecibo and San Juan. The port of San Juan, however, affords good shelter and will be an important centre for merchant shipping as well as an attractive rendezvous for yachts on a pleasure cruise. The harbor is deep enough to admit large vessels, but its channel communicating with the sea is winding and difficult, and can be navigated safely only with the aid of a pilot.

One of the leading seaports of the island is Aquadilla on the west coast. This has the advantage of a s.p.a.cious bay, which is sheltered from the trade winds. From this place are shipped the sugar and coffee produced in the northwest part of the island.

There are seven or eight other ports of minor importance.

The main highway of central Porto Rico runs from Ponce to San Juan, in a northeasterly direction, through Juana Diaz, Coamo and Abonito. From the latter place it proceeds almost eastward to Cayey, and there it takes a winding course to the north as far as Caquas. Thence it turns west to Aquas Buenos, and then goes straight north through Guaynola and Rio Piedras to San Juan. The entire length of this highway is about eighty-five miles.

The distance from Ponce to San Juan, as the bird flies, is only forty-five miles.

And now to take up a most important point--the climate. Of this much can be said in favor.

On the whole, it may be stated that Porto Rico, for a tropical region, is very healthful; in fact, by far the most so of any of the West India islands.

There have been no climatic observations which cover the whole of the Porto Rican territory, but the Spanish Weather Bureau has published certain observations which show the general conditions prevailing in San Juan and the vicinity.

The climate, though hot, is agreeably tempered by the prevailing northeast winds. At night there is always a pleasant breeze which carries sweet fragrance along the northern coast. A temperature as high as 117 degrees has been recorded, but this is most unusual. At San Juan, the average temperature in August is about 81 degrees Fahrenheit; in September, 80.5 degrees, and in October, 79.3 degrees. At night it sinks to 68 or 69 degrees, which is more than it frequently does in New York or Chicago during heated spells. The most marked feature of the climate is that the summer's heat and rainfall keep up until late autumn. In the hottest months the calm days average not far from ten a month, and these have a very relaxing effect. For this reason it is advisable for residents of temperate climes not to visit Porto Rico until November, when the weather becomes beautifully fine and settled, and almost always continues good during the winter and early spring.

The rainfall in San Juan, which can be taken as a fair index of that along the northeastern coast, averages about 6.65 inches during August, 5.30 during September and 7.10 during October. But in some years the heaviest fall was in September. Not infrequently the cultivated fields and plantations are inundated, and swamps are formed. As has been intimated, the southern part of the island is relatively much drier than the northern, though the former is apt to experience excessive rains during the pa.s.sage of a hurricane.

It is fortunate for Porto Rico that it does not lie directly in the track of West Indian cyclones. It has been visited, however, at long intervals by devastating hurricanes, notably those of 1742 and 1825, which destroyed a vast deal of property, and during the pa.s.sage of which many lives were lost. The terrible tornadoes of the tropics are very erratic in their course, and are so apt to be deviated from their accustomed paths that it is unsafe to a.s.sume that danger has pa.s.sed for Porto Rico until late in the autumn. Captains of all vessels during the summer mouths should therefore exercise extraordinary vigilance to avoid being caught in a hurricane.

The prevailing diseases of the island are yellow fever, elephantiasis, teta.n.u.s, March fever and dysentery. There is no question but that a lack of proper sanitary measures is responsible for much of the illness.

Even the most to be dreaded of these diseases, yellow fever, could in all probability be rooted out if proper precautions were taken and every available means employed to prevent its recurrence. As it is, yellow fever never scourges Porto Rico as it does parts of Cuba.

In the winter and early spring Porto Rico is less subject than Cuba to those chilling winds that blow from the freezing anticyclones moving east from the American coast toward Bermuda. Under American auspices and enlightened systems of sanitation, there will doubtless spring up a number of attractive winter resorts, which will prove formidable rivals to those of Florida, especially if, as is not unlikely, San Juan Bay becomes the headquarters of the North Atlantic naval station from November until April.

In this regard, the manager of a prominent life insurance company has spoken as follows:

"Let me raise my voice in prophecy and then wait and see if events do not bear me out. I want to prophesy right now that five years from date that island will be a great popular winter resort. No one can appreciate its natural attractions unless he has been there, and when to them have been added a few good American hotels it is bound to become a popular resort.

"I was in Porto Rico several years ago, and I then expressed surprise that it was not boomed as a winter resort. The Porto Ricans to whom I spoke shrugged their shoulders and smiled. The ground is high, the climate is fine, and the place is healthful.

"It has many attractions of its own that are lacking in the other West Indies.

"Close on the heels of the army will march some enterprising American hotel man, and then look out for results."

CHAPTER IV.

POPULATION AND TOWNS.

According to the latest statistics, the entire population of the island of Porto Rico is estimated at 900,000. Of these about 140,000 are _peninsulares_, as the natives of Spain have been termed throughout her former colonies. From 12,000 to 14,000 are foreigners, mostly Frenchmen, Germans, Italians, Englishmen and Americans. Other nationalities have little or no representation. The so-called native population is composed of two-thirds whites who are descendants of Spaniards and people of other European countries, and one-third negroes and mulattoes or those of mixed blood, half castes, as they are denominated.

It is valuable to note the large proportion of whites, which is very unusual for a tropical country.

The census, which was taken December 31, 1887, states that the women outnumbered the men by about one thousand. As the immigrants from Spain are mostly men, however, the actual ratio between the two s.e.xes, as far as the native population is concerned, would be greatly in favor of the feminine.

The area of Cuba is thirteen times larger than that of Porto Rico, and yet even before the butcher Weyler exterminated a third of the native Cubans, it contained not quite double as many people as the smaller island.

This will give some idea of the density of the population of Porto Rico.

Thirty per cent. of the whites and seventy-five per cent. of the negroes were cla.s.sed in the census of 1887 as laborers.

The western part of the island is far more densely populated than the eastern. The reason for this probably lies in the fact that the east coast is on the windward side, and offers less protection for shipping.

Consequently it is not so conveniently situated for trade. All the larger towns of the east are situated inland, or, at least, some distance from the coast. They are in the hilly portion of the island and surrounded by rich coffee plantations and grazing lands of large extent.

The inhabitants of Porto Rico are scattered all over the country, and the land is greatly subdivided. The Spanish authorities have made many efforts to collect the people into villages, but the people themselves have frequently resisted a change which they considered would not suit the conditions of their lives or tend to improve their finances.

Still, in the last fifty years more than half of the population has gravitated to and around the towns, especially those which are situated on the seash.o.r.e. Most of these people live in comfortable houses, and have the means to provide themselves with all the necessities and many of the luxuries of life.