The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-08-12

The city oi his name lies inland few
miles, near river, at the mouth o.
which its port is located. 1t has l2,00C
! inhabitants. military barracks. an iron
bridge. Il GOOD trade, g:s light. and
| there are sixteen irrl OF water in its
harhor. hut the entrance is difficult.
Punta Guanajil,o forms the snuther,
sh 'rr. Pilots are needed all along this
c,aSt
Cape Agnla is the S,nl hwrStcrn OK.
trrlnitv ni the Is'anl Blwccn tl.iS
all the Morillo> Of Cape Ruio is the
| Bay ul Salinas, with from ten to twcr-
ty feet nl water, but not we'll protected.
| NAVIGATION alnho the southern coast
Iuirc~ or at care. Between Cape
| X ,jr AMI pun,a It.. Ia Brra is a long
! l.mr o.. ellis. called De la Marguerite
between which and the mainland are
| inlrt>. Ike the coast thor, gitarcs OF
Maine or New Jersey. atf,r,ing many
good anchoragr~. but these cannot he
reached without Il pilot.
PORT OF GyANICn.
The port If Gulnico. the largest
anchorage ground ON the southern
coast of Porto Rico. lies fifteen miles
east OF Cape Roio. with fifteen feet to
tai! tv-thrcc feet of water over a hottC m
of sod and brok rock. The coast
presents no further interest until we
come to Ponce. which port is one of
the most important on the island.
Still further east is Guayama, with the
port of Arroya hear hy on the south
coast.
Porto Rico is travcrsed from east to
west hy Il mountain range dividing the
island into two unequal portions, by
far the longest slope being on the north.
So that the riv,rS on that coast are
much the longer. From this chain
several branches divcrce toward the
north coIst, giving it Il rugged appear
ancc. Part of the main range is called
Sierra Grandc or BarroS; its northeast
spur is known as the Sierra dc Loquillo,
that on the northwest is the Sierra
Larcc.
The most ofthe population is located
on the lowlandS at the sea front of the
hill For lack of roads the interior is
accessible onl V by mule trails or sad
die paths, and it is covered with vast
forests
INTERESTING CAVES.
There are interesting caves in the
mountains. those of AguaS Buenas and
CialcS being the most notable. Rivers
and brooks are numerous. forty y-sevcn
very considerable rivers having been
enumerated. They are short and rapid,
especially Y on the Caribbean slopes,
which are steep and abrupt. Fhe
mountains intercept the northeast
trade winds blowing from the Atlantic.
and wiring their moisture from them.
so that the rainfall of the north section
is very copious. South of the noun
tains severe droughts occur and a@ri-
culture demands irrigation, but such
work is unsy Systematically y carried on.
The principal minerals found in
Porto Rico are gold. carbonatcs and
sulphidcs of copper and magnetic oxide
OF iron i'll large quantities. Lignitc is
found ut ttuado and Moca. and also vel
low amber. \ large variety of mar
blcs. limcStones and other building
stones are deposited on the island, but
these resources are very undev, v,lopcd.
There are salt works at Guancia and
Salina. on the south coast, and at Cape
Rnio, on the west, and this constitutes
the principal mineral industry in Porto
Rico. Hot springs and mineral waters
are found at Juan DiaZ, San Sebastian.
san Lorenzo and Ponce. but the most
famous is at Coamo, near the town of
Santa Isabel.
The climate is hot, but much allevi-
atrI 10y the prevailing northeast winds
\ temperature as high rs | Ii degrees
Fahrenheit has been recorded but it
seldom eScceds - degrees Fahrenheit
in the shade during the hottest hours:
at night it sinks to GI or 60 degrees
The rainy season lasts from August
times SO copiou> north of the noun
taimS as to inunlatr cultivated fields
and produce swamps. The rainfall for
1873 was ST inches Its mean annual
average is Ga inches.
The prevailing diseases are yellow
fever, clrphantiaSi, tctanuS, marsh
fever and dysentcry.
ITS PRODUCTS.
Porto Rico is unusually fertile. and
It's dominant industries are agricultural
and numbering. In elevated regions
the vegetation of the temperate zone
is not unknown. There are more than
five hundred varieties of trees found in
the forests. and the plains are full of
palms, orange and other trees. The
principal "rol.s are sugar, coffee, to-
bacco, cotton and maizr, but bananas.
rice. pinrapplrS and many other fruits
are Important
The Will do5 i the m pst prrtlacous
pualrupGl on the island and he chiefly
attacks pLS and calves Mic. are a
pest. hut they nr' k 'pt down 10y their
natural Cn"InirS the snakes. which