The record-union., 1898-07-10
and sell them less than 500 600 worth

and sell them less than 500 900 worth
of goods.
For an island SO near the equator
the temperature is quite temperate.
but there is so much humidity that the
suffering Is great even when the ther-
mometer is as low as - degrees vio-
lent rains are common from June to
November. and disastrous floods are
the result. Rain falls on an average
more than 200 days a year, and some
times reaches a total of more than 100
inches in a year.
Crocodiles are abundant in the
waters, and buffalo and boa, boars' and
venomous snakes fill the forests with
dread. There is an abundance of
monkeys, which are killed and eaten
by the natives The minor pests of
the islands are mosquitoes and very
destructive little white ants.
Manley r. Sherman, a well known
citizen of Los Angeles, who spent sew
erai years at Manila, says that the
humidity of the atmosphere makes life
almost insufferably hot. In a letter
to the Boston Herald" he says:
'"rhe most extreme care must con-
Stantiy be exercised to keep ones phys
ical condition properly toned all sum-
mer long. The hottest days in the
year are in May and June. Fortunate
ly breeze usually springs up in the
early evening and that temperS the at
mosphere so that one can get some
sleep if he is properly fixed for it when
midnight comes. The mean tempera-
ture at the Philippines is - degrees.
In November the weather coolS, and
then for weeks at a time along the sea
coasts it is about as near perfection
as any one can imagine. 1t is a Land
of siestas. Every one who can sleeps
all day long, and slumber there is re-
duced to a science. Hammocks abound
and couches of bamboo are in every
home, hotel, club, store and loafing
place"
Although only about one-twelfth the
size of Cuba, Porto Rico has always
been more prosperous, relatively, than
her sister colony. Her staple CONNER
cial products are chiefly sugar and to-
bacco, though she adds to the list a
fine variety of coffee. The products of
the island have always been out Of
proportion to her size. compared with
the others of the Antilles.
The population of Porto Rico is only
about 100000, but the people have al
ways shown more enterprise than
the Cubans and have been compara-
lively free from revolutions.
Apart from the general fertility of
the soil Porto Rico has the advantage
of being we'll supplied with good and
water, which are generally scarce in
the islands of the archipelago. In the
catalogue of agencies that have con-
tributed greatly to her wealth the sew
enteen small rivers that rise in the
mountains and cross the valleys of the
north coast and empty into the sea are
not to be forgotten. Some of these
rivers are navigable for the smaller
merchant vessels. There are a few
lakes of some Importance and great
beauty. A writer for the New York
Herald" Aays of Porto Rico:
There is almost a total absence of
stagnant water, such as does so much
TO vitiate the climate of tropical and
semi-tropical countries generally. 1t
is pleasant to know that very few
snakes or other venomous reptiles are
to be found there, SO that the natives
have no hesitancy in sleeping in the
midst of the forest: the island is, how
ever, infested with enormous rats
which invade the sugar-cane fields in
great armies, and do a deal of damage.
There are not many indigenous quad
rupeGs, and waterfowl and green par
rots are among the few species of ma
tive birds.
THE harbors of Porto Rico are abun-
dant and good, except for part of the
year. In those on the north coast, with
the exception of San Juan, the anchor
age is dangerous in November. Decem-
Der and January on account of the
north wind. On the south side, on the