, 1898-09-14
A GLIMPSE OF PORTO RICO.
(FrOm the Louisiana Plant J

peak OF the central cordiliera, IN the %I4uquil.
10 Sierra, known as eel Yunque" or the
Anvil" variously estimated ut from thirtv.
six hundred to forty five hundred feet in
height. The hills are Of lesser elevation to.
ward the west and southwest, but the whole
north-centra country is rugged and uneven.
Between the spurs from the main range lie
lnnumerable secluded valleys whore the soil
~ OF great fertility. The impressive fca,
lures of the landscape are the rounded SUBMITS
OF the multi1udinouS hills which leave the
coast in constantly rising pillows that hnally
break against the cordillera vprtebra: vet Ill
are cultlvable, and cultivated to their very
creSt~, though the higher mountain eaks are
forestclad.
More than thirteen hundred streams, it is
said, of which number perhaps forty or fifty
attain to the dignity of rivers, rise in the hills
and seek the coasts, most of. them running
nOrtherly, though the best harbors are in
the west and south. But Notwithstanding
the great river flow, portions of the island in
the southwest are afflicted with drought at
times, owing to the precipitation Of the
northeast "trades' against the northern
hills.
The higher hills are clothed in the exuber.
ant and diversified vegetation Of the tropical
forest, where tree ferns flourish, and great
6NhA- u'i0 an pdtliIlS LONGI diOIl.
at lower levels are the cedar and mahogany.
walnut and laurel. with many others noted
for their useful woods. Throughout the island
IRE found those trees and shrubs valuable
for their gums, as the Nancy, guaiacum and
COpai, while the list Of medicinal plants in.
cIudeS most OF those invaluable to our phar-
macopeias, which tropical America has given
20 the world. These are the silveStres, ma
lures wild children; but of cultivated plants
there Is no species peculiar to the tropics
that does not flourish here. In the literal
levels, between the mountains and the sen,
grows the sugar cane, which may be cultivat.
cd up to an altitude Of three thousand feet.
1t was introduced here from Santo Domingo.
having been brought to America either from
Spain or the Canaries. The annual yield of
sugar Ia estimated at about seventy thousand
tons.
In these fertile low lands, also, tobacco
does exceedingly we'll, and the annual pro-
ductlon Is said to be quite seven million
pounds. 1T may be cultivated on tile hills,
but the true noun tain.lover is the coffee,
which does not do we'll below six hun.
dred feet, and is at its best q thousand feet
above the sea. il was first brought here from
Martinique, in 1922, and now yields 10 the
extent OF seventeen thousand tons annually.
Maize, the tue Indian Corn is Indigenous AS is
the yucca, the aboriginal "staff of Iife;'' and
both grow everywhere, as we'll as the pine.
apple, which is more reliable and more uni.
Velsal than the peach of our north temperate
zone. Cotton and rice are found at nearly
all elevations, the latter, which is the chief
food OF many labourers, being what is known
as tie mountnin variety.
Bananas and pIantains, are wonderfully pro.
life, bearing fruit in ten months from planting.
The plants virtually last sixty years, being
equally long lived with the cocoa palm, which
produces nuts i'll six or seven years, and there.
after hiring the space of an ordinary life,
ITS yield being reckOned at q hundred nuts
"!e'r- The annual product Of bananas is
gwen Us Two hundred millions. The entire
range Of tropical fIuits, is represented here.
such as the gnava, lime, orange, aguacate,
sapodilla and avocado pear: while all sub.
tropical vegetables may be raised, including
those of the south-temperate zone, such, for
instance, as are grown in Florida.
The mineral kingdom has not yet been so
exhaustively exploited as the vegetable, but
more than traces have been found of copper.
coal and iron. as we'll as vast deposits of salt.
The rivers at one time ran to the sea over
beds of golden sand. and from the streams
to-day (s in the neighbouring island of SantO.
Domingo, where the first American gold was
diScovered) the natives wash cut nuggets. by