Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Porto Rico

PORTO RICO (Span., Puerto Rico), one of the Spanish West India Islands, lies 70 miles east of Hayti between 17° 50' and 18° 30' N. lat. and 65° 35' and 67° 10' W. long. It forms an irregular parallelogram, 108 miles long and 37 broad, and has an area of 3530 square miles, or rather less than that of Jamaica. From east to west it is traversed by a range of hills so situated that the streams flowing northward are much longer than those flowing south. The highest district, however, and the highest peak—El Yunque (3600 feet)—are situated in the Sierra de Loquillo near the north-east corner. As the hills intercept the north-east trade-winds with their rain-clouds there is sometimes almost a superabundance of moisture in the northern lowlands, while in the south severe droughts occur and the land demands artificial irrigation, as yet carried

out with too little co-operation and system. The island is, however, exceptionally well watered, 1300 streams being enumerated, of which forty-seven are considerable rivers; and its general appearance is very beautiful. Forests still cover all the higher parts of the hills, and differ from those of the other West Indian Islands mainly in the comparative absence of epiphytes. Among the noteworthy trees Baron Eggers (see Nature, 6th December 1883) mentions the Coccoloba macrophylla, or &ldquo;ortegon&rdquo; of the natives, which forms extensive woods in some places, chiefly near the coast, and is conspicuous by its immense yard-long purple spikes; a beautiful Talauma, with white odorous flowers, and yielding a timber called &ldquo;sabino&rdquo;; an unknown tree with purple flowers like those of Scævola Plumieri; a large Heliconia, and several tree-ferns (Cyathea Serra and an Alsophila). Besides the two staples—sugar and coffee—tobacco, cotton, rice, maize, Caladium esculentum, yams, and plantains, as well as oranges, cocoa-nuts, and other tropical fruits, are commonly cultivated. The rice, which is the principal food of the labourers, is a mountain variety grown without flooding. On the lowland pastures, covered mainly with Hymenachne striatum, large herds of excellent cattle are reared to supply butcher-meat for St Thomas, the French islands, &amp;c. In general Porto Rico may be described as extremely fertile, and its exports more than double in value those of Jamaica. In 1883 the principal items were—sugar and molasses, 78,482 tons, valued at £1,036,595; coffee, 16,801 tons, at £955,948; honey, 30,378 tons, at £148,148; and tobacco, 1730 tons, at £114,614. Of the tobacco a large proportion is sent to Havana to be manufactured into cigars. The total value of exports and imports has increased from £2,219,870 in 1850 to £5,118,712 in 1883. The great want of the island is still roads and bridges, though the Government has done good work in this department in recent years; the journey across the hills can only be performed on horseback, and even along the coast-route wheeled traffic is at times interrupted. Gold, iron, copper, coal, and salt are all found in Porto Rico, but the last alone is worked.



Porto Rico.