148 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 



casional showers. Hence its undulating surface is adapted 

 to pasture and the more ordinary kinds of cultivation, and 

 is intersected by numerous perennial rivers; while the 

 southern part of the island is frequently without rain for 

 many months, though even there water is always found 

 half a yard beneath the surface. 



Porto Rico's rivers have been among the agencies which 

 have contributed most to her growth in wealth. There 

 are more than twelve hundred streams, the principal of 

 which are the Loiza or Rio Grande, Bayamon, Plata, 

 Cibuco, Manati, Arecibo, Camuy, and Guajataca, which 

 flow to the north, and the Culebrinas, Anasco, Guanajibo, 

 and Mayaguez, flowing to the west ; the Portuges, Jacaguas, 

 Descalabrado, Coamo, Guamani,andGuayanes, to the south, 

 and the Humacao, Naguabo, and Faj ardo, to the east. Some 

 of these are navigable for small vessels for a distance of two 

 or three leagues, but have troublesome bars across their 

 mouths. The facilities for internal navigation, for driving 

 machinery by water- and steam-power, and for irrigation 

 are not common on islands of this size. There is an almost 

 total absence of the stagnant water which so often vitiates 

 the atmosphere of tropical countries. 



The island contains eight small lakes, which are known 

 as Martinpena, Tortuguero, Pinones, and Cano Tiburones, 

 on the north side ; Albuf era de Joyuda, on the east ; Fla- 

 mencos, Cienaga, and Guanica, on the south. 



Notwithstanding the normally peaceful conditions which 

 have prevailed in this island, there has been little or no sys- 

 tematic exploration of it. There is no record of any topo- 

 graphic or geological survey by which either the details 

 of its relief or its exact area is known. Neither has its 

 geology, flora, or fauna been systematically studied. As 

 remarked by a writer sixty years ago, the island is less 

 known in this country than even Japan or Madagascar. 

 This fact is not due to inaccessibility or difficulty of 

 exploration, for hundreds of intelligent people visit it 

 yearly, but merely to the fact that few have taken the 



