560 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



flour is imported. The native grasses grow lux- 

 uriantly wherever an opportunity offers, from 

 the lowest valley to the highest mountain top, 

 and afford excellent pasture for stock every- 

 where all the months of the year. They make 

 no hay, but cut it with sickles or the machete 

 and tie it in small bundles, pack it on ponies to 

 the cities, and sell it while it is still green. The 

 cattle grazing in large numbers on tne pastures 

 are found all over the island, and are mostly in 

 very good condition, making excellent beef. 

 Hogs are raised to a limited extent, but are of 

 poor breeds, being of the old "razor-back" vari- 

 ety. They are fed mainly from the nuts grown . 

 on the royal palm trees. Horses are plentiful. 

 They are small, and used only to ride and as 

 pack ponies and in carriages. The hard work 

 of hauling loads and plowing the land is done 

 with oxen, yoked in the Spanish fashion by ty- 

 inn the yoke to the horns, and they are guided 

 with a whip or "gad." The wagons are mostly 

 two-wheeled carts with large wooden axles. 

 There seems to be a considerable deposit of iron 

 and copper on the island. In some places these 

 are being developed with good prospects of prov- 

 ing paying investments. Traces of gold and sil- 

 ver are also found in the mountains, but up to 

 date prospecting has not developed any con- 

 siderable quantities of these more precious met- 

 als. Soon after the surrender of Santiago de 

 Cuba to the American forces under General 

 Shafter, July 17, 1898, an army numbering 

 16,973 men was sent from Guantanamo to Porto 

 Rico to take possession of that island. They 

 landed July 25th at Quanica, fifteen miles west 

 of Ponce. Lieutenant Haines, commanding the 

 marines, went ashore and raised the American 

 flag over the custom house, amid the cheers of 

 the people. General Wilson was the first army 

 officer to land, and was welcomed with cheers 

 and a serenade. A portion of the army marched 

 toward the capital, San Juan, but were stopped 

 when about half way by the suspension of hos- 

 tilities between the belligerent powers. On Oc- 

 tober 18th the island was formally surrendered to 

 the United States in the city of San Juan. In 

 1899 a census of the island was taken under the 

 direction of the United States War Department, 

 which by departments gave the following : Agu- 

 adillo, 99,645; Arecibo, 162,308; Bayamon, 

 160,046; Guayamo, 111,986; Humacao, 88,501 ; 

 Mayaguez, 127,566, and Ponce, 203,191 total 

 for the island, 953,243. The island has pros- 

 pered greatly under American rule, and is fast 

 becoming Americanized. 



Portugal. The most western kingdom of 

 Europe, occupying the greater portion of western j 

 seaboard of the Iberian peninsula. North and 

 east it is bounded by Spain, and on all other 

 sides by the Atlantic Ocean. Length, from 

 north to south, 338 miles; mean breadth, about 

 100 miles. The surface of the country is gen- 

 erally of a hilly character, receiving the terminal ! 

 continuation of several Spanish mountain I 

 chains one of which, under the name of 

 Serro de Estrella, pierces the center in a south- 

 westerly direction, and rises in its highest part 

 to an altitude of 7,524 feet above the sea. | 

 Further south is the Serra'do Monchique, ter- j 

 minating at the Atlantic in the headland of Cape j 



St. Vincent. The chief rivers are the Tapis, 

 Douro, Minho, Guadina, and Mondego. The 

 soil is, generally speaking, quite rich, but agri- 

 culture is mucn neglected. Wine is the chief 

 industrial product of the country, the best 

 growths of which, known as port, are shipped to 

 England, the United States, and other countries. 

 The exports consist almost entirely of wine, 

 fruits, oil, cork, and salt. Portuguese manu- 

 facturing interests include those of the fabrica- 

 tion of textile goods, gloves, metallic, and cera- 

 mic wares, tobacco, cigars, etc. The chief cities 

 and towns are Lisbon, the capital; Oporto, 

 Braga, Coimbra, Setubal, Evora, and Elvas; 

 and, in Madeira, Funchal. 



Potomac, a river of the United States, 

 formed by two branches which rise in the Alle- 

 gheny Mountains in West Virginia, and unite 

 fifteen miles southeast of Cumberland, Md., 

 from which point the river flows in a gen- 

 erally southeast course 400 miles, and falls into 

 Chesapeake Bay, after forming an estuary nearly 

 100 miles long, and from two and one-half to 

 seven miles wide. The largest ships can ascend 

 to Washington. The Potomac forms the 

 greater part of the boundary between Virginia 

 and Maryland. 



Potsdam, eighteen miles southwest of 

 Berlin, stands on an island at the confluence of 

 the Nuthe and Havel, and is the capital of the 

 Prussian Province of Brandenburg ; a handsome 

 town, with broad streets, many parks and 

 squares, numberless statues and fine public 

 buildings; it is a favorite residence of Prussian 

 royalty, and has several royal palaces; was the 

 birthplace of Alexander von Humboldt; has 

 sugar and chemical works, and a large violet- 

 growing industry. Population, 59,814. 



Prague (prag), a city of the Austro-Hun- 

 garian Empire, the capital of the province (for- 

 merly the kingdom) of Bohemia. It is situated 

 on the rising ground at each side of the Moldau, 

 about 160 miles northwest of Vienna; and is, 

 with the exception of Vienna and Buda-Pesth, 

 the largest city in the empire. Both the old 

 and the new town stand on the right bank of 

 the river, as well as the industrial suburbs of 

 Carolinenthal and Zizkow; on the left bank are 

 the quarters known respectively as the Kleinsito 

 and the Hradshin, in which dwell the nobility 

 and the higher officers of state. This portion of 

 the city is surrounded by a wall. In the im- 

 mediate neighborhood of the Hradshin is the 

 White Mountain, 1,300 feet high, the scene of 

 the battle in which the Protestants of Bohemia 

 suffered a decisive defeat early in the Thirty 

 Years' War (November 8, 1620). The Cathe- 

 dral of Prague belongs to the Fourteenth Cen- 

 tury, as does also the university, which was 

 founded in 1348 by the Emperor Charles IV. 

 A large trade is carried on in the city, and several 

 large fairs are held in it annually. It has, how- 

 ever, suffered greatly from war, and so recently 

 as 1848 was bombarded by the Austrians for two 

 days, in consequence of an insurrectionary move- 

 ment on the part of the inhabitants. The " Bat- 

 tle of Prague," so celebrated in history, in which 

 the Austrians were defeated by Prince Henry of 

 Prussia, and their whole camp taken, was fought 

 May 6, 1747. Population, 245,750. 



