22 THE ABORIGINES OF POKTO EICO [etii. axx. 25 



Liiko Maracaibo. The caves al.ono- the north coast are hirge, and the 

 ])eaches att'ord good landings and camping resorts, the sites of the 

 latter being generally indicated by shell heaps of some size. 



The winter is never cold in Porto Rico. The trees and plants yield 

 ■edible food throughout the year, removing one stimulus to store 

 a food supply that is felt by the primitive agriculturist of the Tem- 

 perate zones. An inducement to economy of food and to a devel- 

 opment of high culture thereb}' is rarely found in the Tropics." Veg- 

 etable food is available at all times. There are seasons for planting 

 and harvesting, but no arid deserts to disappoint the agriculturist. 

 The land is well watered, inviting tillage at all times. The tempera- 

 ture in Porto Rico never falls to a point where men need firewood to 

 keep them warm or closed houses to shield them from cold. The only 

 shelter one requires is a protection from rain and sun. 



Both the fauna and the flora of the West Indies are South American 

 in their affinities, and animals and plants such as belong to that part 

 of the continent served the natives for food. Of indigenous animals 

 there ma}' be mentioned the agouti, utia, bats, and various lizards, as 

 the iguanas. It is not saying too much to affirm that the majority of 

 large indigenoijs animals capable of being utilized as food by the 

 natives wei'e derived from South America. The same statement 

 applies to native plants and trees which served for food, raiment, 

 houses, and canoes, and to those that furnished libers. Among others 

 ma}' be mentioned maize, manioc, yams, potatoes, cotton, various 

 palms and other woods, like the ceiba, and numerous native tree 

 fruits. 



Largo mammals capable of domestication were wanting and a supply 

 of food animals adequate to support a great population did not exist. 

 The marine fauna of Porto Rico available for economic purposes was 

 large. The manatee was an inhabitant of the lagoons and river mouths. 

 Many edible fishes lived near the shore and in the rivers, and the 

 lagoons abounded in moUusks, crabs, and turtles, tempting to a fisher- 

 man's life. In many places along the shore there are deposits of shells 

 and fragments of ollas and other broken pieces of pottery mixed with 

 bones of birds and fishes. The greatest of these deposits, according to 

 Doctor Stahl * measuring more than 2 meters in height, is at the Cueva 

 de las Golondrinas, near the mouth of the Rio Manati. The contents 

 of these shell heaps impl}' that mollusks, birds, and fishes constituted 

 a considerable part of the food of the people inhabiting the coast. 



olt must, however, be remembered tlint the highest prehistoric culture of America developed 

 within tlie Tropics, 



''Augustin stahl, Los Jndios Borinquenos, Esiudios Etnogr^ficos, p. l-'JOO, pi. i-iv, I*uerto Rico, 

 1889, Doctor Stahl's collection, a catalogue of which is given in this important work, is now in the 

 Museum of Natural History, New York, 



