GENERAL REPORT ON INVESTIGATIONS IN PORTO RICO. 
7 
many favors. Captain Hansard and Senors Gonzalez and Augustini gave valuable 
assistance during our trip to El Yunque Mountain. Senors Bianchi and McAllister 
placed us under many obligations while at Mayaguez and Ensenada del Boqueron. 
At Puerto Real, Senor Vidal gave us valuable information regarding the fishes and 
fisheries of that place; and to Dr. Stahl we are indebted for much interesting informa- 
tion concerning the natural history of the island. Captain Mansfield and Senor 
Susan o Bocanegra, the official interpreter at Aguadilla, did us good service, and we 
received various kindnesses from Senor Nicholas Molinari, of Isabel Segunda; Senors 
Miguel Ramirez, Ricardo Amado Farina, and Guillermo R. Scamaroni, of Culebra, 
and Senors Francisco Trinidad and Emile Just, of Rio Grande. 
Mr. Oscar Riddle, teacher of zoology in the Model and Training School of San 
Juan, furnished valuable information concerning the fishes of the San Juan market, 
and Dr. W. C. Kendall, of the U. S. Fish Commission, rendered important service 
during the study of the collections. Dr. J. D. Milligan, the ship’s pharmacist, 
assisted Mr. Baker in collecting the birds of the island, and through his untiring 
efforts specimens of the Porto Rican parrot and other rare species were added to the 
collection. 
For the Puertoriquenos as a people we have only words of praise. Wherever we 
went we received from them the most kind and cordial treatment. 
GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES OF PORTO RICO. 
POSITION AND SIZE. 
Porto Rico is the most easterly and the smallest of the Greater Antilles. It lies 
between 65° 10' and 67° 16' west longitude and 17° 54' and 18° 31' north latitude; 
that is, about 1,500 miles south of Maine and 600 miles east of Washington. It is in 
the same latitude as Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala, Bombay, and the northern end of the 
Philippines. It is 1,500 miles from New York, 1,300 from Norfolk, or 1,000 from 
Key West. It is about 95 miles long and 35 miles wide, and its area is in round 
numbers 3,600 square miles, or about three times the size of Rhode Island, or one- 
tenth that of Indiana. The coast line is about 360 miles, which is 1 mile for every 
10 square miles of area. It is quite regular in form, the long diameter being east 
and west, and the north and south shore lines are approximately parallel. The shore 
lines at the east and west ends are less regular. The northern coast extends east and 
west in a comparatively straight line. 
HARBORS. 
The only harbor on the north side of the island is that of San Juan, which is 
partly surrounded by mangrove swamps and is protected at its mouth by Cabras and 
Cabritas islets and some dangerous banks. There is an anchorage off Arecibo, 
which is safe, however, only in favorable weather. On the northwest and west are 
anchorages or coves at Aguadilla, Rincon, Anasco, Mayaguez, Puerto Real de Cabo 
Rojo, and Ensenada del Boqueron. The broad bay at Aguadilla is formed by Capes 
Borinquen and San Francisco. The cove at Rincon is shallow, and protected oidy by 
Cape San Francisco on the north. That at Anasco is a somewhat deeper indentation, 
protected, however, only at the north by Punta de la Cadena. The harbor at 
