But they were afterward banished, and in their exile they have ever since been active in devising measures for the freedom of the island.
There is no reason whatever to think that there will be any discontent in the future under the liberal and beneficent government of the United States.
CHAPTER III.
TOPOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE.
Now that there is no doubt of the acquisition of Porto Rico by the United States, many of our people will be going there, and it is therefore of great interest to note how its general features will please and its climate be adapted to Americans.
The island is most eastern of the Greater Antilles, and it is the fourth in size and importance of all the islands of the West Indies. In fact, in point of density of population and general prosperity, it takes the first place. On the east, the Lesser Antilles extend in a curve toward Trinidad, on the South American coast, inclosing on the westward the Caribbean sea. A strait of seventy miles separates Porto Rico from Hayti on the west, and the distances from San Juan, the capital, to other points are 2,100 miles to the Cape Verde Islands, 1,050 miles to Key West and 1,420 miles to Hampton Roads.
Porto Rico lies near enough to the Gulf of Mexico to receive the benefit of the soft Gulf breezes and the very best and most desirable of the trade winds.
The island is almost a rectangle in shape. Its length from east to west is 108 miles and its breadth from north to south about 37 miles. Its area, including its dependencies, the isles of Vieques, Culebra and Mona is 3,530 square miles.
The coasts are generally regular, but there are a large number of bays and inlets, and the north coast is full of navigable lagoons.
The principal capes are San Juan, Mala Pascua, Rojo and Bruquen.