Porto Rico: Its History, Products and Possibilities

by A. D. Hall

Until recently there has been an impression in the United States that Porto Rico did not amount to much, that Cuba was the only island in the West Indies which was of any especial value. But this is the most grievous error, as we shall endeavor to show in the course of this little book.

The island, without much exaggeration, can really be called the garden spot of the world, and there is no doubt but that when the Stars and Stripes wave permanently over it, and there is an influx of American enterprise and wealth, there will be a marvelous increase in values of all kinds.

Like all Spanish colonies, Porto Rico has been wofully mismanaged. The Spaniards have looked upon it in the light of a more or less valuable cow from which every drop of milk must be squeezed. But now, under more fortuitous circumstances, under a more beneficent rule, the charming little island will undoubtedly "blossom as a rose"; for those who have looked into the subject have declared that more can be raised on an acre of land in Porto Rico than in any other portion of the globe. Later on we shall examine in detail the truth or falsehood of this statement.

Porto Rico is older than the United States, for it was discovered by Columbus on November 16, 1493, during his second voyage to America. The great discoverer remained there only two days in the port of Aquadilla, but he did not come in contact with any of the ingenuous natives, for they fled in terror when they saw his ship.

During their subsequent conquests in the West Indies, the Spaniards paid no attention to Porto Rico until 1509. At this time Ponce de Leon, then governor of Hispaniola, afterward known as Hayti, determined to extend his dominion. With the idea of obtaining fresh supplies of gold, he went to Porto Rico and made a long visit to the chief of the natives, by whom he was received and entertained with the greatest kindness and hospitality. The chief willingly pointed out to his Spanish guests all the great resources of the island, and when, with the greed which has ever distinguished the men of their country, they asked for gold, he took them to streams where the sands were loaded with the precious metal.

Ponce de Leon was so delighted with the beauty and fertility of the island that he imagined he could find there the fountain of perpetual youth for which he so long sought in vain. In this chimerical idea, however, as in Florida, he was doomed to disappointment.

The original name of the island is said to have been Borinquen, and the population of the natives, who were of the same race as the inhabitants of the other islands of the Greater Antilles, has been estimated at six hundred thousand.

Dr. C. T. Bedwell, recently British consul at Porto Rico, has published a most interesting report in regard to the aborigines, and from this report we have obtained considerable of the information which follows.

Among the Sibaros, or sallow people of to-day, one rarely sees a physical trace of Indian descent, although in their mode of living much of Indian character exists. Fray Inigo Abbad, who wrote a work on Porto Rico, published in Madrid in 1878, says that when the Spaniards first came to Porto Rico "it was as thickly populated as a beehive, and so beautiful that it resembled a garden." Fray Inigo says that the color of the Indians of Porto Rico was the copper color known to the aborigines of America, though they were of a sallow and somewhat darker complexion. They were shorter in stature than the Spaniards, stout and well-proportioned. They had flat noses with wide nostrils, bad teeth and narrow foreheads. Their heads were flat, both in front and at the back, "because," says the author, "they were pressed into this shape at the time of their birth." They had long, thin, coarse hair, and, according to Fray Inigo, they were without hair on their face or on other parts of their body. This, however, is disputed by some writers.

The small quantity and little substance of the food they used, the facility with which they supplied material wants without labor, the excessive heat of the climate, and the absence of quadrupeds for the exercise of hunting, caused them, he says, to be weak and indolent, and averse to labor of all kinds. Anything that was not necessary to satisfy the pangs of hunger, or that did not afford amusement, such as hunting or fishing, was regarded with indifference. Neither the hope of reward nor the fear of punishment would tempt them to seek the one or to avoid the other.