“Yes, large quantities of very fine tobacco are raised there, and also sugar, coffee, cattle and hides. In years gone by they also raised a superior kind of cotton, but that industry does not appear to be flourishing just now.”
“I’ve heard that they used to have lots of slaves here,” came from Frank.
“Yes, Porto Rico did have its full share of slaves, and the Spanish plantation owners were very cruel to them. Slavery flourished until 1873, when the last of the poor blacks, numbering probably twenty thousand souls, were freed. All told, there are now about a million people on the island, and the majority of them are blacks or of mixed Spanish and black blood.”
“I thought there were a great many folks here from the United States,” said Mark.
“People are coming in by every steamer, and it will not be long before Porto Rico will have all the Yankees it can profitably use. Then first-class railroads will be built and the mines developed, and some day the island will find itself rich.”
“Aren’t there any railroads now?” asked Hockley.
“Yes, but they do not amount to a great deal. Along the north shore there is a line from San Juan to Hatillo, on the west coast one from Aguadilla to Mayaguez, and on the south shore one from Yauco to Ponce, and that is all, so far as I know. There is none in the east, where one is badly needed, and none from the north side of the island to the south side. The only means of communication between San Juan, the principal city on the north, to Ponce, the capital on the south, is by means of the great military highway, which I mentioned to you before, and which was built years ago. This highway runs in an irregular course around the mountains and over the hills, and connects half a dozen important inland cities with the seacoast. What those cities are we shall see when we ride over the road from San Juan to Ponce, a distance of seventy-five miles or more.
“Unlike Cuba and Jamaica, Porto Rico has a great number of rivers and many of these are deep, so that ships of fair size can sail upon them. The water is very pure and some of it is shipped to other islands for drinking purposes.
“The raising of cattle and sheep forms an important industry and is carried on with ease, for there are no wild animals to molest the stock and very little disease.”
“No wild animals?” repeated Frank, and his face fell. “That means no hunting.”