Of the 850,000 people, less than one half are colored or of mixed blood.
The upper class of white Puerto Ricans is descended from Spanish stock, and in this class are found the wealthy planters and stock raisers, the merchants, and the professional men.
They are a happy, good-looking, hospitable, polite, and prosperous people. Many of them are fairly well educated.
In appearance these people resemble the Cubans, having regular features and dark hair and eyes.
The men are not large, but are well built, erect and graceful.
The women have clear complexions, delicate features, and small hands and feet.
Heavy clothing is not worn. The men dress in white (light linen or cotton), and the women in cotton or other thin material.
The ladies of the family are secluded very closely. They spend much of their time in the patios or on the balconies of their homes, embroidering, making lace, and gossiping. They care little for reading or for study.
The Puerto Rican is generous and hospitable. He tells you, as does the Cuban, that his house and all it contains, his servants, his horses, his possessions, are yours to use and to have.
But of course he does not mean that you shall accept these gifts. He means that he expects you to use them freely so long as you are a guest in his house.