Almost all the people are cruel to their animals, yet they seem not to realize that they are doing wrong. It is a custom, that is all.
It makes us wish we might organize a society for the prevention of cruelty. It is, perhaps, the only thing that could change this custom.
* * * * *
THE FARMER AND HIS HOME.
Puerto Rico is a country of farmers. Nearly five-sixths of the people live in the country. Their homes are scattered along the valleys, on the hills, and even on the mountain tops; for the land is fertile everywhere.
[Illustration: THE PUERTO RICAN FARMER IN TOWN.]
We have seen the homes and home life of the people in the city. Now let us take a jaunt out into the country to see how the farmers and the plantation laborers live.
Here is a farmer now, coming down the street. He is on his way to the market. His horse is a thin, mean-looking little beast. His produce is carried in baskets, and his machete is sticking out of one of these.
This machete he always carries with him. He could not get along without it. It is a large, long, clumsy knife, something like a corn-cutter. Sometimes he uses it to cut a way for himself and pony through the forest, or on the bridle paths overgrown with plants and vines after the rainy season.
When he has sold his load of vegetables and fruit, we will ride out with him to his home and visit some of the plantations.