xpense. Of the 1,300 streams, forty-seven are considerable rivers.

TIMBER IN ABUNDANCE AND VARIETY.

Forests still cover all the elevated parts of the hill country of the
interior, the inhabitants living mostly along the coast. The main need
to set the interior teeming with a thrifty and healthy population is a
system of good roads. The interior, with the exception of a few
extensive savannas, is one vast expanse of rounded hills, covered with
such rich soil that they may be cultivated to their summits. At present
these forests are accessible only by mule tracks. "The timber of the
island," says our official report, "comprises more than five hundred
varieties of trees, and in the more elevated regions the vegetation of
the temperate zones is not unknown. On the hills is found a luxuriant
and diversified vegetation, tree-ferns and mountain palms being
abundant. At a lower level grow many varieties of trees noted for their
useful woods, such as the mahogany, cedar, walnut, and laurel. The
mammee, guaiacum, and copal, besides other trees and shrubs valuable for
their gum, flourish in all parts of the island. The coffee tree and
sugar cane, both of which grow well at an altitude of a thousand feet or
more, were introduced into the island--the former from Martinique in
1722, the latter from the Canaries, through Santo Domingo. Tobacco grows
easily in the lowlands, while maize, pineapples, bananas, etc., are all
prolific. The banana and plantain bear fruit within ten months after
planting, and like the cocoa palm, live through an ordinary life-time."

MINERALS AND MINING.

"The mineral resources of the island," says our consul in his report,
"have been very little developed, the only mineral industry of any
importance being the salt works situated at Guanica, Salinas, and Cabo
Rojo. Sulphides of copper and magnetic oxides of iron are found in large
quantities, and formerly gold to a considerable extent was found in many
of the streams. At present the natives still wash out nuggets by the
crude process in use in the time of Ponce de Leon. Marble, carbonates,
lignite, and amber are also present in varying quantities, and hot
springs and mineral waters occur, the best known ones being at Coamo,
near Santa Isabel."

COMMERCE.

The commerce of Porto Rico amounted, in 1896, to $36,624,120, exceeding
the records of all previous years; the increase, no doubt, being largely
due to the unsettled condition of Cuba. The valu