st-class hotels, 3 barracks, a park,
gas works, a perfectly equipped fire department, a bank, thermal
and natural baths, etc. Commercially, Ponce is the second city of
importance on the island. A fine road leads to the port (Playa),
where all the import and export trade is transacted. Playa has about
5,000 inhabitants, and here are situated the custom house, the office
of the captain of the port, and all the consular offices. The port
is spacious and will hold vessels of 25 feet draft. The climate,
on account of the sea breezes during the day and land breezes at
night, is not oppressive, but very hot and dry; and, as water for
all purposes, including the fire department, is amply supplied by
an aqueduct 4,442 yards long, it is said that the city of Ponce is
perhaps the healthiest place in the whole island. There is a stage
coach to San Juan, Mayaguez, Guayama, etc. There is a railroad to
Yauco, a post office, and a telegraph station.

It is believed that Ponce was founded in 1600; it was given the title
of villa in 1848, and in 1877 that of city. Of its 34 streets the best
are Mayor, Salud, Villa, Vives, Marina, and Comercio. The best squares
are Principal and Las Delicias, which are separated by the church of
Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. The church, as old as the town itself,
began to be reconstructed in 1838 and was finished in 1847. It is
86 yards long by 43 broad, and has two steeples, rich altars, and
fine ornaments.

The theater is called the Pearl, and it deserves this name, for it is
the finest on the island. It has a sculptured porch, on the Byzantine
order, with very graceful columns. It is mostly built of iron and
marble and cost over 70,000 pesos. It is 52 yards deep by 29 wide. The
inside is beautiful, the boxes and seats roomy and nicely decorated. It
may, by a mechanical arrangement, be converted into a dancing hall.

About 1 1/8 miles northeast of the town are the Quintana thermal
baths, in a building surrounded by pretty gardens. They are visited
by sufferers from rheumatism and various other diseases.

San Juan is a perfect specimen of a walled town, with portcullis, moat,
gates, and battlements. The wall surrounding this town is defended
by several batteries. Facing the harbor are those of San Fernando,
Santa Catalina, and Santa Toribio. Looking toward the land side is
Fort Abanico, and toward the ocean the batteries of San Antonio,
San Jose, and Santa Teresa, and Fort Princesa. The land part has