ountain of perpetual
youth for which he so long sought in vain. In this chimerical idea,
however, as in Florida, he was doomed to disappointment.

The original name of the island is said to have been Borinquen, and the
population of the natives, who were of the same race as the inhabitants
of the other islands of the Greater Antilles, has been estimated at six
hundred thousand.

Dr. C. T. Bedwell, recently British consul at Porto Rico, has published
a most interesting report in regard to the aborigines, and from this
report we have obtained considerable of the information which follows.

Among the Sibaros, or sallow people of to-day, one rarely sees a
physical trace of Indian descent, although in their mode of living much
of Indian character exists. Fray Inigo Abbad, who wrote a work on Porto
Rico, published in Madrid in 1878, says that when the Spaniards first
came to Porto Rico "it was as thickly populated as a beehive, and so
beautiful that it resembled a garden." Fray Inigo says that the color of
the Indians of Porto Rico was the copper color known to the aborigines
of America, though they were of a sallow and somewhat darker complexion.
They were shorter in stature than the Spaniards, stout and
well-proportioned. They had flat noses with wide nostrils, bad teeth and
narrow foreheads. Their heads were flat, both in front and at the back,
"because," says the author, "they were pressed into this shape at the
time of their birth." They had long, thin, coarse hair, and, according
to Fray Inigo, they were without hair on their face or on other parts of
their body. This, however, is disputed by some writers.

The small quantity and little substance of the food they used, the
facility with which they supplied material wants without labor, the
excessive heat of the climate, and the absence of quadrupeds for the
exercise of hunting, caused them, he says, to be weak and indolent, and
averse to labor of all kinds. Anything that was not necessary to satisfy
the pangs of hunger, or that did not afford amusement, such as hunting
or fishing, was regarded with indifference. Neither the hope of reward
nor the fear of punishment would tempt them to seek the one or to avoid
the other.

Fray Inigo admits, however, that there were some exceptions among them,
and says that some of the Indians displayed much bravery and strength in
the contests with the Spanish soldiers.

Their forms were light and free, and there were no cripples a