ses the steep
green-crested Jaicoa Mountain, its slopes covered with orange, lemon, and
palm trees in bewildering profusion; while half-way to the summit there
gushes forth a fairylike, crystal stream, which flows directly through the
town before emptying into the bay. An antique church and a little fort of
11 guns, called Conception, add to the scenic beauty of the picture, when
viewed from the sea. Tourists will probably spoil this lovely town before
the end of another decade, but at present it is a quivering page of
romance.

[Illustration: On the Road to Lares.]

[Illustration: The Best Outfit in our Wagon Train.]

Of the facilities for transportation in this part of Puerto Rico, it may
be said that they are either extremely good or extremely bad. The former
condition prevails generally in the valleys, and the latter among the hills
toward the interior. There are several interrupted lines of railroad, and
burros are used to a considerable extent by the inland planters; but far
the greater part of communication and carriage is accomplished by way of
the sea.

Labor here, as elsewhere in the tropics, is to be had very cheaply, but is
uncertain, sluggish, and dishonest. A man for plantation work can be hired
for almost nothing a day, but he will not earn even that unless he is
driven at the point of a machete. The local peon desires to toil no longer
than is necessary to obtain the bare wherewithal to fill his belly. Then
he dreams away the remainder of the day, smoking the eternal cigarette;
perhaps rousing himself sufficiently to pick the strings of a guitar in the
cool of the evening--and this, at least, the beggar does well. He is not
at all ambitious to improve his condition, and he will never be any better
than he is to-day. Probably he will be much worse. He will cut throats and
burn haciendas all the gay year round if he is not allowed to gang his ain
gait. We are going to reform him, of course; but--the day will come when
we shall be ashamed to look Spain in the face. In Cuba this man's brothers
were known as "patriots"; which meant that they were soldiers when there
was any work to be done, and laborers when fighting was on hand. In my
opinion, they are vicious beasts.

The cost of living naturally hinges upon the price of labor; and so one
may eat and drink in Puerto Rico for a trifle more than a song. Fruit and
vegetables are cheap and plentiful, though flour is so costly as to be
almost a luxury; whil