Porto Rico

Porto Rico, one of the Spanish West India Islands, lying 70 miles E. of Hayti, and having an area of 3,530 square miles. Oblong in shape, it is divided by a mountain ridge into two unequal parts, the northern being the larger. The lower grounds yield sugar, coffee, tobacco, cotton, rice, and fruits of all kinds in abundance, and the mountain forests are rich in valuable timber. The capital, St. John's, or San Juan Bautista, is upon a small detached island off the N. coast. Discovered by Columbus in 1493 and occupied in, 1511, Porto Rico has been ever since in Spanish hands.