We find the three establishments for
the preparation of coffee for market very interesting places to visit.
MAYAGUEZ.
Leaving Aguadilla for Mayaguez, we take the tramway which connects the
two towns. It is the only one on the island, and the people are very
proud of it. But oh, what a ridiculous little road!
It is a narrow gauge, not more than forty-seven inches wide. The cars
are quite diminutive, and do not carry more than ten or twelve people.
We can ride the length of the road, about two miles, for five cents.
We see long lines of patient oxen plodding their way to the city,
pulling clumsy carts piled high with oranges. Mayaguez is the market to
which the best oranges in Puerto Rico come.
Large, sweet, and luscious we find this fruit, the principal food of
many of the people.
It grows wild by the roadside, in the valleys, everywhere except on the
hillsides. Such quantities of oranges! It seems as if enough of the
fruit is grown in Puerto Rico to supply the whole of the United States.
Yet very few oranges are sent away from the island. They can not be
shipped profitably until good roads are built.
The city of Mayaguez claims a population of 20,000 people.
