Here and there herds of horses and cattle and flocks of sheep graze on
the plains. When we approach the flocks of sheep, we discover a very
curious thing. The wool on these sheep is not at all like the wool on
the sheep raised in our own country. It is more like the hair of the
goat.
Cattle are highly valued by the people, not only for dairy and food
purposes, but as beasts of burden and draft.
Outside of the large plantations, crops are raised on a small scale; and
modern implements and machinery are almost unknown.
[Illustration: A MOUNTAIN VILLAGE IN PUERTO RICO.]
Most of the land is divided up into very small farms or garden patches,
or is taken up by groves.
In the interior of the country are many little villages, shut out from
the rest of the world. We reach them by the narrow horse-trails that
wind in and out among the mountains.
THE LABORER'S HILLSIDE HOME.
Perched on the hilltops and sides, shaded by banana trees, are the
picturesque little huts of the laborers. Most of them pay no rent. Land
owners give them small patches of ground on the hillsides, which they
themselves do not care to till, in order to have the laborers near or on
the plantations to assist in cultivating or harvesting the sugar cane,
tobacco and coffee crops.
