Among these are mahogany, cedar, ebony, and lignum-vitae trees.
Logwood and other dye materials are common.
Many varieties of the palm flourish here, - the cocoanut palm producing
fruit in greater abundance than in any other country of the West Indies.
THE COCOA PALM.
The most abundant cocoanut groves in the world are said to be found on
Puerto Rico and the other islands of the Antilles. This tree usually
grows near the coast, for it loves the salt water; but it is sometimes
found on the hill slopes a short distance inland.
"The tree grows to a height of from sixty to eighty feet, lives a
hundred years, bears a hundred nuts each year, and is said to have a
hundred uses for man."
The trees bear such heavy burdens of fruit that it seems impossible that
so slender a trunk could hold such a weight of fruit in the air. The
fruit is expensive when it comes to us, because of the difficulty in
climbing the trees, gathering the nuts, and removing from them the heavy
fibrous husks.
[Illustration: GATHERING COCOANUTS.]
Here is a negro gathering cocoanuts. Let us watch him. He climbs the
tall tree, dragging a rope after him. About his waist is a belt in which
is thrust a machete.
He hacks off a bunch of the nuts and attaches it to the end of the rope.
It is then lowered to another negro or to the ground.
