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; while the meats are neither low in price nor good in quality.  Excellent fowls are to be had for very little money.  Milk is dear and dangerous; butter is only known as it appears in cans from Denmark; and all the other dairy products are of the meanest description.  Still, one can live with pleasure and comfort upon the many peculiarly native articles of subsistence in common use.

[Illustration:  “Promenade of the Fleas” in Yauco.]

[Illustration:  When only One Man gets a Letter.]

Rents are low, but satisfactory houses are seldom to be had when they are wanted.

There is always room in the hotels of the larger towns; and, until one can build for himself, a hotel offers a very pleasant substitute—­at a slightly increased expense.  Land, for building purposes, or in an unimproved state, can be leased for a sum that is almost nominal, except in a few highly favored localities.  Purchasers of land are more than likely to find themselves immediately embroiled in a lawsuit over the title.  If no flaw exists in your title, then it does exist in one that was drawn up a hundred years ago; and in either case the result is the same—­you lose.

Skilled workmen in any branch of industry will not find a good field for their abilities in Puerto Rico, at least not for a few years to come.  If there were any demand for their services,—­which there isn’t,—­they would not be able to command anything approaching the standard of wages usual in the United States.

To the investor, dairy farms, ice-plants, transportation schemes, and bar-rooms offer tempting possibilities,—­I reserve agriculture for separate consideration,—­but it cannot be too forcibly emphasized that plenty of money, good-health, patience, and a smattering of the Spanish language are absolutely indispensable requisites to the foreigner trying to do business on this island.

[Illustration:  The “Weary Travellers’ Spring,” near Anasco.]

[Illustration:  A Crude Sugar Mill near Las Marias.]

CHAPTER X

The End of the Campaign

Arrival of the mail-steamer—­The soldier-boy and his letters—­The greater part of the brigade is quartered in Mayaguez—­Agriculture in Puerto Rico—­Material result of our campaign—­A farewell order—­General Schwan departs for the United States.

On the 19th of August a steamer came into the harbor, bringing us a mail, the first we had received since the beginning of July.  If the people who wrote those letters could have seen the happiness they wrought upon their distant boys, I am sure they would have been surprised and touched.  Again and again we read the simple news of home,—­the cat was dead, or little sister had the mumps, or father had built a new fence around the back pasture,—­and wars and kings and presidents faded into forgetfulness before the heart to heart talks that had come from over-seas.