the West Indies. There are a college and a fine botanical garden. Within the latter stands the magnificent residence of the Governor, and there are many other handsome buildings in the suburbs. The harbor can accommodate vessels of the heaviest draught. The port is the principal place of shipment for the products of the Orinoco region. Population, in 1891, 33,782; in 1901, 54,100.
PORTO MAGGIORE, pōr′tō̇ mȧd-jō′rā̇. A town in the Province of Ferrara, Italy, situated on an island in the lagoons of the Commachio, about 15 miles by rail southeast of Ferrara (Map: Italy, F 3). The products are grain, beet root, and rope, and there is a trade in cattle and fish. Population (commune), in 1901, 20,162.
PORTO MAURIZIO, mou-rēt′sē̇-ō̇. The capital of the Province of Porto Maurizio, Italy, situated on a promontory projecting into the Ligurian Sea, 58 miles by rail southwest of Genoa (Map: Italy, C 4). It is a winter resort, has a fine church, a library, a theatre, a technical institute, and a school of navigation. There is a shipping trade in olive oil, agricultural produce, and fish. Population (commune), in 1901, 7141.
PORTO NOVO, nō′vō̇. The capital of the French West African colony of Dahomey, situated a short distance from the Gulf of Guinea and connected by a lagoon with the seaport of Kotonu. It trades in palm oil and kernels. Porto Novo was the capital of the negro State of the same name, incorporated in 1893, with the colony of Dahomey. Population, estimated at 50,000.
PORTO NOVO. A seaport town of Madras, British India, situated on the Coromandel Coast, 15 miles south of Cuddalore (Map: India, D 6). Both the Portuguese and the Dutch had a factory here in the seventeenth century. Porto Novo is celebrated for its iron foundry, which supplied much of the material for the Madras railways, but is chiefly famous for the battle fought here on July 1, 1781, when Sir Eyre Coote, retreating after his defeat at Chidambaram, was again attacked by Hyder Ali with an oerwhelming force, and by adroit strategy routed his assailants with great loss. Population of Porto Novo, called by the natives Parangipetta, about 14,100.
PORTO RICAN EXPEDITION, Military and Naval Society of the. A patriotic society projected at Caguas, Porto Rico, October 11, 1898, and organized at Columbus, Ohio, June 5, 1900. It comprises: (1) Active members, who as officers or enlisted men in any branch of the United States service with the Porto Rican expedition were on the island before or on October 18, 1898, the date of the raising of the American flag over the Capitol at San Juan; (2) associate members, who are soldiers or sailors of good reputation belonging to organizations or vessels which composed the expedition, but who were detained in the United States by sickness or disability, or on detached service, as well as members of the Red Cross Society, volunteer nurses, etc., who served with the army in Porto Rico; and (3) honorary members. The membership, which is about 500, is distributed among departments, as follows: Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and District of Columbia.
PORTO RICO, pōr′tō̇ rē′kō̇ (Sp. Puerto Rico, Rich Port). An island of the West Indies, the most easterly of the Great Antilles, the smallest among them, but the first in density of population. It lies between latitudes 17° 50′ and 18° 30′ N. and longitudes 65° 30′ and 67° 15′ W., is nearly 1200 miles from the equator, 1000 miles from Havana and Key West, 1500 from New York, and 3000 from Cadiz, Spain. It is roughly rectangular in shape, nearly three times as long as it is broad, the greater axis extending almost directly east and west. Length, about 100 miles; area, 3676 square miles, or about three times that of Rhode Island. It contrasts sharply with the other Great Antilles in appearance, for its mountains are lower and on the whole it presents a hilly and picturesque rather than a mountainous aspect. A number of islands lie off the coast, but only three are of importance, Mona in the west and Vieques and Culebra in the east.
Topography. The coast line is about 360 miles in length, with comparatively few important indentations. Around the whole periphery of the island are numerous fluvial valleys disposed at right angles to the coast. The coastal plains comprise about one-tenth of the area. There are a few headlands along the coasts, which, however, are usually low, especially on the southern side. They also lack the fringing keys such as border Cuba.
Passing across the island from east to west, a little south of the middle, is a broken irregular range of hills or low mountains which toward the eastern end trend to the northeast and culminate in the peak of El Yunque, 3609 feet high. Elsewhere the range is from 2000 to 3000 feet in altitude, with a few summits over 3000 feet and passes a little below 2000 feet. The range is known by various names in different parts of the island, Cordillera Central, Sierra de Cayey, and Sierra de Luquilla in the northeast. From this backbone of the island the land slopes north and south, its steep hilly surface deeply cut by streams. Toward the coast it becomes more nearly level until it spreads away to the sea edge in broad, level, alluvial, fertile plains.
Hydrography. The central range of mountains forms the water parting of the island, most of the streams rising on its slopes and flowing northward or southward. Those flowing north have the longer courses and gentler slopes, and some of them are navigable for several miles by small boats and flat boats. The southern streams are not useful for navigation, and nearly all the Porto Rican rivers have troublesome bars at their mouths. The principal rivers are the Loiza or Rio Grande, Bayamon, Morovis, Plata, Cibuco, Manati, Arecibo, and Blanco, which flow to the north coast; the Culebrinas, Anasco, Guanajibo, and Mayaguez, flowing to the west; the Portugés, Jacaguas, Coamo, and Guamani, to the south; and the Humacao, Naguabo, and Fajardo to the east. The rivers give great facilities for water and steam power and irrigation. One reason why Porto Rico is more healthful than the other Antilles is because the streams afford such excellent drainage that there is an almost total absence of stagnant water. There are eight small lakes on the north, east, and south slopes of the island.
Climate. Though the island is in the tropics, it is also under the régime of the persistent
