We have seen the homes and home life of the people in the city. Now let us take a jaunt out into the country to see how the farmers and the plantation laborers live. Here is a farmer now, coming down the street. He is on his way to the market. His horse is a thin, mean-looking little beast. His produce is carried in baskets, and his machete is sticking out of one of these. This machete he always carries with him. He could not get along without it. It is a large, long, clumsy knife, something like a corn-cutter. Sometimes he uses it to cut a way for himself and pony through the forest, or on the bridle paths overgrown with plants and vines after the rainy season. When he has sold his load of vegetables and fruit, we will ride out with him to his home and visit some of the plantations. We saw many peasant farmers and laborers in the market place, and found them polite, shrewd, bright in conversation, but very ignorant and somewhat indolent. They are quite content with their way of living, and take no thought for the future. A Puerto Rican farmer thinks himself rich and fortunate if he owns a horse, a cow, some game-cocks, a gun and an acre of land. He is simple in his tastes and buys little in the market. His rice flour, corn meal and coffee he has prepared at home, by pounding in wooden mortars or grinding between stones. His patch of land he plants with corn, sweet potatoes and other vegetables. Bananas, plantains and other fruits grow wild and may be had for the picking. His vegetables, fruit and poultry he takes to the market and sells, but only when compelled to do so by necessity. This money is spent for clothing or other articles, or perhaps lost in gambling. Only the lightest kind of clothing is necessary; for the coldest days are not so cold as our mild autumn days. The dress of the farmer consists of a cotton jacket, white shirt and check pantaloons. His head is protected from the hot rays of the sun by a large broad-brimmed hat. This is made from the grass which grows around his doorway. No shoes are needed. The dress of his wife is a simple white cotton gown, and his children wear no clothes at all. [Illustration: HOME OF A PEASANT FARMER OF THE BETTER CLASS.] The houses or homes of the peasant farmers are nearly all alike. They are built in a few days, from poles and royal palm bark. They are thatched with leaves of the palm or with grass. These huts are usually divided into two rooms. There are no chimneys, often no windows, and but one door. A very poor house, you think; but then it is only intended for a shelter. It shields them from the damp and cool winds of night and the daily rains of the rainy season. At other times they live outside. There is no stove, and of cooking utensils there are few. The cooking is done for the most part outside the house, when the weather is dry, on a sheet of iron or in an iron kettle. The food is served in gourd dishes and eaten with gourd spoons.