The iguana is a lizard which feeds on fruits and vegetables. It grows to three or four feet in length, and is an ugly looking creature. It will not fight unless you compel it to do so. It does not live in the water, but in trees, bushes, and in the cracks and fissures of rocks. Sometimes hunters build fires at the entrance of their hiding places and smoke them out. The flesh, when cooked, resembles chicken or veal, and is a popular dish with the natives. But the most delicious meat of all comes from the land crabs and the crayfish. These are caught in great numbers when the crabs migrate from the mountains to the coast. Once a year they make this journey, for the purpose of depositing their eggs in the sand. The sea fisheries are important to the people of Puerto Rico. The coast waters and fresh water streams swarm with fishes of strange shapes and gaudy colors. Among these are the shad, sardines, Spanish mackerel, dolphins, flying fish, sting rays and sharks. The sponge, the manatee and the whale are also found near the island. Suppose some one were to ask you to what kingdom the sponge belonged. Could you tell? Many years ago people believed that it belonged to the vegetable kingdom; but it is now known to belong to the animal kingdom. The animals attach themselves to rocks, shells and other hard substances below water. Mussels, clams and sponges are cultivated to some extent. Mollusks are useful in many other ways than as food. Their shells are used for making buttons, parasol handles and shirt studs. Sometimes they are used for making roads. Many shiploads of these shells are brought to New York from Puerto Rico and other parts of the West Indies every year. * * * * * PLANT LIFE. Puerto Rico seems to us to be one big flower garden. All kinds of fruit grow wild and most wild plants blossom and bear fruit several times a year. Cultivated fruits, flowers and vegetables are planted several times a year in order that a fresh supply may always be at hand. Flowers bloom every month of the year, but are most plentiful in June. Ferns, in some instances, grow to spreading trees, with graceful drooping fronds. Many plants have colored leaves which are as brilliant as the flowers themselves. [Illustration: BRANCH AND FRUIT OF THE CACAO TREE.] Everywhere grow trees and shrubs valuable for their fruit or for their medicinal qualities. The leading crops are sugar cane, coffee and tobacco. Over one-half of the exports consists of coffee, and a little less than one-fourth, of sugar. Cacao and fruits make a large part of the remainder. [Illustration: A PUERTO RICAN SUGAR MILL.] Rice forms the chief food of the laboring classes, and this grows, not on the wet lowlands, as in our country, but on the mountain sides. Bananas and plantains are two of the important food products. Next to these, the yam and the sweet potato form the diet of the natives.