Canelones, situated in the midst of the departments of Montevideo, San José, Florida, Minas, and Maldonado, with a coast-line upon the River Plate, possesses an area of 4,751 square kilometres. It is one of the most populous departments, containing over ninety thousand inhabitants. Three railway-lines connect the district with Montevideo. Its chief towns are Guadeloupe, Santa Lucia, Pando, and Las Piedras, each of which contains some eight thousand inhabitants. Canelones is mainly devoted to pasture, agriculture, viticulture, and general fruit-growing. Florida is situated directly to the north of Canelones. Its area is 12,107 square kilometres and its population fifty thousand. Two lines of railway connect it with Montevideo. The chief town is Florida, the capital of the department, a city of ten thousand inhabitants. Until recent years Florida has been almost altogether given up to the pastoral industry; but of late agriculture has made great strides. San José is situated to the west of Canelones, and likewise possesses a coast-line on the River Plate. Its area is 6,932 square kilometres; population about fifty thousand. The department is connected with Montevideo by two railway lines. The principal town is San José de Mayo, with a population of just over twelve thousand inhabitants. Rather more than half the department is made up of rich pasture-lands, although the agricultural districts are increasing. In addition to fruit-growing and viticulture, the timber industry of San José is important, consisting of wood both for building purposes and for fuel. Durazno, to the north of Florida, is the most central department in the Republic, and contains a population of fifty thousand inhabitants. It is connected by a railway line with Montevideo, and its chief city is San Pedro del Durazno, whose inhabitants number eleven thousand. The department is essentially a pastoral one, and is especially well watered, being served by the Rivers Negro and Yi, and by countless tributaries and smaller streams. Flores, situated to the west of Durazno, contains twenty thousand inhabitants. Almost half this number are residents of the capital, Trinidad. Flores is not yet served by a railway, and it is probably for this reason that so many of its districts, admirably adapted for agriculture, still remain essentially pastoral. In Flores is a very curious grotto, sustained by natural arches and columns, that has been the source of much geological controversy.