THAT is how an American traveler described the mountains of Porto Rico. At every turn of the splendid system of roads, which covers the Island, there are new and beautiful vistas. Now a deep barranca, or ravine, yawns beneath the road, and one looks into dim depths where groves of bananas, coffee and fruit trees nestle. Across range after range of steep, green hills loom towering mountains, their summits draped in clouds and their sides cultivated and verdant with growing crops. Here and there are long avenues of flaming poinciana trees or, suddenly, the road passes through great clumps of towering, feathery bamboo. Wayside fondas, or country' stores, wattled huts and sheds roofed with ancient Spanish tile, line the settled stretches. New scenes, new sites and new interests confront the motorist who tours Porto Rico, and the roads, enduring monuments to the skill of the Spanish engineers who built them, are the equal of any found in the States.

The Military Road, which links San Juan, on one side of the island, with Ponce, on the other, is the most popular with Island and visiting motorists. Speeding on the downward ascent toward Ponce the whole character of the country changes; moss, tree-ferns and other tropical growths disappear; one passes through a scene that might be in the New England States. Thick, bushy trees replace the bamboo; meadows and hillside are covered with waving grass in which cattle and ponies graze. It might be in the Berkshire Hills. Soon an avenue of poinciana trees appears ahead; one is in the outlying streets of Ponce, and the illusion is gone.

Ox-carts and antiquated vehicles, victorias, luxurious touring cars, noisy motorcycles and the ubiquitous flivver crowd the lower levels; but, in the less traveled portions of the Island, connecting trails tempt only the most hardy of horsemen, for their precipitous grades and slippery surfaces can be negotiated in safety by native horses only. The Government is rapidly improving the better trails.