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To the northwest and following a direction almost parallel with the northern coast, the Sierra of Lares extends from Aguadilla to the town of Lares, where it divides into two branches, one going north nearly to the coast, near Arecibo harbor, and the other extending to the spurs of the Sierra Grande de Banos; this latter starting from Point Guaniquilla, crosses the island in its entire length, its last third forming the Sierra of Cayey.

The Coamo river is bounded on the west and north by the Sierra Grande, and on the west by the Coamo ridge. It rises in the former of these sierras, and flowing from north to south it empties east of Coamo Point, after having watered the town of its name. The Salinas river is bounded on the west by the Coamo ridge, on the north by the general divide, and on the east by the Cayey ridge.

General Brooke's force, in three strong columns, had begun an advance toward Cayey to form a junction there with General Wilson's division, which had been making its way along the main road from Ponce to San Juan. Three miles out General Brooke's troops came upon a force of Spanish occupying strong intrenchments on the top of a mountain.

It rises in the sierra of Cayey, and, with the name of Pinones river, it flows northwest, passing through Aibonito, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, and Dorado, where it discharges into the Atlantic to the west of the preceding river. The Manati river is bounded on the cast and south by the Sierra Grande and on the west by the Siales ridge.

From the latter place it proceeds almost eastward to Cayey, and there it takes a winding course to the north as far as Caquas. Thence it turns west to Aquas Buenos, and then goes straight north through Guaynola and Rio Piedras to San Juan. The entire length of this highway is about eighty-five miles. The distance from Ponce to San Juan, as the bird flies, is only forty-five miles.

Aybonito, with its acclimatization station, 970 yards; Adjuntas, an almost exclusively Spanish town, 810 yards; Cayey, with a very agreeable climate, 750 yards; Lares, with a very agreeable climate, 510 yards; Utuado, with a very agreeable climate, 480 yards; Muricao, an exclusively Spanish town, 480 yards. To ascend to all these towns there are very good wagon roads.

It rises in the northern slopes of the sierra of Cayey, and, running in a northwest direction for the first half of its course and turning to northeast in the second half, it arrives at Loisa, a port on the northern coast, where it discharges its waters into the Atlantic. During the first part of its course it is known by the name of Cayagua.

It is about eighty-five miles long, and a young Porto Rican told the writer that he frequently went over it on his bicycle, and it was splendid all the way. Another road from Guayama, meeting the Ponce road at Cayey, has been recently finished.