GUIANA, British

GUIANA, British, the most westerly of the three colonies, is bounded on the N. and N.E. by the Atlantic, E. by Dutch Guiana, from which it is separated by the River Correntyn, S. by Brazil, and W. by Venezuela. It lies between N. Lat. 0. 40. and 8. 40., and W. Long. 57. and 61., and has an estimated area of 76,000 square miles; but the possession of much of this has been disputed by Brazil and Venezuela. It is divided into three counties, Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice, so named from the three principal rivers which drain them. Demerara, situated between the other two, occupies the centre of the seaboard for nearly 90 miles. To the N.W. the county of Essequibo stretches along the coast towards the swamps and forests of the western frontier; and to the S.E. lies the county of Berbice.

The entire coast of British Guiana is low, and generally bordered with a sandy flat extending far out to sea, so that vessels drawing more than 12 feet of water cannot approach within 2 or 3 miles of land. The rivers, too, deposit at their mouths large quantities of mud and sand, and are thus inaccessible to vessels of large size. Extending from low-water mark to a distance of 5 or 6 miles inland, is a tract of rich alluvial soil of recent formation. This is succeeded

by a flat narrow reef of sand running exactly parallel with the present line of coast. Here remains of stranded vessels and anchors eaten through with rust have been found, indicating that within a comparatively recent period it had been washed by the waves of the Atlantic. Running parallel to this reef, at irregular distances, varying from 10 to 20 miles, is a second and higher range, composed of coarse white sand; and which at a period more remote probably formed the sea-limit. In the wet seasons the intermediate tract between these two reefs becomes the bed of extensive savannas; for the creeks being then unable to carry off the torrents of rain which fall, overflow their level banks, and inundate the surrounding country to the depth of 5 or 6 feet. On the return of dry weather the waters gradually subside, leaving behind them a thick layer of decayed grasses and aquatic plants which had floated and flourished on their surface, and these in time produce a vegetable mould of considerable thickness. Beyond the second reef are swampy plains, intersected by sand-reefs, and extending to the mountainous regions of the interior. The high land does not rise immediately from the plain to a great elevation, but begins with a range of sand hills of from 50 to 200 feet above the plain. Behind these the high land stretches out in level or undulating plains, rising here and there into eminences. About N. Lat. 5., a mountain chain, an off-set of the Orinoco Mountains, and composed of granite, gneiss, and other primitive rocks, runs from W. to E. through this territory, forming large cataracts where it is crossed by the rivers, and rising frequently to the height of 1000 feet above the sea. About a degree farther south is the Pacaraima chain, which, in like manner, runs from W. to E., and is of primitive formation. Its highest point, called by the natives Roraima, in N. Lat. 5. 9. 30., W. Long. 60. 47., is 7500 feet above the level of the sea. The plains south of this range are in general level, and form extensive savannas, covered with grasses and plants. The Sierra Acarai is a densely-wooded chain of mountains, forming the southern boundary of Guiana, and the watershed between the basins of the Amazon and the Essequibo. This chain rises to the height of 4000 feet. The Conocou or Cannucu Mountains, running S.E. and N.W., connect the Pacaraima with the Sierra Acarai.

The principal river of British Guiana is the Essequibo, which rises in the Sierra Acarai, and after a course of at least 600 miles, discharges itself into the ocean by an estuary 20 miles in width, in N. Lat. 7., W. Long. 58. 40. In the estuary of the Essequibo are a group of beautiful islands partially cultivated, the principal of which are Varken or Hog Island, about 21 miles in length by 3 in breadth, Wakenam and Leguan, each about 12 miles by 3, and Tiger Island, about half that size. The entrance is difficult and dangerous, even for vessels of small size, on account of the banks of mud and sand. Its course lies through forests of the most gigantic vegetation. In N. Lat. 3. 14. 35., it forms a great cataract, named by Schomburgk, King William's Cataract. In N. Lat. 3. 57. 30., and W. Long. 58. 3., it receives the Rupumoon, which has a course of about 220 miles. At various points of its course it forms rapids and cataracts which impede its navigation. About 60 miles from its mouth occur the last of these, the Falls of Etabally, after which it pursues its course through the low alluvial plain. In this part of its course it receives the united waters of the Cuyuni and the Massaroony. The Demerara or Demerary rises probably near N. Lat. 5., and after a northward course, nearly parallel with the Essequibo, of more than 200 miles, it enters the Atlantic near N. Lat. 6. 50., W. Long. 58. 20. It is navigable for 85 miles, and at its mouth at Georgetown it is more than a mile and a half across. Farther east runs the Berbice, whose source is probably about N. Lat. 3. 40. It joins the Atlantic by an estuary 5 miles in width, 10 miles N. of New Amsterdam, and in

Guiana. N. Lat. 6. 21., W. Long. 57. 12. It is navigable for 165 miles from the sea, by vessels drawing 7 feet water. The Corentyn which forms the eastern boundary of British Guiana, and probably has its source in the Sierra Acarai, flows generally northward and falls into the Atlantic in N. Lat. 6., W. Long. 57. It is navigable for boats for 150 miles. The mineral productions of Guiana are necessarily but imperfectly known. Clays of various kinds, including excellent pipe-clay, are found near the coast. The chief rocks are granite, porphyry, gneiss, clay-slate, sandstone, &c. Traces of iron are found in various parts; and gold has been recently (in 1852) discovered in considerable quantities on the Upper Essequibo.

The climate of Guiana is more healthy than that of most places in the West Indies. Its salubrity has been much increased since the occupation of the country by Europeans, the gradual clearing and cultivation of the surface having done much to mitigate those diseases so fatal in a low, marshy, and hot region. The hurricanes so destructive in the West Indies are unknown here, and gales are unfrequent. Thunderstorms occur only during the rainy seasons, but like the few occasional shocks of earthquakes, are not attended with danger. The year is divided into two wet and two dry seasons. The long rainy season sets in about the middle of April, when light showers begin to fall. The rain increases till the middle of June, when it falls in torrents; in the beginning of July these heavy rains begin to decrease; and in August the long dry season begins, and continues till November. December and January constitute the short rainy season, and February and March the short dry season. The winds during the rains are generally westerly; in the dry season they blow mostly from the ocean, loaded with moisture, and thus render the heat less oppressive than it would otherwise be. The thermometer seldom rises above 90°, and rarely falls below 75° Fahr. The mean annual temperature at Georgetown is 81° 2'; the total annual fall of rain averages about 100 inches.

The vegetation of Guiana is most luxuriant. The interior is thickly wooded with valuable timber, with the exception of the swamps of Berbice and the savannahs. The trees are of great size, and many of them are valuable for their timber or their fruits, or as dyewoods. Medicinal plants, including quassia, gentian, the castor-oil plant, and many others, are abundant. Arnotto, so extensively used in the colouring of cheese, grows wild in profusion on the banks of the Upper Corentyn. That largest of the water lilies, the Victoria Regia, was first discovered here by Mr Schomburgk on the banks of the Berbice. The hai-arry, an indigenous plant deserving of notice, is a papilionaceous vine, the root of which contains a powerful narcotic, and is commonly used by the Indians in poisoning the waters to take the fish, which are not thereby deteriorated.

The domestic animals are the same as those in England, and the wild animals are those common to tropical South America generally. Black cattle here attain a larger size than in Europe, but their flesh is not so tender nor so fine flavoured. The wool of the sheep is converted into hair. Game, chiefly deer, range the upper savannahs. Tigers, little inferior in size to those of Asia, but different in character, being rarely known to attack man, abound; as do also jaguars, which prey upon the herds of wild cattle and horses that graze on the extensive plains among the mountains. Among the other animals are the tapir, armadillo, agouti, ant-bear, sloth, and a great variety of monkeys. Lizards, snakes, and alligators are numerous. There are several kinds of parrots, mackaws, and humming-birds; also the flamingo, Muscovy duck, toucan, spoonbill, and vampire bat. Troublesome insects are numerous, as might be expected from the swampy nature of the coast districts. The rivers and coast abound with a great variety of fish.

The cultivated portion of British Guiana is merely a nar-

row strip along the sea-coast, and for a few miles up the rivers, including a portion of the islands of Essequibo. The whole surface of the coast lands being on a level with high-water mark, when these lands are drained and cultivated they consolidate and become fully a foot below it, so that the estates require to be protected from inundation by dams and sluices. Each estate has therefore a strong dam or embankment in front; while a similar erection at the back or inland boundary, as well as on each side, is requisite to keep off the immense body of water accumulated on the savannahs during the wet seasons, and which, if not repelled, would rush down to the sea, carrying everything before it. The state of his dams, therefore, requires the planter's unremitting attention; not the slightest hole or leakage is allowed to exist in them, and by law their wilful injury is considered felony. One inundation destroys a sugar estate for eighteen months, and a coffee one for six years. "The original cost of damming and cultivating is fully paid by the first crop, and the duration of the crops is from 30 to 50 years; so that though great capital is required for the first outlay, the comparative expense of cultivation is a mere trifle compared with that of the West India Islands, notwithstanding that the expense of works, buildings, and machinery may be treble or quadruple, being built on an adequate scale for half a century of certain production." (Geog. Jour., vol. iv., 323.) Inside and at the foot of these dams are trenches 12 to 18 feet wide, and 5 feet deep, running round the whole plantation, and into these, smaller trenches and open drains convey the water that falls upon the land. These large trenches discharge their contents into the sea through one or more sluices, which are opened as the tide ebbs, and shut against the returning flood.

The staple productions of the colony are sugar, coffee, and cotton. From an official table of the exports of British Guiana from 1826 to 1851, we find that in 1827, 15,904 bales of cotton were exported; but from that period this cultivation gradually gave place to sugar, and in 1844 ceases to appear in the table as an article of export. Since 1851, however, it seems to have received more attention, for among the exports from British Guiana into the United Kingdom in 1854, we find 1093 cwt. of cotton. Coffee, from upwards of 9,500,000 lbs. in 1830, gradually fell off to only 3198 lbs. in 1851. As to sugar, making a due allowance for the difference of seasons, the quantity exported remained pretty steady from 1826 to 1837, the year preceding the termination of the apprenticeships, averaging about 66,000 hogsheads; but in the year following that event it fell down to nearly half its former average, being in 1839 only 3827 hhd. In 1846 it had sunk as low as 26,201 hhd., owing in a great measure to a protracted drought through a great part of that season. In 1851, 43,034 hhd. were exported. In proportion to the sugar obtained the quantity of molasses is large, owing partly to the defects of the common process of preparation, but chiefly to the fact that the soil is so rich an alluvium, and so abundant in alkaline and earthy saline matter. Little of the molasses is boiled down into sugar in the colony; it is chiefly made into rum, or sold to the refiners, by whom it is much prized. In 1851 the quantity of molasses exported was 9530 puncheons. Although the rum produced in this colony does not equal in character that of Jamaica, it yet occupies a respectable place in the market. The quantity exported in 1851 was 15,848 puncheons. With respect to the cultivation of the sugar cane, by reason of the lowness of the land and the plan of drainage in use—namely, that known as the open-drain and round-bed method—the system of cultivation remains exactly as in the times of slavery, every part of the operations of culture being performed by manual labour. The plough and other implements have been tried, but cannot succeed in effecting a cheap and effective tillage till a system of covered drainage is resorted

Guiana. to. It is said that "were the system of drainage improved so as to admit of cattle and implemental labour, and were a mixed system in which the rearing and feeding of cattle formed a part, and a judicious system of manuring adopted, there is good reason to believe that three times our present return would be secured, and at little greater cost than the present." Among its other cultivated products are Indian corn, rice, tobacco, indigo, yams, sweet potatoes, and arrow-root. According to the governor's report for 1851, "the revenue has been flourishing, population augmenting, education spreading, crime diminishing, and trade increasing." The commercial state of the colony is still flourishing. In 1853 the value of imports from Great Britain was L.456,803; from British colonies, L.134,817; and from foreign countries, L.255,563—being in all L.847,183. Exports to Great Britain, L.958,616; to British colonies, L.26,856; to foreign countries, L.29,472—in all, L.1,014,944. Shipping, tonnage of, in 1853: inwards, from Great Britain, 42,815; from British colonies, 50,579; from United States, 17,822; and from foreign states, 13,772—in all, 124,988: outwards, to Great Britain, 49,339; to British colonies, 28,323; to United States, 5814; to foreign states, 25,630—in all, 109,106. In 1854 the computed real value of exports to Great Britain was L.1,636,267; of imports therefrom, L.492,646—of which L.460,867 was the computed real value of the manufactures and produce of the United Kingdom. The exports to Britain in 1854 included sugar, 898,240 cwt.; molasses, 39,035 cwt.; rum, 3,360,920 gallons; and coffee, 3664 lb. The revenue in 1853 was L.250,017, being L.32,002 above that of 1852; and the expenditure, L.236,557, or L.9487 above that of the previous year.

The constitution of Guiana still retains many traces of its Dutch origin. The government is vested in a governor and a court of policy; the latter composed of ten members, five being government officers (the governor, chief-justice, colonial secretary, attorney-general, and collector of customs), and five elected from the colonists by the College of Justice. This college is composed of seven members chosen for life by the inhabitants possessing the right of suffrage. The unofficial members of the court of policy serve for three years, and go out by rotation. The general legislative business is carried on by the court of policy, but it has no power of imposing taxes, that being reserved for the "combined court," composed of the court of policy and six representatives, termed "financial representatives," chosen by the people for two years, and who are annually summoned to "combine" with the court of policy for the purpose of transacting the financial business of the colony. In the combined court every member, whether a representative or a member of the court of policy, has an equal vote. The governor not only has a casting vote as president of the court of policy, but an absolute veto on all laws passed by a majority. The qualification for seats in the two legislative chambers are of four kinds; either, 1st, ownership of 80 acres of land, of which 40 must be in cultivation; or, 2dly, ownership of houses or land worth 1200 dollars per annum; or, 3dly, a leasehold interest in one or other of these, and to the same amount for a term of at least 21 years; or, 4thly, the possession of an income from any other source of 1440 dollars clear. Neither ministers of religion nor schoolmasters can, however, be chosen for either of the chambers. For electoral purposes the colony is divided into five districts. Electors must be in possession of an income of 600 dollars, or pay 20 dollars per annum of direct taxes, with some other minor qualifications.

The supreme civil court consists of a chief judge, two puisne judges, a secretary, registrar, and accountant. The supreme criminal court is composed of the three civil judges and three assessors chosen by ballot. The colony is also divided into nine judicial districts, each under the charge of

a stipendiary magistrate appointed and removable only by the secretary for the colonies, assisted by unpaid justices holding their commissions from the governor. Courts are held in each district two or three times a week.

The population of British Guiana is composed of aboriginal tribes and foreign settlers. The aborigines consist of six tribes of Indians, a copper-coloured, lank-haired race, and evidently members of the one great family which is spread over the entire continent of America. When slavery existed these were found useful allies and auxiliaries of the planters in capturing runaway negroes who had taken refuge in the "bush." They still enjoy British protection from the officers charged with the superintendence of rivers and creeks, who, while they look after the rights of the crown on ungranted lands, at the same time prevent acts of oppression or injustice on the part of the woodcutters and squatters towards the native Indians; and also, as far as possible, all quarrels among the different tribes and families. Nor is their spiritual welfare neglected. Numerous schools and missions have been established by the bishop for their instruction in the remotest parts of his diocese.

The census taken on 31st March 1851 gives the following results:—

The population of Georgetown, the capital (25,508), and of New Amsterdam (4633), are included in Demerara and Berbice respectively. Under the head Natives of British Guiana are comprised 2000 aborigines living near the cultivated parts of the territory; those beyond the settled districts are estimated at 7000.

Religion was here in a very neglected state till 1827, when British Guiana was included in the see of Bishop Coleridge; and shortly after this it was divided into parishes. In 1838 an archdeaconry was constituted, and there were then 13 clergy of the Church of England in the colony. In 1842 the number had increased to 28, and the colony was erected into a bishopric, with a salary of L.2000 per annum attached. In 1851 there were 112 churches and chapels in British Guiana; of these 41 belonged to the Church of England, 15 to the Church of Scotland, 19 to the London Missionary Society, 15 to the Wesleyans, 6 to the Plymouth Brethren, 3 to the Roman Catholics, and 12 to other bodies. The numbers connected with each denomination were—Church of England, 39,787; Church of Scotland, 11,664; Wesleyans, 8438; London Missionary Society, 15,502; Roman Catholics, 9938; dissenters, whose denominations not ascertained, 13,639; Hindus and Mohammedans, 7037; not given, 21,710. The number attending public worship, by the religious census of 1851, was 33,034; of whom 10,210 were of the Church of England. The schools in the colony in 1852 connected with religious bodies, were 118; other schools, 32; the number of enrolled scholars, 10,877.

It is generally believed that this portion of South America was discovered by Vicente Yanez Pinzon, a Spanish navigator, in 1499. In 1580 the first settlement was formed by the Dutch on the rivers Pomeroon and Essequibo, and they afterwards established themselves in other places. The English began to form settlements about 1630 in the neighbourhood of the rivers Berbice and Surinam. Most of Guiana, however, remained in the hands of the Dutch till

Guiana. 1796, when it surrendered to the English. It was restored to the Dutch in 1802; but was again taken by the English on the breaking out of the war in 1803, and has since remained in their possession. In 1831 Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice were formed into one colony, under the name of British Guiana. In 1834 slavery ceased in the colony, but parliament at the same time decreed that the negroes should undergo an apprenticeship—handicraftsmen and domestic servants for four years, and agricultural labourers for six. The inconvenience and trouble resulting from this system was so great that in 1838 an ordinance was passed by the local legislature discharging from their apprenticeships all those who by the imperial act were liable to serve for a further period of two years. The number of slaves for whom compensation was claimed was 82,824; and their value, according to an appraisement based on the average sales of the eight preceding years, was L.9,489,559. The amount of compensation actually paid was L.4,494,989. The imperial weights and measures were, by an ordinance passed in 1851, substituted for the Dutch weights and measures formerly in use.

(See R. H. Schomburgk's Description of British Guiana; Various articles in the London Geographical Journal; Parliamentary Reports; Demerara after Fifteen Years of Freedom, by a Landowner; Martin's British Colonies; Reisen in British Guiana, von Richard Schomburgk; The History of British Guiana, comprising a general description of the Colony, its climate, geology, staple products, and natural history, by H. G. Dalton, M.D., 2 vols., London, 1855.)