a large country of South America, is bounded on the east and north by the Atlantic ocean, and the river Oronoko; on the south, by the river of the Amazons; and on the west, by the provinces of Grenada and New Andalusia in Terra Firma, from which it is separated both on the west and north by the river Oronoko. It extends above 1200 miles from the north-east to the south-west, that is, from the mouth of the river Oronoko to the mouth of the river of the Amazons, and near 600 in the contrary direction.

Most geographers divide it into two parts, calling the country along the coast Caribbeana Proper, and the interior country Guiana Proper: The last is also styled El Dorado by the Spaniards, on account of the immense quantity of gold it is supposed to contain.

The Portuguese, French, and Dutch, have all settlements along the coast. What lies south of Cape North belongs to the first of these nations; the coast between Cape North and Cape Orange is possessed by the natives; French Guiana, Old Cayenne, or Equinoctial France, extends from Cape Orange, about 240 miles along the coast, to the river Maran; where the Dutch territory begins, and extends to the mouth of the Oronoko.

Along the coast, the land is low, marshy, and subject to inundations in the rainy season, from a multitude of rivers which descend from the inland mountains. Hence it is, that the atmosphere is suffocating, hot, moist, and unhealthy, especially where the woods have not been cleared away. Indeed, the Europeans are forced to live in the most disagreeable situations, and fix their colonies at the mouths of the rivers, amidst flanking marshes, and the putrid ooze of salt morasses, for the convenience of exportation and importation

"Dutch Guiana (according to the account of a physician who resided several years at Surinam) was first discovered by Columbus in 1498. It lies between the 7° of north and the 5° of south latitude, and between the 53° and 60° of longitude, west from London. It is bounded on the north and east, by the Atlantic; on the west, by the rivers Oronoko and Negroe; and on the south, by the river of the Amazons.

"It was formerly divided among the Spaniards, Dutch, French, and Portuguese; but, except its sea coast, and lands adjacent to its rivers, it has hitherto remained unknown to all but its original natives; and even of these, it is only what were the Dutch territories that foreigners have any knowledge of; for those of the Spaniards, French, and Portuguese, are inaccessible to them.

"This country, on account of the diversity and fertility of its soil, and of its vicinity to the equator, which passes through it, affords almost all the productions of the different American countries between the tropics, besides a variety peculiar to itself."

Dutch Guiana was formerly the property of the English, who made settlements at Surinam, where a kind of corrupt English is still spoken by the negroes. The Dutch took it in the reign of Charles the Second; and it was ceded to them by a treaty in 1674, in exchange for what they had possessed in the province now called New York.

The land for 50 miles up the country from the sea-coast is flat; and, during the rainy seasons, covered two feet high with water. This renders it inconceivably fertile, the earth, for 12 inches deep, being a stratum of perfect manure: an attempt was once made to carry some of it to Barbadoes; but the wood-ants to much injured the vessel, that it was never repeated. The excessive richness of the soil is a disadvantage, for the canes are too luxuriant to make good sugar; and therefore, during the first and second crops, are converted into rum.

There are some trees on this part; but they are small and low, consisting chiefly of a small species of palm, intermixed with a leaf near 30 feet long and three feet wide, which grows in clutters, called a Troelee, and at the edges of running-water, with mangroves. Farther inward the country rises; and the soil, though still fertile, is less durable. It is covered with forests of valuable timber, that are always green; and there are some sandy hills, though no mountains; in the French territories, however, there are mountains, according to the report of the Indians, for they have never been visited by any other people.

In this country the heat is seldom disagreeable; the trade-winds by day, the land breezes in the evening, and the invariable length of the nights, with gentle dew, refresh the air, and render it temperate and salubrious. There are two wet seasons and two dry, of three months each, in every year: and, during more than a month in each wet season, the rain is incessant. The dry seasons commence fix weeks before the equinoxes, and continue fix weeks after. The wet seasons are more wholesome than the dry, because the rains keep the waters that cover the low lands, next the sea, fresh and in motion; but during the dry season it stagnates, and, as it wastes, becomes putrid, sending up very unwholesome exhalations. Blossoms, green and ripe fruit, are to be found upon the same tree in every part of the year. There are some fine white and red agates in Guiana, which remain untouched; and mines of gold and silver, which the Dutch will not suffer to be wrought.

The inhabitants of Guiana are either natives, who are of a reddish brown; or negroes and Europeans; or a mixed progeny of these in various combinations. The natives are divided into different tribes, more or less enlightened and polished, as they are more or less remote from the settlements of the Europeans. They allow polygamy, and have no division of lands. The men go to war, hunt, and fish; and the women look after domestic concerns, spin, weave in their fashion, and manage the planting of cacao and manioc, the only things which in this country are cultivated by the natives. Their arms are bows and arrows; sharp poisoned arrows, blown through a reed, which they use in hunting; and clubs made of a heavy wood called Iron-wood. They eat the dead bodies of those that are slain in war; and fell for slaves those they take prisoners; their wars being chiefly undertaken to furnish the European plantations. All the different tribes go naked. On particular occasions they wear caps of feathers; but, as cold is wholly unknown, they cover no part but that which distinguishes the sex. They are cheerful, humane, and friendly; but timid, except when heated by liquor, and drunkennes is a very common vice among them.

Their houses consist of four stakes set up in a quadrangular form, with cross poles, bound together by split nimbrees, and covered with the large leaves called traceries. Their life is ambulatory; and their house, which is put up and taken down in a few hours, is all they have to carry with them. When they remove from place to place, which, as they inhabit the banks of rivers, they do by water in small canoes, a few vessels of clay made by the women, a flat stone on which they bake their bread, and a rough stone on which they grate the roots of the cacao, a hammock and a hatchet, are all their furniture and utensils; most of them, however, have a bit of looking-glass framed in paper, and a comb.

Their poisoned arrows are made of splinters of a hard heavy wood, called cacario; they are about 12 inches long, and somewhat thicker than a coarse knitting needle: one end is formed into a sharp point; round the other is wound some cotton to make it fit the bore of the reed through which it is to be blown. They will blow these arrows 40 yards with absolute certainty of hitting the mark, and with force enough to draw blood, which is certain and immediate death. Against this poison no antidote is known. The Indians never use these poisoned arrows in war, but in hunting only, and chiefly against the monkeys; the flesh of an animal thus killed may be safely eaten, and even the poison itself swallowed with impunity.

GUIAQUILL, alfdenominated by some Guiaquill, a city, bay, harbour, and river, in Peru, South America. The city is the secon of Spanish origin, being as old as the year 1534. It lies on the west side of the river of the same name, in 2° 12' S. Lat. and 79° 6' W. Long. It is divided into the old and new towns, between which there is a communication by means of a wooden bridge. It is two miles in extent, and defended by two forts. The churches, convents, and houses, are of wood, and it contains about 20,000 inhabitants. This place is noted for a shell-fish no larger than a nut, which produces a beautiful purple dye. The commerce here is very considerable, the productions of the country alone forming the greatest part of it, which consist of timber, salt, horned cattle, mules and colts, pepper, drugs, and fine wool.