great number of roots have a resemblance, but in others they differ greatly. These tribes do not depend on fishing and hunting for their subsistence, but cultivate patches of ground with mandioc, maize, plantains, yams, and sweet potatoes. The cotton spun by their women forms one of the principal articles of traffic among them. The number of individuals in these tribes is vaguely estimated at 7000. Those which have the most intercourse with the settlements are the Arawaaks, who live at no great distance from the coast between the Corentyn and Essequibo; and the Warraws, or Guaranos, who inhabit the sea-coast between the lastmentioned river and the Orinoco.

The foreigners settled in British Guayana are Europeans, the descendants of the Dutch and English, and negroes. The negroes were slaves up to 1838, when they were emancipated. As it was anticipated that this change would be unfavourable to cultivation, a number of Coolies were brought from Hindustan previously to the emancipation, and it is said that they bear the climate very well.

The last census of the united colonies of Demerara and Essequibo was taken in 1829, when the population consisted of 3006 whites, 6360 free coloured people, and 69,368 slaves. The last census of the population of Berbice was taken in 1833, when there were 570 whites, 1661 free coloured people, and 19,320 slaves. It is supposed that at present the whole population consists of 82,824 negroes, 8076 people of mixed race, and 4000 whites, to which the number of emigrants since 1829 is to be added, which amounts to about 3100 individuals. The emigrants are partly whites from England and Malta, and partly Coolies.

All the manufactured goods consumed in the colony are brought from foreign countries, and almost entirely from Great Britain. The produce of the country also goes almost entirely to Great Britain and the British Colonies in North America and the Columbian Archipelago. Since the emancipation of the slaves, there has been a great decrease in the exports, as the following table shows:

1836 107,806,249 2,980,296 4,035,569 5,875,732 656,902 1838 88,664,885 2,068,052 3,132,675 3,143,543 641,920 1839 63,487,424 1,442,550 2,188,772 1,593,232 551,325

The value of the exports in 1836 was estimated at 2,135,3791. sterling, but in 1839 the value hardly exceeded 1,000,000l. sterling. Besides these staple productions, some minor articles are exported, among which the principal are arrow-root, indigo, and liqueurs. The average number of vessels which annually enter the ports of the colony was, between 1831 and 1836, nearly 600, and their tonnage about 88,000;

but the tonnage is supposed to be now reduced by an amount lying somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 tons.

8. British Guayana, as now constituted, consists of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice. The settlements consist of plantations of one single depth only along the sea-coast and extending a short way up the rivers. Some few are found on the banks of the rivers a considerable distance from the sea, but they have no plantations, and are only made for cutting timber.

Georgetown, the capital, formerly called Stabroek, is built on the east bank of the river Demerara, which is here nearly a mile wide. The harbour formed by the mouth of the river is safe but not of easy access, as a bar of mud extends four miles out to sea, over which no vessel drawing more than nine feet can pass until half-flood; the channel along the eastern shore has nineteen feet of water at high tide. The streets of the town are wide and traversed by canals; the houses are of wood and seldom above two stories high; they are generally surrounded by a garden or large trees, and separated from each other by canals or trenches. The public building, which comprises all the public offices, is a large edifice. There are churches for the principal denominations of Christians, and two public schools. The population is stated to amount to 20,000 souls, of which 16,000 are coloured people. This town is the commercial depôt of the produce of the countries adjacent to the Essequibo and Demerara, and its commerce is considerable. In 1838 the number of vessels that entered the port was 536, of those which cleared out 539. New Amsterdam, on the Berbice, extends about a mile and a half along the river, and is intersected by canals. The harbour is good, but difficult of access. In the mouth of the river is Crab Island, which divides the river into two navigable channels, of which the eastern has seventeen to twenty feet, and the western only eight to thirteen feet at high water; a bar also lies across the mouth of the river, over which there are only seven feet of water at low tides. In 1833 the population amounted to 2900 persons. From this town is exported the produce of the plantations on the rivers Berbice and Corentyn.

9. Guayana was discovered by Columbus on his third voyage, 1498, when he reached the mouth of the Orinoco. The first settlement was formed by the Dutch in 1580 on the river Pomaroon, and called New Zealand, whence they spread eastward to the Essequibo and Demerara, but the progress of the colony was slow. In 1781 it was taken by Sir George Rodney, but it was restored to the Dutch in 1783. In 1796 it again surrendered to the English, and was again restored to the Dutch by the peace of Amiens (1801). It was taken for the last time by the British in 1803, and has since remained in their possession. In 1831 the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice were united into one colony, named British Guayana, and in 1838 the slaves were emancipated.

The government is vested in a governor, assisted by a supreme court or colonial parliament. This parliament is composed of the

governor, the chief-justice, attorney-general, the collector of the customs, and government secretary, to whom are added an equal number of persons elected from the colonists by the college of the electors or kiezers. This college consists of seven members, elected by the inhabitants of the colony for life. When a vacancy occurs in the colonial parliament, the college of kiezers nominates two candidates, of whom the colonial parliament selects one as a sitting member. The members of the parliament who are elected serve for three years, and go out by rotation. Every member of this legislative body has a vote, and the governor has a casting vote. He has also an absolute veto on all laws and ordinances which have been passed by a majority.

The following works have been consulted for the description of South America :

Humboldt's Voyage aux Régions Equinoxiales du Nouveau Continent, 1815-1831.

Dépons' Voyage à la Partie Orientale de la Terre-Ferme, 1806.

Lavaysse's Statistical, Commercial, and Political Description of Venezuela, Trinidad, &c., 1820.

Brown's Narrative of the Expedition to South America, &c., 1819. Chesterton's Narrative of Proceedings in Venezuela, in South America, &c., 1820.

Hall's Columbia, its Present State, &c., 1827.

Letters written from Columbia (anonymous), 1824.

Campaigns and Cruises in Venezuela and New Granada, &c., 1831. Hippisley's Expedition to the Orinoco, 1819.

Semple's Sketch of the Present State of Caracas, 1812.

Stewart's Bogotà in 1836 and 1837, 1838.

Cochrane's Journal of a Residence and Travels in Columbia, 1825.

Present State of Columbia, by an Officer, 1827.

Mollien's Travels in the Republic of Columbia, 1824.

Ulloa's Voyage to South America, 1740.

Hamilton's Travels through the Interior Provinces of Columbia, 1827. Stevenson's Historical and Descriptive Narrative of Twenty Years' Residence in South America, 1829.

Smith and Lowe's Narrative of a Journey from Lima to Parà, 1836. La Condamine's Relation d'un Voyage dans l'Intérieur dé l'Amérique Méridionale, 1745.

Lieut. Maw's Journal of a Passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, 1830.

Meyen's Reise um die Welt, 1834.

Memoirs of General Miller, 1828.

Brand's Journal of a Voyage to Peru, 1828.

Haigh's Sketches of Buenos Ayres, Chile, and Peru, 1831.

Basil Hall's Extracts from a Journal written on the Coasts of Chili,

Peru, &c, 1824.

Andrews's Journey from Buenos Ayres through the Provinces of
Cordova, Tucuman, &c., 1827.

Proctor's Narrative of a Journey across the Cordillera, &c., 1825.
Caldcleugh's Travels in South America, 1825.

Helm's Travels from Buenos Ayres to Potosi, 1806.
Mathisson's Narrative of a Visit to Brazil, &c., 1835.
Shillebeer's Narrative of the Briton's Voyage, 1817.
Three Years in the Pacific; by an American, 1835.

Püppig's Reise in Chile, Peru, und auf dem Amazonenstrome, 1834.
Temple's Travels in Various Parts of Peru, 1830.
Schmidtmeyer's Travels into Chile, 1824.

Miers' Travels in Chile and La Plata, 1826.

Head's Rough Notes taken during some rapid Journeys across the
Pampas, 1828.

Molina's Geographical, Natural, and Civil History of Chili, 1809.
Dobrizhoffer's Account of the Abipones, 1822.

Beaumont's Travels in Buenos Ayres, 1828.

An Account of the Rio de la Plata; by Ignacio Muñez, 1825.

Mawe's Travels in the Interior of Brazil, 1823.

Webster's Narrative of a Voyage to the Southern Atlantic, 1833.
Rengger and Longchamp's Reign of Dr. Francia, 1827.

Robertson's Letters on Paraguay, 1835.

Parish's Buenos Ayres and Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, 1839. Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, 1839. Haefkens' Reize naar Guatemala, 1827.

Wilcocke's History of Buenos Ayres, 1807.

Henderson's History of Brazil, 1821.

Spix and Martius, Reise nach Brasilien, 1823-1831.

Eschwege's Brasilien, 1830.

Langsdorf's Voyages and Travels in Various Parts of the World, 1813. Luccock's Notes on Rio Janeiro, &c., 1820.

Freyreiss Beiträge zur Kenntniss des Kaiserthums Brasilien, 1824.

Eschwege's Pluto Brasiliensis, 1833.

Weech's Brasiliens Gegenwärtiges Zustand und Colonialsystem, 1828.

Lindley's Narrative of a Voyage to Brazil, 1805.

Koster's Travels in Brazil, 1817.

Prinz Maximilian von Neuwied, Reisen in Brasilien, 1820.

Bolingbroke's Voyage to the Demerara, &c., 1807.

Hancock's Observations on the Climate, Soil, and Productions of British Guiana, about 1838 or 1839.

Schomburgk's Description of British Guiana, 1840.

Sack's Beschreibung einer Reise nach Surinam, 1821.
'The first ten volumes of the London Geographical Journal.

INDEX.