Mountains.— The general aspect of the country is mountainous; it is traversed by ranges of mountains and hills radiating from the common base of the Cordilleras. That chain does not, in this republic, approach within 50 or 60 miles of the Pacific; nor does it throughout maintain its general character of an unbroken range, but sometimes turns back on itself, forming interior basins or valleys, within which are collected the headwaters of the streams that traverse the country in the direction of the Atlantic Ocean. Nevertheless, viewed from the Pacific, it presents the appearance of a great natural wall, with a lower range of mountains, bristling with volcanic peaks, intervening between it and the western sea. It would almost seem that at one time the Pacific broke at the foot of the great mountain barrier, and that the subordinate coast range was subsequently thrust up by volcanic forces. The northern and eastern coasts of the republic present several bold groups of mountains, which are the ends of the ranges radiating north and east from the Cordilleras, and which, striking the coast diagonally, and overlapping each other, seem to form an unbroken range, and are sometimes represented as such on the maps. The Cordilleras proper traverse the state in the general direction of north-west and south-east, but it is throughout serpentine, and at one point is interrupted by a great transverse valley or plain, known as the plain of Comayagua, having an extreme length of about 40 miles, with a width of from 5 to 15 miles, from which, extending due north to the Atlantic, is the valley of the river Humuya, and due south, to the Pacific, the valley of the river Goascoran, collectively constituting a great transverse valley reaching from sea to sea, which was pointed out soon after the conquest as an appropriate course for inter-oceanic communication. Topographically the country has great diversity of surface and elevation; broad alluvions, fertile valleys, wide and elevated plains, and mountains terraced to their summits, collectively affording almost every variety of climate, soil, and production, from oranges and pine apples in the valleys to peaches and pears on the table lands.

Hydrography.— The rivers of Honduras are numerous, and some of them of large size and navigable. The largest is the Ulna, which drains a wide expanse of territory, comprehending nearly one-third of the entire state, and probably discharges a greater amount of water into the sea than any other river of Central America, the Wanks or Segovia, perhaps, excepted. It may be navigated by steamers of light draught for the greater part of its course. The soil on its banks is of extreme fertility. The Rio Aguan or Roman is a large stream falling into the sea near Truxillo, with a total length of about 120 miles. Its largest tributary is the Rio Mangualil, celebrated for its gold washings, and it may be ascended by boats of light draft for 80 miles. Rio Tinto, Negro, or Black River, called also Poyer or Poyas, is a considerable stream, said to have a length of 120 miles; it is navigable by small vessels for from 40 to 60 miles. Some English settlements were made on its banks during the last century. The Poyas Indians have a number of establishments on its upper tributaries. The Rio Wanks or Segovia is the longest, if not the largest, river in Central America, rising within 50 miles of the Bay of Fonseca, and flowing into the Caribbean Sea at Cape Gracias A Dios, constituting for the greater part of its length the boundary between Honduras and Nicaragua, and having a length of 350 miles. For 251 miles above its mouth it flows through an almost unbroken wilderness, among high mountains and over a very broken and rocky bed. It is nevertheless occasionally navigated by canoes to within a few leagues of the town of Ocotal or Nueva Segovia in Nicaragua. Three considerable rivers flow into the Pacific,—the Goascoran, Nacaome, and Choluteca, the last-named having a length of about 150 miles. The Goascoran, which almost interlocks with the Humuya, in the plain of Comayagua, has a length of about 80 miles. The Lake of Yojoa or Taulébe is the only lake of note in Honduras, and is about 25 miles in length, by from 6 to 8 in breadth. Its surface is 2050 feet above the sea. It has two outlets on the south, the rivers Jaitique and Sacapa, which unite about 15 miles from the lake; and it is drained on the north by the Rio Blanco, a narrow, deep stream falling into the Ulua. It has also a feeder on the north, in the form of a subterranean stream of beautiful clear water, which here comes to the surface.

Harbours and Islands. —The Bay of Fonseca or Conchagua, sometimes called Amapala, is one of the finest ports, or “constellation of ports,” on the entire Pacific, and on it Honduras has a larger frontage than Nicaragua or San'Salvador. It is upwards of 50 miles in greatest length by about 30 miles in average width, with an entrance from the sea about 18 miles wide, between the great volcanoes of Conchagua, 3800 feet high, and Coseguina, 3000 feet high, the lofty islands of Conchaguita and Mianguiri lying between them, with a collection of rocks called “Los Farellones,” dividing the entrance into four distinct channels, each of sufficient depth for the largest vessels. A channel called “El Estero Real” extends from the extreme southern point of the bay into Nicaragua for about 50 miles, reaching within 20 or 25 miles of Lake Managua. The principal islands in the bay are Sacate Grande, Tigre, Gueguensi, and Esposescion belonging to Honduras, and Martin Perez, Punta Sacate, Conchaguita, and Mianguiri belonging to San Salvador. Of these Sacate Grande is the largest, being about 7 miles long by 4 broad. The island of Tigre from its position is the most important in the bay, being about 20 miles in circumference, and rising in the form of a cone to the height of 2500 feet. The slope from the water for some distance inland is gentle, admitting of cultivation. Upon the southern and eastern shores the lava forms black rocky barriers to the waves, varying in height from 10 to 80 feet; but on the northward and eastward are a number of playas or coves, with smooth, sandy beaches. Facing one of the mest considerable of these is the port of Amapala, with deep water in front, where ships of ordinary size may lie within a cable’s length of the shore. This island was a favourite resort of the pirates, and it was here that Drake had his dépôt during his operations in the South Sea. It exports hides, indigo, tobacco, bullion, silver and copper ores, and Brazil wood. The bay abounds in fish, oysters, crabs, and cray fish, and water-fowl swarm along its shores. The whole region around it is eminently productive, and adapted to the production of every tropical commodity. The savannas back from the shores are fitted for grazing, while wheat, potatoes, and other products of the temperate zone may be cultivated on the plateaus and slopes of the mountains in the interior, where oaks and pines are abundant. The silver and gold mining districts of Tabanco, Aramacina, San Martyn, and Corpus all lie within from 10 to 40 miles of this bay. Limestone is also found near by, -with a fine rose-coloured sandstone. Extensive beds of coal exist in the valley of the river Lempa. Puerto Caballos, on the northern coast, in 15° 49' N. lat. and 87 β 57' IV. long., was selected by Cortes during his expedition into Honduras for the settlement which he founded, with the purpose of making it the entrepôt of New Spain; he called it Natividad. For more than two centuries it was the principal establishment on the coast; but, during the time of the buccaneers, the settlement was removed to Omoa, a few miles to the east, because of the large size of the bay, which could only be adequately defended by the construction of several forts, while a single work, still extant and formidable, was sufficient for Omoa. The port or rather bay is about 9 miles in circumference, with a depth throughout the greater part of its area of from 4 to 12 fathoms, with secure holding ground. Towards the northern shore the depth of water is greatest; there suitable docks have been constructed, and the largest ocean steamers may enter and tie up, the rise and fall of the tide being scarcely perceptible. The prevailing winds are from the north-east, north, and north by west, from all which points the port is perfectly protected. The port of Omoa, in 15° 47' N. lat. and 88* 3' W. long., is small but secure, and is defended by a strong work, “El Castillo de San Fernando.” The anchorage is good, in from 2 to 6 fathoms. The population in 1876 was about 600, most of the inhabitants having removed to San Pedro, 37 miles inland, where the business of the port is transacted. The exports of these I»orts consist of bullion, tobacco, indigo, sarsaparilla, hides, &c. A arge number of cattle are shipped annually to supply the markets of Cuba and the mahogany establishments of Belize. There is an abundant supply of fish, turtle, and wild fowl from the quays and waters in its vicinity. Puerto Sal is a small harbour a few miles to the eastward of Puerto Caballos. Truxillo is an ancient port, in 15° 55' N. lat. and 86° W. long., situated on the western shore of a noble bay, formed by the projecting land of Punta Castilla. Its trade is chiefly with Olancho, of which department it may be considered the port. There are some mines of gold in its vicinity. Triunfo de la Cruz is a large bay, commencing at Puerto Sal, bending thence inward and terminating at Cabo Triunfo, with a coastline of upwards of 20 miles. To the northward of Honduras, in the bay of the same name, distant from 30 to 50 miles, is a cluster of islands, sometimes called the Bay Islands, consisting of Roatan, Guanaja or Bonacca, Utila, Barbaretta, Helena, and Morat. They have a good soil, fine climate, and an advantageous position. Roatan, the largest, is about 30 miles long by 9 miles broad, with mountains rising to the height of 900 feet, covered with valuable woods, and abounding with deer and wild hogs. Its trade is chiefly with New Orleans in plantains, cocoa-nuts, pine apples, &c. Guanaja, discovered by Columbus, is 9 miles long by 5 miles broad; it lies 15 miles north-east of Roatan, has interior highlands thickly wooded, with beds of limestone, and, it is said, ores of zinc. Wild hogs are numerous. The other islands are comparatively small, and may be regarded as detached parts of Roatan, with which they are connected by reefs.

Minerals.— In respect to mineral resources, Honduras ranks first among the states of Central America; the work 7 ing of the mines, however, has been conducted on a very small scale, and in a very rude manner, and as a consequence most of them have been abandoned and have filled with water, and have thus or otherwise been allowed to go to ruin. Silver ores are most abundant and valuable. They are chiefly found on the Pacific ranges or groups of mountains, while the gold washings, if not the gold mines proper, are most numerous on the Atlantic slope. The silver is found in various combinations with iron, lead, and copper, and in a few instances with antimony. Chlorides of silver are not uncommon, and rank among the richest ores in the country. The principal supply of gold is from the washings of Olancho, which are exceedingly productive. There are also rich mines of copper, the ores, in all cases, containing a considerable proportion of silver. Iron ores are common, most of them magnetic, and some so rich that they can be worked without smelting. Antimony, zinc, and tin also exist. Lignite has been discovered in various localities, and large beds exist in the department of Gracias, in which opals are also abundant.

Animals.— The domestic animals of the country are much the same as those of England and the United States. Cattle are everywhere abundant, and form one of the great sources of wealth in the country. Of late great numbers have been taken to Cuba, where there is a large and increasing demand for them. The forests are frequented by the ocelot or American tiger, and the peccary and deer; the tapir is found near the sea, and the manatee in the northern creeks. Monkeys are numerous and of many varieties; the raccoon, squirrel, opossum, ant-eater, and armadillo abound. The alligator is found in all the rivers and lagoons on both coasts. Of lizards there are numberless varieties, including the iguana. Serpents are very rare, and of but two or three varieties, of which one only is venomous. Tortoise and turtle are everywhere numerous, and of several kinds. Oysters of two varieties are plentiful, namely, the bank and mangrove oyster. Vast beds of the first are found in the Bay of Fonseca. Crustaceans of various kinds and sizes, from the largest lobster to the smallest crab, are abundant. The lagoons and creeks of the coast abound in endless varieties of fish, as do also the waters of the interior. Several varieties of honey bees also are found. Mosquitoes are almost unknown in the interior, and are found at but few points on the coast. The woodtick and flea are common everywhere. The insect most dreaded is the “langosta” or “chapulin,” which at intervals afflicts the entire country, vast columns passing from one end to the other, darkening the air, and destroying every green thing in their course. The parrot, macaw, and toucan are found everywhere. Hawks, vultures, owls, and sea eagles are among the birds of prey. The crow, blackbird, Mexican jay, ricebird, swallow, rainbird, and hummingbird are common. There is a very great variety of water birds. The wild turkey, quail, and pigeon are numerous in the interior.

Inhabitants. — The inhabitants of Honduras are principally of the Indian or aboriginal type. In the eastern portion of the state, between the Rio Roman and Cape Gracias ά Dios and Segovia river, the country is almost exclusively occupied by native Indian tribes, known under the general names of Xicaques and Poyas. Portions of all of these tribes have accepted the Catholic religion, and live in peaceful neighbourhood and good understanding with the white inhabitants. There are, however, considerable numbers who live among the mountains, and still conform closely to the aboriginal modes of life. They all cultivate the soil, and are good and industrious labourers. A small portion of the coast, above Cape Gracias, is occupied by the Sambos, a mixed race of Indians and negroes, which, however, is fast disappearing. Spreading along the entire north coast are the Caribs, a vigorous race, descendants of the Caribs of St Vincent, one of the Windward Islands, who were deported in 1796, by the English, to the number of 5000, and landed on the island of Roatan. They still retain their native language, and are activσ, industrious, and provident, forming the chief reliance of the mahogany cutters on the coast. A portion of them, who have a mixture of negro blood, are called the Black Caribs. They profess the Catholic religion, but retain many of their native rites and superstitions. In the departments of Gracias, Comayagua, and Choluteca are many purely Indian towns, with industrious, peaceable inhabitants, retaining many of their primitive habits and their ancient language. The aggregate population, in the absence of trustworthy data, can only be estimated approximately. Attempts were made under the crown and subsequently under the republic to effect a complete census, but with very unsatisfactory results, since it has always been found that the ignorant masses of the people, and especially the Indians, avoid a census as in some way connected with military conscription or taxation. The bulk of the Spanish population exists on the Pacific slope of the continent, while on the Atlantic declivity the country is uninhabited or but sparsely occupied by Indian tribes, of which the number is wholly unknown. Nevertheless, from the imperfect data which are accessible, the population of Honduras may fairly be estimated at about 400,000, 6000 to 7000 being whites, and the balance Indians and the mixed races.

Departments. — Honduras is divided politically into seven departments, viz., Comayagua, Gracias, Choluteca, Tegucigalpa, Olancho, Yoro, and Santa Barbara.

That of Comayagua lies in the very centre of the state. It contains the capital of the same name (see Comayagua). The trade of the town is small, but the plain around it is very fertile, and capable of sustaining, as formerly, a large and flourishing population. Numerous monuments of antiquity are scattered over the plain, consisting of large, pyramidal, terraced structures, conical mounds of earth, and walls of stone. Pine and oak are abundant on the hills, and mahogany, cedar, and lignum vitae, as well as other useful woods, are found in the valleys. The nopal, cultivated in Guatemala and Mexico as the food of the cochineal insect, is indigenous.

Coffee and the other staples of semi-tropical regions also flourish here.

The department of Gracias lies in the north-western portion of the state, touching on Guatemala and Salvador, and its territory is in many respects the most interesting in Central America, of which it may be regarded as an epitome. On the north are many beautiful valleys, among them that of Copan, celebrated for its ancient monuments. Among its mountains is found the quetzal, the royal and sacred bird of the aborigines. Peaches, apples, and plums flourish here, and the blackberry is indigenous among the hills. The vegetable products, actual and possible, exhaust the list of productions of the tropics and the temperate zones. Wheat, barley, rye, and the potato grow on the mountains, while sugar cane, indigo, cotton, coffee, cocoa, oranges, and plantains flourish in the valleys. Pine covers the hills, and there is much mahogany, cedar, and granadillo, also Brazil wood, &c., for dyeing and manufacture. Copal balsam and liquidambar are among the common gums, while the tobacco has a wide and deserved celebrity. Gold and silver mines are numerous and rich, although but little worked. Bituminous coal, in beds of from 8 to 10 feet in thickness, is found in the plain of Sensenti, and asbestos, cinnabar, and platinum in various localities. Opals are frequent, principally in the vicinty of Erandique, where as many as sixteen mines have been “denounced” in a single year. Amethysts are reported to have been found near Campuca.

Choluteca is the extreme southern department of the state, lying along the Bay of Fonseca. It is extremely diversified in surface. Its alluvions, fronting the bay, are remarkably fertile, and are capable of producing all the staples of the tropics. As the country rises, which it does by a series of terraces, the savannas become broad and numerous, affording vast pastures for herds of cattle, which at present constitute the chief wealth of the department. Apart from its agricultural wealth, it is rich in minerals, chiefly in mines of silver.

Tegucigalpa, to the north of Choluteca, is the smallest but relatively the most populous department.· It is a vast interior basin or plateau, with an average elevation of not less than 3000 feet above the sea. Its soil is not so productive as that of some of the other departments, and is essentially a mining district, rich in gold and silver. Tegucigalpa is the largest and finest city of the state, and is at present the capital, alternating with Comayagua as the seat of government.

The department of Olancho joins Tegucigalpa on the east, and has an area of about 11,300 square miles. Its people are industrious, and the department is comparatively the richest in the state. Its exports are bullion, cattle, hides and deer skins, sarsaparilla, and tobacco. Next to its herds of cattle, its principal sources of wealth are its gold washings. Nearly all of its streams carry gold of a fine quality in their sands.

The department of Yoro comprehends all the northern part of Honduras, with an area of 15,000 square miles, being the largest in size and the smallest in population. The valleys of all the streams abound in precious woods, and comprise the great mahogany district of Central America. The inhabitants are chiefly mahogany cutters by oceupation. The mountains of Pija and Sulaco are said to contain great mineral wealth, but they have never been adequately explored.

The department of Santa Barbara lies between Gracias and Comayagua and the Bay of Honduras. It is traversed by several large streams. The great plain of Sula is the distinguishing feature of this department, which has a frontage of between 60 and 70 miles on the Bay of Honduras, and reaches inland upwards of 50 miles, comprising an area of not less than 1500 square miles. Its products are cotton, rice, sugar, cocoa, and all the great staples of the tropics.

Administration.— The government is republican in form, based on a constitution promulgated in November 1865. The chief executive consists of a president elected every four years, assisted by a council of state, consisting of two ministers appointed by the president, a senator elected by congress, and a judge of the supreme court. The legislature consists of a senate and chamber of deputies.

Public Debt.— The public debt of the republic in 1876 was $29,950,540, held in London and Paris, having been issued in three different loans in those cities, at high rates of interest and at a low valuation to make them attractive to capitalists. Since that time the accumulated interest, which has never been paid, has considerably swollen the amount. This debt, which is of a very questionable'origin, was contracted for the alleged purpose of building the “Honduras Interoceanic Railway’’ between Port Caballos on the Bay of Honduras and the Gulf of Fonseca on the Pacific, a distance of 148 geographical miles. The road was first proposed by Mr E. G. Squier of New York, in 1854, who made the preliminary survey of the line, finding it perfectly feasible, and had it been built then it no doubt would have proved a financial success, and a great benefit to the commerce of the world. But the breaking out of the American war put a stop to the enterprise for the time, and the completion of the Union Pacific Railway in the United States has done away with the neces sity for such a road as a highway for the nations. Still it would be a great benefit to the interior country should it at any time be completed. It is graded, and has a narrow guage track laid to San Pedro, 37 miles from Port Cortez.

Trade.— The total trade of the country for 1876 is given below :— [table]

A numbeι∙ of small sailing vessels engaged in the fruit trade ply between the Bay Islands and New Orleans; Cocoa-nuts are in demand both in New Orleans and New York, and the inhabitantsof the mainland, as well as those of the islands, have planted the fruit extensively, so that the entire north coast will soon be bordered by cocoa-nut plantations.

History.— It was in Honduras that Columbus first planted his feet on the continent of America. In 1502, while on his fourth voyage, he discovered the island of Guanaja or Bonacca, whence he saw the high mountains of the mainland; and on the 14th of August he landed on the continent at a point which he called Punta de Gassinas, now Cabo de Honduras, and took possession of the country on behalf of the crown of Spain. He subsequently coasted to the eastward, and after many delays and dangers reached a point where the coast abruptly trends to the southward, forming a cape, to which, in gratitude for his safety, he gave the name of Gabo Gracias ά Dios, Cape Thanks to God. Less than twenty years afterwards, Hernando Cortes, inspired by accounts of great and populous empires to the southward of the then prostrate empire of the Montezumas, undertook an expedition into Honduras, which for length and difficulties encountered and overcome stands unprecedented in the history of martial adventure. He entered the vast and unbroken wilderness, and after two years of struggle and endurance reached the point where Columbus first landed. Without giving the history of Spanish power in Honduras, suffice it to say that as early as 1540, sixty years before Jamestown in Virginia was founded, and nearly a hundred years before Hudson entered the Bay of New York, Honduras had its large and flourishing cities. After throwing off the Spanish yoke, Honduras in 1823 joined the union of Central America. In 1839 that union was dissolved, but the liberal party in the now independent state made repeated attempts to restore a federative union with the neighbouring republics of Nicaragua and San Salvador. These efforts even led to unsuccessful hostilities with Guatemala, but President Cabaiios in 1855 being defeated and exiled, his successor General Guardiola (1856) concluded with Guatemala a treaty of peace. Six years of quiet ensued, when an insurrection broke out in 1862 among the soldiers, which cost Guardiola his life. After passing through some vicissitudes, the republic in November 1865 adopted a new constitution, under which the president is elected eveιy four years.

See Notes on Central America, by E. G. Squier, New York, 1855, and Honduras, by same author, London, 1870.

HONDURAS, BRITISHBRITISH HONDURASCopyright, 1880, by Charles Scribner's Sons.

BRITISH HONDURAS is the name given to the English establishment or colony of Belize, on the eastern shore of the peninsula of Yucatan, fronting the Bay of Honduras. It probably derives its name of Belize or Balize from the French balise, a beacon, as no doubt some signal or light was raised here to guide the freebooters, who at one time infested the bay, to some common rendezvous. Its boundaries, as defined by the convention between Great Britain and Carrera, president of Guatemala, in 1859, were fixed as “commencing at the mouth of the river Sarstoon, in the bay of Honduras, ascending that river to the rapids of Gracias a Dios, thence turning to the right in a straight line to Garbutt’s Rapids in the river Belize, and thence due north to the Mexican frontier.” These limits give a territory about 160 miles long by 60 miles wide at its broadest part, with an area of 7562 square miles.

The approach to the coast is through cays and coral reefs, and is both difficult and dangerous. For some miles inland the ground is low and swampy, thickly covered with mangroves and tropical jungle. Next succeeds a narrow belt of rich alluvial land, not exceeding a mile in width, beyond which, and parallel to the rivers, are vast tracts of sandy, arid land, called “pine ridges,” from the red pine with which they are covered, and which are favourite resorts of wild animals. Further inland these give place to what are called “cahoon ridges,” with a deep, rich soil covered with myriads of palm trees. Next come broad savannas, studded with clumps of trees, through which the streams descending from the mountains wind in every direction. The mountains themselves rise in a succession of ridges parallel to the coast. The first are the Manatee Hills, from 800 to 1000 feet high; and beyond these are the Cockscomb Mountains, which are about 4000 feet high.

No less than sixteen streams, large enough to be called rivers, descend from these mountains and crests to the sea, between the Hondo and Sarstoon. Behind the Cockscomb range there is a succession of valleys and hills, with a varied elevation of from 1200 to 3300 feet above the level of the sea. This tract, of which but little is known, consists of open, grassy lands, with interesting park-like scenery, and could no doubt support a large number of cattle, as all the conditions of climate, &c., are most favourable.

Many aboriginal remains are found, such as fortified hills, crumbling walls, and buildings subsiding into ruins, The ruins of extensive cities, with monoliths, statues, and carved stones of fine finish are said to be hidden among the yet unexplored forests. They are all, however, more or less similar to the remains found in the neighbouring states of Honduras and Yucatan, and doubtless are the work of the same race or races. The mineral resources of the colony have been but little developed. There are, however, among the hills many indications of gold, silver, and coal.

The climate generally is hot and damp, but favourably influenced by the trade winds. The mean temperature for 1878 was 79’75° Fahr.; the rainfall for the same year was 105*49 inches, which, however, was remarkably high. The country is not troubled by hurricanes, nor has it suffered from earthquakes. It has never been afflicted by epidemics, except cholera. Yellow fever occurs, but only sporadically. The climate is superior to that of Jamaica and the other West Indian Islands, and the high grounds of the interior are unquestionably healthy.

The population is mainly negro, introduced originally as slaves, whence has sprung a hybrid race from intermixture with Europeans and Indians. These are engaged in cutting mahogany and dyewoods, and in fishing. As woodmen they are most efficient, and no class or race of men has been able to excel them. A few only cultivate the soil. There are no aboriginal tribes within the limits of Belize, and of the pure Indians there are but few, belonging principally to the tribes of Yucatan. There are some Carib settlements. The scanty white population is •engaged in commerce, and on the sugar plantations. The total population in 1871 was 24,710, of which 12,603 were males and 12,107 females, against a total of 25,635 in 1861, showing a decrease of 925, which can be accounted for from the fact that while the political troubles in the adjacent states caused many of their citizens to take refuge here, these, on the troubles being settled, returned to their homes.

The government is in the hands of a lieutenant-governor, with an executive and legislative council; and there are the usual judicial establishment, a lands title registry office, a public hospital, a lunatic asylum, and an alms-house. There is also an agricultural board for distributing information relative to the cultivation of suitable products, &c. The town of Belize, at the mouth of the river of the same name, has ordinarily about 6000 inhabitants; but the number is more than doubled during the Christmas holidays, when the mahogany cutters come in. The dwellings of the wealthy inhabitants are large and commodious. Besides the Government houses, court-house, barracks, and jail, there are several churches, Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian. There are also some large and costly fireproof warehouses. The place was formerly important from being the commercial entrepôt and depot of the neighbouring Spanish states of Yucatan, Guatemala, and Honduras; but this source of prosperity has been mainly dried up, from the opening of direct communication between several of these states and the United States and Europe, and from the diversion of trade on the Pacific to Panama. The principal product of the country is mahogany, of which the export for many years was 20,000 tons annually, but the demand for it is said to be diminishing. Its logwood ranks high, and from 14,000 to 15,000 tons are exported annually. Besides these, it produces rosewood, sapodilla, Santa Maria, and numerous other woods of value. The cahoon or coyol palm is abundant, producing clusters of nuts, from which is extracted a valuable oil. Several varieties of cotton are produced, some of which are of superior quality. Sarsaparilla and vanilla are found in the interior. The animals of the country comprise many furbearing species, as ounces, panthers, <tc., and the forests abound with various species of monkeys. Manatees and alligators are found in the lagoons and rivers. Among the birds are turkeys, ducks, macaws, parrots, pelicans, and humming-birds. There is also a small black bottle fly, whose bite is most venomous, and which, with the wood-tick, is a source of great annoyance in the forest. There are also several species of venomous snakes and scorpions. Fishes of many varieties are plentiful, as are also turtles, lobsters, and other shell-fish. Cattle and horses are kept in sufficient numbers for all needful purposes. Present statistical information indicates, instead of improvement in the colony, a considerable falling off during the past ten or fifteen years. Its sugar plantations are, however, in a flourishing condition, having increased in their yearly product from 4035 cwt. in 1860 to 38,667 cwt. in 1877. The.rate of duty on the principal articles of import is an average of about 10 per cent., principally ad valorem. Machinery, coal, and books are imported free. The gross amount of revenue for 1877 was £41,588, against £27,398 in 1863. The public expenditure for the same year was £39,939, and the public debt £5041, the latter showing a decrease of £34,000 in nine years. The total tonnage of all kinds entered and cleared in 1877, exclusive of that employed in the coasting trade, was 73,974 tons, of which 46,168 tons were British. The value of imports, including bullion and specie, for the ten years ending 1877 was £1,781,175, and for that year £165,756, of which £84,540 came from Great Britain. The exports for 1877 amounted to £124,503, of which £94,548 worth of domestic produce went to Great Britain.

History.—" Her Majesty’s Settlement in the Bay of Honduras,” as the territory was formerly styled in official documents, owes its origin to logwood-cutters who frequented the coast of Yucatan and Central America, after the decline of piracy in the sea of the Antilles. Most of these had been free companions, and were well acquainted with the coast. The district was rich in dyewoods, and became a principal resort of the English cutters. Although thus industriously occupied, they so far retained their old habits as to make frequent descents on the logwood establishments of the Spaniards, whose attempts to expel them were generally successfully resisted. The most formidable of these was made by the Spaniards in April 1754, when, in consequence of the difficulty of approaching the position from the sea, an expedition, consisting of 1500 men, was organized inland at the town of Peten. As it neared the coast, it was met by 250 English, and completely routed. The logwoodcutters were not again disturbed for a number of years, and their position had become so well established that, in the treaty of 1763, between England and Spain, the former power, while agreeing to demolish “all fortifications which English subjects had erected in the Bay of Honduras,” nevertheless insisted on a clause in favour of the cutters of logwood, that “they or their workmen were not tobe disturbed or molested, under any pretext whatever, in their said places of cutting aud loading logwood; and for this purpose they may build without hindrance and occupy without interruption the houses and magazines necessary for their families and effects.” They had also assured to them the full enjoyment of these advantages and powers in the Spanish coasts and territories. To insure the observance of this treaty, the British Government sent out Sir William Burnaby, who not only settled the limits within which the English were to confine their wood-cutting, but also drew up for their government a code of regulations or laws known as the “Burnaby Code.” Successful in their contests with the Spaniards, and now strengthened by the recognition of the crown, the British settlers assumed a corresponding high tone, and, it is alleged, made fresh encroachments on the Spanish territory. The Spaniards, alarmed and indignant, and asserting that the settlers not only abused the privileges conceded to them by the treaty, but were engaged in smuggling and other illicit practices, organized a large force, and on September 15, 1779, suddenly attacked and destroyed the establishment, taking the inhabitants prisoners to Merida, and afterwards to Havana, where most of them died. The survivors were liberated in 1782, and allowed to go to Jamaica. For two or three years the establishment seems to have been abandoned, but in 1783 a part of the original settlers, with a considerable body of new adventurers, revisited the place, and were soon actively engaged in cutting woods. On September 3d of that year anew treaty was signed between Great Britain and Spain, in which it was expressly agreed that his Britannic Majesty’s subjects should have “the right of cutting, loading, and carrying away logwood in the district lying between the river Wallis or Belize and Rio Hondo, taking the course of these two rivers for unalterable boundaries.” These concessions “were not to be considered as derogating from the rights of sovereignty of the king of Spain” over the district in question, and all the English dispersed in the Spanish territories were to concentrate themselves within the district thus defined within eighteen months. Affairs, notwithstanding the explicit stipulations of the treaty, do not seem to have proceeded favourably; for, three years after, a new treaty was made, in which the king of Spain makes an additional grant of territory, embracing the area between the rivers Sibun or Jabon and Belize, so that collectively the grants embraced the entire coast between the river Sibun in lat. 17° 20' on the south and the Rio Hondo in lat. 18° 30' on the north, a coast-line of about 90 miles, with the adjacent islands and bays. But these extended limits were coupled with still more rigid restrictions. It is not to be supposed that a population composed of so wayward and lawless a set of men at a distance from England was remarkably exact in its observance of the letter or spirit of the treaty of 1786. They seem to have given great annoyance to their Spanish neighbours, who eagerly availed themselves of the breaking out of war between the two countries in 1796 to concert a formidable attack on Belize, with a view to the complete annihilation of the establishment. They concentrated a force of 2000 men at Campeachy, which, under the command of General O’Neill, set sail in thirteen vessels for Belize, and arrived off that place July 10,1798. The settlers, in anticipation of their approach, and aided by the English sloop of war “Merlin,” had strongly fortified a small island in the harbour, called St George’s Cay, whence they maintained a determined and effectual resistance against the Spanish forces, which, after a contest of two days’ duration, were obliged to abandon their object and retire to Campeachy. This was the last attempt to dislodge the English. The defeat of the Spanish attempt of 1798 has been adduced as an act of conquest, thereby permanently establishing British sovereignty. But those who take this view overlook the important fact that, in 1814, by a new treaty with Spain, the nrovisinns of that of 1786 were revived. They forget also that until possibly within a few years the British Government never laid claim to any rights acquired in virtιιe of the successful defence; for so late as 1817-19 the Acts of Parliament relating to Belize always refer to it as “a settlement, lor certain purposes, under the protection of his Majesty.” After the independence of the Spanish American provinces, Great Britain sought to secure her rights by incorporating the provisions of the treaty of 1786 in all her treaties with the new states. It was, in fact, incorporated in her treaty with Mexico in 1826, in the project of a treaty which she submitted to Senor Zebadua, the representative of the republic of Central America in London in 1831, and also in the project of a treaty with New Grenada in 1825. Great Britain was, therefore, without any rights in Belize beyond those conveyed. by the treaties already quoted, which define with the greatest precision the area within which these rights might be exercised. But it appears from a despatch of Sir George Grey, colonial secretary, dated in 1836, that claims had then been set up to an additional wide extent of territory, including the entire coast as far south as the river Sarstoon, and as far inland as the meridian of Garbutt’s Falls on the river Belize. This anomalous state of things has no doubt had a prejudicial influence on the prosperity of Belize; but while Great Britain’s right of sovereignty might be questioned, it cannot be doubted that the enterprise of her subjects has rescued a desolate coast from the savage dominion of nature, and carried industry and civilization where none existed before, and where, if left to the control of the Spanish race, none would have existed to this day. It was perhaps this consideration that induced Mr Clayton, the American secretary of state, to consent to the exclusion of Belize from the operation of the convention of 1850 between Great Britain and the United States, whereby both powers bound themselves not to occupy, fortify, or colonize any part of Central America.

See Balize or British Honduras, by Chief-Justice Temple, read before the Society of Arts, London, January 14, 1847; Notes on Central America, by E. G. Squier, New York, 1855; A Narrative of a Journey across the Unexplored Portion of British Honduras, by Henry Fowler, Colonial Secretary, Belize, 1879.