290 GUATEMALA been introduced by some of the wealthier plant- ers. Maize, wheat, and other cereals, cotton, sugar cane, and tobacco are extensively pro- duced ; but the chief staple is coffee, the culti- vation of which began in 1872, to take the place of that of cochineal, owing to a distemper prevailing among the insects. Indigo, cacao, and vanilla are abundant; the vine and olive thrive well in the valleys; and the supply of tropical fruits, and of those of the temperate zone also, is very plentiful. The arboreal vegetation is remarkably luxuriant. The fauna of Guatemala precisely resembles that of Mex- ico, to which the reader is referred. Horses, mules, black cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry are reared in large numbers, particularly in Totonicapan, Quezaltenango, and Chiquimula. The manufactures consist of cotton and wool- len fabrics for home consumption, such as ponchos and jergas (coarse stuffs) ; and in To- tonicapan the inhabitants are mainly occupied in making household utensils of earthenware, wood, &c. The value of the exports in 1 871 was $2, 747, 784. In Guatemala, as in other Hispano- American countries, the want of adequate high- ways is a great hindrance to the development of the material resources ; the chief signs of awakening energy on the part of the govern- ment in this respect were the making of one or two new roads in 1860 and folio wing years, and the ordering a bridge to be built over the Rio Negro in 1872. The territory of Guatemala is divided into seven departments or corregi- mientos: Guatemala, Sacatepeque, Solala, Que- zaltenango, Totonicapan, Chiquimula, and Vera Paz. The population is made up of whites (12,000), mostly descended from the early Spanish settlers ; mestizos or ladinos (430,000), the children of whites and Indians ; negroes, pure and mixed (8,000) ; and pure-blooded Indians (750,000). The Indians mostly live by themselves, and the civil authorities imme- diately governing them are commonly chosen from their own race. The different families are mild, temperate, and industrious, unless cor- rupted by military chiefs, when they become rapacious, fierce, and barbarous. Indolence and licentiousness are the besetting vices of the other classes of the population. By the constitution of Oct. 19, 1851, the legislative power is vested in a congress consisting of a council of state and a house of representa- tives, the former with 24 members elected by the 52 members of the latter, these being elected by the people, and both for a term of four years. The executive power is vested in a president, elected for a like period, who is aided by the three ministers of interior and justice, foreign affairs, and war and finance. The chief sources of the national revenue are the customs, direct and indirect imposts, and the tobacco monopoly. The revenue amount- ed in 1872 to $1,798,000, and the expenditures for the same year to $1,785,000. In 1869 a loan of $2,500,000 was contracted in England, including which the total debt of Guatemala in 1872 was $4,320,000. Besides this debt, there is another floating debt, the amount of which is unknown. Education, for a while so much neglected that of 280 public schools which existed in the republic in 1860, with about 7,000 pupils, scarcely half were open in 1865, is now again becoming an object of importance in the eyes of the government. A free school was established at Quezaltenango in 1872, toward which many citizens gave handsome contributions, and the governor his entire salary for that year. The Eoman Cath- olic is the only religion tolerated. The coast of this region was discovered by Columbus in 1502 ; the country became a Spanish depen^ dency in 1524, and was erected into a captain- generalcy in 1527 by Charles V. In 1821 Guatemala threw off the yoke of Spain, and was annexed to the Mexican empire under Iturbide ; but it became a part of the Central American federal republic in 1823. In 1839 the territory of the latter was diminished by the secession of Honduras; and eight years later Guatemala separated from the confederation, becoming an independent republic on March 21, 1847. Guatemala kept out of the many wars which, up to 1862, proved so disastrous to the other Spanish American states ; but shortly after that time its finances were con- siderably embarrassed and its material devel- opment retarded by a succession of petty wars. In 1870 several towns and villages were severe- ly damaged by earthquakes. In May, 1871, a revolution broke out against President Cerna, and terminated in his deposition by Granados, who was installed in the executive chair. The new government was soon obliged to exile the archbishop of Guatemala, and banish the Jesu- its, who were charged with stirring up a new revolution in favor of Cerna. The port of Champerico was opened in 1872, and a road was to be constructed thence to Quezaltenan- go. Corporal punishment was abolished in the schools. A law passed in March restricted the liberty of the press. The collection of in- land duties was abolished, and all cities were opened to commerce, except those on the frontiers of Chiapas, San Salvador, and Hon- duras. The order of Jesuits was declared ex- tinct, and its property confiscated. A treaty of alliance offensive and defensive was made with San Salvador in this year, the principal stipulations of which were : mutual protec- tion in the event of internal dissensions ; the connecting of the two republics by telegraph lines; and the complete interdiction of the Jesuits. Contracts were signed for the con- struction of a line of railway from San Jos6 to the capital, and of six lines of telegrt the first of which was to be from Gi mala la Nueva to the river Paz. II. Gi mala la Nneva (NEW GUATEMALA), a city, ci ital of the republic, and of a department the same name, in lat. 14 37' N., Ion. 90 30' W. ; pop. about 40,000. This city, by far the finest in Central America, stands upon a pic-
