302 GUIANA bird. The population is made np of English, Dutch, French, and other Europeans, negroes and mulattoes, descended from the slaves for- merly imported from Africa, and Indians, in- cluding the remnants of half a dozen tribes. The Warrows dwell in the vicinity of the plan- tations, where they sometimes work for wages ; the Arrawaks inhabit the coast, and are skilled in boat building; but they are intemperate, improvident, and filthy. The other tribes live far from the European settlements; many of them are of a remarkably fair complexion. A few still practise cannibalism, but with these are not to be confounded the small number of Oaribs to be met with in the same region, and who, like all the continental Oaribs, have never been addicted to eating human flesh. Guiana, discovered by Columbus in 1498, was visited by Vicente Pinzon two years later. Diego de Ordaz founded in 1531 the first town, St. Thomas; Dutch settlements were established about 1580; and in 1595 Sir Walter Raleigh landed in the country with the intention of exploring it in search of gold, a project which he did not execute till 1617. African slaves were first introduced in 1621. II. British Gui- ana, sometimes called DEMERAEA, the largest of the three colonies comprised in the preceding territory, lies between lat. 55' and 8 40' N., and Ion. 56 20' and 61 W., and is bounded N. by the Atlantic, E. by Dutch Guiana, from which it is separated by the river Oorentyn, S. by Brfe,- zil, and W. by Brazil and the Venezuelan prov- ince of Guayana; area, 99,925 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 193,491. In 1851 the population was about 130,000, and by the end of 1861 no fewer than 80,000 immigrants had been received, consisting of Europeans, free negroes, and East Indian and Chinese coolies. The census of that year gave 148,026 as the total population, 79,644 of whom were males. The immigration, though costly (agents having been sent to Calcutta and Canton to promote it), has been successful. (See COOLY.) The number of indentured la- borers in June, 1866, was 32,124, and 3,069 not indentured, 8,739 of the whole being fe- males. Some invest their money in the pur- chase of land, the price being fixed by law at $10 per acre. Licenses for cutting timber, large quantities of which are exported, can be obtained for from 300 to 1,000 acres, at Is. 3d per acre. The country was formerly divided into the three counties of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice, but the two first are now united. The chief-towns are Georgetown, at the mouth of the Demerara river, the capital of the colony, Demerara, and New Amsterdam or Berbice. The staple products are coffee (the cultivation of which has diminished of late years), tobacco, indigo, maize, rice, sugar cane, fruits of various sorts, vegetables, &c. Wheat does not thrive. The principal exports are sugar, rum, molas- ses, cacao, cotton, timber, dye woods, and dye stuffs. The total exports to Great Britain in the five years from 1868 to 1872 inclusive were as follows : ARTICLES. 1868. 1869. 1870. 1871. 1872. Earn ... $1 645 760
- i 220 880
1 f% 740 Sugar... (L008745 4.405500 5 408,250 Cacao 8,'426 q A. v> 17QRA 101 785 103 910 Wood 882 750 149 110 Cotton 72 765 77 880 Sundries (dye stuffs, <kc.) 56005 78 560 QO flOA Total $8226.285 JO 044940 $7 851 750 &fi CO A AQK The imports from the same country in the same period were : YEARS. Value. 1868 $8,355,520 1869 8,271,535 1870.... 4,288,190 YEARS. Value. 1871 $3,957,790 4,480,760 1872 ......... Total $19,248,795 The total exports for the year 1871 amount- ed to $13,745,000, and the total imports to $9,485,000. The internal communication is carried on by boats upon the rivers. In 1871 [1 vessels entered and cleared. The finances of the colony in the same year were as follows : Surplus 1260,000 The public debt was $2,565,000. The govern- ment consists of a court of policy, of ten mem- bers, five of whom are official, the governor, chief justice, attorney general, collector of cus- toms, and government secretary, and five non- official. There were 101 public schools in 1863 receiving public aid, and attended by 8,251 scholars ; and the whole number of children receiving instruction in the colony was 12,425. In 1866 the schools numbered 118, with an average attendance of 6,615 pupils. British Guiana was discovered by Vicente Pinzon in the spring of 1500, and the Dutch formed the settlements of New Amsterdam, Demerara, and Essequibo about 1580. The English, who settled in the neighborhood of New Amster- dam in 1634, withdrew in 1667. The colonies were attacked by the French in 1690 and in 1712, and a contribution levied on each occa- sion. A negro insurrection took place in 1762. The colonies were occupied by the English, un- der Gen. Whyte, in 1796, but were restored to the Dutch in 1802. They were retaken in 1803, and by an agreement between England and the Netherlands, concluded in 1814, re- tained by the former country. In 1831 they
