SALVADOR. SALVADOR is the smallest of the States of Central America, its area being 7,225 square miles, only about one-sixth that of England and Wales. This little republic (which ranks second, however, in point of population) extends along the Pacific Coast for about 170 miles, and inland for about 40 miles to the frontiers of Honduras. The population numbers about 1 million (of whom 235,000 are Indians), and is largely engaged in agriculture, manufactures, and, within recent years, mining. The capital, SAN SALVADOR (60), founded in 1528, has been repeatedly devastated by earthquakes, and was finally destroyed in a few seconds on the night of the 16th of April 1854. Four years later, the people commenced to build another city, though not on the same site, but in 1873 the new capital was partly destroyed, and again, in 1879, it suffered severely. The principal port is La Libertad, on on the coast, 15 miles south-west of the capital. A railway connects the port of Acajutla, with several inland towns. Other important towns are Santa Ana (48) and San Miguel (25). There are about 100 miles of railway open. HONDURAS. HONDURAS lies between Guatemala and Nicaragua, and extends along the Caribbean coast from the Gulf of Honduras to Cape Gracias à Dios. It has an area of about 46,000 square miles, and a population of less than half a million, mostly Indians and Ladinos, or half-castes.. The chief commercial products of Handuras are cattle, mahogany, hides, and india-rubber, and it has great, but almost undeveloped, mineral wealth. The capital of the republic is TEGUCIGALPA (34), 40 miles south-east of the former capital, Comayagua. The chief ports are Truxillo and Omoa, both on the Gulf of Honduras. The annual trade amounts to over 1,000,000. NICARAGUA. NICARAGUA is the largest State of Central America, having an area of 47,900 square miles. Its population, however, only amounts to 400,000, of whom but a small number are of European descent. This State is naturally the richest in Central America, but long continued political troubles have hindered any great progress. The Nicaragua Ship Canal scheme has been definitely abandoned in favour of its rival, the partly excavated Panama Canal, with which the United States are proceeding. The present capital is MANAGUA (30), which is situated on the slope of an active volcano, near the southern shores of Lake Managua. Leon, the old capital, is now partly in ruins, but has still about 45,000 inhabitants. Granada, on the north-western border of Lake Nicaragua, is one of the oldest cities in Central America. Near the mouth of the San Juan River, which forms the outlet of Lake Nicaragua, is Grey Town or San Juan de Nicaragua. 1. In September, 1891, another terrific earthquake devastated the country. Hardly a town. except along the coast, escaped the awful effects of the convulsion; and the loss of life and the COSTA RICA. COSTA RICA, the most southern State of Central America, extends across the isthmus, and has an area of 20,000 square miles and a population of a quarter of a million, most of them of Spanish descent, the half castes being few in number. Costa Rica, the "rich coast," is rich not only in the precious metals-many gold and silver mines are worked-but also in its fertile soil, which will grow almost anything. Cattle-rearing is, however, the main industry. Coffee and bananas are the chief agricultural products, but maize, rice, wheat, &c., are also cultivated. The other exports are cedar and fustic wood, hides and skins, cocoa, indiarubber, and mother-of-pearl. SAN JOSE (20), the capital, is connected by rail with the port of Limon, on the Atlantic, and with Punta Arenas, on the Pacific. THE WEST INDIES. The WEST INDIES1 form an immense semicircular chain of islands, extending from Southern Florida to the mouths of the Orinoco, and lying between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea and the open Atlantic. The numerous islands of this region are geographically divided into (r) the Bahamas, (2) the Greater Antilles, and (3) the Lesser Antilles. The Lesser Antilles are further subdivided into (a) the Leeward Islands, and (6) the Wind ward Islands. The Bahamas are the most northerly portion of the West Indian Archipelago. a number of smaller islands. The Lesser Antilles comprehend the long chain of islands that stretch, in a curved line, from the eastern extremity of Porto Rico to the mainland of South America. The total area of the West Indian Islands is estimated at 95,000 square miles, of which the Greater Antilles include not less than 83,000 square miles. All the larger islands of the West Indies are more or less mountainous. So, also, with few exceptions, are the islands belonging to the Windward and the Leeward chains. The Bahama Islands, on the contrary, are almost wholly level. In Cuba, the largest island of the West Indies, the mountains reach nearly 8,000 feet above the level of the sea, and the mountains in the island of Haiti exceed that altitude. The Blue Mountains of Jamaica are upwards of 7,000 feet. Fertile plains and watered valleys alternate with the high grounds. Many of the smaller islands have peaks which rise to 3,000 feet, and some even to double that altitude. The climate of the West Indies is thoroughly tropical. With the exception of a part of the Bahama chain, the entire archipelago is within the Torrid Zone, and exhibits the usual characteristics of that belt of the globe. But the average temperature is not so high as in the corresponding latitudes of the Eastern Hemisphere. when he sighted the island of San Salvador, he had 1. So called, because Columbus thought that, I reached the western shores of India. 2. Nearly twice the area of England. The dry and rainy seasons follow one another with unfailing regularity, and the quantity of rain is excessive-surpassing (in the case of some of the smaller islands) that which is experienced in almost any other part of the globe. It is only during the rains that the climate is unhealthy. The most valuable productions of this region are those which belong to the vegetable world. Manioc, arum (or taro'), sweet potato, arrowroot, maize, pine-apple, pimento, ginger, cocoa, vanilla, the tamarind, guava, cocoa-nut palm, indigo, and tobacco are indigenous to the soil. The sugar-cane, banana coffee-plant, and bread-fruit tree flourish. The total population of the West Indies probably amounts to above 4 millions, an average of over 40 persons to the square mile. Nearly two-thirds of the population of the whole region are Negroes, the remaining third being Whites and Mulattoes-the latter of mixed European and Negro blood. Europeans and people of European descent (Creoles) are most numerous in Cuba, where they amount to considerably more than one-half of the whole. In many of the islands, the population is very dense-in Barbados, for instance, there are over 1,000 inhabitants to the square mile, or twice the density in England and Wales. The chief commercial productions of the West Indies are sugar, rum, molasses, bananas, and coffee; with cocoa, tobacco, cotton, spices (chiefly pimento and ginger), to a smaller amount. Three of the above-sugar, rum, and molasses (or treacle)-are the produce of the sugar-cane, the culture of which was introduced into this region by the Spaniards at an early date after the discovery of the New World. The cultivation of the sugar-cane is even yet the leading industry in these islands, and sugar, rum, and molasses still form the chief exports. But the palmy days of Jamaica and other sugar-growing islands are now at an end. The cane-sugar areas of the world have now to compete against the beet sugar areas of Germany, France, Austria, and other countries. By using the best up-to-date machinery and obtaining bounties from their governments, these countries are able to sell their beet-sugar abroad at a very low price. Want of labour, obsolete machinery, the present unremunerative prices for sugar, and other causes, have thus had the effect of throwing a large number of valuable canesugar plantations out of cultivation. Even this is not altogether a loss, as the planters are now making great efforts to grow other and more profitable crops; the culture of coffee, cocoa, spices, bananas, arrowroot. &c., is thus yearly increasing, while the sugar area is stationary or on the decrease-indeed some of the islands, such as Grenada, have now ceased to produce any sugar. There is much timber and some mineral wealth in a few of the islands, but neither yields any appreciable result. DIVISIONS: With the exception of the island of Haiti, which is divided between the two independent republics of Haiti and San Domingo, the republic of Cuba, and Porto Rico, all the West Indian islands are in the possession of four European powers, namely, Great Britain, France, Holland, and Denmark. 1. This is a tuberous root, as also is the batata or | and many other of the Pacífic group, BRITISH WEST INDIES. The British portion of the West Indian Archipelago includes the large island of Jamaica, in the Greater Antilles, and Trinidad, Barbados, and other islands in the Lesser Antilles. The British West Indies have an area of about 12,288 square miles, and a population of over 11⁄2 millions, most of whom are Negroes or Mulattoes. Europeans or people of European descent (Creoles) are comparatively few in number. Of the aboriginal inhabitants-the savage and warlike Caribs—a few families are still found in Dominica and St. Vincent, and thousands of the race are said to inhabit the north of Haiti, where, however, they are more or less tinged with Negro blood. The Administrative Divisions of the British West India Islands are (1) Jamaica, (2) the Bahama Islands, (3) the Leeward Islands, (4) the Windward Islands (5) Trinidad and Tobago, and (6) Barbados. The Bermudas, a group of islands in the North Atlantic, 600 miles west of Cape Hatteras, are also British. JAMAICA. The island of JAMAICA,1 the Xaimaca, or "land of wood and water," of the old Caribs, is by far the largest and most important of the British West India Islands. It is about 150 miles in length, and 50 miles in greatest breadth, and has an area of 4,424 square miles, and a population of over 755,730, not more than 3 per cent. of whom are whites. As when discovered by Columbus in 1494, so now, this island is “most caarming, beautifully wooded, well watered, and abounding in picturesque moun tains and fertile valleys." The fruitful soil produces sugar, coffee, spices, &c., in such abundance that the great mineral and forest wealth of the colony is almost neglected. Owing to its mountains and plateaux, there is a wonderful variety of climate-a few hours' ride enables one to exchange the tropical heat of the coast for the cool and salubrious climate of the uplands. feet A glance at the map will show the physical character of the island. The grand central chain of the Blue Mountains rises in some peaks to 7.300 above the sea. Of the numerous rivers, only one, the Black River, is navigable, and that only for boats. There are excellent harbours; the island is intersected by good roads, and there are about 90 miles of railway. Most of the staple products of tropical climates are raised. Sugar now forms only one-tenth of the exports; Jamaica rum is still counted the best in the world; and the coffee grown in certain districts in the Blue Mountains fetches the highest price in the London market. There is an extensive trade in fruits with the United States, and a line of steamers runs direct between Kingston and Bristol with cargoes of bananas. Maize and corn grow luxuriantly. The guinea grass, from 5 to 6 feet in height, grows wild, and is superior to any other for pasturage, while the woods furnish an abundance of rich dye stuffs, drugs and spices, and the rarest of cabinet woods. and was first settled by the Spaniards in 1509. In to an end by the emancipation of the slaves, sho 1. Jamaica was discovered by Columbus in 1494. in 1670. In 1833, the planters' 'golden age 'came 1655. it was taken by an English fleet sent out by in 1864-5, broke out into an open rebellion, which was Cromwell, and was formally ceded to Great Britain promptly and sternly repressed by Governor Eye The trade of Jamaica is mostly with the United States (57 per cent.) and the United Kingdom (32 per cent.). The chief articles of export, in order of value, are-dye-woods, fruits, coffee, sugar, and rum. Large quantities of bananas are now shipped to England. The centre of the external trade is KINGSTON, on the south coast, and its harbour-Port Royal-is the finest of the 30 good harbours of the island. Montego Bay and Falmouth, on the north side of the island, are also important ports. The Government is administered by a Governor, aided by a Privy Council and a Legislative Council- 14 members of the latter are elected. The island is divided into three counties-Surrey in the east, Middlesex in the centre, and Cornwall in the west. KINGSTON in Middlesex is the seat of government; SPANISH TOWN, the former capital, is about 11 miles west of Kingston. TURK'S and CAICOS ISLANDS are under the Government of Jamaica, although they geographically form a part of the Bahama Archipelago. Only 6 of the 30'cays' included in the group are inhabited-the largest is Grand Caicos but the most important is Grand Turk. The only important industry is saltmaking, but there is a small sponge fishery. The Cayman Islands in the Caribbean Sea, to the west of Jamaica, are similarly attached to the Jamaican government. There is a population of some 4,000, who rear cattle and export coco-nuts and turtles. The Morant Cays and Pedro Cays are also attached to the Government of Jamaica. The BAHAMAS are the most northerly of the West Indian Islands. They lie to the north of Cuba and Hayti, and have an area of about 5,454 square miles, and a population of 53,735, nearly one-third of whom are whites. The Bahama chain of islands and reefs is nearly 800 miles in length, rising in water 10,000 to 13,000 feet in depth. Of over 500 islands and islets, not more than 20 are inhabited, and of these the most important are New Providence (containing the capital, NASSAU), San Salvador or Watling Island, Abaco, Grand Bahama, Long Island, Eleuthera, Great Inagua, and Andros, with the Turk's and Caicos Islands, which are politically attached to Jamaica. Fruit-growing is the chief industry in these lovely islands, and enormous quantities of oranges, bananas, and pine apples are shipped, chiefly to the United States. There are advantages here for the cultivation of oranges not known in Florida, as the islands are proof against frost, which often visits Florida. The sponge fishery is important, but the fibre industry promises to become the mainstay of the colony. **One of the Bahamas, Watling Island or San Salvador, is famous as the first land in the New World seen by Columbus. On the morning of the 4th of October, 1492, it was that the simple natives hurried to the shore to see "the people from heaven," as they supposed the gorgeously dressed Spaniards to be. Columbus was delighted with the loveliness of the island, and was enthusiastic in its praises. "It seems to me," he wrote, "that I could never quit so enchanting a spot, as if a thousand tongues would fail to describe it, as if my hands, spell-bound, would never be able to write concerning it." Some of the islands are, indeed, perfect paradises of beauty, with a wealth of tropical vegetation, and a pleasant salubrious climate, attracting hundreds of invalids from the States and elsewhere every winter. Visitors to Nassau say they never tire of the lovely walks in the flower-covered woods, which are like immense gardens, or of the innumerable boating excursions among the bays and lagoons, the waters of which are marvellously clear and transparent. |