born at Magdeburg, in Prussian Saxony, on the 20th of November 1602.
Having studied law at Leipzig, Helmstadt and Jena, and mathematics,
especially geometry and mechanics, at Leiden, he visited France and
England, and in 1636 became engineer-in-chief at Erfurt. In 1627 he was
elected alderman of Magdeburg, and in 1646 mayor of that city and a
magistrate of Brandenburg. His leisure was devoted to scientific
pursuits, especially in pneumatics. Incited by the discoveries of
Galileo, Pascal and Torricelli, he attempted the creation of a vacuum.
He began by experimenting with a pump on water placed in a barrel, but
found that when the water was drawn off the air permeated the wood. He
then took a globe of copper fitted with pump and stopcock, and
discovered that he could pump out air as well as water. Thus he became
the inventor of the air-pump (1650). He illustrated his discovery before
the emperor Ferdinand III. at the imperial diet which assembled at
Regensburg in 1654, by the experiment of the "Magdeburg hemispheres."
Taking two hollow hemispheres of copper, the edges of which fitted
nicely together, he exhausted the air from between them by means of his
pump, and it is recorded that thirty horses, fifteen back to back, were
unable to pull them asunder until the air was readmitted. Besides
investigating other phenomena connected with a vacuum, he constructed an
electrical machine which depended on the excitation of a rotating ball
of sulphur; and he made successful researches in astronomy, predicting
the periodicity of the return of comets. In 1681 he gave up office, and
retired to Hamburg, where he died on the 11th of May 1686.
His principal observations are given in his work, _Experimenta nova,
ut vocant, Magdeburgica de vacuo spatio_ (Amsterdam, 1672). He is also
the author of a _Geschichte der Belagerung und Eroberung von
Magdeburg_. See F. W. Hoffmann, _Otto von Guericke_ (Magdeburg, 1874).
GUERIDON, a small table to hold a lamp or vase, supported by a tall
column or a human or mythological figure. This piece of furniture, often
very graceful and elegant, originated in France towards the middle of
the 17th century. In the beginning the table was supported by a negro or
other exotic figure, and there is some reason to believe that it took
its name from the generic appellation of the young African groom or
"tiger," who was generally called "Gueridon," or as we should say in
English "Sambo." The swarthy figure and brilliant costume of the "Moor"
when reproduced in wood and picked out in colours produced a very
striking effect, and when a small table was supported on the head by the
upraised hands the idea of passive service was suggested with
completeness. The gueridon is still occasionally seen in something
approaching its original form; but it had no sooner been introduced than
the artistic instinct of the French designer and artificer converted it
into a far worthier object. By the death of Louis XIV. there were
several hundreds of them at Versailles, and within a generation or two
they had taken an infinity of forms--columns, tripods, termini and
mythological figures. Some of the simpler and more artistic forms were
of wood carved with familiar decorative motives and gilded. Silver,
enamel, and indeed almost any material from which furniture can be made,
have been used for their construction. A variety of small "occasional"
tables are now called in French _gueridons_.
GUERIN, JEAN BAPTISTE PAULIN (1783-1855), French painter, was born at
Toulon, on the 25th of March 1783, of poor parents. He learnt, as a lad,
his father's trade of a locksmith, whilst at the same time he followed
the classes of the free school of art. Having sold some copies to a
local amateur, Guerin started for Paris, where he came under the notice
of Vincent, whose counsels were of material service. In 1810 Guerin made
his first appearance at the Salon with some portraits, which had a
certain success. In 1812 he exhibited "Cain after the murder of Abel"
(formerly in Luxembourg), and, on the return of the Bourbons, was much
employed in works of restoration and decoration at Versailles. His "Dead
Christ" (Cathedral, Baltimore) obtained a medal in 1817, and this
success was followed up by a long series of works, of which the
following are the more noteworthy: "Christ on the knees of the Virgin"
(1819); "Anchises and Venus" (1822) (formerly in Luxembourg); "Ulysses
and Minerva" (1824) (Musee de Rennes); "the Holy Family" (1829)
(Cathedral, Toulon); and "Saint Catherine" (1838) (St Roch). In his
treatment of subject, Guerin attempted to realize rococo graces of
conception, the liveliness of which was lost in the strenuous effort to
be correct. His chief successes were attained by portraits, and those of
Charles Nodier and the Abbe Lamennais became widely popular. He died on
the 19th of January 1855.
GUERIN, PIERRE NARCISSE, BARON (1774-1833), French painter, was born at
Paris on the 13th of May 1774. Becoming a pupil of Jean Baptiste
Regnault, he carried off one of the three "grands prix" offered in 1796,
in consequence of the competition not having taken place since 1793. The
_pension_ was not indeed re-established, but Guerin fulfilled at Paris
the conditions imposed upon a _pensionnaire_, and produced various
works, one of which brought him prominently before the public. This
work, "Marcus Sextus" (Louvre), exhibited at the Salon of 1799, excited
wild enthusiasm, partly due to the subject,--a victim of Sulla's
proscription returning to Rome to find his wife dead and his house in
mourning--in which an allusion was found to the actual situation of the
_emigres_. Guerin on this occasion was publicly crowned by the president
of the Institute, and before his departure for Rome (on the
re-establishment of the Ecole under Suvee) a banquet was given to him by
the most distinguished artists of Paris. In 1800, unable to remain in
Rome on account of his health, he went to Naples, where he painted the
"Grave of Amyntas." In 1802 Guerin produced "Phaedra and Hippolytus"
(Louvre); in 1810, after his return to Paris, he again achieved a great
success with "Andromache and Pyrrhus" (Louvre); and in the same year
also exhibited "Cephalus and Aurora" (Collection Sommariva) and
"Bonaparte and the Rebels of Cairo" (Versailles). The Restoration
brought to Guerin fresh honours; he had received from the first consul
in 1803 the cross of the Legion of Honour, and in 1815 Louis XVIII.
named him Academician. The success of Guerin's "Hippolytus" of
"Andromache," of "Phaedra" and of "Clytaemnestra" (Louvre) had been
ensured by the skilful selection of highly melodramatic situations,
treated with the strained and pompous dignity proper to the art of the
first empire; in "Aeneas relating to Dido the disasters of Troy"
(Louvre), which appeared side by side with "Clytaemnestra" at the Salon
of 1817, the influence of the Restoration is plainly to be traced. In
this work Guerin sought to captivate the public by an appeal to those
sensuous charms which he had previously rejected, and by the
introduction of picturesque elements of interest. But with this work
Guerin's public successes came to a close. He was, indeed, commissioned
to paint for the Madeleine a scene from the history of St Louis, but his
health prevented him from accomplishing what he had begun, and in 1822
he accepted the post of director of the Ecole de Rome, which in 1816 he
had refused. On returning to Paris in 1828, Guerin, who had previously
been made chevalier of the order of St Michel, was ennobled. He now
attempted to complete "Pyrrhus and Priam," a work which he had begun at
Rome, but in vain; his health had finally broken down, and in the hope
of improvement he returned to Italy with Horace Vernet. Shortly after
his arrival at Rome Baron Guerin died, on the 6th of July 1833, and was
buried in the church of La Trinita de' Monti by the side of Claude
Lorraine.
A careful analysis and criticism of his principal works will be found
in Meyer's _Geschichte der franzosischen Malerei_.
GUERIN DU CAYLA, GEORGES MAURICE DE (1810-1839), French poet, descended
from a noble but poor family, was born at the chateau of Le Cayla in
Languedoc, on the 4th of August 1810. He was educated for the church at
a religious seminary at Toulouse, and then at the College Stanislas,
Paris, after which he entered the society at La Chesnaye in Brittany,
founded by Lamennais. It was only after great hesitation, and without
being satisfied as to his religious vocation, that under the influence
of Lamennais he joined the new religious order in the autumn of 1832;
and when, in September of the next year, Lamennais, who had come under
the displeasure of Rome, severed connexion with the society, Maurice de
Guerin soon followed his example. Early in the following year he went to
Paris, where he was for a short time a teacher at the College Stanislas.
In November 1838 he married a Creole lady of some fortune; but a few
months afterwards he was attacked by consumption and died on the 19th of
July 1839. In the _Revue des deux mondes_ for May 15th, 1840, there
appeared a notice of Maurice de Guerin by George Sand, to which she
added two fragments of his writings--one a composition in prose entitled
the _Centaur_, and the other a short poem. His _Reliquiae_ (2 vols.,
1861), including the _Centaur_, his journal, a number of his letters and
several poems, was edited by G. S. Trebutien, and accompanied with a
biographical and critical notice by Sainte-Beuve; a new edition, with
the title _Journal, lettres et poemes_, followed in 1862; and an English
translation of it was published at New York in 1867. Though he was
essentially a poet, his prose is more striking and original than his
poetry. Its peculiar and unique charm arises from his strong and
absorbing passion for nature, a passion whose intensity reached almost
to adoration and worship, but in which the pagan was more prominent than
the moral element. According to Sainte-Beuve, "no French poet or
painter has rendered so well the feeling for nature--the feeling not so
much for details as for the ensemble and the divine universality, the
feeling for the origin of things and the sovereign principle of life."
The name of EUGENIE DE GUERIN (1805-1848), the sister of Maurice, cannot
be omitted from any notice of him. Her _Journals_ (1861, Eng. trans.,
1865) and her _Lettres_ (1864, Eng. trans., 1865) indicated the
possession of gifts of as rare an order as those of her brother, though
of a somewhat different kind. In her case mysticism assumed a form more
strictly religious, and she continued to mourn her brother's loss of his
early Catholic faith. Five years older than he, she cherished a love for
him which was blended with a somewhat motherly anxiety. After his death
she began the collection and publication of the scattered fragments of
his writings. She died, however, on the 31st of May 1848, before her
task was completed.
See the notices by George Sand and Sainte-Beuve referred to above;
Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du lundi_ (vol. xii.) and _Nouveaux Lundis_
(vol. iii.); G. Merlet, _Causeries sur les femmes et les livres_
(Paris, 1865); Selden, _L'Esprit des femmes de notre temps_ (Paris,
1864); Marelle, _Eugenie et Maurice de Guerin_ (Berlin, 1869); Harriet
Parr, _M. and E. de Guerin, a monograph_ (London, 1870); and Matthew
Arnold's essays on Maurice and Eugenie de Guerin, in his _Essays in
Criticism_.
GUERNIERI, or WERNER, a celebrated mercenary captain who lived about the
middle of the 14th century. He was a member of the family of the dukes
of Urslingen, and probably a descendant of the dukes of Spoleto. From
1340 to 1343 he was in the service of the citizens of Pisa, but
afterwards he collected a troop of adventurers which he called the Great
Company, and with which he plundered Tuscany and Lombardy. He then
entered the service of Louis I. the Great, king of Hungary and Poland,
whom he assisted to obtain possession of Naples; but when dismissed from
this service his ravages became more terrible than ever, culminating in
the dreadful sack of Anagni in 1358, shortly after which Guernieri
disappeared from history. He is said to have worn a breastplate with the
inscription, "The enemy of God, of pity and of mercy."
GUERNSEY (Fr. _Guernesey_), one of the Channel Islands, belonging to
Britain, the second in size and westernmost of the important members of
the group. Its chief town, St Peter Port, on the east coast, is in 2
deg. 33' W., 49 deg. 27' N., 74 m. S. of Portland Bill on the English
coast, and 30 m. from the nearest French coast to the east. The island,
roughly triangular in form, is 9-1/4 m. long from N.E. to S.W. and has
an extreme breadth of 5-1/4 m. and an area of 15,691 acres or 24.5 sq.
m. Pop. (1901), 40,446, the density being thus 162 per sq. m.
The surface of the island rises gradually from north to south, and
reaches its greatest elevation at Haut Nez (349 ft.) above Point Icart
on the south coast. The coast scenery, which forms one of the principal
attractions to the numerous summer visitors to the island, is finest on
the south. This coast, between Jerbourg and Pleinmont Points,
respectively at the south-eastern and south-western corners of the
island, is bold, rocky and indented with many exquisite little bays. Of
these the most notable are Moulin Huet, Saint's, and Petit Bot, all in
the eastern half of the south coast. The cliffs, however, culminate in
the neighbourhood of Pleinmont. Picturesque caves occur at several
points, such as the Creux Mahie. On the west coast there is a succession
of larger bays--Rocquaine Perelle, Vazon, and Cobo. Off the first lies
Lihou Island, the Hanois and other islets, and all three bays are sown
with rocks. The coast, however, diminishes in height, until at the
north-eastern extremity of the island the land is so low across the Vale
or Braye du Val, from shore to shore, that the projection of L'Ancresse
is within a few feet of being isolated. The east coast, on which,
besides the town and harbour of St Peter Port, is that of St Sampson,
presents no physical feature of note. The interior of the island is
generally undulating, and gains in beauty from its rich vegetation.
Picturesque glens descend upon some of the southern bays (the two
converging upon Petit Bot are notable), and the high-banked paths,
arched with foliage, which follow the small rills down to Moulin Huet
Bay, are much admired under the name of water-lanes.
The soil is generally light sandy loam, overlying an angular gravel
which rests upon the weathered granite. This soil requires much manure,
and a large proportion of the total area (about three-fifths) is under
careful cultivation, producing a considerable amount of grain, but more
famous for market-gardening. Vegetables and potatoes are exported, with
much fruit, including grapes and flowers. Granite is quarried and
exported from St Sampson, and the fisheries form an important industry.
For administrative purposes Guernsey is united with Alderney, Sark, Herm
and the adjacent islets to form the bailiwick of Guernsey, separate from
Jersey. The peculiar constitution, machinery of administration and
justice, finance, &c., are considered under the heading CHANNEL ISLANDS.
Guernsey is divided into the ten parishes of St Peter Port, St Sampson,
Vale, Catel, St Saviour, St Andrew, St Martin, Forest, St Peter du Bois
and Torteval. The population of St Peter Port in 1901 was 18,264; of the
other parishes that of St Sampson was 5614 and that of Vale 5082. The
population of the bailiwick of Guernsey nearly doubled between 1821 and
1901, and that of the island increased from 35,243 in 1891 to 40,446 in
1901. The island roads are excellent, Guernsey owing much in this
respect to Sir John Doyle (d. 1834), the governor whose monument stands
on the promontory of Jerbourg. Like Jersey and the neighbouring part of
France, Guernsey retains considerable traces of early habitation in
cromlechs and menhirs, of which the most notable is the cromlech in the
north at L'Ancresse. As regards ecclesiastical architecture, all the
parish churches retain some archaeological interest. There is good
Norman work in the church of St Michael, Vale, and the church of St
Peter Port is a notable building of various periods from the early 14th
century. Small remains of monastic buildings are seen at Vale and on
Lihou Island.
GUERRAZZI, FRANCESCO DOMENICO (1804-1873), Italian publicist, born at
Leghorn, was educated for the law at Pisa, and began to practise in his
native place. But he soon took to politics and literature, under the
influence of Byron, and his novel, the _Battagli di Benevento_ (1827),
brought him into notice. Mazzini made his acquaintance, and with Carlo
Bini they started a paper, the _Indicatore_, at Leghorn in 1829, which
was quickly suppressed. Guerrazzi himself had to endure several terms of
imprisonment for his activity in the cause of Young Italy, and it was in
Portoferrato in 1834 that he wrote his most famous novel _Assidio di
Firenze_. He was the most powerful Liberal leader at Leghorn, and in
1848 became a minister, with some idea of exercising a moderating
influence in the difficulties with the grand-duke of Tuscany. In 1849,
when the latter fled, he was first one of the triumvirate with Mazzini
and Montanelli, and then dictator, but on the restoration he was
arrested and imprisoned for three years. His _Apologia_ was published in
1852. Released from prison, he was exiled to Corsica, but subsequently
was restored and was for some time a deputy at Turin (1862-1870), dying
of apoplexy at Leghorn on the 25th of September 1873. He wrote a number
of other works besides the novels already mentioned, notably _Isabella
Orsini_ (1845) and _Beatrice Cenci_ (1854), and his _Opere_ were
collected at Milan (1868).
See the _Life and Works_ by Bosio (1877), and Carducci's edition of
his letters (1880).
GUERRERO, a Pacific coast state of Mexico, bounded N.W. by Michoacan, N.
by Mexico (state) and Morelos, N.E. and E. by Puebla and Oaxaca, and S.
and W. by the Pacific. Area, 24,996 sq. m. Pop., largely composed of
Indians and mestizos (1895), 417,886; (1900) 479,205. The state is
roughly broken by the Sierra Madre and its spurs, which cover its entire
surface with the exception of the low coastal plain (averaging about 20
m. in width) on the Pacific. The valleys are usually narrow, fertile and
heavily forested, but difficult of access. The state is divided into two
distinct zones--the _tierras calientes_ of the coast and lower river
courses where tropical conditions prevail, and the _tierras templadas_
of the mountain region where the conditions are subtropical. The latter
is celebrated for its agreeable and healthy climate, and for the variety
and character of its products. The principal river of the state is the
Rio de las Balsas or Mescala, which, having its source in Tlaxcala,
flows entirely across the state from W. to E., and then southward to the
Pacific on the frontier of Michoacan. This river is 429 m. long and
receives many affluents from the mountainous region through which it
passes, but its course is very precipitous and its mouth obstructed by
sand bars. The agricultural products include cotton, coffee, tobacco and
cereals, and the forests produce rubber, vanilla and various textile
fibres. Mining is undeveloped, although the mineral resources of the
state include silver, gold, mercury, lead, iron, coal, sulphur and
precious stones. The capital, Chilpancingo, or Chilpancingo de los
Bravos (pop. 7497 in 1900), is a small town in the Sierra Madre about
110 m. from the coast and 200 m. S. of the Federal capital. It is a
healthy well-built town on the old Acapulco road, is lighted by
electricity and is temporarily the western terminus of the Interoceanic
railway from Vera Cruz. It is celebrated in the history of Mexico as the
meeting-place of the revolutionary congress of 1813, which issued a
declaration of independence. Chilpancingo was badly damaged by an
earthquake in January 1902, and again on the 16th of April 1907. Other
important towns of the state are Tixtla, or Tixtla de Guerrero, formerly
the capital (pop. 6316 in 1900), 3 m. N.E. of Chilpancingo; Chilapa
(8256 in 1895), the most populous town of the state, partially destroyed
by a hurricane in 1889, and again by the earthquake of 1907; Iguala
(6631 in 1895); and Acapulco. Guerrero was organized as a state in 1849,
its territory being taken from the states of Mexico, Michoacan and
Puebla.
GUERRILLA (erroneously written "guerilla," being the diminutive of the
Span. _guerra_, war), a term currently used to denote war carried on by
bands in any irregular and unorganized manner. At the Hague Conference
of 1899 the position of irregular combatants was one of the subjects
dealt with, and the rules there adopted were reaffirmed at the
Conference of 1907. They provide that irregular bands in order to enjoy
recognition as belligerent forces shall (a) have at their head a person
responsible for his subordinates, (b) wear some fixed distinctive badge
recognizable at a distance, (c) carry arms openly, and (d) conform in
their operations to the laws and customs of war. The rules, however,
also provide that in case of invasion the inhabitants of a territory who
on the approach of the invading enemy spontaneously take up arms to
resist it, shall be regarded as belligerent troops if they carry arms
openly and respect the laws and customs of war, although they may not
have had time to become organized in accordance with the above
provisions. These rules were borrowed almost word for word from the
project drawn up at the Brussels international conference of 1874,
which, though never ratified, was practically incorporated in the army
regulations issued by the Russian government in connexion with the war
of 1877-78. (T. Ba.)
GUERRINI, OLINDO (1845- ), Italian poet, was born at Sant' Alberto,
Ravenna, and after studying law took to a life of letters, becoming
eventually librarian at Bologna University. In 1877 he published
_Postuma_, a volume of _canzoniere_, under the name of Lorenzo
Stechetti, following this with _Polemica_ (1878), _Canti popolari
romagnoli_ (1880) and other poetical works, and becoming known as the
leader of the "verist" school among Italian lyrical writers.
GUESDE, JULES BASILE (1845- ), French socialist, was born in Paris on
the 11th of November 1845. He had begun his career as a clerk in the
French Home Office, but at the outbreak of the Franco-German War he was
editing _Les Droits de l'homme_ at Montpellier, and had to take refuge
at Geneva in 1871 from a prosecution instituted on account of articles
which had appeared in his paper in defence of the Commune. In 1876 he
returned to France to become one of the chief French apostles of Marxian
collectivism, and was imprisoned for six months in 1878 for taking part
in the first Parisian International Congress. He edited at different
times _Les Droits de l'homme_, _Le Cri du peuple_, _Le Socialiste_, but
his best-known organ was the weekly _Egalite_. He had been in close
association with Paul Lafargue, and through him with Karl Marx, whose
daughter he married. It was in conjunction with Marx and Lafargue that
he drew up the programme accepted by the national congress of the Labour
party at Havre in 1880, which laid stress on the formation of an
international labour party working by revolutionary methods. Next year
at the Reims congress the orthodox Marxian programme of Guesde was
opposed by the "possibilists," who rejected the intransigeant attitude
of Guesde for the opportunist policy of Benoit Malon. At the congress of
St-Etienne the difference developed into separation, those who refused
all compromise with a capitalist government following Guesde, while the
opportunists formed several groups. Guesde took his full share in the
consequent discussion between the Guesdists, the Blanquists, the
possibilists, &c. In 1893 he was returned to the Chamber of Deputies for
Lille (7th circonscription) with a large majority over the Christian
Socialist and Radical candidates. He brought forward various proposals
in social legislation forming the programme of the Labour party, without
reference to the divisions among the Socialists, and on the 20th of
November 1894 succeeded in raising a two days' discussion of the
collectivist principle in the Chamber. In 1902 he was not re-elected,
but resumed his seat in 1906. In 1903 there was a formal reconciliation
at the Reims congress of the sections of the party, which then took the
name of the Socialist party of France. Guesde, nevertheless, continued
to oppose the opportunist policy of Jaures, whom he denounced for
supporting one bourgeois party against another. His defence of the
principle of freedom of association led him, incongruously enough, to
support the religious Congregations against Emile Combes. Besides his
numerous political and socialist pamphlets he published in 1901 two
volumes of his speeches in the Chamber of Deputies entitled _Quatre ans
de lutte de classe 1893-1898_.
GUEST, EDWIN (1800-1880), English antiquary, was born in 1800. He was
educated at King Edward's school, Birmingham, and at Caius College,
Cambridge, where he graduated as eleventh wrangler, subsequently
becoming a fellow of his college. Called to the bar in 1828, he devoted
himself, after some years of legal practice, to antiquarian and literary
research. In 1838 he published his exhaustive _History of English
Rhythms_. He also wrote a very large number of papers on Roman-British
history, which, together with a mass of fresh material for a history of
early Britain, were published posthumously under the editorship of Dr
Stubbs under the title _Origines Celticae_ (1883). In 1852 Guest was
elected master of Caius College, becoming LL.D. in the following year,
and in 1854-1855 he was vice-chancellor of Cambridge University. Guest
was a fellow of the Royal Society, and an honorary member of the Society
of Antiquaries. He died on the 23rd of November 1880.
GUEST (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. _Gast_, and Swed.
_gast_; cognate with Lat. _hostis_, originally a stranger, hence enemy;
cf. "host"), one who receives hospitality in the house of another, his
"host"; hence applied to a parasite.
GUETTARD, JEAN ETIENNE (1715-1786), French naturalist and mineralogist,
was born at Etampes, on the 22nd of September 1715. In boyhood he gained
a knowledge of plants from his grandfather, who was an apothecary, and
later he qualified as a doctor in medicine. Pursuing the study of botany
in various parts of France and other countries, he began to take notice
of the relation between the distribution of plants and the soils and
subsoils. In this way his attention came to be directed to minerals and
rocks. In 1746 he communicated to the Academy of Sciences in Paris a
memoir on the distribution of minerals and rocks, and this was
accompanied by a map on which he had recorded his observations. He thus,
as remarked by W. D. Conybeare, "first carried into execution the idea,
proposed by [Martin] Lister years before, of geological maps." In the
course of his journeys he made a large collection of fossils and figured
many of them, but he had no clear ideas about the sequence of strata. He
made observations also on the degradation of mountains by rain, rivers
and sea; and he was the first to ascertain the existence of former
volcanoes in the district of Auvergne. He died in Paris on the 7th of
January 1786.
His publications include: _Observations sur les plantes_ (2 vols.,
1747); _Histoire de la decouverte faite en France de matieres
semblables a celles dont la porcelaine de la Chine est composee_
(1765); _Memoires sur differentes parties des sciences et arts_ (5
vols., 1768-1783); _Memoire sur la mineralogie du Dauphine_ (2 vols.,
1779). See _The Founders of Geology_, by Sir A. Geikie (1897).
GUEUX, LES, or "THE BEGGARS," a name assumed by the confederacy of
nobles and other malcontents, who in 1566 opposed Spanish tyranny in the
Netherlands. The leaders of the nobles, who signed a solemn league known
as "the Compromise," by which they bound themselves to assist in
defending the rights and liberties of the Netherlands against the civil
and religious despotism of Philip II., were Louis, count of Nassau, and
Henry, count of Brederode. On the 5th of April 1566 permission was
obtained for the confederates to present a petition of grievances,
called "the Request," to the regent, Margaret, duchess of Parma. About
250 nobles marched to the palace accompanied by Louis of Nassau and
Brederode. The regent was at first alarmed at the appearance of so large
a body, but one of her councillors, Berlaymont by name, was heard to
exclaim, "What, madam, is your highness afraid of these beggars (_ces
gueux_)?" The appellation was not forgotten. At a great feast held by
some 300 confederates at the Hotel Culemburg three days later, Brederode
in a speech declared that if need be they were all ready to become
"beggars" in their country's cause. The words caught on, and the hall
resounded with loud cries of "_Vivent les gueux!_" The name became
henceforward a party appellation. The patriot party adopted the emblems
of beggarhood, the wallet and the bowl, as trinkets to be worn on their
hats or their girdles, and a medal was struck having on one side the
head of Philip II., on the other two clasped hands with the motto
"_Fidele au roy, jusques a porter la besace_." The original league of
"Beggars" was short-lived, crushed by the iron hand of Alva, but its
principles survived and were to be ultimately triumphant.
In the year 1569 the prince of Orange, who had now openly placed himself
at the head of the party of revolt, granted letters of marque to a
number of vessels manned by crews of desperadoes drawn from all
nationalities. These fierce corsairs under the command of a succession
of daring and reckless leaders--the best-known of whom is William de la
Marek, lord of Lumey--were called "_Gueux de mer_," or "Sea Beggars." At
first they were content with plundering both by sea and land and
carrying their booty to the English ports where they were able to refit
and replenish their stores. This went on till 1572, when Queen Elizabeth
suddenly refused to admit them to her harbours. Having no longer any
refuge, the Sea Beggars in desperation made an attack upon Brill, which
they seized by surprise in the absence of the Spanish garrison on the
1st of April 1572. Encouraged by their unhoped-for success, they now
sailed to Flushing, which was also taken by a _coup de main._ The
capture of these two towns gave the signal for a general revolt of the
northern Netherlands, and is regarded as the real beginning oi the War
of Dutch Independence.
GUEVARA, ANTONIO DE (c. 1490-1544), Spanish chronicler and moralist,
was a native of the province of Alava, and passed some of his earlier
years at the court of Isabella, queen of Castile. In 1528 he entered the
Franciscan order, and afterwards accompanied the emperor Charles V.
during his journeys to Italy and other parts of Europe. After having
held successively the offices of court preacher, court historiographer,
bishop of Guadix and bishop of Mondonedo, he died in 1544. His earliest
work, entitled _Reloj de principes_, published at Valladolid in 1529,
and, according to its author, the fruit of eleven years' labour, is a
didactic novel, designed, after the manner of Xenophon's _Cyropaedia_,
to delineate, in a somewhat ideal way for the benefit of modern
sovereigns, the life and character of an ancient prince, Marcus
Aurelius, distinguished for wisdom and virtue. It was often reprinted in
Spanish; and before the close of the century had also been translated
into Latin, Italian, French and English, an English translation being
by J. Bourchier (London, 1546) and another being by T. North. It is
difficult now to account for its extraordinary popularity, its thought
being neither just nor profound, while its style is stiff and affected.
It gave rise to a literary controversy, however, of great bitterness and
violence, the author having ventured without warrant to claim for it an
historical character, appealing to an imaginary "manuscript in
Florence." Other works of Guevara are the _Decada de los Cesares_
(Valladolid, 1539), or "Lives of the Ten Roman Emperors," in imitation
of the manner of Plutarch and Suetonius; and the _Epistolas familiares_
(Valladolid, 1539-1545), sometimes called "The Golden Letters," often
printed in Spain, and translated into all the principal languages of
Europe. They are in reality a collection of stiff and formal essays
which have long ago fallen into merited oblivion. Guevara, whose
influence upon the Spanish prose of the 16th century was considerable,
also wrote _Libro de los inventores del arte de marear_ (Valladolid,
1539, and Madrid, 1895).
GUEVARA, LUIS VELEZ DE (1579-1644), Spanish dramatist and novelist, was
born at Ecija on the 1st of August 1579. After graduating as a sizar at
the university of Osuna in 1596, he joined the household of Rodrigo de
Castro, cardinal-archbishop of Seville, and celebrated the marriage of
Philip II. in a poem signed "Velez de Santander," a name which he
continued to use till some years later. He appears to have served as a
soldier in Italy and Algiers, returning to Spain in 1602 when he entered
the service of the count de Saldana, and dedicated himself to writing
for the stage. He died at Madrid on the 10th of November 1644. He was
the author of over four hundred plays, of which the best are _Reinar
despues de morir_, _Mas pesa el rey que la sangre_, _La Luna de la
Sierra_ and _El Diablo esta en Cantillana_; but he is most widely known
as the author of _El Diablo cojuelo_ (1641), a fantastic novel which
suggested to Le Sage the idea of his _Diable boiteux_.
GUGLIELMI, PIETRO (1727-1804), Italian composer, was born at Massa
Carrara in May 1727, and died in Rome on the 19th of November 1804. He
received his first musical education from his father, and afterwards
studied under Durante at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto at
Naples. His first operatic work, produced at Turin in 1755, established
his reputation, and soon his fame spread beyond the limits of his own
country, so that in 1762 he was called to Dresden to conduct the opera
there. He remained for some years in Germany, where his works met with
much success, but the greatest triumphs were reserved for him in
England. He went to London, according to Burney, in 1768, but according
to Florimo in 1772, returning to Naples in 1777. He still continued to
produce operas at an astounding rate, but was unable to compete
successfully with the younger masters of the day. In 1793 he became
_maestro di cappella_ at St Peter's, Rome. He was a very prolific
composer of Italian comic opera, and there is in most of his scores a
vein of humour and natural gaiety not surpassed by Cimarosa himself. In
serious opera he was less successful. But here also he shows at least
the qualities of a competent musician. Considering the enormous number
of his works, his unequal workmanship and the frequent instances of
mechanical and slip-shod writing in his music need not surprise us. The
following are among the most celebrated of his operas: _I Due Gemelli_,
_La Serva inamorata_, _La Pastorella nobile_, _La Bella Peccatrice_,
_Rinaldo_, _Artaserse_, _Didone_ and _Enea e Lavinia_. He also wrote
oratorios and miscellaneous pieces of orchestral and chamber music. Of
his eight sons two at least acquired fame as musicians--Pietro Carlo
(1763-1827), a successful imitator of his father's operatic style, and
Giacomo, an excellent singer.
GUIANA (_Guyana_, _Guayana_[1]), the general name given in its widest
acceptation to the part of South America lying to the north-east from 8
deg. 40' N. to 3 deg. 30' S. and from 50 deg. W. to 68 deg. 30' W. Its
greatest length, from Cabo do Norte to the confluence of the Rio Xie and
Rio Negro, is about 1250 m., its greatest breadth, from Barima Point in
the mouth of the Orinoco to the confluence of the Rio Negro and Amazon,
800 m. Its area is roughly 690,000 sq. m. Comprised in this vast
territory are Venezuelan (formerly Spanish) Guiana, lying on both sides
of the Orinoco and extending S. and S.W. to the Rio Negro and Brazilian
settlements; British Guiana, extending from Venezuela to the left bank
of the Corentyn river; Dutch Guiana (or Surinam), from the Corentyn to
the Maroni river; French Guiana (or Cayenne), from the Maroni to the
Oyapock river;[2] Brazilian (formerly Portuguese) Guiana, extending from
the southern boundaries of French, Dutch, British and part of Venezuelan
Guiana, to the Amazon and the Negro. Of these divisions the first and
last are now included in Venezuela and Brazil respectively; British,
Dutch and French Guiana are described in order below, and are alone
considered here.
[Illiustration: Map of Guiana.]
In their physical geography the three Guianas present certain common
characteristics. In each the principal features are the rivers and their
branch streams. In each colony the northern portion consists of a
fluviomarine deposit extending inland and gradually rising to a height
of 10 to 15 ft. above the sea. This alluvial plain varies in width from
50 m. to 18 m. and is traversed by ridges of sand and shells, roughly
parallel to what is now the coast, indicating the trend of former shore
lines. By the draining and diking of these lands the plantations have
been formed along the coast and up the rivers. These low lands are
attached to a somewhat higher plateau, which towards the coast is
traversed by numerous huge sand-dunes and inland by ranges of hills
rising in places to as much as 2000 ft. The greater part of this belt of
country, in which the auriferous districts principally occur, is covered
with a dense growth of jungle and high forest, but savannahs, growing
only a long wiry grass and poor shrubs, intrude here and there, being in
the S.E. much nearer to the coast than in the N.W. The hinterlands
consist of undulating open savannahs rising into hills and mountains,
some grass-covered, some in dense forest.
_Geology_[3].--Guiana is formed almost entirely of gneiss and
crystalline schists penetrated by numerous dikes of diorite, diabase,
&c. The gold of the placer deposits appears to be derived, not from
quartz reefs, but from the schists and intrusive rocks, the selvages
of the diabase dikes sometimes containing as much as 5 oz. of gold to
the ton. In British Guiana a series of conglomerates, red and white
sandstone and red shale, rests upon the gneiss and forms the
remarkable table-topped mountains Roraima, Kukenaam, &c. The beds are
horizontal, and according to Brown and Sawkins, three layers of
greenstone, partly intrusive and partly contemporaneous, are
interstratified with the sedimentary deposits. The age of these beds
is uncertain, but they evidently correspond with the similar series
which occurs in Brazil, partly Palaeozoic and partly Cretaceous. In
Dutch Guiana there are a few small patches supposed to belong to the
Cretaceous period. Along the coast, and in the lower parts of the
river valleys, are deposits which are mainly Quaternary but may also
include beds of Tertiary age.
_History._--The coast of Guiana was sighted by Columbus in 1498 when he
discovered the island of Trinidad and the peninsula of Paria, and in the
following year by Alonzo de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci; and in 1500
Vincente Yanez Pinzon ventured south of the equator, and sailing
north-west along the coast discovered the Amazon; he is believed to have
also entered some of the other rivers of Guiana, one of which, now
called Oyapock, is marked on early maps as Rio Pinzon. Little, however,
was known of Guiana until the fame of the fabled golden city Manoa or El
Dorado tempted adventurers to explore its rivers and forests. From
letters of these explorers found in captured ships, Sir Walter Raleigh
was induced to ascend the Orinoco in search of El Dorado in 1595, to
send Lawrence Keymis on the same quest in the following year, and in
1617 to try once again, with the same intrepid lieutenant, an expedition
fraught with disaster for both of them. As early as 1580 the Dutch had
established a systematic trade with the Spanish main, but so far as is
known their first voyage to Guiana was in 1598. By 1613 they had three
or four settlements on the coast of Demerara and Essequibo, and in about
1616 some Zeelanders settled on a small island, called by them _Kyk ober
al_ ("see over all"), in the confluence of the Cuyuni and Mazaruni
rivers. While the Dutch traders were struggling for a footing in
Essequibo and Demerara, English and French traders were endeavouring to
form settlements on the Oyapock river, in Cayenne and in Surinam, and by
1652 the English had large interests in the latter and the French in
Cayenne. In 1663 Charles II. issued letters patent to Lord Willoughby of
Parham and Lawrence Hyde, second son of the earl of Clarendon, granting
them the district between the Copenam and Maroni rivers, a province
described as extending from E. to W. some 120 m. This colony was,
however, formally ceded to the Netherlands in 1667 by the peace of
Breda, Great Britain taking possession of New York. Meanwhile the Dutch
West India Company, formed in 1621, had taken possession of Essequibo,
over which colony it exercised sovereign rights until 1791. In 1624 a
Dutch settlement was effected in the Berbice river, and from this grew
Berbice, for a long time a separate and independent colony. In 1657 the
Zeelanders firmly established themselves in the Pomeroon, Moruca and
Demerara rivers, and by 1674 the Dutch were colonizing all the territory
now known as British and Dutch Guiana. The New Dutch West Indian
Company, founded in that year to replace the older company which had
failed, received Guiana by charter from the states-general in 1682. In
the following year the company sold one-third of their territory to the
city of Amsterdam, and another third to Cornelis van Aerssens, lord of
Sommelsdijk. The new owners and the company incorporated themselves as
the Chartered Society of Surinam, and Sommelsdijk agreed to fill the
post of governor of the colony at his own expense. The lucrative trade
in slaves was retained by the West Indian Company, but the society could
import them on its own account by paying a fine to the company.
Sommelsdijk's rule was wise and energetic. He repressed and pacified the
Indian tribes, erected forts and disciplined the soldiery, constructed
the canal which bears his name, established a high court of justice and
introduced the valuable cultivation of the cocoa-nut. But on the 17th of
June 1688 he was massacred in a mutiny of the soldiers. The "third"
which Sommelsdijk possessed was offered by his widow to William III. of
England, but it was ultimately purchased by the city of Amsterdam for
700,000 fl. The settlements in Essequibo progressed somewhat slowly, and
it was not until immigration was attracted in 1740 by offers to
newcomers of free land and immunity for a decade from taxation that
anything like a colony could be said to exist there. In 1732 Berbice
placed itself under the protection of the states-general of Holland and
was granted a constitution, and in 1773 Demerara, till then a dependency
of Essequibo, was constituted as a separate colony. In 1781 the three
colonies, Demerara, Essequibo and Berbice, were captured by British
privateers, and were placed by Rodney under the governor of Barbados,
but in 1782 they were taken by France, then an ally of the Netherlands,
and retained until the peace of 1783, when they were restored to
Holland. In 1784 Essequibo and Demerara were placed under one governor,
and Georgetown--then called Stabroek--was fixed on as the seat of
government. The next decade saw a series of struggles between the
colonies and the Dutch West India company, which ended in the company
being wound up and in the three colonies being governed directly by the
states-general. In 1796 the British again took possession, and retained
the three colonies until the peace of Amiens in 1802, when they were
once again restored to Holland, only to be recaptured by Great Britain
in 1803, in which year the history proper of British Guiana began.
British Guiana.
I. BRITISH GUIANA, the only British possession in S. America, was
formally ceded in 1814-1815. The three colonies were in 1831
consolidated into one colony divided into three counties, Berbice
extending from the Corentyn river to the Abary creek, Demerara from the
Abary to the Boerasirie creek, Essequibo from the Boerasirie to the
Venezuelan frontier. This boundary-line between British Guiana and
Venezuela was for many years the subject of dispute. The Dutch, while
British Guiana was in their possession, claimed the whole watershed of
the Essequibo river, while the Venezuelans asserted that the Spanish
province of Guayana had extended up to the left bank of the Essequibo.
In 1840 Sir Robert Schomburgk had suggested a demarcation, afterwards
known as the "Schomburgk line"; and subsequently, though no agreement
was arrived at, certain modifications were made in this British claim.
In 1886 the government of Great Britain declared that it would
thenceforward exercise jurisdiction up to and within a boundary known as
"the modified Schomburgk line." Outposts were located at points on this
line, and for some years Guianese police and Venezuelan soldiers faced
one another across the Amacura creek in the Orinoco mouth and at Yuruan
up the Cuyuni river. In 1897 the dispute formed the subject of a message
to congress from the president of the United States, and in consequence
of this intervention the matter was submitted to an international
commission, whose award was issued at Paris in 1899 (see VENEZUELA). By
this decision neither party gained its extreme claim, the line laid down
differing but little from the original Schomburgk line. The demarcation
was at once undertaken by a joint commission appointed by Venezuela and
British Guiana and was completed in 1904. It was not found practicable,
owing to the impassable nature of the country, to lay down on earth that
part of the boundary fixed by the Paris award between the head of the
Wenamu creek and the summit of Mt. Roraima, and the boundary
commissioners suggested a deviation to follow the watersheds of the
Caroni, Cuyuni and Mazaruni rivers, a suggestion accepted by the two
governments. In 1902 the delimitation of the boundary between British
Guiana and Brazil was referred to the arbitration of the king of Italy,
and by his reward, issued in June 1904, the substantial area in dispute
was conceded to British Guiana. The work of demarcation has since been
carried out.
_Towns, &c._--The capital of British Guiana is Georgetown, at the mouth
of the Demerara river, on its right bank, with a population of about
50,000. New Amsterdam, on the right bank of the Berbice river, has a
population of about 7500. Each possesses a mayor and town council, with
statutory powers to impose rates. There are nineteen incorporated
villages, and ten other locally governed areas known as country
districts, the affairs of which are controlled by local authorities,
known as village councils and country authorities respectively.
_Population._--The census of 1891 gave the population of British Guiana
as 278,328. There was no census taken in 1901. By official estimates the
population at the end of 1904 was 301,923. Of these some 120,000 were
negroes and 124,000 East Indians; 4300 were Europeans, other than
Portuguese, estimated at about 11,600, and some 30,000 of mixed race.
The aborigines--Arawaks, Caribs, Wapisianas, Warraws, &c.--who numbered
about 10,000 in 1891, are now estimated at about 6500. In 1904 the
birth-rate for the whole colony was 30.3 per 1000 and the death-rate
28.8.
_Physical Geography._--The surface features of British Guiana may be
divided roughly into four regions: first, the alluvial seaboard, flat
and below the level of high-water; secondly, the forest belt, swampy
along the rivers but rising into undulating lands and hills between
them; thirdly, the savannahs in and inland of the forest belt,
elevated table-lands, grass-covered and practically treeless; and
fourthly, the mountain ranges. The eastern portion of the colony, from
the source of its two largest rivers, the Corentyn and Essequibo, is a
rough inclined plain, starting at some 900 ft. above sea-level at the
source of the Takutu in the west, but only some 400 at that of the
Corentyn in the west, and sloping down gradually to the low alluvial
flats about 3 ft. below high-water line. The eastern part is generally
forested; the western is an almost level savannah, with woodlands
along the rivers. The northern portion of British Guiana, the
alluvial flats alluded to already, consists of a fluviomarine deposit
extending inland from 25 m. to 30 m., gradually rising to about 12 ft.
above high-water mark and ending against beds of sandy clay, the
residua of igneous rocks decomposed _in situ_, which form an extensive
undulating region rising to 150 ft. above the sea and stretching back
to the forest-covered hills. Roughly parallel to the existing
coast-line are narrow reefs of sand and sea-shells, which are dunes
indicating the trend of former limits of the sea, and still farther
back are the higher "sand hills," hills of granite or diabase with a
thick stratum of coarse white sand superimposed. From the coast-line
seawards the ocean deepens very gradually, and at low tide extensive
flats of sand and of mixed clay and sand (called locally "caddy") are
left bare, these flats being at times covered with a deposit of thin
drift mud.
Two great parallel mountain systems cross the colony from W. to E.,
the greater being that of the Pacaraima and Merume Mts., and the
lesser including the Kanuku Mts. (2000 ft.), while the Acarai Mts., a
densely-wooded range rising to 2500 ft., form the southern boundary of
British Guiana and the watershed between the Essequibo and the Amazon.
These mountains rise generally in a succession of terraces and broad
plateaus, with steep or even sheer sandstone escarpments. They are
mostly flat-topped, and their average height is about 3500 ft. The
Pacaraima Mts., however, reach 8635 ft. at Roraima, and the latter
remarkable mountain rises as a perpendicular wall of red rock 1500 ft.
in height springing out of the forest-clad slopes below the summit,
and was considered inaccessible until in December 1884 Messrs im Thurn
and Perkins found a ledge by which the top could be reached. The
summit is a table-land some 12 sq. m. in area. Mt. Kukenaam is of
similar structure and also rises above 8500 ft. Other conspicuous
summits (about 7000 ft.) are Iwalkarima, Eluwarima, Ilutipu and
Waiakapiapu. The southern portion of the Pacaraima range comprises
rugged hills and rock-strewn valleys, but to the N., where the
sandstone assumes the table-shaped form, there are dense forests, and
the scenery is of extraordinary grandeur. Waterfalls frequently
descend the cliffs from a great height (nearly 2000 ft. sheer at
Roraima and Kukenaam). The sandstone formation can be traced from the
northern Pacaraima range on the N.W. to the Corentyn in the S.E. It is
traversed in places by dikes and sills of diabase or dolerite, while
bosses of more or less altered gabbro rise through it. The surface of
a large part of the colony is composed of gneiss, and of gneissose
granite, which is seen in large water-worn bosses in the river beds.
Intrusive granite is of somewhat rare occurrence; where found, it
gives rise to long low rolls of hilly country and to cataracts in the
rivers. Extensive areas of the country consist of quartz-porphyry,
porphyrites and felstone, and of more or less schistose rocks derived
from them. These rocks are closely connected with the gneissose
granites and gneiss, and there are reasons for believing that the
latter are the deep-seated portions of them and are only visible where
they have been exposed by denudation. Long ranges of hills, varying in
elevation from a few hundreds to from 2000 ft. to 3000 ft., traverse
the plains of the gneissose districts. These are caused either by old
intrusions of diabase and gabbro which have undergone modifications,
or by later ones of dolerite. These ranges are of high importance, as
the rocks comprising them are the main source of gold in British
Guiana.
_Rivers._--The principal physical features of British Guiana are its
rivers and their branches, which form one vast network of waterways
all over it, and are the principal, indeed practically the only,
highways inland from the coast. Chief among them are the Waini, the
Essequibo, and its tributaries the Mazaruni and Cuyuni, the Demerara,
the Berbice and the Corentyn. The Essequibo rises in the Acarai Mts.,
in 0 deg. 41' N. and about 850 ft. above the sea, and flows northwards
for about 600 m. until it discharges itself into the ocean by an
estuary nearly 15 m. in width. In this estuary are several large and
fertile islands, on four of which sugar used to be grown. Now but one,
Wakenaam, can boast of a factory. The Essequibo can be entered only by
craft drawing less than 20 ft. and is navigable for these vessels for
not more than 50 m., its subsequent course upwards being frequently
broken by cataracts and rapids. Some 7 m. below the first series of
rapids it is joined by the Mazaruni, itself joined by the Cuyuni some
4 m. farther up. It has a remarkable course from its source in the
Merume Mountains, about 2400 ft. above the sea. It flows first south,
then west, north-west, north, and finally south-east to within 20 m.
of its own source, forming many fine falls, and its course thereafter
is still very tortuous. In 4 deg. N. and 58 deg. W., the Essequibo is
joined by the Rupununi, which, rising in a savannah at the foot of the
Karawaimento Mts., has a northerly and easterly course of fully 200 m.
In 3 deg. 37' N. the Awaricura joins the Rupununi, and by this
tributary the Pirara, a tributary of the Amazon, may be reached,--an
example of the interesting series of _itabos_ connecting nearly all S.
American rivers with one another. Another large tributary of the
Essequibo is the Potaro, on which, at 1130 ft. above sea-level and in
5 deg. 8' N. and 59 deg. 19' W., is the celebrated Kaieteur fall,
discovered in 1870 by Mr C. Barrington Brown while engaged on a
geological survey. This fall is produced by the river flowing from a
tableland of sandstone and conglomerate into a deep valley 822 ft.
below. For the first 741 ft. the water falls as a perpendicular
column, thence as a sloping cataract to the still reach below. The
river 200 yds. above the fall is about 400 ft. wide, while the actual
waterway of the fall itself varies from 120 ft. in dry weather to
nearly 400 ft. in rainy seasons. The Kaieteur, which it took Mr Brown
a fortnight to reach from the coast, can now be reached on the fifth
day from Georgetown. Among other considerable tributaries of the
Essequibo are the Siparuni, Burro-Burro, Rewa, Kuyuwini and
Kassi-Kudji. The Demerara river, the head-waters of which are known
only to Indians, rises probably near 5 deg. N., and after a winding
northerly course of some 200 m. enters the ocean in 6 deg. 50' N. and
58 deg. 20' W. A bar of mud and sand prevents the entrance of vessels
drawing more than 19 ft. The river is from its mouth, which is nearly
2 m. wide, navigable for 70 m. to all vessels which can enter. The
Berbice river rises in about 3 deg. 40' N., and in 3 deg. 53' N. is
within 9 m. of the Essequibo. At its mouth it is about 2-1/2 m. wide,
and is navigable for vessels drawing not more than 12 ft. for about
105 m. and for vessels drawing not more than 7 ft. for fully 175 m.
Thence upwards it is broken by great cataracts. The Canje creek joins
the Berbice river close to the sea. The Corentyn river rises in 1 deg.
48' 30" N., about 140 m. E. of the Essequibo, and flowing northwards
enters the Atlantic by an estuary some 14 m. wide. The divide between
its head-waters and those of streams belonging to the Amazon system is
only some 400 ft. in elevation. It is navigable for about 150 m., some
of the reaches being of great width and beauty. The upper reaches are
broken by a series of great cataracts, some of which, until the
discovery of Kaieteur, were believed to be the grandest in British
Guiana. Among other rivers are the Pomeroon, Moruca and Barima, while
several large streams or creeks fall directly into the Atlantic, the
largest being the Abary, Mahaicony and Mahaica, between Berbice and
Demerara, and the Boerasirie between Demerara and Essequibo. The
colour of the water of the rivers and creeks is in general a dark
brown, caused by the infusion of vegetable matter, but where the
streams run for a long distance through savannahs they are of a milky
colour.
_Climate._--The climate is, as tropical countries go, not unhealthy.
Malarial fevers are common but preventible; and phthisis is prevalent,
not because the climate is unsuitable to sufferers from pulmonary
complaints, but because of the ignorance of the common people of the
elementary principles of hygiene, an ignorance which the state is
endeavouring to lessen by including the teaching of hygiene in the
syllabus of the primary schools. The temperature is uniform on the
coast for the ten months from October to July, the regular N.E. trade
winds keeping it down to an average of 80 deg. F. In August and
September the trades die away and the heat becomes oppressive. In the
interior the nights are cold and damp. Hurricanes, indeed even strong
gales, are unknown; a tidal wave is an impossibility; and the nature
of the soil of the coast lands renders earthquakes practically
harmless. Occasionally there are severe droughts, and the rains are
sometimes unduly prolonged, but usually the year is clearly divided
into two wet and two dry seasons. The long wet season begins in
mid-April and lasts until mid-August. The long dry season is from
September to the last week in November. December and January
constitute the short rainy season, and February and March the short
dry season. The rainfall varies greatly in different parts of the
colony; on the coast it averages about 80 in. annually.
_Flora._--The vegetation is most luxuriant and its growth perpetual.
Indigenous trees and plants abound in the utmost variety, while many
exotics have readily adapted themselves to local conditions. Along the
coast is a belt of courida and mangrove--the bark of the latter being
used for tanning--forming a natural barrier to the inroads of the sea,
but one which--very unwisely--has been in parts almost ruined to allow
of direct drainage. The vast forests afford an almost inexhaustible
supply of valuable timbers; greenheart and mora, largely used in
shipbuilding and for wharves and dock and lock gates; silverbally,
yielding magnificent planks for all kinds of boats; and cabinet woods,
such as cedar and crabwood. There may be seen great trees, struggling
for life one with the other, covered with orchids--some of great
beauty and value--and draped with falling _lianas_ and vines. Giant
palms fringe the river-banks and break the monotony of the mass of
smaller foliage. Many of the trees yield gums, oils and febrifuges,
the bullet tree being bled extensively for _balata_, a gum used
largely in the manufacture of belting. Valuable varieties of rubber
have also been found in several districts, and since early in 1905
have attracted the attention of experts from abroad. On the coast
plantains, bananas and mangoes grow readily and are largely used for
food, while several districts are admirably adapted to the growth of
limes. Oranges, pineapples, star-apples, granadillas, guavas are among
the fruits; Indian corn, cassava, yams, eddoes, tannias, sweet
potatoes and ochroes are among the vegetables, while innumerable
varieties of peppers are grown and used in large quantities by all
classes. The dainty avocado pear, purple and green, grows readily. In
the lagoons and trenches many varieties of water-lilies grow wild, the
largest being the famous _Victoria regia_.
_Fauna._--Guiana is full of wild animals, birds, insects and reptiles.
Among the wild animals, one and all nocturnal, are the mipourrie or
tapir, manatee, acouri and labba (both excellent eating), sloth,
ant-eater, armadillo, several kinds of deer, baboons, monkeys and the
puma and jaguar. The last is seen frequently down on the coast,
attracted from the forest by the cattle grazing on the front and back
pasture lands of the estates. Among the birds may be mentioned the
carrion crow (an invaluable scavenger), vicissi and muscovy ducks,
snipe, teal, plover, pigeon, the ubiquitous kiskadee or _qu'est que
dit_, a species of shrike--his name derived from his shrill call--the
canary and the twa-twa, both charming whistlers. These are all found
on the coast. In the forest are maam (partridge), maroudi (wild
turkey), the beautiful bell-bird with note like a silver gong, the
quadrille bird with its tuneful oft-repeated bar, great flocks of
macaws and parrots, and other birds of plumage of almost indescribable
richness and variety. On the coast the trenches and canals are full of
alligators, but the great cayman is found only in the rivers of the
interior. Among the many varieties of snakes are huge constricting
camoudies, deadly bushmasters, labarrias and rattlesnakes. Among other
reptiles are the two large lizards, the salumpenta (an active enemy of
the barn-door fowl), and the iguana, whose flesh when cooked resembles
tender chicken. The rivers, streams and trenches abound with fishes,
crabs and shrimps, the amount of the latter consumed being enormous,
running into tons weekly as the coolies use them in their curries and
the blacks in their foo-foo.
_Government and Administration._--Executive power is vested in a
governor, who is advised in all administrative matters by an executive
council, consisting of five official and three unofficial members
nominated by the crown. Legislative authority is vested in the Court of
Policy, consisting of the governor, who presides and without whose
permission no legislation can be initiated, seven other official members
and eight elected members. This body has, however, no financial
authority, all taxation and expenditure being dealt with by the Combined
Court, consisting of the Court of Policy combined with six financial
representatives. The elected members of the Court of Policy and the
financial representatives are elected by their several constituencies
for five years. Qualification for the Court of Policy is the ownership,
or possession under lease for a term of twenty-one years, of eighty
acres of land, of which at least forty acres are under cultivation, or
of house property to the value of $7500. A financial representative must
be similarly qualified or be in receipt of a clear income of not less
than L300 per annum. Every male is entitled to be registered as a voter
who (in addition to the usual formal qualifications) owns (during six
months prior to registration) three acres of land in cultivation or a
house of the annual rental or value of L20; or is a secured tenant for
not less than three years of six acres of land in cultivation or for one
year of a house of L40 rental; or has an income of not less than L100
per annum; or has during the previous twelve months paid L4, 3s. 4d. in
direct taxation. Residence in the electoral district for six months
prior to registration is coupled with the last two alternative
qualifications. Plural voting is legal but no plumping is allowed. The
combined court is by this constitution, which was granted in 1891,
allowed the use of all revenues due to the crown in return for a civil
list voted for a term now fixed at three years. English is the official
and common language. The Roman-Dutch law, modified by orders-in-council
and local statutes, governs actions in the civil courts, but the
criminal law is founded on that of England. Magistrates have in civil
cases jurisdiction up to L20, while an appeal lies from their decisions
in any criminal or civil case. The supreme court consists of a chief
justice and two puisne judges, and has various jurisdictions. The full
court, consisting of the three judges or any two of them, has
jurisdiction over all civil matters, but an appeal lies to His Majesty
in privy council in cases involving L500 and upwards. A single judge
sits in insolvency, in actions involving not over L520, and in appeals
from magistrates' decisions. The appeal full court, consisting of three
judges, sits to hear appeals from decisions of a single judge in the
limited civil, appellate and insolvency courts. Criminal courts are held
four times a year in each county, a single judge presiding in each
court. A court of crown cases reserved is formed by the three judges, of
whom two form a quorum provided the chief-justice is one of the two.
There are no imperial troops now stationed in British Guiana, but there
is a semi-military police force, a small militia and two companies of
volunteers. The Church of England and the Church of Scotland are both
established, and grants-in-aid are also given to the Roman Catholic and
Wesleyan churches and to several other denominations.
The revenue and expenditure now each amount annually to an average of
a little over L500,000. About one-half of the revenue is produced by
import duties, and about L90,000 by excise. The public debt on the
31st of March 1905 stood at L989,620.
The system of primary education is denominational and is mainly
supported from the general revenue. During 1904-1905, 213 schools
received grants-in-aid amounting to L23,500, the average cost per
scholar being a little over L1. These grants are calculated on the
results of examinations held annually, an allowance varying from 4s.
4-1/2d. to 1s. 0-1/2d. being made for each pass in reading, writing,
arithmetic, school-garden work, nature study, singing and drill,
English, geography, elementary hygiene and sewing. Secondary education
is provided in Georgetown at some private establishments, and for boys
at Queen's College, an undenominational government institution where
the course of instruction is the same as at a public school in
England, and the boys are prepared for the Cambridge local
examinations, on the result of which annually depend the Guiana
scholarship--open to boys and girls, and carrying a university or
professional training in England--and two scholarships at Queen's
College.
_Industries and Trade._--At the end of the third decade of the 19th
century the principal exports were sugar, rum, molasses, cotton and
coffee. In 1830, 9,500,000 lb. of coffee were sent abroad, but after
the emancipation of the slaves it almost ceased as an export, and the
little that is now grown is practically entirely consumed in the
colony. The cultivation of cotton ceased in 1844, and, but for a short
revival during the American civil war, has never prospered since.
Efforts have been made to resuscitate its growth, but the experiments
of the Board of Agriculture have only shown that Sea Island cotton is
not adaptable to local conditions, and that no other known variety can
as yet be recommended. To-day the principal exports are sugar, rum,
molasses, molascuit--a cattle food made from molasses--gold, timber,
balata, shingles and cattle. The annual value of the total exports is
just under L2,000,000, of which about two-thirds go to Great Britain
and British possessions. The cultivation of rice has made great
strides in recent years, and, where difficulties of drainage and
irrigation can be economically overcome, promises to increase rapidly.
In 1873, 32,000,000 lb. of rice were imported, whereas in 1904-1905,
the quantity imported having fallen to 20,500,000 lb., there were over
18,000 acres under rice cultivation, and exportation, principally to
the British West Indies, had commenced. The cultivation of the
sugar-cane, and its manufacture into sugar and its by-products, still
remains, in spite of numerous fluctuations, the staple industry. The
provision of a trustworthy labour supply for the estates is of great
importance, and local scarcity has made it necessary since 1840 to
import it under a system of indenture. In that year and until 1867,
liberated Africans were brought from Rio de Janeiro, Havana, Sierra
Leone and St Helena, and in 1845 systematic immigration from India
commenced and has since been carried on annually--save in 1849-1850.
In 1853 immigration from China was tried, and was carried on by the
government from 1859 to 1866, when it ceased owing to a convention
arranged at Peking, stipulating that all immigrants should on the
expiry of their term of indenture be entitled to be sent back at the
expense of the colony, a liability it could not afford to incur. To
reduce the cost of supervision and kindred expenses, and consequently
of the cane and its manufacture into sugar, the policy of
centralization has been universally adopted, and forty-six estates now
produce as much sugar as three times that number did in 1875. During
recent years Canada has come forward as a large buyer of Guiana's
sugar, and in 1904-1905 the same amount went there as to the United
States, in each case over 44,000 tons, whereas in 1901-1902 the United
States took 85,000 tons and Canada under 8000 tons. Practically all
the rum and molascuit go to England, and the molasses to Holland and
Portuguese possessions. The lands on the coast and on the river banks
up to the sand hills are of marked fertility, and can produce almost
any tropical vegetable or fruit. Cultivation, however, save on the
sugar, coffee and cocoa estates, and by a few exceptional small
farmers, is carried on in a haphazard and half-hearted manner, and the
problem of agricultural development is one of great difficulty for the
government. Much of the privately-owned land is not beneficially
occupied, and in many cases it is not possible even to learn to whom
it belongs, and though there are vast tracts of uncultivated crown
land where a large farm or a small homestead can be easily and cheaply
acquired, the difficulties involved in clearing, draining, and in some
cases of protecting it by dams, are prohibitive to all but the
exceptionally determined.
Prospecting for gold began in 1880, and from 1884 to 1893-1894 the
output, chiefly from alluvial workings, increased from 250 oz. to
nearly 140,000 oz. annually. The industry then received a serious
check by the failure of several mines, and for nearly a decade was
almost entirely in the hands of the small tributor, known locally as a
pork-knocker. There has been some revival, chiefly due to foreign
enterprise. At Omai on the Essequibo river a German syndicate worked a
large concession on the hydraulic process of placer mining with
considerable success, and more recently took to dredging on its
flats. In the Puruni (a tributary of the Mazaruni) American
capitalists, working the Peters' mine, have established their workings
to a considerable depth, besides constructing a road, 60 m. in length,
from Kartabo point, at the confluence of the Guyuni and Mazaruni, to
the Puruni river opposite the mine. An English syndicate started
dredging in the Conawarook, a tributary of the Essequibo. The
principal gold districts are on the Essequibo and its tributaries--the
chief being the Cuyuni, Mazaruni, Potaro and Conawarook--and on the
Barima, Barama and Waini rivers in the north-west district. There have
been smaller workings, mostly unsuccessful, in the Demerara and
Berbice rivers.
Diamonds and other precious stones have been found in small
quantities, and since 1900 efforts have been made to extend the
output, nearly 11,000 carats weight of diamonds being exported in
1904. But though the small stones found were of good water, the cost
of transport to the diamond fields, on the Mazaruni river, was heavy,
and after 1904 the industry declined. Laws dealing with gold and
precious stones passed in 1880, 1886 and 1887, and regulations in
1899, were codified in 1902 and amended in 1905.
Timber is cut, and balata and rubber collected, from crown lands by
licences issued from the department of Lands and Mines. Wood-cutting,
save on concessions held by a local company owning an up-country line
of railway connecting the Demerara and Essequibo rivers, is limited to
those parts of the forest which are close to the lower stretches of
the rivers and creeks, the overland haulage of the heavy logs being
both difficult and costly, while transport through the upper reaches
of the rivers is impossible on account of the many cataracts and
rapids. The average annual value of imports is L1,500,000, of which
about two-thirds are from Great Britain and British possessions. Of
the vessels trading with the colony, most are under the British flag,
the remainder being principally American and Norwegian.
The money of account is dollars and cents, but, with the exception of
the notes of the two local banks, the currency is British sterling.
The unit of land measure is the Rhynland rood, roughly equal to 12 ft.
4 in. A Rhynland acre contains 300 square roods.
_Inland Communication, &c._--The public roads extend along the coast
from the Corentyn river to some 20 m. N. of the Essequibo mouth on the
Aroabisci coast, and for a short distance up each of the principal
rivers and creeks entering the sea between these points. A line of
railway 60-1/2 m. in length runs from Georgetown to Rosignol on the
left bank of the Berbice river opposite New Amsterdam; and another
line 15 m. long starts from Vreed-en-hoop, on the left bank of the
Demerara river opposite Georgetown, and runs to Greenwich Park on the
right bank of the Essequibo river some 3 m. from its mouth. A light
railway, metre gauge, 18-1/2 m. in length, connects Wismar (on the
left bank of the Demerara river some 70 m. from its mouth) with
Rockstone (on the right bank of the Essequibo, and above the first
series of cataracts in that river). Steamers run daily to and from
Georgetown and Wismar, and launches to and from Rockstone and
Tumatumari Fall on the Potaro, and all expeditions for the goldfields
of the Essequibo and its tributaries above Rockstone travel by this
route. Another steamer goes twice a week to Bartica at the confluence
of the Essequibo and Mazaruni, and another weekly to Mt. Everard on
the Barima, from which termini expeditions start to the other gold and
diamond fields. Steamers also run from Georgetown to New Amsterdam and
up the Berbice river for about 100 m. Above the termini of these
steamer routes all travelling is done in keelless _bateaux_, propelled
by paddlers and steered when coming through the rapids at both bow and
stern by certificated bowmen and steersmen. Owing to the extreme
dangers of this inland travelling, stringent regulations have been
framed as to the loading of boats, supply of ropes and qualifications
of men in charge, and the shooting of certain falls is prohibited.
Voyages up-country are of necessity slow, but the return journey is
made with comparatively great rapidity, distances laboriously covered
on the up-trip in three days being done easily in seven hours when
coming back.
From England British Guiana is reached in sixteen days by the steamers
of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, and in nineteen days by those
of the direct line from London and Glasgow. There are also regular
services from Canada, the United States, France and Holland.
_History._--When taken over in 1803 the prospects of three British
colonies were by no means promising, and during the next decade the
situation became very critical. Owing to the increased output of sugar
by conquered Dutch and French colonies the English market was glutted
and the markets of the continent of Europe were not available, Bonaparte
having closed the ports. The years 1811 and 1812 were peculiarly
disastrous, especially to those engaged in the manufacture of sugar, and
at a public meeting held in Georgetown early in the latter year it was
stated that the produce of the colony ordinarily worth L1,860,000 had on
account of deteriorated value decreased by fully one-third. At this
meeting it was resolved to petition the imperial parliament to allow the
interchange of produce with the United States; a resolution which was
unfortunately rendered abortive by the outbreak of war between England
and the States in 1812, the trade of British Guiana being instead
actually harried by American privateers. In his address to the Combined
Court on the 20th of October 1812 the governor (General Carmichael)
stated that a vessel with government stores had been captured by an
American privateer, and in February 1813 the imperial government sent
H.M.S. "Peacock" to protect the coast. On the 23rd of that month in
cruising along the east coast of Demerara the "Peacock" met the American
privateer "Hornet," and though, after a gallant struggle, in which
Captain Peake, R.N., was killed, the English ship was sunk with nearly
all her crew, the colony did not suffer from any further depredations.
In the following years news of the agitation in England in favour of
emancipation gradually became known to the slaves and caused
considerable unrest among them, culminating in 1823 in a serious
outbreak on the estates on the east coast of Demerara. Negroes,
demanding their freedom, attacked the houses of several managers, and
although at most points these attacks were repulsed with but little loss
on either side, the situation was so serious as to necessitate the
calling out of the military. The ringleaders were arrested and promptly
and vigorously dealt with, while a special court-martial was appointed
to try the Rev. John Smith, of the London Missionary Society, who it was
alleged had fostered the rising by his teachings to the slave
congregation at his chapel in Le Ressouvenir. This trial was stigmatized
as unfair by the missionary party in England, but on the whole appears
to have been conducted decently by an undoubtedly unbiassed court. It is
difficult now to form any very definite conclusion. Mr Smith certainly
had great influence over the slaves, and while his teaching prior to the
outbreak was at least ill-advised, he made no efforts while the
disturbances were going on to use his influence on the side of law and
order; indeed all he could say in his own defence was that he was
ignorant of what was going on, a statement it is impossible to believe
to have been strictly veracious. He was found guilty and sentenced to be
hanged. It is obvious that it was never intended to carry out this
sentence, and on the 29th of November the governor announced that he
felt it imperative on him to transmit the findings of the court for His
Majesty's consideration. The question of Smith's guilt or innocence
created a great deal of feeling in England, the anti-slavery and
missionary societies making it a basis for increased agitation in favour
of the slaves; but the imperial government evidently agreed with the
colonial executive in holding that he could not be exonerated of grave
responsibility, as the order of the king was that while the sentence of
death was remitted Mr Smith was to be dismissed from the colony and to
enter into a recognizance in L2000 not to return to British Guiana or to
reside in any other West Indian colony. This order reached Georgetown in
April 1824, but Mr Smith had died in the city jail on the 6th of
February of a pulmonary complaint from which he had been suffering for
some time.
Sir Benjamin d'Urban was governor from April 1824 to May 1833, the
principal event of his administration being the consolidation in 1831 of
the three colonies into one colony divided into three counties, Berbice,
Demerara and Essequibo.
Governor d'Urban was succeeded in June 1833 by Sir James Carmichael
Smyth, who began his administration by a proclamation to the slaves
stating that while the king intended to improve their condition, the
details of his plans were not as yet completed, and warning them against
impatience or insubordination. When the resolutions foreshadowing
emancipation, passed by the House of Commons on the 12th of June 1833,
reached the colony, the planters, to whom the governor's proclamation
had been most distasteful, were thunderstruck and even the government
was surprised. Naturally the slaves were wildly jubilant. Emancipation
brought troublous times through which the governor steered the colony
with great tact and firmness, serious troubles being nipped in the bud
solely by his great personality, and the subsequent conflicts with the
apprentices might have been obviated had he lived longer. He died at
Camp House on the 4th of March 1838.
In the years following emancipation the colony was in a serious
condition. The report of a commission in 1850 proved that it was
virtually ruined, and only by the introduction of immigrants to provide
a reliable labour supply were the sugar estates saved from total
extinction. By 1853 the colony had begun to make headway, and Sir Henry
Barkly, the then governor, was able to state in his speech to the
Combined Court in January that its progress was in every way
satisfactory. During Governor Barkly's administration the long series of
struggles between the legislature and the executive terminated, and when
he left in May 1853 he did so with the respect and good-will of all
classes. The strengthening of the labour supply was not effected without
troubles. In 1847 the negroes in Berbice attacked the persons and
property of the Portuguese immigrants, the riots spreading to Demerara
and Essequibo, and not until the military were called out were the
disturbances quelled. Similar riots in 1862 were only stopped by the
prompt and firm action of the new governor, Mr (afterwards Sir) Francis
Hincks, while rows between negroes and Chinese and negroes and East
Indians were frequent. Gradually, however, things quieted down, and
until 1883 the estates as a whole did well. In 1884 the price of sugar
fell so seriously as to make the prospects of the colony very gloomy,
and for nearly two decades proprietors had to be content with a price
kept artificially low by bounty-fed beet-sugar, many estates being
ruined, while those that survived only did so by the application of
every economy, and by their owners availing themselves of every new
discovery in the sciences of cultivation and manufacture.
The year 1889 was marked by an outbreak on the part of a section of the
negro population in Georgetown directed against the Portuguese residents
there. A Portuguese had murdered his black paramour and had been
convicted and sentenced to death. The governor commuted the sentence to
penal servitude for life. Shortly after this a Portuguese stall-holder
in the market assaulted a small black boy whom he suspected of
pilfering, the latter having to be taken to a hospital, while the
former, after being taken to a police station was, through some
misunderstanding or informality, at once released. Almost immediately
excitable and unreasoning negroes were rushing about loudly proclaiming
that the boy was dead, that the Portuguese were allowed to kill black
people and to go free, and calling on one another to take their own
revenge. Mobs gathered quickly, attacked individual Portuguese and
wrecked their shops and houses, and not until the city had been given up
for two days to scenes of disgraceful disorder were the efforts of the
police and special constables successful in quelling the disturbances.
The damage done amounted to several thousands of dollars, the Portuguese
owners being eventually compensated from general revenue.
In 1884 the dispute as to the boundary with Venezuela became acute. It
was reported to the colonial government that the government of Venezuela
had granted to an American syndicate a concession which covered much of
the territory claimed by Great Britain, and although prompt
investigation by an agent despatched by the governor did not then
disclose any trace of interference with British claims, a further visit
in January 1885, made in consequence of reports that servants of the
Manoa Company had torn down notices posted by Mr McTurk on his former
visit, discovered that the British notices had been covered over by
Venezuelan ones and resulted in the government of Great Britain
declaring that it would thenceforward exercise jurisdiction up to and
within a boundary known as "the modified Schomburgk line." Outposts were
located at points on this line, and for some years Guianese police and
Venezuelan soldiers faced one another across the Amacura creek in the
Orinoco mouth and at Yuruan up the Cuyuni river. Guianese officers were,
however, presumably instructed not actively to oppose acts of aggression
by the Venezuelan government, for in January 1895 Venezuelan soldiers
arrested Messrs D. D. Barnes and A. H. Baker, inspectors of police in
charge at Yuruan station, conveyed them through Venezuela to Caracas,
eventually allowing them to take steamer to Trinidad. For this act
compensation was demanded and was eventually paid by Venezuela. The
diplomatic question as to the boundary--the results of which are stated
above--was passed out of the hands of the colony; see the account of the
arbitration under VENEZUELA.
The last two months of 1905 were marked by serious disturbances in
Georgetown, and in a lesser degree on the east and west banks of the
Demerara river. On the 29th of November the dock labourers employed on
the wharves in Georgetown struck for higher wages, and large crowds
invaded the principal stores in the city, compelling men willing to work
to desist and in some cases assaulting those who opposed them. By the
evening of the 30th of November they had got so far out of hand as to
necessitate the reading of the Riot Act and a proclamation by the
governor (Sir F. M. Hodgson) forbidding all assemblies. On the morning
of the 1st of December serious disturbances broke out at Ruimvelt, a
sugar estate directly south of Georgetown, where the cane-cutters had
suddenly struck for higher pay, and the police were compelled to fire on
the mob, killing some and wounding others. All through that day mobs in
all parts of the city assaulted any white man they met, houses were
invaded and windows smashed, and on two further occasions the police had
to fire. At night torrential rains forced the rioters to shelter, and
enabled the police to get rest, their places being taken by pickets of
militiamen and special constables. On Saturday, the 2nd of December, the
police had got the upper hand, and the arrival that night of H.M.S.
"Sappho" and on Sunday of H.M.S. "Diamond" gave the government complete
control of the situation. Threatened troubles on the sugar estates on
the west bank were suppressed by the prompt action of the governor, and
the arrest of large numbers of the rioters and their immediate trial by
special courts restored thorough order.
AUTHORITIES.--See Raleigh's _Voyages for the Discovery of Guiana
1595-1596_, ("Hakluyt" series); Laurence Keymis' _Relation of the
second Voyage to Guiana (1596)_, ("Hakluyt" series); Sir R. H.
Schomburgk, _Description of British Guiana_ (London, 1840); C.
Waterton, _Wanderings in South America, 1812-1825_ (London, 1828); J.
Rodway, _History of British Guiana_ (Georgetown, 1891-1894); H. G.
Dalton, History of British Guiana (London, 1855); J. W. Boddam
Whetham, _Roraima and British Guiana_ (London, 1879); C. P. Lucas,
_Historical Geography of British Colonies_; E. F. im Thurn, _Among the
Indians of Guiana_ (London, 1883); _British Guiana Directory_
(Georgetown, 1906); G. D. Bayley, _Handbook of British Guiana_
(Georgetown, 1909). (A. G. B.*)
Dutch Guiana.
II. DUTCH GUIANA, or _Surinam_, has an area of about 57,900 sq. m.
British Guiana bounds it on the west and French on the east (the long
unsettled question of the French boundary is dealt with in section III.,
FRENCH GUIANA). The various peoples inhabiting Surinam are distributed
according to the soil and the products. The Indians (Caribs, Arawaks,
Warrous) live on the savannahs, or on the upper Nickerie, Coppename and
Maroni, far from the plantations, cultivating their fields of manioc or
cassava, and for the rest living by fishing and hunting. They number
about 2000. The bush negroes (Marrons) dwell between 3 deg. and 4 deg.
N., near the isles and cataracts. They are estimated at 10,000, and are
employed in the transport of men and goods to the goldfields, the
navigation of the rivers in trade with the Indians, and in the transport
of wood to Paramaribo and the plantations. They are the descendants of
runaway slaves, and before missionaries had worked among them their
paganism retained curious traces of their former connexion with
Christianity. Their chief god was Gran Gado (grand-god), his wife Maria,
and his son Jesi Kist. Various minor deities were also worshipped,
Ampuka the bush-god, Toni the water-god, &c. Their language was based on
a bastard English, mingled with many Dutch, Portuguese and native
elements. Their chiefs are called _gramman_ or grand man; but the
authority of these men, and the peculiarities of language and religion,
have in great measure died out owing to modern intercourse with the
Dutch and others. The inhabitants of Paramaribo and the plantations
comprise a variety of races, represented by Chinese, Javanese, coolies
from India and the West Indies, negroes and about 2000 whites. Of
non-Christian immigrants there are about 6000 Mahommedans and 12,000
Hindus; and Jews number about 1200. The total population was given in
1907 as 84,103, exclusive of Indians, &c., in the forests. Nearly
one-half of this total are in Paramaribo and one-half in the districts.
The population has shown a tendency to move from the districts to the
town; thus in 1852 there were 6000 persons in the town and 32,000 in the
districts.
The principal settlements have been made in the lower valley of the
Surinam, or between that river and the Saramacca on the W. and the
Commewyne on the E. The Surinam is the chief of a number of large rivers
which rise in the Tumuc Humac range or the low hills between it and the
sea, which they enter on the Dutch seaboard, between the Corentyn and
the Maroni (Dutch _Corantijn_ and _Marowijne_), which form the
boundaries with British and French territories respectively. Between the
rivers of Dutch Guiana there are remarkable cross channels available
during the floods at least. As the Maroni communicates with the Cottica,
which is in turn a tributary of the Commewyne, a boat can pass from the
Maroni to Paramaribo; thence by the Sommelsdijk canal it can reach the
Saramacca; and from the Saramacca it can proceed up the Coppename, and
by means of the Nickerie find its way to the Corentyn. The rivers are
not navigable inland to any considerable extent, as their courses are
interrupted by rapids. The interior of the country consists for the most
part of low hills, though an extreme height of 3800 ft. is known in the
Wilhelmina Kette, in the west of the colony, about 3 deg. 50' to 4 deg.
N. The hinterland south of this latitude, and that part of the Tumuc
Humac range along which the Dutch frontier runs, are, however,
practically unexplored. Like the other territories of Guiana the Dutch
colony is divided physically into a low coast-land, savannahs and almost
impenetrable forest.
Meteorological observations have been carried on at five stations
(Paramaribo, Coronie, Sommelsdijk, Nieuw-Nickerie and Groningen). The
mean range of temperature for the day, month and year shows little
variation, being respectively 77.54 deg.-88.38 deg. F., 76.1 deg.-78.62
deg. F. and 70.52 deg.-90.14 deg. F. The north-east trade winds prevail
throughout the year, but the rainfall varies considerably; for December
and January the mean is respectively 8.58 and 9.57 in., for May and June
11.26 and 10.31 in., but for February and March 7.2 and 6.81 in., and
for September 2.48 and 2.0 in. The seasons comprise a long and a short
dry season, and a period of heavy and of slight rainfall.
_Products and Trade._--It has been found exceedingly difficult to
exploit the produce of the forests. The most important crops and those
supplying the chief exports are cocoa, coffee and sugar, all
cultivated on the larger plantations, with rice, maize and bananas on
the smaller or coast lands. Most of the larger plantations are
situated on the lower courses of the Surinam, Commewyne, Nickerie and
Cottica, and on the coast lands, rarely in the upper parts. Goldfields
lie in the older rocks (especially the slate) of the upper Surinam,
Saramacca and Maroni. The first section of a railway designed to
connect the goldfields with Paramaribo was opened in 1906. The annual
production of gold amounts in value to about L100,000, but has shown
considerable fluctuation. Agriculture is the chief means of
subsistence. About 42,000 acres are under cultivation. Of 30,000,
persons whose occupation is given in official statistics, close upon
21,000 are engaged in agriculture or on the plantations, 2400 in
gold-mining and only 1000 in trade. The exports increased in value
from L200,800 in 1875 to L459,800 in 1899, and imports from L260,450
in 1875 to L510,180 in 1899; but the average value of exports over
five years subsequently was only L414,000, while that of imports was
L531,000.
_Administration._--The colony is under a governor, who is president of
an executive council, which also includes a vice-president and three
members nominated by the crown. The legislative body is the states,
the members of which are elected for six years by electors, of whom
there is one for every 200 holders of the franchise. The colony is
divided into sixteen districts. For the administration of justice
there are three cantonal courts, two district courts, and the supreme
court at Paramaribo, whose president and permanent members are
nominated by the crown. The average local revenue (1901-1906) was
about L276,000 and the expenditure about L317,000; both fluctuated
considerably, and a varying subvention is necessary from the home
government (L16,000 in 1902, L60,400 in 1906; the annual average is
about L37,000). There are a civic guard of about 1800 men and a
militia of 500, with a small garrison.
_History._--The history of the Dutch in Guiana, and the compression of
their influence within its present limits, belongs to the general
history of Guiana (above). Surinam and the Dutch islands of the West
Indies were placed under a common government in 1828, the governor
residing at Paramaribo, but in 1845 they were separated. Slavery was
abolished in 1863. Labour then became difficult to obtain, and in 1870 a
convention was signed between Holland and England for the regulation of
the coolie traffic, and a Dutch government agent for Surinam was
appointed at Calcutta. The problem was never satisfactorily solved, but
the interest of the mother-country in the colony greatly increased
during the last twenty years of the 19th century, as shown by the
establishment of the Surinam Association, of the Steam Navigation
Company's service to Paramaribo, and by the formation of a botanical
garden for experimental culture at that town, as also by geological and
other scientific expeditions, and the exhibition at Haarlem in 1898.
AUTHORITIES.--Among the older works on Surinam the first rank is held
by Jan Jacob Hartsinck's masterly _Beschryving van Guiana, of de Wilde
Kust, in Zuid Amerika_ (2 vols., Amsterdam, 1770). Extracts from this
work, selected for their bearing upon British boundary questions, were
translated and annotated by J. A. J. de Villiers (London, 1897). A
valuable _Geschiedenis der Kolonie van Suriname_, by a number of
"learned Jews," was published at Amsterdam in 1791 and it was
supplemented and so far superseded by Wolbers, _Geschiedenis van
Suriname_ (Amsterdam, 1861). See further W. G. Palgrave, _Dutch
Guiana_ (London, 1876); A. Kappler, _Surinam, sein Land, &c._
(Stuttgart, 1887); Prince Roland Bonaparte, _Les Habitants de Surinam_
(Paris, 1884); K. Martin, "Bericht uber eine Reise ins Gebiet des
Oberen-Surinam," _Bijdragen v. h. Inst. voor Taal Land en
Volkenkunde_, i. 1. (The Hague); Westerouen van Meeteren, _La Guyane
neerlandaise_ (Leiden, 1884); H. Ten Kate, "Een en ander over
Suriname," _Gids_ (1888); G. Verschuur, "Voyages aux trois Guyanes,"
_Tour du monde_ (1893). pp. 1, 49, 65; W. L. Loth, _Beknopte
Aardrijkskundige beschrijving van Suriname_ (Amsterdam, 1898), and
_Tijdschrift van het Aardrijkskundig Genootschap_ (1878), 79, 93; Asch
van Wyck, "La Colonie de Surinam," _Les Pays-Bas_ (1898); L. Thompson,
_Overzicht der Geschiedenis van Suriname_ (The Hague, 1901);
_Catalogus der Nederl. W. I. ten Toonstelling te Haarlem_ (1899);
_Guide a travers la section des Indes neerlandaises_, p. 323
(Amsterdam, 1899); _Surinaamsche Almanak_ (Paramaribo, annually). For
the language of the bush-negroes see Wullschlaegel, _Kurzgefasste
neger-englische Grammatik_ (Bautzen, 1854), and _Deutsch
neger-englisches Worterbuch_ (Lobau, 1865).
French Guiana.
III. FRENCH GUIANA (_Guyane_).--This colony is situated between Dutch
Guiana and Brazil. A delimitation of the territory belonging to France
and the Netherlands was arrived at in 1891, by decision of the emperor
of Russia. This question originated in the arrangement of 1836, that the
river Maroni should form the frontier. It turned on the claim of the Awa
or the Tapanahoni to be recognized as the main head-stream of the
Maroni, and the final decision, in indicating the Awa, favoured the
Dutch. In 1905 certain territory lying between the upper Maroni and the
Itany, the possession of which had not then been settled, was acquired
by France by agreement between the French and Dutch governments. The
question of the exploitation of gold in the Maroni was settled by
attributing alternate reaches of the river to France and Holland; while
France obtained the principal islands in the lower Maroni. The
additional territory thus attached to the French colony amounted to 965
sq. m. In December 1900 the Swiss government as arbitrators fixed the
boundary between French Guiana and Brazil as the river Oyapock and the
watershed on the Tumuc Humac mountains, thus awarding to France about
3000 of the 100,000 sq. m. which she claimed. This dispute was of
earlier origin than that with the Dutch; dissensions between the French
and the Portuguese relative to territory north of the Amazon occurred in
the 17th century. In 1700 the Treaty of Lisbon made the contested area
(known as the Terres du Cap du Nord) neutral ground. The treaty of
Utrecht in 1713 indicated as the French boundary a river which the
French afterwards claimed to be the Araguary, but the Portuguese
asserted that the Oyapock was intended. After Brazil had become
independent the question dragged on until in 1890-1895 there were
collisions in the contested territory between French and Brazilian
adventurers. This compelled serious action, and a treaty of arbitration,
preliminary to the settlement, was signed at Rio de Janeiro in 1897.
French Guiana, according to official estimate, has an area of about
51,000 sq. m. The population is estimated at about 30,000; its movement
is not rapid. Of this total 12,350 live at Cayenne, 10,100 were in the
communes, 5700 formed the penal population, 1500 were native Indians
(Galibi, Emerillon, Oyampi) and 500 near Maroni were negroes. Apart from
Cayenne, which was rebuilt after the great fire of 1888, the centres of
population are unimportant: Sinnamarie with 1500 inhabitants, Mana with
1750, Roura with 1200 and Approuague with 1150. In 1892 French Guiana
was divided into fourteen communes, exclusive of the Maroni district.
Belonging to the colony are also the three Safety Islands (Royale,
Joseph and Du Diable--the last notable as the island where Captain
Dreyfus was imprisoned), the Enfant Perdu Island and the five Remire
Islands.
A considerable portion of the low coast land is occupied by marshes,
with a dense growth of mangroves or, in the drier parts, with the
pinot or wassay palm (_Euterpe oleracea_). Settlements are confined
almost entirely to the littoral and alluvial districts. The
forest-clad hills of the hinterland do not generally exceed 1500 ft.
in elevation; that part of the Tumuc Humac range which forms the
southern frontier may reach an extreme elevation of 2600 ft. But the
dense tropical forests attract so much moisture from the ocean winds
that the highlands are the birthplace of a large number of rivers
which in the rainy season especially pour down vast volumes of water.
Not less than 15 are counted between the Maroni and the Oyapock.
South-eastward from the Maroni the first of importance is the Mana,
which is navigable for large vessels 10 m. from its mouth, and for
smaller vessels 27 m. farther. Passing the Sinnamary and the Kourou,
the Oyock is next reached, near the mouth of which is Cayenne, the
capital of the colony, and thereafter the Approuage. All these rivers
take their rise in a somewhat elevated area about the middle of the
colony; those streams which rise farther south, in the Tumuc Humac
hills, are tributaries of the two frontier rivers, the Maroni on the
one hand or the Oyapock on the other.
_Climate and Products._--The rainy season begins in November or
December, and lasts till the latter part of June; but there are
usually three or four weeks of good weather in March. During the rest
of the year there is often hardly a drop of rain for months, but the
air is always very moist. At Cayenne the average annual rainfall
amounts to fully 130 in., and it is naturally heavier in the interior.
During the hotter part of the year--August, September, October--the
temperature usually rises to about 86 deg. F., but it hardly ever
exceeds 88 deg.; in the colder season the mean is 79 deg. and it
seldom sinks so low as 70 deg. Between day and night there is very
little thermometric difference. The prevailing winds are the N.N.E.
and the S.E.; and the most violent are those of the N.E. During the
rainy season the winds keep between N. and E., and during the dry
season between S. and E. Hurricanes are unknown. In flora and fauna
French Guiana resembles the rest of the Guianese region. Vegetation is
excessively rich. Among leguminous trees, which are abundantly
represented, the wacapou is the finest of many hardwood trees.
Caoutchouc and various palms are also common. The manioc is a
principal source of food; rice is an important object of cultivation;
and maize, yams, arrowroot, bananas and the bread-fruit are also to be
mentioned. Vanilla is one of the common wild plants of the country.
The clove tree has been acclimatized, and in the latter years of the
empire it formed a good source of wealth; the cinnamon tree was also
successfully introduced in 1772, but like that of the pepper-tree and
the nutmeg its cultivation is neglected. A very small portion of the
territory indeed is devoted to agriculture, although France has paid
some attention to the development of this branch of activity. In 1880
a colonial garden was created near Cayenne; since 1894 an experimental
garden has been laid out at Baduel. About 8200 acres are cultivated,
of which 5400 acres are under cereals and rice, the remaining being
under coffee (introduced in 1716), cacao, cane and other cultures. The
low lands between Cayenne and Oyapock are capable of bearing colonial
produce, and the savannahs might support large herds; cereals,
root-crops and vegetables might easily be grown on the high grounds,
and timber working in the interior should be profitable.
Gold-mining is the most important industry in the colony. Placers of
great wealth have been discovered on the Awa, on the Dutch frontier
and at Carsevenne in the territory which formed the subject of the
Franco-Brazilian dispute. But wages are high and transport is costly,
and the amount of gold declared at Cayenne did not average more than
130,550 oz. annually in 1900-1905. Silver and iron have been found in
various districts; kaolin is extracted in the plains of Montsinery;
and phosphates have been discovered at several places. Besides
gold-workings, the industrial establishments comprise saw-mills,
distilleries, brick-works and sugar-works.
_Trade and Communications._--The commerce in 1885 amounted to L336,000
for imports and to L144,000 for exports; in 1897 the values were
respectively L373,350 and L286,400, but in 1903, while imports had
increased in value only to L418,720, exports had risen to L493,213.
The imports consist of wines, flour, clothes, &c.; the chief are gold,
phosphates, timber, cocoa and rosewood essence. Cayenne is the only
considerable port. One of the drawbacks to the development of the
colony is the lack of labour. Native labour is most difficult to
obtain, and attempts to utilize convict labour have not proved very
successful. Efforts to supply the need by immigration have not done so
completely. The land routes are not numerous. The most important are
that from Cayenne to Mana by way of Kourou, Sinnamarie and Iracoubo,
and that from Cayenne along the coast to Kaw and the mouth of the
Approuague. Towards the interior there are only foot-paths, badly
made. By water, Cayenne is in regular communication with the Safety
Islands (35 m.), and the mouth of the Maroni (80 m.), with Fort de
France in the island of Martinique, where travellers meet the mail
packet for France, and with Boston (U.S.A.). There is a French cable
between Cayenne and Brest.
_Administration._--The colony is administered by a
commissioner-general assisted by a privy council, including the
secretary general and chief of the judicial service, the military,
penitentiary and administrative departments. In 1879 an elective
general council of sixteen members was constituted. There are a
tribunal of first instance and a higher tribunal at Cayenne, besides
four justices of peace, one of whom has extensive jurisdiction in
other places. Of the L256,000 demanded for the colony in the colonial
budget for 1906, L235,000 represented the estimated expenditure on the
penal settlement, so that the cost of the colony was only about
L21,000. The local budget for 1901 balanced at L99,000 and in 1905 at
L116,450. Instruction is given in the college of Cayenne and in six
primary schools. At the head of the clergy is an apostolic prefect.
The armed force consists of two companies of marine infantry, half a
battery of artillery, and a detachment of gendarmerie, and comprises
about 380 men. The penal settlement was established by a decree of
1852. From that year until 1867, 18,000 exiles had been sent to
Guiana, but for the next twenty years New Caledonia became the chief
penal settlement in the French colonies. But in 1885-1887 French
Guiana was appointed as a place of banishment for confirmed criminals
and for convicts sentenced to more than eight years' hard labour. A
large proportion of these men have been found unfit for employment
upon public works.
_History._--The Sieur La Revardiere, sent out in 1604 by Henry IV. to
reconnoitre the country, brought back a favourable report; but the death
of the king put a stop to the projects of formal colonization. In 1626 a
small body of traders from Rouen settled on the Sinnamary, and in 1635 a
similar band founded Cayenne. The Compagnie du Cap Nord, founded by the
people of Rouen in 1643 and conducted by Poncet de Bretigny, the
Compagnie de la France Equinoxiale, established in 1645, and the second
Compagnie de la France Equinoxiale, or Compagnie des Douze Seigneurs,
established in 1652, were failures, the result of incompetence,
mismanagement and misfortune. From 1654 the Dutch held the colony for a
few years. The French Compagnie des Indes Occidentales, chartered in
1664 with a monopoly of Guiana commerce for forty years, proved hardly
more successful than its predecessors; but in 1674 the colony passed
under the direct control of the crown, and the able administration of
Colbert began to tell favourably on its progress, although in 1686 an
unsuccessful expedition against the Dutch in Surinam set back the
advance of the French colony until the close of the century.
The year 1763 was marked by a terrible disaster. Choiseul, the prime
minister, having obtained for himself and his cousin Praslin a
concession of the country between the Kourou and the Maroni, sent out
about 12,000 volunteer colonists, mainly from Alsace and Lorraine. They
were landed at the mouth of the Kourou, where no preparation had been
made for their reception, and where even water was not to be obtained.
Mismanagement was complete; there was (for example) a shop for skates,
whereas the necessary tools for tillage were wanting. By 1765 no more
than 918 colonists remained alive, and these were a famished
fever-stricken band. A long investigation in Paris resulted in the
imprisonment of the incompetent leaders of the expedition. Several minor
attempts at colonization in Guiana were made in the latter part of the
century; but they all seemed to suffer from the same fatal prestige of
failure. During the revolution band after band of political prisoners
were transported to Guiana. The fate of the royalists, nearly 600 in
number, who were exiled on the 18th Fructidor (1797), was especially
sad. Landed on the Sinnamary without shelter or food, two-thirds of them
perished miserably. In 1800 Victor Hugues was appointed governor, and he
managed to put the colony in a better state; but in 1809 his work was
brought to a close by the invasion of the Portuguese and British.
Though French Guiana was nominally restored to the French in 1814, it
was not really surrendered by the Portuguese till 1817. Numerous efforts
were now made to establish the colony firmly, although its past
misfortunes had prejudiced the public mind in France against it. In 1822
the first steam sugar mills were introduced; in 1824 an agricultural
colony (Nouvelle Angouleme) was attempted in the Mana district, which,
after failure at first, became comparatively successful. The
emancipation of slaves and the consequent dearth of labour almost ruined
the development of agricultural resources about the middle of the
century, but in 1853 a large body of African immigrants was introduced.
The discovery of gold on the Approuague in 1855 caused feverish
excitement, and seriously disturbed the economic condition of the
country.
AUTHORITIES.--A detailed bibliography of French Guiana will be found
in Ternaux-Compans, _Notice historique de la Guyane francaise_ (Paris,
1843). Among more recent works, see E. Bassieres, _Notice sur la
Guyane_, issued on the occasion of the Paris Exhibition (1900);
_Publications de la societe d'etudes pour la colonisation de la Guyane
francaise_ (Paris, 1843-1844); H. A. Coudreau, _La France equinoxiale_
(1887), _Dialectes indiens de Guyane_ (1891), _Dix ans de Guyane_
(1892), and _Chez nos Indiens_ (1893), all at Paris; G. Brousseau,
_Les Richesses de la Guyane francaise_ (Paris, 1901); L. F. Viala,
_Les Trois Guyanes_ (Montpellier, 1893).