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sano or vera, dividibi, caoba, guaracan, gateado, pomegranate, mulberry, Brazil, charaguaray, ceibas, habillas, cedars, sasaparilla, also honey, indigo, and wax: several kinds of reeds are also very common, and serve as ropes to bind together the beams of houses, &c. and these are so incorruptible, that, although exposed to the moisture of the earth, they remain for 60 years as strong as when they were first cut. Here is also a kind of pitch, which the Indians call caruata, and the Spaniards cocuiza, which they mix in the manufacture of cords and ropes; different kinds of palms, such as the royal palms, the caratas, corozos, moriches, chaguaramas, the palma de Sombrero or hat-palm, and many others; some of which are esteemed for their fruit, and others for their shoots, which, being boiled, make fine vegetables also, of others are made hats of curious workmanship, used not only by the Indians and, people of colour, but also by the Spaniards. The fruits are maya, quechue, chara, quamache, autumn and summer figs, paugi, cocopris, mamon, cherries, jobos, and hicacos; all of which are produced without cultivation: and besides these, sugar-canes, maize of five sorts, calabashes, melons, water-melons, potatoes, plantains of four kinds, medlars, mameyes, vegetables, anones, chirimoyas, papayas, guayabas, and plums.

It also abounds in animals, as lions, tigers, cunaguaros, baquiras, chacharitas, potichis, bears, ant-eaters, meleros or honey-eaters, antas, wild boars, araguatos, cusicusis, rabopelados, mapuritos, acuris, squirrels, deer, foxes, and rabbits, armadillos, morrocois, pericos ligeros, (small lightfooted dogs) alligators, iguanas, chiguires, lapas, water-dogs, dormice, galapagos or snails, catuch's, manaties or sea-cows: and in the class of reptiles and insects, in various kinds of snakes, amongst which are the rattle-snake, the coral and macagua; in monstrous centipeds, spiders, scorpions, salamanders, niguas, ticks, flies of various sorts, gusanos de monte, or mountain-maggots, which engender between the skin and the flesh, from the bite of one of the above flies, and which grow until they become covered with hair, causing the most intense, burning pain. It abounds also in a great variety of ants, which destroy the temples, houses, clothes, and garments; of mice, and a multitude of other noxious reptiles, to such a degree that it should appear that the Creator had thought good to afflict this province with as many plagues as Egypt; but in contradistinction to these, innumerable are the birds, which for exquisiteness of note or plumage render the groves delightful: the most worthy of remark are the parrots, of

which there are six species: besides which, there are the birds called guacamoyos, cardenales, sparrows, turpiales, paugies, ring-doves, guacharacas, uquiras or mountain turkeys, partridges, quails, mountain fowl, and many kinds of doves and ducks, which serve as an amusement to the Spaniards and Indians fond of the chase.

The capital is of the same name, with the dedicatory title of Santo Tome; founded by Antonio Berrio, in 1586, on the shore of the river Orinoco: of an hot and unhealthy temperature, but fertile in tobacco, cacao, and producing much cattle. The English, commanded by Walter Raleigh, sacked and destroyed it in 1617, and the Dutch, before the year 1579, instigated at the prohibition of a commerce of tobacco, which they used to carry on, presented themselves in a ship of war, under the pretence that they were merely about to recover some old debts; and accordingly, having disembarked about night-fall, pillaged and burnt the city. It was, however, shortly rebuilt, and its situation removed to the spot where it now stands, 10 leagues below the river Caroni, at its narrowest part. At the mouths of this river, and in the islands situate there, is a part known by the name of Nueva Guayana, which has suffered the same misfortune as that we have just mentioned, having been attacked by a French privateer; but, in order to guard against a repetition of the same fate, a castle was built, called San Francisco, and another fort, with the name of San Diego del Padrasto; and besides this, it was fortified by a contract entered into between the king and the governor Don Martin de Mendoza y Berrio.

The capital has a good parish church, and a convent of Franciscan monks, but a very small population, on account of its losses in the above invasions. Its principal commerce is in hides and tobacco, which is much esteemed for its excellent quality. Sixty leagues from the city of San Joseph de Oruña, and 130 from the mouth of the Orinoco, in lat. 6° 30' n. Long. 63° 54' w. [INDEX TO ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SPECTING GUAYANA.

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1. Portuguese, French, Dutch, and Spanish divisions.-2. Importance of Guayana.-3. Extent and population.-4. Political intercourse between the Dutch of Surinam and Spanish of Guayana, &c.

1. Portuguese, French, Dutch, and Spanish divisions.-The coast of Guayana, from the mouth of the river Amazonas to that of the Orinoco, occupies an extent of 120 leagues, formerly possessed by four different powers. We shall here explain the divisions of each, previously to their]

[coming exclusively into the hands of the English and Spanish. The Portuguese possessed the s. part. They spread, before the treaty with France, of Sept. 29, 1801, from the mouth of the river Amazonas to cape North, and the e. of the island of Carpori. By this treaty the boundaries of Portuguese and French Guayana were formed by the river Carapana, which discharges itself into the Amazonas, at lat. 20' n. above fort Macapa. These boundaries follow the course of the river up to its source; from whence they take a direction towards the great chain of mountains which divide the courses of the waters, and are guided by the sinuosities of these mountains as far as the nearest point to Rio Blanco, between the 2d and 3d degrees of n. lat.

Portuguese Guayana was therefore entirely on the left bank of the river Amazonas; bounded to the n. by the French possessions, as far as long. 55° from Paris. The line of separation between the Portuguese and Spaniards laid more to the w. The equator, according to the treaty, ought to have served as the boundary; but they so encroached on the Spanish territory, that their colonies extended 32 leagues n. of the line, namely, as far as the island of St. Joseph, and the mount De la Gloria del Cocui. The Spanish fort of San Carlos, at 1° 53' n. was intended to prevent all further usurpation, and to recover, if possible, the lost ground.

French Guayana was bounded to the s. by the river Carapana, which flows into the river Amazonas, to the n. by the river Maroni, to the e. by the sea, and to the w. by the Spanish possessions. Surinam, Essequebo, and Demerara, though now belonging to the English, (having been taken in the present war), were Dutch settlements, and were bounded to the e. by the sea, to the s. by the river Maroni, to the n. by the river Essequebo, according to the treaty, (though they have since made cape Nassau the n. boundary), and to the w. by Spanish Guayana.

What remains of Guayana for the Spaniards is bounded on the e. by the sea, from cape Nassau to the mouth of the Orinoco, which are 30 leagues distant from each other. The river Orinoco forms the s. boundary as far as 150 leagues from the sea, when it becomes the w. boundary; because from this first point the river takes its course to the s. for a space of 100 leagues, where it receives the waters of the Guaviari: from this place the Orinoco, having its course to the e. no longer serves as a boundary of Spanish Guayana, the other limits in these parts being formed by the Portuguese settlements.

The conquest of the provinces of Venezuela, Cumaná, and of Maracaibo, occupied too much, during the first forty years, the few Spaniards to whom it was confided, for them to think of carrying their arms further, whilst the ground they occupied was so warmly disputed, that their existence there was for a long time considered as precarious.

The first European who attempted to enter the Orinoco was Lieut.-general John Cornejo. He ventured, in 1531, to penetrate by the mouths of the river, and surmounted many obstacles; but at length his vessel was dashed to pieces on the breakers. The most of his attendants were saved, but these unhappy people escaped the waves to fall a prey to the Indians.

2. Importance of Guayana.-It is difficult to find, throughout all the Spanish dominions, a settlement so favoured by nature and so little valued as Guayana. Its extent, which is estimated at 1000 leagues circumference, gives it the importance of an empire. The soil is so fertile that it would yield more produce than has been ever reaped from the whole of the other Spanish settlements. The rivers which are received into the Orinoco in its course of 500 leagues, and which exceed the number of 300, are so many canals, which would carry to Guayana the riches which they themselves have contributed to obtain from the earth. The Orinoco, which crosses it, and which is the port by which an enemy can penetrate into Venezuela, Barinas, and Santa Fé, can be defended only by Guayana, which is consequently the bulwark of the provinces which she alone can guarantee.

It might well be asked, why a country, which industry would prefer to all others, is a desert? and why such advantages for a military position have not hitherto more engaged the attention of government?

To the first of these two questions it may be replied, that the Spanish population in America, possessing a hundred times as much ground as they can cultivate, has no inducement to wander in quest of more; and that the Spaniard, who is far from being possessed of the insatiable ambition that cannot be satisfied but by the sweat of the brow, but who, on the contrary, quickly attaches himself to the place, whether good or bad, where fate has placed him, cannot consent to abandon the spot where he has procured himself ease, and formed connections, to run after comfort which can be procured only by fatigue, the very idea of which is enough to terrify him.

The second question can scarcely be answered]

but by the considerable expence that the fortifications and garrisons of Guayana would occasion, unless the government, relying on the difficulty and danger of the navigation of the Orinoco, thinks that no nation would undertake the conquest of an uncultivated country, which is defended by its miseries better than could be done by arms.

3. Extent and population.-Spanish Guayana, from the mouth of the Orinoco to the Portuguese boundaries, occupies a space of more than four hundred leagues. Its breadth, in the first eighty leagues to the e. is not more than thirty leagues towards the s. where it is bounded by the Dutch settlements, but afterwards the breadth increases to more than 150 leagues.

Over this immense surface there are but 34,000 inhabitants of every condition and colour, of which 19,425 are Indians under the conduct of missionarics, 6575 are in the capital, and the remaining 8000 are in the villages. The population is thickest from the distance of 50 leagues from the sea to 130 leagues up the Orinoco.

Guayana is divided into High and Low Orinoco; and the capital is taken as the point of separation. But this honour more justly belongs to the river Caroni, because it bounds, in all the w. part, a tract which might properly be called an island; for it has the Orinoco to the n. the sea to the e. the river Essequebo to the s. and the Caroni to the w. It forms almost a square, which is 70 leagues from e. to w. and 30 in its narrowest part from n. to s. America has not much land more fertile than this inclosure.

The missionaries charged with bringing the Indians to a social life by means of Christianity, began their work by this part of Guayana. Twentyseven villages built to the e. of the river Caroni bespeak the success of the Catalonian Capuchin fathers. They have not, however, approached the coast by above 30 leagues; because it is inhabited by the Caribes, the most ferocious and courageous of all the Indians, who have invariably made martyrs of the apostles who have endeavoured to convert them to Christianity. It is true that the ferocity of the Caribes would have been softened by the morality of the missionaries, if the Dutch of Surinam, wishing to extend their trade to Spanish Guiana, had not made it a part of their politics to protect the vagabond life of the Caribes, who prevent the Spaniards approaching their coast. It is certain that Spanish Guayana appears upon the maps to occupy 30 leagues of coast from the mouth of the Orinoco to cape Nassaw, but might in reality be said not to occupy an inch; for the natives have defended their independence so well

VOL. II.

that they have never been converted, reduced, nor conquered; and are, in fact, as free as they were before the discovery of America. It is lamentable. that the barbarous use they make of their liberty obliges the philosopher to wish rather that they should lose than that they should preserve it.

High Guayana. All that which is to the e. of the river Caroni, beginning a league above St. Thomas, is under the mission of the Franciscans. If we judge of their zeal by the result of their la bours, we shall not have reason to be astonished; but if we contrast what they have done with the difficulties they must have had to overcome, and of the decided repugnance of these Indians to receive the light of Christianity, we shall find it was hardly possible for human efforts to accomplish more than these Franciscans have done on the higher shores of the Orinoco.

The most considerable of the Indian nations of Guayana are the Caribes, the Arvaques, the Yaos, and the Galibis. These are well proportioned, for the most part, are swarthy, and go naked. The Caribes are enterprising, and so cautious of surprise, that they post out-guards and centinels with as much care and art as the Europeans. The Caribes of Guayana still fondly cherish the tradition of Sir Walter Raleigh's alliance; and to this day preserve the English colours which he left with them at parting, above 200 years since.

4. Political intercourse between the Dutch of Surinam and the Spanish of Guayana, &c.-The Dutch have been thought to be much more vigilant and solicitous about the protection of their settlements in this quarter than the Spaniards. For the latter have no advanced posts on the frontiers of the former, whilst the Dutch have on the coast a body of guards, and occupy a fort called the Old Castle, at the junction of the river Mazurini with the Essequebo: they also keep an advanced guard of twenty-five men upon the river Cuyuni. By means of these precautions, they are not only respected on their own territory, but they over-run with safety all the neighbouring Spanish possessions. They remove their limits whenever their interest invites them, and maintain their usurpation by force.

The natural result of this is, that the Spaniards and Dutch live at Guayana not like very good neighbours. They reproach each other with injuries, some of which are very serious. The Spaniards pretend that the Dutch constantly encroach upon their territory, and respect no limits; that they destroy the Spanish trade to Guayana, by the contraband goods they introduce; that they continually excite the Caribes against them, and pre

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[vent their subjection by the advice they give them, and the arms with which they furnish them. The Dutch, on their part, impute to the Spaniards the desertion of their slaves, who meet at Guayana with a hospitable reception, with their liberty and the protection of the government. It is true, that the Spaniards have for a long time protected, more from a principle of vengeance than of humanity, all the slaves of Surinam who have sought an asylum among them. They have even peopled with these fugitives two very considerable villages upon the banks of the river Caura, where they receive likewise the Indians who are forced by the Caribes to fly from the slavery of the Dutch.

In one of the treaties between the Dutch and Spaniards, previously to the taking of Dutch Guayana by the English, it was stipulated on the part of the Spaniards to give up to the Dutch all the slaves who might have retired into the Spanish territory, or to pay their value; and indeed, if this condition was always as faithfully fulfilled as it was latterly, it would re-establish between the two countries a harmony most decidedly in favour of the Spaniards; in as much as this is undoubtedly the weaker party. See CAYENNE, and DUTCH AMERICA.]

Governors who have presided in Guayana and Cumaná.

1. Don Diego Fernandez de Zerpa, native of Cartagena de Levante, a man of fortune; he capitulated with the king to undertake the conquest of Nueva Andalucía, and passed over there under the title of governor of whatever he might conquer, with a supply of people, arms, and ammunition, in 1568; but met with his death the same year, with many of his followers, in a battle against the Indians.

2. The adelantado Don Gonzalo Ximenez de Quesada, conqueror of the Nuevo Reyno de Granada, by the declaration of his Majesty, and under which kingdom was included that of Nueva Andalucia.

3. Don Francisco de Vides; nominated governor and conqueror of Nueva Andalucía, which he exercised only a short time, since the excesses which he manifested induced the council of the Indies to take from him his situation, and to send him prisoner to Spain, where he died.

4. Don Juan de Haro, nominated provisionally. 5. Don Antonio Berrio y Oruña, heir to the estates of Don Gonzalo Ximenez de Quesada, from having married this person's niece; he capitulated with the king the conquest of the Dorado, but having lost the greater part of his army at entering this supposed country, he died of mortification in the city of Santo Tomas de la Guayana, in 1595.

6. Don Fernando de Berrio, son of the former, on whom, his father having capitulated for the government for his heir, the right thus regularly de. volved; he exercised it some years, and at last, owing to some complants lodged against him, was separated from it in 1610.

7. Don Sancho de Alquiza, who was then governor of the province of Venezuela; he held the government of Guayana until the year 1615.

8. Don Diego Palomeque y Acuña; he entered in the above year; and the city being attacked by Walter Raleigh, an English privateer, in 1618, he was killed whilst valiantly defending it.

9. Don Fernando de Berrio, sent by the audience of Santa Fé to the succour of La Guayana, and to govern for the second time; he arrived in 1619, and exercised his command until 1622.

10. Don Juan de Dios Valdés, nominated provisionally.

11. Don Luis de Monsalve, native of Sevilla, in 1632.

12. Don Diego Lopez de Ficobar, in 1638. 13. Don Martin de Mendoza y la Hoz, in 1640. 14. Don Juan de Urpin, native of Barcelona in the principality of Cataluña, doctor of laws, advocate in the audience of St. Domingo; he had distinguished himself in his military career, proposed to the above tribunal the conquest of Cumaná, and notwithstanding he had many competitors, was elected to the government of whatever countries he might conquer, in 1641; he founded different cities, and after many fatigues, combats, and labours, died in 1645.

15. Don Christóval de Vera, nominated provisionally.

16. Don Pedro de Brizuela, in 1656.

17. Don Pedro de Padilla, nominated in 1657. 18. Don Juan de Viedma, who governed from 1659 to 1664.

19. Don Joseph de Aspe y Zuñiga, who died in 1665.

20. Don Francisco Ventura y Rada, governor in 1665.

21. Don Juan Baptista de Valdes, provisional. 22. Don Juan Bravo de Acuña, in 1667. 23. Don Diego Ximenez de Aldana, in 1670. 24. Don Francisco de Rivera y Galindo, in 1681. 25. Don Juan de Padilla y Guardiola, of the council of his Majesty, knight of the order of Calatrava.

26. Don Gaspar Mateo de Acosta, in 1688. 27. Don Gaspar del Hoyo y Solorzano. 28. Don Joseph Ramirez de Arellano, in 1701. 29. Don Mateo Ruiz del Mazo, in 1712; he died in 1715.

30. Don Joseph Carreño, in 1717.
31. Don Juan de la Tornera, in 1724.
32. Don Agustin de Arredondo.

33. Don Carlos Sucre, brigadier of the royal armies, till 1734.

34. Don Gregorio Espinosa de los Monteros, brigadier of the royal armies, deputy inspector of dragoons, till 1741.

35. Don Diego Tabares, brigadier of the royal armies, knight of the order of Santiago; he passed to the government of Cartagena in 1751.

36. Don Mateo Gual, in 1752. 37. Don Joaquin Moreno, in 1762. 38. Don Joseph Dibuja y Quiñones, in the aforesaid year, till 1764, when he was promoted to the presidency of Quito.

39. Don Manuel Centurion, till 1766. 40. Don Pedro Joseph de Urrutia, colonel of infantry, till 1774.

41. Don Maximo Dubouchet, captain of the royal armada, in 1775, till 1783.

42. Don Antonio Percda, in 1783 till 1786. 43. Don Miguel Marmion, in 1786. GUAYANÖ, a river of the province and government of Honduras. It runs n. and enters the sea opposite the island of Tortuga.

GUAYAPA, SAN ANDRES DE, a settlement of the head settlement of Cuilapa, and alcaldía mayor of Quatro Villas, in Nueva España. It contains 107 families of Indians, employed in the cultivation and commerce of cochineal, seeds, fruit, and charcoal, and in cutting wood. One league and an half e. n. e. of its head settlement.

GUAYAPE, a river of the province and government of Honduras, which runs n. and enters those of Guayano and Agnan.

GUAYAPEGUE, a large wood of palms, of 12 miles in length and 3 wide, one mile from the shore of the river Atanari, being the spot where a bloody battle was fought in 1669 by the Guaibas and Chicoas against the Achaguas Indians, the latter being victorious.

GUAYAQUIL, a province and government of the kingdom of Quito. Its jurisdiction begins at cape Pasao to the n. in lat. 22' s. and extends s. as far as the settlement of Machala, or the banks of the Payama and mouth of the river of Tumbe, in lat. 3° 26' s. and bounded in that direction by the province of Truxillo, and juridiction of the corre gimiento of Piura in Peru, e. by that of Cuenca, n. by that of Esmeraldas, and n. e. by those of Riobamba and Chimbo. It is composed of seven small provinces or districts, which are, La Punta, Daule Рuña, Machala, Puerto Viejo, Babahoyo, Baba, and Yaguache; in all of which there is a

lieutenant-governor, heretofore nominated by the governors, for the consideration of 2000 dollars; but this nomination was afterwards abrogated by the viceroy of Santa Fé. The extent of this province is 110 miles from n. to s. from the mountain of the point of Santa Elena to the strands of the settlement of Ojiba; nearly as many wide, from the port of Manta to the settlement of Tumbes, although the Ex-jesuit Coleti makes it much less. It takes the name of its Cacique Guayas, who met his death by chance at the hands of one of the Spanish conquerors. It is of an extremely hot and moist temperature, of a low and plain territory, and subject to inundations during the winter. is watered by several rivers, the four largest of which give their names to the districts of Daule, Baba, Babahoyo, and Yaguache, which flow down from the sierras of Quito, in the paramos and mountains of Tacunga, Guaranda, and Chimbo, and join in the plain, so as to form a navigable river, which straightway empties itself into the sea. In these rivers are abundance of fish of various kinds, such as robalos, corbinas, sabalos, bagres, cazones, skates, maids, ratones, barbudos, ciegos, cels, bios, boca-chicos, biejas, mackerel, dicas, the sword-fish, and large alligators, besides others peculiar to the sea into which they run. The territory produces much cacao, of which two crops are gathered annually, the best sort being that of Machala and of Troncoso; a considerable number of neat cattle, mules, and horses; also cotton, tobacco in leaf, dried fish, salt, wax, rice, ajonjoli, mani, honey, and cocos; in all of which a great commerce is carried on with the other provinces of the kingdom, from which it takes in exchange cloths, baizes, carpets, cotton linens, called tucuyos, flour, and the necessaries of life, hams, cheese, sugar, and sweetmeats: also from Guatemala and Nicaragua it receives tobacco in dust, dye, indigo, pitch, tar, and simples; from the provinces of Tierra Firme, European wares and merchandise; and from the ports of Peru, flour, sweetmeats, soap, tallow, sugar, and hides; and this continual traffic causes it to be rich and abounding in every thing that can conduce to the comfort or luxury of life. Its woods abound with trees of the most superior quality, and by which its capital dock is supplied with the timber for building vessels; the most esteemed sorts being the oak, guachapeli, saffron, cedar, balsam, laurel, ciñafistolo, negro, mulberry, matasarna, jugano, figueroa, maria, seco, ebony, cascol, guayacán, colorado, guayado de monte, zeibo, mamatapalo, mangle, the large fig-tree, guarango, medlar, cinnamon, carotu, piñuela, and buckthorn. But in the midst of all these advantages it

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