Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/758

Rh 714 AMERICA [STATES. into an independent state only in 1826, and named Bolivia in honour of its liberator Bolivar. It lias a small strip of barren territory on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, between the 22d and 25th parallel; but it is, properly speaking, entirely an inland country, and more deficient in the means of communicating with foreign nations than any other state in America. See BOLIVIA. Guatemala or &quot;Central America&quot; originally occupied all the narrow part of the continent from the 83d to the 94th degree of west longitude, extending 800 miles in length, and covering a space of 130,000 square miles. The surface of the country is hilly, and in most parts mountainous ; the climate warm and very moist. The mineral wealth of the country is not great ; but this is compensated by the rich ness of its soil and its excellent commercial position. It was a federal republic, but its five provinces have now become independent states. Humboldt estimated the population of the five states at 1,600,000. According to a statement furnished to Mr Thomson, a former British envoy by the government, it was 2,000,000 ; Avhile the most recent of the estimates made by the resident officials give a total of 2,335,019, viz. : Guatemala (1865) 1,180,000 St Salvador (18/0) 434,520 Honduras 250,000 Nicaragua 350,000 Costa Rica 120,499 2,335,019 The proportions of the different races have been esti mated as follows : Humboldt. Thomson. Whites and Creoles 20 per cent. 20 per cent. Mixed classes 28 ,, 40 ,, Indians 52 40 ,, Mexico is the most populous and powerful of all the new states erected in America since the commencement of the present century. Previous to the war with the United States it embraced an area of 1,600,000 square miles, which was reduced to 1,030,442 by the cession of the northern provinces in 1848. About three-fourths of the surface con sists either of mountains or table-land, raised from 5000 to 10,000 feet above the sea. Owing to this extraordinary elevation, even those parts of the country which lie within the torrid zone (the low ground on the coast excepted) enjoy a dry, cool, and salubrioiis atmosphere; but this advantage is counterbalanced by the insufficient supply of moisture and the rapid evaporation resulting from the same cause, which render the soil generally rather arid, and in many parts absolutely barren ; by the smallness of the rivers and the almost entire absence of inland navigation ; and by the obstacles which the steep and rugged ascents from the coast present to land-carriage. The republic is, besides, almost destitute of ports on the Atlantic side. Mexico is extremely rich in the precious metals ; and there arc few regions upon which nature has lavished so great a variety of vegetable productions, or where plants fitted to the coldest and the hottest climates may be seen so nearly in juxtaposition. The low ground on the east coast is admirably adapted for raising sugar; and no country is more favourably situated for growing the other great articles of West India produce coffee, cotton, cocoa, indigo, and tobacco. The raising of bread- stuffs as they are termed by the Anglo-Americans wheat, maize, and barley, with potatoes, the cassava root, beans, pumpkins, fruit, &c. for domestic consumption, will neces sarily be the chief branch of industry on the table-lands. The mines have never employed above 30,000 labourers ; and their superior productiveness depends chiefly on two circumstances the great abundance of the ore, which is only of poor quality, and the comparative facility with Whites 1,230,000 Indians 3.710,000 which they can be worked owing to their being generally situated in fertile districts, where provisions, wood, and all materials can be easily procured. Mexico has had her full share of the ignorance and super stition which belonged to Spain; and these evils, with her internal dissensions and her rapacious, immoral, and intole rant clergy, are great obstacles to her improvement. That excessive inequality of fortune which corrupts both extremes of society has been nowhere in the world more prevalent than in Mexico. Individual proprietors possessed immense tracts of land and boundless wealth, while all the great towns swarmed with beggars, and thousands fell a sacrifice to fa mine from time to time. The Mexican constitution, which is federal and almost a literal copy of that of the United States, was established in 1824. The distinction of castes, which was maintained in the greatest rigour under the colo nial system, has now disappeared, and power and office are open, not only legally but practically, to men of all colours. The African blacks formed an extremely small proportion of the Mexican population at all times ; and since the revolution slavery has ceased. The number of inhabitants was estimated at 6,800,000 by Humboldt in 1823, and classed as follows : Proportions. 19 per cent, 27 54 Mr Ward states that very few of the whites, so called, are free from a mixture of Indian blood ; and now when the odious distinctions founded on complexion are abolished, they readily acknowledge it. Mr Ward estimated the population at 8,000,000 in 1827. In 18G9 that of Mexico with its present boundaries was stated to be 9,176,082. See MEXICO. Hayti, called formely Hispaniola and St Domingo, was Hayti a colony belonging partly to France and partly to Spain till 1791, when the blacks rose in arms, killed a number of whites, and expelled the rest. The attempts of England in 1793, and of France in 1801, to conquer the island, both failed, and Hayti has at length been acknowledged as an independent state by all the great powers, including France. The island, which contains about 28,000 square miles, is remarkably fertile ; but its climate, like that of the West Indies generally, is rather unhealthy. The population, which before the revolution was estimated at 600,000, is now said to amount to 900,000 or 1,000,000, and it is almost entirely composed of blacks and mulattoes. The island formed one state till 1844, when the eastern or Spanish portion revolted, and established its independence. It is now the republic of &quot; Dominica, ruled by a president, while the western portion, retaining the name of Hayti, was formed into an empire under Faustin I. ; but in 1867 a republican constitution was proclaimed. After long negotia tions, the French government agreed in 1838 to acknow ledge the independence of Hayti on condition of the latter paying 60,000,000 of francs by small annual instalments continued for 30 years. The money was destined chiefly to indemnify the French proprietors who were chased from the island in 1791. Nothing has been paid of late years. The multifarious nature of the subject prevents us from attempting any description of the West India colonies, in- sular and continental. The islands have been variously denominated, but the most convenient division seems to iis the following: 1. The Great Antilles, comprehending Cuba, Hayti, Jamaica, and Porto Rico ; 2. The Small Antilles, extending in a semicircle from Porto Rico to the coast of Guiana ; 3. The Bahama Isles, about 500 in num ber, of which, however, only a small number are inhabited. The British colonies are 18 in number, viz., 16 insular Jamaica, Antigua, Barbadocs, Dominica, Grenada, Mont- serrat, Nevis, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent, Tobago, I &quot; i(