Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/266

Rh 252 GUIANA [DUTCH. enough to confine the floods, though at Arm tna, about 45 miles inland, the difference of level between the dry and the rainy season is 23 feet. Between the rivers of Dutch Guiana there are remarkable cross channels available during the floods at least. The Maroni is even connected with the Corantyn on the one hand (though there is 200 miles of country between) and with the Oyapock on the other. As it communicates with the Cottica, which is in turn a tributary of the Commewijne, 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 Corantyn. Climate. The climate of Surinam has long enjoyed a reputation for exceptional unhealthiness which it does not appear to deserve. Though hot and moist like a Turkish bath, it seems congenial even to the European constitution. The mean temperature of the year is 80 4 Fahr., that of the coldest month 78 and that of the warmest 99. On the average of the eight years from 1847 to 1854 the rainfall at Monbijou is 129 inches, at Paramaribo 101. at Gelderlaud 108, at Groningen 91, and at Nickerie 67. According to the tables at the end of the Jaarboek of the Kon. Nederland-ich Meteor. Instit. (Utrecht), the greatest quantity falls in May, June, July, September, and December. There are no endemic diseases ; and though cholera, fevers, and small-pox have appeared from time to time, they are not more violent than in more temperate regions. Leprosy and elephantiasis, introduced it is believed from Barbados, are not infrequent among the negro population. The former is locally known as boassi. In 1790 there were only 7 patients in the lazaretto of Voorzoorg, but by 1797 they had increased to 300, and in 1812 to 500. A new estab lishment was founded at Batavia on the right bank of the Coppename in 1823. Between 1831 and 1839 an average of 103 suspected persons were examined yearly, and 46 declared infected. In 1853 there were 448 inhabitants (216 males and 232 females) in the settlement; of these however 112 were personally free from the disease, though born and brought up among the patients. Population. Between 1838 and 1852 the free popula tion of Surinam increased from 8893 (4242 males and 4651 females) to 13,193 (6709 males and 6484 females). In 1855 the total number of slaves was 31,780, of whom 27,914 (13,556 males and 14,358 females) were on the plantations and 3866 (2027 males and 1839 females) in private service. Since the abolition in 1863 many attempts have been made to augment the working popu lation of the colony. Up till 1874 the total number of immigrants was 9049, of whom at least 2028 died. 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. In 1873 2448. immigrants arrived from British India, and 1405 in 1874; but owing to dissatisfac tion on the part of England with the Dutch arrangements there were none in 1875 and 1876. In December 1875 the whole population was stated at 51,329 (26,074 males and 25,255 females), exclusive of about 17,000 bush negroes and an uncertain number of Indians. There were 706 Euro peans besides the soldiers and seamen in garrison and har bour, and the immigrants amounted to 4007 (2834 males and 1173 females), and comprised 2959 from British India, 598 from the West Indies, 35 2 Chinese from China, and 67 from the Dutch Indies, and 37 settlers from the Netherlands. The bush negroes (bosch-negers) are the descendants of runaway slaves. They consist of three tribes the Aukanians, the Saramaccans, and the Bekou or Moesinga. The first, who number from 3000 to 4000, have their chief settlements in the district near the junction of the Lava and the Tapanahoni with the Upper Marowijne, but they are also settled on the Sara Creek, on the Upper Cottika, and on the Curmotibo. The Saramaccans, who are numerically about as important, dwell between the Saramacca and the Upper Surinam. The bush negroes retain curious traces of their former connexion with Christianity, though they are and consider themselves pagans. Their chief god is Gran Gado (grand-god), his wife is Maria, and his son Jesi Kist. Various minor deities are also worshipped, Ampuka the bush-god, Toni the water-god, &c. Among themselves they speak a language based on a bastard English, mingled with many Dutch, Portuguese, and native elements. The Moravian missionaries have promoted its cultivation, but it is almost certain to give way before the Dutch. 1 Vegetation. A large portion of Dutch Guiana is covered with primeval forests ; but hitherto the lack of labour and cost of tran sport have prevented the utilization of its vast supplies of timber and cabinet wood. In some years indeed the export of these materials is actually exceeded by the import. An idea of the wealth that awaits the future prospector may be obtained from Focke s paper in the West Indie for 1855, where a list is given of 77 different kinds. Among the more important are the bolletrie (Lucumamammosum), known in the Netherlands as paardenhVeseh or horse-flesh; the bruinhart (Vouacapoua amcricann, Anbl.); the barklak (Lccythis ollaria), which is never attacked by worms ; the geelhart (Aectandra Rodicci, Schomb. ); the male and female letterwood; the purpuurhart (Copaifera Iractcata, L.) ; the kankan tre (Bombax Cciba) ; the locust or courbaril, which is good botli for timber work and furniture ; and the kopie (Goupia tomcntosa), largely used for flooring. Besides the banana, to which the negro is indebted for a large part of his sustenance, maize, sorghum, or Curagoa maize, yams, kayers (Arum csculentum), arrowroot, okro or gumbo, the ground nut or pienda (AracUis Jiypogcca), Spanish pepper, the antrua (Solanum macrocarpum), the bilambi, the zuurzak (Anona inuricata), the porrirne de Cythere (Spondias cytherca), and the Mammea americana may be mentioned from the vast list of plants of interest for their edible products. 2 Commerce. The great staple of Surinam industry was formerly sugar. Between 1849 and 1863 the average quantity exported was 302,857 cwts. ; in 18G5, two years after the emancipation of the slaves, it sank as low as 151,842 cwts.; and though it has again increased, the average between 1864 and 1874 is only 212,906 cwts. In 1876 the production was 218,115 cwts., and the export 198,274 cwts. The first cocoa from Surinam was sent to Amsterdam in 1733 ; but it is only since about 1855 or 1860 that it has risen into favour with the colonists. In 1876 the production was no less than 262,907 cwts., and the export 26,062 cwts. Cotton and coffee are next in order, the former having a yield in 1876 of 3806 cwfcs. and the latter of 245 cwts. The total exports of the colony had a value of 2,762.568 gulden or florins ; of which Great Britain took 969,945, the United States 872,277, and the Netherlands 505,064. Of the total imports, valued at 3,183,252 gulden, the mother country furnished the value of 1,228,408. Miiierals. The gold-diggings of Surinam are beginning to attract attention, the commission of 1874 having found a rich auriferous district about the Marowijne. By May 1876, 519,000 acres of land had been rented to private persons, and a fair amount of success has attended their labours. The lead, silver, and iron ores may yet prove of importance. Administration. In 1865 several changes were introduced into the government of Surinam. The Code Napoleon was adopted, subject to modification from time to time by orders in council. A house of assembly was constituted, the members of which were never to be less than nine nor more than thirteen, four being appointed by the Government and the others by the electors. The franchise was given to all citizens paying 40 gulden of taxes. Elected members serve for six years. The ordinances of tho governor in council become law only if passed in the assembly and sanctioned by the king ; but a royal decree may overrule the strongest opposition of the assembly, and not unfrcquently the national assembly of the Netherlands disallows what has been in serted in the budget by the colonial assemblies. Besides the supreme 1 Seventeen publications are mentioned by Wullschlaegei in his Kurzgefasste Ncger-Enylische Grammatik (Bautzen, 1854). Focke Issued a Ncger-Englisch Woordenboek (Leyden, 1855), and Wull schlaegei a Deutsch Negcr-Englisches WSrterbuch (Lobau, 1 865). a Further information on the rich tropical flora of the colony will be found in Teenstra, Landbouw in de Kolonie Surinam*, Groningen, 1835; Van Ferrnin, Hist. Nat. de la Hollande equinoxiale, Amsterdam, 1765- Dozy and Molkenboer, &quot; Prodromus Flora? bryologies Surma- mensis,&quot; in VerJutndl. van de Holl. Maatsch. der Wetensch. U Haar lem; and A. C. Focke, &quot;De quibusdam orchideis Surinameiisjbus, in Mohl and Schlechtendftl s Botan. Zeitung, 1853.