Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/144

132 132 Coffee and tlie other staples of semi-tropical regions also flourish here. The department of Gracias lies in the north-western portion of the state, touching on Guatemala and Salvador, and its territory is in many respects the most interesting in Central America, of which it may be regarded as an epitome. On the north are many beau tiful valleys, among them that of Copan, celebrated for its ancient monuments. Among its mountains is found the quetzal, the royal and sacred bird of the aborigines. Peaches, apples, and plums flourish here, and the blackberry is indigenous among the hills. The vegetable products, actual and possible, exhaust the list of pro ductions of the tropics and the temperate zones. Wheat, barley, rye, and the potato grow on the mountains, while sugar cane, indigo, cotton, coffee, cocoa, oranges, and plantains flourish in the valleys. Pine covers the hills, and there is much mahogany, cedar, and granadillo, also Brazil wood, &c., for dyeing and manufacture. Copal balsam and liquidambar are among the common gums, while the tobacco has a wide and deserved celebrity. Gold and silver mines are numerous and rich, although but little worked. Bituminous coal, in beds of from 8 to 10 feet in thickness, is found in the plain of Sensenti, and asbestos, cinnabar, and platinum in various loca lities. Opals are frequent, principally in the vicinty of Erandique, where as many as sixteen mines have been &quot; denounced &quot; in a single year. Amethysts are reported to have been found near Campuca. Oholuteca is the extreme southern department of the state, lying along the Bay of Fonseca. It is extremely diversified in surface. Its alluvions, fronting the bay, are remarkably fertile, and are capable of producing all the staples of the tropics. As the country rises, which it does by a series of terraces, the savannas become broad and numerous, affording vast pastures for herds of cattle, which at present constitute the chief wealth of the department. Apart from its agricultural wealth, it is rich in minerals, chiefly in mines of silver. Tegucigalpa, to the north of Choluteca, is the smallest but rela tively the most populous department.- It is a vast interior basin or plateau, with an average elevation of not less than 3000 feet above the sea. Its soil is not so productive as that of some of the other departments, and is essentially a mining district, rich in gold and silver. Tegucigalpa is the largest and finest city of the state, and is at present the capital, alternating with Comayagua as the seat of government. The department of Olancho joins Tegucigalpa on the east, and has an area of about 11,300 square miles. Its people are indus trious, and the department is comparatively the richest in the state. Its exports are bullion, cattle, hides and deer skins, sarsaparilla, and tobacco. Next to its herds of cattle, its principal sources of wealth are its gold washings. Nearly all of its streams carry gold of a fine quality in their sands. The department of Yoro comprehends all the northern part of Honduras, with an area of 15,000 square miles, being the largest in size and the smallest in population. The valleys of all the streams abound in precious woods, and comprise the great mahogany dis trict of Central America. The inhabitants are chiefly mahogany cutters by occupation. The mountains of Pija and Sulaco are said to contain great mineral wealth, but they have never been adequately explored. The department of Santa Barbara lies between Gracias and Comayagua and the Bay of Honduras. It is traversed by several large streams. The great plain of Sula is the distinguishing feature of this department, which has a frontage of between 60 and 70 miles on the Bay of Honduras, and reaches inland upwards of 50 miles, comprising an area of not less than 1500 square miles. Its products are cotton, rice, sugar, cocoa, and all the great staples of the tropics. Administration. The government is republican in form, based on a constitution promulgated in November 1865. The chief executive consists of a president elected every four years, assisted by a council of state, consisting of two ministers appointed by the president, a senator elected by congress, and a judge of the supreme court. The legislature consists of a senate and chamber of deputies. Public Debt. The public debt of the republic in 1876 was $29,950,540, held in London and Paris, having been issued in three different loans in those cities, at high rates of interest and at a low valuation to make them attractive to capitalists. Since that time the accumulated interest, which has never been paid, has considerably swollen the amount. This debt, which is of a very questionable origin, was contracted for the alleged purpose of building the &quot;Honduras Interoceanic Rail way&quot; between Port Caballos on the Bay of Honduras and the Gulf of Fonseca on the Pacific, a distance of 148 geographical miles. The road was first proposed by Mr E. G. Squier of New York, in 1854, who made the preliminary survey of the line, finding it per fectly feasible, and had it been built then it no doubt would have proved a financial success, and a great benefit to the commerce of the world. But the breaking out of the American war put a stop to the enterprise for the time, and the completion of the Union Pacific Railway in the United States has done away with the neces sity for such a road as a highway for the nations. Still it would be a great benefit to the interior country should it at any time be completed. It is graded, and has a narrow guage track laid to San Pedro, 37 miles from Port Cortez. Trade. The total trade of the country for 1876 is given below : Exports from the Bay Islands, Truxillo, Omoa, and Puerto Calallos during the year 1876. To United States 230,503 To other countries 114,337 Total 344,840 From the port of Amapala, of which $208,646 was gold and silver 250,000 Grand total $594,840 Imjwrts into the Bay Islands, Truxillo, and Puerto Caballos for 1876. From the United States 230,184 From other countries 109,959 Total Into the port of Amapala, estimated value Total imports for 1876 340,143 300,000 640,143 Total foreign commerce for 1876 $1 ,234,983 A number of small sailing vessels engaged in the fruit trade ply between the Bay Islands and New Orleans: Cocoa-nuts are in demand both in New Orleans and New York, and the inhabitants of the mainland, as well as those of the islands, have planted the fruit extensively, so that the entire north coast will soon be bordered by cocoa-nut plantations. History. It was in Honduras that Columbus first planted his feet on the continent of America. In 1502, while on his fourth voyage, he discovered the island of Guanaja or Bonacca, whence he saw the high mountains of the mainland ; and on the 14th of August he landed on the continent at a point which he called Panto, de Cassinas, now Cabo de Honduras, and took possession of the country on behalf of the crown of Spain. He subsequently coasted to the eastward, and after many delays and dangers reached a point where the coast abruptly trends to the southward, forming a cape, to which, in gratitude for his safety, he gave the name of Cabo Gracias a Dios, Cape Thanks to God. Less than twenty years afterwards, Hernando Cortes, inspired by accounts of great and populous empires to the southward of the then prostrate empire of the Montezumas, undertook an expedition in to Honduras, which for length and difficulties encountered and overcome stands unprecedented in the history of martial adventure. He entered the vast and unbroken wilderness, and after two years of struggle and endurance reached the point where Columbus first landed. Without giving the history of Spanish power in Honduras, suffice it to say that as early as 1540, sixty years before Jamestown in Virginia was founded, and nearly a hundred years before Hudson entered the Bay of New York, Honduras had its large and flourishing cities. After throwing off the Spanish yoke, Honduras in 1823 joined the union of Central America. In 1 839 that union was dissolved, but the liberal party in the now independent state made repeated attempts to restore a federative union with the neighbouring republics of Nicaragua and San Salvador. These efforts even led to unsuccessful hostilities with Guatemala, but President Cabahos in 1855 being defeated and exiled, his successor General Guardiola (1856) concluded with Guatemala a treaty of peace. Six years of quiet ensued, when an insurrection broke out in 1862 among the soldiers, which cost Guardiola his life. After passing through some vicissitudes, the republic in November 1865 adopted a new constitution, under which the president is elected every four years. See Notes on Central America, by E. G. Squier, New York, 1855, and Honduras, by same author, London, 18/0. (E. G. S.) BKITISH HONDURAS Copyright, 1880, by Charles Scribncr s Sons. T3RITISH HONDURAS is the name given to the Eng- g ee Plate l) lish establishment or colony of Belize, on the eastern III. vol. shore of the peninsula of Yucatan, fronting the Bay of Hon- X1 - duras. It probably derives its name of Belize or Balize from the Frencli balise, a beacon, as no doubt some signal or light was raised here to guide the freebooters, who at one time infested the bay, to some common rendezvous. Its boundaries, as defined by the convention between Great Britain and Carrera, president of Guatemala, in 1859, were fixed as &quot;commencing at the mouth of the river Sarstoon, in the bay of Honduras, ascending that river to the rapids of Gracias & Dios, thence turning to the right in a straight