Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/516

496 trade to South America, direct and indirect, may at present be estimated at from ten to twelve millions—,—not by the direct trade as entered at the British Custom-house, but through Belize, Jamaica, the Havannah, and even the United States.—It also appears beyond doubt that the direct British trade to South America has already increased nearly two-fold, by means of the new connexions formed with these republics.

A country, which has never been engaged against a foreign enemy in active warfare, cannot be expected to possess a large military force. The army of Guatemala was never, like that of Colombia and others of the new independent states, compelled to take the field, in any considerable manner, against the forces of the