Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/294

 280 GUANARE the streets, and causes much damage during floods. Guanajuato has many handsome build- ings, private and public ; among the latter are the alhdndiga de granaditas (now used as a public granary, but memorable as the scene of important events during the war of indepen- dence), the parish and several other churches, monasteries and convents, and the mint. There are also a college, several public and a few private schools, a theatre, a hospital, and a charitable institution. Guanajuato was found- ed in 1554, and was made a city in 1741. GUANARE, a city of Venezuela, in the state of Barinas, 215 m. S. W. of Caracas ; pop. about 12,000. It is situated in a picturesque valley, has straight wide streets, well built houses, and a few substantial public build- ings, one of which is its church, much re- sorted to by pilgrims. There is a college, and dependent upon it a few schools. Cattle are the chief source of wealth. The principal articles of export are cacao, coffee, indigo, sugar, and tobacco. Guanare was founded in 1593 by Juan Fernandez de Leon, or accord- ing to some in 1609. A river of the same name (sometimes called the Guanarito), a trib- utary of the Orinoco, passing within 3 m. of the city, considerably facilitates exportation. GUANCHES, the aborigines of the Canary isl- ands, extinct since the end of the 16th century. They are said to have been gigantic in stature, well proportioned, of an olive complexion, with long straight hair, and simple and mild in character. They believed in an invisible creator of the universe, an evil spirit, a future state, and a place of torment for the bad, which they supposed was in the volcano of Teneriffe. They preserved the bodies of their dead and deposited them in catacombs, which are now visited among the curiosities of the islands. They had solemn marriage rites, in preparation for which the brides were fattened on milk. Not more than 150 words of their language are known, and these have an analogy with certain Berber dialects. Their origin is disputed. Some regard them as Libyans who fled to these isl- ands on the conquest of Barbary by the Arabs, and this opinion is supported by the similarity of several customs of the Libyans and Guanches. Humboldt supposes them to have belonged to the races of the old continent, perhaps to the Caucasian, and not, like the rest of the Atlan- tides, to the nations of the western world. GUANCABELICA. See HUANCAVELIOA. GUANO, a town of Ecuador, in the province of Chimborazo, about 100 m. S. W. of Quito ; pop. about 9,000. It contains many fine houses, a handsome church, and manufactories of woollen stuffs, carpets, blankets, sulphuric acid, &c. Cinchona bark is exported. GUANO (Sp. guano or huano, Peruvian huanu, dung), the excrement of sea fowl, intermixed with their decomposed bodies and eggs, and the remains of seals, found accumulated principally upon the islands of the Pacific and coasts of South America and Africa. The three small GUANO islands called the Chincha islands, off the south coast of Peru, and the Lobos islands off the north coast, were covered with it. It was known to the ancient Peruvians as a valuable manure, and the immense deposits of it were an especial object of care to the incas. Acosta (quoted by Prescott) states that during the breeding season no one was allowed under pain of death to set foot on the islands on which it was produced, and to kill the birds at any time was a like offence. The Spanish conquerors called the islands the Sierra Nevada, or snowy mountains, from the hills covered with white saline incrustation. Humboldt first drew at- tention in Europe to the substance in 1804. He described the deposits as covering the gra- nitic rocks of the Chincha islands to the depth of 50 or 60 ft., and yet the accumulation of the preceding 300 years had formed only a few lines of this thickness. He procured analyses to be made of the substance by Fourcroy, Vauquelin, and Klaproth, by which it was found to be com- posed of phosphate of ammonia and lime, with urate and oxalate of ammonia, water, organic matters not determined, and some sand. Sir Humphry Davy alluded to it about 1810 as likely to prove valuable to European farmers; and in that year a trial was made of it at St. Helena by Gen. Beatson. But none was brought to Europe for trial till 1840, when 20 casks were imported into Liverpool by Mr. Myers. The next year the shipments amounted to sev- eral cargoes. The exclusive right of digging and shipping guano for the term of nine years was sold at this time by the Peruvian and Bolivian governments for the sum of $40,000; but the contract was soon after repudiated by the former, as the increasing demand for the article developed the immense value of the de- posits. The monopoly was soon after revived, however, the Peruvian government confining the exportation and sale to a single house in London and another in New York. Upon the Chincha islands it was estimated that there were about 40,000,000 tons, the largest one having no less than 17,000,000 tons. The Lo- bos islands also contained enormous deposits, and many smaller islands were covered with it. Upon the principal Chincha island the de- posit is said to attain a thickness of 160 ft. The exports from these localities rapidly in- creased, so that guano became an important article of commerce, and vessels returning from the Pacific to England or the United States now found a profitable return cargo at the Chincha islands, instead of going as they had previously done to China and the East Indies in search of one. The revenue to the Peru- vian government from this trade exceeded that from all other sources ; and its agents reaped enormous profits from their authorized com- missions upon the shipments. The demand led to explorations in other parts of the world, and other deposits were found, but nearly all inferior in quality to those collected upon the rainless islands off the coast of Peru. Upon