Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-08-04

lspe,a al Coir spoudenoe OF the RECORD -UNGoS.
BELIZE British Honduras), !
July "a, 1888. I
The geographical and relative position;
ol Belize, Honduras and British Hon
darae, had long been matter of uncer-
tainty in my mind, as they may have been
in the minds of others the one being SC
frequently coufounded with the other il
the vague reports that reach the North
RON these far away regions.
By consulting modern maps Of Central
America, you will see that Honduras
proper is a separate and independent
Republic-one of the largest in Central
America; that the eastern coast of Guate-
nala now belongs to England, and is
known as British Honduras while the
colony Of Belize is an ollshoot of the latter
north of the main portion of British Hon,
duras, comprising the southeastern part o.
the peninsula Of Yucatan; and that the
whole British territory is as frequently
called Belize as Honduras, regardless o
colonial limits
Hereabouts the word. is pronounced
as though spelled Bah-lee-zah, ana
is corruption of Walh,7 (Wah
lee-zah), the name given by the
Spaniards to the first settlement
from the fact of its having been discovered
and resorted to by Wallace, the notoriou:
Scotch buccaneer. lie was one of the most
daring and successful Of the horde of ad.
venturers lured to these shores by the
fame of the New World, exaggerated by
the return OF those first Spanish galleons
laden with the riches Of Mexico and Peru.
At the mouth of the great river that now
bears the Spanish Interpretation Of his
ulme, behind the keys and reefs that pro-
tect the harbor, Wallace found refuge and
security, and around his log huts and for
taller (the site or which is still pointed
out, now occupied by warehouses(, gradu-
ally grew the present city of Belize.
Strengthened by a close alliance with the
Indians of the mosquito shore, and by the
adhesion Of numerous Britons, who flocked
10 Honduras for the purpose of cutting the
valuable mahogany, he was able 10 set at
defiance the whole Spanish army
just how England came into possession
OF this big slice Of American soil it IS
difficult to tell Long before Mexico be-
gan the fight for independence, Spain en-
tered into treaty with Great Britain,
whereby the latter was priyiledged to draw
out lumber and woods from this portion OF
New Spain" A little later, Albion took
advantage of the wars and revolutions that
we're perpetually distraeting poor Mexico,
and the hewers of timber converted the
section over which the treaty extended
into a British colony. Extending their
lines as far as possible, they established
forts and garrisons, and have since i'm
proved every opportunity to foster in ad-
Jacent territory i'll feeling against the
Mexican Government, for Englands ad-
vantage. Thus, in that cruel rebellion OF
1877, they supplied the Yucatecan In
dians with arms and ammunition with
which to fight against Mexico and Guate-
mala, and are continually trafficiing in the
same class Of dangerous goods with the
Chan Santa Cruz insurgents and other
murderOus tribes, which to this day are
living on Mexican soil in open defiance 10
existing laws.
Naturally the possession of this richest
portion of Yucatan and Gautemala was
long contested by the Spaniards, and they
did not entirely relinquish the struggle
till about the year 1898, when compelled
TO by a feet of British vessels and a land
force Of 1000 men. Belize, the northern
end of the long-disputed territory, has
ranked as an English colony since 1862
ruled by the step-mother country under ,
Governor and local magistrate 1t i,
predicted that the time is not distant
when England will absorb the entire State
OF Yucatan, which may be, perhaps, the
best method of settling the heavy English
debt-that gaunt specter which is etern
ally threatening the peace of impover
ished Mexico
Being anxious TO witness the approach
to Belize, we tumbled upon deck in the
dim twilight of the morning, while vet ia
st. Georges bay, twenty miles away. The
Gull OF Honduras, which washes these
shores, is dotted with innumerable small
islands around and among which the yes.
sci twisted and turned, tackled and doubled
IN manner truly surprising.
Oh, for the pencil of Mast, or the pen
of Dickens to portray the scene to YOU
The risen sun had glorifed the prospect
long before we came to anchor close by a
tiny island crowned by a fort, over whose
frowning guns floated the flag Of England
Directly opposite the fort is the mouth Of
the Belize river. which, navigable for 200
miles, traverses the middle Of the terri
tory, and, spanned by picturesque bridges,
runs through the center Of the city that
bears its name. The coast being low and
swampy, the white-walled town seems TO
rise directly out of the water, like those
more venerable cities, Venice and Alexan-
dria; while groves of cocoanut trees.
growing down to the waters edge, appear
from distance like Egyptian palms
among which two or three towers were
visible, and the spire of Gothic church.
The harbor was literally crowded with
craft OF every escription-steambo
schooners, ships, brigs, bungoes, canoes
floating the flags Of many countries, among
which, by the way, were but two speci-
mems of the Union Jack, the most numer-
Gus bearing the British lions, the tri-colors
of France or the red, white and black of
the German merchant Rats, loaded with
great logs Of mahogany, lay all about US,
propelled by stalwart negroes, whose bare,
black legs shone like polished ebony. Even
the Government dory, which boarded US,
was made of solid mahogany, and most of
NGN etA'AOto anu NtEt Tie 5dDlt
costly trees, riIdely followed out of little
value here, but worth almost their weight
in gold in some countries
Having such excellent anchorage imme-
diately in front Of it-being protected bv
many quays from the heavy swells of the
open seattle town Is made the depot for
most of the foreign goods that find their
way into this portion of Central America
and from this point is shipped all the ma
hogany, cedar, logwood, cochineal. coffee.
cotton, sugar, rice, IGdia-rubber, indigo,
Sarsaparilla, fustie and brasileto, which
comprise the exports Of British Honduras
Walking about the city of Belize, one
imagines himself in the capitaIo of negro
republic, for the place seems almost en-.
tirely inhabited by blacks-streets, stores
market-hous and bridges being throngec
with them and when as rarely happens
an Anglo-Saxon face appears in the midst
iof this dark cloud. he and his northern
habiliments,, look strangely out Of place
The present population of British Hondu-
ras is estimated at $4,000, of which mum
Der hardly 1000 are whites, the colony o
Belize containing four-6ftfls of the entirt
population Of the territory. The negroe
are fiue-looking race-tall, straight, ath
Ietic, their black skins smooth and glossy
~ velvet. Their condition has aIyay