The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-13

Before President Cleveland sent 70 Congress
his Venezuela message less was known on either
| side Of the Atlantic about British Guiana than
about any other British possession on the main
land Of the New World. Indeed, as DR.. Emil
| Reich the author Of the lecture on the subject,
points out, there was a time not very long
AGO when nobody in the House Of Commons
| had quite made up his mind whether the col
| ony OF "Demerars." as British Guiana was for
merly called, was an island or a peninsula.
| The Germans, however, had long made careful
! researches into the geography Of Guiana, and
the works OF Alexander Won Humboldt. together
! with the writings OF Wappaeus and Meinicke,
Ind been. mp to the early forties Of this century,
| among the most important contributions 10
| our knowledge Of South America in general
and of Guiana in particular, Tho Indifference
| which prevailed till recently, however. has
now given way to n lively interest, owing TO
| the fact that the boundary dispute between
| British Guiana and Venezuela caused in 1890
a profound and widespread sensation. ow-
ing 10 the effective intervention Of the United
| States. Thanks to the labors rendered neoes-
sary for the settlement Of the boundary
| question by arbitration w are at present
| provided with a great deal OF mate
| rial relating to the geographical. political and
| commercial history OF Guiana. Even now,
| however, our information regarding the In
terror Of the country Is defective.
As to the physical features Of British Guiana
nobody now thinks of it as forming either
an island or a peninsula. As a matter Of fact,
however. the idea Of its being an island arose
out OF the true observation that Guiana proper,
Of which British Guiana forms but y part,
is. in A certain sense, an island, because through
the bifurcation Of the Orinoco River the whole
Of il Is bounded by water. British Guiana H.
self is bounded on the north by tho Atlantic
Ocean. on the east by tho Corentyne River,
on the west by The So-called Schomburgk line,
now somewhat modified by the Paris arhi-
traitors and on tho south by Brazilian Guiana,
whatever that may mean. the line bet wecn
this region and the British territory being as
yet unsettled. In British Guiana, as we pro-
coed southwark, we encounter first a seaboard
which. unlike that Of Dutch and French Guiana,
Is not swampy, or at least not everywhere so,
but for the most part fiat. %alluvial land, some
twenty miles in width, admitting Of easy cul.
~tivation, II was in that section Of the coun-
try that in Dutch times. rs we'll as subsequently
under English management, extensive cane
sugar plantations were establl9hed There also
are the two largest towns Of the country to wit
Georgetown and New Amsterdam, or BeTb.ca
Beyond this alluvial soil we come upon the
basin Of the Essequibo River, which traverse.
the colony from south 20 north This great
waterway forms the natural connection be.
tween the colony and the valley NJ the Amazon
and in course Of time Is certain to become onr
81 the chief arteries Of commercial life in South
America. We encounter in the next place ar
elevated tahleland. averaging 200 TO i,5o fee,
in height, well watered and ~treeles., where
immense herds Of cattle and horses ran b,
sustained
The fourth physical ty pc presented by Dutch
Guiana is the mountainous portion Of IN,
colony. 4 marvellous group Of sandstone
mountains reaches It's highest sscertaines
summit In Roraima. q tremendous table Ian,