The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1922-11-09

Urepefed py the National Geographic b
cfety. Warrington d. CO.
What is the biggest real estat,
transfer ever recorded In the New
World1
Any little group Of QUESTIONABLE,
addicts who encountered that inquiry
probably would begin wondering
whether Muscle Shoals had been sold
or whether somebody had purchased
the Woolworth building. 1t Is re
called, apropos Of the plans being
discussed In Holland to invest new
capital In Dutch Guiana, that New
York once was traded for Paramaribo
The real estate record Of the trans
action Is to be found in the treaty of
Breda. by which. In 1867, the Dutch
gave New Amsterdam to England
and England turned over pretty little
Paramaribo. Dutch Guiana's capital,
to Holland.
To put 1t mildly, Paramaribo today
IL not known 90 widely as 1t might be.
Neither is SURNAME, which is the
commoner name for Dutch Guiana !;
nor Demarara, which is locally used
to designate British Guiana.
And Guiana itself missed a chance
for fame through a typographical
error. The humble guinea pig, a ma
tive son. would have carried its home
lands name into popular usage had
not early writer's confused the habi-
tat Of the rodent with African Guinea
"a confusion which Is not altogether
overcome to this day.
Almost an Island.
Yet Guiana proper Is about a third
as large as the United States and
occupies a conspicuous position on
the forehead" Of continent of
American republics which Americans
Of the United States have come to
know so well.
British Guiana, French Guiana and
Dutch Guiana are not all Of Guiana
there also is Venezuelan Guiana and
Brazilian Guiana. Thus Greater"
Guiana comprises the region between
the Orinoco and the Amazon; in fact,
Guiana is a sort Of island, because
these rivers. along with the Rio Negro
and Casiquaire, form its boundary.
1t Is not an inexcusable error to
class Dutch Guiana with the West In
dies. for in respect to communication
and commerce 1t is all but cut Off
from its South American neighbors
and does business with Trinidad and
with Holland direct.
Florida failed to reveal its fountain
of youth to Ponce de Leon, but its
Miamis have yielded restorative gifts
to many thousands Of midwinter pill
grims. Although the Gulanas failed
Sir Walter Raleigh in his quest for q
promised land of gold and gems, that
region may yet become an economic
Ell Dorado by the -saner romance of
modern development.
"coid-Piated" People.
For getting his lies believed. the
fluent and facile Juan Martinez out.
ranks Munchausen or Ananias. His
tales Of Manoa, where the monuments
were marvels Of lustrous gold, and
where men were anointed with oil and
then sprinkled with pulverized gold,
captured the imaginations Of many
explorers even before Sir Walter Ra.
leigh penetrated the humid interior
Of Guiana In search Of this Ell Dorado.
30 generally Is the term now used in
4 hgurative sense to denote any fan
ciful rainbow's end that II Is hard to
realize how seriously the tales Of
Martinez and lesser liars were cred
tied. Indeed, FL Dorado's mythical
court city. the lake on which It was
supposed to be located and the esti-
mated extent Of the country itself |
appeared on maps until the serious
scrutiny Of Humboldt exploded the
fairy tale.
Dutch Guiana Is about the size of |
Florida. The British first held II;
and the Dutch first held what Is now
British Guiana. The westernmost of |
the three foreign holdings, French |
Is used in part az a penal |
colony.
Along the coast Dutch Guiana is a
strip Of transplanted Holland. Back
b Its forests is a bit of Africa. in
habited by bushmen who live much as
do their Dark Continent cousins. The