GUIANA, or Guyana, a large district of South America, in which the British, the Dutch, and the French, have considerable settlements. This name was formerly given to the whole of that vast tract of country which lies between the great rivers Orinoco and Amazons, but the extent of the country distinguished by the name of Guiana is now circumscribed to the land lying between the river Essequibo, which separates it from Colombia on the west, and the river Carapury, which divides it from Brazil on the east. It is bounded on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south by Brazil, being about 600 miles in length, and having an average breadth of about 250 miles. The settlements, however, do not extend nearly so far inland. ’Those belonging to Great Britain, viz. Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo, have been described under these heads.

Dutch Guiana, or Surinam, is the settlement situated in the middle of Guiana, being bounded by Cayenne on the east, by British Guiana on the west, by the Atlantic Ocean on the north, and by Brazil on the south. It comprehends a tract of country of about 25,000 square miles, across the northern half of which runs the fifth parallel of north latitude; whilst the meridian line, which indicates the fifty-fifth degree of west longitude, traverses the eastern half. Like the rest of Guiana, this coast is flat and alluvial, and is traversed by several broad rivers, which come from a considerable distance in the interior. The Surinam is a large and beautiful stream, having a channel about four miles wide; but it is shallow and rocky, and can only be navigated by boats. The general aspect of Dutch Guiana has been said in some respects to resemble that of Holland and Lower Holstein. It presents' a vast plain covered with plantations and enamelled with verdure, bounded on one side by a dark ridge of impenetrable forests, and washed on the other by the azure billows of the ocean. The country thus lying between the sea and the desert is irrigated by numerous streams, confined by dykes, and separated from each other by excellent roads or navigable canals. A number of small buildings are attached to each habitation, giving it the appearance of a small village; and the natural beauties of the country form a striking contrast with its rich cultivation. The Dutch have laboured most industriously to improve it, and it is daily rising, in importance. Parmaribo, the principal, indeed the only town, is built on the right side of the river Surinam, at its mouth, where it affords excellent anchorage for vessels. The streets are lined with rows of fruit trees, and the walks are covered with fine gravel and sea-shells. The houses are fitted up. with considerable splendour, the rooms being in general wainscotted with cedar, Brazilian, or mahogany wood. The productions of this settlement, and the objects of natural history which it presents, being similar to those already described under the heads Berbice and Demerara, and in the account which follows of Cayenne, it is not necessary to describe them here. The amount of the population has been estimated at about 60,000, the greater part of which consists of men of colour. The value of the exports is calculated at more than L.1,000,000.

The French settlement of Cayenne extends along the coast from the river Maroni, which separates it from Dutch Guiana, to the river Carapury, which divides it from Brazil. This boundary, however, has been much disputed, and the Brazilians persist in occupying the country as far as the river Oyapock, which limits the extent of the French territory on the coast to about 150 miles. By the treaty of Amiens the French boundary had been extended to the river Arowari; but when the government of Portugal was established in Brazil, a small force detached from thence seized the province; and though, by the late treaties, it is restored to France, the boundary has been considerably contracted towards the south. The few settlements in the province are at the mouths of the rivers which water it, and produce its fertility. These rivers, like those of the English and Dutch settlements, have but short courses, their sources being in that range of mountains which runs parallel to the coast, about 150 miles distant, in a region which is denominated the country of the Caribb Indians, and which has not been penetrated by any European. The two rivers which now bound Cayenne have their sources in the Cordilleras, farther from the coast than the country of the Caribbs; they have therefore much longer courses, and discharge into the ocean much more copious waters than are contributed by those rivers which run through the French settlements.

The island of Cayenne, on which the capital is built, extends about eleven miles from east to west, and eighteen from north to south; it is separated from the main by a small river, which is fordable at low water, but at flood-tide is navigable by boats. The city is built on the north-w est extremity of the island, at the mouth of a river of the same name. It is strongly fortified, and a hill within the enclosure commands the whole town and the anchorage of the shipping. It is situated in north latitude 4. 56., and west longitude 52. 15. from London. Both divisions of the town are ill built and badly paved; the streets in the new part are wider, and the houses larger, than in the old one, but neither is equal to the generality of even tropical towns in beauty and cleanliness. With the exception of the officers of government, very few of the inhabitants are of the unmixed white race, but are either mulattoes, quaderoons, sambos, or negro slaves. Debauchery, indolence, and knavery, are the characteristics of the greater part of the people of this city.

This colony was first settled in the year 1550, by the celebrated Admiral de Coligny, who, during the civil wars of France, wished to make it an asylum where the Protestants, if unsuccessful, might retire, to follow, in security, their worship and opinions. The course of events in Europe, after the return of Coligny, was such as to prevent the colony from being long an object of attention, and the few settlers were neglected by the government of France for nearly two centuries. In the mean time neither the settlers nor the negro slaves increased much, and the few descendants of the original Europeans were so incorporated, by successive intermixtures with the coloured inhabitants, that the difference of their race was with difficulty discoverable by their complexions. The colony of Canada engrossed so large a portion of the regard of the French court, that the establishment at Cayenne was only kept from sinking by the accession of a few isolated settlers, who occasionally fixed themselves there, as a last and desperate resource.

But when, by the loss of Canada, the other colonial settlements became of more value, an effort was made, upon a grand scale, to increase the population and promote the cultivation of Guiana. Under the administration of Choiseul, a fleet was equipped, which conveyed to Cayenne 15,000 persons. Few of them possessed property, few of them were handicraftsmen or labourers, and of those still fewer were disposed to work, supposing the climate would have enabled Europeans to labour. The settlers were soon [7:11:23]visited with the dreadful fevers of the tropics, and those who had the means of returning to Europe abandoned the country with the utmost precipitation. In the year 1763, the number who landed was 13,060. Of these, 2000 quitted it either for France, Canada, or the West India islands; about 100 enlisted in the colonial battalion; and, at the end of the year 1765, there were only in the colony 430 persons left of the expedition; so that more than 10,000 must have perished in the first two years. The expense of this equipment is supposed to have amounted to thirty-three millions of livres, the whole of which, including a vast number of human beings, was sacrificed to a plan in which the splendid rather than the useful was considered, though it was sketched by the celebrated Turgot, and some other of the eminent economists of France.

From the period of this disastrous attempt, the colony continued to languish till the American war broke out, when the predatory cruisers, both French and Americans, carried in several valuable prizes. Many negro slaves were by these captures conveyed to the settlement, and this enabled the planters to extend their cultivation; so that, at the peace of 1783, the colony was in a more thriving condition than it had been at any former period, and it continued to increase in prosperity. The revolution of France extended its calamities to this colony at a very early stage of its progress. As the rumour of the intention to emancipate the negroes reached Cayenne, before the decree had passed in the Convention, the richer proprietors, frightened by the menaces of the slaves, fled from the colony; and the popular assembly, consisting principally of men of colour, proclaimed them emigrants, and decreed the forfeiture of their estates. When the decree was received and promulgated at Cayenne, the blacks supposed that their labour was at an end, and that, on the principles of equality, the whites, in their turn, should now be compelled to work for the majority. The whites from the various plantations fled for security to the capital, where the troops were so factious that they could scarcely obtain protection. The miserable slaves in the plantations soon found this boon of freedom to be the severest punishment which could have been inflicted. Cultivation became neglected; provisions in consequence grew scarce; and a short period produced a want of even the commonest aliments. Regulations for fixing the prices of labour were in vain established, for those who could pay their labourers had fled from the country. Though modifications of this decree were afterwards made, they failed to restore the former abundance of provisions, and, during the whole period of the war, scarcity continued to be experienced. During the agitations in France, several of the leaders of the unsuccessful factions were banished to this colony by the decrees of their triumphant opponents. But they were not a class of men who were likely to benefit the settlement, and many of them died from the effects of the climate, many from chagrin, and the few survivors who returned to Europe had experienced the most severe and mortifying hardships. As the military force had been neglected, the small body stationed at Cayenne very readily submitted to the Portuguese armament. "When it was restored to the king of France, the number of white inhabitants did not exceed 1300, whilst the black and mixed races, including those of Indian origin, amounted together to between 10,000 and 11,000. Many negroes have since been introduced, both from Africa and the other French settlements; and by the last census, 1829, the total population is stated at 22,684.

The climate and seasons in Cayenne are so nearly similar to those in Demerara as to render any notice of them superfluous; but as the country is much less cleared of underwood, and as very little draining has been practised, it is far more unhealthy than any of the British or Dutch settlements on the same coast. That the climate is totally unfit for European labourers was demonstrated’ in 1794. When the decree for giving freedom to the negroes was promulgated, the soldiers of the regiment, of Alsace, then stationed in the province, were induced, by high wages, to work in the plantations; but at the end of a month one half of the regiment had died, and the remainder were so ill as to be incapable of any duty.

From the scanty population of Cayenne, it is evident that its productions must be of inconsiderable magnitude; but the experiments which have been made sufficiently show that its capabilities are equal to those of the best soils in the tropical climate. The sugar-cane was, from the first, cultivated with success; but the production of that plant was vastly improved by the introduction of the canes of Otaheite, which the celebrated Bougainville brought from the southern hemisphere; and its sugar is now equal to that of Dutch Guiana or Demerara. A spirit called by the French taffia, an inferior kind of rum, is distilled from the canes. The coffee of Cayenne is inferior to that of Dutch Guiana; none of the plantations in it are extensive; and it is remarked that the trees degenerate when planted in the lower grounds. The cocoa plant is a native of Cayenne, and grows spontaneously on the borders of the Oyapock. Wild indigo grows in great quantities, and the dye that has been obtained from it is equal in quality to that which is extracted from the cultivated plant of the same species. This induced the French government to promote the production of that commodity in the soil which nature indicated to be well adapted for it. The first results were in almost every instance flattering, but the plant soon degenerated, and most of the indigo plantations, like those of St Domingo, were converted into sugar estates, but not till the proprietors had suffered very heavy losses. Cotton grows very luxuriantly, though not a native plant; or, if it be, the species varies from that now cultivated, which was brought from Guadaloupe when the ruinous project of colonization was attempted in 1763. This plant yields two crops in the year; the second, called by the planters la petite récolte, in the month of March, is frequently destroyed by a species of caterpillar which covers the trees after a shower of rain. All the fruits peculiar to warm climates are most abundant in Cayenne, and attempts have been repeatedly made to introduce the clove and the cinnamon trees, with the other plants of the East Indies. The seeds of the clove were distributed profusely by the government, which also encouraged the cultivation of the bread-fruit, the mango, and the sago.

The exportable article of greatest amount which Cayenne has lately furnished to Europe, is the rocou, or roucou; better known in England by the name of annotta, and which is extensively used as a dye, principally, however, for silks. The tree which yields this substance ÇBixa Orellana) grows from twelve to fifteen feet in height, is very bushy, and bears a flower of a pale pink, resembling in shape and colour the dog-rose. The fruit contains a pulpy substance, intermixed with the seeds, of a very glutinous nature, which, by frequent washings and filterings, is separated from them. It is then suffered to ferment during eight or nine days, when it is placed in a vessel capable of bearing heat, over a fire, and as soon as it forms bubbles on the surface, the fire is withdrawn, and it is suffered to cool. The more gradually it cools, the better the substance becomes. That which is dried in the shade is much more valuable than that dried by the heat of the sun. When it is macerated in small quantities, it is black and of little value; and it is only of the best quality when the whole that is made at one time is a very great mass. Its purity is ascertained by the whole dissolving in water, without leaving behind it any extraneous substances. When in the state of a soft paste, it is moulded into, the form of small cakes, and enclosed in the leaves of the Canna Indica angustifolia, and [7:11:24]thus packed for its market. The whole process of preparing this drug is most prejudicial to the health and comfort of the labourers. The smell is offensive beyond the powers of description; and during the preparation the workmen are afflicted with a constant nausea, and most violent headach. Its offensive smell, however, gradually subsides, and, by the time it reaches Europe, is changed into an agreeable flavour, resembling that of the violet. On the continent of Europe this commodity is extensively used in the dyeing of various kinds of clothing; but in England it is almost exclusively applied as the colouring matter of cheese, to which purpose it is well adapted, being nearly tasteless, and perfectly harmless. The pepper to which this settlement has given a name, though produced every where in the tropics, was first sent to Europe from hence. It is the pod of a species of capsicum, gathered when ripe, and dried in the sun; it is then, with a little flour and some salt, made into a kind, of paste, and baked to a biscuit. When perfectly dry and cold, the pepper is made by rasping them upon a grater. Some cassia and a small quantity of vanilla have been produced here for exportation. As no wheat is grown, the dependence of the inhabitants for flour rests on the United States of North America; but maize, cassava, and rice, are cultivated to a sufficient extent to supply food to the lower orders of the coloured inhabitants. The French seem to have exceeded other nations in the success of their efforts to conciliate the aborigines; and a much larger proportion of the natives have been reclaimed, and induced to labour on their plantations, than in either the Dutch or English settlements on the coast of Guiana. Though the soil of Guiana may be as prolific as that of Demerara or Dutch Guiana, yet its future products can scarcely be so great as those colonies. The coast is low, and dangerous to approach, on account of the great number of shoals and sand-banks which border it; and the only good navigable river on the whole line is that on which the capital is built. In the prevalence of fogs, in the humidity of the atmosphere, and in the uniform high temperature of the air, Cayenne is assimilated to the rest of Guiana.^[1. See Voyage à Cayenne, par Louis-Ange Pitou; Histoire des Plantes de la Guyane François; and Statistique Général et Particulière de la France et de scs Colonies. ]

The real value of the goods imported from Cayenne into France in the year 1831 amounted to 2,442,158 francs; and the exports from France to Cayenne to 1,736,792. The products of Cayenne imported into France, and entered for consumption, with the duties charged on their introduction in 1831, are as follow (the quantities are estimated by the kilogramme, which is equal to 2∙2 lbs. avoirdupois: Sugars of all kinds, 1,432,075 kilogrammes; coffee, 42,426 ditto; cacao, 22 ditto; cotton, 169,520 ditto; cloves and spices, 18,112 ditto; annotta, 82,122 ditto; wood of all kinds, 68,729 ditto; custom duties, 851,408 francs.

That portion of Guiana which formerly belonged to Portugal has been incorporated with Brazil, in the description of which country it has been included. Spanish Guiana now constitutes a province of Colombia, under which head an account of it will be found.