WEST INDIES. 



803 



: 



free exercise of their religion. In answer to 

 this remonstrance, the Governor ordered the 

 man-of-war Dido to come round to the San 

 Fernando roadstead and land marines. As 

 the main procession would have to traverse 

 the town, in order to get to the sea-shore, he 

 ordered thither 74 negro policemen and 20 

 soldiers. At Port of Spain, which has a popu- 

 lation of 35,000, 25 policemen and 40 soldiers 

 were kept in readiness. There everything re- 

 mained quiet, but not so at San Fernando. 

 When the coolie procession with its pagodas 

 arrived at the gates of the town, the policemen 

 and soldiers stopped them. The coolies be- 

 trayed the greatest consternation and excite- 

 ment, and a few of them raised their pilgrim 

 staves, as though they would force a passage. 

 They were unarmed. Immediately the officer 

 in command caused the riot-act to be read, and 

 without a word of further warning he ordered 

 firing into the crowd. The volley killed 12 and 

 wounded 93, among them women and children. 



On the morning of Jan. 28, 1884, a great fire 

 destroyed almost entire the city of Port of 

 Spain, the loss being estimated at over $400,- 

 000. The fire originated in the Union Club 

 House, and in a short time the whole south- 

 eastern portion of the town was in ruins. The 

 town has no fire department. 



Discoveries of new asphaltum-beds were 

 made in 1884, on the north shore, about half a 

 mile east of the Bay of Esperanza. In some 

 places the pitch flows up out of the earth in a 

 semi-fluid condition. A workman has dug to 

 the depth of eight feet, and found the pitch at 

 that depth free from all admixture with organic 

 matter derived from the thick growth of brush- 

 wood in the neighborhood. 



The sugar shipments from the island in 1884 

 amounted to 44,293 hogsheads, 10,107 tierces, 

 and 137,204 bags, against 39,964 hogsheads, 

 10,127 tierces, and 115,279 bags in 1883. The 

 cocoa shipments were 13,366,845 pounds, against 

 12,030,050 and 11,919,593 in 1883 and 1882 

 respectively. Of asphaltum there were shipped 

 39,797 tons, against 39,811 in 1883, and 30,673 

 in 1882. 



The American trade with the British West 

 Indies for five years is shown in this table : 



British Guiana. This is a colony on the 

 northern coast of South America, having its 

 northernmost limit near the mouth of the Ori- 

 noco ; area, 85,425 square miles; population, 

 257,473. The Governor is Sir H. T. Irving. 

 The American Consul at Demerara is Philip 

 Figyelmesy. 



The foreign debt of the colony amounts to 

 396,000. The income is $2,295,000, and tho 

 outlay $2,145,000. 



The Royal Geographical Society has under- 

 taken to bear a large part of the expense of E. 

 F. im Thurm's expedition to the wonderful 

 table-topped mountain Roraima. (See MOUNT- 

 AIN EXPLORATION.) 



The foreign trade to this colony is as fol- 

 lows: Imports, $10,000,000; exports, $15,- 

 400,000. Of the total exports sugar amounted 

 to $12,500,000, there being exported of it from 

 Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, 1884, 91,696 tons, against 

 85,955 in 1883, out of which there went 77,- 

 115 tons to England, against 41,644 the previous 

 year. Rum was shipped to the amount of 

 $1,450.000, so that sugar and its products may 

 be considered as constituting the whole export 

 of the colony, which may be said to be all 

 shipped to England and the United States. 



British Honduras. This is a colony on the 

 Atlantic coast of Central America, fronting on 

 the Gulf of Honduras ; area, 7,562 square miles ; 

 population, 27,452. The Governor is R. T. 

 Goldsworthy. The American Consul at Balize 

 is A. E. Morlan. 



The revenue of the colony is $230,000, and 

 the expenditure $225,000. The total trade 

 movement in 1883 of the colony was as fol- 

 lows: 



Of the exports above given, products to the 

 value of $378,000 were foreign, the greater 

 portion of these going to the Central American 

 states and to the United States ; those going 

 to the former being composed principally of 

 British cotton goods and other British manu- 

 factures, while those shipped to the United 

 States were composed of Central American 

 products. 



Great Britain imported from Honduras dur- 

 ing the calendar year 1883 products to the value 

 of $1,210,000, and exported thereto manu- 

 factures to the value of $685,000 ; an increase 

 in the first of $48,000, and in the second of 

 $78,000. 



The principal exports of British Honduras 

 consist of fruits, cabinet and dye woods, and 

 sugar. British exports thither in the order of 

 their value were as follow : Cotton goods, ap- 

 parel and haberdashery, soap, woolens, iron 

 manufactures, linens, hardware and cutlery, 

 arms and ammunition, beer and ale, silk goods, 

 cordage, earthen and glass ware. Foreign 

 goods to the value of $110,000 were among the 

 British exports to the colony during 1883. 



The exports from the United States consist 

 of breadstuffs and provisions, cotton goods, 



