FRENCH GUIANA 



2331 



FRENCH INDO-CHINA 



LOCATION MAP 



the western boundary, and separating French 



Guiana from Dutch Guiana, flows the River 



Maroni, or Marowijne. With its 30,463 square 



miles, it is about 



the size of South 



Carolina, but it 



supports but 49,- 



000 people, less 



than one-thir- 



tieth of the 



population 



of that state. 



French Guiana 



is often called 



CAYENNE, after 



its capital and 



only port, on an 



island of the 



same name. 



The Land and 



The position of French 

 Climate. From a Guiana in South America. 



f r t i 1 hut Vint The ma P shows the relatively 

 >ut not sma n portion of the continent 



and moist coast jt occupies, 

 region, subject to fever and various germ dis- 

 eases, French Guiana rises into a well watered 

 highland and mountainous region excessively 

 rich in vegetation. Most of the country is still 

 unexplored, however, for the diseases bred by 

 continuous moisture make the country almost 

 uninhabitable. At Cayenne is the only desir- 

 able harbor. Northwest of Cayenne lies 

 Devil's Island, famous because the French artil- 

 lery officer, Alfred Dreyfus, was imprisoned 

 there (see DREYFUS, ALFRED). 



Resources. Gold mining is the colony's most 

 important industry, and gold is the chief article 

 of export. Nevertheless, the price of labor is 

 so high, and transportation, chiefly over poorly 

 made footpaths, is so costly, that even that 

 industry is not highly developed. Over two 

 million dollars worth of gold are exported 

 yearly. Small quantities of silver, iron and 

 phosphate are also produced, and some marble 

 and rosewood oil are exported, as well as 

 sugar, rum, vanilla, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, 

 hides, etc. The imports exceed the exports. 

 Rice, maize, cocoa, coffee, etc., are raised, but 

 manioc is the principal article of food. Not 

 quite 10,000 acres of land are under cultiva- 

 tion. 



Government and Education. The govern- 

 ment is vested in a governor appointed at 

 Paris, assisted by a local privy council of five 

 members and a council-general of sixteen mem- 

 bers. The colony is represented in the Parlia- 

 ment of France by one deputy. A court of 



first instance, a court of appeals and justices 

 of the peace in Cayenne administer justice. 

 About 3,000 children are instructed each year 

 in about thirty 

 schools. In Cay- 

 enne there are a 

 college, a mu- 

 seum and an un- 

 usually complete 

 library. 



Transportation 

 and Communica- 

 tion. Although 

 steamboats ply 

 between the capi- 



tal and other 



COMPARATIVE AREAS 

 French Guiana is 568 square 



towns, and a few miles larger than the state of 

 roads connect the Maine - 



capital with the interior, intercourse is chiefly 

 by footpath. A cargo boat from France visits 

 the colony once a month, and Cayenne and 

 Brest, France, are connected by cable. 



History. In 1604 the French first settled at 

 Cayenne, and in the years following various 

 French companies attempted colonization, but 

 without success. From 1654 the Dutch held 

 the land, but twenty years later the colony 

 passed under the control of the crown of 

 France, and slow growth and progress fol- 

 lowed. With a view to still further growth in 

 1763, 12,000 emigrants were sent to French Gui- 

 ana from France. The expedition was misman- 

 aged, however, and within two years only a 

 handful of the colonists were still alive, and 

 they were starving and fever-stricken. Further 

 attempts at colonization also ended disas- 

 trously. 



In 1809 the colony was captured by British 

 and Portuguese forces, but was restored to 

 France in 1814, after Napoleon's downfall. The 

 boundary with Brazil, long disputed, was 

 finally settled in 1900. The boundary with 

 Dutch Guiana was settled in 1905. Only polit- 

 ical offenders and criminals are now sent to the 

 colony, and it is held by France at a financial 

 loss. M.S. 



Consult Redway's In the Guiana Forest; also 

 his Guiana. 



FRENCH IN' DO-CHI 'NA, the collective 

 name of the French possessions in the south- 

 east of Asia, including Tongking, Annam, Laos, 

 Cambodia, Cochin-China and Battambang. 

 There is a combined area of 256,200 square 

 miles, almost as large as the state of Texas 

 and about the same size as the province of 

 Alberta. The northern boundary adjoins 



