GUAM 



263U 



GUAN 



the Riviere Salee, or Salt River. The west- 

 ern part, called Baw-Trrn', is mountainous 

 and covered with forests. One of its highest 

 points is Soufriere, a volcano 5.000 feet high, 

 which is occasionally active. Grande-Tcrre, 

 The eastern division, is flat and rises only about 

 450 feet above sea level. This portion is about 

 thirty miles long and about twelve miles wide, 

 and is composed mainly of coral and lime- 

 stone. The climate is hot and not very 

 healthful; the mean temperature is about 78. 

 Earthquakes and hurricanes are frequent, an 

 especially disastrous earthquake having oc- 

 curred in 1843. 



The island is a department of France and 

 is represented in the French government by 

 one senator and two deputies. The small adja- 

 cent islands under the rule of the colony are 

 Desirade. Maria Galante, Les Saintes, Saint 

 Bartholomew and part of Saint . Martin. The 

 chief products include sugar, cocoa, coffee, 

 bananas, tobacco and sweet potatoes, the reve- 

 nues amounting to about SI, 400,000 annually. 

 The chief seaport is Pointe-a-Pitre, with a 

 population of 17,000, the total island popula- 

 tion being about 167,000. There are elementary 

 schools and good roads. The island \vas cap- 

 tured and recaptured by the French and the 

 English during their various wars, but at the 

 treaty of peace which closed the Napoleonic 

 era was finally ceded to the French. 



GUAM, gwahm, or GUAJAN, gwahahn', 

 an island belonging to the United States, one 

 of the group of Ladrone Islands, in a far-away 

 spot in the Pacific Ocean, 1,500 miles east of 

 Manila. It is about 210 square miles in extent, 

 and has been described as the smallest and 

 most isolated possession of the United States. 

 Magellan first discovered the island in 1521. 

 but it did not become a Spanish possession 

 until 1561. By the Treaty of Paris, in 1898, 

 closing the Spanish-American War, it was ceded 

 by Spain to the United States. Since that 

 time the island has made rapid progress. It 

 is a regular port of call between America and 

 the Philippines, and has become of special 

 value to the United States since the opening 

 of the Panama Canal, as it is expected to 

 become a naval station of great importance. A 

 freight line has also been established to export 

 its products. 



The island raises copra, spices, pineapples, 

 cotton, coffee, sugar, tobacco and sweet pota- 

 toes. Agana,. the capital, is becoming well 

 Americanized? with elementary English schools. 

 An agricultural experiment station has also 



been established by the Federal government. 

 The temperature is mild and the climate com- 

 jiara lively healthful. 



The chief executive is an officer of the navy, 

 who is appointed by the President of the 



GUAM 



Destined to become a naval stronghold of the 

 United States in mid-Pacific waters. 



United States and who holds the title of gov- 

 ernor. The total population of the island is 

 about 13,000, and is composed largely of peace- 

 able, intelligent blacks. 



GUAN, gwahn, a member of a family of 

 game birds having four toes and blunt claws 

 adapted for walking. It is related to the curas- 

 sows, or turkeylike birds, and ranges from 

 South and Central America into Mexico and 

 Texas. It is about 

 thirty inches long 

 and generally 

 brown or olive- 

 green in color, 

 with a long tail 

 and only a nar- 

 row strip of 

 feathers on its 

 throat. There 

 are several spe- 

 cies of these THE GUAN 



birds, one of them, the chacalaca, ranging in 

 Texas. This bird lives in large flocks and is 

 easily domesticated- From Mexico southward 



