10 BRITISH HONDURAS. 



habited." But owing to the energy and enterprise of Mr. Fowler, 

 Colonial Secretary, it has been recently traversed by a small 

 party of Europeans, led by himself, who, accompanied by Indian 

 carriers, accomplished the entire journey from Garbutt's Falls, 

 on the Old Eiver, to the sea-coast at Deep Eiver, in about a 

 month. The results of the expedition are thus tersely summed 

 up by Mr. Fowler : 



" The interior of the colony was found to be a succession of 

 valleys and hills, from 1,200 feet to 3,300 feet above the level of 

 the sea, and may be divided into pastoral, mineral, and agricul-. 

 tural districts, each of which can be fairly denned. That it was 

 once inhabited is proved by the ancient ruins found during the 

 journey, and population is only requisite to convert a desolate 

 waste into luxuriant homes, for the soil is rich. The climate 

 would be found suitable to Europeans, and the wide range 

 of latitude might easily be availed of as circumstances required/' 



The river system of the colony is a very extensive one, and 

 it is chiefly owing to its rivers, which have afforded natural 

 highways to the interior, that the country has been so far 

 developed. The two chief rivers in the north are the Hondu 

 and the New Eivers. These both rise in the neighbourhood of 

 lands towards the western frontier, in the latitude of Belize, 

 and flow along parallel depressions in a north-easterly direction, 

 emptying themselves into the large estuarine expansion of the 

 Hondu. The New Eiver is chiefly fed by the waters of the 

 New Eiver lagoon and Crab-catch lagoon. On its banks are 

 several large mahogany works, as also the settlement and military 

 station of Orange Walk, about 30 miles distant from Corosal. 

 The most important, as well as the richest river valley in the 

 colony is that of the Old Eiver, sometimes called the Belize 

 Eiver. Its total length, from the town of Belize to the 

 western frontier, cannot be less than 100 miles, while one at 



