﻿101 



GUADALAJARA. 



GUATEMALA. 



103 



GUADALA'JARA, or GUADALAXARA, the capital of the repub- 

 lic of Xalisco in Mexico, is situated on the river Santiago, in about 

 21° N. lat, 104° W. long., and has a population of about 60,000. The 

 town is handsome, the streets are airy, and many of the houses excel- 

 lent. There are 1 i squares, 1 2 fountains, and a number of convents 

 and churches. The cathe<lral is a magnificent building. The portales 

 or colonnades, may be called the bazaar of the town, being filled with 

 h.-md8ome shops, well stocked with foreign manufactures, and with 

 the less important produce of national industry. These portales are 

 much better than those of Mexico, and built with equal solidity and 

 in good taste. The other remarkable buildings are the hall of con- 

 gress, the mint, the episcopal palace, the opera-house, and the barracks. 

 The city has a college and several schools. Great numbers of Mexican 

 dollai-a are coined in the mint of Guadalaxara. The Alameda, or 

 public walk, is well laid out, and resembles in some r&spects an 

 Knglish park : it has a fountain in its centre, and a stream of water 

 all round. The inhabitants are industrious, and carry on various 

 trades. They are good blacksmiths, carpenters, silversmiths, and are 

 noted for their skill in working leather, as well as in manufacturing 

 a sort of porous earthenware, with which they supply not only Mexico 

 but also the neighbouring states of the Pacific. Shawls of striped 

 calico are also made in considerable quantities. 



OUADALAVIAR. [Spain.] 



GU ADA LOUPE, or, as the French write it, GUADELOUPE, an 

 island (or more correctly, two islands, divided from each other by a 

 very narrow channel, and forming part of the Lesser Antilles), lies about 

 the point indicated by 16° 20' N. lat., 62° W. long. Guadaloupe was 

 discovered and named by Columbus in 1493. It was previously called 

 by the native inhabitants Qu^raquiera. It was colonised by the 

 French in 1635, and remained in possession of France until 1769, 

 when it was taken by the English, who restored it to France in 1763. 

 It was again tjiken by the Englixh in 1794, and retaken in the follow- 

 ing year. In 1810 it once more fell into the hands of the English, and 

 was restored in 1814 at the general peace, since which time it has 

 remained in the possession of France. 



The channel which divides the island is called La Riviere Salde, or 

 Salt liiver, nins north and south, and has a large bay at each end ; 

 that on the north is called Grand Cul-de-Sac, and that on the south 

 Petit Cul-de-Sac Between theae bays the channel varies in breadth 

 from 30 to 70 yards, and its length is about 5 miles. Its depth is so 

 iinequal that only vessels of small burden (60 tons) can pass through 

 it. The land to the east of this channel is called Grande Terre, while 

 that on the west, being the part first discovered and earliest settled, 

 is properly called Guadaloupe, but is also denominated Basse Terre. 

 The entire length of the whole island is from 60 to 70 miles, and its 

 greatest breadth is 25 miles. 



The island is apparently of volcanic origin. Aboat the middle of 

 the western division, somewhat towards the south, is a mountain 

 called La Soufiri^re, or the Sulphur Hill, about 5100 feet above the 

 sea. A thick black smoke rises from this mountain, mixed with 

 ■paiks, which are visible at night. It is sometimes an active volcano. 

 It forms part of a ridge which divides the western division, extending 

 through it in a direction north and south. Several streams rise in 

 these mou n tains. The eastern division is more level than the western 

 aide, but has no streams or springs ; and the soil, being of a more 

 sandy nature, is less fertile. Earthquakes and hurricanes are not 

 uncommon. The rainy season lasts from the middle of July to the 

 middle of October. The total rain-fall in the year averages 86 inches. 



The firmer capital of the isUnd, St.-Lmtit, or Point-APetre, stands 

 on Grande Terre, at the south entrance of the Riviftre Sal^e, in 16° 16' 

 N. lat., 61° 86' W. long. The harbour is sheltered and the anchorage 

 good. It had formerly a population of above 16,000, including the 

 suburbs, but in 1 843 it was almost destroyed by an earthquake. The 

 town of £<Uie Terre, which is in the other division of Guadaloupe, 

 stands near its south-west point, in 15° 59' N. lat., 61° 47' W. long., 

 and has about 6000 inhabitants. It is the residence of the governor 

 of the island, the seat of a high court of assize, and has several 

 schools. The harbour is merely an unsheltered roadstead with 

 indifferent imchorage, unsafe during the hurricane season ; but from 

 its greater proximity to the most pro<luctive part of the island, it is 

 more frequanted by shipping than Point-Jt-Petre, and is the chief 

 commercial station of the colony. The exports of Guadaloupe consist 

 chiefly of sugar, with some molasses, rum, cotton, dye-stufis, copper, 

 4c. The imports are chiefly manufactured articles from France. 



The population of Guadaloupe is about 130,000. Of this number 

 about 100,000 were in a state of slavery previous to the French revo- 

 lution of 1848. As an immediate result of that event they were all 

 made free. 



Guadaloupe exported to France, in 1848, 20,319,543 kilos. 

 ( = 20,000 tons) of sugar ; in 1849, 19,191,700 kilos. ; in 1850, during 

 which the island was subjected to a state of siege in consequence of 

 insurrection, the quantity fell to 13,020,900 kilos. ; in 1851 it amounted 

 to 16,922,630, and in the first six months of 1852 to 13,058,458 kilos 



OUAUALQUIVIU. [Spaw.] 



OUADIANA. [Ai.EMTEJO.] 



OUADIX. [Granada.] 



OUALEOUAY and GUALEGOAY CHA. [Enthe Eios.] 



OUANA. [Viiuiis IsLASDs] 



GUANABACOU. [Cuba.] 



GUANAXUATO, STATE OF. [Mexico.] 



GUANAXUATO, or GUANAJUATO, the capital of Guauaxuato 

 one of the United States of Mexico, is situated on the table-hind of 

 Anahuac, 7294 feet above the level of the sea, in 21° N. lat., 100° 50' 

 W. long. : population about 40,000. It is built on extremely uneven 

 ground, furrowed by numerous ravines. The town, which owes its 

 origin altogether to the gold- and silver-mines which surround it, is 

 very in-egularly built. Many of the streets are very steep. It contains 

 numerous splendid memorials of the former rich produce of the 

 siirrounding mines, in the magnificent palaces of the proprietors, the 

 church which formerly belonged to the Jesuits, the numerous chapels 

 and religious edifices, the Alhondiga, a large square building used as 

 a public gi-anary, and the road which leads to the mine of Valeuciana. 

 Before the War of Independence the town contained a population of 

 41,000, and its six suburbs nearly 30,000 more ; but most of the works 

 of the mines were destroyed during the civil war. Since that period 

 they have been re-established ; and in 1852 the silver coinage of Gua- 

 uaxuato amounted to 7,300,000 Spanish dollars. The mines have for 

 many years yielded more silver than the mines of Potosi. 



GUANCABELICA. [Peru.] 



GUARDA. [Beira.] 



GUASTALLA. [Parma.] 



GUATEMALA, Republic of. Central America, occupies the table- 

 land of Guatemala, with the hilly country between it and the Gulf of 

 Honduras, and a portion of the table-land of Yucatan. It lies between 

 13° 40' and 18° 10' N. lat, 8&° 15' and 93° 20' W. long. On the 

 S.E. it is bounded by the Republic of Salvador; E. by Honduras; 

 N.E. by the Gulf of Honduras and the British settlemeut of Belize, 

 or British Honduras ; N. by the Mexican state of Yucatan ; W. by 

 Cbia|>a ; and S. by the Pacific Ocean. The area is about 50,000 square 

 miles : the population about 500,000. 



Vo<ut4ine, Surface, Jec. — The geueral bearing of the Pacific coast 

 from the Salvador boundary of the state to the Barra de Quacalate is 

 VV. by N., and thence to the Rio Siutalapa,tbe boundary between Guate- 

 mala and Chiapa, it is N.W. The shore is for the most part low, the 

 descent from the table-land being steep, and a strip of lowland, from 

 20 to 30 miles across, being left between its base and the sea ; but 

 in many places the shore is high and rocky, and several rocky barriers 

 lie off it. The only port at present frequented on this coast is that 

 of Ystapa, at the mouth of the Rio Michetoyat ; but though it is a 

 port of entry, the harbour is little better than a roadstead, affording 

 no protection for shipping. Ocos, farther north, formed by the Barra 

 de Ocos, is also an available port, but, owing to the absence of inha- 

 bitants, is not resorted to. The low tracts along the coast are very 

 thinly peopled. On the northern coast Santo Tomas, in Honduras 

 Bay, is a good and well-sheltered port ; and somiwhat inland, in the 

 lake known as Golfo Dolce, is the port of Yzabal, in some respects 

 the principal port of Central America ; most of the European goods 

 designed for that market being brought to it by vessels, and theuce 

 transported to the interior by mules: owing to a bar at the mouth 

 of the Rio Dolce, Yzabal is inaccessible to vessels drawing over 7 feet 

 of water. 



The table-land of Guatemala occupies all the countries between the 

 isthmus of Chiquimula and that of Tehuantepec in Mexico ; the high- 

 land in the interior of the peninsula of Yucatan, usually called the 

 table-land of Yucatan, forms its north-eastern projection. Near its 

 southern borders, about the town of Guatemala, it is nearly 5000 feet 

 above the sea ; and this may be considered as the mean height of 

 that portion which is south of the Rio Motagua. But north of this 

 river the country rises higher. The most elevated part of it appears 

 to lie between the towns of Totonicapiln and Gueguetenango (16° 30' 

 N. lat). From this point it begins to lower gradually, and its north- 

 western edges, which belong to the Mexican state of Chiapa, are 

 indented by deep and sometimes wide valleys. No continuous range 

 of any considerable elevation traverses this plain, the surface of which 

 is slightly undulating, like the central parts of England; but here 

 and there it is traversed by a range of hills, rising a few hundred 

 feet above the plain. The descent from this plain to the low shores 

 of the Pacific is extremely steep, and consequently when seen from 

 that side it has the appeai*auce of a mouutain range, an illusion 

 which is confirmed by a few lofty volcanoes standing near the edge 

 of this descent. The most remarkable are the active volcano of 

 Atitlan, near Gueguetenango, and the two volcanoes situated S. and 

 N.W. of the town of New Guatemala, of which the Volcano de Agua 

 (or Water Volcano), according to Colonel Galindo, is 12,620 feet, but 

 according to otlier authorities 13,578 feet high; and the Volcano de 

 Fuego (the Fire Volcano), appears to be somewhat higher, but which 

 has not been ascended. AH the volcanoes, whether active or extinct, 

 are situated near the Pacific, and are in line with those of Salvador 

 and Nicaragua. The eastern border of the table-lund, by which it 

 descends to the Gulf of Honduras, is cut by deep valleys, betwei.'n 

 which the high land takes the shape of ridges, which extend to a great 

 distance, and in some places, as between the Kio Motagua and the 

 Golfo Dolce, advance to the very shores of the sea. 'I'he country 

 betweeu the table-land and the Gulf of Honduras may tiiereforo bo 

 considered as a succession of valleys and ridgoa, except the part to 

 the west and north-west of the Golfu Dolce, which is u low plain. 



