Book I. 



AGRICULTURE IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



201 



commerce. The interior parts, though much neglected, and remaining obstructed by 

 thick forests and underwood, feed, nevertheless, a great number of horses, sheep, goats, 

 and cattle, which roam at pleasure : the beef and mutton are reckoned excellent. 

 (Maison Riistique de Cayenne, Paris, 1763.) 



1241. Colombia is a fertile tract of country, with an irregular surface and warm 

 climate. An association was formed in London some years ago to send emigrants thither. 

 A million of acres were granted to it, besides several important exemptions, by the 

 Colombian government. A hundred and ninety-one persons left Scotland to settle 

 there in 1825; but, according to the superintendent, they were such a set of people, 

 with a very few exceptions, as could not have been procured in any country. They had 

 every advantage, but acted as if resolved to avail themselves of none. Yet, by the 

 surgeon's report, the most sickly months in the year were passed over by a population 

 of drunken adults, and a large proportion of children, with a mortality of about one 

 fifth less than that of the most healthy parts of Europe.. Mr. Powles is perfectly 

 justified in his declaration, that the defaulters in this transaction are the settlers them- 

 selves. They are the parties who have not performed their agreement ; and who, by 

 their own misconduct, have brought a very heavy loss upon the association ; and what is 

 more to be regretted, have greatly retarded the progress of an undertaking calculated to 

 produce the most extensive advantages both to Colombia and Great Britain. We trust 

 the success of this wise and benevolent experiment is retarded only. The million of 

 acres gmnted to this company present a very different prospect and security from those 

 golden bubbles which the Reports of Messrs. Head, Andrews, and Beaumont have by 

 this time blown away. (Ed. Rev., Jan. 1828.) 



1242. Surinam is a low moist country, which has been in part studded with wooden 

 houses (Jig. 170.), 



and well cultivated j^ ^ 



by the Dutch. The 

 climate is hot, and 

 is the most un- 

 healthy and pesti- 

 lential in South 

 America, although 

 the heat in some 

 measure is tem- 

 pered by the sea breeze. The surface of the country is little varied by inequalities. 

 The uncultivated parts are covered wdth immense forests, rocks, and mountains, some 

 of the latter enriched with a great variety of mineral substances ; and the whole country 

 is intersected by very deep marshes or swamps, and by extensive heaths or savannas. 

 The soil is, in general, very fertile ; and its fertility may be ascribed, not only to the 

 rains and warmth of this climate, but also to the low and marshy situation of the country, 

 which prevents the intense heats from destroying vegetation, and to the extreme richness 

 of the soil, particularly in those parts that are cultivated by European industry. 



1243. The principal products of Surinam are tobacco, sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, and 

 indigo. The quassia tree, or bitter drug, used by the porter brewers, grows wild in the 



170 



171 



woods, and was first exposed for sale by a native called 



Quassi, after whom the tree is named. The cabbage 



tree is abundant ; and under the rind of the palms is 



found the Curculio joalmkrum Lin. (Jig. 171. a), the 



larva of which (b) is eaten by the natives as a luxury. 



A very interesting account of this colony is given by 



Captain Stedman (Journal, 2 vols. 4to, 1794), wlio filled , 



an important military situation there for several years, i 



This gentleman, in the midst of the most arduous duties, 



contrived to make himself tolerably comfortable. He 



built a country house there (Jig. 172.); kept a wife, 



pigs, bees, sheep, and cattle, and had children and 



slaves. He lived by turns with his family in a house^ 



and with strange women in the woods, where he 



slept in hammocks {Jig. 173.) and adopted many 



of the practices of the natives. He made many sketches, and kept a journal ; and 



after many years full of interesting adventures with the rebellious natives, and of endearing 



scenes with Joanna his local wife, he came home and wrote a very entertaining account 



of what he had seen and done. (See Stedman^s Surinam, 2 vols. 4to, 1794.) 



1244. Amazonia is an extensive, unconquered, or at least uncivilised, country. In so 

 far as it is known, its climate is more temperate than might be expected from its geogra- 

 phical position. The surface of the country is clothed, in most places, by inter- 



