BRITISH GUIANA— BOLIVIA— COLOMBIA 149 



there, and reckons that, given facilities for transporting cattle 

 to the coast, the colony, ere long, could rely on shipping very 

 many head. He states that the savannahs there are capable of 

 supporting very large herds of cattle. There are other warm 

 supporters of the opening up of the hinterland, prominent stock- 

 owners who have strong views as to the great possibilities in this 

 direction. At present the only way of disposing of stock is by 

 driving the cattle down to Manaos, and taking what one can 

 get in the market there. 



Georgetown, the capital, when I last visited it, was an ideal 

 tropical town. It is situated on the Demarara River, a stream 

 with a very rapid current. 



BOLIVIA. 



Bolivia is the third largest Republic in South America ; it has 

 no seaboard, and its goods are shipped to Pacific ports in Chile 

 and Peru. It has an area of 708,295 square miles, and a popu- 

 lation of two and a half million. It is bounded on the west by 

 the Andes, and on the east by Brazil. It is mountainous country, 

 but generally becomes flatter towards Brazil. The hills and 

 particularly the valleys grow very rich grasses on the east side, 

 but on the west the soil suffers from low rainfall ; however, when- 

 ever irrigation is introduced, it grows excellent feed. In the 

 future Bolivia should be a big cattle raising country ; diseases 

 are said to be almost extinct, and the climate is an excellent one. 



The Republics of Guatamala and Nicaragua have also excellent 

 pastures for cattle raising. 



COLOMBIA. 



The Republic of Colombia, 440,000 square miles in extent and 

 with a population of 5,000,000, occupies an advantageous geogra- 

 phical and commercial position ; its coast is divided by the 

 Isthmus of Panama, facing both upon the Atlantic (Caribbean) 

 and Pacific Oceans, with about 1000 miles of coastline to each 

 ocean. It is generally predicted that, as the Caribbean becomes 

 more of a highway, due to the opening of the Panama Canal, the 

 commercial importance of Colombia A^all increase. 



Two-fifths of the area of the country are taken up ~by very 

 broken mountainous territory, the Andes and its outliers, where 

 means of transport are difficult. 



The pastoral industries are of great importance in Colombia, 

 and might be very much extended. 



