194 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. 



time during the Goldsworthy expedition of 1888, has an altitude of 8,700 feet. 

 Other summits, one of which was named, from the geologist of the expedition, 

 Bellamy Peak (2,700 feet), follow in the direction from west to east, where the 

 range terminates abruptly in a few bills or low offshoot s. Victoria Peak, which 

 presents the aspect of a sharp and apparently inaccessible needle, was, neverthe- 

 less, scaled by several members of the expedition, aiding themselves with ropes 

 and a few gnarled and stunted fig-trees. 



" The top of Mount Yictori i is a thorough peak, with but little room for 

 moving about, and an extensive view is obtained on all sides. For some distance 

 the prospect is nothing but alternate ridge and valley, densely wooded. There 

 were no higher points north of us, but to the south Montagua and Omoa, in 

 Spanish Honduras, were seen towering above the rest. No open countrj^ was 

 seen, nor any of the traditional lakes." * In the Cockscomb and conterminous 

 Guatemalan uplands geologists have discovered iron and lead ores as well as traces 

 of gold and silver. But whenever these highlands become connected with the 

 neighbouring seaports, they will have the still greater advantages of offering to 

 agricultural settlers many fertile valleys, and a fir more healthy climate than 

 that of the surrounding lowlands. Here sooner or later will be established the 

 health-resort of British Honduras. 



RlVEKS. 



The low- lying plains receive an abundant rainfall, the excess finding its way 

 to the sea through numerous and copious streams. The Sarstun, on the southern 

 frontier, is 700 j^ards wide at its mouth, and has nearly seven feet of water at the 

 bar ; within this obstruction vessels ride at anchor in depths of 3o or even 40 feet. 

 The other rivers, following northwards, although generally rising nearer to the 

 coast and less voluminous, are all equally navigable. Some even send down 

 sufficient water to fill the coast lagoons on both sides, and carry far seawards two 

 banks of alluvial matter. One of the largest is the Sibun, which reaches the sea 

 a few miles south of the capital, after traversing a region of limestone hills pierced 

 by undergronnd galleries. It receives some of the waters flo'^ing from the Cocks- 

 comb range, which however is chiefly drained by the Mopan, or Belize as it is usually 

 called b}^ the English. This river rises south-east of Lake Itza, or Peten, in Gua- 

 temala, and after a winding north-easterly course enters British territory at the 

 Garbutt Falls. Here it is known to the inhabitants bv the Spanish name of Rio 

 Viojo, or " Old River," probably because before the arrival of the English settlers 

 it had already been used as a navigable waterway. The Belize deposits a great 

 quantity of sediment in the shallow waters about its mouth, where a long alluvial 

 peninsula has thus been formed, which projects beyond the normal shore-line. 

 North of the Belize no other rivers worthy of the name are met except the Nuevo 

 and Hondo, which discharge their waters at the south-west corner of Chetumal 

 Bay. The Hondo, that is, " Deep," deserves its name, being navigable for a great 

 part of its course, which forms the frontier-line between British Honduras and 



* Bellamy, loc. cit. 



