240 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMEEICA, AVEST INDIES. 



Vast tracts, formerly under primeval forest, have been cleared, and mostly 

 converted into savannas for stock-breeding. Even in tbe districts under cultiva- 

 tion, the planters have their jyofreros, or sacatah's, little plots reserved for pasturage. 

 Nevertheless, the stock is insufficient for the local demand, and cattle have to be 

 imported at high rates from Mexico and Honduras. Sheep are confined chiefly 

 to the Altos, where the wool is used in the manufacture of coarse fabrics. 



As in Mexico, most of the Indians employed on the plantations are held in a 

 state of real bondage by 'the habilitacioncs, or advances in money, whioh they are 

 unable to refund, and for which the produce of their future labour becomes 

 pledged. Hence, as in the days of slavery, the planters keep oversears to prevent 

 the men from escaping. Statute labour, and even the lash, flourish in spite of the 

 law, and the magisti'ates themselv^es supply the landowners with "hands" for a small 

 consideration. Nevertheless, in many districts the Indians are still free, and own 

 the land they till. In virtue of a recent law, all mayors, or the jefes politic 

 (political agents), of the Alta Vera Paz communes, where the civilised Indians 

 are most numerous, are required to allot to each native as his share of the public 

 domain a plot of about 4,400 square yards with free title, but on condition of 

 neither selling, letting, nor mortgaging the concession for the first ten years. Vast 

 spaces are still unoccupied, and these bakUoa, as they are callei, all belong to the 

 State, which sells or leases them at pleasure. In order to safeguard what remains of 

 the vacant lands it has been decided to make no grants of more thin 3,400 acres 

 to a single person, who must be a native or naturalised citizen. 



Although, compared to Mexico, Guatemala possesses little mineral wealth, 

 the Izabal district, on the Atlantic seaboard, was said to abound in auriferous 

 deposits, hence the expression " Gold Coast" often applied to it in official documents 

 of the seventeenth century. These treasures were worked exclusively by English 

 miners, who, according to the tradition, extracted enough gold to purchase " a 

 kingdom of Spain." In recent times they have been succeeded by Americans, 

 who have at least discovered gold washings, though the yield is valued at no more 

 than £6,000 a year. Qidcksil ver mines exist on the Huehuetenango plateaux ; but 

 the Indians, who from time to time offer the pure metal for sale, have hitherto 

 refused to reveal the localit}^ A mountain in the Cumbre de Chixoy is also said to 

 contain over 35,000,000 cubic feet of lead ore, three-fourths of which is pure metal. 



The foreign trade of Guatemala, although steadily increasing, is still less than 

 £2,000,000, including all the exchanges. About nine-tenths of the total exports 

 are represented by coffee, the other articles in order of importance being sugar, 

 skins and hides, caoutchouc, silver, and bananas. Great Britain has the largest 

 share of the foreign traffic, the United States, France, and Germany ranking next 

 in importance. 



The railway system is little developed, the only important lines being those 

 from San José to Guatemala, and from Champerico to Retalhuleu. It is now 

 proposed to continue these lines to the Atlantic, and Puerto Barrios, on St. 

 Thomas Bay, has been chosen as ihe eastern terminus of the transoceanic railway. 

 A few miles have already been constructed at the Atlantic end, but the ascent to 



