ECONOMIC CONDITION OF HONDURAS. 



267 



1887) returned a total of 332,000, of v^tom nearly three-fourths were Ladinos. 

 The stream of immigration has not yet been directed to the state, and in the 

 whole country there are scarcely 500 foreigners, apart from the so-called "English" 

 immigrants from Belize and Jamaica. 



Honduras has developed no industries, and even its agricultural produce 

 scarcely suffices for more than the local demand. The banana, caoutchouc and 

 coffee plantations have, however, in recent years acquired some importance, while 

 the tobacco of Copan and Santa Rosa has long been appreciated. Next to gold 

 and silver, the chief staple of the export trade was' timber, especially the 



Fig. 114. — FoNSECA Bay. 

 Scale 1 : 1,000,U00. 



Uonchaeua\, "^ h^ 





87° 10 



0to5 

 Fathoms. 



Depths. 



.5 to 12 



Fathoms. 



12 F;i thorns 

 and upwards. 



18 Miles. 



mahogany, which reaches its greatest perfection in the forests of Honduras. 

 But the finest trees have been recklessly felled without any attempt at re^Dlanting, 

 and as mahogany takes three hundred years to arrive at maturity, the sources of 

 supply threaten to be soon exhausted. 



The Honduras exchanges are estimated at a yearly value of about £1,200,000, 

 the exports consisting of minerals, cattle, and products of the soil, the imports 

 almost exclusively of manufactured goods. Five-sixths of the foreign trade is 

 carried on with the United States. 



Owing to the reckless speculations connected with railway projects the name 

 of Honduras has become one of the most notorious in the financial world. Of 



