THE ANGLO- VENEZUELAN BOUND AR Y DLSP UTE 131 



Guiana is a name that was applied three centuries ago to an exten- 

 sive and ill-defined tract along the coast between the Amazon and 

 the Orinoco. This has come, in course of time, to be possessed by 

 French, Dutch, and English. The easternmost is French Guiana or 

 Cayenne, whose Devils Island Dre3'fus has made famous or infamous. 

 Next west is Dutch Guiana or Surinam, and west of it is British 

 Guiana, formerly the united colony of Essequibo and Demerara. 

 Most of the part 3^et farther west, which was sometimes called Spanish 

 or Venezuelan Guiana, has been awarded to Great Britain. 



Great efforts were made by Spain three centuries ago to conquer 

 and possess Guiana, a region reported and believed to be fabulously 

 rich in gold. On the shores of a vast mythical sea rose a vast mythical 

 town, El Dorado, presided over by a mythical, gilded king. Raleigh 

 sought to conquer this countr}^ and its supposed wealth for his queen, 

 Elizabeth ; but the Spaniards contested his advance. His son was 

 killed in the assault upon Santo Thome. He returned to England, 

 was accused b}^ the Spanish minister of piracy, and b}^ order of King 

 James beheaded. But, though he wrote a book about Guiana which 

 set the imagination of Europe on fire, little progress was made in 

 penetrating or exploring it. And why? The answer is eas3^ The 

 dense forests offered to the white traveler an almost impenetrable 

 barrier. These were traversed by savage animals and 3'et more savage 

 men, the ferocious, nian-eating Caribs. The only practicable route to 

 the interior was by the rivers; but tlie region is a bench country, 

 rising, as one penetrates it, by a series of steps or benches. Thus it 

 happens that, ascending the rivers (other than the Orinoco), the border 

 land of alluvium on the coast is hardly passed before the traveler 

 meets a cataract or rapid or series of rapids blocking the way. 

 Patiently carrying or draggiiig his wood-skin canoe through dense 

 woods around the obstacle, he may paddle a short distance against a 

 strong current only to find another cataract and yet another in weari- 

 some succession. To penetrate the interior through the water-soaked 

 and swamp}' forest jungle is well-nigli impossible. To penetrate it ])y 

 the streams is only possible in small boats, and then with difficulty 

 and danger. These are the conditions and these the reasons why the 

 world was so long in gaining its small store of knowledge about the 

 interior of Raleigh's wonderland, Guiana. 



Origin of Title. — Neither Venezuela nor Great Britain holds in South 

 America by original title. Venezuela derives her title from Spain, 

 a title acfjuired l)y war, with resulting coniiuest and cession. CJreat 



