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NARRATIVE OF A 



The houses of Balize are of wood, painted of some light 

 gay colour, and are built in the style of those in England. 

 They look very well ; but their little rooms, and small 

 sashed windows, without balconies, are by no means adapt- 

 ed to a sultry climate. They are enclosed, too, with fences 

 and palisades, as if the occupants were apprehensive of 

 intruders. In this, and in other respects, I was struck 

 with the prevalence here of native habits and usages, how- 

 ever at variance with the climate and circumstances of the 

 country. There are some good buildings in the place, 

 but, I believe, all of wood; the principal are the Court 

 House, the Government House, and the Episcopal Church. 

 The population, of which a great portion are coloured 

 people, amounts to six or seven thousand. The inhabit- 

 ants are, for the most part, engaged in the cutting of ma- 

 hogany, the exportation of which constitutes the chief 

 business of the place. Several mercantile houses of re- 

 spectability, however, import English goods, with which 

 they supply the internal consumption to a great extent, 

 receiving in exchange cochineal, hides, and indigo. An 

 advantageous investment is thus afforded to British capi- 

 tal, as also by the commercial relations maintained be- 

 tween the place and Omoa, Truxillo and Izabal, where, 

 besides the productions above mentioned, virgin silver and 

 specie are received in exchange for British goods. Balize 

 is, in fact, the key of Central America on the Atlantic side. 

 It is almost the only channel of communication between 

 Europe and this part of America, and its merchants are 

 the agents of all commercial operations between foreigners 

 and natives. The harbour affords a good anchorage, and 

 is guarded by a little battery of ten or twelve guns, planted 

 on a level with the sea, on a spot which may truly be 

 called British ground; it having been raised from the 

 water, and formed in a shallow part of the harbour, by the 

 ballast brought in English vessels and discharged there by 

 order of the Governor. There are, on an average, ten or 

 twelve vessels always in port, mostly English. Two or 



