336 
GUATEMALA. 
$150,000. This is not because the Guatemalan forests 
yield less of this valuable wood; on the contrary, mahog¬ 
any-trees are very abundant in the Chocon forests, on 
the smaller tributaries of the Polochic, and in the Mo- 
tagua valley. I have myself seen hundreds of immense 
trees deep in the forests, while along the larger water¬ 
courses the trees have generally been cut. In British 
Honduras the origin and existence of the colony is due 
to mahogany-cutting. The mahogany-lands are in the 
hands of a few proprietors who will not sell nor allow 
settlers, since the young trees grow rapidly; and it is said 
that in thirty years from a clearing, logs of large size 
may be cut from the shoots which spring from the 
stumps. The business of mahogany-cutting is thoroughly 
organized and made the most of. In the neighboring 
republic, much of the mahogany-land belongs to the 
Government, which allows any one to cut the timber on 
pretended payment of five dollars stumpage. A few 
private individuals cut here and there and in a desultory 
way. The work at a mahogany bank is generally clone 
by Caribs, who are skilful woodmen. The hunter or 
montero strikes alone into the forest and searches for 
trees. If he finds enough of a suitable size (squaring 
not less than eighteen inches) within reasonable distance 
from the “bank,” a road is opened from the tree to the 
river. Often the buttresses are immense, and the plat¬ 
form, or “ barbecue, 1 ” is raised a dozen feet from the 
ground. The log is roughly squared, hauled to the river, 
usually by night, by the light of pine-torches, and only 
when floated to port is it trimmed into its final shape for 
the market. The best mahogany comes from limestone 
regions. 
