Chap. X. THE BELIZE BIYEE. 161 
The goods which they carry to the British settlement are 
principally provisions, such as flour, salt meat, hams, 
liquors, &c, chiefly for the mahogany cuttings. On their 
return to New Orleans they usually call at Ruatan, where 
they take in plantains, bananas, and cocoa-nuts, as a home 
freight. 
I abstain from a description of the little town of Belize, 
as I may fairly suppose it to be sufficiently known in 
England. This, however, is not to be expected of the 
natural character of the country, the charms of its scenery 
being but very indifferently appreciated by the inhabitants. 
During the first days of March we made an excursion 
of two days paddling up the river. Downward the current 
brought us back in one day. The course is very crooked, 
so that the farthest point of our excursion could have 
been reached on horseback in six or seven hours— the land- 
road, which runs on the northern side of the river, cutting 
off the bends. We travelled in one of the long canoes called 
pitpans, rowed by six Caribs. It was provided with an 
awning, under which we were well protected against the 
sun. I was indebted for these accommodations to the kind 
attentions of Mr. Travis, of the firm of James Hyde and Co. 
The Belize river empties itself by two channels which 
separate at a place called Haulover, where the old piratical 
settlement of Wallace, and afterwards the seat of govern- 
ment of what is now called British Honduras, was originally 
situated, and remained so until it was removed to the out- 
let of the southern channel. Here the present town is 
built along the sea-shore, on both sides connected by a 
wooden bridge. This southern branch of the river-mouth 
may be six or seven miles long, forming a narrow passage 
through a thicket of mangroves. The northern channel, 
which carries out by far the greater portion of water, is 
M 
