Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
GUIANA (Guyana, Guayana')
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: GRA-GUI
del.icio.us it!
|
See also:GUIANA (Guyana, Guayana')
, the See also:general name given in its
The origin of the name is somewhat obscure, and has been variously interpreted
.
But the See also:late See also:Col
.
G
.
E
.
See also: For instance, Paymary See also:Indians called the portion of the Put-6s river which they occupied the Waini . It simply means See also:water, or a See also:fountain of water, or a river . The alternative suggestion that Guayana is an See also:Indian word signifying ' See also:wild See also:coast,' I also think untenable . This See also:term, applied to the north-east frontage of South America between the Orinoco and the Amazon, is found on the old Dutch See also:map of Hartsinck, who calls it ` Guiana Caribania of de See also:Wilde Kust,' a name which must have well described it when, in 158o, some Zealanders, of the See also:Netherlands, sent a See also:ship to cruise along it, from the mouth of the Amazon to that of the Orinoco, and formed the first See also:settlement near the river Pomeroon . The map of Firnao Vaz Dourado, 1564, calls the See also:northern part of South America, including the See also:present British Guiana, ` East See also:Peru.' An See also:anonymous Spanish map, about 1566, gives Guayana as lying on the east See also:side of the Orinoco just above its mouth . About 166o, Sebastien de Ruesta, cosmographer of the Casa de Contractacion de See also:Seville, shows Guayana covering the British, See also:French and Dutch Guayanas . According to the map of See also:Nicolas de Fer, 1719, a tribe of Guayazis (Guyanas) occupied the south side of the Amazon river, front of the See also:island of Tupinambara, east of the mouth of the See also:Madeira . See also:Aristides Rojas, an eminent Venezuelan See also:scholar, says that the Mariches Indians, near See also:Caracas, inhabited a site called Guayana See also:long before the See also:discovery of South America by the Spaniards . Coudreau in his Chez nos Indiens mentions that the Roucouyennes of Guayana take their name from a large See also:tree in their forests, ` which appears to be the origin of the name Guayane.' According to Michelana y Rojas, in their See also:report to the Venezuelan See also:government on their voyages in the See also:basin of the Orinoco, ` Guyana derives its name from the Indians who live between the Caroni river and the Sierra de Imataca, called Guayanos.' My own studies of aboriginal South America See also:lead me to support the statement of Michelana y Rojas, but with the following enlargement of it: The Portuguese, in the See also:early part of the 16th See also:century, found that the coast and See also:mountain See also:district of Rio de Janeiro, between Cape Sao Thome and See also:Angra dos Reis, belonged to the formidable Tamoyos . South of these, for a distance of about 300 M. of the ocean slope of the coast range, were the Guayana tribes, called by the early writers Guianas, Goyand, Guayana, Goand and, plural, Goayndzes, Goayandzes and Goayandzes . They were constantly at See also:feud with the Tamoyos and with their neighbours on the south, the Carijos, as well as with the vast Tapuya hordes of the Sertao of the interior . Long before the discovery, they had been forced to abandon their beautiful lands, but had recuperated their strength, returned and reconquered their See also:ancient See also:habitat . Meanwhile, how-ever, many of them had migrated northward, some had settled in the Sertao back of See also:Bahia and See also:Pernambuco, others on the See also:middle Amazon and in the valley of the Orinoco, but a large number had crossed the See also:lower Amazon and occupied an extensive area of See also:country to the north of it, about thesizeof See also:Belgium, along the Tumuchumac range of See also:highlands, and the upper Paron and Maroni rivers, as well as a large, district on the northern slope of the above-named range . In their new See also:home they became known as Roucouyennes, because, like the Mundurucus of the middle Amazon, they rubbed and painted themselves with roucou or urucu (Bixa Orellana) ; but other surrounding tribes called them Ouayanas, that is Guayanasthe Gua, so common to the Guarani-Tupi See also:tongue, having become corrupted into Oua . See also:Porto Seguro says of the so-called See also:Tupis, ` at other times they gave themselves the name of Guayd or Guayana, which probably means " See also:brothers," from which comes Guayazes and Guayanazes . . . . The latter occupied the country just south of Rio de Janeiro . . . . The masters of the Capitania of St Vincente called themselves Guianas.' Guinila, referring to north-eastern South America (1745), speaks of five See also:missions being formed to civilize the ' Nacion Guayana.' In view of the above, it may be thought reasonable to assume that the vast territory now known as Guayana (British, Dutch, French, Brazilian and Venezuelan) derives its name from its See also:aborigines who were found there at the time of the discovery, and whose See also:original home was the region I have indicated." 640 60 R.Ori GUTAN' A See also:Amur Hot +~ O— - _ E lish See also:Miles 4oC: F0 . o sp o- AGuacipati 6— roo - A 1,~. is a ~ See also:Railways Yy ~rLn y ° rn 5uddie s °n A to J' ¢ c a V- 1Y c •t4° . a } P o utsmar d ,° . • c a of PY 11~ t :„ , ~(~, miehin :' 9 t• q^b ~ . + .. ~'erarrqutra SwF i • -v §N 1' A9 ~~ (SURI M) ~a W _ a cq c ~~ Cachoeirinha r' v"1 P P ~ V H J~~ . ar ,•t . —__ —•--ly' Ooaarim`t, t~l~t E Rapids B- r a, z 1 I a`;n n a , . - yra ~` at,. a f' R . Y(W ,- quator r •~ ! ~~ - —_ rce~% w o 4 , R• /amunda PoRapds teira 'L 0~~ . si-_ - ms`s ~ . H 'c! m Y _ ta1~ c~ (.9., j anio if See also:Mario azon Obid • Al See also:gee A 4 _ `a• TT+4r See also:Santarem, t r r .' 0~• 9• Ya • srl+ 6 a,, / r~, , Caryoeiro ;7' Teffe ` ~~~ 1mrainnimmom 68° 64° See also:Longitude See also:West 6o° of See also:Greenwich 5' S2 (or Surinam), from the Corentyn to the Maroni river; French Guiana (or See also:Cayenne), from the Maroni to the Oyapock river; Brazilian (formerly Portuguese) Guiana, extending from the See also:southern boundaries of French, Dutch, British and part of Venezuelan Guiana, to the Amazon and the Negro . Of these divisions the first and last are now included in Venezuela and See also:Brazil respectively; British, Dutch and French Guiana are described in See also:order below, and are alone considered here . In their See also:physical See also:geography the three Guianas present certain common characteristics . In each the See also:principal features are the rivers and their See also:branch streams . In each See also:colony the northern portion consists of a fluviomarine See also:deposit extending inland and gradually rising to a height of to to 15 ft. above the See also:sea . This alluvial See also:plain varies in width from 50 M. to 18 m. and is traversed by ridges of See also:sand and shells, roughly parallel to what is now the coast, indicating the trend of former See also:shore lines .
By the draining and diking of these lands the plantations have been formed along the coast and up the rivers
.
These See also:low lands are attached to a somewhat higher See also:plateau, which towards the coast is traversed by numerous huge sand-See also:dunes and inland by ranges of hills rising in places to as much as 2000 ft
.
The greater part of this See also:belt of country, in which the auriferous districts principally occur, is covered with a dense growth of See also:jungle and high See also:forest, but savannahs, growing only a long wiry grass and poor shrubs, intrude here and there, being in the S.E. much nearer to the coast than in the N.W
.
The hinterlands consist of undulating open savannahs rising into hills and mountains, some grass-covered, some in dense forest
.
See also:Geology 2.-Guiana is formed almost entirely of See also:gneiss and crystal-
' This is the boundary generally accepted; but it is in dispute
.
1 See C
.
B
.
See also:
In British Guiana a See also:series of conglomerates, red and See also:
453-492 (with See also:geological map) ; E
.
See also:
See also:
The New Dutch West Indian Company, founded in that year to replace the older company which had failed, received Guiana by See also:charter from the states-general in 1682
.
In the following year the company sold one-third of their territory to the city of See also:Amsterdam, and another third to Cornelis See also:van Aerssens, lord of Sommelsdijk
.
The new owners and the company incorporated themselves as the Chartered Society of Surinam, and Sommelsdijk agreed to fill the See also:post of See also:governor of the colony at his own expense
.
The lucrative trade in slaves was retained by the West Indian Company, but the society could import them on its own See also:account by paying a See also:fine to the company
.
Sommelsdijk's See also:rule was See also:wise and energetic
.
He repressed and pacified the Indian tribes, erected forts and disciplined the soldiery, constructed the See also:canal which bears his name, established a high See also:court of See also:justice and introduced the valuable cultivation of the See also:cocoa-See also:nut
.
But on the 17th of See also:June 1688 he was massacred in a See also:mutiny of the soldiers
.
The " third " which Sommelsdijk possessed was offered by his widow to See also: The next decade saw a series of struggles between the colonies, and the Dutch West India company, which ended in the company being See also:wound up and in the three colonies being governed directly by the states-general . In 1796 the British again took possession, and retained the three colonies until the peace of See also:Amiens in 1802, when they were once again restored to Holland, only to be recaptured by Great Britain in 1803, in which year the history proper of British Guiana began . I . BRITISH GUIANA, the only British possession in S . America, was formally ceded in 1814-1815 . The three colonies were in 1831 consolidated into one colony divided into three counties, Berbice extending from the Corentyn river Brirash Qalane . to the Abary See also:creek, Demerara from the Abary to the Boerasirie creek, Essequibo from the Boerasirie to the Venezuelan frontier . This boundary-See also:line between British Guiana and Venezuela was for many years the subject of dispute . The Dutch, while British'Guiana was in their possession, claimed the whole See also:watershed of the Essequibo river, while the Venezuelans asserted that the Spanish province of Guayana had extended up to the left bank of the Essequibo . In 184o Sir See also:Robert Schomburgk had suggested a demarcation, afterwards known as the "Schomburgk line "; and subsequently, though no agreement was arrived at, certain modifications were made in this British claim . In 1886 the government of Great Britain declared that it would thenceforward exercise See also:jurisdiction up to and within a boundary known as " the modified Schomburgk line." Outposts were located at points on this line, and for some years Guianese See also:police and Venezuelan soldiers faced one another across the Amacura creek in the Orinoco mouth and at Yuruan up the Cuyuni river . In 1897 the dispute formed the subject of a See also:message to See also:congress from the See also:president of the See also:United States, and in consequence of this intervention the See also:matter was submitted to an See also:international See also:commission, whose See also:award was issued at Paris in 1899 (see VENEZUELA) .
By this decision neither party gained its extreme claim, the line laid down differing but little from the original Schomburgk line
.
The demarcation was at once undertaken by a See also:joint commission appointed by Venezuela and British Guiana and was completed in 1904
.
It was not found practicable, owing to the impassable nature of the country, to See also:lay down on See also:earth that part of the boundary fixed by the Paris award between the See also:head of the Wenamu creek and the See also:summit of Mt
.
Roraima, and the boundary commissioners suggested a deviation to follow the watersheds of the Caroni, Cuyuni and Mazaruni rivers, a suggestion accepted by the two governments
.
In 1902 the delimitation of the boundary between British Guiana and Brazil was referred to the See also:arbitration of the See also: By official estimates the population at the end of 1904 was 301,923 . Of these some 120,000 were negroes and 124,000 East Indians; 4300 were Europeans, other than Portuguese, estimated at about 11,600, and some 30,000 of mixed See also:race . The aborigines—Arawaks, Caribs, Wapisianas, Warraws, &c.—who numbered about 10,000 in 1891, are now estimated at about 6500 . In 1904 the See also:birth-See also:rate for the whole colony was 30.3 per r000 and the See also:death-rate 28.8 . Physical Geography.—The See also:surface features of British Guiana may be divided roughly into four regions: first, the alluvial sea-See also:board, See also:flat and below the level of high-water; secondly, the forest belt, swampy along the rivers but rising into undulating lands and hills between them; thirdly, the savannahs in and inland of the forest belt, elevated table-lands, grass-covered and practically treeless; and fourthly, the mountain ranges . The eastern portion of the colony, from the source of its two largest rivers, the Corentyn and Essequibo, is a rough inclined plain, starting at some 900 ft. above sea-level at the source of the Takutu in the west, but only some 400 at that of the Corentyn in the west, and sloping down gradually to the low alluvial flats about 3 ft. below high-water line._ The eastern part is generally forested; the western is an almost level See also:savannah, with woodlands along the rivers . The northern portion of British Guiana, the alluvial flats alluded to See also:cataract to the still reach below . The river 200 yds. above the fall already, consists of a fluviomarine deposit extending inland from 25 M. to 30 in., gradually rising to about 12 ft. above high-water See also:mark and ending against beds of sandy See also:clay, the residua of igneous rocks decomposed in situ, which form an extensive undulating region rising to 15o ft. above the sea and stretching back to the forest-covered hills . Roughly parallel to the existing coast-line are narrow reefs of sand and sea-shells, which are dunes indicating the trend of former limits of the sea, and still farther back are the higher " sand hills," hills of See also:granite or diabase with a thick stratum of coarse white sand superimposed . From the coast-line seawards the ocean deepens very gradually, and at low See also:tide extensive flats of sand and of mixed clay and sand (called locally " caddy ") are left See also:bare, these flats being at times covered with a deposit of thin See also:drift mud . Two great parallel mountain systems See also:cross the colony from W. to E., the greater being that of the Pacaraima and Merume Mts., and the lesser including the Kanuku Mts . (2000 ft.), while the Acarai Mts., a densely-wooded range rising to 2500 ft., form the southern boundary of British Guiana and the watershed between the Essequibo and the Amazon .
These mountains rise generally in a See also:succession of terraces and broad plateaus, with steep or even sheer sandstone escarpments
.
They are mostly flat-topped, and their See also:average height is about 3500 ft
.
The Pacaraima Mts., how-ever, reach 8635 ft. at Roraima, and the latter remarkable mountain rises as a perpendicular See also:wall of red See also:rock 1500 ft. in height springing out of the forest-clad slopes below the summit, and was considered inaccessible until in See also:December 1884 Messrs See also:im Thurn and Perkins found a ledge by which the See also:top could be reached
.
The summit is a table-land some 12 sq. in. in area
.
Mt
.
Kukenaam is of similar structure and also rises above 8500 ft
.
Other conspicuous summits (about 7000 ft.) are Iwalkarima, Eluwarima, Ilutipu and Waiakapiapu
.
The southern portion of • the Pacaraima range comprises rugged hills and rock-strewn valleys, but to the N., where the sand-See also: Intrusive granite is of somewhat rare occurrence; where found, it gives rise to long low rolls of hilly country and to cataracts in the rivers . Extensive areas of the country consist of quartz-See also:porphyry, porphyrites and felstone, and of more or less schistose rocks derived from them . These rocks are closely connected with the gneissose granites and gneiss, and there are reasons for believing that the latter are the deep-seated portions of them and are only visible where they have been exposed by denudation . Long ranges of hills, varying rn See also:elevation from a few hundreds to from 2oo0ft. to 3000 ft., See also:traverse the plains of the gneissose districts . These are caused either by old intrusions of diabase and gabbro which have undergone modifications, or by later ones of dolerite . These ranges are of high importance, as the rocks comprising them are the main source of gold in British Guiana . Rivers.—The principal physical features of British Guiana are its rivers and their branches, which form one vast network of waterways all over it. and are the principal, indeed practically the only, highways inland from the coast . See also:Chief among them are the Waini, the Essequibo, and its tributaries the Mazaruni and Cuyuni, the Demerara, the Berbice and the Corentyn . The Essequibo rises in the Acarai Mts., in o° 41' N. and about 85o ft. above the sea, and flows northwards for about 600 m. until it discharges itself into the ocean by an See also:estuary nearly 15 M. in width . In this estuary are several large and fertile islands, on four of which See also:sugar used to be grown . Now but one, Wakenaam, can boast of a factory . The Essequibo can be entered only by See also:craft See also:drawing less than 20 ft. and is navigable for these vessels for not more than 50 m., its subsequent course upwards being frequently broken by cataracts and rapids . Some 7 m. below the first series of rapids it is joined by the Mazaruni, itself joined by the Cuyuni some 4 M. farther up . It has a remarkable course from its source in the Merume Mountains, about 2400 ft. above the sea . It flows first south, then west, north-west, north,'and finally south-east to within 20 M. of its own source, forming many fine falls, and its course thereafter is still very tortuous . In 4° N. and 58° W., the Essequibo is joined by the Rupununi, which, rising in a savannah at the See also:foot of the Karawaimento Mts., has a northerly and easterly course of fully 200 in . In 3° 37' N. the Awaricura joins the Rupununi, and by this tributary the Pirara, a tributary of the Amazon, may be reached,—an example of the interesting series of itabos connecting nearly all S . See also:American rivers with one another . Another large tributary of the Essequibo is the Potaro, on which, at 1130 ft. above sea-level and in 5 8' N. and 59° 19' W., is the celebrated Kaieteur fall, discovered in 187o by Mr C . See also: |