There are no travelers’ taxes and samples pay no duty.
The following cities are the most important:
| Cities | Population |
|---|---|
| San Juan | 50,000 |
| Ponce | 35,000 |
| Mayaguez | 17,000 |
| Caguas | 11,000 |
| Arecibo | 10,000 |
| Fajardo | 9,000 |
| Yauco | 8,500 |
| Guayama | 8,500 |
| Humacao | 7,000 |
| Aguadilla | 6,000 |
| Cayey | 5,000 |
| Coamo | 4,000 |
Thirteen lines of vessels connect this island with the United States, four going direct to New York and providing a semi-weekly mail service. There are also ships to Europe as well as the nearby islands.
XVIII
THE GUIANAS: BRITISH, DUTCH AND FRENCH
Most travelers ignore British, Dutch and French Guiana, assuming that climatic conditions are unfavorable and the small size of the population means no demand for goods. The fact is that they are not unhealthful, that their credit is good, their merchants reliable, their purchasing power in proportion to their inhabitants is excellent and especially the Dutch and British colonies are friendly to us and what we produce. They are well worth a visit, and spend annually in the United States jointly about $3,000,000. Furthermore, they are easily accessible from either Trinidad or Barbados.
British Guiana is by far the largest and most prosperous. This entire tract was at one time in the possession of Spain and was under its control until 1624. The Dutch in 1648, after the close of their war with Spain, and through one of their mercantile companies, obtained a trading port in what afterwards became known as Dutch Guiana. Following their move, the English under Sir Walter Raleigh, acquired their present possession, establishing a town now known as Surinam, the English afterwards giving a portion of this territory to the Dutch in exchange for their holdings in North America. About the same time the French established a colony at Cayenne, and later on came near being embroiled in a war with Brazil over the boundary line, which was finally amicably adjusted.
These three European colonies, the only ones by the way, in South America, British Guiana being the most westerly, French Guiana the eastern and Dutch Guiana between the others, have for their northern boundary the Atlantic Ocean. Venezuela is the western neighbor of British Guiana. Brazil touches each of these colonies as their southern border, also forming the western boundary of French Guiana.
The topography of all of these possessions is similar. Toward the interior are mountains whose watershed forms many small rivers and creeks flowing toward the Atlantic. Between the mountains and the ocean are broad fields or savannahs, millions of acres in extent, which gradually terminate in the low lands near the sea. In the highlands and toward the mountains of the interior the climate is spring-like, but it is always very warm along the coast, the temperature being about 80° Fahrenheit, the entire year. There is much rainfall—100 inches being the annual average.
British Guiana covers an area of 90,277 square miles, with a population of about 300,000, composed of about 160,000 coolies, imported by contract from India and under the supervision of the British government, the remainder being white, black and mixed breeds. The native Indians have never been counted owing to the inaccessible location of their settlements. The East Indians were brought for the purpose of working sugar plantations, labor being very scarce. There are also about 5000 Chinese.