Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian chapels. Lately

some large and costly

fire-proof warehouses

have been built, which

add much to the beau

ty of the place.

Be

lize derives little support from agriculture, its supplies of cattle, fruit, etc., being chiefly obtained from Bacalar in Yucatan, and Omoa and Truxillo in Honduras. It obtains its principal importance from being the commercial entrepôt and depôt for the neighboring Spanish states of Yucatan, Guatemala, and Honduras. This source of prosperity, howev

er, is fast drying up, from the diversion of trade on the Pacific to Panama, and from the opening of direct commerce between several of the states and the United States and England. In 1848 the total value of its imports was $830,000, of which $260,000 came from the United States. Its exports for the same year were $1,765,000. The inward tonnage was 18,521 tons; the outward, 18,626 tons. In 1855 the imports had considerably fallen off, from the causes already mentioned, but the exports had increased to $2,260,000. The inward tonnage for that year was 31,124 tons;

the outward, 27,803 tons. The principal product of Belize is mahogany, of which the average yearly amount exported for the past ten years has been 8,000,000 feet, or 20,000 tons, equal for the whole period to 200,000 tons, requiring 160,000 trees.

The natural, and particularly the vegetable resources of Belize are very great, and have been fully and ably set forth by Chief-justice Temple. As we have seen, the establishment was first made for the purpose of cutting logwood, which for a long time was the chief source of wealth of the settlers, and which to this day is a considerable article of export. Not less than 4332 tons were exported in 1848. As in Dampier's day, it still retains a superiority in the market over that of St. Domingo and Jamaica. At the present day, however, mahogany has become the great staple of the country. The impression that most of the mahogany has been cut is contradicted by Judge Temple, who affirms that there is sufficient wood, both on granted and ungranted lands, to supply the European and American markets for many years to come. The Belize mahogany is extensively used for ship-building, not less than 12,000 tons having been purchased by the British government and 3000 by the French government during the year 1856 for this purpose, at an average price of $55 per ton. The mahogany-tree requires a rich, dry soil, and the best is produced to the north of the River Belize, where the natural conditions are most favorable for its growth. Besides the mahogany, there are also several other woods of great

"The qualities of mahogany which render it peculiarly fitted for ship-building are its lightness and buoyancy, its freedom from dry rot, and its non-liability to shrink or warp. The price of mahogany varies according to the size, figure, and quality of the wood. One tree from the northern district, which was cut into three logs, sold for £1800, or 10s. per superficial foot of one inch."-Temple.

value, as rosewood, palmetto, dark and beautifully figured, Santa Maria, which possesses the properties of the Indian teak, caoutchouc or India-rubber, sapodilla, and innumerable others.

THE PAPAYA.

There is another tree, less known than any of those just mentioned, but perhaps having elements of value equally great with the best, namely, the cahoun (Spanish coyol) palm. It abounds in all the river valleys, not only throughout the district of Belize, but along the entire northern coast of the Republic of Honduras. It is thus described by Judge Temple:

"The branches of this tree resemble those of the cocoanut, but instead of growing from the top they shoot up and radiate from the bottom. It does not grow so high as the cocoanut-tree, and the stem is It bears a nut about the size of an egg, which grows in large bunches, resembling ponderous clusters of grapes. The oil made from this nut is very much superior to that of the cocoanut. A pint of the former will burn as long as a quart of the latter. The first congeals at a temperature of 72°, the second at a temperature of 68°. The cahoun-tree,

considerably thicker.

which will only grow in the richest soil, abounds in British Honduras, though it is not found in any of the West India islands; and Sir William Hooker informed me that it was not known in Europe until I sent it to this country.

"The order and regularity with which it grows is surprising. I have seen rows of it presenting the appearance of having been planted with the greatest care -long avenues, which closely resembled the nave and aisles of a cathedral, the arched leaves meeting overhead, and producing an exact imitation of the vaulted roofs; and, if the sun were declining, the horizontal rays, shining at intervals through one side of the ave nue, created the splendid effulgence of the most richlypainted window. The kernel tastes somewhat like that of the cocoanut, but it is far more oleaginous, and the oil extracted from it is infinitely superior. No other oil except that of the cahoun and the cocoanut is burnt in this country. There is no question whatever that, if it were known to the public in general, it would completely supersede the use of the cocoanut oil. Belize consists principally of two kinds of land; the one is called a pine ridge, and the other a cahoun ridge. The former is, generally speaking, sterile and sandy, and but here and there interspersed with patches of greater fertility, green spots in the midst of the sandy wilderness, the resort of immense herds of deer and antelopes. This ridge, densely covered with pines, which are very much more resinous than the red pines of North America, might yield any quantity of pitch, of an excellent quality for commercial purposes.

"The cahoun ridge differs materially from the pine ridge. The soil of the latter, as I have said, is sandy and unproductive, whereas that of the former is rich

PP

and loamy, and possesses every agricultural capability. There is no tropical plant which can not be grown upon these ridges in great abundance.

"The cahoun there abounds. For miles and miles you have nothing but forests of it; and yet, with all these trees bearing nuts from which a most valuable oil can be extracted-an oil for which there would be a ready market in every town of Europe and America

-no one has yet been found to turn them to a profitable account. Not one single bottle of oil has ever been exported to Europe or elsewhere as an article of commerce. Over these vast fields of wealth a few old negro women occasionally wander, picking up the nuts which have accidentally fallen to the ground, from which, in their rude and clumsy way, they manufacture as much oil, and no more, as will serve to satisfy their personal wants, and purchase for them a few luxuries, such as pickled pork, gin, and pipes and tobacco!"

Mr. Faber, crown surveyor of Belize, estimates that two fifths of the entire territory are covered with these palms. He adds: "The cahoun ridges are mostly along the tracks of the rivers, and possess the richest virgin soil; some of them are only a quarter of a mile deep, while others extend to from twelve to twenty miles in depth. The trees grow at an average distance of five yards from one another, thereby forming arches of evergreens, which soften the rays of the tropical sun, and give a majestic air to those forests whose silence is only broken by the songs of bright-plumaged birds, or the solitary cries of some wild animal roaming in these wildernesses. These cahoun-trees yield one crop every year, consisting of generally three, and sometimes four bunches of nuts, as close together as grapes. The nuts are of the size of a small turkey's egg, and, on an aver