GUADELOUPE, one of the Lesser Antilles in the "West Indies, and the most impor tant of those which belong to France, lies in lat. 16'n., and long. 61' 45' w., and contains 500 sq.m., with a population (including dependencies) in 1874 of 167,344, of whom three fourths are colored. It is divided into Grande Terre on the e., and Basse Terre or Guade loupe proper on the w., by a strait of about 40 yards in width, which under the name of Salt river, is navigable for vessels of 50 tons. The nomenclature of the separate islands is apparently out of place, for of the two, Basse Terre is the loftier, and Grande Terre is the smaller. Grande Terre, generally low, is of coral formation; Basse Terre, on the contrary, is traversed by volcanic mountains, which culminate in La Suofriere (the " Sulphur Mine") to the height of 5,108 feet. Though this range shows no regular crater, yet it emits, by several orifices, columns of smoke, and even sparks of fire. In
addition to these symptoms of suhterraneons action, may be mentioned a boiling spring and frequent earthquakes. Basse Terre, on the island of its own name, is the chid town, having an indifferent harbor. Connected with Guadeloupe, as dependencies, are the neighboring islets of Desirade, Marie, Galante, Les Saintes, and the n. part of St. Martin. In 1870 the exports to France amounted to 24,900,000 francs, and the import; from France to 9,800,000 francs, In 1848 slavery was abolished by a decree of the French republic. The island was discovered by Columbus in 1493; but it was not before 1635 that it was colonized by the French; and after repeatedly falling into the hands of England, during her wars with France, it was at length permanently ceded to the latter power in 1816.