GUIANA, FRExclr, includes the districts lying between 2' and 6' n. hit.. and 51? and 54r w. long., and is bounded on the u. by the Atlantic; on the w. by the Marony river, which separates it from Dutch Guiana, and by the little-known districts lying beyond the Rio-Branco; and on the s. and e. by the river Oyapock and the range of the Tamu eumaque mountains, which separate it from the empire of Brazil. The area, according to the best French authorities (Block. etc.) is 18,000 square leagues, but the boundary line of French Guiana is not well defined, and.has long been a subject of discussion with the Brazilian and Dutch governments. Pop, '72, 24,171. In addition to the conti nental districts, French Guiana comprises several islands in the immediate vincinity of the coast, the principal of which are Cayenne. in which is situated the crpital of the sante name, Le Grand Connetable, and Le Petit Connetable. The country is divided into high-lands and low-lauds, the former of which commence at the first cataracts of the rivers, and gradually increase in height towards the central districts, which they traverse in a granite mountain-range, which nowhere exceeds an elevation of 1000 feet. The low alluvial lands, which extend from the cataracts to the Atlantic, are at present mostly covered with vast forests, but the soil is well adapted to the cultivation both of grain of every kind, and till the products of tropical vegetation. Among the 20 navi gable streams or rivers, the principal are the Marony, lying to the w., and the Oyapock to the e. of Cayenne, the navigation of which is rendered difficult from' the numerous cataracts and rapids by which they are obstructed. The overflowing of the rivers gives rise at various points in lower French Guina to swamps or marshy savannas, which are covered with forests of mango-trees and palms, while in other parts lakes are formed, the most extensive of which are those of Mapecucu, Macari, and Mapa.
French Guiana has a rainy season, which lasts with short intermissions from Nov. to June; and the heat is less oppressive than in most places in the West Indies, in con sequence of the influence of the trade-winds, which bring with them the temperate moisture of the Atlantic. The thermometer seldom rises above 90' or falls below
The chief products and exports are choice woods for ornamental purposes, rice, maize, coffee, cacao, sugar, cotton, nutmeg, cloves, and pepper.
French Guiana or Cayenne, which was that occupied by France in 1633, is now divided into 14 communes comprised under the two cantons or districts of Cayenne and Sinna mary, and placed under the command of a governor assisted by a privy council. A recent French budget stood charged with the sum of barely 134,500 francs for ordinary expenses of government in Guiana, and 2,000,000 francs for the penal settlements at Cayenne. The administration of justice is centered in the tribunal or imperial court at Cayenne, the chief town of the province, and is under the jurisdiction of a president, assisted by counsel, auditors, and notaries. There are 9 free elementary schools in the colony, giving instruction to 1100 children, which are nnder the superintendence and management of the clergy of the Romish church, of which the majority of the p`opula don are members, Although various forms of faith are tolerated, and supported at the charge of the state.
In accordance With an imperial decree of 1854 Guiana has been made the principal seat of the penal settlements of the mother-country, which are maintained at Cayenne at the national charge. All persons sentenced to eight years' hard labor arc con demned, on the expiration of their sentence, to reside for the remainder of their lives in the colony, unless when they are specially pardoned, in which case they are seldom allowed to return to France. Grants of lands, with the restitution of civil rights, may be accorded by the local authorities as a recompense for good conduct; but the disci pline is•in all cases severe, and the labor heavy and continuous. The mortality among the prisoners is believed to he very great, hut the French does not include the death-rate of Guiana in its otherwise very full tables of mortality,