GUATIMALA, one of the three audiences or king doms into which Mexico or New Spain was formerly di vided, lies between 74° and 22° North Lat. extending up wards of 300 leagues along the south coast, and in no place exceeding 160 in breadth. It is in some par ts ex tremely narrow, and on the north coast is deeply indented by the Bay of Honduras. It has been divided into thirteen provinces, according to some accounts, and according to others into eight.. The latter of these is here adopted, be cause it best corresponds with the map given in this work, and also because the limits of the thirteen depart ments have not hitherto been accurately ascertained.* Veragua, the most southern province, and bordering on Panama, is about fifty leagues from west to east, and from nine to twenty-seven in breadth. It was discovered by Columbus in 1502, and was granted to him and his posterity as a reward of his services. Its coasts are low, and full of brushwood ; but the interior parts are billy, covered with forests, very imperfectly explored, but known to abound in rich silver mines. Its principal river Veragua is remark able for the verdant hue of its waters ; and from this cir cumstance its discoverer gave it the name of Verdes Aquas. Its principal towns are, Conception, considered as the capital of the province, a small place, situated near a river of the same name ; Santiago al Angel, built in 1521, but frequently destroyed and restored ; Santa Fe, a small town and bishop's see in the middle of the province ; and Pueblo Nuevo, or New Town, situated in an unhealthy spot at the mouth of a river, about twenty-three leagues south-west of Santa Fe. There are besides upwards of thirteen villages, inhabited by Indians. Costa Rica, or Rich Coast, north-west of Veragua, is from fifty to sixty leagues in length, and forty in breadth. It consists chiefly of mountainous and woody deserts, and is thinly inhabited and little cultivated. Its mines were formerly productive, but have been abandoned on account of the difficulty of working them; and its chief articles of trade are hides, honey, and wax. Its principal town is Cartago, a small place and Bishop's see in the interior of the province, where the governor resides. Nicaragua, in 12° North Latitude, is about 80 leagues in length, and 50 in breadth, running from north-west to south-east, between Costa Rica and Honduras. It consists for the most part of high woody mountains, in which are some volcanos, but no mines. There is a large lake, 200 miles in circumference, in the south-west, which communicates with the Atlantic ocean by the river St Juan. Its wallies are well watered, and its principal products are timber of great size, cotton, sugar, honey, wax, cochineal, and fruits. Its chief towns are Leon de Nicaragua, a place of considerable trade, on the north-west border of the lake, several leagues from the south coast ; and Granada, a populous and trading town on the west border of the lake, near a rugged volca nic mountain. The eastern coast is surrounded with shoals, and has no proper harbour. Honduras, in 15° North Latitude, extends 180 leagues along the south bor der of the gulf of that name, and from 25 to 50 from north to south. It is well watered by many streams which run northward into the gulf, and which, overflowing their banks in the rainy season, render the soil extremely fertile. Its bay, which includes a compass of 500 miles, is of dan gerous navigation ; but celebrated for the excellent log wood, which abounds on its flat and marshy shores. There are several islands along the coast of this bay; one of which particularly, Rattan, about 10 leagues in length, was long the resort of pirates, till the British established a co lony upon it, for the protection of the trading vessels.
he chief towns of the province are, Valladolid, a bishop's see, a small inland town in a pleasant valley ; St Jago, 100 miles east of Valladolid ; Truxillo, 125 northeast ; and Puerto de Cavallos, about 90 north-west ; all formerly places of considerable trade, but now greatly deserted. The British established a settlement in 1730 on the Black river, 26 leagues east of Cape Honduras, and another on a navigable river near Cape Gracias da Dios, where there is a secure and spacious road for ships. Guatimala, in 14° North Latitude, bordered on the south and west by the Pa cific Ocean, is a province of considerable importance. Its surface is mountainous, and it is extremely subject to earthquakes ; but its rallies are remarkably fruitful, abounding in grain, sugar, cotton, various dyeing drugs, especially indigo of a superior quality, and the richest pastures, stocked with incredible multitudes of cattle. Its capital, St Jago, or Guatimala, a bishop's see and the seat of a university, is a considerable trading town. It formerly stood in a delightful valley, not far from the west coast, but was repeatedly destroyed by tremendous earthquakes and volcanic eruptions ; and was at length re moved to a beautiful plain about 8 leagues from its former site. Nearly 30 leagues to the south-east is Sansonata, or Trinidad, which is the nearest proper harbour for ships from Panama and Peru, trading with St Jago. Verapaz, or Coban, in 16° North Latitude, at the bottom of the bay of Honduras, and north of Guatimala, is about 35 leagues in length, and 30 in breadth. It is a mountainous country, covered with forests ; but a few cultivated tracts yield plentiful crops of maize. Cotton, wool, cocoa, honey, wax, and gums, are its chief articles of trade. It contains no towns of any importance ; and Vera-paz, the governor's residence on the bank of a river running south east to Golfo Dolee, Acarabatlan, a small place to the westward, esteemed for its musk melons, and Robinal, a trading village in the pleasant valley of St Nicolas, are scarcely worthy of being noticed. Chiapa, north-west of Vera-paz, in 16,I.,° North Latitude, is of a triangular form, and each of its sides extends about 65 leagues. It abounds in hills covered with forests, and has two rivers, the Chia pa, running eastward to the bay of Campeachy ; and the Samasinta, which traverses the eastern part from south to north. It has no mines of gold or 'silver ; and its riches consist in grain, fruits, and pastures. Its principal town, Cividad Real, a bishop's see, situated in a valley sur rounded by mountains, about 90 leagues north-north-west of Guatimala, and trades in cotton, cocoa, and cochineal. There are several Indian towns in this province, of which the most populous is Chiapa dos Indos, about 12 leagues westward of Cividad Real, situated in a valley watered by the river Tabasco. The natives of this diocese obtained, through the mediation of the Bishop Cacas, exemption from slavery, with other signal privileges. Soconusco lies Letween Chiapa and the Pacific Ocean, and is about 35 leagues in length and 30 in breadth. It is a mountain ous country, but has no mines. It is covered with forests, and its vallies produce indigo, cocoa-nuts, fruits, and pas tures. The only settlement worthy of notice is Guevitlan, or Soconusco, which is the residence of the Spanish go vernor, and is situated near the 'coast of the South Sea, about 40 leagues south of Chiapa. See Modern Universal History, vol. xxxix ; and Playfair's Geogrciphy, vol. vi. (q)