GEORGETOWN, capital of British Guiana, situated on the eastern side of the Demarara River, at its mouth, with the Carib bean Sea for a second frontage. The city covers an area of 1,200 acres. Nearly every building in the quarters devoted to private dwellings is isolated from its neighbor and surrounded by palms, shrubs, or forest trees. The streets cross each other at right angles; those which run north and south in some cases have long canals in the centre, beyond which are the roadways the width of such streets being more than 100 feet. On Main (or High) street are situated the town-hall, Victoria law courts, police magistrate's office, Colonial Bank, Presbyterian church', Portuguese Roman Catholic church and the Methodist church. The public buildings, where the Court of Policy sits, and the Anglican cathedral are also in this section. Another fine street is the Brick Dam, the two rows of houses in which constituted the entire town of Stabroek before the colony was captured by the British. The finest building in the colony, the Roman Catholic cathedral, stands a short distance east of this street. The Royal Mail Company, with its fortnightly mail service, makes the port of Georgetown a terminus; boats of the French Compagnie Generale Transatlantique call monthly on the way to Cayenne; the Dutch Mail does the same when going to Surinam; and steamers of a Canadian line also call every fourth week. Vessels drawing more than 20 feet cannot cross the bar at the mouth of the river, and those of even lighter draught are obliged to wait for high water. A line of steamers subsidized by the government makes daily trips from Georgetown to Essequibo; three times a week a steamer runs to Berbice; twice a week up the Demarara and Berbice rivers; and there is fortnightly communication by boat with Morawhanna, the capital of the northwestern district. A railway also connects
Georgetown with Mahaica, on the east coast. The West India and Panama Telegraph Com also puts the city and colony in com munication with other countries. There are good street car and telephone services. The city water, brought from creeks 20 miles dis tant through the Lamah Canal, is chiefly valu able in case of fire; it is not sufficiently pure for household use. The city is lighted by gas and electricity. Municipal affairs are managed by a mayor and town council. The value of real property is nearly $8.000,000; the portion held by Europeans and Creoles (other than Portuguese) being valued at $4,611,575; the portion held by Portuguese at $1,938,370; by East Indians, $101,930; and by Chinese, $45,750. The tax-rate is usually 2 per cent per annum 'on the appraised value of pnvate property. There is a well-equipped and trained fire brigade; nevertheless the precautions which have been taken failed to prevent very destructive fires (22 Dec. 1913; also in 1873 and 1896). Among the important institutions are the Royal Agri cultural and Commercial Society, which' has a library of over 17,000 volumes, and maintains reading-rooms, etc.• the Institute of Mines, and Forests and the Chamber of Commerce. Of the newspapers, one is issued daily, and a num ber weekly, biweekly or tri-weeldy. The port is regarded as healthful. There were two or three severe attacks of yellow fever half a century ago, but since that time the 'drainage has been improved, and the neighborhood of the wharves kept' clean, and.dating the.paSt• 50 years only one serious outbreak has occurred.' The number of inhabitants is given as 59,955. See GUIANA, autism.