along the Golfo Dulce and other lakes, and the Polochic river as far as Panzos. The narrow-gauge railway that serves the German plantations in the Vera Paz region is largely owned by Germans. Guatemala joined the Postal Union in 1881; but its postal and telegraphic services have suffered greatly from financial difficulties. The telephonic systems of Guatemala la Nueva, Quezaltenango and other cities are owned by private companies. _Commerce and Industry._--The natural resources of Guatemala are rich but undeveloped; and the capital necessary for their development is not easily obtained in a country where war, revolution and economic crises recur at frequent intervals, where the premium on gold has varied by no less than 500% in a single year, and where many of the wealthiest cities and agricultural districts have been destroyed by earthquake in one day (18th of April 1902). At the beginning of the 19th century, Guatemala had practically no export trade; but between 1825 and 1850 cochineal was largely exported, the centre of production being the Amatitlan district. This industry was ruined by the competition of chemical dyes, and a substitute was found in the cultivation of coffee. Guatemala is surpassed only by Brazil and the East Indies in the quantity of coffee it exports. The chief plantations are owned and managed by Germans; more than half of the crop is sent to Germany, while three-fifths of the remainder go to the United States and one-fifth to Great Britain. The average yearly product is about 70,000,000 lb., worth approximately L1,300,000, and subject to an export duty of one gold dollar (4s.) per quintal (101 lb.). Sugar, bananas, tobacco and cocoa are also cultivated; but much of the sugar and bananas, most of the cocoa, and all the tobacco are consumed in the country. During the colonial period, the cocoa of western Guatemala and Soconusco was reserved on account of its fine flavour for the Spanish court. The indigo and cotton plantations yield little profit, owing to foreign competition, and have in most cases been converted to other uses. The cultivation of bananas tends to increase, though more slowly than in other Central American countries. Grain, sweet potatoes and beans are grown for home consumption. Cattle-farming is carried on in the high pasture-lands and the plains of Peten; but the whole number of sheep (77,000 in 1900) and pigs (30,000) in the republic is inferior to the number kept in many single English counties. Much of the wool is sold, like the native cotton, to Indian and Ladino women, who manufacture coarse cloth and linen in their homes.