The area of them all is about 170,000 square miles, of which British Guiana has 90,000, Dutch 46,000, and French 33,000 square miles. As these countries are colonies instead of republics their governments are naturally different. Although sighted by Columbus in 1498 and visited not long afterward by traders, as there was a large Indian population, the country was settled later than Venezuela and Colombia. After various vicissitudes the earliest colonies were abandoned. The difficulties of the later settlements, the changes, insurrections, massacres, wars, and troubles of various kinds following are too numerous to recount, and we come immediately to conditions of the present time. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS The three divisions of Guiana are similar, having first a low marshy coast land, rising at the back very slightly for a distance of 10 to 40 miles. A broader, more elevated tract of sandy or clayey soil follows with a still higher region in the rear. Of the southern section the eastern part is almost all forest, the central and southwest portions have more grass clad savannas, which might support thousands of cattle if there were any way to get them out. There is a vast network of water ways, many rivers in their lower sections near the coast being connected by _caños_. The forest varies, being dense in river bottoms and thin on sandy soils. The longest river, the Essequibo, is about 600 miles, others a little less. At from 50 to 100 miles inland, all the rivers are blocked by rapids, but some are accessible to large vessels as far as these. There are various hills and mountains, the highest, the Pacaraima Range, marking in part the boundary with Venezuela, the Acarai Mountains with Brazil; the two form the water shed between the Amazon, the Orinoco, and the Essequibo rivers. Mt. Roraima, altitude 8635 feet, rising as a red rock 1500 feet above the forest, is said to have as its top a tableland of 12 square miles. Several other mountains are from 7000 to 8000 feet high. Ranges of hills and mountains from 2000 to 3000 feet traverse the country elsewhere. In Dutch and French Guiana are almost impenetrable forests, less explored than those of British Guiana, especially towards the south. A splendid waterfall is the Kaieteur, nearly five times as high as Niagara, 741 feet, with 81 feet of cataracts just below, in the midst of lovely tropical vegetation. Many other beautiful falls of less height, and cascades provide an immense amount of water power. The climate is considered good in most places though there is large rain-fall, at Georgetown averaging 93 inches a year, in some places 100; but there is no yellow fever, and other diseases except in certain localities may be guarded against. BRITISH GUIANA =Area.= This colony has an area of 90,000 square miles, exceeding that of Great Britain, a sea coast of 270 miles, and a depth varying from 300 to 535 miles. The =Population= according to the official report of 1919 is 310,000.