=Paramaribo=, population 37,000, the capital and the only city of importance, is situated at the mouth of the Surinam River. Other settlements are on or near the coast, mostly a little east or west of the Surinam, between the Saramacca and the Commewyne rivers. Some remarkable cross channels and the various rivers make boat navigation possible, at least in the rainy season, all the way from the Maroni River, the eastern boundary, to the Corentyn on the west. Like the rivers in British Guiana those here are not navigable far up, being likewise interrupted by rapids. Back of the low coast land are savannas with low hills, some rising to 3000 feet, and impenetrable forests back to the Tumac Humac Range along the Brazilian frontier. There are a long and a short dry season with periods of heavy and lighter rain. =Transportation.= The only port of commercial importance is the capital. Internal communication, in addition to the rivers and channels, is confined to a single railway extending 109 miles from Paramaribo to Macami on the Surinam River, a gold shipping point, to which at last accounts there was a weekly train. RESOURCES The natural resources of the country are practically the same as those of British Guiana. AGRICULTURE =Sugar= was a source of great wealth in the days of slavery, but since this was abolished in 1863 the industry has declined. Where once there were 400 plantations with an export of 26,000,000 pounds in the year 1800, there are now hardly a dozen, scarcity of labor hindering industry. The soil is rich, and recently there has been some revival, so that 25,000,000 pounds were produced in 1918. =Cacao= has been cultivated from the beginning, and increasingly after the abolition of slavery. From 1870 when 1,000,000 pounds were exported the production increased until 9,000,000 were exported in 1895, since when it has been declining. Some plantations were ruined by a disease which attacked the trees. Its effects have been gradually overcome, and the crop in 1918 was nearly 4,000,000 pounds. =Coffee= was a large crop in the 18th century, 400 plantations producing over 12,000,000 pounds annually; later the production decreased to 500,000 pounds, but in 1918 was over 3,700,000. =Balatá= for a while was first in importance, but later diminished. =Rice= alone shows progress but though 7,500,000 pounds are raised, some is imported, mostly from British Guiana. Some bananas are raised, over 700,000 bunches, a few sent to Europe. The production of corn was nearly 4,000,000 pounds; of rum over 1,000,000 litres. MINING =Gold= has been mined for a long time. After a large discovery in 1876 there was a rush to the field. For ten years prior to 1914 gold production declined, but increased in 1915 when nearly $800,000 in bullion was exported to the United States. Some European countries have invested, but few attempts with machinery have been successful.