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HONDURAS

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 651 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HONDURAS , a See also:

republic of Central See also:America, bounded on the N. by the Caribbean See also:Sea, E. by See also:Nicaragua, S. by Nicaragua, the Pacific Ocean and See also:Salvador, and W. by See also:Guatemala. (For See also:map see CENTRAL AMERICA.) Pop. (1905) 500,136; See also:area, about 46,500 sq. m. Honduras is said to owe its name, meaning in See also:Spanish " depths," to the difficulty experienced by its See also:original Spanish explorers in finding anchorage off its shores; Cape Gracias a Dios (Cape " Thanks to See also:God ") is the name bestowed, for analogous reasons, on its easternmost headland, which shelters a small See also:harbour, now included in Nicaragua. See also:Modern navigators are not confronted by the same difficulty; for, although the See also:north See also:coast is unbroken by any remarkable inlet except the Carataska See also:Lagoon, a See also:land-locked See also:lake on the See also:east, with a narrow entrance from the sea, there are many small bays and estuaries, such as those of Puerto See also:Cortes, Omoa, Ulua, La Ceiba and See also:Trujillo, which serve as harbours. The broad See also:basin of the Caribbean Sea, bounded by Honduras, Guatemala and See also:British Honduras, is known as the See also:bay or gulf of Honduras. Several islets and the important See also:group of the Bay Islands (q.v.) belong to the republic. On the Pacific the Hondurian littoral is See also:short but of See also:great commercial value; for it consists of a frontage of some 6o m. on the Bay of See also:Fonseca (q.v.), one of the finest natural harbours in the See also:world. The islands of See also:Tigre, Sacate Grande and Gueguensi, in the bay, belong to Honduras. The frontier which separates the republic from Nicaragua extends across the See also:continent from E.N.E to W.S.W. It is defined by the See also:river See also:Segovia, Wanks or Coco, for about one-third of the distance; it then deflects across the See also:watershed on the east and See also:south of the river Choluteca, crosses the See also:main Nicaraguan See also:Cordillera (See also:mountain See also:chain) and follows the river See also:Negro to the Bay of Fonseca. The See also:line of separation from Salvador is irregularly See also:drawn, first in a northerly and then in a See also:westerly direction; beginning at the mouth of the river Goascoran, in the Bay of Fonseca, it ends 12 M.

W. of See also:

San Francisco See also:city. At this point begins the Guatemalan frontier, the largest See also:section of which is delimited along the crests of the Sierra de Merendon. On the Caribbean seaboard the See also:estuary of the Motagua forms the boundary between Honduras and Guatemala. See also:Physical Features.—The See also:general aspect of the See also:country is mountainous; its See also:southern See also:half is traversed by a continuation of the main Nicaraguan Cordillera. The chain does not, in this republic, approach within 5o or 6o m. of the Pacific; nor does it throughout maintain its general See also:character of an unbroken range, but sometimes turns back on itself, forming interior basins or valleys, within which are collected the headwaters of the streams that See also:traverse the country in the direction of the ;vtlantic Ocean. Nevertheless, viewed from the Pacific, it presents the See also:appearance of a great natural See also:wall, with many volcanic peaks towering above it and with a See also:lower range of mountains intervening between it and the sea. It would almost seem that at one See also:time the Pacific See also:broke at the See also:foot of the great mountain barrier, and that the subordinate coast range was subsequently thrust up by volcanic forces. At one point the main range is interrupted by a great transverse valley or See also:plain known as the plain of See also:Comayagua, which has an extreme length of about 40 m., with a width of from 5 to 15 m. From this plain the valley of the river Humuya extends north to the See also:Atlantic, and the valley of the Goascoran extends south to the Pacific. These three depressions collectively constitute a great transverse valley reaching from sea to sea, which was pointed out soon after the See also:conquest as an appropriate course for inter-oceanic communication. The mountains of the See also:northern half of Honduras arc not volcanic in character and are inferior in See also:altitude to those of the south, which sometimes exceed 10,000 ft. The See also:relief of all the See also:highlands of the Atlantic watershed is extremely varied; its culminating points are probably in the mountain See also:mass about the See also:sources of the Choluteca, Sulaco and See also:Roman, and in the Sierra de Pija. near the coast.

Farther eastward the different ranges are less clearly marked and the See also:

surface of the country resembles a See also:plateau intersected by numerous watercourses. The See also:rivers of the Atlantic slope of Honduras are numerous and some of them of large See also:size and navigable. The largest is the Ulua, with its tributary the Humuya. It rises in the plain of Comayagua and flows north to the Atlantic; it drains a wide expanse of territory; comprehending nearly one-third of the entire See also:state, and probably discharges a greater amount of See also:water into the sea than any other river of Central America, the Segovia excepted. It may be navigated by steamers of See also:light See also:draught for the greater See also:part of its course. The Rio Roman or Aguan is a large stream falling into the Atlantic near Trujillo, with a See also:total length of about 120 M. Its largest tributary is the Rio Mangualil, celebrated for its See also:gold washings, and it may be ascended by boats of light draft for 8o m. Rio Tinto, Negro or See also:Black River, called also Poyer'or Poyas, is a considerable stream, navigable by small vessels for about 6o m. Some See also:English settlements were made on its See also:banks during the 18th See also:century. The Patuca rises near the frontier of Nicaragua, and enters the Atlantic east of the See also:Brut, or See also:Brewer lagoon. The Segovia is the longest river in Central America, rising within 5o m. of the Bay of Fonseca, and flowing into the Caribbean Sea at Cape Gracias a Dios (see NtcARACCA). Three considerable rivers flow into the Pacific—the Goascoran, Nacaome and Choluteca, the last named having a length of about 15o In.

The Goascoran, which almost interlocks with the Humuya, in the plain of Comayagua, has a length of about 8o m. The lake of Yojoa or Tauh be is the only large inland lake in Honduras, and is about 25 m. in length, by 6 to 8 in breadth. Its surface is ao5o ft. above the sea. It has two outlets on the south, the rivers Jaitique and Sacapa, which unite about 15 in. from the lake; and it is drained on the north by the Rio Blanco, a narrow, deep stream falling into the Ulua. It has also a feeder on the north, in the See also:

form of a subterranean stream of beautiful clear water, which here comes to the surface. The Carataska or Caratasca lagoon is a shallow See also:salt-water lake connected by a narrow channel with the Atlantic, and near the mouth of the Segovia. It contains several large sandy islands. Honduras resembles the neighbouring countries in the general character of its See also:geological formations, See also:fauna and See also:flora. Here, as in other Central See also:American states, there arc but two seasons, the wet, from May to See also:November, and the dry, from November to May. On the moist lowlands of the Atlantic coast the See also:climate is oppressive, but on the highlands of the interior it is delightful. At See also:Tegucigalpa, on the uplands, a See also:year's observations showed the maximum temperature to be 9o° F. in May, and the minimum to be 5o° F. in See also:December, the range of variation during the whole year being within 4o° F. See also CENTRAL AMERICA: See also:Geology, Fauna, Flora, Climate.

Inhahilants.The inhabitants of Honduras are in many cases of the See also:

Indian or aboriginal type, and the See also:European See also:element is very small, although it shares in the social, See also:political and economic preponderance of the Spanish-speaking half-castes (Ladinos or Mestizos), who are the most numerous section of the See also:population. Throughout the country there are many interesting See also:relics of the native See also:civilization which was destroyed by the Spanish invaders in the 16th century. In the eastern portion of the state, between the Rio Roman, Cape Gracias a Dios, and the Segovia river, the country is almost exclusively occupied by native Indian tribes, known under the general names of Xicaques and Poyas. In many districts the See also:Indians are known as Lencas, a generic name which includes several tribes akin to the Mayans of Guatemala. Portions of all of these tribes have accepted the Roman See also:Catholic See also:religion, and live in peaceful neighbourhood and See also:good understanding with the See also:white inhabitants. There are, however, considerable See also:numbers, probably about 90,000 in all, who live among the mpoontaiuand still conform closely to the aboriginal modes of See also:life. They all cultivate the See also:soil, and are good and industrious labourers. A small portion of the coast, above Cape Gracias, is occupied by the Sambos, a mixed See also:race of Indians and negroes, which, however, is fast disappearing. Spreading along the entire north coast are the Caribs, a vigorous race, descendants of the Caribs of St See also:Vincent, one of the Windward Islands. These, to the number of 5000, were deported in 1796 by the English and landed on the See also:island of Roatan. They still retain their native See also:language, although it tends to disappear and be replaced by Spanish and a See also:bastard See also:dialect of English; they are active, industrious and provident, forming the See also:chief reliance of the See also:mahogany cutters on the coast. A portion of them, who have a mixture of negro See also:blood, are called the Black Caribs.

They profess the Roman Catholic religion, but retain many of their native See also:

rites and superstitions. In the departments of Gracias, Comayagua and Choluteca are many purely Indian towns. The aggregate population, according to an See also:official estimate made in 1905, is 500,136, but a See also:complete and satisfactory See also:census cannot be taken throughout the country, since the ignorant masses of the See also:people, and especially the Indians, avoid a census as in some way connected with military See also:conscription or See also:taxation. The bulk of the Spanish populatibn exists on the Pacific slope of the continent, while on the Atlantic declivity the country is uninhabited or but sparsely occupied by Indian tribes, of which the number is wholly unknown. In 1905 there were fewer than 11 inhabitants per sq. m., but all the available data tend to show that the population increases rapidly, owing to the continuous excess of births over deaths. The first census, taken in 1791, gave the total population as only 95,500. There is little See also:emigration or See also:immigration. Chief Towns.--The See also:capital is Tegucigalpa (pop. 1905, about 35,000); other important towns are See also:Jutigalpa (18,000), Comayagua (8000), and the seaports of See also:Amapala (4000), Trujillo (4000), and Puerto Cortes Woo). These are described in See also:separate articles. The towns of Nacaome, La Esperanza, Choluteca and See also:Santa See also:Rosa have upwards of ro,000 inhabitants. Communications.—Means of communication are very defective.

In 1905 the only railway in the country was that from Puerto Cortes to La Pimienta, a distance of J7 m. This is a section of the proposed inter-oceanic railway for which the See also:

external See also:debt of the republic was incurred. For the completion of the line concessions, one after another, were granted, and expired or were revoked. Other See also:railways are projected, including one along the Atlantic coast, an See also:extension from La Pimienta to La Brea on the Pacific, and a line from Tegucigalpa to the See also:port of San Lorenzo. The capital is connected with other towns by fairly well made roads, which, however, are not kept in good repair. In the interior generally, all travelling and transport are by mules and ox-carts over roads which defy description. Honduras joined the Postal See also:Union in 1879. The See also:telegraph service is conducted by the See also:government and is inefficient. Telephones are in use in Tegucigalpa and a few of the more important towns. See also:Commerce and See also:Industry.—Although grants of land for See also:mining and agricultural purposes are readily made by the state to companies and individual capitalists, the economic development of Honduras has been a very slow See also:process, impeded as it has been by political disturbances and in modern times by See also:national See also:bankruptcy, heavy import and export duties, and the scarcity of both. labour and capital. The natural See also:wealth of the country is great and consists especially in its See also:vegetable products. The mahogany and See also:cedar of Honduras are unsurpassed, but reckless destruction of these and of other valuable See also:cabinet-See also:woods and dye-woods has much reduced the See also:supply available for export.

See also:

Rubber-planting, a comparatively modern industry, has proved successful, and tends to supplement the almost exhausted stock of See also:wild rubber. Of still greater importance are the plantations of bananas, especially in the northern maritime See also:province of Atlantida, where coco-nuts are also grown. See also:Coffee,, See also:tobacco, See also:sugar, oranges, lemons, See also:maize and beans are produced in all parts, See also:rice, See also:cocoa, See also:indigo and See also:wheat over more limited areas. See also:Cattle and pigs are bred extensively; cattle are exported to See also:Cuba, and See also:dairy-farming is carried on with success. See also:Sheep-farming is almost an unknown industry. Turtle and See also:fish are obtained in large quantities off the Atlantic seaboard. In its See also:mineral resources Honduras ranks first among the states of Central America. See also:Silver is worked by a British See also:company, gold by an American company. Gold-washing was practised in a See also:primitive manner even before the Spanish conquest, and in the 18th century immense quantities of gold and silver were obtained by the Spaniards from mines near Tegucigalpa. Opals, See also:platinum, See also:copper, See also:lead, See also:zinc, See also:nickel, See also:antimony, See also:iron, See also:lignite and ce l hp. - See also:ben- found but tt,e caiisee a!See also:reed•, enumerated hgsie prevented the exploitation of any of these minerals on a large See also:scale, and the total value of the ores exported was only £174,800 in 1904 and 039,426 in 1905. The total value of the exports in a normal year ranges from about £500,000 to £600,000, and that of the imports from £450,000 to £550,000.

Apart from minerals the most valuable commodity exported is bananas (0o9,263 in 1905); coco-nuts, See also:

timber, hides, See also:deer-skins, feathers, coffee, See also:sarsaparilla and rubber are items of See also:minor importance. Nearly 90 `io of the exports are shipped to the See also:United States, which also send to Honduras more than half of its imports. These chiefly consist of See also:cotton goods, hardware and provisions. The manufacturing See also:industries of Honduras include the plaiting of See also:straw hats, See also:cigar-making, See also:brick-making and the See also:distillation of See also:spirits. See also:Finance.—Owing to the greater variety of its products and the See also:possession of a metallic currency, Honduras is less affected by fluctuations of See also:exchange than the neighbouring republics, in which little except See also:paper See also:money circulates. The monetary unit is the silver peso or See also:dollar of too cents, which weighs 25 grammes, .900 See also:fine, and is See also:worth alesut Is. 8d.; the gold dollar is worth about 4s. The See also:principal coins in circulation are the 1-cent copper piece, 5, 10, 20, 25 and 5o cents, and I peso silver pieces, and 1, 5, 10 and 20 dollar gold pieces. The metric See also:system of weights and See also:measures, adopted officially on the 1st of See also:April 1897, has not supplanted the older Spanish See also:standards in general use. There is only one hank in the republic, the Banco de Honduras, with its See also:head See also:office at Tegucigalpa. Its bills are legal See also:tender for all debts See also:chic to the state. In See also:July 1909 the See also:foreign debt of Honduras, with arrears of See also:interest, amounted to £22,470,510, of which more than £17,000,000 were for arrears of interest.

The principal was borrowed between 1867 and 1870, chiefly for railway construction; but it was mainly devoted to other purposes and no interest has been paid since 1872. The republic is thus practically bankrupt. The See also:

revenue, derived chiefly from customs and from the spirit, See also:gunpowder and tobacco monopolies reached an See also:average of about 0265,000 during the five years 1901–'905; the See also:expenditure in normal years is about £250,000. The principal spending departments are those of See also:war, finance, public See also:works and See also:education. Constitution and Government.—The constitution of Honduras, promulgated in 1839 and frequently amended, was to a great extent recast in 1880. It was again remodelled in 1894, when a new See also:charter was proclaimed. This See also:instrument gives the legislative See also:power to a See also:congress of deputies elected for four years by popular See also:vote, in the ratio of one member for every io,000 imhabitants. Congress meets on the 1st of See also:January and sits for sixty consecutive days. The executive is entrusted to the See also:president, who is nominated and elected for four years by popular vote, and is re-eligible for a second but not for a third consecutive See also:term. He is assisted by a See also:council of ministers representing the departments of the interior, war, finance, public works, education and See also:justice. For purposes of See also:local See also:administration the republic is divided into sixteen departments. The highest judicial power is vested in the Supreme See also:Court, which consists of five popularly elected See also:judges; there are also four Courts of See also:Appeal, besides subordinate departmental and See also:district tribunals.

The active See also:

army consists of about Soo See also:regular soldiers and 20,000 See also:militia, recruited by conscription from all able-bodied See also:males between the ages of twenty and See also:thirty. Service in the reserve is obligatory for a further See also:period of ten years. Religion and Education.—Roman Catholicism is the creed of a very large See also:majority of the population ; but the constitution grants complete See also:liberty to all religious communities, and no See also:Church is supported by public funds or receives any other See also:special See also:privilege. Education is See also:free, See also:secular and compulsory for See also:children between the ages of seven and fifteen. There are See also:primary See also:schools in every convenient centre, but the percentage of illiterates is high, especially among the Indians. The state maintains a central See also:institute and a university at Tegucigalpa, a school of See also:jurisprudence at Comayagua, and colleges for secondary education, with special schools for teachers, in each See also:department. The See also:annual cost of primary education is about L11,000. See also:History.—It was at Cape Honduras that See also:Columbus first landed on the American continent in 1502, and took possession of the country on behalf of See also:Spain. The first See also:settlement was made in 1524 by See also:order of Hernando Cortes, who had heard rumours of See also:rich and populous empires in this region, and sent his See also:lieutenant Christobal de Olid to found a Spanish See also:colony. ()lid endeavoured to establish an See also:independent principality, and, in order to resume See also:control of the settlers, Cortes was compelled to undertake the See also:long and arduous See also:march across the mountains of southern See also:Mexico and Guatemala. In the See also:spring of 1525 he reached the colony and founded the city which is now Puerto Cortes See also:lie entrusted the administration to a new See also:governor,whose successors were to be nominated by the See also:king, and returned to Mexico in 1526. By 1539, when Honduras was incorporated in the captaincy-general of Guatemala, the mines of the province had proved to be the richest as yet discovered in the New World and several large cities had come into existence.

The system under which Honduras was administered from 1539 to 1821, when it repudiated the authority of the Spanish See also:

crown, the effects of that system, the part subsequently played by Honduras in the protracted struggle for Central American unity, and the invasion by See also:William See also:Walker and his See also:fellow-adventurers (1856–186o), are fully described under CENTRAL AMERICA. War and revolution had stunted the economic growth of the country and retarded every See also:attempt at social or political reform; its future was mortgaged by the See also:assumption of an enormous See also:burden of debt in 1869 and 1870. A renewal of war with Guatemala in 1871, and a revolution three years later in the interests of the ex-president See also:Medina, brought about the intervention of the neighbouring states and the provisional See also:appointment to the See also:presidency of Marco Aurelio See also:Soto, a nominee of Guatemala. This appointment proved successful and was confirmed by popular vote in 1877 and 1S8o, when a new constitution was issued and the seat of government fixed at Tegucigalpa. Fresh outbreaks of See also:civil war occurred frequently between 1883 and 1903; the republic was bankrupt and progress again at a standstill. In 1903 See also:Manuel Bonilla, an able, popular and experienced general, gained the presidency and seemed likely to repeat the success of Soto in maintaining order. As his term of office See also:drew. to a See also:close, and his re-See also:election appeared certain, the supporters of See also:rival candidates and some of his own dissatisfied adherents intrigued to secure the co-operation of Nicaragua for his overthrow. Bonilla welcomed the opportunity of consolidating his own position which a successful war would offer; Jose See also:Santos Zelaya, the president of Nicaragua, was equally ambitious; and several alleged violations of territory had embittered popular feeling on both sides. The United States and Mexican governments endeavoured to secure a peaceful settlement without intervention, but failed. At the outbreak of hostilities in See also:February 1907 the Hondurian forces were commanded by Bonilla in See also:person and by General Sotero Barahona his See also:minister of war. One of their chief subordinates was See also:Lee See also:Christmas, See also:art adventurer from See also:Memphis, See also:Tennessee, who had previously been a See also:locomotive-See also:driver. Honduras received active support from his ally, Salvador, and was favoured by public See also:opinion throughout Central America.

But from the outset the Nicaraguans proved victorious, largely owing to their remarkable mobility. Their See also:

superior See also:naval force enabled them to See also:capture Puerto Cortes and La Ceiba, and to threaten other cities on the Caribbean coast; on land they were aided by a See also:body of Hondurian rebels, who also established a See also:pro-visional government. Zelaya captured Tegucigalpa after severe fighting, and besieged Bonilla in Amapala. Lee Christmas was killed. The surrender of Amapala on the 11th of April practically ended the war. Bonilla took See also:refuge on See also:board the United States cruiser " See also:Chicago." A noteworthy feature of the war was the attitude of the American naval See also:officers, who landed See also:marines, arranged the surrender of Amapala, and pre-vented Nicaragua prolonging hostilities. Honduras was now evacuated by the Nicaraguans and her provisional government was recognized by Zelaya. See also:Miguel R. See also:Davila was president in I9o8 and 1909: B1BL1o0RAPi1Y.-Official documents such as the annual presi- dential See also:message and the reports of the ministries are published i?i Spanish at Tegucigalpa. Other periodical publications which throw much light on the See also:movement of See also:trade and politics are the British Foreign Office reports (See also:London, annual), United States consular reports (See also:Washington, monthly), bulletins of the See also:Bureau of American Republics (Washington), and reports of the Council of the Corpora- tion of Foreign Bondholders (London, annual). For a more com- prehensive See also:account of the country and its history, the works of K. Sapper, E.

G. Squier, A. H. See also:

Keane and T.

End of Article: HONDURAS

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