ity, receives the imports of
textiles, domestic wares, flour, and petroleum from the United States
and Great Britain. The railway to its port, _La Guaira_, is a remarkable
work of engineering. _Puerto Cabello_, the most important port, receives
the trade of _Valencia_. From _Maracaibo_, the port on the lagoon of the
same name, is shipped the Venezuelan coffee. _Ciudad Bolivar_ is the
river-port of the Orinoco and an important rubber-market.

=The Guianas.=--The surface conditions and climate of the Guianas resemble
those of Venezuela. The native products are also much the same, but good
business organization has made the countries bearing the general name
highly productive. For the greater part, the coast-plain is the region
of cultivation. Sugar is still the most important crop; but on account
of the fierce competition of beet-sugar, on many of the plantations
cane-sugar cultivation is unprofitable and has been abandoned for that
of rice, cacao, and tobacco. Great Britain, Holland, and France possess
the country. The divisions are known respectively as British Guiana,
Surinam, and Cayenne, and the trade of each accrues to the
mother-country. British Guiana is noted quite as much for its
gold-fields on the Venezuelan border (Cuyuni River) as for its vegetable
products. _Georgetown_, better known by the name of the surrounding
district, _Demerara_, is the focal point of business. _New Amsterdam_ is
also a port of considerable trade. The gold-mining interests centre at
_Bartica_.

[Illustration: A CACAO PLANTATION]

[Illustration: PREPARING THE BEANS FOR SHIPMENT]

[Illustration: CACAO-TREE]

[Illustration: MAKING CHOCOLATE]

Surinam, in addition to its export of vegetable products, contains rich
gold-mines, and these contribute a considerable revenue. _Paramaribo_ is
the port and centre of trade. Phosphates and gold are among the
important exports of Cayenne, whose port bears the same name.

=Brazil.=--This state, nearly the size of the United States, comprises
about half the area of South America. Much of it, including the greater
part of the Amazon River basin, is unfit for the growth of food-stuffs.

There are three regions of production. The Amazon forests yield the
greater part of the world's rubber supply. The middle coast region has
various agricultural products, of which cotton and cane-sugar are the
most important. From the southern region comes two-thirds of the world's
coffee-crop. There are productiv