HONDUBAS, BRITISH. 333
Chief sources of revenue : Customs duties (1819-20, 138,540/.) ; excise, licences, land-tax, 4c. ; also sale and letting of Crown lands. Expenditure mainly administrative and the various services. Debt 1919-20, 160,000/.
Chief imports, 1919 : apparel, 28,649?. ; boots and shoes, 34,128/. ; chicle
gum, 116,8 n and silk piece goods, 75,402/. ; flour, 51.'-'-
haberdasherv- and millinery, 21,649/.; hardware and cutlery, 30,
manufactured articles urn-numerated, 29,244/. ; milk, preserved or condensed,
- >ork, 15,461. ; cattle, 13,232/. ; drugs, chemicals and
patn;: 73/. ; food and drink supplies unenumerated, 16,393/.;
hri and its com] mineral gasoline, 8,135/. ; kerosene,
17,63 unrefined, 12,519/. Chief exports, 1919 :
mahogany (9,648,700 superficial feet, 205,118/.), logwood (2,776 tons,
oanauas (604,226 bunches), 29,932/. ; cedar (704,697 superdul
feet, 1 7,034/. i, . ' ; quantity, 51,515/.), chicle (gum),
764 lbs., 436,36 i,379 lba., 7,153/.) The
transit trade somewhat increases the tra;5c of the ports, especially in
American manufactv. rubber, chich, sarsaparilla, coffee, lie.
es the staple products, mahogany and logwood, there are bananas,
cotfee, cacao, plantains, ke. The higher parts afford good pasturage for
cattle. Exports to United Eingdom in 1919. 133,576/.; United S totes
'•i'l/. ; Mexico, 55,857/. Importsfrom the United Eingdom,
I States of America, 589,193/.; Mexico, 114/.
Guatemala, 36,329/. : Spanish Honduras, 82,936/.
Tot ~d and cleared, 1919, 304,541 tons, of which 83,066 was
lipping, 1919, 2S5 sailing vessels, 4060 tons, and 75 SteainsL: I and cleared in 1919, 262 vessels,
of 140 In 191H, 346,721 letters and post-cards, and 151,591
books, newspapers, and parcels passed through the post office. Telegraph and telephone line* connect Belize with Corozal and Consejo on the coast, Orange Walk on New - in Antonio on the Rio Hondo, and other
stations in the nort: o and Bengue Viejo in the west, Stann
Creek and Punta Gorda in " the south. Foreign telegrams are sent from Corozal to Payo Obispo, Yucatan (these two towns being connected by cable across the Hondo River), whence they are transmitted by the Mexican line. There is wireless communication with New Orleans and Jamaica. In 1919, 12,066 local and foreign telegrams were sent, and 4,086 telephonic conversations were held. There are 25 miles of railway.
1 6 Radio telegrams were transmitted.
The Royal Bank of Canada took over the business of the local bank in 1912. There are 6 Government savings banks ; depositors, 1,000 estimated); deposits, 158,341 dollars on March 31, 1920. United States gold is the stan- dard of currency. The British sovereign and half-sovereign are legal tender for 4 "86 dollars'and 2 "43 dollars respectively. There is (1919) a paper currency of 259.702 dollars in Government notes and a subsidiary silver coinage of 190,160 dollars in circulation. There is also a bronze cent piece and a nickel-bronze five-cent piece, whose issues amount to 5,650 dollars and 5,500 dollais respectively.
References : Colonial Reports. Annual. London.
BrUto .:» ( L. W. ) and Wright (P. B.), Handbook of British Honduras. Edinburgh, 1892.
Gibbt(X. R.). History of British Hondaras. London, 1883.
Jforrw (D.), The Colony of British Honduras. London, 1883.
Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Montserrat, Nevis. See West Indies.
