VERACRUZ.-State of Veracruz; population, 67,800. An important port on Gulf of Mexico, 264 miles from Mexico City via the Mexican Railway and 293 miles via the Interoceanic Railway (National Railways of Mexico); 1,973 nautical miles from New York.

How Reached.-By rail.-Via the Mexican Railway Veracruz is connected with Cordoba, Orizaba, Apizaco, Puebla, and Mexico City; via the Interoceanic Railway, with Mexico City, Oriental, Jalapa, and Puebla; and via the National Railways of Mexico, with Tapachula and Suchiate on the Guatemalan border. It is also connected by rail via the Ferrocarril de Veracruz a Alvarado (National Railways of Mexico) with Alvarado, State of Veracruz. By water. Various steamships call at Veracruz, connecting this port with New Orleans, New York, Habana, and European ports. By air and highway. The port is connected by air with Mexico City, Merida, Tuxpan, and Minatitlan; and by highway, with Jalapa, Puebla, Tehuacan, and Mexico City.

Hotels.-Colon; Diligencias; Imperial; Terminal.

Banks.-Banco Nacional de Mexico, S. A.; Banco Capitalizador de Ahorros, S. A.; Banco Capitalizador de America, S. A.; Banco Nacional de Credito Agricola, S. A.

Chamber of Commerce.-Camara Nacional de Comercio.
Note.-American consular office at Veracruz.

CENTRAL AMERICA

BRITISH HONDURAS

AREA, TOPOGRAPHY, AND CLIMATE

British Honduras is a British Crown Colony, the only political division of Central America which is not a republic. Its area of 8,600 square miles, or a little more than that of the State of New Jersey, lies to the east of northern Guatemala and southeast of the Mexican Peninsula of Yucatan.

Topography. The coastal lands, which extend about 180 miles along the Caribbean Sea, and the northern half of the Colony are level; but immediately back of the southern coastal area the land rises in hills and mountains, having in the Cockscomb Range a maximum elevation of about 3,500 feet. West of the mountains lies an undulating, grassy country, suitable for grazing.

Climate. The climate is subtropical, with hot days and cool nights prevailing. The heat is tempered along the coast by trade winds, and in the interior by elevation. The hottest months at Belize, the capital, are from May through September, the highest average temperature being 83° F., in August. The average during the coolest month, January, is usually about 76° F.

The rainy season begins in May, with a fall of about 5 inches; attains a maximum in November, with about 13 inches; and ends in January, with around 7 inches. The dry season extends from February through April, when the average monthly rainfall is about 3 inches.

POPULATION AND PURCHASING POWER

The population of British Honduras is estimated at 57,000, or about 6.6 per square mile. Only about 2 percent of the inhabitants are pure white-largely English, Scotch, and American. Between one-fourth and one-third of the total live in Belize. English is the commercial and official language, and is the language taught in the schools, although Spanish is generally understood and often used in the northern and western part of the Colony.

About 10 percent of the people live moderately well. The standard of living for the rest of the population, comprised mostly of unskilled laborers, is not high because of the low scale of wages prevailing. No statistics of national income or purchas

ing power are available, but the buying power for imported goods is concentrated largely in the capital, a city of about 17,000 inhabitants. Per capita imports for domestic consumption amount to approximately $45; per capita exports, exclusive of reexports, are around $32. There are only about 140 automobiles in use in the Colony.

CHIEF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

The leading industries of British Honduras are cutting and exporting timber, including mahogany, cedar, and rosewood; sapodilla-tree bleeding for the procurement of chicle; and banana growing. Banana production was formerly of outstanding importance in the foreign trade, but it has been retarded in recent years by the Panama and Sigatoka leaf diseases and now ranks third as a domestic-export industry.

Grapefruit is cultivated and shipped out, both fresh and canned, in fairly large and increasing quantities. Coconuts are plentiful, and from 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 are exported annually. Sugarcane is grown for the manufacture of rum and sugar. Corn, rice, beans, and garden vegetables are produced for local consumption, but the output of rice, beans, and peas is not sufficient for the Colony's requirements and considerable quantities have to be imported.

Manufacturing.-Manufacturing is for the most part unimportant. It comprises mostly small plants for producing electricity and ice; building and repairing of small water craft; bottling of aerated waters; sawing of lumber; furniture making; cigarette and cigar manufacture; soap making; a little moccasin and shoe making; tailoring; bakeries; two rice mills; and a sugar factory.

Principal Exports.-The principal exports (including reex ports) of natural products for 1938, in order of importance, were mahogany logs and lumber; chicle; bananas; fresh and canned grapefruit; coconuts; cedar logs and lumber; copra; logwood; and rosewood. The rest consisted principally of manufactured goods, petroleum products, and foodstuffs, brought in from abroad and reexported to nearby areas.

TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION

Steamship Service.-British Honduras can be reached from New Orleans by vessels of the United Fruit Co. Sailings, however, are irregular, and information should be obtained from the company, at either its New Orleans or its New York office. Belize can also be reached from New York via the United Fruit Co. service or from Boston by the Canadian National Steamships by transferring at Kingston, Jamaica, to vessels of the Canadian National Steamships operating a shuttle service between that city and Belize every 2 weeks. Service from New

Orleans via the United Fruit Co. line may be direct or by transferring at Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. Time between New Orleans and Belize by direct service is 3 days and the fare is $55; but time and fare are necessarily increased when transfers are made.

Air Service. For travel by air, information should be obtained from the Pan American Airways at its offices in New York; Miami, Fla.; or Brownsville, Tex. This company operates a service between Miami, Fla., and Merida, Mexico, on Thursdays, and an airplane of the Chiapas Air Service leaves Merida, Yucatan, every Tuesday and Friday, and arrives in Belize the same day.

Local Transportation. The only systematic local transportation from Belize to other ports of the country is by motorboats along the coast, north and south, and on the Belize River. Irregular transportation is provided by auxiliary schooners and by small boats. There is an airplane service between Belize and the chief towns of the outlying districts.

Throughout a large part of the Colony overland transportation is possible only by mules or by native carriers, over unsurveyed bush or forest tracks. There are 75 miles of graded roads and 125 miles of metaled roads.

Postage. British Honduras is a member of the Universal Postal Union. Letter rate from the United States is 5 cents per ounce or fraction thereof. Air-mail and parcel-post service is available from the United States. Insufficiently paid mail is charged double the deficiency on delivery.

Wireless Telegraph.-There is no cable service, but a wireless telegraph station has been established at Belize. The full rate between New York or Washington and Belize is 33 cents a word, and between New Orleans and Belize, 29 cents. Between Belize and these and other places there is a half rate for LCO (deferred messages in the English language) and a one-third rate for night letters, which must consist of at least 25 words.

ARRIVAL

Although no passport or visa is required for an American citizen entering British Honduras, a passport is necessary if the traveler desires to go on to another country of Central America. It is therefore recommended that a passport be obtained for this purpose before leaving the United States.

Quarantine Regulations.-When a person arrives in British Honduras from a port where an infectious disease is known to prevail, he may be required, on arrival, to be vaccinated against the disease. The regulation is seldom, if ever, enforced against persons arriving directly from the United States. Travelers arriving with an infectious disease may be detained in quarantine at their own expense. Although quarantine regulations provide that passengers arriving from certain parts of the West

Indies and Latin America be permitted to land only on condition that they report at the Belize hospital for a number of days for medical inspection, it has become the practice to waive an appearance at the hospital, but, in the discretion of the medical officer boarding the vessel, to require vaccination in cases where a recent vaccination certificate is not available.

Salesmen's Samples and Licenses.-Sample trunks and contents are admitted on payment of a deposit equivalent to the full duty on their value. This deposit is returned to payee on his departure, provided his outgoing stock agrees with that brought in.

Sample items may be sold by permission of the collector of customs and the corresponding duty deducted from the deposit. The salesman must produce a correctly itemized and correctly priced list of all his samples, and must deposit it with the customs authorities, together with his samples, for checking. He must then obtain from the town board a traveling salesman's license, costing $15 in Belize and good for one visit, which he must produce at the customs offices before his samples will be released. For visiting any of the districts outside Belize, an additional license, at a cost of $10 per license for each district and good for 1 year, is necessary.

Sample displays sent to a traveling salesman, and therefore unaccompanied, are admitted on certificate of the salesman that they are samples, and are not for sale unless permission of the collector of customs is obtained therefor and full duty deposited. These samples must leave the Colony within 3 months, or the deposit will be forfeited. When samples arrive ahead of the salesman, they are bonded until his arrival. Samples sent to resident agents or prospective customers are free if clearly marked "Sample" and if valued at less than $1; if the value is $1 or over, the goods are subject to duty. Catalogs, price lists, and similar matter are admitted duty-free.

Used personal effects, including clothing, accompanying owner or arriving for him, are admitted free on arrival and up to 6 months after arrival of passenger. Consular invoices are not required for goods imported from the United States. Services of a customs broker are not necessary.

SALES TERRITORIES

Most traveling salesmen visit Belize only. This is the capital of the Colony, and the largest town and only one of importance. The salesmen of Belize wholesalers canvass the places of less importance. Resident agents should be appointed only in Belize.

HINTS TO TRAVELERS

Best Visiting Time. The best periods to visit Belize are January to April, inclusive, and October-the former because of