(population 18,000), with a fine harbor. The seat of government is Basse-Terre (population 8,000). The chief products consist of sugar, coffee, cacao, bananas, manioc, sweet potatoes, Indian corn and tobacco.
Guam (gwäm), the largest of the Ladrone or Marianne Islands in the north Pacific, ceded by Spain to the United States by the treaty of Paris, Dec. 10, 1898. The island is about 32 miles in length by 6 in width, and lies 1,500 miles from Manila and 4,000 from Honolulu. It is useful as a coaling station, possesses a good roadstead and about 12,000 of a population. It is a direct link in the chain of possessions between the United States (port of San Francisco) and the Philippine Islands. The climate is humid but salubrious, and the heat is tempered by the trade-winds. The capital is Agaña (pop. 6,000).
Guanajuato (gwä-nä-hwä′tō̇), capital of the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, is built on both sides of a deep ravine in the center of the large mining-district of the state. Its streets are narrow, steep and winding, although its houses are well-built and home-like. It is the seat of a great silvermining industry. The area of the state is 11,370 square miles, with a population estimated at 1,075,270. Population of Guanajuato, the capital, 35,147.
Guano (gwä′nō) and Guano Islands. Guano is the deposit of sea-fowl, found in immense quantities on certain coasts and islands where the climate is dry and free from rain. Its value in agriculture was well-known to the Peruvians long before the coming of the Spaniards. Alexander von Humboldt first brought specimens of guano to Europe in 1804. There are three classes of guanos: (1) those which have suffered little by the action of the air, retaining nearly all of their original matter, such as the Angamos and Peruvian guanos; (2) those which have lost a considerable portion of their soluble matter, but remain rich in their less soluble ones — the phosphates of lime and magnesia, as the Ichaboe, Bolivian and Chilean guanos; and (3) those which have lost nearly all their ammonia and contain but little more than the earthy phosphates of the animal deposit; in this last class must be placed the various African guanos and the West Indian, Kuria Muria {islands off the coast of Arabia), Sombrero, Patagonian and Shark's Bay guanos (Australia). Most of the so-called Peruvian guano has been obtained from the Chincha Islands off the coast of Peru. These are three small islands, often called the Guano Islands. Here multitudes of penguins and other oceanic birds build nests and breed, and large deposits of guano have accumulated. Not one of these islands covers more than a mile. They are rocky cliffs, some 300 feet high, with many caves into which the waves dash. The whole supply of guano on these islands is now exhausted.
If the value of manure be calculated, as is done by chemists, according to the amount of nitrogen which it contains, one ton of good Peruvian guano is equal to 33½ tons of farmyard manure. Its value as a manure has become so well known and its use is so great, that it is gradually being used up.
Fish-guano is dried fish ground to powder. Mussels, five-fingers or starfish, herrings and particularly sprats are mostly used in this way. In 1862 the refuse of the Norwegian cod-fisheries was first used by drying the heads and backbones upon heated floors after sun-drying them on the rocks, then grinding them to powder between mill-stones. Fish-guano has grown rapidly in favor of late years among farmers, the supplies of guano proper being practically used up, and is the best-known substitute for the Peruvian guano. One ton of fish guano is said to be equal to 17 tons of farmyard manure. Guano is made in Canada and elsewhere from lobster and crab shells, which is said to be very valuable for gardens. The annual production of fish-guano from all sources, England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and the United States, is estimated at 75,000 tons.
Guantanamo (gwȧn-tä′nȧ-mō̇) Bay, an excellent bay and harbor on the southern coast of Cuba, about 40 miles east of Santiago, the scene of a historic engagement in the middle of June, 1898, between the Spanish and the United States troops, marines, war-vessels and transports. The American marines effected a landing and established and fortified Camp McCalla. This they held for several days against a superior force, until, aided by shells from the warships, the enemy was driven off. Guantanamo City, on the Guasco River, province of Santiago de Cuba, about 13 miles by rail north of its port, Caimanera, on the Bay of Guantanamo, has a population of about 7,250; while that of the district is close upon 30,000.
Guasimas (gwäs′e-mäs), Las, Cuba, the scene of a memorable engagement in the Spanish-American War, which occurred, June 24, 1898, at Las Guasimas, near Siboney, close to the landing point at Daiquiri, about 20 miles east of Santiago on the southern coast of Cuba. The conflict was between a Spanish force of 2,000 to 3,000, concealed in a dense jungle, and General Young's brigade of dismounted American cavalry, the brunt of the fighting being borne by a battalion of 450 men of Colonel Roosevelt's regiment of Rough Riders (volunteers) and 400 Regulars. The victory, though dearly bought, rested with the Americans, the Spanish, confused and disheartened, fleeing precipitately from the field.
Guatemala (gä′tē-mä′lȧ), a Central American republic (established in 1847), lying just
