Part 9

GUADALAJARA, a province of central Spain, formed in 1833 of districts taken from New Castile; bounded on the N. by Segovia, Soria and Saragossa, E. by Saragossa and Teruel, S. by Cuenca and W. by Madrid. Pop. (1900) 200,186; area, 4676 sq. m. Along the northern frontier of Guadalajara rise the lofty Guadarrama mountains, culminating in the peaks of La Cebollera (6955 ft.) and Ocejon (6775 ft.); the rest of the province, apart from several lower ranges in the east, belongs to the elevated plateau of New Castile, and has a level or slightly undulating surface, which forms the upper basin of the river Tagus, and is watered by its tributaries the Tajuna, Henares, Jarama and Gallo. The climate of this region, as of Castile generally, is marked by the extreme severity of its winter cold and summer heat; the soil varies very much in quality, but is fertile enough in many districts, notably the cornlands of the Alcarria, towards the south. Few of the cork and oak forests which formerly covered the mountains have escaped destruction; and the higher tracts of land are mainly pasture for the sheep and goats which form the principal wealth of the peasantry. Grain, olive oil, wine, saffron, silk and flax are produced, but agriculture makes little progress, owing to defective communications and unscientific farming. In 1903, the only minerals worked were common salt and silver, and the total output of the mines was valued at L25,000. Deposits of iron, lead and gold also exist and were worked by the Romans; but their exploitation proved unprofitable when renewed in the 19th century. Trade is stagnant and the local industries are those common to almost all Spanish towns and villages, such as the manufacture of coarse cloth and pottery. The Madrid-Saragossa railway traverses the province for 70 m.; the roads are ill-kept and insufficient. Guadalajara (11,144) is the capital, and the only town with more than 5000 inhabitants; Molina de Aragon, a fortified town built at the foot of the Parameras de Molina (2500-3500 ft.), and on the right bank of the Gallo, a tributary of the Tagus, is of some importance as an agricultural centre. Siguenza, on the railway, is an episcopal city, with a fine Romanesque cathedral dating from the 11th century. It is probably the ancient _Segontia_, founded in 218 B.C. by refugees from Saguntum. The population of the province, which numbers only 42 per sq. m., decreased slightly between 1870 and 1900, and extreme poverty compels many families to emigrate (see also CASTILE).

GUADALAJARA, the capital of the Spanish province of Guadalajara, on the left bank of the river Henares, and on the Madrid-Saragossa railway, 35 m. E.N.E. of Madrid. Pop. (1900) 11,144. Guadalajara is a picturesque town, occupying a somewhat sterile plain, 2100 ft. above the sea. A Roman aqueduct and the Roman foundations of the bridge built in 1758 across the Henares bear witness to its antiquity. Under Roman and Visigothic rule it was known as _Arriaca_ or _Caraca_; its present name, which sometimes appears in medieval chronicles as _Godelfare_, represents the _Wad-al-hajarah_, or "Valley of Stones," of the Moors, who occupied the town from 714 until 1081, when it was captured by Alvar Yanez de Minaya, a comrade of the more famous Cid. The church of Santa Maria contains the image of the "Virgin of Battles," which accompanied Alphonso VI. of Castile (1072-1109) on his campaigns against the Moors; and there are several other ancient and interesting churches in Guadalajara, besides two palaces, dating from the 15th century, and built with that blend of Christian and Moorish architecture which Spaniards call the _Mudejar_ style. The more important of these is the palace of the ducal house del Infantado, formerly owned by the Mendoza family, whose _panteon_, or mausoleum, added between 1696 and 1720 to the 13th-century church of San Francisco, is remarkable for the rich sculpture of its tombs. The town and provincial halls date from 1585, and the college of engineers was originally built by Philip V., early in the 18th century, as a cloth factory. Manufactures of soap, leather, woollen fabrics and bricks have superseded the original cloth-weaving industry for which Guadalajara was long celebrated; there is also a considerable trade in agricultural produce.

GUADALQUIVIR (ancient _Baetis_, Moorish _Wadi al Kebir_, "the Great River"), a river of southern Spain. What is regarded as the main stream rises 4475 ft. above sea-level between the Sierra de Cazorla and Sierra del Pozo, in the province of Jaen. It does not become a large river until it is joined by the Guadiana Menor (Guadianamenor) on the left, and the Guadalimar on the right. Lower down it receives many tributaries, the chief being the Genil or Jenil, from the left. The general direction of the river is west by south, but a few miles above Seville it changes to south by west. Below Coria it traverses the series of broad fens known as Las Marismas, the greatest area of swamp in the Iberian Peninsula. Here it forms two subsidiary channels, the western 31 m., the eastern 12 m. long, which rejoin the main stream on the borders of the province of Cadiz. Below Sanlucar the river enters the Atlantic after a total course of 360 m. It drains an area of 21,865 sq. m. Though the shortest of the great rivers of the peninsula, it is the only one which flows at all seasons with a full stream, being fed in winter by the rains, in summer by the melted snows of the Sierra Nevada. In the time of the Moors it was navigable up to Cordova, but owing to the accumulation of silt in its lower reaches it is now only navigable up to Seville by vessels of 1200 to 1500 tons.

GUADELOUPE, a French colony in the West Indies, lying between the British islands of Montserrat on the N., and Dominica on the S., between 15 deg. 59' and 16 deg. 20' N. and 61 deg. 31' and 61 deg. 50' W. It consists of two entirely distinct islands, separated by a narrow arm of the sea, Riviere Salee (Salt river), varying from 100 ft. to 400 ft. in width and navigable for small vessels. The western island, a rugged mass of ridges, peaks and lofty uplands, is called Basse-Terre, while the eastern and smaller island, the real low-land, is known as Grande-Terre. A sinuous ridge runs through Basse-Terre from N. to S. In the north-west rises the peak of Grosse Montagne (2370 ft.), from which sharp spurs radiate in all directions; near the middle of the west coast are the twin heights of Les Mamelles (2536 ft. and 2368 ft.). Farther south the highest elevation is attained in La Soufriere (4900 ft.). In 1797 this volcano was active, and in 1843 its convulsions laid several towns in ruins; but a few thermal springs and solfataras emitting vapour are now its only signs of activity. The range terminates in the extreme south in the jagged peak of Caraibe (2300 ft.). Basse-Terre is supremely beautiful, its cloud-capped mountains being clothed with a mantle of luxuriant vegetation. On Grande-Terre the highest elevation is only 450 ft., and this island is the seat of extensive sugar plantations. It consists of a plain composed mainly of limestone and a conglomerate of sand and broken shells known as _maconne de bon dieu_, much used for building. The bay between the two sections of Guadeloupe on the north is called Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin, that on the south being Petit Cul-de-Sac Marin. Basse-Terre (364 sq. m.) is 28 m. long by 12 m. to 15 m. wide; Grande-Terre (255 sq. m.) is 22 m. long from N. to S., of irregular shape, with a long peninsula, Chateaux Point, stretching from the south-eastern extremity. Basse-Terre is watered by a considerable number of streams, most of which in the rainy season are liable to sudden floods (locally called _galions_), but Grande-Terre is practically destitute of springs, and the water-supply is derived almost entirely from ponds and cisterns.

The west half of the island consists of a foundation of old eruptive rocks upon which rest the recent accumulations of the great volcanic cones, together with mechanical deposits derived from the denudation of the older rocks. Grande-Terre on the other hand, consists chiefly of nearly horizontal limestones lying conformably upon a series of fine tuffs and ashes, the whole belonging to the early part of the Tertiary system (probably Eocene and Oligocene). Occasional deposits of marl and limestone of late Pliocene age rest unconformably upon these older beds; and near the coast there are raised coral reefs of modern date.

The mean annual temperature is 78 deg. F., and the minimum 61 deg. F., and the maximum 101 deg. F. From July to November heavy rains fall, the annual average on the coast being 86 in., while in the interior it is much greater. Guadeloupe is subject to terrible storms. In 1825 a hurricane destroyed the town of Basse-Terre, and Grand Bourg in Marie Galante suffered a like fate in 1865. The soil is rich and fruitful, sugar having long been its staple product. The other crops include cereals, cocoa, cotton, manioc, yams and rubber; tobacco, vanilla, coffee and bananas are grown, but in smaller quantities. Over 30% of the total area is under cultivation, and of this more than 50% is under sugar. The centres of this industry are St Anne, Pointe-a-Pitre and Le Moule, where there are well-equipped _usines_, and there is also a large _usine_ at Basse-Terre. The forests, confined to the island of Basse-Terre, are extensive and rich in valuable woods, but, being difficult of access, are not worked. Salt and sulphur are the only minerals extracted, and in addition to the sugar _usines_, there are factories for the making of rum, liqueurs, chocolate, besides fruit-canning works and tanneries. France takes most of the exports; and next to France, the United States, Great Britain and India are the countries most interested in the import trade.

The inhabitants of Guadeloupe consist of a few white officials and planters, a few East Indian immigrants from the French possessions in India, and the rest negroes and mulattoes. These mulattoes are famous for their grace and beauty of both form and feature. The women greatly outnumber the men, and there is a very large percentage of illegitimate births. Pop. (1900) 182,112.

The governor is assisted by a privy council, a director of the interior, a procurator-general and a paymaster, and there is also an elected legislative council of 30 members. The colony forms a department of France and is represented in the French parliament by a senator and two deputies. Political elections are very eagerly contested, the mulatto element always striving to gain the preponderance of power.

The seat of government, of the Apostolic administration and of the court of appeal is at Basse-Terre (7762), which is situated on the south-west coast of the island of that name. It is a picturesque, healthy town standing on an open roadstead. Pointe-a-Pitre (17,242), the largest town, lies in Grande-Terre near the mouth of the Riviere Salee. Its excellent harbour has made it the chief port and commercial capital of the colony. Le Moule (10,378) on the east coast of Grande-Terre does a considerable export trade in sugar, despite its poor harbour. Of the other towns, St Anne (9497), Morne a l'Eau (8442), Petit Canal (6748), St Francois (5265), Petit Bourg (5110) and Trois Rivieres (5016), are the most important.

Round Guadeloupe are grouped its dependencies, namely, La Desirade, 6 m. E., a narrow rugged island 10 sq. m. in area; Marie Galante 16 m. S.E. Les Saintes, a group of seven small islands, 7 m. S., one of the strategic points of the Antilles, with a magnificent and strongly fortified naval harbour; St Martin, 142 m. N.N.W.; and St Bartholomew, 130 m. N.N.W.

_History._--Guadeloupe was discovered by Columbus in 1493, and received its name in honour of the monastery of S. Maria de Guadalupe at Estremadura in Spain. In 1635 l'Olive and Duplessis took possession of it in the name of the French Company of the Islands of America, and l'Olive exterminated the Caribs with great cruelty. Four chartered companies were ruined in their attempts to colonize the island, and in 1674 it passed into the possession of the French crown and long remained a dependency of Martinique. After unsuccessful attempts in 1666, 1691 and 1703, the British captured the island in 1759, and held it for four years. Guadeloupe was finally separated from Martinique in 1775, but it remained under the governor of the French Windward Islands. In 1782 Rodney defeated the French fleet near the island, and the British again obtained possession in April 1794, but in the following summer they were driven out by Victor Hugues with the assistance of the slaves whom he had liberated for the purpose. In 1802 Bonaparte, then first consul, sent an expedition to the island in order to re-establish slavery, but, after a heroic defence, many of the negroes preferred suicide to submission. During the Hundred Days in 1810, the British once more occupied the island, but, in spite of its cession to Sweden by the treaty of 1813 and a French invasion in 1814, they did not withdraw till 1816. Between 1816 and 1825 the code of laws peculiar to the island was introduced. Municipal institutions were established in 1837; and slavery was finally abolished in 1848.

GUADET, MARGUERITE ELIE (1758-1794), French Revolutionist, was born at St Emilion near Bordeaux on the 20th of July 1758. When the Revolution broke out he had already gained a reputation as a brilliant advocate at Bordeaux. In 1790 he was made administrator of the Gironde and in 1791 president of the criminal tribunal. In this year he was elected to the Legislative Assembly as one of the brilliant group of deputies known subsequently as Girondins or Girondists. As a supporter of the constitution of 1791 he joined the Jacobin club, and here and in the Assembly became an eloquent advocate of all the measures directed against real or supposed traitors to the constitution. He bitterly attacked the ministers of Louis XVI., and was largely instrumental in forcing the king to accept the Girondist ministry of the 15th of March 1792. He was an ardent advocate of the policy of forcing Louis XVI. into harmony with the Revolution; moved (May 3) for the dismissal of the king's non-juring confessor, for the banishment of all non-juring priests (May 16), for the disbandment of the royal guard (May 30), and the formation in Paris of a camp of _federes_ (June 4). He remained a royalist, however, and with Gensonne and Vergniaud even addressed a letter to the king soliciting a private interview. Whatever negotiations may have resulted, however, were cut short by the insurrection of the 10th of August. Guadet, who presided over the Assembly during part of this fateful day, put himself into vigorous opposition to the insurrectionary Commune of Paris, and it was on his motion that on the 30th of August the Assembly voted its dissolution--a decision reversed on the following day. In September Guadet was returned by a large majority as deputy to the Convention. At the trial of Louis XVI. he voted for an appeal to the people and for the death sentence, but with a respite pending appeal. In March 1793 he had several conferences with Danton, who was anxious to bring about a _rapprochement_ between the Girondists and the Mountain during the war in La Vendee, but he unconditionally refused to join hands with the man whom he held responsible for the massacres of September. Involved in the fall of the Girondists, and his arrest being decreed on the 2nd of June 1793, he fled to Caen, and afterwards hid in his father's house at St Emilion. He was discovered and taken to Bordeaux, where, after his identity had been established, he was guillotined on the 17th of June 1794.

See J. Guadet, _Les Girondins_ (Paris, 1889); and F. A. Aulard, _Les Orateurs de la legislative et de la convention_ (Paris, 2nd ed., 1906).

GUADIANA (anc. _Anas_, Moorish _Wadi Ana_), a river of Spain and Portugal. The Guadiana was long believed to rise in the lowland known as the Campo de Montiel, where a chain of small lakes, the Lagunas de Ruidera (partly in Ciudad Real, partly in Albacete), are linked together by the Guadiana Alto or Upper Guadiana. This stream flows north-westward from the last lake and vanishes underground within 3 m. of the river Zancara or Giguela. About 22 m. S.W. of the point of disappearance, the Guadiana Alto was believed to re-emerge in the form of several large springs, which form numerous lakes near the Zancara and are known as the "eyes of the Guadiana" (_los ojos de Guadiana_). The stream which connects them with the Zancara is called the Guadiana Bajo or Lower Guadiana. It is now known that the Guadiana Alto has no such course, but flows underground to the Zancara itself, which is the true "Upper Guadiana." The Zancara rises near the source of the Jucar, in the east of the tableland of La Mancha; thence it flows westward, assuming the name of Guadiana near Ciudad Real, and reaching the Portuguese frontier 6 m. S.W. of Badajoz. In piercing the Sierra Morena it forms a series of foaming rapids, and only begins to be navigable at Mertola, 42 m. from its mouth. From the neighbourhood of Badajoz it forms the boundary between Spain and Portugal as far as a point near Monsaraz, where it receives the small river Priega Munoz on the left, and passes into Portuguese territory, with a southerly direction. At Pomarao it again becomes a frontier stream and forms a broad estuary 25 m. long. It enters the Gulf of Cadiz between the Portuguese town of Villa Real de Santo Antonio and the Spanish Ayamonte, after a total course of 510 m. Its mouth is divided by sandbanks into many channels. The Guadiana drains an area of 31,940 sq. m. Its principal tributaries are the Zujar, Jabalon, Matachel and Ardila from the left; the Bullaque, Ruecas, Botoa, Degebe and Cobres from the right.

The GUADIANA MENOR (or _Guadianamenor_, i.e. "Lesser Guadiana") rises in the Sierra Nevada, receives two large tributaries, the Fardes from the right and Barbata from the left, and enters the Guadalquivir near Ubeda, after a course of 95 m.

GUADIX, a city of southern Spain, in the province of Granada; on the left bank of the river Guadix, a subtributary of the Guadiana Menor, and on the Madrid-Valdepenas-Almeria railway. Pop. (1900) 12,652. Guadix occupies part of an elevated plateau among the northern foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is surrounded by ancient walls, and was formerly dominated by a Moorish castle, now in ruins. It is an episcopal see of great antiquity, but its cathedral, built in the 18th century on the site of a mosque, possesses little architectural merit. The city was once famous for its cutlery; but its modern manufactures (chiefly earthenware, hempen goods, and hats) are inconsiderable. It has some trade in wool, cotton, flax, corn and liqueurs. The warm mineral springs of Graena, much frequented during the summer, are 6 m. W. Guadix el Viejo, 5 m. N.W., was the Roman _Acci_, and, according to tradition, the seat of the first Iberian bishopric, in the 2nd century. After 711 it rose to some importance as a Moorish fortress and trading station, and was renamed _Wad Ash_, "Water of Life." It was surrendered without a siege to the Spaniards, under Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1489.

GUADUAS, a town of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia, 53 m. N.W. of Bogota on the old road between that city and the Magdalena river port of Honda. Pop. (1900, estimate) 9000, chiefly Indians or of mixed blood. It stands in a narrow and picturesque valley formed by spurs of the Eastern Cordillera, and on a small stream bearing the same name, which is that of the South American bamboo (_guaduas_), found in great abundance along its banks. Sugar-cane and coffee are cultivated in the vicinity, and fruits of various kinds are produced in great abundance. The elevation of the town is 3353 ft. above the sea, and it has a remarkably uniform temperature throughout the whole year. Guaduas has a pretty church facing upon its _plaza_, and an old monastery now used for secular purposes. The importance of the town sprang from its position on the old _camino real_ between Bogota and Honda, an importance that has passed away with the completion of the railway from Girardot to the Bogota plateau. Guaduas was founded in 1614.

GUAIACUM, a genus of trees of the natural order _Zygophyllaceae_. The guaiacum or lignum-vitae tree (Ger. _Guajakbaum_, _Franzosenbaum_, _Pockenholzbaum_; Fr. _Gayac_, _Gaiac_), _G. officinale_, is a native of the West Indies and the north coast of South America, where it attains a height of 20 to 30 ft. Its branches are numerous, flexuous and knotted; the leaves opposite and pinnate, with caducous (falling early) stipules, and entire, glabrous, obovate or oval leaflets, arranged in 2 or, more rarely, 3 pairs; the flowers are in axillary clusters (cymes), and have 5 oval pubescent sepals, 5 distinct pale-blue petals three times the length of the sepals, 10 stamens, and a 2-celled superior ovary. The fruit is about 3/4 in. long, with a leathery pericarp, and contains in each of its two cells a single seed (see fig.). _G. sanctum_ grows in the Bahamas and Cuba, and at Key West in Florida. It is distinguished from _G. officinale_ by its smaller and narrow leaflets, which are in 4 to 5 pairs, by its shorter and glabrous sepals, and 5-celled and 5-winged fruit. _G. arboreum_, the guaiacum tree of Colombia, is found in the valley of the Magdalena up to altitudes 800 metres (2625 ft.) above sea-level, and reaches considerable dimensions. Its wood is of a yellow colour merging into green, and has an almost pulverulent fracture; the flowers are yellow and conspicuous; and the fruit is dry and 4-winged.

The lignum vitae of commerce, so named on account of its high repute as a medicinal agent in past times, when also it was known as _lignum sanctum_ and _lignum Indicum_, _lignum guaycanum_, or simply _guayacan_, is procured from _G. officinale_, and in smaller amount from _G. sanctum_. It is exported in large logs or blocks, generally divested of bark, and presents in transverse section very slightly marked concentric rings of growth, and scarcely any traces of pith; with the aid of a magnifying glass the medullary rays are seen to be equidistant and very numerous. The outer wood, the sapwood or alburnum, is of a pale yellow hue, and devoid of resin; the inner, the heartwood or duramen, which is by far the larger proportion, is of a dark greenish-brown, contains in its pores 26% of resin, and has a specific gravity of 1.333, and therefore sinks in water on which the alburnum floats. Owing to the diagonal and oblique arrangement of the successive layers of its fibres, the wood cannot be split; and on account of its hardness, density and durability it is much valued for the manufacture of ships' pulleys, rulers, skittle-balls, mallets and other articles.

[Illustration: From Bentley & Trimen's _Medicinal Plants_, by permission of J. & A. Churchill.

Guaiacum or Lignum Vitae, _Guaiacum officinale_ shoot-bearing leaves and flowers. 1, Fruit; 2, Vertical section of fruit, showing the solitary pendulous seed in each chamber. All about 1/2 natural size.]