HISTORIE, TECHNIEKEN EN MAATSCHAPPELIJKE ...

Based upon a closer inspection of some of these sheets and comparing them
with wellknown historical and other facts, we came to the conclusion that
this 140-sheets map was completed after 1794. Furhter, that it took Hene-
man some 10 years to finish his enlargements and not as Sypesteyn assumed
that Heneman completed his 1784 map in that short time.
3. Mapping in the 19th century
(Maps serving the gold-exploitation)
3.1. A transitional period
Although, on one hand, the plantations along the upper courses of the rivers
were abandoned, on the other, the plantation-economy became concentra-
ted along the lower reaches of these rivers and in the so called "New Colo-
ny". The last was settled primarily by English and Scots of which the topo-
nyms in Nickerie and Coronie are silent witnesses (British interregnum
1799-1818).
The decline in agriculture was due to war in Europe, the loss of the sugar-
market because of the Continental System, while our cotton could not
complete against that of the USA.
The plantation economy received its death blow with the emancipation of
slaves; surveying in Suriname also hitting a low-point at that time. In order
to put the economy back on its feet small farming was taken up and atten-
tion was paid to the gold exploitation.
The activities of the landsurveyor W.L. Loth have contributed greatly to
this exploitation.
3.2. The maps of Loth
Loth surveyed and mapped among others three traverses along which the
Governement issued gold-concessions (grants).
The first traverse connected Brokopondo on the Suriname river with Pedro-
sungu on the Marowijne river.
The second started on the same spot on the Suriname river and ran in a
western direction to the Saramacca river; while the third reached from up-
per-Tempati river to Boschland, also near Brokopondo.
A synopsis of the situation regarding the granting of gold exploitation is
given in a map of Loth from 1879 (scale 1:40.000).
He surveyed also two traverses in the Saramacca district. His work has
been set down in reports in several volumes of the (T.A.G.) Journal of the
Dutch Geographical Society, along with the activities arount the gold mi-
ning.
Finally Loth surveyed another traverse in 1892 running between the Tapa-
nahoni river and the Sara creek, after the area between the Tapanahoni-
and the Lawa-rivers was unconditionally declared Suriname territory by the
arbitral judgement of Czar Alexander 111 of Russia.
Another synopsis of the 163 plantations still in cultivation and the land-
grants on gold and other minerals is given in the map of J. Kuyper (scale
1 :800.000) and published after 1882.
As coping-stone on the activities of Loth we mention his synoptical maps
from 1889 and 1899 (both on the scale 1:1.000.000).
In his second map (1899) Loth corrected some mistakes he made concerning
the boundary with (British) Guyana and indicated the New River (upper-CO-
rantijn) as the border.