MR. E. H. PLUMACHER, U. S. Consul at Maracaibo, sends to the State
Department the following information touching the wealth of coal and
petroleum probable in Venezuela:
The asphalt mines and petroleum fountains are most abundant in that part
of the country lying between the River Zulia and the River Catatumbo,
and the Cordilleras. The wonderful sand-bank is about seven kilometers
from the confluence of the Rivers Tara and Sardinarte. It is ten meters
high and thirty meters long. On its surface can be seen several round
holes, out of which rises the petroleum and water with a noise like that
made by steam vessels when blowing off steam, and above there ascends a
column of vapor. There is a dense forest around this sand-bank, and the
place has been called "El Inferno." Dr. Edward McGregor visited the
sand-bank, and reported to the Government that by experiment he had
ascertained that one of the fountains spurted petroleum and water at the
rate of 240 gallons per hour. Mr. Plumacher says that the petroleum is
of very good quality, its density being that which the British market
requires in petroleum imported from the United States. The river, up to
the junction of the Tara and Sardinarte, is navigable during the entire
year for flat-bottomed craft of forty or fifty tons.
Mr. Plumacher has been unable to discover that there are any deposits
of asphalt or petroleum in the upper part of the Department of Colon,
beyond the Zulia, but he has been told that the valleys of Cucuta and
the territories of the State of Tachira abound in coal mines. There are
coal mines near San Antonia, in a ravine called "La Carbonera," and
these supply coal for the smiths' forges in that place. Coal and asphalt
are also found in large quantities in the Department of Sucre. Mr.
Plumacher has seen, while residing in the State of Zulia, but one true
specimen of "lignite," which was given to him by a rich land-owner,
who is a Spanish subject. In the section where it was found there are
several fountains of a peculiar substance. It is a black liquid, of
little density, strongly impregnated with carbonic acid which it
transmits to the water which invariably accompanies it. Deposits of this
substance are found at the foot of the spurs of the Cordilleras, and are
believed to indicate the presence of great deposits of anthracite.
There are many petroleum wells of inferior quality between Escuque and
Bettijoque, in the town of Columbia. Laborers gather the petroleum in
handkerchiefs. After these become saturated, the oil is pressed out by
wringing. It is burned in the houses of the poor. The people thought, in
1824, that it was a substance unknown elsewhere, and they called it
the "oil of Columbia." At that time they hoped to establish a valuable
industry by working it, and they sent to England, France, and this
country samples which attracted much attention. But in those days no
method of refining the crude oil had been discovered, and therefore
these efforts to introduce petroleum to the world soon failed.
The plains of Ceniza abound in asphalt and petroleum. There is a large
lake of these substances about twelve kilometers east of St. Timoteo,
and from it some asphalt is taken to Maracaibo. Many deposits of asphalt
are found between these plains and the River Mene. The largest is that
of Cienega de Mene, which is shallow. At the bottom lies a compact
bed of asphalt, which is not used at present, except for painting
the bottoms of vessels to keep off the barnacles. There are wells of
petroleum in the State of Falcon.
Mr. Plumacher says that all the samples of coal submitted to him in
Venezuela for examination, with the exception of the "lignite" before
mentioned, were, in his opinion, asphalt in various degrees of
condensation. The sample which came from Tule he ranks with the coals
of the best quality. He believes that the innumerable fountains and
deposits of petroleum, bitumen, and asphalt that are apparent on the
surface of the region around Lake Maracaibo are proof of the existence
below of immense deposits of coal. These deposits have not been
uncovered because the territory remains for the most part as wild as it
was at the conquest.
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