THE LLANOS
MONÁGAS, ANZOÁTEGUI, GUÁRICO, COJEDES, PORTUGUESA, ZAMORA, AND APURE
The great plains—An ocean without water—_Bancos_ and
_mesas_—Drought and flood—A living floor—Streams which flow
upwards—Heat—Cattle and horses—Imported butter—Methods
of milking—Civil wars—Future prospects—A mean annual
temperature of 91° F.—Barcelona—History—The massacre of the
Casa Fuerte—Survivors—Guanta—Coal of Naricual—Aragua de
Barcelona—Maturín—Low death-rate—Caño Colorado—Bongos—Athletic
boatmen—_Casitas_—Travelling on the Llanos—an _hato_—Areo—An
ancient cotton-press—The men of Urica—Churches and wayside
shrines—A gruesome monument—Calabozo—Barbacoas—Ortiz—Zaraza and
Camaguan—San Carlos—Barinas—Guanare—Past prosperity and future
prospects.
The llanos of northern South America form one of the remarkable great
plains of the world. They stretch from the Orinoco Delta in the east
right to the Cordillera of the Andes in the west.
The foothills and highlands on the south side of the coastal range limit
them in the north, and where the continuity of the mountain chain is
broken, near Barcelona, they reach the coast itself.
The Orinoco constitutes their southern boundary as far west as its
junction with the Apure. Beyond this point the course of the Orinoco
is from south to north instead of from west to east, and out west of
this the great plains stretch away to the south far beyond the southern
boundary of Venezuela. In fact, formerly the settlers in the Venezuelan
llanos, who knew of the Argentine pampas and their cattle industry away
somewhere to the south of them, but had vague notions of geography and no
knowledge of the high country in central South America, believed that the
llanos went right away south to Patagonia.
The stretches of plain from the south of Cumaná, Barcelona, and Carácas
down to the Orinoco are called the llanos of Cumaná, Barcelona, and
Carácas respectively, while the extreme west corner is known as the
llanos of Barinas.
Near the northern and western limits of this great plain there is a
gradual passage from the foothills and the adjoining broken country to
the plain, but once away in the interior the flatness of the llanos is
remarkable. There are neither the undulations of rolling prairie-lands
nor the sandhills and ridges of the desert. The mountains can, of course,
be seen for a considerable distance, and to fully realise the curious
effect of the llanos it is necessary to be out of sight of them.
In some places nothing, not even a tree, can be seen in any direction but
the flat plain, covered with short grass; the traveller has the illusion
of being on the ocean stretching in every direction to the horizon, and
it is very easy to get lost if he leaves a beaten track.
The llanos are not, however, absolutely level; there are flat banks of
slight elevation (a few feet) called _bancos_, only to be observed at
their edges, and extending for miles, and also _mesas_, convexities
gently, almost imperceptibly, rising to a very moderate height, and yet
sufficiently important to form water divides.
A glance at the map shows that in the llanos south of Carácas the
streams flow right across Venezuela, from the hills to the Orinoco or
its tributaries, and, in fact, the whole of the western llanos are very
gently inclined to the south-east, but in the eastern part of the llanos
south of Cumaná we see a water divide, the Rivers Tigre and Guanipa
flowing eastwards to the Delta, and farther west a number of rivers
flowing into the Orinoco, while north of the divide various streams, the
Aragua, the Unare, and others, empty themselves into the sea west of
Barcelona, this being due, not to a range of hills but to the convexity
of the plains, the mesas of Tigre, Guanipa, &c.
It is hard to understand that lack of water is one of the difficulties
besetting the traveller on the llanos when one sees the network of
streams indicated on the maps. In the wet season there is of course
plenty of water, but in the dry season most of these tributary streams
cease to flow. Those which take their rise in the hilly country have,
indeed, some water in their upper courses all the time, while in their
lower part water from the main streams, the Orinoco, the Apure, the
Portuguesa, and others, is able to back a good way up, on account of
their very gentle fall, but their middle courses run quite dry, pools
remaining here and there in the hollows. The water in these gets somewhat
foul, but by digging in the sand in their neighbourhood sweeter water
may be obtained. The River Guárico, which partly dries up in this way,
is said formerly to have flowed all the year round. It takes its rise
near Lake Tacarigua (Lake of Valencia), and perhaps the diminution of
its water supply is due to the same cause as the shrinking of that lake,
the cutting down of forest and the cultivation of land near its source.
In the wet season many of the streams overflow and flood wide areas, the
cattle having to take refuge on slightly higher tracts. When the waters
again retire many alligators and water-snakes bury themselves in the
mud, and one hears of people being startled by sudden upheavals of the
ground, followed by the emergence of some disturbed monster. In one
case a traveller settled for a night in a hut which had been flooded the
previous season, and the barking of the dogs awoke a huge alligator, who
heaved up the floor, made a dash at the dogs, and then fled into the open.
Referring once again to the fact of the water in the main streams
backing up the tributaries, so very slight is the inclination of the
western plains, and so small the fall of its streams, that swelling
of the Orinoco, or wind pressure, will force the water to flow up the
tributaries, whirlpools forming where the opposing currents meet.
Humboldt states that under these conditions many natives firmly believed
that in travelling up these streams in their canoes they were really
descending for a considerable distance.
Apart from the change of season from wet to dry, the great factor in the
climate of the llanos is the trade wind, which blows across from the
east to the west. The sandy ground, thinly covered with grass, becomes
very hot in the daytime and heats the air near it. In the east the trade
wind, arriving fresh from the sea, lessens this effect, and makes the
air pleasant, but as it sweeps across the hundreds of miles of burning
soil it becomes itself heated, and as it gets farther west adds to the
discomfort, instead of correcting it.
In fact, the western llanos are very hot, and although there is a
twelve-hours night in which to cool, there is so much heat to be radiated
off from the earth that when dawn, the coolest moment, arrives very
little diminution of temperature has been attained, and the heating
process begins again.
The llanos, then, are neither prairie nor desert, but hold rather an
intermediate position, varying towards one or the other according to the
season. Various grasses suitable for feeding live stock grow here, and
there are some trees, notably varieties of mimosas, one with sensitive
leaves (_dormideras_) very good for cattle. There are also palms, notably
the Corypa palms, or _palmas de Cobija_, with hard wood, which are good
for building huts, their leaves being used for the roof, and the Moriche
palm (_Mauritia flexuosa_), which, as already noticed, furnishes nearly
all the necessities of life to the Guarauno Indians of the Delta.
The llanos originally contained deer, the river swine or capybara
(_chiguire_), and the jaguar, also wild ducks and geese. In 1548
Cristobal Rodriguez started sending cattle into the plains to multiply.
In Humboldt’s time the live stock were estimated at 1,200,000 oxen,
180,000 horses, and 90,000 mules. Wars and diseases have at different
times interrupted their increase. Horses, asses, and mules were abundant
and cheap up to 1843, when a pestilence destroyed nearly all the wild
ones, the loss being estimated at between six and seven million beasts.
The cattle are believed to have decreased between the years 1863-73 from
5,000,000 to 1,400,000, but by 1888 were estimated at 8,500,000 again.
Cattle-breeding should be a great and important industry for Venezuela,
and it is to be hoped that it will be put on a better footing before
long. An up-to-date factory for killing and chilling meat has been
established at Puerto Cabello, and the first shipment took place in 1910.
One of the chief difficulties this industry has to contend with is the
loss of condition the cattle sustain on their journeys to the port from
distant ranches. There are, however, plenty of outlets from the llanos,
for the southern part, the Orinoco, and for the west, central, and
eastern parts, Puerto Cabello, Barcelona, and Caño Colorado, the port of
Maturín.
Most of the cattle in the llanos are in a half-wild state. It is rather
melancholy to find that in country towns surrounded by vast areas of
pasture-land milk and butter are often difficult to procure; in fact, a
lot of imported butter is used. The calves generally get all the milk,
and the cows are so unused to being milked for the benefit of mankind
that it is necessary to bring the calf and tie it to the mother’s leg and
allow it to begin the operation before the milkmen can do anything, the
cow apparently being deluded into the idea that she is feeding the calf
all the time. The farmers and llaneros in most parts seem surprised to
hear that milking can be done in any other way.
This pastoral industry, like the others, has suffered from many causes,
but the chief has been political unrest and internal wars. There is
little doubt that if the country once settles down, as it now bids fair
to do, and a feeling of security is established, the farmers will show
more energy and increase their knowledge of their art, and in time the
physical conditions of the vast plains may, nay, will, be gradually
improved. Irrigation and the planting of trees, protecting them when
young from the cattle, will bring this about. One would think that this
process should be begun in the east and gradually worked westward. In
the east the climate is pleasanter, and the prevailing east wind cool
(not having passed over a hot, arid land surface), and as each strip of
country is improved it would render easier the amelioration of the area
immediately to the west of it. But all this requires capital, work, and
patience, and men will not be found to undertake it as long as they have
reason to fear that civil wars will prevent them enjoying the fruits of
their labour.
[Illustration: RUINED CHURCH: BARCELONA.]
[Illustration: CASA FUERTE: BARCELONA.]
The general physical description of the llanos applies to all the States
named in the heading to this chapter. A glance at the map shows that
the first six, Monágas to Zamora, actually constitute the east to west
extension of the great plain, whilst Apure forms the beginning of the
southerly extension, which, as already pointed out, stretches far beyond
the boundaries of Venezuela.
The chief towns of the eastern llanos are Maturín, in Monágas, Barcelona
and Aragua de Barcelona, in Anzoátegui. The northern part of these two
States includes some of the highlands south of the Cumaná range, pleasant
pastoral country with a good climate. The central part of the llanos
is very hot, and arid in the dry season. Calabozo, in Guárico, and San
Fernando de Apure are the two hottest places in the country, the latter
having a mean annual temperature of 91°.
In the extreme west, as the Cordillera is approached, the heat
diminishes, and the typical llano is often replaced by well-wooded
country. The chief towns here are San Carlos, in Cojedes, Guanare, in
Portuguesa, and Barinas, in Zamora, the last-named town not being much
hotter than Maturín.
The town of Nueva Barcelona was founded in 1637 by Juan Urpin, at a spot
some two leagues distant from its present site.
In 1671, in order to terminate the frequent quarrels between its
inhabitants and those of a neighbouring settlement, Cumanagoto, the
Governor, Angelo, united the two populations at the spot where Barcelona
now stands. This shifting of towns and villages at the order of a
Governor, or even a priest, was not uncommon in the colony in the early
days.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century Barcelona grew considerably
in importance. There was a large and growing demand in the Antilles,
especially in Cuba, for meat to feed the slaves on the plantations and
for horses and mules. The journey from the River Plate in sailing-ships
was a very long one, and the Cuba merchants preferred to get their goods
from the north coast. Barcelona’s position at the point where the llanos
extend right to the coast, and where consequently there are no mountains
to cross, gave her a big advantage over Cumaná and other seaports, and
her trade and population grew rapidly. From 1790 to 1800 her population
grew from 10,000 to 16,000. But it was in adversity that Barcelona was to
become famous, and in 1817 she gained a crown of martyrdom, becoming the
scene of one of the most tragic events in the history of South American
independence.
Bolivar, after several encounters with the royalists in February, had
left Barcelona to beat up recruits. The Captain-General, Juan de Aldama,
having failed to intercept him, turned eastward to the doomed city, where
he was joined by some troops from Cumaná and by some vessels of the
fleet, which provided him with guns. A devoted band, consisting chiefly
of Venezuelans, with some Colombians and a few foreigners, in all 600-700
fighting men, and some 300 civilians, women, and children, determined to
resist to the last, and prepared to defend the convent of San Francisco,
better known to history as the Casa Fuerte, which stands in an open space
in the town.
Aldama’s sharpshooters having cleared the town, he invested the convent,
placing ordnance on two sides of it and stationing troops on the far
sides to prevent the escape of the garrison. He then invited the patriots
to capitulate, promising to spare their lives, but they refused, and at
dawn of April 10th he began the bombardment.
The Casa Fuerte was not strong enough to withstand his artillery, and
at two in the afternoon a large breach had been effected. The royalists
charged from cover across the open space round the convent, and a
desperate fight ensued, the Venezuelans selling their lives very dearly.
The walls of the room in which the last of the patriots died are still
standing, and the stones are deeply scored all over from the blows of
the weapons of men fighting in a confined space.
Aldama states in his official report to the King that he invited the
garrison to capitulate before the bombardment, with a view to avoiding
any unnecessary bloodshed and to demonstrate his Majesty’s clemency, but
any humane intentions seem to have deserted the royalists during the
day, for, not content with annihilating the combatants, who disdained
to ask for quarter, nearly all the women and children were outraged and
murdered. It is even said that Aldama gave orders to have the sick in the
hospital butchered, but the officer to whom this task was deputed would
not carry out his instructions. A few individuals escaped, fighting as
they went.
The military and civil Governors of Barcelona, General Pedro Maria
Freites and Colonel Francisco Esteban Rivas, were taken wounded and
prisoners to Carácas, and there shot on April 17th.
In connection with the centenary celebrations this year, 1911, an
interesting little booklet has been written by the historian M. L.
Rosales, and officially published by the President of Anzoátegui, General
A. Rolando, giving the accounts of the affair by Aldama on the one hand
and by General D. F. O’Leary on the other.
Most of the victims’ names are lost, but the historian has collected some
seventy-seven, six of whom were priests and eighteen women. Among them we
may note one Carlos Chamberlain, of Jamaica, a colonel in the Republican
Army, and his mother, Doña Eulalia. Another lady, Doña Juana de Jesus
Rojas, died of seven bayonet wounds, while the last on the list is a
little girl, Dolores Rodriguez, only four months old, who had a hand cut
off, but survived and died in Carácas as lately as 1898.
Barcelona is a town of good appearance, with fairly well paved streets,
and many houses of more than one storey, which show that there is not
the same dread of earthquakes as at Cumaná. There are three fine churches
and a well-equipped theatre. The sea near the town is shallow and has
many shoals of sand, and is therefore unsuited to vessels of any size.
Guanta, some 19 kilometres to the east, has an excellent natural harbour,
and is now the port of Barcelona, connected with the city by a railway,
which runs also to the coalmines at Naricual and Capiricual, another 19
kilometres distant. These furnish a useful bright burning coal of a later
geological period than the British coal which is used on the railway
and supplied to the Venezuelan steamers which ply from the Orinoco to
the ports on the north coast. Briquettes are also manufactured with
the coal and pitch brought from the north-east coast and Trinidad. The
Barcelonians conduct the railway, the coalmine, and the briquette factory
themselves, and are rather proud of their “home industries,” since in
Venezuela most modern enterprises are conducted by foreigners.
The imports are mixed goods, chiefly from the United States and Holland,
while the exports are mainly beasts, hides, horns, and coffee.
Aragua de Barcelona is better placed than Barcelona itself as a trade
centre, and is growing in importance, becoming a serious rival to the
older town. It is chiefly concerned with the cattle industry, but the
inhabitants also make hammocks and various textile goods.
Maturín, the capital of Monágas, stands in the N.E. corner of the llanos,
on the River Guarapiche, and from its situation it is likely, to grow
considerably, in importance as the country develops. At first sight it
does not produce a particularly favourable impression. The streets are
not paved, but in front of the houses run narrow raised sidewalks often
two feet or more above the roadway. It improves, however, on further
acquaintance. There is not the air of decay and diminished importance
which is badly evident in some parts of the country; the inhabitants are
cheerful and sociable, and inclined to progress, and a fair amount of
business appears to pass through the town.
There is probably no part of the llanos pleasanter than the country round
Maturín. The grassy plain is well supplied with streams, which have
generally cut their channels fairly deep, and are well wooded along their
banks, and the climate is pleasant even for Europeans.
The death-rate, although there is no sanitation, is very low, under 12
per 1,000, or less than half the average rate for the republic, and lower
than that of London.
Most of the trade of this part of the country is carried by schooners,
which come from the sea up the Caño San Juan, to the point where the
Rivers San Juan and Guarapiche join. Here there is an old guardship,
where some Customs officials are stationed. The San Juan leads to
Guanoco, where the Bermudez Asphalt Company carry on their business. A
few miles up the Guarapiche stands the village of Caño Colorado, the
headquarters of the Customs. The jungle is dense on both banks of the
river, but on one side a narrow clearing has been made, just sufficient
for a row of small houses, with a little back garden to each. Maturín
is about thirty miles from here across country, but much farther by
river. From the point at which the schooners stop the trade with Maturín
is carried in bongos, which are propelled, like punts, by long poles.
Planks are fixed on the two sides of the boats, and the crews, standing
on these, plant their poles firmly, and then walk towards the stern. When
they can go no farther, they pull out the poles and run towards the bows.
The river is narrow and very swift, so that coming down stream is very
easy, but going up so much way is lost between the strokes, that the men,
when they pull up their poles, have to rush forward again as fast as they
can. It takes three days to get from Caño Colorado up to Maturín like
this, and the men are able to work almost continually during the day.
Once out of sight of the houses, they generally strip completely, only
throwing on some light covering on reaching one of the few settlements
on the river. The exercise develops every muscle of the body and limbs,
and the men engaged in it are as fine a set of athletes as any artist or
anatomist could wish to see. Although the river is so wild, and human
habitations so few and far apart, this scene is quite lively at intervals
as groups of these bongos come along, and “man overboard,” a frequent
event, is always the cause of much merriment.
The country round Maturín is dotted here and there with villages, as
well as with isolated cottages. The larger cattle-owners often live in
the towns but have here and there small houses for their employees. A
typical _casita_ is simplicity itself. Upright posts, tree-trunks with
their branches trimmed off, are planted firmly in the ground, six feet
or more apart, and cross-pieces are tied to them, at a height of about
eight feet. The rafters of the roof, lighter poles, are also tied on,
and palm-leaves form a most efficient thatch, throwing off the heaviest
rain, and lasting for years. At one end of this roofed enclosure a small
space is rendered more private, to serve as the retiring-room of the
inhabitants. A few light trunks or branches are tied horizontally across
the uprights, about a foot apart, and either palm-leaves are tied to
these, the bedroom walls, in fact, being thatched like the roof, or a
more solid mud wall is constructed on the wooden framework. The soil
itself is the floor. The traveller seeking a night’s shelter slings his
hammock to some of the uprights in the outer room, having no walls
around him, but a roof over his head. A small fire is kept going in a
corner of the outer room for cooking purposes. In the simpler cases very
little furniture is required: a log or two to sit on; a few bowls of
different sizes made of gourds cut in half, serving as cups or plates;
an iron pot on the fire; an upright log, stuck in the ground with a
bowl-shaped hollow at the top serves as a sort of mortar, in which maize,
&c., may be ground; and another somewhat similar device, with a wooden
lever for crushing sugar-cane, the juice running out below into the gourd
placed to receive it.
It is easy to set up a home of this sort; the site once selected, the
materials for house and furniture are always at hand, and the whole thing
can be done in a few days.
The traveller, of course, always carries his own hammock, rolled up
tight in a sausage-shaped bag carried across the saddle, either before
or behind the rider. On arrival at one of these homesteads he can almost
invariably count on a civil reception, and without further preliminaries
slings his hammock, which then serves him as chair as well as bed.
Sometimes he may chance on a spot where food is scarce at the moment, but
generally the good people will find something for him. A sancoche made of
a fowl stewed in its own juices, cassava in thin cakes, sprinkled with
a few drops of water to soften it, some beans, and some roast plantains
(cooking bananas) form a menu which, even if it does not appeal to an
epicure, proves both tasty and satisfying after a long day in the saddle.
Houses of this type are generally inhabited by one family only, who are
looking after the flocks and herds of some wealthy owner or are in a very
small way of business themselves.
A more animated scene is presented by the _hato_ of a regular farmer, a
proprietor living on the premises, employing several hands and working
with them. Here we may expect to see a solid house of several rooms, with
mud walls and an earth floor. If the farmer is a person of substance
and taste, his bedroom may be furnished with an up-to-date bedstead,
and a wardrobe or chest of drawers, and a few chairs, while the chief
living-room probably has a rough table and a few chairs also. In the
living-rooms the mud or clay of the walls is broken here and there about
six feet above the ground, giving glimpses of the wooden framework inside
the wall. This is, however, not due to accidental damage or neglect,
for at night strangers, or some of the farm hands, sleep in these
living-rooms, and passing their hammock-ropes through these holes, attach
them to the wooden posts inside.
Round about the house, or near it, is an enclosed stockyard, built, like
the houses, of upright posts, with horizontal poles attached to them. In
the middle of this yard is an upright post, to which the beasts requiring
any sort of operation are secured one at a time. There are, perhaps,
other similar enclosures, some covered with palm thatch, in which any
part of the stock may be kept separate if desired. These yards are also
used at times for the accommodation of travelling herds, especially if
the farm be on or near the recognised route to some market town or port.
The drovers pay the farmer a small rental, generally based on the number
of cattle they have, and secure them for the night, thus preventing them
from straying about the plains and ensuring an early start in the morning.
Near the house, in a roofed shed, is the bakery; there we may find a
small fireplace with clay walls, the top of which is formed by a circular
iron plate about three feet in diameter, the whole being about the height
of an ordinary table. On this the cassava-bread is baked. The flour,
duly prepared and freed from superfluous water, is thinly spread on the
iron and rapidly baked, the finished loaf being a large circular disc
very hard and brittle, and thinner than our ordinary milk biscuits.
The cattle may be seen dotted about the plain, and near to the homesteads
a few horses are grazing, tethered so that they may be at hand when
wanted. There is none of the continuous work, laborious cultivation
of the soil, constant attention to the live stock, &c., which we are
accustomed to connect with farming at home. The farm hands spend a
good deal of their time loafing about, chatting, smoking, and playing
their guitars and maracas. At other times there is plenty of bustle
and activity; they rush for their horses and gallop off to collect the
cattle, or such of them as may be required, and drive them into the
enclosure, where they are lassooed one at a time, and milked, or fastened
to the post in the middle to be branded, or have hurts attended to, as
the case may be. The amount of comfort to be found in these farms, and
the amount of skill and energy displayed in their exploitation varies
a good deal from place to place, depending mainly, after all, on the
tastes and character of the owner, but partly on circumstances. In many
cases absolute slackness and indifference prevail, the cattle are almost
entirely left to shift for themselves, and the human beings are content
to exist miserably rather than bestir themselves. There are some estates,
again, where the owner is a wealthy, educated, and perhaps a travelled
man, which are managed on far better lines than the average.
Maturín has a creditable record from the War of Independence, a Spanish
army having been twice repulsed, and finally almost completely destroyed
there. At Areo, a day and a half west of Maturín, there is in the open
space by the church a huge wooden screw press, like a giant letterpress,
which the inhabitants say was used by the Spaniards to press cotton. At
Urica, farther west, the inhabitants are somewhat interesting. They have
the reputation of having been of a brave and warlike disposition from the
earliest times, and fought desperately in the War of Independence. There
is something in their appearance, and a general suggestion of freedom and
independence in their manner, in their very gait, which can scarcely fail
to strike the traveller, even if he be unacquainted with their history.
At the little village of Curataquiche, near Barcelona, are the ruins of
the Mission of St. Joseph; the walls of one end of the church, and a bit
of the adjoining enclosure, very solidly built in stone, are all that
remain of a once important mission. The church bells have been preserved,
and are hung to a large wooden trestle on the village green.
Most of these towns and villages possess churches, but resident priests
are rarely to be found. The inhabitants generally meet on Sundays and
hold some sort of service among themselves, but can only hear Mass when
a travelling priest comes their way. At either end of a village, at the
side of the track, a plain wooden cross is generally erected, and often
in its neighbourhood will be found a small shrine about which are hung
various little objects placed there by pious hands as thankofferings for
answers to prayers. These shrines generally contain a cross with the
instruments of crucifixion, the ladder, nails, hammer, crown of thorns,
spear shaft with sponge, dice, &c., but without the figure of Christ.
They are often illuminated with a little flickering light at night. To
the west of Barcelona there is one on the spot where a man was killed.
It contains his skull, which is lit up from inside at night, producing a
somewhat weird effect.
[Illustration: MESA OF ESNOJAQUE: TRUJILLO.]
[Illustration: MÉRIDA: LOOKING SOUTH FROM UNIVERSITY.]
Calabozo, the chief town in the State of Guárico, and the seat of a
bishopric, founded in 1730 by the Guipuzcoana Company, is a town of some
importance to-day. There is a good grazing country round it, and it has
a trade in cattle, mules, hides, cheese, and other things. It is a hot
place, but has not the reputation of being unhealthy. Its communications
are liable to be cut off by floods in the wet season. It has always been
specially noted in the records of travellers for the electric eels which
abound in its neighbourhood. Humboldt, when visiting Calabozo, offered
a fair price for a number of these creatures. Horses were cheap at that
time, and some of the inhabitants obtained the desired specimens by
driving a number of horses into a pond infested with them, and prevented
their escape by surrounding the pond armed with sticks. When the gymnoti
had exhausted their energies on the unfortunate horses, they were able
to secure them without risk. Several of the horses died, either directly
from the attacks of the eels or, more probably, from drowning during the
temporary paralysis caused by the electric shocks.
Among the other principal towns in Guárico is Barbacoas, pleasantly
situated in a raised plain east of the Guárico, with woods to the north
of it and a fertile plain to the south.
At Ortiz, founded by the cacique of that name, Bolivar was nearly killed
on April 16, 1818. This town and Guayabal, which was founded by the
Capuchins in 1758, were both burnt by the Spaniards during the war.
Zaraza, on the River Unare, and Camaguan, on the Portuguesa, are also of
some importance; the latter was built by the Capuchins in the seventeenth
century. Inundations from the Portuguesa, the Apure, and the Apurito have
formed a considerable lake near Camaguan, which appears to be permanent;
the Rivers Unare and Apurito are navigable to the neighbourhood of these
towns in the wet season.
In the State of Cojedes, the town of San Carlos was formerly a
flourishing place, but has now a very reduced population, and many
formerly fine buildings are going into decay. The same sad state of
things obtains at Barinas, on the River San Domingo, in the State of
Zamora; its neighbourhood was formerly a famous tobacco district.
Barinas is at the extremity in this direction of the telegraph service
of Venezuela. Near it, at Pedraza, are some ruins, traces of an earlier
Indian civilisation.
In the State of Portuguesa the chief town is Guanare, founded in 1593 by
Francisco de Leon. Besides the usual cattle and live-stock industries,
coffee and cocoa are grown in the neighbourhood.
The western part of the country was settled by the Spaniards earlier than
the east, but about the towns of the western llanos there appears to be a
melancholy air of past prosperity and of arrested development. They have
suffered much from wars and political troubles, also from cattle plagues.
Their inhabitants now depend chiefly on their cattle, mules, hides, &c.;
in some places coffee, cocoa, and tobacco are grown, and there are a few
simple manufactures, hammocks, straw hats, earthenware goods, sugar,
cheese, &c., being the chief.
Nevertheless, the western llanos undoubtedly possess great resources and
convenient outlets. To the north they can communicate with Barquisimeto,
Puerto Cabello, and other towns, whilst the streams on which they are
situated are all tributaries of the Orinoco, or of its main feeders, thus
putting them into communication with Ciudad Bolivar. If good government
continues, and capital is attracted, there must come to this great
territory a degree of prosperity far greater than it has enjoyed in the
past, or than its present inhabitants probably even dream of.