The city of CARACCAS, or as it is written by the Spaniards, CARACAS,
is the metropolis of this vast region, and has given its name, within
a late period, to the whole government. It is situated in 10° 30' 15"
north-latitude, and 67° 4' 45" west longitude, the highest square being
elevated 2903 feet above the level of the sea, at the commencement of
a fine plain or valley, which extends nine miles to the eastward, and
has nearly the same breadth, through which runs the river Guayra; the
site of the town is an uneven ground with a steep slope; it was founded
by Diego de Losada, in 1567, and called Santiago de Leon de Caracas,
in order to have a permanent settlement in the neighbourhood of some
gold mines, which were imagined to be very productive. The ground is so
precipitous, that the few carriages which the inhabitants possess are
little used. The Anauco, the Catache, and the Caraguatu, three small
streams, run through the city from north to south; the second of these
furnishes the water used by the labouring classes, the rich inhabitants
having that useful fluid brought from a stream about three miles off,
supposed to possess peculiar medicinal qualities.
The streets of Caraccas are straight, wide, and intersect each other
at right angles; the houses very handsome and spacious; there are
some fine squares, and a handsome cathedral, with eight churches and
five convents. This city is the seat of the metropolitan, archbishop
of Caraccas, and contains a royal audience, which governs the civil
affairs of the captain-generalship, and of which court the officer
holding the reins of government is always president, it being in fact
a sort of legislative council, composed of the governor and great
state officers. The number of inhabitants of this celebrated town are
stated not to exceed 20,000 at present, owing to the tremendous loss
sustained by the earthquake in 1812, and to the recent sanguinary
events which have taken place. The theatre of Caraccas holds from
fifteen to eighteen hundred persons, and is well frequented; the female
part of the audience occupy the pit, and are separated from the men.
The pleasantest part of the year is during the months of November and
December, when the air is cool, and the mornings very fine, but the
evenings are foggy and damp. During the months of June and July, the
nights are beautiful and serene; in fact, the climate during the whole
year is so good, that this city may be said to enjoy a perpetual spring.
This state of the atmosphere is finely contrasted with the dreary and
savage appearance of the mountains in the neighbourhood, the tremendous
precipice of the Silla, or Saddle, and the confused appearance of the
country on the right of the plain; which plain, called Chacao, is
highly cultivated in many parts, and affords the principal objects
of subsistence to the town. In it grows the plantain, the orange, the
apple, the apricot, the coffee-tree, the sugar-cane, the pine-apple,
the strawberry, vine, peach, quince, maize, corn, vegetables, rice, &c.
and in this fertile valley, numerous herds of cattle abound, it having
been computed that forty thousand head are annually brought to the
market, for the purpose of being salted, and of immediate consumption.
The only inconvenience felt during this eternal spring is from the
effects of certain winds, which cause the weather to prove occasionally
inconstant, and produce low nervous fevers, and other disorders
incident to a variable atmosphere. The yellow fever sometimes, though
rarely, extends its ravages to this place, and once lasted (in the year
1696) for sixteen months, and in 1802 was fatal to the garrison newly
arrived from Europe.
The season of periodical rain lasts during the months of April, May and
June; but hail is seldom or ever known oftener than once in four or
five years.
This capital, placed in so charming a climate, compared to many others
in the same latitude, has bean subjected to a scourge, which no beauty
of situation, or salubrity of the air, can ever compensate. In the
year 1812 the whole city was nearly destroyed by an awful earthquake.
On the 26th of March, in that year, the population of Leon de Caraccas
amounted to fifty thousand souls; in a short space, even in the
passing of a moment, these devoted people were reduced to thirty eight
thousand, and as if an enormous mine had been exploded under the city,
the earth was upheaved to a tremendous height, and twelve thousand
persons were swallowed up, or perished amid the ruins of their houses.
The survivors have been ever since busily engaged in repairing the
damages, and rebuilding the city, which is now rapidly advancing to
its former state, and the population annually increasing.
_La Guayra_, a small town situated on the coast of the Spanish Main,
is the port of Caraccas, in 10° 36' 19" north latitude, and 67° 6' 45"
west longitude, at the foot of the chain of mountains which terminate
abruptly in precipices on the coast, and which form the sides of the
valley in which the capital is built. From the city to the port, it
requires a journey of two hours on the mules of the country, which
are very safe and swift. The road is kept in excellent repair, and is
fortified by draw-bridges, thrown over the natural clefts, and by small
batteries. The harbour itself is rather a roadsted than a haven, and
contains a newly formed mole, protected by strong batteries. The wall
of rocks rise perpendicularly from the back of the town, and forbid
all access, excepting by the regular road. At La Guayra the sea is
always agitated, and the vessels are laden and discharged with much
difficulty; so much so, that mules are not embarked, the mulattoes and
negroes carrying the cacao and other merchandizes to the vessels, by
wading into the water.
The flat space on which La Guayra stands is only about 900 feet in
breadth, from the precipice at the back to the sea, and the whole
aspect of the place is arid, gloomy and unpleasant.
This town is surrounded on the sea side by works and batteries, some
of which are very strong, and contain within their limits two streets,
parallel to each other, with 8000 inhabitants.
It may be said, that this port is one of the hottest places in
Spanish America; the yellow-fever had, however, only commenced its
destructive ravages within ten or twelve years, before which time, it
was unknown; some are of opinion, that it was brought there after the
port was opened to foreign commerce, by the seamen from the United
States; others, that it was caused by the overflowing of the river
Guayra, which filled the cellars and deep places with water, that
soon became stagnant, and exhaled putrid effluvia. However it may be,
the inhabitants and strangers who reside at La Guayra, have suffered
dreadfully of late years from this disorder.
The annual amount of the commerce of this port, which is the principal
one of the province, has been estimated (in peaceable times) to arise
to the sum of 346,600_l._, in the exportation of cacao, indigo, cotton,
coffee and hides; and the importations of European and other goods to
511,700_l._ sterling in the same period.