FEATURES, CLIMATE, &C.

The provinces of Barcelona and Cumana are extremely mountainous; the

first branch from the main chain of the Andes running through these

districts, and terminating in the ocean at the gulf of Paria.

This ridge gives birth to the rivers which flow into the Orinoco on

the south, and into the Caribbean sea on the north, and contains some

highly picturesque and singular scenery; the most noted parts of which

will be hereafter described.

The climate of this government varies according to the situation of

its districts, on the high land of the mountains, or in the valleys or

plains of the interior.

_Capitals._--The chief town of New Andalusia is Cumana, where the

governor of the two provinces usually resides. The chief town of New

Barcelona, is Barcelona.

_Cumana_ is situated in 10° 27' 52" north latitude, and 64° 9' 47"

west longitude, a mile from the battery of the Boca, or mouth of the

harbour, between which and the town extends a great plain, called El

Salado. The port is formed by the fine river Manzanares, which runs

through the town. East of the city is another extensive plain, and

north of it a rocky mass, on which stands the citadel of St. Antonio.

The city occupies the space between the citadel, the river Manzanares,

and another smaller stream called the Santa Catalina, and the plains

which surround it are highly cultivated; that towards the sea having

an Indian suburb and gardens filled with sapotes, mameis, plantains,

&c. The suburb is divided into three parishes; on the east is that

of Sarritos, on the south-east, St. Francisco, and the great town of

the Guayqueria Indians. Cumana is one of the oldest cities of the

continent, and was built by Gonzalo Ocampo in 1520.

In the city of Cumana are no very remarkable buildings, owing to the

fatal effects of the last earthquake. There is only one parish church

and two convents, but additions are daily making to it, which will

render it a fine town.

This city is remarkable for the purity and healthiness of its climate,

on account of the heat being moderated by the sea-breezes; the most

fatal disorders are fluxes, which carry off numbers of children

annually, owing to the great use they make of green indigestible

fruits. The women, particularly the Indians, are very prolific, which

in some measure compensates for the loss annually experienced of the

younger branches of society. The population of Cumana amounts at

present to 16, or 17,000 souls, of which, two-fifths are Indians of

the Guayqueria, Chayma, and other tribes. Of these, the _Guayquerias_

are the most noted tribe not only of Cumana, but of Caraccas; they

are a branch of the Guarounoes, who inhabit the swampy island, at the

mouth of the Orinoco; but they have now become so incorporated with

the Spaniards, that for the last century they have spoken the Spanish

language only. When Columbus was on this coast, his people saw these

Indians fishing with long poles pointed at one end, and tied to a

cord at the other; demanding of them the name of their country, they

immediately replied Guiake, which signified pointed stick; the sailors

thought this was the name of the tribe, and accordingly called them

Guaikerias, which name they have since retained.

These people, who also inhabit the islands, show to Europeans with

pride the Punta de la Galera, so called, because Columbus's vessel

touched there, as well as port Manzanillo, where they swore fidelity in

1498 to the whites, which vow they have never violated. The Guayquerias

are the pilots of the coast of Cumana, and their suburb is composed of

rows of uniform low buildings disposed into the form of streets, which

have a very neat appearance.

On a naked rock which commands the city, 100 feet above the level of

the sea, is the castle of St. Antonio, which commands the place. There

is also another fort in ruins, on the south-west; and the entrance

into the port is defended with inconsiderable batteries, but the

military positions of Cumana are of little importance, as the citadel

is commanded by a part of the same rock on which it stands; the chief

defence of this post being a thick wood of the cactus, whose thorny

shoots defy admission into its recesses.

The entrance of the harbour of Cumana is highly picturesque, the city

rising out of the plain backed by the citadel, its rocks and groves,

the plantations of cocoa-nuts, cassias, capers, and arborescent

mimosas; the shores covered with alcatras or brown pelicans, egrets,

and flamingoes. The beauty of the river, and the clear blue of the sky,

contrasted with the dark and gloomy appearance of the mountains in

the interior, conspire to afford a landscape of the most captivating

character.

The European inhabitants, and the descendants of Europeans, are noted

for their great politeness and hospitality to strangers; they are

chiefly occupied in commercial enterprize, this and Barcelona being

ports where much trade is carried on. The manner and customs of these

people is nearly allied to those of their brethren in the other great

cities of Spanish America. One of the most singular of their customs is

that of passing most of their evenings sitting on chairs placed in the

river.

In this city, the first question in a morning is, "Is the water cool?"

Their conversaziones are carried on in the rivers where the evening

parties are mostly spent in talking about the weather, the news, and

in smoking. All the inhabitants of the town it is said can swim, and

the children pass the greater part of their time in the water. The

alligator is not dangerous at Cumana, as they are seldom seen, and are

only of the smallest kind; the chief fear that the women have whilst

bathing is from the dolphin, which sometimes comes up the river and

spouts like the whale.

The port of Cumana is formed by the gulf of Cariaco, and its harbour

by the river Manzanares. The gulf of Cariaco is thirty-eight miles in

length and sixty-eight in breadth, with excellent anchoring ground;

and the ocean is always smooth and unruffled from Porto Cabello to the

point of Paria; so much so, that the coasting vessels are not decked;

the only danger in the port of Cumana being a shoal, called Morro Roxo,

half a mile in breadth and very steep on all sides.

This city has been repeatedly shook by subterrene convulsions; and

the natives have a tradition that the gulf of Cariaco was formed by

an earthquake, just before the third voyage of Columbus. In 1530, the

whole coast was shaken, and the city, then called New Toledo, suffered

by having its fort at the mouth of the river destroyed; an immense rent

was made in the coast, from which asphaltum and water issued.

These shocks were very frequent towards the end of the 16th century,

the sea often rising fifteen or twenty fathoms. On the twenty-first

of October, 1766, the city was overthrown, and numbers of persons

perished; the tremblings of the earth continued hourly for fourteen

months; but in 1767, the inhabitants incamped in the streets, when the

shocks only took place once a month; a great drought had happened in

1766, but during 1767, the rains were so continual, that the harvest

was very abundant. In this memorable earthquake the ground opened and

threw out hot water.

In 1794, they experienced another tremendous convulsion, and on the

14th of December, 1797, four-fifths of the city were utterly destroyed,

the earth heaving up with loud subterraneous noises; but the people got

into the streets in time, and a small number only perished of those who

sought for refuge in the churches. Half an hour before this happened,

there was a strong sulphureous smell near the castle, and a loud noise

under the ground; flames were seen to rise from the banks of the river,

and in several other places. These flames are frequently observed near

the city on the plains, they do not burn the herbage, and issue from

no apparent crevices, the people calling them the soul of the tyrant

Aguirra, who took part in a revolt against Ursua, governor of Omaguas,

and styled himself "the traitor." He descended the Amazons, and reached

the island of Margarita by the rivers of Guiana.

Though so continually exposed to this dreadful calamity, the

inhabitants of Cumana are in a measure insensible to it, as they

imagine that it never occurs but at particular intervals, and that they

have always sufficient notice by the state of the weather and other

occurrences.

The neighbourhood of Cumana is infested with the rattle snake, the

coral vipers, centipedes, &c.

Farms and country-seats adorn the banks of the Manzanares; at a little

distance from the city these are beautifully situated, amid groves of

cactus, tamarinds, brazilletoes, the enormous ceiba, palms, &c., and

the soil is so rich for pasturage, that excellent milk and butter are

produced.

Near Cumana the most noted mountains are the Cerro or chain of the

Brigantin, about eighteen miles distant, the highest summit of which

has a flat top, and is elevated more than 5000 feet above the sea, and

the sides of this chain are nearly perpendicular, the country about it

being a mere desert.

The inhabitants of Cumana attempted to cross these mountains with a

road, but found it impracticable, and the passage to the plains of

the interior lies over a part of the chain, known by the name of the

Imposible, over which a new road is carrying on, the present one being

very steep. This chain is continued to the extremity of the gulf of

Cariaco, and forms the barrier between it and the ocean.

On the peninsula formed by this gulf are the salt works of Araya, which

have been successively worked by most of the European nations who

possess colonies in the West Indies. The Dutch were however expelled in

1605, when a fort or battery was built to prevent their return, and the

mere or lake which these salt-works consist of, was overflowed by the

sea in the great hurricane in 1726, which also destroyed the battery;

but pits or reservoirs have been since dug, and the sea dyked out, so

that great quantities of salt are still procured.

The consumption of this article in forming tasajo, or salted provision,

amounts, in Barcelona and Cumana, to 9 or 10,000 fanegas (each 400lbs.)

annually, of which the salt marsh or grounds of Araya, furnish 3000

fanegas, and the sea the rest.

The Indians use very little salt with their food, but the creoles and

negroes live almost entirely on salted meat and fish. Salt being a

royal monopoly, the revenue derived from Araya is considerable.

A small village is established on the peninsula of Araya, where the

Indians keep large flocks of goats. This strip of land was the first

place where the Spaniards began to found a town; and it contains

springs and masses of petroleum; this substance existing also on its

coasts, at Cape de la Brea, Punta Soto, and Guararitto. A stream of

naptha issues from the bed of the sea, near these shores, and forms a

visible spot, 1000 feet in diameter, among the weeds, with which the

beach is covered.

NUEVA BARCELONA, the chief town of the province of the same name, is

situated in a plain on the left bank of the river Neveri, half a league

distant from the sea, in 10° 10' north latitude, and 64° 47' west

longitude; ten leagues by land from Cumana.

This city was founded in 1636, by Juan de Urpin, who had been a canon,

doctor, and counsellor of laws in St. Domingo, and a private soldier in

the fort of Araya; he gave the name of New Catalonia to the province,

which was afterwards changed to that of the city. It is meanly built,

though it has a regular appearance; the streets are very dirty in

the rainy season, and very dusty in the hot weather; and the immense

quantity of hogs bred in this place renders the town disgustingly

dirty, from the filth which they spread over the footways; and it was

not till the year 1803, that some measures were taken to put a stop to

this nuisance.

Barcelona contains one parish church and a convent of Franciscans,

with a population of 14,000 souls, half whites and half mulattoes and

negroes.

Such is the trade in live and dead cattle in this city, that the

inhabitants have not turned their attention to the cultivation of the

land, though excellently suited for cotton, cacao, and maize. Barcelona

is the emporium for the contraband goods of Trinidad, and from hence

they are dispersed through all the inland provinces.

The value of this trade has been computed at 400,000 dollars annually.

Hides, tallow, oxen, mules, jirked and salted beef, form the great

commercial articles of this port; this trade is chiefly carried on with

the Havannah and West India Islands.

In the jurisdiction of Barcelona, which declared itself independent in

the year 1811, commence those immense plains that stretch with those of

Caraccas, as far south as the Orinoco. They are covered with excellent

pasturage, and feed innumerable herds of cattle and mules, which are

mostly kept on the banks of the rivers. Such immense quantities were

killed before the breaking out of the present commotions, that the

trade was at one time very considerable, the inhabitants of Barcelona

being noted for their skill in salting meat; but just after the first

symptoms of this struggle, the plains became infested with robbers, who

deprived the owners of their beasts, and greatly lessened the value of

the trade.

The other towns of Cumana are chiefly missionary establishments seated

near the rivers, and on the great plains, the greater part of the

country being yet in a state of nature. Of these towns the principal

one is _Cumanacoa_, twelve leagues distant from Cumana, on a plain

surrounded with lofty mountains, which was founded in 1717, by Domingo

Arias, on his return from the Guaripiche river, where some Frenchmen

had attempted to plant a colony; it was at first called San Baltazar

de las Arias, but soon lost that appellation, for its present one.

The climate of this place is mild, and even cold, although it is not

more than 630 feet above the sea, owing probably to the abundance of

rain, to the frequency of thick fogs, and to being surrounded by humid

forests.

The dry season begins here in the winter solstice, and lasts till the

vernal equinox. Light showers are frequent in April, May and June; the

dry weather again commences, and lasts to the end of August, when the

winter rains set in, which only cease in November; and during this

interval, the country is deluged with water.

The environs of Cumanacoa are very fertile, and are chiefly cultivated

with tobacco, with which article it supplies the whole province. Indigo

is also grown here and in this town; the population amounts to about

2300 souls.

The road from Cumana over the Imposible, through the forest, to

Cumanacoa, passes by the mission of St. Fernando, of the Chayma

Indians. It is described as highly picturesque. The forest consists

of trees, whose trunks are of the largest dimensions, and which are

clasped in every direction by creeping or parasitical plants, of

which the lianas reach to the very summits of the trees, and pass

from one to another, at the height of more than a hundred feet,

displaying beautiful festoons of dark green leaves, intermixed with

the most fragrant and splendid flowers. Under these arcades, which

scarcely admit the rays of the sun, the traveller proceeds, viewing,

at intervals only, the deep blue of the sky. The parrots, macaws,

and innumerable tribes of birds of the most brilliant plumage,

are continually hovering about, and here the oriole builds his

bottle-shaped and pendant nest. The screaming of the parrots actually

drowns the roar of small cataracts which here and there fall from the

rocky mountains.

On quitting this forest path to go to St. Fernando, the country is

open for a short space, and the road is now lined with the bamboo or

guadua, whose elegant form, agitated by the slightest winds, strikes

the European traveller with the most agreeable sensations. We shall

describe the village of St. Fernando, as a type of all the other

missionary settlements, which are too numerous to name.

The huts of the Indians are built of mud or clay, strengthened by the

stems of the lianas, and are disposed into streets, very wide and

straight, and crossing each other at right angles, the whole appearing

very neat. The gardens are either in, or at a short distance from the

village, and each family possesses one which they cultivate, together

with a large plot of ground, common to all, and called the conuco, at

which the grown-up young men and women are obliged to work one hour in

the morning and one in the evening. In the missions near the coast,

this conuco is generally an indigo or sugar plantation, the profits of

which are divided by the priest, for the support of the church and the

village.

The great square of San Fernando is situated in the centre of the

village; in it is placed the church, the priest's house, and the Casa

del Rey, or king's-house, destined for the accommodation of travellers.

The priest governs the people in their spiritual and temporal affairs,

but the parish officers are always chosen from among the Indians; a

matter of necessity, as no whites are to be found in these settlements.

They have their governor, alguazil, mayor and militia officers, and the

company of archers have their colours, and perform their exercise at

stated periods, shooting at a mark.

The villages in which the Europeans or Creoles are settled, and in

which Indians are occasionally found occupying a distinct part, are

called _doctrinas_, and differ entirely from the missions. Of these

there are many on the side of the country nearest the coast, the

missions being mostly in the interior.

Near Cumanacoa, is the great mountain called Tumiriquiri, where an

enormous wall of rock rises out of the forest, and is joined on the

west by the Cerro de Cuchivano, where the chain is broken by an

enormous precipice more than 900 feet in width, filled with trees,

whose branches are completely interlaced with each other. The Rio

Juagua traverses this crevice, which is the abode of the jaguar, or

American tiger, of a very formidable size, being six feet in length.

They carry off the horses and cattle in the night from the neighbouring

farms, and are as much dreaded as the most ferocious of the feline race

are in the East Indies. Two immense caverns open into this precipice,

from which flames occasionally rush out that may be seen in the night

at a great distance.

The great mountain of _Tumiriquiri_ is situated on the road to

Caripe, the chief mission of the Chaymas, which passes over the

summit of a lower part of the chain, which bears the general name of

the _Cocollar_. From the summit of this last chain, at more than two

thousand feet in height, the eye wanders over the immense plains which

reach towards the banks of the Orinoco, in the ravines alone of which

can be distinguished any trees, and these but thinly scattered; the

remainder of the surface is covered with an uniform coat of long waving

grass, intermixed with flowering shrubs.

From this point the traveller ascends towards the Tumiriquiri; the

road is partly traversed on horseback, but soon becomes too steep and

slippery for these animals.

The round summit of the Tumiriquiri is covered with turf, and is

elevated more than 4400 feet above the ocean. This elevation gradually

diminishes towards the west by a ridge of steep rocks, and is

interrupted at the distance of a mile by an immense crevice, which

descends towards the gulf of Cariaco. Beyond this two enormous peaks

arise, the northernmost of which, named the _Cucurucho of Tumiriquiri_,

is more than 6500 feet in height, surpassing that of the Brigantin with

which it is connected. These peaks are covered with mahogany, javillo,

and cedar trees, of an enormous size, whose shades are frequented

by tigers and other wild beasts, which are hunted now and then for

the sake of their beautiful skins. The view from the summit of this

mountain is very fine; the chain which extends from west to east is

seen in all its forms; its ridges running parallel to each other at

short distances, form longitudinal valleys, intersected by crevices

worn by the waters in their passage to the Orinoco or the sea. The sea

bounds the prospect on the north, and the immeasurable plains form

its horizon on the south. The rivers Colorado and Guaripiche rise in

the chain of the Cocollar, and mingle their streams near the east

coast of Cumana. The Colorado at its mouth is very broad, and the

Guaripiche more than twenty-five fathoms deep; and between this river

and the Areo which falls into it, are some springs of petroleum. Beyond

Tumiriquiri the road descends the mountains towards Caripe, by the

mission of _San Antonio_ across savannahs strewed with large blocks

of stone, over a thick forest lying on two steep ridges called Los

Yepes and Fantasma, into a valley in which are the missions of _San

Antonio_ and _Guanaguana_, which are separated by the rivers Colorado

and Guaripiche. Guanaguana valley is divided from that of Caripe, by a

ridge called the _Cuchillo de Guanaguana_, which is difficult to pass,

the path being often only fourteen inches broad and extremely slippery,

as the slope is covered with grass.

These paths are traversed on mules, whose footing is so sure, that

accidents rarely occur. The height of the Cuchillo is about 3430 feet,

and the descent to Caripe is by a winding path through a forest; and

as the valley is high, the journey is short and easy. Here the climate

is mild and delightful, but in the valley of Guanaguana it is hot and

unwholesome; so great is the difference which is experienced in this

country in passing from one side of a mountain to the other. The height

of the convent of _Caripe_, in which the missionary monks reside,

is 2575 feet above the sea, in 10° 10' 14" north-latitude; and this

appears to be the only high valley of Cumana, which is well inhabited.

The convent is seated on a delightful plain, backed with an immense

wall of perpendicular rocks, covered with plants; the ceiba and palms

show their gigantic and elegant forms, numberless springs gush out on

every side, and it is difficult to imagine a more picturesque spot than

that which these priests have chosen. The cultivation of the valley

adds to the natural beauty of the scene, as the gardens of the Indians

are filled with plantains, papaws, and all the fruit-bearing plants

common to the tropical regions.

The conuco or common plantation contains maize, the sugar cane,

culinary plants, and coffee trees. Near this valley is the cavern

of the Guacharo, three leagues from the convent towards the west.

This cave gives its name to the range of mountains in which it is

situated. The cavern is pierced in the face of the perpendicular side

of the lofty Guacharo mountain, the access to its mouth being rather

difficult, on account of the numerous little torrents which cross the

valley. Its entrance is towards the south, and forms an arch eighty

feet broad, and seventy-two high, surmounted with rocks, covered by

gigantic trees; festoons of creeping plants throw themselves across

the chasm, and variegate the scene with the beautiful and vivid tints

of their flowers; a river issues from the vault which continues at the

same height as at its entrance for a considerable distance; and arums,

heliconias and palms, follow the banks of the stream for thirty or

forty paces into the interior. It is not necessary to use torches for

430 feet from the mouth, as the grotto keeps the same direction, and

forms but one channel from south-east to north-west; when the day-light

fails, the hollow murmuring sound of a vast number of nocturnal birds,

inhabiting the recesses of the cave, may be distinguished; advancing

further by the help of lights the whole rock is seen covered with the

nests of these birds, which are called Guacharoes, and are of the

size of a fowl, with a crooked bill, feathers of a dark bluish grey,

mixed with specks of black, the head, wings and tail, being studded

with large white heart-shaped spots edged with black; the spread of

the wings is three feet and a half; its eye, which is blue and small,

cannot endure the light of day, these birds quitting the cavern only at

night in search of the fruits on which they exist; their nests are seen

by fixing a torch at the end of a pole, and are generally on the very

highest parts of the arch.

The Indians enter this cave once a year to destroy the young for the

sake of a layer of fat, with which the abdomen is covered. These people

construct temporary huts at the mouth of the cavern, and melt the fat

in pots of clay, over brushwood fires; this fat is called the butter

of the guacharo, is transparent, half liquid, without smell, and so

pure as to keep more than a year without becoming rancid; the monks

purchase this oil of the natives for culinary purposes. Notwithstanding

this annual destruction of the birds, their numbers do not sensibly

diminish, as it is conjectured that other guacharoes re-people the

grotto from neighbouring caves, which are inaccessible to man.

The river which runs through the cave, is from twenty-eight to thirty

feet in width, and can be traced into the recesses for a considerable

distance, the cave preserving its altitude and regular form for 1458

feet; farther than this the river forms a small cascade over a hill

covered with vegetation; and surrounded with stalactites; after this

ascent the grotto contracts its height to forty feet, still preserving

the same dimensions; here the bottom is covered with a black mould on

which plants, deposited accidentally by the birds, have vegetated;

their characters are however so much changed by want of light and air

that it is impossible to recognise the species. Beyond this spot the

cries of the birds were so shrill and piercing that no persuasions

could induce the Indians to proceed, and M. De Humboldt was obliged

unwillingly to return.

This subterraneous river is the source of the Rio Caripe, which joining

the river Santa Maria a few leagues distant, is navigable for canoes,

and falls into the river Areo under the name of Canno de Terezen.

The forests of this and of every other part of Cumana are peopled

with numerous tribes of monkeys, of which the araguato is the most

common and singular; it is three feet in height from the top of the

head to the tail, with a reddish brown bushy coat of fur which covers

its whole body, being very fine on the belly and breast; its face

is of a blackish blue, and covered with a delicate wrinkled skin;

the beard long, and its eye, voice and gait, denoting melancholy;

when domesticated they have not that vivacity which most monkeys

are celebrated for; on the rains, or any sudden change of weather

approaching, the howling noises made by this creature are beyond

conception dismal, and add, during a storm, to the horrors of the

uninhabited wilds in which the traveller finds himself alone, and

unprotected.

Near Cumana, at the farther end of the gulf of Cariaco, is the

little town of _Cariaco_, in the middle of a large plain filled with

plantations, huts and groups of cocoa and palms; on a hill behind this

town, at some distance, and named Buenavista, may be seen the range of

mountains which stretch towards the east under the names of Sierra de

Paria and Areo; from this hill it is said the most extensive view is to

be had which can be seen on the coast of Cumana.

The town of Cariaco is small and very unhealthy, owing to the great

heat of the climate, the humidity arising from the surrounding plains

and the exhalations from the shallow mere or lake Campona.

The number of inhabitants of this town amounted in 1800 to 6000, and

the population is on the increase. Its chief commerce is in cotton

of a fine quality; Cumana and Barcelona exported 18,000 quintals of

this article in 1800, of which the town of Cariaco furnished six or

7000. Cacao is also attended to, but the cultivation of this plant

does not flourish. The sugar cane has of late become an object of much

speculation at Cariaco, where considerable quantities of it are now

grown.

From Cariaco the gulf stretches to Cumana, its northern shore being

naked, dry, and rocky, while the south coast is covered the whole way

with plantations of cocoa nut trees; and between Cumana and Cariaco

is the small village of _Mariguitar_, seated in the midst of these

plantations.

Eastward of Cariaco the range of mountains continue to bend towards

the promontory of Paria; they contain in their bosom, a short distance

from Cariaco a large lake, four or five leagues in diameter, called

Putacuao, which communicates with the river Areo. These mountains are

visited only by the Indians, and are haunted by the great boa serpent.

This part of Cumana, as well as all the country lying towards the east,

is nearly uninhabited by Europeans, but a new town has lately been

founded at Punta de Piedra, opposite Spanish harbour in Trinidad; and

people are daily forming settlements along the coast and in the fertile

valleys of the interior; of which, _Concepcion del Pao_, forty-five

leagues south of Barcelona, fifty-five from Cumana, and twenty-eight

south-east of Caraccas, has lately been raised to the rank of a city,

and contains 2300 persons, mostly proprietors of cattle and land in the

northern plains of the Orinoco.

The provinces of Barcelona and Cumana contain about 100,000

inhabitants, of which the Indians compose more than one-half, 24,000

inhabiting New Andalusia alone, without including the Guaraounoes of

the islands of the Orinoco; and who, as it were, command the mouths of

this fine river, which extend along the sea-coast for more than sixty

leagues. These mouths are very numerous, but seven of them only are

navigable. The first of these is twelve leagues south of the mouth of

the Rio Guaripiche, and is called _Grande Manamo_. The second is two

leagues south-east of the first, and is named _Canal de Pedernales_; on

the east of it is the island Guarispa, and three leagues south-west is

Isla del Soldado, at the south entrance of the gulf of Paria; these two

channels are too shallow for large vessels.

The third is called _Capure_, and is a branch of the second, detaching

itself about seven leagues inland.

The fourth is _Macareo_, six leagues south of Capure, navigable for

schooners and brigs, and the principal outlet between Guiana and

Trinidad, its mouth being opposite Erin river in that island.

The fifth is called _Maruisas_, from the tribe which dwell on its

shores; it is twelve leagues south of the fourth entrance, but is

little frequented.

Eighteen leagues farther is a branch of the _Maruisas_, which is the

sixth mouth, and is navigable for small vessels.

Eight leagues south of this is the _Boca de los Navios_, or grand mouth

of the Orinoco, which is navigable for large ships.

The rivers of Cumana and Barcelona which fall into the Caribbean sea,

beginning from the west are chiefly, the _Unare_, which bounds the

provinces of Venezuela and Barcelona. It is navigable for six leagues

from the sea, as far as the village of San Antonio de Clarinas. Its

whole course from the mountains is about thirty leagues from south to

north; the small river _Ipire_ joins this last at about half its course

from the interior.

The next river eastward of any consequence is the _Neveri_, on which

Barcelona is built. The Indian name of the stream is Enipricuar; it is

infested with crocodiles, but by means of this river which rises in the

mountains of the interior, the port of Barcelona carries on its trade

in cattle and skins.

The animals are brought from the plains behind the mountains by three

days' journey, so easy is the road, whilst it requires eight or nine

days to reach Cumana by a similar route, on account of the steepness of

the Brigantin and Imposible; this has greatly facilitated commercial

speculation, and will one day render New Barcelona an important place.

In 1800, eight thousand mules were embarked at Barcelona for the West

India Islands, and it is computed that the plains of the government of

Caraccas furnished annually 30,000 of these animals to the Spanish,

English, and French islands. Barcelona has been lately fortified, by

having a small fort erected on an eminence on the right bank of the

Neveri, about 400 feet above the sea. But this is commanded on the

south by a more lofty hill. The distance by sea between Cumana and

Barcelona is twelve leagues, but by land considerably more, and over a

most difficult road.

At Cumana the river _Manzanares_, which is only navigable for canoes

beyond the town, is noted only for having its shores lined with the

most fruitful plantations. Beyond Cumana, the mountains approach so

near the coast, that they leave no room for any streams of importance

to flow; and therefore proceeding round the point of Paria, and verging

towards the Orinoco, the next river we find, of any consequence, is the

_Guaripiche_ which flows into the Atlantic by a broad mouth just above

the first estuary of the Orinoco; this river rises in the interior as

has been before mentioned.

Of the rivers which join the Orinoco and flow through the plains of

Cumana, the _Mamo_, the _Pao_, and the _Suara_ are the largest; and on

the banks of these are some newly erected settlements.

_PROVINCES OF VENEZUELA AND CORO._

The government of Venezuela comprehends Venezuela, or Caraccas Proper

and Coro.

It is bounded on the north by the Caribbean sea; east by Barcelona;

west by Maracaybo and Varinas; and south by the great plains of

Varinas, and the Orinoco.

This extensive government was named Venezuela from the towns inhabited

by Indians which were seen by the Spaniards on the lake Maracaybo,

having a resemblance to Venice.

In 1801 the population of Venezuela, including Varinas, amounted to

500,000 persons.

The soil of Venezuela is fertile, and yields in abundance all the

products of the West Indies, besides many others, which those islands

do not possess. Its most noted commercial article is cacao, which is

inferior to none in the Americas; vanilla, maize, indigo, cotton,

sugar, tobacco and coffee, are a few of the richest objects of

cultivation; wild cochineal, dyewoods, medicinal drugs, gums, resins,

balsams, sarsaparilla, sassafras, liquorice, squills, storax, cassia

and aloes, here find that climate the most favourable to their growth;

and the immense plains in the interior feed multitudes of cattle,

horses and mules, and in the valleys and mountains, sheep and deer are

numerous. All kinds of game are found in this country, the rivers of

which also abound with fish.

The climate of Venezuela is modified according to the situation of its

districts in the mountains, on the coast or on the plains; on the coast

and in the plains a scorching heat prevails, accompanied in the latter

with deluges of rain. In the mountain valleys the air is in general

pure and mild, and in some elevated parts even cold.

These mountains, which form a part of the great branch extending from

the west to the gulf of Paria, divide the lands of the coast from the

plains of the valley of the Orinoco. Their surface is rent in every

direction by the force of subterraneous convulsions; it is on these

mountains that the climate is so singularly altered that a traveller

may observe the fruits of the tropics luxuriating at a short distance

from those of Europe. To the south of this chain the Llanos or plains,

which stretch to the Orinoco are inhabited solely by herds of cattle

tended by mulattoes, who are as nearly in a state of nature as the

beasts they guard.

On the plains of Venezuela, the rainy season commences in April, and

continues till November. The rains fall oftener in the morning than in

the evening, and on an average generally occupy three hours of each

day; during which period, the plains nearest the rivers are converted

into lakes of immense extent.

For about a century after this country was subdued by the Spaniards,

all their thoughts were turned towards its mineral productions, and

the pearl fishery on its coasts. But being disappointed in their

expectations of finding immense riches from these sources, they at

last turned their attention to the cultivation of the soil. They first

planted cacao trees, and so abundant were the profits which this

labour yielded, that cacao alone occupied their fields till a very

late period. About the year 1774 indigo plantations appeared, and

immense plains, hitherto desert, were soon covered with this plant,

which was speedily followed by cotton, sugar, tobacco, coffee, &c., but

notwithstanding the aptitude of the soil, and the genial nature of the

climate, agriculture still languishes in these fine regions, partly

from want of enterprise, and active industry, and partly from a too

great confidence in the prolific nature of the soil.

Besides the articles before mentioned, the forests of Venezuela

produce every species of timber fit for the purposes of the joiner,

the cabinet-maker, the carpenter, or the shipwright. Cedar is used for

their door-posts, window-frames, tables, &c. Black, red, and yellow

ebony are common. Mahogany, brasiletto, and all sorts of ornamental

woods are abundant, so much so that the workman would be puzzled in

his choice of the finest; but the immense forests which overspread

the chain of mountains, remain unexplored, and continue to be the

receptacles of ferocious animals and venomous reptiles.

The lakes of Venezuela are not numerous, for we can hardly give that

appellation to the sheets of water produced by the periodical swell of

the Orinoco, or the rains, and which are generally without any depth;

the lake of Valencia has been already described.

The rivers of Venezuela are more numerous than in any other part of

Spanish America. Every valley has its stream, and though many of them

are not of sufficient size to be navigable, yet all afford ample

supplies of water to irrigate the plantations on their banks. The

principal of these, which run from the mountains of Caraccas and Coro

into the Caribbean sea, are the _Guiges_, _Tocuyo_, _Aroa_, _Yaracuy_,

and the _Tuy_.

The _Guiges_ falls into that sea sixteen leagues west of the city of

Coro; the _Tocuyo_ discharges its waters twenty-five leagues east of

the Guiges or Gaigues; its source is fifteen leagues south of the town

of Carora, at the distance of nearly one hundred miles from the ocean;

and it is navigable as far as the village of Banagua, at the distance

of forty leagues from its mouth; its banks furnishing abundance of

timber of the largest size, and fit for every kind of building. The

_Aroa_ rises in the mountains, west of the town of St. Felipe,

and enters the ocean near Burburata bay. The _Yaracuy_ is another

river which enters the Caribbean sea, near the latter; and the _Tuy_

discharges itself into the sea, thirty leagues east of La Guayra; it

rises in the mountains of St. Pedro, ten leagues from the capital,

and being joined by the _Guayra_, becomes navigable, and serves to

transport the produce of the cultivated plains or valleys of Aragoa,

Tacata, Cua, Sabana, Ocumara, Santa Lucia and Santa Teresa, through

which it passes, and which particularly abound in cacao of the best

quality.

The rivers which rise on the southern side of the chain, and flow to

the Orinoco, are the _Guarico_, which receives some of the branches of

the Apure, and then following a course parallel to that river, enters

the Orinoco a short distance eastward of it. The islands formed by the

junctions of the Apure and Guarico are three in number; the first, near

the town of St. Fernando de Apure, is called _Isla de Blanco_; the

second, which is very large, and is north of the Indian town of Santa

Barbara, is named _Isla del Apurito_; and the third, which is between

the mouths of the Guarico and Apure, is the _Isla de las Garzitas_.

The Guarico, which is a very fine river, is joined near its confluence

with the Orinoco, by the _Rio Mancapra_, which flows through the plains

of Calabozo. The _Iguane_, the _Cachivamo_, and several others which

fertilise the vast uninhabited plains of the Orinoco, flow into that

river west of the junction of the great Apure. Most of these swell in

the month of April, and continue to overflow their banks during three

or four months, covering the low lands in their neigbourhood; they

abound in alligators and fish. The _Portughuesa_, which is formed by

the union of the two rivers, the _Pao_ and the _Barquisimeto_, flows

through the greater part of Venezuela, and joins the Apure forty miles

north-west of its mouth.

_Commerce._--The relation of the commercial undertakings of these

provinces will necessarily comprehend those of all the governments of

Caraccas, the produce of each being nearly the same.

The settlement of the Dutch at Curaçoa, in 1634, first roused the

inhabitants of Caraccas to exert their minds in agricultural pursuits:

cacao and hides were soon exported in sufficient quantities to answer

the purposes of carrying on an exchange trade with the Dutch for

such articles of European produce as were necessary to the colonists

of Venezuela. This trade became so brisk, that the mother country

thought it time to interfere; edicts were issued to suppress it,

and two vessels were freighted from Spain with merchandise for the

colony, for which enormous duties were charged: the Dutch accordingly

commenced a contraband trade, and so greatly undersold the Spanish

merchants, that they were left until 1700, in quiet possession of the

traffic. From 1700 to 1730, the merchants of Spain endeavoured to

revive their speculations, but the activity of the Hollanders was so

great, that they were undersold in every article; at this period, the

annual produce of the Caraccas in cacao alone was 65,000 quintals (of

1600 ounces to each quintal); the exports through the royal custom

houses amounted to 21,000, so that the Dutch received the remaining

44,000 quintals in their smuggling vessels. The court of Madrid

viewing this decrease of its revenues, resolved to put a stop to the

intercourse of the foreigners by forcible methods, and confiscations

of property, fines and punishments were inflicted on every person

discovered engaging in commerce with the Dutch. Notwithstanding these

measures, the contraband trade still continued, and the means taken

not being found to answer the proposed end, it was at last suggested

that a company should be created to monopolize the whole export and

import trade of the captain-generalship. This was accordingly done,

and such was the vigilance of the members of this company, that the

unlawful trade was soon destroyed, and they succeeded by their constant

supplies, and by purchasing every article which could be turned to

account, in giving complete satisfaction to the colonies. In 1742, this

mercantile body, known by the appellation of the Caraccas and Guipuscoa

Company, obtained an exclusive grant of the monopoly of the trade; but

in consequence of the discontent which this concession raised in the

minds of the colonists, a board was appointed, composed of an equal

number of members of the company and of planters, the governor-general

being president; this board was to regulate the prices at which the

planters and company should respectively exchange their merchandise, at

the same time permitting the cacao growers to export one-sixth of their

cacao to Spain, on their own account in the company's ships. To prevent

all irregular supply, ten armed vessels were built, carrying 86 guns

and 518 men, and 102 men were equipped on shore, to guard the harbours.

Immense warehouses were constructed at the different ports, and

advances of money without interest were made to the cultivators.

Flourishing villages arose in every direction, and the land was

converted from immense marshes and forests to smiling plantations. In

1735, 65,000 quintals of cacao were only exported, whilst in 1763, the

amount of this article increased to 110,650 quintals. Cattle multiplied

rapidly in the vast plains on the south, and hides were added to the

other objects of the export trade. From this time the duties paid at

the various custom houses, was so great, that Caraccas was no longer

supplied with remittances from Mexico, to defray the expences of

its government. But with all these advantages, which lasted only a

short time, the directors of the company assumed powers foreign to

the intentions under which their grant was conferred, they became

corrupt; and such was the state of the trade from the abuses they daily

committed, that, in 1778, the court of Madrid opened the ports of

Venezuela and Spain reciprocally to each other. New regulations were

adopted, and the trade of the colony gradually increased till 1796,

when it experienced a check from the operations of the maritime warfare

so vigorously carried on by Great Britain at that period. At present

it is not in a very flourishing state, owing to the dreadful struggle

which has existed between the mother country and her colonies.

_Capital._--The capital of Venezuela is _Caraccas_, which is also the

metropolis of the captain-generalship, and has already been described.

_Coro_ is the principal place of the province of that name, and is

situated in 11° north-latitude, and 72° 30' west-longitude, on an

isthmus which divides the gulf of Venezuela or Maracaybo, from the

Caribbean sea: it was founded in 1527, and was the second settlement

made by Europeans on this coast.

Coro was considered, for a long while, the capital of Venezuela,

till in 1576, when the governor transferred his residence to Leon

de Caraccas, since which time no person of high rank, excepting the

bishop, remains at Coro.

This city is placed on a dry sandy plain, covered with Indian figs or

plants of the cactus family; it is supplied with fruit and vegetables

from some fertile plains three leagues distant.

The inhabitants, who amount to 10,000, are in general not rich,

possessing little activity or enterprise; many of them pride

themselves, on account of being descended from the conquerors of the

country. Some trade is carried on among them with the West India

islands in mules, hides, goats, coarse pottery ware, cheese, &c. which

are all brought from the interior. Their chief commercial relations

are with Curaçoa, from which island, they are distant only a day's sail.

Coro contains but few negroes, as the laborious work is performed by

the Indians who inhabit the suburbs. Such is the scarcity of water,

that the city is supplied from a distance of two miles, by means of

mules and asses, laden with that necessary aliment.

The streets of Coro are regular, but the houses are mean, and the city

is not paved, its public buildings being a church, and a small convent

of Franciscans. The local government is lodged in a council, of which

the commandant of the place is president.

Its port lies open from north to north-east and neither its

accommodations, nor the commodities it trades in, are sufficient to

render it a place of much resort.

The peninsula, which lies to the north of Coro, is called Paragoana,

and the isthmus is about a league in width, from which the peninsula

stretches from south-west to north-west for twenty leagues. It is

inhabited by people of colour and Indians, who breed great quantities

of cattle on it, which they ship off clandestinely to Curaçoa, that

island being supplied from this place with meat and vegetables, by open

boats, which cross over daily.

Coro is 80 leagues west of Caraccas, 65 north of Maracaybo, and 33

north-west of Barquisimeto.

The next place of note in the government of Venezuela, is _Porto

Cavello_, or _Puerto Cabello_, 30 leagues north-east of Caraccas, in

10° 20' north latitude, and 69° 11' west longitude. It lies in a fine

harbour, in the Golfo Triste, near Curaçoa, to the neighbourhood of

which island it owes its importance.

_Burburata_, a village and harbour, a league to the east of Porto

Cavello, was originally the port of Venezuela, and was founded for that

purpose in 1549. The harbour of Puerto Cabello, being well adapted for

carrying on a contraband trade with Burburata, its shores were soon

settled by fishermen, and many Dutch smugglers erected huts there. Such

was the boldness and enterprising spirit of these people, that all the

efforts of the Spaniards were unable to check them, and they continued

their unlawful trade under the eyes of the local authorities. When the

Guipuscoa company obtained their final charter, they ejected the most

troublesome of these people by force, built a town, a wharf, and forts

for its defence; and they also erected immense warehouses, some of

which still remain.

The site of this town was a small peninsula, the neck of which was

almost under water; this isthmus was cut through, a canal formed, and

the town detached from the suburbs.

The exterior buildings are by far the most numerous, they are however

built very irregularly, and the island town is chiefly occupied by

the forts and warehouses; the communication between the two being by

a bridge over the canal, at the end of which is placed a gate that is

always closed at night.

The population of this town amounts to about 8000, their sole

employment being navigation and commerce, and their principal

connection is with the continental harbours and the islands. About 60

vessels are employed in the coasting, and four or five in the European

trade. It is the place of resort for ships requiring repair, and some

vessels are built here; and it may also be said to be the entrepôt of

eastern Venezuela.

The climate is very hot and unhealthy, which prevents its becoming a

place of importance.

Puerto Cabello is supplied with water by canals from a river a league

to the west, and distributed to the public in cisterns, built at proper

distances.

It has one parish church near the harbour, and two hospitals, one for

the soldiers, and one for private persons; and the local authority is

vested in the hands of the commandant.

This place was attacked by the English in 1743, but they lost many men,

and were obliged to relinquish the undertaking.

Porto Cavello is 30 leagues from La Guayra by sea, 48 by land, from

Caraccas, following the road through the towns of Valencia, Maracay,

Tulmero, Victoria and San Pedro.

_Carora_, an inland town, in 10° north latitude, lying on the Morera

river, is 110 miles north-east of Gibraltar, on the lake Maracaybo,

and contains a population of 6200 souls, resembling in its commerce,

inhabitants, &c.--

_Tocuyo_, a large town, in 9° 35' north latitude, and 70° 20' west

longitude, seated in a fine valley between two ranges of high

mountains. The city of Tocuyo is very regularly built, the streets

being all wide and straight, containing a church, chapel and two

monasteries.

In this city, the climate is very fine and wholesome, owing to the

vicinity of high mountains, but the air is occasionally cold. The

inhabitants who amount to 10,200, are in general artizans, traders,

graziers, and agriculturists.

The wheat of Tocuyo is reckoned the best in the province, and furnishes

flour to many towns of the interior. Manufactories of woollens are also

established, in which coverlids, blankets, &c., are made, and sent to

Maracaybo, and even as far as Carthagena. Tanneries and taweries supply

work to a great part of the inhabitants, who work up as much of the raw

materials as they can find hands to do, and export the rest. Salt from

the salt ponds of Coro affords a lucrative article of traffic to the

merchants of this town. Tocuyo is 90 leagues south-west of Caraccas,

and 20 north of Truxillo.

_Guanara_, on a river of the same name, that flows into the

Portughuesa, which furnishes the inhabitants with excellent water, and

fertilizes the land by its overflowings; on the western parts of this

stream, the country is very fruitful; and on the south and east are the

immense plains of Varinas.

The chief wealth of the people of Guanara consists in cattle, of which

they possess immense herds. They supply the provinces of Caraccas with

vast numbers of oxen and mules, and export their surplus by Coro,

Puerto-Cavello, or Guiana.

This city consists of a number of streets disposed in an uniform

and regular manner, and the houses, though not sumptuous, are well

built. The church is large, handsome, and much adorned, and there is

a very good hospital. The image of Nuestra Senora de Comoroto, which

is supposed to have a particular virtue, attracts a great concourse

of devotees from the neighbouring provinces, and renders Guanara a

lively place; it is 93 leagues south-west of Caraccas, in 8° 14' north

latitude, and 69° 54' west longitude.

_Barquisimeto_, which contains a population of 11,300 souls, is

situated in 8° 55' north latitude, and 66° 55' west longitude; 120

miles west-south-west of Caraccas, 450 north-north-east of Santa Fé,

45 north-north-east of Tocuyo, 80 miles south of Valencia, and 175

north-west of Calaboza, on a small river of the same name, which joins

the Portughuesa. It was founded in 1552, after the surrounding country

had been reduced, and is one of the oldest cities of Venezuela; being

placed on a plain at such an elevation, that it enjoys every cool

breeze from the river, and owing to this happy situation, the great

heat of the climate becomes supportable. The north-east winds are the

most constant, and whenever these do not blow, the thermometer rises to

82° and 84° of Fahrenheit.

The inhabitants pasture the plains with herds of cattle, and find this

a lucrative occupation, and an easy method of making use of their

time; but they also cultivate the valleys, which produce cacao of an

excellent quality, owing to the periodical overflowing of the stream;

and the sides of the mountains are now planted with coffee-trees, which

only require a little more care to be of the purest quality. The houses

of Barquisimeto are well built, and the streets are on a wide, regular,

and good plan. Its church is a handsome structure, and the luxury of

its ornaments, as well as the general aspect of the city, show the ease

and affluence in which the inhabitants, who are mostly Europeans and

their descendants, live.

The city is governed by a lieutenant-governor, and common council.

_Victoria_ is situated on the road leading from Caraccas to Puerto

Cavello, six leagues east of Tulmero. It was founded by the

missionaries, and for a long time consisted wholly of Indians, till the

fruitful nature of the valley of Aragoa drew a number of whites to it.

The lands were soon cultivated, and Victoria was covered with houses

instead of huts.

The principal ornament of this place is a handsome church, so large

that it might well be termed a cathedral; the number of inhabitants of

the town is about 8000.

_Tulmero_ is another town in the same fertile valley at six leagues

distance west of the latter, and two from Maracay. This town is modern,

well built, and the residence of a number of tobacco, coffee, indigo,

cacao, &c., planters, but has been peculiarly the abode of the officers

appointed to the administration of the tobacco farm; it is embellished

with a handsome church and neat private buildings, and is governed

by a lieutenant; a vicar also resides here, for the direction of

ecclesiastical affairs.

The population is about 8000 souls.

_Maracay_, forty miles south-west of Caraccas, is also seated in the

same rich vale of Aragoa, and is a beautiful new town famous for the

excellent chocolate made in its neighbourhood. The inhabitants who are

mostly descendants of Biscayan Spaniards, have been computed to amount

to 8500, who cultivate indigo, cacao, cotton, coffee and grain.

_Valencia_ in 10° 9' north latitude, and 68° 25' west longitude,

sixteen miles south-west of Caraccas, was founded in consequence of

Faxardo, one of the conquerors having greatly praised the surrounding

country; it was first built by Villacinda in 1555, with the view of

establishing a port near the capital; but Alonzo Diaz Moreno afterwards

preferred a scite more distant from lake Tacarigua (now Valencia), and

he accordingly removed the colony half a league west of the lake to a

beautiful plain, where the air was pure and the soil fertile.

The population of this city is said to be about 8000 souls, mostly

creoles, of good families, with some Biscayans and Canarians; the

streets are wide and well paved, and the houses built like those of

Caraccas, but not of stone. This town has a beautiful square, in which

the church, a very pretty structure, stands. In 1802 another church

was built and dedicated to Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria; and the

Franciscans have a monastery which has also a neat church.

The inhabitants were formerly noted for their indolence, but have

lately become active and industrious, and the situation of the place is

peculiarly favourable for trade, being separated from Puerto Cavello

by only ten leagues of good road. Every commodity landed at that port

for the consumption of the provinces of the interior passes through

Valencia, which necessarily causes much traffic. The adjacent country

produces every sort of provision and fruits in great abundance, and the

plains feed immense herds of cattle, with sheep, horses and mules, so

that its markets are well supplied. Near it is the lake of Valencia,

which has been described already.

Valencia, with the towns of Victoria and Barquisimeto, suffered very

much from the earthquake which overthrew Caraccas, La Guayra, Merida

and the villages of San Felipe and Maiqueta, on the 26th of March, 1812.

_Ocumara_, though only a village, is celebrated for having a very fine

port, the entrance to which has a battery for eight pieces of cannon.

Ocumara is five leagues east of Porto Cabello; the port is excellent

and well sheltered, with fine moorings. The village is about a league

distant from the anchoring place on a small river of the same name,

which, after fertilizing a fine valley, enters the sea at the foot of

the fort. Between this bay and La Guayra are the bays of _Choroni_,

_Puerto_, _La Cruz_, _Los Arecifes_ and _Catia_, and between Ocumara,

or Seinega de Ocumara are the bays of _Turiamo_, _Burburata_, and

_Paranego_, from all of which the inhabitants of the coasts export

their produce to La Guayra, Porto Cavello, or the West Indies, as

each of these afford fine anchoring places for vessels. In the bay of

Burburata there is a village, formerly a place of consequence, but

principally of note for the number of mules which it exports.

_San Carlos_ was formerly a missionary village, which owes its present

beauty to the luxuriancy of the surrounding country; it is twenty-eight

leagues south-south-west of Valencia, in 9° 20' north latitude; the

climate is very hot, but owing to the prevalence of the north-east wind

it is much ameliorated. The inhabitants amount to 9500, composed of

Spaniards from the Canaries, and Creoles, and are engaged in rearing

cattle, horses and mules, which form their chief riches; the quality of

the soil is so good that it gives an exquisite flavour to the fruits,

particularly to its oranges, which are celebrated throughout the

province.

Indigo and coffee are the chief articles cultivated at San Carlos, and

the town is large, handsome, and well laid out.

_Araura_ on the shore of the river Acarigua is north-north-east of

Truxillo, in a fertile country, where numerous herds of cattle are

reared, and cotton and coffee are cultivated; this town, which was,

till lately, a missionary village, contains a fine square, a handsome

church, and several streets of well built houses.

_Calaboso_ was also a mission until lately; it was formed into a town

for the sake of those Spanish owners who wished to be near their cattle

which roam on the vast plains of the same name.

It is situated between the rivers Guarico and Orituco, which unite

their waters four or five leagues below the town, and then flow into

the Apure.

The number of inhabitants in this new town is 4800, and it has 116

settlements in its jurisdiction, containing 1186 free Indians, 3100

people of colour, and 943 slaves. It is fifty-two leagues south of

Caraccas, and about the same distance from the Orinoco, in 8° 40' north

latitude.

_San Juan del Pao_ is also inhabited by the proprietors of the cattle

on the plains, and consists of a church and several handsome streets on

the Pao, which runs into the Orinoco. It contains 5400 souls, and is

fifty leagues south-west of Caraccas, in 9° 20' north latitude.

_San Luis de Cura_, in 9° 45' north latitude, twenty-two leagues

south-west of Caraccas, and eight leagues south-east of Lake Valencia,

possesses 4000 inhabitants, and a miraculous image of the Virgin, to

which votaries are constantly flocking.

_St. Sebastian de los Reyes_ in 9° 54' north latitude, twenty-eight

leagues south-south-west of Caraccas, and in a hot climate, contains

3500 souls.

_St. Felipe or Cocorota_, in a very fertile soil, where cacao, indigo,

coffee, cotton and sugar are cultivated, contains 6800 inhabitants, and

is well built. It stands in 10° 15' north latitude, 50 leagues west

of Caraccas, 15 leagues north-west of Valencia, and seven leagues

north-west of _Nirgua_; which place was built in the early periods of

the conquest, on account of its mines; but it is now in a decaying

state, and is inhabited only by Sambos, or the race springing from the

Indians and negroes; their number amounts to 3200. This town is in 10°

south latitude, 48 leagues west of Caraccas.

Besides the above, there are several other smaller towns, and some very

large villages in this government, which are too numerous to describe.

The country of Venezuela is not famous for mines of gold or silver,

though some gold has occasionally been found in the streams, which rush

from the mountains; the pearl fishery of its coasts will be described

in treating of the island of Margarita.

_THE PROVINCE OF MARACAYBO._

Maracaybo, or MARACAIBO, surrounds the lake of the same name. It is

bounded on the west by Santa Marta, in New Granada; on the east by Coro

and Venezuela; on the north by Santa Marta, and the gulf of Maracaybo;

and on the south by Merida and Santa Marta. Owing to the great extent

of the lake, this province extends but a short distance inland to the

east and west, its length being about 100 leagues.

The soil of Maracaybo is unfruitful on the banks of the lake. The east

shore is dry and unhealthy, and on the west shore the land does not

begin to be fertile for more than twenty-five leagues south of the

city. South of the lake the country may vie with the richest lands of

South America.

In this province the population is estimated at about 100,000 souls.

It was from the Indian towns built on posts of iron wood on the lake of

Maracaybo that the Spaniards gave the country the name of Venezuela,

or Little Venice. This country was long unknown after the conquest.

Ampues, who was governor at Coro, had engaged all the neighbouring

nations of Indians, by his conciliatory measures, to swear allegiance

to Spain, when, in 1528, Alfinger and Sailler, who had been sent,

with 400 followers, to assume the government, under the authority of

the company of the Welsers, landed at Coro. Unfortunately for the

Indians, they dispossessed Ampues of his government, and began to

search in every direction round the lake for gold; finding that their

hopes of suddenly acquiring riches from this source were not likely

to be realised, Alfinger took the resolution of penetrating into the

interior, to pillage the Indian towns, and make prisoners of as many

as he could, in order to sell them for slaves. The Indian villages

about the lake were soon destroyed; carnage and havoc spread around;

the natives were sold to the merchants from the islands, and the whole

province was a scene of horror and devastation. Alfinger did not long

survive this inhuman conduct, he met his fate in a valley, six leagues

from Pamplona, in Merida, the natives killing him there in a skirmish

in 1531.

Two other German agents succeeded him, and continued the same barbarous

conduct towards the Indians, which coming to the knowledge of the king

of Spain, they were formally dispossessed: but it is asserted that

the traces of the crimes they committed are visible to this day. Four

villages of Maracaybo were all that escaped, and are yet standing, the

iron wood on which they are founded becoming like a mass of stone from

the petrifying quality of the water. These villages are situated on the

east part of the lake, at unequal distances from each other, and have

a church, which is also built in the water on piles, and to which the

inhabitants of all the villages resort.

Several small rivers empty themselves into this lake: but as the

country is uninhabited, excepting by Indians, and immediately on the

shores, nothing is known with accuracy concerning them, the savage

Goahiros from La Hacha preventing all access on the western side, and

keeping the settlers continually in alarm.

The lake is navigable for vessels of any burden, but this advantage is

sometimes rendered useless by a dangerous sand-bank across the narrow

entrance, on which vessels drawing twelve feet water will occasionally

ground.

Near the borders of the lake, on the west, are the only parts of this

province which are cultivated, where, notwithstanding the heat of the

climate, and the insalubrity of the air, some whites have fixed their

habitations to cultivate cacao, and other plants. These settlers are

much scattered, and have a chapel placed in the centre, to which they

all occasionally resort.

The climate of the province is in general hot and unhealthy, excepting

in the southern parts which border on the snowy mountains of Merida.

Its chief town is the city of _Maracaybo_, in north latitude 10° 30',

and west longitude 71° 46', on the western side of the narrow or

strait which leads into the lake at about six leagues from the sea,

on a sandy soil, and in a dry hot climate. In July and August the

air is so heated, that it seems as if it issued from a furnace: but

the most usual preventative for the ill effects of this abominable

climate is constant bathing in the lake. Thunderstorms, hurricanes, and

earthquakes, are common in this country.

The city is built with some taste, but disfigured by having most of its

houses covered with reeds. The principal part of the town is on the

shore of a small gulf, a league in length, which extends towards the

broad part of the lake on the south, and the other part is built on the

neck to the north, where the lake is only three leagues in width. The

place where the town begins is named Maracaybo Point; that where the

gulf commences Aricta Point; opposite to which is Point Sta. Lucia.

Maracaybo was founded in 1571 by Alonzo Pacheco, an inhabitant of

Truxillo, who gave it the name of New Zamora. It contains one parish

church, a chapel of ease, and a convent of Franciscans and is supplied

with water from the lake, which at times is brackish near this place,

when the strong breezes, especially in March, impregnate it with salt

from the spray of the sea.

The population consists of about 24,000 persons, owing to the number

of emigrants who fled hither from St. Domingo. The great families,

or people of rank, are about thirty. The whites, or Europeans and

Creoles, apply themselves to agriculture, commerce, the fisheries and

navigation, and live very comfortably. The slaves and freemen are

composed of negroes and mulattoes, who exercise all the laborious

trades and handicrafts, and the number of slaves is about 5000.

The best schooners which sail on the Spanish Main are built at this

city, which possesses peculiar advantages for ship-building. Though

the air is so hot, and the land so arid, yet the natives enjoy a good

state of health, and live to an old age, owing, most probably, to the

custom of frequent ablutions, as the children may be said to live in

the water, and most of the people pass their time in navigating the

lake. The young people are celebrated for their wit and ingenuity: but

the charge of a want of probity in their dealings with strangers is

brought against these people. The females are sprightly and modest, and

are extremely fond of music; the notes of the harp resounding through

the streets of an evening. The great object of veneration at Maracaybo

is an image of the Virgin, denominated Chiquinquira, the name of a

village in New Granada, from whence she was brought.

A temple was dedicated to her worship in 1586, and immediately a

fountain rose up under the altar where she was placed; miraculous

virtues were communicated to its waters, and this image has procured a

lasting reputation in the surrounding country.

The mariners of the lake invoke this holy shrine in all their

undertakings, and it is placed in the chapel of ease of St. Juan de

Dios. Three forts protect the harbour of Maracaybo. This place was

plundered by Michael de Basco, and Francis Lolonois, in 1667, when

they sailed up the gulf of Venezuela, with eight ships and 660 men;

they entered the strait, stormed and took the fort of La Barra which

defended it, and putting to death the garrison consisting of 250

men, they then advanced to Maracaybo; on their arrival there, the

inhabitants abandoned the city, and removed their most valuable goods.

Here they remained a fortnight reveling in drunkenness and debauchery,

and then proceeded to Gibraltar, which the people of Maracaybo had

newly fortified; after a severe contest, this place was also taken, but

proved a barren triumph, which so exasperated the Buccaneers, that they

set fire to the place, and threatened Maracaybo with the same fate; the

poor inhabitants collected as much property as they could, and ransomed

the city, but not before it had been gutted of every thing.

Soon after this, Henry Morgan a Welsh adventurer attacked Porto

Bello, and succeeding in his expedition, fitted out in 1669, a fleet

of fifteen vessels, manned with 960 men, with which he sailed to

Maracaybo, silenced the fort of the Strait, reached the city, and found

it deserted; but following the people to the woods, he discovered

their treasures; he then sailed to Gibraltar, which was desolate; while

engaged in torturing the people he had made prisoners, in order to

make them produce their hidden treasures, he learnt that three Spanish

men of war, had arrived at the entrance of the lake. Summoning all the

impudence he was master of, Morgan sent an order to the commander of

the vessels to ransom the city. The answer was, as might be expected,

a denial, and direction to surrender himself immediately; to this he

replied, that if the admiral would not allow him to pass, he would find

means to do so; accordingly dividing his plunder among his vessels,

that each might have a share to defend, he sent a fire-ship into the

enemy's fleet, and having burnt two, and captured a third ship, he

made a show of landing men to attack the fort, which being thus put

off its guard, Morgan passed the bar with his whole armament, without

sustaining the slightest damage.

Maracaybo is the seat of the governor of the province, who enjoys

the same salary, and exercises the same authority as the governor of

Cumana. This district was at one time under the jurisdiction of the

governor of Merida, but since that province has been annexed to the

viceroyalty of New Granada, and since the province of Varinas has been

formed out of part of Venezuela and part of Maracaybo, the latter has

been made a distinct government.

On the east side of Maracaybo Lake are several small towns, of which

_Paraute_, _Las Barbacoas_, _Gibraltar_, and _San Pedro_, are the most

considerable places.

_Paraute_ is eighty miles south of Coro, and is a small place on the

banks of the lake.

_Las Barbacoas_ is situated a short distance farther south, and

seventy-five miles south of Coro.

_Gibraltar_, in 10° 4' north latitude, and 67° 36' west longitude, is

100 miles south-east of Maracaybo, on the eastern banks of the lake;

it is a very old town, famous for the production of a particular sort

of tobacco, called tobacco of Maracaybo, from which the best sort of

snuff, vulgarly called Maccabaw, is made.

The country in the vicinity of this town is well watered with rivers,

and consequently grows excellent cacao. Cedars of immense size are

found in its woods, but the climate is very hot and insalubrious,

especially during the rainy season, when the merchants and planters

retire to Maracaybo or Merida.

_San Pedro_ is a short distance south of Gibraltar, and also on the

banks of the lake. The other places being mere villages, or scattered

plantations, are not worth mentioning.

_Truxillo_, on the confines of Merida, in 8° 40' north latitude, twenty

leagues north of Merida, 105 south-west of Caraccas, and thirty west

of Guanara, is in a country producing sugar, cacao, indigo, coffee,

&c., and in which wheat is cultivated in great abundance, and forms the

chief article of the commerce of the inhabitants, who also carry the

above fruits, sweetmeats, cheese, woollens, &c. to Maracaybo, by means

of the lake, which is only twenty-five leagues distant, but the route

to which lies across the desert and unhealthy plains of Llonay.

The inhabitants of Truxillo are an active and an industrious race; and

at present amount to 7600 souls, though the city, which is one of the

oldest on the continent, was formerly also one of the best peopled,

until it was destroyed and sacked by Francis Gramont, the Buccaneer,

who, in 1678, traversed the province of Venezuela, with a small band of

followers, attracted by the riches of this place.

The scite of Truxillo is between two mountains, and it contains a

good parish church, a chapel of ease, two monasteries, a convent of

Dominican nuns, and an hospital.

_PROVINCE OF VARINAS._

Varinas, the next province of Caraccas, divides the territories of this

government from those of the kingdom of New Granada.

It is bounded on the north by the provinces of Maracaybo and Venezuela,

east by the plains of Caraccas and the Orinoco, west by Merida and New

Granada, and south by Juan de los Llanos, or Casanare.

This province was formed in the year 1787, by separating the southern

districts of Venezuela and Maracaybo, when it was also constituted

a distinct government. The chief has the title of governor, and his

functions are the same as those of Cumana and Maracaybo, in the civil,

military and ecclesiastical departments.

In order to defend this new province, a militia was raised in 1803, and

a garrison allotted to the city of Varinas, consisting of seventy-seven

men. The chief products of this extensive country are tobacco, well

known in the European markets, and cattle, sugar, coffee, cotton,

indigo; and all the fruits of the torrid zone, find here a soil adapted

to each; and their qualities are unrivalled.

The commodities of Varinas are exported chiefly by water to Guiana; the

place of embarkation being at a spot called Tocunos, five leagues below

the city.

The most remarkable features of this country are the extensive plains,

of which it is mostly composed, and which are covered with a luxuriant

herbage, feeding innumerable herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, and

droves of mules and horses; these are either used in the province, or

exported by means of the Great Orinoco.

Varinas is intersected by numerous large and navigable rivers, which

occasionally inundate and fertilize its plains. Of these, the _Apure_,

the _Portuguesa_, the _Guanarito_, the _Bocono_, _Guanapalo_, the

_Arauca_, the _Capanaparo_, the _Sinaruco_, and the Meta, are the most

noted.

The _Apure_ rises in one of the ridges that diverge from the eastern

branch of the Andes in New Granada, in the province of Santa Fé;

its length is 170 leagues, of which forty are from north-east to

south-east, and the rest from west to east, where it joins the Orinoco

by a number of mouths, after having received many very fine rivers,

which will one day serve to render the carrying on of the trade from

the eastern district of New Granada, and the countries bordering on the

Atlantic extremely easy. These rivers are the _Tinaco_, _San Carlos_,

_Cojeda_, _Agua Blanca_, _Acarigua_, _Areyaruo_, _Hospicia_, _Abaria_,

_Portuguesa_, _Guanare_, _Tucapido_, _Bocono_, _Masparro_, _La Yuca_,

the _Santo Domingo_, _Paguay_, _Tisnados_, &c., which all come either

from the mountains of Granada, or those of Venezuela, and mingle their

waters with the Apure, in the immense plains of Varinas.

The Santo Domingo, and Portuguesa, are the largest of these streams,

almost the whole of which unite above Santiago, and form a great body

of water, which enters the Apure twelve leagues below that place, and

twenty leagues north of the Orinoco. This immense quantity of water

gives such an impulse to the Apure, that it forces the Orinoco before

it for the space of four miles, although the latter river is there a

league in width. The shock of the meeting of these two noble rivers

is so great, that it occasions a great agitation in the middle of the

Orinoco, forming dreadful eddies and whirlpools, at which the most

dextrous Indians shudder. For the space of three leagues after the

stream of the greater river has regained its force, the waters of the

Apure are still distinguishable by their bright and crystal appearance,

after which they are lost in the muddy current of the Orinoco. The

exportation of cattle by way of Guiana takes place along the banks

of these two rivers, on account of the excellent pasturage which they

every where afford. All the traders of the eastern portion of Caraccas,

are induced by the easy means of conveyance afforded by so many

confluent streams, to send their coffee, cotton and indigo to Guiana,

instead of sending them on the backs of mules to Caraccas, or Porto

Cavello, and traveling 300 miles in a country often almost impassable,

from the inundations of the rivers.

The _Arauca_ is a river nearly as large as the Apure, and which rises

in the mountains of Santa Fé, a short distance south of the sources of

the latter, with which it holds a parallel course, through a country

inundated by the Apure, and communicates with it near the Orinoco by

several branches before it enters that river, thus forming some large

and fertile islands.

The _Rio Capanaparo_ rises in the marshy country south of the Arauca,

and enters the Orinoco, south of the latter river by two mouths, at

some distance from each other.

South of this is another named the _Sinaruco_, which also rises in the

marshes, and receives an accession to its waters from the overflowings

of the Apure and the Arauca, entering the Orinoco between the

Capanaparo and the Meta.

The _Meta_ is a noble river, which rises in the mountain ridge opposite

to Santa Fé de Bogota, and flowing through the province of Juan de los

Llanos, and the district of Casanare, it receives many other large

rivers, and enters the Orinoco, thirty leagues below the cataracts of

Ature, and 125 leagues from Santo Tomé of Guiana. The Meta receives

the _Pachiquiaro_, the _Upia_, the _Cravo_, and the _Pauto_ in Juan de

los Llanos, and the _Ariporo_, the _Chire_, and the _Casanare_ (a fine

river into which flow several others) in the province or district of

Casanare. The Meta also receives several smaller streams in Varinas,

and seems destined to form vast commercial relations between the

kingdom of New Granada and the government of Caraccas.

When the annual fleet of galleons was put a stop to, the government

issued orders that all the interior produce of New Granada should be

carried to Carthagena, and forbid every article, excepting coarse

cottons and flour to be exported by way of the Meta, which considerably

retarded the progress of the settlers in Varinas, the Llanos, and

Guiana, and put a stop to the cultivation of many articles too bulky to

be carried over such bad roads as those which descend to the Magdalena

and the Cauca.

The banks of the Meta are inhabited chiefly by Indians, of which the

_Guahibos_ tribe occupies the country near the Orinoco; and in Juan de

los Llanos, the missionary villages, are very numerous on both banks of

the stream.

The capital of Varinas is the city of _Varinas_ in 7° 40' north

latitude, and 100 leagues south-east of Caraccas. It is a neat little

place in a tolerable climate, with one church, and an hospital. Its

inhabitants amount to about 6000, the governor of the province residing

here.

The other towns of most consequence are _San Jayme_, _St. Fernando de

Apure_, and _San Antonio_. _St. Jayme_ is situated on the west bank of

the Portuguesa, above its junction with the Guanaparo and the Apure in

7° 50' north latitude on a sand hill. The town is so environed with

water for three months, that the inhabitants cannot leave their houses

but in canoes; it is seventy-five leagues south of Caraccas.

_St. Fernando de Apure_ is erected on the south bank of the Apure, near

its junction with the Portuguesa. This town is well built, in a hot but

healthy climate, and contains about 6000 inhabitants, whose occupation

consists in rearing mules and cattle, and their property is in large

commons, lying south of the city.

_San Antonio_ is situated on the north bank of the Apure, just above

where it divides itself into several branches to join the Arauca, in

about 7° 30' north latitude, with a village called _Bancolargo_ on

the opposite bank of the river. South of this town and between the

Capanaparo and the Sinaruco, the country is inhabited by tribes of wild

and independent Indians, who allow no settlements to be made among them.

The whole province of Varinas on its western and northern parts is

covered with farms and small villages, mostly situated on the banks of

the different rivers.

A road leads from the plains of Calobozo, in Venezuela, through St.

Fernando de Apura, and across the rivers to the junction of the Meta

with the Orinoco.

This province has lately become the scene of contests between the

Spanish troops and the insurgents; particularly in the vicinity of the

Apure.

_PROVINCE OF GUIANA; OR, SPANISH GUIANA._

This immense province extends from the frontiers of Juan de los Llanos

and Quixos, in New Granada to the frontiers of British, French and

Portuguese Guiana. It is bounded on the north by the Orinoco and the

plains of Cumana, Barcelona, and Caraccas; on the east by unknown

lands between the settlements of the English and French; west by the

Orinoco and the provinces of New Granada; and south by the Portuguese

possessions.

It has been computed to be 1000 leagues in circumference; but this vast

extent is inhabited chiefly by warlike and savage tribes of Indians,

who forbid all access into the interior. The population of those parts

which are occupied by the Spaniards, their descendants, and the

mission Indians, is computed at 34,000, this population being confined

mostly to the banks of the Orinoco.

The precise boundaries of this country cannot be laid down, on the

west it is said to extend to the western mouth of the river Yapura,

proceeding thence almost due north. On the east it has, from Cape

Nassau, a shore of thirty leagues to the mouth of the Orinoco; thence

along that river to the Rio Portuguesa, an extent of more than 400

leagues. The Portuguese territories on the south, were formerly bounded

by a line passing under the equator, but they have since acquired more

settlements to the north in the western parts of Guiana.

The population of Spanish Guiana is thus divided; 19,400 Indians, under

the care of missionaries; 8000 creoles, mulattoes, &c. scattered in the

settlements, and the remainder in the capital; the villages being more

frequent at from fifty leagues from the Atlantic to about 130 up the

Orinoco.

Guiana is subdivided into Upper and Lower Guiana, the capital being the

point of separation. The most southern fort of the Spaniards is that of

San Carlos, on the Rio Negro, in 1° 53' north latitude.

Upper Guiana comprehends all the country west of the Caroni river; few

plantations are seen there, though the soil is rich beyond imagination.

Lower Guiana is east of the Caroni, or in the space bounded by the sea

on the east, the Orinoco on the north, the Caroni on the west, and

the Essequibo on the south; than which, a more fertile soil cannot be

found, watered by numerous rivers, whose periodic overflowings deposit

a slime as prolific as the Nile; but this fine district is nearly a

waste, harbouring anthropophagical tribes, of whom the Caribs are the

most formidable, as well as sanguinary.

The riches of the few Spaniards and creoles settled in this province,

consists in cattle, of which the missionary Franciscans alone possess

more than 150,000 head.

The trade of Guiana consists entirely in the export of cattle and

mules, with some tobacco, cotton, and indigo, and in 1803 they had

thirty-four small vessels employed in trading to Trinidad and the

neighbouring Spanish ports.

In the history of the discovery of Guiana much obscurity prevails; but

Martin Silva, in 1568, obtained a patent to conquer some tribes to the

westward of the present limits. After penetrating through Venezuela,

his people deserted him; when he returned to Spain, and collected new

followers. Silva then attempted to cross the country from the coast

between the Maranon and Orinoco, but he and his followers were slain

and devoured by the Caribs. The missionaries, Pizarro's brother, and

Diego Ordaz, also attempted to enter and explore Guiana, but were all

frustrated by the natives.

Sir Walter Raleigh also twice tried to reach the pretended city of

Manoa, or El Dorado, which is supposed to have been situated in lake

Parima, and whose streets were paved with gold; which marvellous story

had most probably its origin in an Indian village, built on an island

whose soil contained mica, which glittering, and appearing splendid in

the sunshine, deceived the adventurers who had observed it.

In later times the Spaniards have endeavoured to conquer these regions,

but have always been unsuccessful; one of them has had the courage to

cross the greater part of the country in the dress of an Indian; and

from his researches, the direction of the ranges of mountains has been

ascertained. Humboldt, also contrived to go a great distance along the

chain of the cataracts, but was prevented from exploring the sources

of the Orinoco and the celebrated lake of Parima by the _Guayecas_, a

race of Indians who, though of very diminutive stature, display the

utmost courage and activity in defending their possessions. These

people resist all persuasion to become the converts of the monks who

had visited their frontiers, and equally defy the armed force which

generally accompanies these priests.

The rivers flowing through Guiana, which are best known, are the

_Orinoco_, into which, on the north, the _Caroni_, the _Aruy_, the

_Caura_, and several smaller ones empty themselves; on the west the

_Suapure_, the _Sippapu_, &c., join that stream, while on the south

the _Guaviare_, the _Ynritta_ and the _Atabapo_ also add to the

magnificence of its course. The _Rio Negro_ also flows through a part

of Guiana, and forms, by means of the _Cassiquiari_, a junction between

the Maranon and the Orinoco, thus constituting Guiana an immense island

detached in every direction by a broad expanse of water from the

continent of South America.

The _Yapura_ and the _Uapes_ run through the southern or continental

parts of this province, and join the Maranon.

Many large rivers issue from, or rise near lake Parima and the

interior; of which _Rio Branco_ and the _Siaba_ are the most noted, but

as the lake itself, and all the surrounding country are as unknown as

the internal parts of Africa, it will be useless to repeat names that

are gathered from maps, often imaginary, and generally erroneous.

The capital of Guiana is _Santo Tomé_, or _Angostura_, (the strait,

so called, because situated in a narrow part of the Orinoco;) it was

originally built in 1586, nearer the sea, at the distance of fifty

leagues from the mouth of the river, but having suffered successively

from the invasions of the English, French and Dutch, it was removed, in

1764, to its present scite, ninety leagues from the Atlantic, on the

right bank of the river, at the foot of a small mountain. Opposite the

city is a village and fortress on the left bank of the Orinoco.

This place was built for the defence of the passage of the Strait, and

is called Port Rafael. Between this port and the city is the island

Del Medio, a low rocky islet, covered during the floods. The channel

lies between this shoal and the town, the river being 200 feet broad

at low water. Santo Tomé is the seat of government, the bishop and

governor of Guiana residing in it, but its buildings are said to be

mean, and its appearance unworthy of a better title than that of a

large village.

The other towns of Guiana are also no better than villages, and it has

many forts near the Portuguese boundaries.

_ISLAND OF MARGARITA._

This island, which is about thirty leagues in circumference, forms a

government separate from that of Cumana, on whose shores it lies, and

dependant on the captain-general of Caraccas. It lies in north latitude

10° 56', and in 64 and 65 degrees west longitude.

It was first discovered by Columbus in 1498. The pearls found on the

coasts of this and the neighbouring isle of Cubagua, soon rendered it

famous, and the fishery was carried on at the expence of vast numbers

of Indians who lost their lives in the undertaking.

The possession of Margarita is an object of some consequence to the

Spaniards, as it is separated from the continent by a straight only

eight leagues wide, and to windward of all the best ports of Caraccas.

It forms the channel through which all vessels coming from Europe, or

windward, to Cumana, Barcelona and La Guayra, must pass, though it is

not navigable in its whole breadth, the rocky island Coche between it

and the continent, leaving only a narrow pass of two leagues, but which

is seldom dangerous, owing to the general calmness that reigns in this

part of the Caribbean sea.

In this island there are only three ports, _Pampatar_ on the

east-south-east; _Pueblo de la Mar_, a league to leeward of the

preceding, and _Pueblo del Norte_ on the north side.

The population of Margarita has been estimated at 14,000 persons,

consisting of 5500 whites, 2000 Guayqueria Indians, and 6500 Castes.

The pearl fishery formerly constituted their principal occupation, and

is still attended to by the Indians, who also take numbers of turtles

and fish, the latter of which they salt and export. They fabricate

cotton stockings, and hammocks of a very superior quality. Fowls,

turkeys, and all kinds of poultry are exported to the continent by the

lower classes, and the island is celebrated for its beautiful parrots

and other curious birds, which are so much esteemed that scarcely any

trading vessel leaves the place without carrying away some of them.

Along the coast of Margarita the land is in general rocky and very

steep, but the interior is fertile, producing maize and fruits, and

covered with groves; its climate, though very hot, is wholesome, the

greatest inconvenience experienced by the inhabitants being a want of

good fresh water.

The capital of this government is the city of _Asuncion_, situated in

the centre of the island, and which, excepting its being the chief

place, is otherwise unimportant.

This island has lately been the scene of some sanguinary actions

between the insurgents and the Spanish troops under General Morillo;

the latter having been defeated in a severe battle, was obliged to

retire to the adjacent continent. The chief scene of these operations

was near the port of Pampatar.

_VICEROYALTY OF PERU._

The viceroyalty of Peru is far from being the largest, or the richest

of the Spanish American governments, as since the dismemberment of

several of its most important provinces it has become of very little

comparative importance; to its name is however attached the most

interesting recollections, and as the empire of its Incas was formerly

the most renowned, the history of its conquest the most extraordinary,

and its ancient splendour the greatest, we have judged it proper to

place the general outline of the most important historical relations

regarding ancient and modern South America, with the particular

description of those of Peru.