CARACAS, REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA, SOUTH AMERICA,
_January 15, 1849_.
The English steamer not arriving at St. Thomas before the time
appointed for the mail schooner, I found myself, as the only passenger,
entire possessor of the ladies’ cabin, excepting an abundant supply of
cockroaches and ants, which infest vessels long navigating these seas;
but one gets accustomed to these annoyances, however frightful they may
appear at first. Our schooner of ninety tons, London built, had the
length of hold fitted up in a ladies’ and gentlemen’s cabin and dining
saloon. She carried four nine-pounders, with first, second, and third
officers, who mount the naval cap with gold band, and altogether was a
miniature ship of war.
We had a strong trade-wind with a heavy rolling sea at times, which,
with the unusual pitching of such a small vessel, produced upon me more
effect than crossing the Atlantic. The second officer and carpenter
were quite sea-sick. We made the distance, however, of four hundred and
eighty miles in the short space of sixty-two hours, and I was landed on
the beach of La Guayra at eight P.M. with a heavy surf rolling
in, the sailors rowing with all their strength, and it really looked
frightful, as the harbor of La Guayra is an open roadstead, and much
exposed.
“The chain of mountains,” says Humboldt, “that separates the port from
the high valley of Caracas descends almost directly into the sea, and
the houses of the town are backed by a wall of steep rocks, with but
a few hundred yards between the wall and the ocean.” There are two
principal streets which run parallel along between the wall and the
sea. The population is about eight thousand. It was destroyed by an
earthquake in 1819, and the ruins are still existing in many parts of
the town, inclosed by front walls where lots are not occupied. There
is no vegetation in the town, and with the exception of Cape Blanco
and the cocoa-nut trees of Marqueta in the distance, no view meets the
eye except the sea, the horizon, and the heavens. It is one of the
hottest places on the globe, the air being stifling during the day,
and frequently at night, as the sea breeze is less felt. Along a deep
ravine or mountain torrent outside of the town, the change of air is
delightful, and here may be seen groups of females and children in the
morning, bathing in the cool and invigorating waters which descend from
the mountains.
This curious old city of Caracas, lying on ground sloping to the
valley, surrounded on all sides by a bold and lofty mountain, with
its valleys abounding in sugar and coffee plantations, was partially
destroyed by the great earthquake of 1819, of which many temples and
buildings in ruins still tell the sad story. It is three thousand
four hundred feet above the level of the sea. There are two roads,
the old and new; the first is only for mules and donkeys, and is much
shorter than the other, say twelve miles in length; the new road is
twenty-one miles, and is winding and circuitous. At present there are
no carriages running, and the only way of getting here is on horse or
mule-back.
In order to reach the place you ascend about six thousand feet, and
then descend to the city. I procured a mule at the hotel at La Guayra,
having sent my luggage by a mule-team in the morning, and at three
P.M., to avoid the excessive heat of mid-day, I started all
alone, being disappointed in a companion. My ride was lonely, but the
sights were majestic, the road winding zigzag, the bold and lofty
mountains towering above with the most gorgeous and luxuriant growth of
tropical trees, with immense fields of cactus interspersed, thirty feet
in height; the precipice below, with a depth of from five hundred to
one thousand feet, was awfully grand.
Towards sunset I found that my mule was unable to carry me, and I
concluded I could not get to the city that evening. I stopped at a rude
cabin built of cane and mud, and inquiring for a Posada, or tavern,
ascertained that there was one a league further, at which I arrived
with the intention of resting until morning. I found I could get no
bed, but could get a horse; I was told the road was safe, yet I felt
that I was incurring risk in the distracted state of the country, and,
as I had heard of the robbery of a Frenchman by three negroes, I felt
uneasy; I pushed on, however, and arrived in the city at about nine
o’clock at night.
This city has a population of some forty thousand, composed of the
native population, with full one-half or two-thirds of the half-breeds,
Indian, and black. The houses are of stone, one and two stories high,
covered with tile, with grated windows and no glass, as in most Spanish
countries in warm climates. There are no remarkable public monuments;
in the cathedral, in one of the side altars, are the mortal remains of
General Simeon Bolivar, the liberator of his country. The state house
and reception rooms of the president are not unworthy of this young
republic; the senate chamber and house of representatives is one of
the confiscated Spanish convents, where the unfortunate massacre of
several members took place last year by the military, in consequence
of the threat of impeachment of the existing president, Monagas. The
ex-president, General Paez, had a strong party, with means to oppose
the measures of the new executive, which led to the armament of vessels
of war and troops on both sides, as you have seen by the public
journals, and consequently exhausted the treasury, distracted commerce,
and almost ruined the country.
In a recent contest, several vessels of the Paez party have been
seized; and the American steamer Scourge, brought out for them, has
been taken, and will be condemned. The city has been thrown into great
rejoicing on the part of the existing government, to the discomfiture
of the friends of the opposite side, by news from Maracaibo that the
castle has been evacuated by the insurgents, who have abandoned some
of their vessels and fled to New Granada. Flags were flying, drums
beating, the church bells ringing, and thousands of blacks were in the
streets at nine o’clock at night, crying “Viva la Republica,” “Viva
la Libertad,” “Viva la Constitution,” with maddening and deafening
shouts. I joined the throng at the house of the president, and found
upon the Plaza about one thousand men, of mixed colors, with the black
sentinels at the door, in round white cotton jackets and pantaloons,
a sort of red pointed fatigue cap, and bare-footed. I entered and
found the president, who is a fine military looking man, with black
moustache, surrounded by his friends, who greeted him on the suspension
of hostilities. I could not help thinking how little these people,
without the means of education, know of real liberty, and the value
of a constitution, and the respect due to a majority of voices in the
popular suffrage. The present government, which is popular with the
blacks and lower orders, has been obliged to make great concessions and
promises, which would bring anarchy, were they not a mild and easily
governed race.
The people are naturally indolent, not having the same stimulant to
activity as in the cold regions of the north. Riding in the country
as I do daily, on the coffee and sugar plantations, one can see how
the lower classes subsist; the wild cane which grows in abundance is
used with mud and straw for the sides of a cabin, the roof covered
with the leaves of the palm tree, or other material; a shirt, with a
pair of drawers, is their only covering; their furniture consists of
an iron pot, and a jar, to contain water. Two or three bananas a day
are sufficient to support life. Children up to the age of seven cost
nothing for clothing. A lovely and equitable climate the year round,
with a soil which, with proper cultivation, would produce anything.
The consumption of beef is greater than in any country I have yet
seen; and in all parts of the suburbs are seen slaughtering-places for
the cattle from the great plains, and a curious and startling sight
presents itself of fences made of bullocks’ horns. Cattle in large
numbers have been sold by those who feared that the government would
take them for the army, or for the want of money, at two dollars per
head, and delivered in the city at from three dollars to five dollars.
The hides are exported, and the flesh is consumed in large quantities
by all classes, particularly the lower orders; the price is as low as
ten cents per six pounds. I have seen so much of it, that I have almost
abandoned eating meat. There are in the country, holders of from two to
three hundred thousand head of cattle on the vast plains.
I have just seen an advertisement of an exhibition at the theatre for
Sunday night, called the Gran Nacimiento, or Birth of Christ, which
usually takes place at this season of the year; and as curiosity led me
to see the exhibition, I must describe it to you, to show the peculiar
tastes of these people. There were some one thousand five hundred
persons present, of all classes and colors; and among them were seen
the scuttle-formed hats of the priests, and their black robes, and
the white and black mantillas of the dark-eyed damsels of Caracas.
The roof of the theatre over the parquette was the vault of heaven,
with the mild full moon’s rays, and the twinkling of the stars, almost
extinguished the light of the lamps in the carved balconies and boxes,
which formed the inclosure, and extended to the roofed building in
the rear, for the stage and actors. The first act represented eight
children dressed as angels, after which appears Mary, and three other
angels descend upon a white cloud and announce the conception; the
coronation then takes place by the group of angels, with solos and
duets, accompanied by the orchestra; after which appears Joseph, in
oriental costume, and accompanies his spouse on a pilgrimage. King
Herod and others are introduced in the performance, as well as Lucifer,
from the burning pit, and his contest with the archangel Michael, who
destroys him; finally comes the birth of the infant at Bethlehem, the
dances of the shepherds, and the adoration of the three kings. The
performers were all mulattoes and blacks.
There is a club-house and reading-room here, kept by an American, which
is frequented by the foreign residents as well as the natives.
Our Minister, Mr. Shields, from Alabama, is a gentleman of talent,
and a worthy representative of his nation. He occupies the house and
grounds of the former president, Gen. Paez, which has protected this
property from spoliation. In dining with him I made the acquaintance
of two of the members of the late Congress who narrowly escaped when
the attack was made upon them, and were much indebted to Mr. Shields,
who secreted them in his house for some weeks until the excitement had
subsided.
This is an equable and delightful climate, and more agreeable to the
senses than either the extremes of heat or cold; the night and morning
air is to be avoided by invalids in consequence of the vapors or clouds
which sometimes descend, but during the day rise by the attraction of
the sun’s rays.